‘We Don’t Want to Be Americans’: Greenland’s Political Parties

 A Greenlandic flag flutters in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 8, 2026. (Reuters)
A Greenlandic flag flutters in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 8, 2026. (Reuters)
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‘We Don’t Want to Be Americans’: Greenland’s Political Parties

 A Greenlandic flag flutters in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 8, 2026. (Reuters)
A Greenlandic flag flutters in Copenhagen, Denmark, January 8, 2026. (Reuters)

"We don't want to be Americans," Greenland's political parties said after US President Donald Trump again suggested using force to seize the mineral-rich Danish autonomous territory.

The statement late Friday came after Trump repeated that Washington was "going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not".

"We don't want to be Americans, we don't want to be Danish, we want to be Greenlanders," the leaders of five parties in Greenland's parliament said.

"The future of Greenland must be decided by Greenlanders."

Denmark and other European allies have voiced shock at Trump's threats to take control of Greenland, where the United States already has a military base.

Trump says controlling the strategic island is crucial for US national security given the rising military activity of Russia and China in the Arctic.

"We're not going to have Russia or China occupy Greenland. That's what they're going to do if we don't. So we're going to be doing something with Greenland, either the nice way or the more difficult way," the US president said Friday.

Both Russia and China have increased military activity in the region in recent years, but neither has laid any claim to the vast icy island.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an invasion of Greenland would end "everything", meaning the transatlantic NATO defense pact and the post-World War II security structure.

Trump has made light of the concerns of Denmark, a steadfast US ally that joined the United States in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"I'm a fan of Denmark, too, I have to tell you. And you know, they've been very nice to me," Trump said.

"But you know, the fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago doesn't mean that they own the land."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to meet next week with Denmark's foreign minister and representatives from Greenland.



Iran Warns US Troops, Israel Will Be Targets if America Strikes

FILE PHOTO: Protesters gather as vehicles burn, amid evolving anti-government unrest, in Tehran, Iran, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on January 9, 2026. Social Media/via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Protesters gather as vehicles burn, amid evolving anti-government unrest, in Tehran, Iran, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on January 9, 2026. Social Media/via REUTERS/File Photo
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Iran Warns US Troops, Israel Will Be Targets if America Strikes

FILE PHOTO: Protesters gather as vehicles burn, amid evolving anti-government unrest, in Tehran, Iran, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on January 9, 2026. Social Media/via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Protesters gather as vehicles burn, amid evolving anti-government unrest, in Tehran, Iran, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video released on January 9, 2026. Social Media/via REUTERS/File Photo

Nationwide protests challenging Iran’s regime saw protesters flood the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city into Sunday, crossing the two-week mark as violence surrounding the demonstrations has killed at least 116 people, activists said.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. But the death toll in the protests has grown, while 2,600 others have been detained, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Meanwhile, Iran's parliament speaker warned the US military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America strikes Iran, as threatened by President Donald Trump.

Trump offered support for the protesters, saying on social media that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!”

The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous US officials, said on Saturday night that Trump had been given military options for a strike on Iran, but hadn’t made a final decision.

The State Department separately warned: “Do not play games with President Trump. When he says he’ll do something, he means it.”

Iranian state television broadcast the parliament session live. Qalibaf gave a speech applauding police and Iran's Revolutionary Guard, particularly its all-volunteer Basij, for having “stood firm” during the protests.

“The people of Iran should know that we will deal with them in the most severe way and punish those who are arrested,” Qalibaf said.

He went on to directly threaten Israel, “the occupied territory” as he referred to it, and the US military, possibly with a preemptive strike.

“In the event of an attack on Iran, both the occupied territory and all American military centers, bases and ships in the region will be our legitimate targets,” Qalibaf said. “We do not consider ourselves limited to reacting after the action and will act based on any objective signs of a threat.”


Sources: Israel on High Alert for Possibility of US Intervention in Iran

In this frame grab from video taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows people during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from video taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows people during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
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Sources: Israel on High Alert for Possibility of US Intervention in Iran

In this frame grab from video taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows people during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from video taken by an individual not employed by The Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran shows people during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

Israel is on high alert for the possibility of any US intervention in Iran as authorities there confront the biggest anti-government protests in years, according to three Israeli sources with knowledge of the matter.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene ⁠in recent days and warned Iran’s rulers against using force against demonstrators. On Saturday, Trump said the US stands “ready to help”.

The sources, who were present ⁠for Israeli security consultations over the weekend, did not elaborate on what Israel’s high-alert footing meant in practice, Reuters reported. Israel and Iran fought a 12-day war in June.

In a phone call on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary ⁠of State Marco Rubio discussed the possibility of US intervention in Iran, according to an Israeli source who was present for the conversation. A US official confirmed the two men spoke but did not say what topics they discussed.


NKorea Says Another SKorean Drone Entered its Airspace

These images taken on January 4, 2026 and released as a combo image by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on January 10, 2026 shows an aerial view of Kaesong city, which North Korea claims is footage taken retrieved from a drone from South Korea that violated North Korean airspace and brought down by specialized electronic warfare assets. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
These images taken on January 4, 2026 and released as a combo image by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on January 10, 2026 shows an aerial view of Kaesong city, which North Korea claims is footage taken retrieved from a drone from South Korea that violated North Korean airspace and brought down by specialized electronic warfare assets. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
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NKorea Says Another SKorean Drone Entered its Airspace

These images taken on January 4, 2026 and released as a combo image by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on January 10, 2026 shows an aerial view of Kaesong city, which North Korea claims is footage taken retrieved from a drone from South Korea that violated North Korean airspace and brought down by specialized electronic warfare assets. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
These images taken on January 4, 2026 and released as a combo image by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on January 10, 2026 shows an aerial view of Kaesong city, which North Korea claims is footage taken retrieved from a drone from South Korea that violated North Korean airspace and brought down by specialized electronic warfare assets. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)

North Korea said on Saturday that South Korea flew another drone into its airspace on January 4, infringing on its sovereignty, according to state media KCNA.

The announcement, which comes before North Korea holds a key party congress that will lay out policies for the next five years, sets the stage for cementing leader Kim Jong Un's rhetoric that South Korea is a foreign and hostile nation, an analyst said.

The drone, which originated from an island in the South Korean city of Incheon, flew 8 km (5 miles) before it was shot down inside North Korean airspace, KCNA said, citing a spokesperson for the North Korean military.

The drone was equipped with surveillance cameras to record "major" North Korean facilities, ⁠Reuters quoted KCNA as saying. Photos on KCNA showed a drone salvaged in pieces, electronic parts and aerial photos of buildings that KCNA said the drone had taken.

KCNA said the incident follows a September incursion by another South Korean drone that was shot over Kaesong.

"Even after the change of a regime... (South Korea) has continued to commit such acts of provocation by drones near the border," KCNA said, calling South Korea its "enemy most hostile".

Since South Korean President Lee Jae Myung took office in June, North Korea has rebuffed conciliatory gestures from Lee's administration. Lee had ⁠pledged to re-engage with Pyongyang to defuse tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea's military said on Saturday it does not operate the drone model in question, it did not operate drones on the date North Korea is claiming, and it will conduct a thorough investigation of a civilian possibly having operated the drone.

"We have no intention of provoking North Korea, and we will continue to take practical measures and efforts to ease... tensions and build trust," South Korea's military said in a statement.

The drone and electronics parts shown by North Korean state media are low-cost consumer products, and the captured video it revealed is of areas that do not have particular information value or military targets, said North Korean expert Hong Min at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

"The South Korean military already has a ⁠number of high-value assets that can clearly monitor the area near the armistice line," Hong said, making it unlikely that it was the South Korean military.

The timing of North Korea's mention of the drones is notable, as it comes just before North Korea's 9th Party Congress expected to be held soon.

Kim Jong Un's rhetoric of deeming the relationship between the two Koreas as two hostile countries, first introduced in 2024, is expected to be cemented further at the congress and may be put into North Korea's constitution this year, Hong said.

North Korea previously accused South Korea of sending a drone over Pyongyang in October 2024.

South Korea's former President Yoon Suk Yeol was accused by Seoul's special prosecutor late last year of ordering the Pyongyang drone operation to use military tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul as a justification for declaring emergency martial law.

Yoon has denied the charge, with his legal counsel saying the performance of the president's duties cannot be framed as a crime after the fact.