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European Military Mission Set to Begin in Greenland

(FILES) Protesters attend a march to the US consulate during a demonstration, under the slogan 'Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people', in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 15, 2025. (Photo by Christian Klindt Soelbeck / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP)
(FILES) Protesters attend a march to the US consulate during a demonstration, under the slogan 'Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people', in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 15, 2025. (Photo by Christian Klindt Soelbeck / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP)
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European Military Mission Set to Begin in Greenland

(FILES) Protesters attend a march to the US consulate during a demonstration, under the slogan 'Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people', in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 15, 2025. (Photo by Christian Klindt Soelbeck / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP)
(FILES) Protesters attend a march to the US consulate during a demonstration, under the slogan 'Greenland belongs to the Greenlandic people', in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 15, 2025. (Photo by Christian Klindt Soelbeck / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP)

European military personnel were due to begin arriving in Greenland on Thursday, shortly after a meeting between American, Danish and Greenlandic officials in Washington failed to resolve "fundamental disagreement" over the mineral-rich, strategic Arctic island.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to take control of the autonomous Danish territory, arguing that it is vital for US security, reported AFP.

France, Sweden, Germany and Norway announced Wednesday that they would deploy military personnel as part of a reconnaissance mission to Greenland's capital Nuuk.

"Soldiers of NATO are expected to be more present in Greenland from today and in the coming days. It is expected that there will be more military flights and ships," Greenland's deputy prime minister Mute Egede told a news conference on Wednesday, adding they would be "training".

"The first French military personnel are already on their way. Others will follow," French President Emmanuel Macron said on X.

The deployment of a 13-strong Bundeswehr reconnaissance team to Nuuk from Thursday was at Denmark's invitation, the German defense ministry said, adding it would run from Thursday to Sunday.

The deployment was announced on the same day that the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, speaking after leaving the White House, said a US takeover of Greenland was "absolutely not necessary."

"We didn't manage to change the American position. It's clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland," Lokke told reporters.

"We therefore still have a fundamental disagreement, but we also agree to disagree."

Trump, speaking after the meeting which he did not attend, for the first time sounded conciliatory on Greenland, acknowledging Denmark's interests even if he again said he was not ruling out any options.

"I have a very good relationship with Denmark, and we'll see how it all works out. I think something will work out," Trump said without explaining further.

He again said Denmark was powerless if Russia or China wanted to occupy Greenland, but added: "There's everything we can do."

Trump has appeared emboldened on Greenland after ordering a deadly January 3 attack in Venezuela that removed President Nicolas Maduro.

On the streets of Nuuk, red and white Greenlandic flags flew in shop windows, on apartment balconies, and on cars and buses, in a show of national unity this week.

Some residents described anxiety from finding themselves at the center of the geopolitical spotlight.

"It's very frightening because it's such a big thing," said Vera Stidsen, 51, a teacher in Nuuk.

"I hope that in the future we can continue to live as we have until now: in peace and without being disturbed," Stidsen told AFP.

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World

Russia Expels UK Diplomat Accused of Being Spy

A car of the British ambassador drives out of the embassy in Moscow, Russia [File: Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters]
A car of the British ambassador drives out of the embassy in Moscow, Russia [File: Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters]
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Russia Expels UK Diplomat Accused of Being Spy

A car of the British ambassador drives out of the embassy in Moscow, Russia [File: Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters]
A car of the British ambassador drives out of the embassy in Moscow, Russia [File: Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters]

Russia said Thursday it was expelling a British diplomat, calling him an undercover spy in the latest espionage accusation between Moscow and London.
The Kremlin has long singled out Britain as one of the most hostile Western states -- with relations virtually frozen even before Moscow's full-scale offensive on Ukraine.
The two countries have expelled each others' embassy staff several times in recent years, AFP said.
Moscow-London ties have been plagued by spy allegations for decades and were already at their lowest point before Russia's 2022 Ukraine attack.
Since then, Britain became one of Kyiv's strongest backers.
Russia's FSB security service named the man it was expelling as Gareth Samuel Davies -- listed on Moscow's official database of accredited diplomats as the embassy's second secretary.
Russia's foreign ministry summoned the UK's charge d'affaires, saying it issued a "strong protest" and that it had received information that "one of the embassy's diplomatic staff belongs to the UK's intelligence service."
"The individual's accreditation is being revoked. He is required to leave the Russian Federation within two weeks," the ministry said.
Expulsions by one side have typically been followed up by a tit-for-tat response from the other.
Russia warned Britain not to "escalate the situation", pledging to deliver a "firm symmetrical response," should London retaliate.
The UK has not yet commented on the accusation.
- Frozen ties -
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has hosted Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky for talks on how to end the war with Russia several times and is one of the Kremlin's most vocal critics.
This month, Britain and France signed a declaration of intent that sets out deploying troops on Ukrainian territory after a ceasefire.
Russia rejected the post-war plan, saying such troops would be considered "legitimate military targets."
Moscow also recently blasted London for being involved in the planning of a US operation to seize a Russian-flagged tanker in the North Atlantic.
Espionage accusations between the two countries date back far further than the Ukraine offensive.
In 2006, Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko was killed in London, poisoned by polonium in what British investigators said was a hit by the Russian secret service.
And in 2018, the UK said Russian double agent Sergei Skripal was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent in the British cathedral city of Salisbury.
One member of the public was killed after handling the delivery device, a discarded perfume bottle, triggering the largest Western expulsion of Russian diplomats, alleged to be spies, in decades.
The communication line between Downing Street and the Kremlin has been closed since Russia's offensive.
The last UK leader known to have spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin was Boris Johnson in February 2022, days before Moscow launched its offensive, when he told the Kremlin chief that sending troops to Ukraine "would be a tragic miscalculation."

World

Trump Says Iran Killings Stopped

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Trump Says Iran Killings Stopped

President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had been told the killings of protesters in Iran had been halted, but added that he would "watch it and see" about threatened military action.

Trump had repeatedly talked in recent days about coming to the aid of the Iranian people over the crackdown on protests that rights groups say has left at least 3,428 people dead, AFP said.

But in a surprise announcement at the White House, Trump said he had now received assurances from "very important sources on the other side" that Tehran had now stopped, and that executions would not go ahead.

"They've said the killing has stopped and the executions won't take place -- there were supposed to be a lot of executions today and that the executions won't take place -- and we're going to find out," Trump said.

He offered no details and noted that the United States had yet to verify the claims.

Asked by an AFP reporter in the Oval Office if US military action was now off the table, Trump replied: "We're going to watch it and see what the process is."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi later said there would be "no hanging today or tomorrow," in an interview with US network Fox News, while accusing Israel of orchestrating violence, without providing evidence.

Araghchi contends the peaceful protests about economic hardship that began December 28 devolved into widespread violence between January 7 and 10 because the protests were infiltrated by external "elements who had a plan to create a big number of killings in order to provoke President Trump to enter into this conflict and start a new war against Iran."

Iran's Minister of Justice Amin Hossein Rahimi echoed that allegation, telling state news agencies that after January 7, "those weren't protests any longer" and anyone who was arrested on the streets then "was definitely a criminal."

A rights group said separately that the execution of an Iranian man arrested during the wave of protests, 26-year-old Erfan Soltani, would not take place as scheduled on Wednesday, citing relatives.

Late Wednesday, UN leadership announced a meeting of the Security Council Thursday for "a briefing on the situation in Iran," as requested by the United States.

Trump's comments sent oil prices plunging on Thursday morning, as concerns eased of a looming supply shock in energy markets. Iran makes up around three percent of global oil production.

- 'Full control' -

Araghchi said the Iranian government was "in full control" and reported an atmosphere of "calm" after what he called three days of "terrorist operation."

Iran also struck a defiant tone about responding to any US attack, as Washington appeared to draw down staff at a base in Qatar that Tehran targeted in a strike last year.

Iran targeted the Al Udeid base in June in retaliation for US strikes on its nuclear facilities. Ali Shamkhani, a senior advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, warned Trump the strike showed "Iran's will and capability to respond to any attack."

Fears of possible US military action continued to rile the region.

The British government said its embassy in Tehran had been "temporarily closed," India's government urged its citizens to leave the country.

Germany's Lufthansa on Wednesday said its flights would avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace "until further notice" after the US threats against Iran.

Trump has threatened to intervene militarily in Iran several times since the protest movement that has shaken the country began in late December. The protests are the largest since the Iranian Republic was proclaimed in 1979.

Rights monitors say that under cover of a five-day internet blackout, Iranian authorities are carrying out their harshest repression in years against demonstrations openly challenging the theocratic system.

Iran's judiciary chief vowed fast-track trials for those arrested, stoking fears authorities will use capital punishment as a tool of repression.

In Tehran, authorities held a funeral for more than 100 security personnel and other "martyrs" killed in the unrest, which officials have branded "acts of terror."

- 'Unprecedented level of brutality' -

G7 nations said Wednesday they were "deeply alarmed at the high level of reported deaths and injuries" and warned of further sanctions if the crackdown continued.

Monitor NetBlocks said Iran's internet blackout had lasted 144 hours. Despite the shutdown, new videos, with locations verified by AFP, showed bodies lined up in the Kahrizak morgue south of Tehran, wrapped in black bags as distraught relatives searched for loved ones.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War said authorities were using "an unprecedented level of brutality to suppress protests," noting reports of protest activity had sharply declined.

A senior Iranian official told journalists there had been no new "riots" since Monday, distinguishing them from earlier cost-of-living protests. "Every society can expect protests, but we will not tolerate violence," he said.

Prosecutors have said some detainees will face capital charges of "waging war against God." State media reported hundreds of arrests and the detention of a foreign national for espionage, without giving details.

Iran Human Rights, based in Norway, said security forces had killed at least 3,428 protesters and arrested more than 10,000.

World

Iran Closes Its Airspace to Commercial Aircraft for Hours as Tensions with US Remain High

People walk past a large patriotic banner depicting the Iranian flag on Enghelab Square in Tehran on January 14, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
People walk past a large patriotic banner depicting the Iranian flag on Enghelab Square in Tehran on January 14, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
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Iran Closes Its Airspace to Commercial Aircraft for Hours as Tensions with US Remain High

People walk past a large patriotic banner depicting the Iranian flag on Enghelab Square in Tehran on January 14, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
People walk past a large patriotic banner depicting the Iranian flag on Enghelab Square in Tehran on January 14, 2026. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours without explanation early Thursday as tensions remained high with the United States over Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.

The closure ran for over four hours, according to pilot guidance issued by Iran, which lies on a key East-West flight route. International carriers diverted north and south around Iran, but after one extension, the closure appeared to have expired and several domestic flights were in the air just after 7 a.m. The Associated Press said.

Iran previously shut its airspace during the 12-day war against Israel in June and when it exchanged fire with Israel during the Israel-Hamas war. However, there were no signs of current hostilities though the closure immediately rippled through global aviation because Iran is located on a key East-West route for airlines.

“Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said the website SafeAirspace, which provides information on conflict areas and air travel. “The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.”

Iran in the past has misidentified a commercial aircraft as a hostile target. In 2020, Iranian air defense shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752 with two surface-to-air missiles, killing all 176 people on board. Iran for days adamantly dismissed allegations of downing the plane as Western propaganda before finally acknowledging it.

The airspace closure came as some personnel at a key US military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The US Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporary halt” going to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.

The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Iran at the request of the United States on Thursday afternoon.

US President Donald Trump made a series of vague statements Wednesday that left unclear what American action, if any, would take place against Iran.

In comments to reporters, Trump said he had been told that plans for executions in Iran have stopped, without providing many details. The shift comes a day after Trump told protesters in Iran that “help is on the way” and that his administration would “act accordingly” to respond to Iran's deadly crackdown.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also sought to tone down the rhetoric, urging the US to find a solution through negotiation.

Asked by Fox News what he would say to Trump, Araghchi said: “My message is: Between war and diplomacy, diplomacy is a better way, although we don’t have any positive experience from the United States. But still diplomacy is much better than war.”

The change in tone by the US and Iran came hours after the chief of the Iranian judiciary said the government must act quickly to punish the thousands who have been detained.

Activists warned that hangings of detainees could come soon. The security forces’ crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Iranian Revolution.