Editorji is a popular short video news and information platform based in India. It was founded in 2018 by Vikram Chandra, one of India’s leading journalists, and has risen to prominence in the digital news space in a relatively short span of time. The platform is primarily designed for mobile devices, with applications available for Android and iOS.

ABOUT US:

about us editorji

Latest Video News: Editorji provides the latest news video headlines, latest videos clip from India and the World. Get all breaking news videos on Entertainment, Business, Coronavirus, Elections, Politics and more.

Latest Video News, Breaking News, Bollywood, Political, Sports, Business News | Editorji

+91 11 4035 6666 / info@editorji.com
3rd floor, Plot B, Khasara no 360, Sultanpur, New Delhi, Delhi 110030
<a title="mail to us" href="mailto:info@editorji.com">Send Feedback</a>
<a title="Contact Us" href="mailto:info@editorji.com">Contact Us</a>

REACH US

Contact for any questions, suggestions, comments, feedback or advertisement on Editorji.com, we are always looking forward to hearing from you.

Contact Us for Feedback, Suggestions and Advertising 

Editorji content is better experienced in our app.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to urge US President Donald Trump to adopt a harder line on Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes during talks in Washington.

Netanyahu to Discuss Expansion of U.S.-Iran Talks with Trump

Netanyahu to Expand Scope of U.S.-Iran Nuclear Talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to urge US President Donald Trump to adopt a harder line on Iran&rsquo;s nuclear and missile programmes during talks in Washington.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will push Donald Trump on Wednesday to take a tougher stance in nuclear talks with Iran, after rushing to Washington to stiffen the US president's resolve.
Trump said on the eve of the hastily arranged White House meeting -- set to begin at 11:00 am local time (1600 GMT)-- that he was weighing sending a second US "armada" to the Middle East to pressure Tehran to reach a nuclear deal.
But Netanyahu, making his sixth visit to the United States since Trump took office, will also be urging the US leader to take a harder line on arch-foe Iran's ballistic missile program.
Tehran, which resumed talks with Washington last week in Oman, warned Monday of "destructive influences" on diplomacy ahead of the Israeli premier's visit.
Netanyahu had been expected to come to Washington for a February 19 meeting of Trump's "Board of Peace" for Gaza, but reportedly brought forward his visit as the US-Iran talks proceeded.
 - What does Trump think? -
Already in town Tuesday night, Netanyahu met with Trump's Middle East envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
They "discussed regional issues, and they provided an update on the first round of negotiations they held with Iran last Friday," according to a statement on the X account for the Israeli prime minister.
While talking up hopes of a nuclear deal, Trump warned in an interview with the Axios news outlet earlier Tuesday that he was "thinking" of sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the region.
"Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time," Trump said. "We have an armada that is heading there and another one might be going."
Trump, who ordered US strikes on Tehran's nuclear sites during Israel's 12-day war with Iran last June, separately told Fox Business that any deal would have to involve "no nuclear weapons, no missiles."
He added that Iran's leaders "want to make a deal" but "it's got to be a good deal," saying Tehran had been "very dishonest with us over the years."
 - What are Netanyahu's goals? -
Netanyahu said as he left for Washington his talks would "first and foremost" be about the Iran negotiations, while adding that they would also discuss Gaza and other regional issues.
"I will present to the president our views regarding the principles for the negotiations," he said in a video statement. Netanyahu's office said he would highlight Iran's missile arsenal.
Israel's concerns came to a head during their unprecedented war last year, during which Iran launched waves of ballistic missiles and other projectiles at Israeli territory, striking both military and civilian areas.
So far, Iran has rejected expanding the scope of its talks with the United States beyond the issue of its nuclear program, though Washington also wants Tehran's ballistic missile program and its support for regional militant groups on the table.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog, speaking during a visit to Australia, said he hoped the talks would help fight Iran's "empire of evil."
 - What about the West Bank? -
The meeting will also come amid growing international outrage over Israeli measures to tighten control of the occupied West Bank by allowing settlers to buy land directly from Palestinian owners.
Israel's security cabinet approved the move ahead of Netanyahu's Washington visit. It's unclear whether Trump will address it.
A US official said on Monday that Trump "does not support Israel annexing the West Bank" and wants stability, while holding off from directly criticizing the Israeli government's moves.
 - How many meetings? -
Wednesday's meeting will be the sixth between the two leaders on US soil since Trump returned to office in January 2025 -- five times at the White House and once at the Republican's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
A seventh meeting took place in Jerusalem in October when Trump announced a ceasefire in Gaza.

US President Donald Trump has again claimed that he prevented a potential nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan last year by using tariffs, a claim consistently denied by India.

India and Pakistan war could have been nuclear, 10 planes were shot down: Trump

US President Donald Trump has again claimed that he prevented a potential nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan last year by using tariffs, a claim consistently denied by India.

US President Donald Trump repeated the claim that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan last year, which he said could have turned nuclear, through tariffs.
"I settled eight wars. Of the eight wars, at least six were settled because of tariffs. In other words, I said, &lsquo;if you don't settle this war, I'm going to charge you tariffs, because I don't want to see people getting killed,&rdquo; Trump said in an interview to Fox Business Tuesday.
"And they said, &lsquo;Well, what does this have to do?&rsquo; I said, &lsquo;you're going to be charged&rsquo;. Like India and Pakistan. It would have been a nuclear war, in my opinion. They were really going at it, 10 planes were shot down. They were going at it,&rdquo; Trump said.
He added that the Prime Minister of Pakistan said, &lsquo;President Trump saved at least 10 million lives when he got us to stop fighting&rsquo;. Because they were going to go nuclear, (in) my opinion. Without tariffs, that wouldn't happen,&rdquo; Trump said.
Trump has claimed credit for stopping the India-Pakistan conflict for more that 80 times since May 10 last year, when he announced on social media that the two neighbours had agreed to a &ldquo;full and immediate&rdquo; ceasefire after talks mediated by Washington.
India has consistently denied any third-party intervention.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 last year, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.&nbsp;

The White House has removed “pulses” from the list of American products facing tariff reductions by India in a revised fact sheet on the interim trade deal, also changing India’s commitment to an intention to buy US goods.

White House drops reference to 'certain pulses' in revised fact sheet on trade deal with India

The White House has removed &ldquo;pulses&rdquo; from the list of American products facing tariff reductions by India in a revised fact sheet on the interim trade deal, also changing India&rsquo;s commitment to an intention to buy US goods.

The White House has removed &ldquo;pulses&rdquo; from a list of American products on which it said India will eliminate or reduce tariffs, in a revised fact sheet issued on the interim trade deal.
On Monday, the White House had issued a fact sheet on &lsquo;The United States and India Announce Historic Trade Deal (Interim Agreement),&rsquo; days after India and the US announced in a joint statement the framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade.
An initial version of the fact sheet had highlighted key terms of the agreement, including that India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers&rsquo; grains, red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, &ldquo;certain pulses&rdquo;, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products.
The fact sheet had also said that India committed to buy more American products and purchase over USD 500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, agricultural, coal, and other products.
The revised fact sheet issued on Tuesday removed the reference regarding pulses and changed the word &ldquo;committed&rdquo; used for India to &ldquo;intends.&rdquo;
&ldquo;India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers&rsquo; grains (DDGs), red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products.
&ldquo;India intends to buy more American products and purchase over $500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, coal, and other products,&rdquo; the revised fact sheet said.
The joint statement issued last week on the trade deal had made no mention of &ldquo;pulses&rdquo; in items on which India will eliminate or reduce tariffs for American products.
The joint statement had also maintained that &ldquo;India intends to purchase $500 billion of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products, and coking coal over the next five years.&rdquo;

An Iranian man from Bushehr reportedly died by suicide after releasing a video urging US President Donald Trump and Western nations to end diplomatic engagement with Iran, citing violent suppression of protests and widespread human rights abuses.

Iranian man dies by suicide after urging Trump to halt talks with Tehran

An Iranian man from Bushehr reportedly died by suicide after releasing a video urging US President Donald Trump and Western nations to end diplomatic engagement with Iran, citing violent suppression of protests and widespread human rights abuses.

An Iranian man from the southern port city of Bushehr has reportedly died by suicide after publishing a video message in which he urged US President Donald Trump and Western governments to halt diplomatic engagement with Iran&rsquo;s ruling establishment, according to opposition-linked media outlets and regional publications, including Iran International.
The man, identified by Iranian media and activists as Pouria Hamidi, recorded an approximately 10-minute video in English that gained widespread attention over the weekend. In the video, he appealed directly to US leaders, accusing Iranian authorities of violently suppressing recent protests and calling for foreign intervention against the country&rsquo;s leadership.
At the beginning of the recording, Hamidi said, &ldquo;If you&rsquo;re watching this, then I&rsquo;m not around any more,&rdquo; explaining that he was speaking to highlight what he described as a massacre during recent unrest. &ldquo;More than 40,000 people died, killed, massacred. More than Russia and Ukraine and more than Israel and Palestine,&rdquo; he said.
The protests, which took place in January, were reportedly met with heavy force by the clerical regime of Ayatollah Khamenei. Reports suggest that thousands of people, including women and children, were killed during the crackdown.
In his message, Hamidi called on Washington to abandon negotiations with Tehran, arguing that any diplomatic agreement would undermine the victims of the protests. &ldquo;So please,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I beg you, do whatever you can to stop this deal.&rdquo; He added that any agreement would &ldquo;betray all those people who died.&rdquo;
Referring to past statements by the US President, Hamidi said that Trump had encouraged Iranians to protest. &ldquo;Keep protesting, and we did, we trusted him,&rdquo; he said. He also stated that ordinary citizens were unable to confront armed forces and could not defeat the Islamic regime on their own.
&ldquo;America attacking Iran is the only hope we have right now. We can't fight this regime alone. Our people need foreign intervention,&rdquo; he said.
The video included strong criticism of Iran&rsquo;s religious leadership and expressions of support for exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi, whom Hamidi called &ldquo;the best choice to make a transitional government.&rdquo; He also urged opposition groups outside Iran to &ldquo;come together and stop fighting each other.&rdquo;
Describing the emotional toll of the situation, Hamidi said Iranians were living without hope. &ldquo;You don't know how hopeless our people are right now. I mean, I myself, I can't eat. I can't sleep,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I can't even cry about it because it's so laughable to be born in a place like this, to have no future. But I hoped the people of my country would finally have a future after all this.&rdquo;
He said the recording was meant to give meaning to his life and appealed for unity among Iranians. In the final moments of the video, he switched to Persian and said, &ldquo;We people of Iran are lonely people and have nobody, so please support each other. Long live Iran.&rdquo;
According to Iran International, Hamidi took his own life shortly after releasing the video, though the claim has not been independently verified.
The incident comes at a time when Iranian authorities appear to have brought widespread protests under control following a violent crackdown. A Reuters report has estimated that at least 5,000 people were killed during the unrest.

US President Donald Trump urged a modernized nuclear treaty after New START expired, while experts warn it could spark a global arms race and China rejects participation.

Trump urges new nuclear treaty after Russia agreement ends

US President Donald Trump urged a modernized nuclear treaty after New START expired, while experts warn it could spark a global arms race and China rejects participation.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday called for a brand new nuclear treaty after the last agreement with Russia expired, prompting fears of a new global arms race.
The Trump administration has repeatedly pressed for a new treaty to include China, whose arsenal is growing but still significantly smaller than those of Russia and the United States, but Beijing has publicly rejected the pressure.
Trump had been mostly mum on Russian calls to extend New START, the 2010 treaty that imposed the last restrictions on the two largest nuclear powers after decades of agreements dating from the Cold War.
But hours after it expired, Trump said that the treaty, signed by predecessor Barack Obama and extended by Joe Biden, was "badly negotiated" and "is being grossly violated."
"We should have our Nuclear Experts work on a new, improved, and modernized Treaty that can last long into the future," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Asked if Washington and Moscow had agreed to stick to the terms of the expired START treaty while negotiations on a new accord are ongoing, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said: "Not to my knowledge."
Russia had refused inspections under New START as relations deteriorated with the Biden administration.
It said Wednesday that it no longer considered itself bound on the number of nuclear warheads due to the expiration of New START.
Despite the stalemate on New START, Trump has enthusiastically restarted diplomacy with Russia and invited President Vladimir Putin to Alaska last August.
The United States announced Thursday that it was resuming military dialogue with Russia after three-way talks in Abu Dhabi on the Ukraine war.
 - 'Unconstrained nuclear competition' -
Campaigners have warned that the end of the New START treaty could trigger a global arms race, and urged nuclear powers to enter negotiations.
A group of former senior arms control officials from around the world, in a joint statement Thursday, called on the United States and Russia to agree to keep observing New START's limits as a first step.
The end of New START "will reduce nuclear stability and predictability, threaten global security, and increase the risk of a new era of unconstrained nuclear competition," they wrote.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the nuclear treaties between the United States and Russia after more than half a century were at a "grave moment."
"This dissolution of decades of achievement could not come at a worse time -- the risk of a nuclear weapon being used is the highest in decades," Guterres said, after Russian suggestions of using tactical nuclear weapons early in the Ukraine war.
A NATO official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called for "restraint and responsibility" and said that the US-led military alliance "will continue to take steps necessary" to ensure its defense.
The official condemned "Russia's irresponsible nuclear rhetoric."
 - China rejects pressure -
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that arms control was "impossible" without including China.
China's foreign ministry expressed regret Thursday over New START's demise but said Beijing "will not participate in nuclear disarmament negotiations at this stage."
"China's nuclear capabilities are of a totally different scale as those of the United States and Russia," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news conference.
Russia and the United States together control more than 80 percent of the world's nuclear warheads.
China's nuclear arsenal is growing faster than any country's, by about 100 new warheads a year since 2023, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
China is estimated to have at least 600 nuclear warheads, the institute says -- well below the 1,500 each at which Russia and the United States were capped under New START.
France and Britain, treaty-bound US allies, together have another 100.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, which warns of nuclear risks, agreed that China should engage.
But "there is no indication that Trump or his team have taken the time to propose risk reduction or arms control talks with China since returning to office in 2025," Kimball said.

US President Donald Trump repeated claims that he prevented a war and nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan, despite India denying any third-party intervention.

Trump claims again that he stopped war between India, Pakistan

US President Donald Trump repeated claims that he prevented a war and nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan, despite India denying any third-party intervention.

US President Donald Trump repeated twice in a single day the claim that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan last year.
"In one year, I've ended eight raging wars, such as (the war between) Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Armenia and Azerbaijan," Trump said at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday.
Later, in a post on Truth Social, Trump reiterated the claim that he stopped a nuclear war from breaking out between India and Pakistan.
"The United States is the most powerful Country in the World. I completely rebuilt its Military in my First Term, including new and many refurbished nuclear weapons. I also added Space Force and now, continue to rebuild our Military at levels never seen before. We are even adding Battleships, which are 100 times more powerful than the ones that roamed the Seas during World War II -- The Iowa, Missouri, Alabama, and others. I have stopped Nuclear Wars from breaking out across the World between Pakistan and India, Iran and Israel, and Russia and Ukraine," Trump posted.
The US President has claimed over 90 times that he stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan.&nbsp;
He has been making the assertion repeatedly, on various platforms in the US and around the world, since May 10 last year when he announced on social media that India and Pakistan agreed to a "full and immediate" ceasefire after a "long night" of talks mediated by Washington.&nbsp;
India has consistently denied any third-party intervention.&nbsp;

US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was sprayed with an unknown liquid at a town hall in Minneapolis as tensions over immigration enforcement and recent shootings continued to rise.

US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar attacked in Minneapolis after Trump vows to 'de-escalate'

US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was sprayed with an unknown liquid at a town hall in Minneapolis as tensions over immigration enforcement and recent shootings continued to rise.

As the White House worked to "de-escalate" tensions in Minneapolis Tuesday, a man sprayed Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar with a syringe of unknown liquid at a town hall meeting, where she called for curbing the Trump administration's anti-immigration crackdown.
The White House is also evaluating whether the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents who gunned down a nurse failed to follow "clear guidance" to "create a physical barrier between the arrest teams and the disruptors," deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told AFP.
"We are evaluating why the CBP team may not have been following that protocol," Miller said in a statement.
At the town hall Tuesday night, Omar had just spoken about the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and demanded that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem "resign or face impeachment," when a man sprang up from the front row, made a remark and sprayed the lawmaker, as security leapt to grab him.
Omar raised a fist and stepped toward the attacker before returning to the podium to say: "Here's the reality that people like this ugly man don't understand: We are Minnesota strong. And we will stay resilient in the face of whatever they might throw on us."
Omar is a frequent target of President Donald Trump -- who continues to defend Noem despite her oversight of federal immigration agents who shot and killed two US citizens this month, saying Noem would not step down and was doing a "very good job."
But after days of protests following 37-year-old Alex Pretti's death, Trump told Fox News "we're going to de-escalate a little bit," while adding that it was not a "pullback."
Trump also admitted that Gregory Bovino, a hardline Border Patrol commander who is now expected to leave Minneapolis, was "a pretty out-there kind of a guy" whose presence may not have helped the situation, and sent top US border security official Tom Homan to meet with officials in the city.
Trump told reporters that he rejected the "assassin" label used by a top aide to describe the 37-year-old nurse, adding that he wants "a very honorable and honest investigation."
But he criticized Pretti for carrying the licensed firearm that was taken off him before he was shot.
"I don't like that he had a gun, I don't like that he had two fully loaded magazines," the president said.
 - 'Pretty out there' -
After meeting with Homan Tuesday, Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement they discussed the "serious negative impacts this operation has had on Minneapolis," and the city "will not enforce federal immigration laws."
Just weeks after federal immigration agents shot and killed US citizen Renee Good in Minneapolis, Pretti's death sparked national outrage and added to a litany of complaints of abusive tactics.
Good, a mother of three, was shot by an agent at point blank range in her car on January 7.
The killings capped months of escalating violence in which masked, unidentified, and heavily armed ICE and border patrol agents have grabbed people they accuse of violations off the streets.
Despite multiple videos showing that Pretti posed no threat, Bovino and Noem initially claimed Pretti had intent to kill federal agents, calling him a "domestic terrorist."
 - 'Incompetent' -
Republican Senator Rand Paul said Tuesday that agents involved in the shooting should be put on administrative leave, later adding that the immigration enforcement leaders would testify before the Congress next month.
Centrist Democratic Senator John Fetterman said "grossly incompetent" Noem should be fired.
The turmoil could even result in a fresh US government shutdown, with Democrats calling for broad reforms to federal immigration operations at DHS and threatening to block approval of it funding, as part of the spending bills that go up for votes in the Senate later this week.
The judicial branch also pushed back on Trump's actions in Minneapolis Tuesday, when a US judge blocked the deportation of a five-year-old boy and his father who were detained last week in another incident that went viral.
Liam Conejo Ramos -- wearing a fluffy blue hat and his school backpack -- was photographed being detained by a federal agent, who school officials said was using the preschool student as "bait" to draw out his family, who are asylum seekers from Ecuador.
At a protest at the Minnesota State Capitol Tuesday, veteran Brian Furgen, 55, told AFP that Americans need immigration and customs enforcement agents who "know how to do the job without harming the community, without killing people, without hurting people, without imprisoning people that are law abiding."
"That's what they are doing here, that's ridiculous."

Officials from Ukraine, the United States and Russia will meet in the UAE for trilateral security talks following “useful” discussions between President Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow.

US, Ukrainian and Russian officials to meet in UAE, says Kremlin

Officials from Ukraine, the United States and Russia will meet in the UAE for trilateral security talks following &ldquo;useful&rdquo; discussions between President Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow.

Ukrainian, US and Russian officials will hold security talks in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, the Kremlin said, following a meeting of top US negotiators with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on a US-drafted plan to end the Ukraine war.
Diplomatic efforts to end Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II have gained pace in recent months, though Moscow and Kyiv remain at odds over the key issue of territory in a post-war settlement.
US negotiators, led by envoy Steve Witkoff, talked with the Russian leader in Moscow into the early hours of Friday, according to a Kremlin statement.
Kremlin diplomatic adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters their discussions had been "useful in every respect".
Witkoff and the US team are next flying to Abu Dhabi, where talks are expected to continue.
A Russian delegation, headed by General Igor Kostyukov, director of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, will also head there "in the coming hours", according to Ushakov.
"It was agreed that the first meeting of a trilateral working group on security issues will take place today in Abu Dhabi," Ushakov added.
"We are genuinely interested in resolving (the conflict) through political and diplomatic means," he said, but added: "Until that happens, Russia will continue to achieve its objectives... on the battlefield."
Witkoff previously said he believed the two sides were "down to one issue", without elaborating.
Video published by the Kremlin showed a smiling Putin shaking hands with Witkoff, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and White House advisor Josh Gruenbaum.
The high-stakes meeting came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a draft deal was "nearly, nearly ready" and that he and Trump had agreed on the issue of post-war security guarantees.
He also said the UK and France had already committed to forces on the ground.
Russia, which occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine, is pushing for full control of the country's eastern Donbas region as part of a deal.
But Kyiv has warned that ceding ground will embolden Moscow and says it will not sign a peace deal that fails to deter Russia from launching a renewed assault.
 - Europe 'fragmented' -
The full details of the upcoming talks in the United Arab Emirates have not been released, and it is not clear whether the Russian and Ukrainian officials will meet face-to-face.
Zelensky said these talks would last two days.
Trump repeated on Wednesday his oft-stated belief that Putin and Zelensky were close to a deal.
"I believe they're at a point now where they can come together and get a deal done. And if they don't, they're stupid -- that goes for both of them," he said after delivering a speech at Davos.
Zelensky, at his address in Davos, blasted the EU's lack of "political will" in countering Putin in a fiery address.
"Instead of becoming a truly global power, Europe remains a beautiful but fragmented kaleidoscope of small and middle powers," he said.
Trump's dramatic foreign policy pivots including a recent bid to take over Greenland -- an autonomous Danish territory -- have stirred worries in Europe about whether Washington can be trusted as a reliable security partner.
In his speech, Zelensky criticised Europe for pinning hopes on the United States defending them in case of aggression.
"Europe looks lost trying to convince the US President to change," Zelensky said.
Russian strikes this week have left most of Kyiv without electricity, with residents of 4,000 buildings without heat in sub-zero temperatures.
Russia, which launched its Ukraine offensive in February 2022, says its strikes are aimed at energy infrastructure fuelling Ukraine's "military-industrial complex".
Kyiv says the strikes are a war crime designed to wear down its civilian population into submission.

Venezuelan lawmakers have given initial approval to a bill opening the oil sector to private investors, a major shift from state control that could see US energy majors return amid warming ties with Washington.

Venezuela moves to open up oil sector, a key Trump demand

Venezuelan lawmakers have given initial approval to a bill opening the oil sector to private investors, a major shift from state control that could see US energy majors return amid warming ties with Washington.

Venezuelan lawmakers on Thursday gave their initial backing to plans to throw open the oil sector to private investors, paving the way for the return of US energy majors -- a key demand of President Donald Trump.
Less than three weeks after the US ouster of Nicolas Maduro, MPs endorsed on first reading a bill allowing private companies to independently engage in oil exploration and extraction.
If adopted on a second reading, the bill would roll back decades of state controls over Venezuela's oil sector, which were tightened by Maduro's late mentor, socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez, in the mid-2000s.
The bill has been promoted by Maduro's former deputy, acting president Delcy Rodriguez, who has overseen a lightning-fast thaw in ties with Washington since taking the helm.
On Thursday, Trump called her leadership "very strong" and said the United States is already taking a cut of Venezuela's oil.
"Our country will become richer and that means our taxes will be going down and they will do better -- Venezuela's going to do better than they've ever done," Trump said.
Another change unfolded in Caracas Thursday, with the United States confirming Laura F. Dogu -- a former ambassador to Nicaragua and Honduras -- as the new charge d'affaires to Venezuela.
That was seen as a step toward restoration of full diplomatic ties.
 - Warming relations -
Caracas and Washington severed relations after Maduro's first widely disputed claim to reelection in 2019.
Within days of Maduro's January 3 capture in Caracas, US diplomats travelled to the Venezuelan capital to discuss reopening the embassy.
Trump has boasted that he is working "really well" with Rodriguez, who was vice president and petroleum minister -- a position she still holds -- in Maduro's fiercely anti-US government.
On Wednesday, a senior US official said Rodriguez would soon visit the United States, despite still being under Washington sanctions.
Maduro was toppled after a monthslong US pressure campaign and flown to New York with his wife to face trial on drug trafficking charges.
Rodriguez has appeared ready to comply with Trump's open interest in Venezuela's oil.
"We are in a process of dialogue, of working with the United States, without fear," she said Wednesday.
 - Lost opportunities -
This week she ploughed $300 million from a US-brokered oil sale into propping up the ailing national currency, the bolivar.
The mere anticipation of the injection drove down the price of dollars, the currency in which many Venezuelans conduct their business.
But economists warned that true relief from spiraling prices would require a sustained influx of dollars -- which in turn requires foreign investment.
Venezuela has the world's largest proven reserves of oil but output has fallen from over three million barrels per day in the early 2000s to around 1.2 million today.
The energy reform bill before parliament ends a Chavez-era requirement for private companies to form joint ventures with state-owned oil firm PDVSA, which insisted on holding a majority.
"Having oil underground serves no purpose," parliament speaker Jorge Rodriguez, the interim president's brother, told lawmakers Thursday, urging them to back the reform.
"Every day that passes is a day lost and a day of (oil reserves) that we cannot use."
To win the support of both Venezuelans and Washington, Delcy Rodriguez needs to quickly show improvements in the economy and signal an end to a decade of worsening repression under Maduro.
In the past two weeks, her government has slowly freed dozens of political prisoners from the hundreds behind bars.
On Thursday, authorities released the son-in-law of opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who was serving a 30-year sentence on terrorism charges.
Gonzalez Urrutia, in exile in Spain, is widely considered the rightful winner of Venezuela's 2024 election.
His son-in-law Rafael Tudares was arrested by masked men in January 2025 while heading to school with his two children.
Since Maduro's ouster, Trump has ramped up pressure on another Latin American arch-foe, communist Cuba, a longtime Venezuela ally.
Trump has vowed to cut off all oil supplies to Cuba, which has relied for years on heavily-subsidized Venezuelan oil and cash to remain afloat.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said Thursday he spoke by telephone with Rodriguez to express his "support and solidarity."

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned the United States that their forces are on high alert amid nationwide protests, even as President Donald Trump said Washington is keeping military pressure while remaining open to talks.

Iran warns 'finger on trigger' as Trump says Tehran wants talks

Iran&rsquo;s Revolutionary Guards warned the United States that their forces are on high alert amid nationwide protests, even as President Donald Trump said Washington is keeping military pressure while remaining open to talks.

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned Washington Thursday that the force had its "finger on the trigger" in the wake of mass protests, as US President Donald Trump said Tehran still appeared interested in talks.
Trump has repeatedly left open the option of new military action against Iran after Washington backed and joined Israel's 12-day war in June aimed at degrading Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
Trump said Thursday a US naval "armada" was heading toward the Gulf, adding: "We're watching Iran."
A fortnight of protests starting in late December shook Iran's clerical leadership under supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but the movement has petered out in the face of a crackdown that activists say killed thousands, accompanied by an unprecedented internet blackout.
The prospect of immediate American action against Tehran appears to have receded, with both sides insisting on giving diplomacy a chance.
On his way back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Trump told reporters on Air Force One the United States was sending a "massive fleet" toward Iran "just in case."
"I'd rather not see anything happen but we're watching them very closely," he added.
In a standoff marked by seesawing rhetoric, Trump had on Tuesday warned Iran's leaders the United States would "wipe them off the face of this Earth" if there was any attack on his life in response to a strike targeting Khamenei.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a speech Thursday accused the United States and Israel of stoking the protests as a "cowardly revenge... for the defeat in the 12-Day War".
 - 'Legitimate targets' -
Guards commander General Mohammad Pakpour warned Israel and the United States "to avoid any miscalculations, by learning from historical experiences and what they learned in the 12-day imposed war, so that they do not face a more painful and regrettable fate".
"The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and dear Iran have their finger on the trigger, more prepared than ever, ready to carry out the orders and measures of the supreme commander-in-chief," he said.
Pakpour's comments came in a written statement quoted by state television marking the national day in Iran to celebrate the Guards, whose mission is to protect the 1979 Islamic revolution from internal and external threats.
Activists accuse the Guards of playing a frontline role in the deadly crackdown on protests.
The group is sanctioned as a terrorist entity by countries including Australia, Canada and the United States, and campaigners have long urged similar moves from the EU and UK.
Another senior military figure, General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi who leads the Iranian joint command headquarters, meanwhile warned that if America attacked, "all US interests, bases and centres of influence" would be "legitimate targets" for Iran's armed forces.
 - Real toll? -
Giving their first official toll from the protests, Iranian authorities on Wednesday said 3,117 people were killed.
The statement from Iran's foundation for martyrs and veterans sought to draw a distinction between "martyrs", members of security forces or innocent bystanders, and what it called US-backed "rioters".
Of its toll of 3,117, it said 2,427 people were "martyrs".
Pezeshkian said Thursday that protest "is the natural right of citizens", but a distinction had to be drawn between protesters "whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent people".
However, rights groups say the heavy toll was caused by security forces firing directly on protesters and that the actual number of dead could be far higher, even more than 20,000.
Efforts to confirm the scale of the toll have been hampered by the national internet shutdown, with monitor Netblocks saying Thursday the blackout had surpassed "two full weeks".
"All the evidence gradually emerging from inside Iran shows that the real number of people killed in the protests is far higher than the official figure," said the director of the Iran Human Rights NGO Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, saying the authorities' toll has "no credibility whatsoever".
Warning that their own current tolls do not reflect the true number of fatalities, IHR says it has verified at least 3,428 killings. Another NGO, US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), has documented 4,902 deaths.
According to HRANA, at least 26,541 people have been arrested. On Thursday alone, state TV announced over 200 more arrests in provinces including Kermanshah in the west and Isfahan in central Iran.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s claim that “Canada lives because of the United States,” asserting Canada’s independence and resilience.

Carney answers Trump: 'Canada doesn't live because of US'

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pushed back against US President Donald Trump&rsquo;s claim that &ldquo;Canada lives because of the United States,&rdquo; asserting Canada&rsquo;s independence and resilience.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hit back Thursday at President Donald Trump's inflammatory claim at the World Economic Forum that "Canada lives because of the United States."
"Canada doesn't live because of the United States. Canada thrives because we are Canadian," Carney responded in a national address in Quebec City ahead of a new legislative session, even as he acknowledged the "remarkable partnership" between the two nations.
Trump appeared to shoot back later Thursday on his Truth Social platform, withdrawing an invitation for Canada to join the "Board of Peace" -- his self-styled billion-dollar body for resolving global conflict.
A government source told AFP Monday that Canada will not pay to be on the board, although Carney had indicated he would accept an invitation to join.
The rhetorical back-and-forth between the two leaders underscores growing tensions between the allied nations.
Carney's speech on Thursday followed his remarks at the forum of political and financial elites in Davos, Switzerland, where he won a standing ovation for his frank assessment of a "rupture" in the US-led, rules-based global order.
That speech on Tuesday, which made world headlines, was widely viewed as a reference to Trump's disruptive influence on international affairs, although he was not mentioned by name.
Carney told Davos that middle powers like Canada who had prospered through the era of an "American hegemon" needed to realize that a new reality had set in, and that "compliance" would not shelter them from major power aggression.
Trump took umbrage, and taunted Carney during his own speech a day later.
"I watched your prime minister yesterday. He wasn't so grateful," the US president said on Wednesday.
"Canada lives because of the United States. Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements."
 - Alliances 'redefined, broken' -
In Carney's speech on Thursday, aimed at a domestic audience, he said that Canada should serve as a model in an era of "democratic decline."
"Canada can't solve all the world's problems, but we can show that another way is possible, that the arc of history isn't destined to be warped towards authoritarianism and exclusion," the prime minister said.
While Carney has not been shy of criticizing Trump since he took office nine months ago, he heads a country that remains heavily reliant on trade with the United States, the destination for more than three quarters of Canadian exports.
Key Canadian sectors like auto, aluminum and steel have been hit hard by Trump's global sectoral tariffs but the impacts of the levies have been muted by the president's broad adherence to an existing North American free trade agreement.
Negotiations on revising that deal are set for the start of this year and Trump has repeatedly insisted the United States doesn't need access to any Canadian products -- which would have sweeping consequences for its northern neighbor.
Trump has also repeatedly threatened to annex Canada, and this week posted an image on social media of a map with Canada -- as well as Greenland and Venezuela - covered by the American flag.
On Thursday, Carney said Canada was not under any "illusions" about the precarious state of global relations.
"The world is more divided. Former alliances are being redefined and, in some cases, broken."
Citing his government's plans to ramp up defense spending, Carney said "we must defend our sovereignty (and) secure our borders."
Canada, he further said, has a mandate "to be a beacon, an example to a world that's at sea."

US President Donald Trump says a US naval armada is heading toward the Gulf to keep pressure on Iran, even as he downplays the likelihood of immediate military action.

Trump says US still watching Iran, fleet sailing to region

US President Donald Trump says a US naval armada is heading toward the Gulf to keep pressure on Iran, even as he downplays the likelihood of immediate military action.

President Donald Trump said Thursday a US naval "armada" was heading toward the Gulf, maintaining pressure on Iran although he has recently downplayed the prospect of imminent military action.
Last week, Trump pulled back from a threat to strike Iran over its deadly crackdown on anti-government protests after the White House said Tehran had halted planned executions of demonstrators.
But the Republican president on Thursday confirmed continuing military preparations. US media have reported in the past week that the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group was ordered from maneuvers in the South China Sea to the Middle East.
"We're watching Iran," Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
"You know we have a lot of ships going that direction, just in case... We have a big force going toward Iran," the president said.
"I'd rather not see anything happen but we're watching them very closely."
He described the force as "an armada" and "massive fleet," but added, "maybe we won't have to use it."
Trump reiterated that his threat to use force against Tehran had stopped 837 hangings of protesters. He also confirmed he was open to talking with Iran.
Iranian authorities on Wednesday gave their first official toll from the protests -- which appear to have ebbed in recent days -- saying 3,117 people were killed. Rights groups say the actual number of dead could be far higher.
Trump has repeatedly left open the option of new military action against Iran after Washington backed and joined Israel's 12-day war in June aimed at degrading the Islamic republic's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The US State Department announced a pause on immigrant visa processing for nationals of 75 “high-risk” countries, citing concerns over reliance on public benefits, effective January 21.

Immigrant visa pause for individuals from 75 'high-risk' countries does not include tourist, temporary visas

The US State Department announced a pause on immigrant visa processing for nationals of 75 &ldquo;high-risk&rdquo; countries, citing concerns over reliance on public benefits, effective January 21.

The Trump administration's latest pause on immigrant visas for individuals from 75 &ldquo;high-risk&rdquo; countries, including Bangladesh and Pakistan, does not apply to tourist or work visas and will impact those wishing to live permanently in the US.
The State Department on Wednesday issued a list of 75 countries that will face a pause in immigrant visa processing, saying migrants from these nations take welfare from the American people at &ldquo;unacceptable rates.&rdquo;
The move, the latest in the crackdown by the Trump administration on immigration, is aimed at curtailing the entry of foreigners likely to rely on public benefits while living in the US.
&ldquo;President Trump has made clear that immigrants must be financially self-sufficient and not be a financial burden to Americans. The Department of State is undergoing a full review of all policies, regulations, and guidance to ensure that immigrants from these high-risk countries do not utilise welfare in the United States or become a public charge,&rdquo; the State Department said in a statement.
Effective January 21, the Department of State is pausing all visa issuances to immigrant visa applicants who are nationals of countries including Afghanistan, Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Bhutan, Brazil, Burma, Cambodia, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Somalia, Syria, Thailand, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.
The department said that the pause does not apply to tourist visas and is specifically for immigrant visa applicants. &ldquo;Tourist visas are non-immigrant visas,&rdquo; it added.
An immigrant visa (IV) is issued to a person &ldquo;wishing to live permanently in the United States.&rdquo;
Immigrant visa categories include spouse of a US Citizen, fianc&eacute;(e) to marry a US Citizen and live in the US, certain family members of US citizens and lawful permanent residents, and certain employment-based immigrants who can live permanently in the US by applying for the Green Card and then getting US citizenship.
Nonimmigrant visas (NIV) are issued to individuals who have permanent residence outside the United States but seek to enter the country on a "temporary basis&rdquo; for tourism, medical treatment, business, temporary work or study.
The State Department further said that immigrant visa applicants who are nationals of affected countries may submit visa applications and attend interviews, and the Department will continue to schedule applicants for appointments, but &ldquo;no immigrant visas will be issued to these nationals during this pause.&rdquo;
Dual nationals applying with a valid passport of a country not on the list of 75 nations are exempt from this pause. The Department clarified that no immigrant visas have been revoked as part of this guidance.
In a post on X, the White House said the Trump administration will pause immigrant visa processing from the 75 countries until the US can ensure that &ldquo;incoming immigrants will not become a public charge or extract wealth from American taxpayers. AMERICA FIRST.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The State Department will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates. The freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people,&rdquo; the State Department said in a post on X Wednesday.
It added that it will pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.
&ldquo;The freeze will remain active until the US can ensure that new immigrants will not extract wealth from the American people. The pause impacts dozens of countries &ndash; including Somalia, Haiti, Iran, and Eritrea &ndash; whose immigrants often become public charges on the United States upon arrival. We are working to ensure the generosity of the American people will no longer be abused. The Trump administration will always put America First," the State Department added.

US Senate Republicans defeated a resolution that would have restricted President Trump’s authority to use military force in Venezuela, marking a setback for congressional oversight.

US Senate backs down on Venezuela war powers after Trump pressure

US Senate Republicans defeated a resolution that would have restricted President Trump&rsquo;s authority to use military force in Venezuela, marking a setback for congressional oversight.

Republicans in the US Senate on Wednesday dealt an all-but-certain defeat to a rare war powers resolution that would have curbed President Donald Trump's authority to use military force in Venezuela.
The measure advanced in a procedural vote last week after five Republican senators joined Democrats in support -- a stunning setback for Trump after he ordered a strike that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
The vote was widely seen as a rebuke of the Republican president's Venezuela operation, which he authorized without notifying members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Trump lashed out at the defectors on social media within hours and the White House mounted an aggressive lobbying campaign to sink the resolution.
On Wednesday, Senate Republicans deployed a procedural maneuver -- stripping the resolution of its "privileged" status, which would have allowed passage by simple majority -- arguing that the rule did not apply because there are no ongoing hostilities.
That makes success in any final approval vote a near impossibility. Republicans have a 53-47 Senate majority, meaning there are not enough Democrats to push it past its new 60-vote threshold.
"Trump claims his war in Venezuela is righteous. If that's the case, why is he browbeating his party into using a procedural scheme to avoid a debate and vote in Congress in front of the American people?" said Democrat Tim Kaine.
The Virginia senator spearheaded the resolution after US special forces captured Maduro in Caracas on January 3, saying it was meant to reaffirm Congress's constitutional power to declare war.
It would have required Trump to seek congressional approval before taking further military action in Venezuela.
 - Line in the sand -
Two of the five Republicans who backed it last week ultimately reversed course, US media reported, after receiving reassurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that there are no plans for boots on the ground and that Congress would be properly consulted if that changed.
After the preliminary vote, Trump declared the five should "never be elected to office again."
But even if the resolution had cleared the Senate, it was largely symbolic: it faced near-certain defeat in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and would have required a two-thirds majority in both chambers to override a Trump veto.
Democrats had cast it as a constitutional line in the sand after what they called months of misleading briefings -- including assurances as recently as November that the administration had no plans for strikes on Venezuelan soil.
The White House argued the raid was legally justified as part of a broader campaign against transnational drug trafficking, framing it as a fight against cartels designated as terrorist organizations.
The five defectors initially warned that the operation could lead to deeper US involvement unless Congress reasserted its role.
But Trump thundered on his Truth Social platform that their push "greatly hampers" US national security and impedes his authority as commander in chief.
He has since warned that US involvement in Venezuela could last years, and posted a meme showing him as "Acting President of Venezuela."
Since Trump returned to office, war powers resolutions on Venezuela have been rejected four times in Congress.
Over the last century, only one congressional measure has successfully imposed a lasting limit on unilateral presidential military action abroad: the War Powers Resolution of 1973, passed over then-president Richard Nixon's veto.

US President Donald Trump said killings and executions in Iran have reportedly stopped amid protests, though he left the possibility of military action open, as global concern mounts over repression and human rights abuses.

Trump says Iran killings stopped, Tehran says 'no plan for hanging'

US President Donald Trump said killings and executions in Iran have reportedly stopped amid protests, though he left the possibility of military action open, as global concern mounts over repression and human rights abuses.

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.
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.
 - '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 Ayatollah 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," while the US embassy in Saudi Arabia urged staff to exercise caution and avoid military installations.
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 Islamic 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.
Amnesty International accused authorities of committing mass unlawful killings "on an unprecedented scale," citing verified videos and eyewitness accounts.
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.

US President Donald Trump struck a more conciliatory tone on Greenland after senior Danish and Greenlandic officials met top US leaders, though Copenhagen said Washington’s position on controlling the island remains unchanged.

Trump says Greenland will 'work out' after Denmark fails to bridge gap

US President Donald Trump struck a more conciliatory tone on Greenland after senior Danish and Greenlandic officials met top US leaders, though Copenhagen said Washington&rsquo;s position on controlling the island remains unchanged.

US President Donald Trump held open the possibility Wednesday for a resolution on his designs over Greenland after Denmark's top diplomat said he failed to change the administration's mind on wanting to conquer the island.
The foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland, an autonomous territory under Copenhagen's sovereignty, met at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a meeting the visitors had requested to clear up "misunderstandings" after Trump's bellicose language toward the fellow NATO member.
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."
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."
He said the issue was "very emotional" for the people of Greenland and Denmark, a steadfast US ally whose troops died alongside Americans in Afghanistan and, controversially, Iraq.
"Ideas that would not respect territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right of self-determination of the Greenlandic people are, of course, totally unacceptable," Lokke said.
He nonetheless said the tone was "constructive" and said the sides would form a committee that would meet within weeks to see if there was possible headway.
Referring to the British prime minister who trumpeted his diplomacy with Hitler, Lokke said, "I am not a Chamberlain to say "Peace for our time," but we must seize the opportunities that present themselves."
 - Mocking tone -
While the talks were underway, the White House posted on X: "Which way, Greenland man?"
The post included a drawing of two dogsleds -- one heading towards the White House and a huge US flag, and the other towards Chinese and Russian flags over a lightning-bathed Kremlin and Great Wall of China.
Neither country has claimed Greenland, and Lokke said no Chinese ship had been spotted there in a decade and that there were no major Chinese investments.
Denmark promised ahead of the meeting to ramp up its military presence further in the vast, sparsely populated and strategically located island.
Trump has derided recent Danish efforts to increase security for Greenland as amounting to "two dogsleds." Denmark says it has invested almost $14 billion in Arctic security.
Denmark also announced immediate military exercises that will include aircraft, vessels and soldiers, with Sweden also participating.
In another show of solidarity with Denmark following Trump's threats, Germany and France both said Wednesday they will send troops to Greenland. German's defense ministry said it would send a 13-person team.
 - Signs of relief -
On the quiet streets of the capital Nuuk, red and white Greenlandic flags flew in shop windows, on apartment balconies, and on cars and buses, in a show of national unity during the talks.
Ivaana Egede Larsen, 43, said she felt relief that the meeting appeared to be cordial.
"I am more calm now, and I feel more safe. I had felt very much unsafe lately," she said.
In Copenhagen, Thomas Fallesen, 56, voiced similar sentiments.
"They are now at least talking together instead of talking through the press. I think it's a very positive thing," he said.
Vance, who slammed Denmark as a "bad ally" during an uninvited visit to Greenland last year, is known for a hard edge, which was on display when he publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office last February.
Wednesday's meeting, however, was closed to the press, meaning there was no on-camera confrontation.
Trump has appeared emboldened on Greenland -- which he views as in the US backyard -- since ordering a deadly January 3 attack in Venezuela that removed president Nicolas Maduro.

US President Donald Trump said a deal to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is closer than ever after talks with Ukrainian and Russian leaders, but major disagreements over territory remain.

Trump says Ukraine peace deal closer, territory dispute unresolved

US President Donald Trump said a deal to end Russia&rsquo;s invasion of Ukraine is closer than ever after talks with Ukrainian and Russian leaders, but major disagreements over territory remain.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that a deal was closer than ever to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine but reported no apparent breakthrough on the flashpoint issue of territory after new talks with the warring countries' leaders.
Trump, who had promised a peace deal on day one of his nearly year-old presidency, said it would become clear within weeks whether it was possible to end the war that has killed tens of thousands of people since February 2022.
In a pre-New Year's diplomatic sprint, Trump brought Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Florida, where the two met with top aides over lunch, a day after Russia unleashed major new attacks on residential areas of the capital Kyiv.
Much like when Zelensky last met Trump in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke shortly beforehand by telephone with the US leader, who immediately insisted that Moscow was "serious" about peace despite the assault.
"I really believe we're, Mr. President, probably closer than -- far closer than -- ever before with both parties," Trump said with Zelensky at his side in the tea room of his Mar-a-Lago estate.
"Everybody wants it ended," Trump said.
After their talks, Zelensky and Trump spoke jointly by telephone with key European leaders, who have been particularly alarmed about any decisions that would embolden Russia.
Zelensky said that he and European leaders could return jointly for talks with Trump in Washington in January.
The Ukrainian president stayed studiously polite throughout his visit, mindful of his disastrous White House meeting on February 28 where Trump and Vice President JD Vance publicly berated him for not being sufficiently grateful.
 - Territory impasse -
Trump, for all his stated optimism, gave few details on the progress he cited, instead digressing into familiar grievances about his predecessor Joe Biden, who committed billions of dollars for Ukraine's defense, and speaking of his own friendly rapport with Putin.
Trump acknowledged continued disagreement between Kyiv and Moscow on territory. The current plan, revised after weeks of intense US-Ukrainian negotiations, would stop the war at the current frontlines in the eastern Donbas region and set up a demilitarized area, while Russia has long demanded territorial concessions.
"It's unresolved, but it's getting a lot closer. That's a very tough issue, but one that I think will get resolved," Trump said.
Trump offered to address the Ukrainian parliament to promote the plan &nbsp;-- an idea, however unlikely, that Zelensky was quick to welcome.
Zelensky has voiced an openness to the revised US plan, marking Kyiv's most explicit acknowledgement yet of possible territorial concessions, although Ukrainians voters would need to approve it in a referendum.
By contrast, Russia has shown no signs of compromise, as it sees hope in the grinding gains it has made over four years against tough Ukrainian defenses.
The Kremlin in its readout of talks between Putin and Trump called on Kyiv to make a "brave decision" and immediately withdraw troops from Donbas, casting European leaders as the impediment to peace.
"Russia and the United States share the same position which is that the Ukrainian and European proposal for a temporary ceasefire (...) would only prolong the conflict and lead to a resumption of hostilities," the Kremlin's diplomatic advisor Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
 - '90 percent' agreed by Ukraine -
Trump's advisors have previously floated the idea of offering NATO-like security guarantees to Ukraine, meaning in theory that the alliance's members would respond militarily if Russia attacks again.
Zelensky said that the peace framework laid out by Trump was "90 percent agreed" and that "US-Ukraine security guarantees: 100 percent agreed."
Zelensky said the two sides were still finalizing a "prosperity plan" for Ukraine as well as the sequencing of the various actions.
Russia had adamantly rejected any entrance of the former Soviet republic into NATO.
In its latest assault with drones and missiles, Russia knocked out power and heating to hundreds of thousands of residents during freezing temperatures.
"If the authorities in Kyiv don't want to settle this business peacefully, we'll resolve all the problems before us by military means," Putin said on Saturday.

US President Donald Trump says American forces carried out deadly Christmas Day airstrikes on ISIS militants in northwestern Nigeria, with Nigerian authorities confirming precision attacks on terrorist targets.

US launches Christmas Day strikes on IS targets in Nigeria

US President Donald Trump says American forces carried out deadly Christmas Day airstrikes on ISIS militants in northwestern Nigeria, with Nigerian authorities confirming precision attacks on terrorist targets.

President Donald Trump said US forces conducted "powerful and deadly" strikes Thursday against Islamic State militants in northwestern Nigeria, weeks after he warned against any systemic assault on Christians in the country.
The Nigerian foreign ministry early Friday confirmed the air strikes, describing them as "precision hits on terrorist targets" in the country.
The Department of Defense's US Africa Command said "multiple ISIS terrorists" were killed in an attack in Sokoto state conducted at the request of Nigerian authorities, but few details were provided and it was not clear how many people died.
The strikes hit IS targets on Christmas Day, according to Trump.
"I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was," he said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
<iframe class="truthsocial-embed" style="max-width: 100%; border: 0;" src="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/115782683955516402/embed" width="600" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
&nbsp;
"May God Bless our Military," he said, adding provocatively, "MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues."
The attacks mark the first by US forces in Nigeria under Trump, and come after the Republican leader unexpectedly berated the west African nation in October and November, saying Christians there faced an "existential threat" that amounted to "genocide" amid Nigeria's myriad armed conflicts.
That diplomatic offensive was welcomed by some but interpreted by others as inflaming religious tensions in Africa's most populous country, which has seen bouts of sectarian violence in the past.
Nigeria's government and independent analysts reject framing the country's violence in terms of religious persecution -- a narrative long used by the Christian right in the United States and Europe.
But Trump, spotlighting what his administration says is global persecution of Christians, stressed last month that Washington was ready to take military action in Nigeria -- with "guns-a-blazing" -- to counter such killings.
 - 'Grateful' for cooperation -
The Nigerian foreign ministry said the country was engaged with international partners against terrorism.
"Nigerian authorities remain engaged in structured security cooperation with international partners, including the United States of America, in addressing the persistent threat of terrorism and violent extremism," the ministry said in a statement on Friday.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth took to X to say he was "grateful for Nigerian government support &amp; cooperation."
The United States this year placed Nigeria back on the list of countries of "particular concern" regarding religious freedom, and has restricted the issuance of visas to Nigerians.
Trump last month also threatened to stop all aid to Abuja if it "continues to allow the killing of Christians."
Nigeria is almost evenly divided between a Muslim-majority north and largely Christian south.
Its northeast has been in the grip of jihadist violence for more than 15 years by the Islamist Boko Haram group, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives and displaced two million people.
At the same time, large parts of the country's northwest, north and center have been hit by criminal gangs known as "bandits" who attack villages, killing and kidnapping residents.
On Wednesday an explosion ripped through a mosque in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, killing at least seven worshippers. No armed groups immediately claimed responsibility.

Freshly released Jeffrey Epstein documents mention Donald Trump’s past ties and private jet travel, as the Justice Department dismisses several allegations as false and sensational.

New Epstein files reference Trump, justice department calls some claims untrue

Freshly released Jeffrey Epstein documents mention Donald Trump&rsquo;s past ties and private jet travel, as the Justice Department dismisses several allegations as false and sensational.

A new batch of Jeffrey Epstein files released Tuesday contains numerous references to President Donald Trump, including documents detailing flights he took on his then friend's private jet, and other claims that his Justice Department described as "untrue and sensationalist."
The latest release contains reams of previously unseen material from the investigation into Epstein, a wealthy US financier who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking underage girls.
A first collection of heavily redacted files made public last Friday sparked criticism that the Justice Department was deliberately excluding references to Trump.
Trump figures prominently, however, in the thousands of documents published on Tuesday, underlining his close ties to the disgraced financier who was already a convicted sex offender when the more serious trafficking case began.
The Justice Department issued a statement defending the 79-year-old Republican shortly after the files dropped, saying some documents "contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump."
Trump, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, fought for months to prevent release of the vast trove of documents about Epstein.
But a rebellion inside Trump's Republican Party forced him to sign off on a law mandating release of all the documents.
The extraordinary move reflected intense political pressure to address what many Americans, including Trump's own supporters, have long suspected to be a cover-up to protect rich and powerful men in Epstein's orbit.
 - Private jet trips -
Trump said Monday he did not approve of the file dumps, expressing concern that people who "innocently met" Epstein over the years risked having their reputations smeared.
"Everybody was friendly with this guy," he said.
He did not immediately react to Tuesday's release.
Despite attempts to distance himself, Trump was friends for years with Epstein and has given different accounts of how he ended their relationship.
Most recently, he said he threw him out of his Florida golf club for being "a creep."
However, he has also said they fell out when Epstein "stole" young women working in the spa at his club.
The latest documents add to evidence that Trump was close to Epstein.
They include a January 2020 note from New York federal prosecutors who were investigating Epstein's associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, detailing Trump's repeated travel -- eight trips between 1993 and 1996 -- on the financier's private jet.
"Records we received yesterday reflect that Donald Trump traveled on Epstein's private jet many more times than previously has been reported (or that we were aware)," it says.
One flight reportedly had just three passengers: Epstein, Trump and an unidentified 20-year-old.
 - Delays -
One Trump reference was swiftly disputed by the Department of Justice.
A handwritten letter released in Tuesday's tranche was purportedly written by Epstein, while in jail, to Larry Nassar, the former US gymnastics doctor who was imprisoned over rampant abuse of female athletes.
Epstein is shown complaining to Nassar that they are incarcerated while the "president shares our love of young, nubile girls. When a young beauty walked by he loved to 'grab snatch.'"
In a statement the DOJ said the FBI "has confirmed this alleged letter from Jeffrey Epstein to Larry Nassar is FAKE," saying it was postmarked three days after Epstein's death, and entered the mail system in Virginia, despite him being jailed in New York.
Trump critics say the government continues to slow-walk the release of embarrassing material.
At least two emails in the cache mention 10 unidentified "co-conspirators" of Epstein, and Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called for the Justice Department to look into potential Epstein accomplices.
"The Department of Justice needs to shed more light on who was on the list, how they were involved, and why they chose not to prosecute," the senator said.
Maxwell, Epstein's former girlfriend, remains the only person convicted in connection with his crimes.

US President Donald Trump asserts he prevented a nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan, claiming Pakistan’s leadership credited him with saving millions of lives.

Trump Claims Credit for Preventing Indo-Pak Nuclear Crisis

Trump's Claims on Indo-Pak Conflict

US President Donald Trump asserts he prevented a nuclear conflict between India and Pakistan, claiming Pakistan&rsquo;s leadership credited him with saving millions of lives.

US President Donald Trump has repeated his claim of resolving the India-Pakistan conflict and asserted that Islamabad's leadership credited him for saving millions of lives.
"We stopped a potential nuclear war between Pakistan and India. And the head of Pakistan, a highly respected General, he's a Field Marshal and also the Prime Minister of Pakistan, said President Trump saved 10 million lives, maybe more...,&rdquo; Trump said Monday.
He made these remarks at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, flanked by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Navy Secretary John Phelan, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
&ldquo;You know, eight planes were shot down. That war was starting to rage, and he actually said the other day that President Trump saved 10 million lives, maybe more. So we solved all these wars. The only one I haven't solved yet is Russia, Ukraine,&rdquo; he said.
Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a &ldquo;full and immediate&rdquo; ceasefire after a &ldquo;long night&rdquo; of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he &ldquo;helped settle&rdquo; the tensions between the two neighbours.
New Delhi has consistently denied any third-party intervention.
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians.
India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.&nbsp;

donald trump

Categories