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US President Donald Trump urged Iranians on Tuesday to keep protesting against the country’s theocratic leadership, telling them “help is on its way” as international outrage grows over a crackdown one rights group said has likely killed thousands.Iranian authorities insisted they had regained control of the country after successive nights of mass protests nationwide since Thursday that have posed one of the biggest challenges to the clerical leadership since it came to power in the 1979 Islamic revolution.Rights groups accuse the government of fatally shooting protesters and masking the scale of the crackdown with an internet blackout that has now surpassed the five-day mark.New videos on social media, whose location AFP verified, showed bodies lined up in the Kahrizak morgue just south of the Iranian capital, with the corpses wrapped in black bags and distraught relatives searching for loved ones.International phone links were restored on Tuesday, but only for outgoing calls, according to an AFP journalist, and the quality remained spotty, with frequent interruptions.Trump, who has repeatedly threatened Iran with military intervention, said Iranians should continue their nationwide protests, take over institutions and record the names of “killers and abusers”.”Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”It was not immediately clear what meetings he was referring to or what the nature of the help would be.European nations also signalled their anger, with France, Germany and the United Kingdom among the countries that summoned their Iranian ambassadors to protest what French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called “state violence unquestioningly unleashed on peaceful protesters”.The European Union also summoned Iran’s ambassador in Brussels.”The rising number of casualties in Iran is horrifying,” said EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, vowing further sanctions against those responsible.- ‘In the thousands’ -The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 734 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, but warned the death toll was likely far higher.”The figures we publish are based on information received from fewer than half of the country’s provinces and fewer than 10 percent of Iran’s hospitals. The real number of those killed is likely in the thousands,” IHR’s director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said.Fears have also grown that the Islamic republic could use the death penalty to crack down on the protests, after Tehran prosecutors said Iranian authorities would press capital charges of “moharebeh”, or “waging war against God”, against some suspects arrested over recent demonstrations.”Concerns are mounting that authorities will once again resort to swift trials and arbitrary executions to crush and deter dissent,” Amnesty International said.IHR highlighted the case of Erfan Soltani, 26, who was arrested last week in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj and who, according to a family source, has already been sentenced to death and is due to be executed as early as Wednesday.Iranian state media has said dozens of members of the security forces have been killed, with their funerals turning into large pro-government rallies. Authorities have declared three days of national mourning for those killed.Authorities in Tehran have announced a mass funeral ceremony in the capital on Wednesday for the “martyrs” of recent days.Amir, an Iraqi computer scientist, returned to Baghdad on Monday and described dramatic scenes in Tehran.”On Thursday night, my friends and I saw protesters in Tehran’s Sarsabz neighbourhood amid a heavy military presence. The police were firing rubber bullets,” he told AFP in Iraq.- ‘Last days’ -The government on Monday sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed as proof that the protest movement was defeated, calling them a “warning” to the United States. In power since 1989 and now aged 86, Khamenei has faced significant challenges, most recently the 12-day war in June against Israel, which resulted in the killing of top security officials and forced him to go into hiding.”When a regime can only hold on to power through violence, then it is effectively finished,” said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a trip to India. “I believe that we are now witnessing the last days and weeks of this regime.”Analysts, however, have cautioned that it is premature to predict the immediate demise of the theocratic system, pointing to the repressive levers the leadership controls, including the Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is charged with safeguarding the Islamic revolution.”These protests arguably represent the most serious challenge to the Islamic republic in years, both in scale and in their increasingly explicit political demands,” Nicole Grajewski, professor at the Sciences Po Centre for International Studies in Paris, told AFP.She said it was unclear if the protests would unseat the leadership, pointing to “the sheer depth and resilience of Iran’s repressive apparatus”.

Republicans moved Tuesday to hold former US president Bill Clinton in criminal contempt after he skipped a subpoenaed deposition in the congressional investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — marking a sharp escalation in a politically charged inquiry.The Republican-led House Oversight Committee said it would begin contempt proceedings next week after the 79-year-old Democrat did not show up for closed-door testimony scheduled for Tuesday morning. The panel is also threatening similar action against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who is due to testify Wednesday but is also expected to be a no-show.The pressure comes as President Donald Trump faces mounting calls for transparency, with the Justice Department angering his supporters — many of whom believe Epstein was murdered in a cover-up — by releasing only a sliver of case files nearly a month past the legal deadline.”As a result of Bill Clinton not showing up for his lawful subpoena — which was voted unanimously by the committee in a bipartisan manner — we will move next week… to hold former President Clinton in contempt of Congress,” committee chairman James Comer told reporters.In an eight-page letter to Comer, the Clintons said they did not plan to appear for the depositions, describing the moment as one requiring resistance “no matter the consequences.”Invoking contempt against a former president is rare and would represent a significant step by House Republicans. Any contempt resolution would require approval by the full House before being referred to the Justice Department, which ultimately decides whether to prosecute. Criminal contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and fines of up to $100,000, though referrals are unevenly enforced.The Oversight Committee is investigating Epstein’s ties to powerful figures and how information about his crimes was handled by US authorities. – Conspiracy theories -Epstein, once a friend and associate of Trump and other high-profile figures, was convicted of sex crimes and later jailed pending trial for allegedly trafficking underage girls.The financier died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial, a death officially ruled a suicide but long the subject of conspiracy theories amplified by Trump’s supporters.The Clintons were subpoenaed in August alongside other current and former officials, including former FBI director James Comey. Their depositions were initially scheduled for October, then delayed twice — once after Clinton said he needed to attend a funeral. Clinton’s spokesman Angel Urena has accused Comer of singling out the former president, saying his legal team offered the same terms accepted for other witnesses. Hillary Clinton’s office has questioned why she was subpoenaed at all, saying the committee had failed to explain the relevance of her testimony.The dispute comes amid controversy over the Trump administration’s handling of Epstein-related records. Weeks after a legal deadline to release the Epstein files, the Justice Department has offered up only one percent of the total archive, angering Trump supporters who had expected sweeping disclosures.Those documents included multiple photographs of Bill Clinton from the early 2000s. The former president has acknowledged traveling on Epstein’s private plane during Clinton Foundation trips before the financier was charged with any sex crimes, but denies wrongdoing and says he cut ties years before Epstein’s 2006 arrest.No evidence has emerged implicating either Bill or Hillary Clinton in criminal conduct related to Epstein.Contempt of Congress has taken on greater weight in recent years. Two Trump allies were jailed for defying subpoenas during the investigation into the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol — underscoring that defiance can carry real legal consequences.

Greenland would choose to remain Danish over a US takeover, its leader said Tuesday, ahead of crunch White House talks on the future of the Arctic island which President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened.Trump has been talking up the idea of buying or annexing the autonomous territory for years, and further stoked tensions this week by saying the United States would take it “one way or the other”.”We are now facing a geopolitical crisis, and if we have to choose between the United States and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark,” Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said at a press conference.”One thing must be clear to everyone: Greenland does not want to be owned by the United States. Greenland does not want to be governed by the United States. Greenland does not want to be part of the United States.”He was speaking alongside Danish leader Mette Frederiksen, who said it had not been easy to stand up to what she slammed as “completely unacceptable pressure from our closest ally”.”However, there are many indications that the most challenging part is ahead of us,” Frederiksen said.Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt are to meet US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday to discuss Greenland’s future.Lokke said they had requested a meeting with Rubio, and Vance had asked to take part and host it at the White House.Vance made an uninvited visit to the island in March where he criticised Denmark for what he said was a lack of commitment to Greenland and security in the Arctic, and called it a “bad ally”.The comments enraged Copenhagen, which has been an ardent trans-Atlantic supporter and which has sent troops to fight US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.- ‘Misunderstandings’ -For Nuuk and Copenhagen, Wednesday’s meeting at the White House is aimed at ironing out “misunderstandings”. These relate to Greenland’s defence, Chinese and Russian military presence in the Arctic, and the relationship between Greenland and Copenhagen, which together with the Faroe Islands make up the Kingdom of Denmark. “To the uninformed American listener, the ongoing (independence) talks between Denmark and Greenland might have been construed as if Greenland’s secession from Denmark was imminent,” said Greenland specialist Mikaela Engell.For these listeners, “I can understand that, in this situation, it would be better for the Americans to take hold of that strategic place”, the former Danish representative on the island told AFP.But this “discussion has been going on for years and years and it has never meant that Greenland was on its way out the door”, she stressed.Denmark’s foreign minister said the reason Copenhagen and Nuuk had requested Wednesday’s meeting was “to move the entire discussion… into a meeting room, where you can look each other in the eye and talk through these issues”. Greenland’s location is highly strategic, lying on the shortest route for missiles between Russia and the United States. It is therefore a crucial part of the US anti-missile shield.Washington has accused Copenhagen of doing little to protect Greenland from what it perceives as a growing Arctic threat from Russia and China, though analysts suggest Beijing is a small player in the region.Denmark’s government has rejected US claims, recalling that it has invested almost 90 billion kroner ($14 billion) to beef up its military presence in the Arctic.The Danish prime minister on Tuesday called for stronger cooperation with the US and NATO to improve the region’s security.She also called for NATO to defend Greenland, and said that security guarantees would be “the best defence against Chinese or Russian threats in the Arctic”.Diplomats at NATO say some Alliance members have floated the idea of launching a new mission in the region, although no concrete proposals are yet on the table.Rutte said on Monday that NATO was working on “the next steps” to bolster Arctic security.Greenland’s foreign minister and Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen are to meet NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte on January 19 to discuss the issue. “We are now moving forward with the whole issue of a more permanent, larger presence in Greenland from the Danish defence forces but also with the participation of other countries,” Lund Poulsen told reporters.

US President Donald Trump urged Iranians on Tuesday to keep protesting against the country’s theocratic leadership, telling them “help is on its way” as international outrage grows over a crackdown rights groups say has left at least hundreds dead.Iranian authorities insisted they had regained control after successive nights of mass protests nationwide since Thursday that have posed one of the biggest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted the shah.Rights groups accuse the government of gunning down protesters and masking the scale of the crackdown with an internet blackout that has now lasted almost five days.New videos on social media, whose location AFP verified, showed bodies lined up in the Kahrizak morgue just south of the Iranian capital, with the corpses wrapped in black bags and distraught relatives searching for loved ones.International phone links were restored on Tuesday, but only for outgoing calls, according to an AFP journalist, and the quality remains spotty, with frequent interruptions.Trump, who has repeatedly threatened Iran with military intervention, said Iranians should continue their nationwide protests, take over institutions and record the names of “killers and abusers”.”Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”It was not immediately clear what meetings he was referring to or what the nature of the help would be.European nations also signalled their anger, with France, Germany and the United Kingdom among the countries that summoned their Iranian ambassadors to protest what French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called “state violence unquestioningly unleashed on peaceful protesters”.”The rising number of casualties in Iran is horrifying,” said EU chief Ursula von der Leyen, vowing further sanctions against those responsible.- ‘Killing must stop’ -The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, but warned the death toll was likely much higher — “according to some estimates, more than 6,000”.The internet shutdown has made it “extremely difficult to independently verify these reports”, IHR said, adding that an estimated 10,000 people had been arrested. “The killing of peaceful demonstrators must stop, and the labelling of protesters as ‘terrorists’ to justify violence against them is unacceptable,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.Iranian state media has said dozens of members of the security forces have been killed, with their funerals turning into large pro-government rallies. Authorities have declared three days of national mourning for those killed.Amir, an Iraqi computer scientist, returned to Baghdad on Monday and described dramatic scenes in Tehran.”On Thursday night, my friends and I saw protesters in Tehran’s Sarsabz neighbourhood amid a heavy military presence. The police were firing rubber bullets,” he told AFP in Iraq.- ‘Last days’ -The government on Monday sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed as proof that the protest movement was defeated, calling them a “warning” to the United States. In power since 1989 and now 86, Khamenei has faced significant challenges, most recently the 12-day war in June against Israel, which resulted in the killing of top security officials and forced him to go into hiding.”When a regime can only hold on to power through violence, then it is effectively finished,” said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a trip to India. “I believe that we are now witnessing the last days and weeks of this regime.”Analysts, however, have cautioned that it is premature to predict the immediate demise of the theocratic system, pointing to the repressive levers the leadership has, including the Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which are charged with safeguarding the Islamic revolution.”These protests arguably represent the most serious challenge to the Islamic republic in years, both in scale and in their increasingly explicit political demands,” Nicole Grajewski, professor at the Sciences Po Centre for International Studies in Paris, told AFP.She said it was unclear if the protests would unseat the leadership, pointing to “the sheer depth and resilience of Iran’s repressive apparatus”.Iranian authorities will press capital charges of “moharebeh”, or “waging war against God”, against some suspects arrested over recent demonstrations, prosecutors said, as alarm grows that the Islamic republic could use the death penalty to crack down on the protests.IHR highlighted the case of Erfan Soltani, 26, who was arrested last week in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj and who, according to a family source, has already been sentenced to death and is due to be executed as early as Wednesday.

The US Supreme Court waded on Tuesday into the hot-button issue of transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.The conservative-dominated court is hearing challenges to state laws in Idaho and West Virginia banning transgender athletes from female competition.More than two dozen US states have passed laws in recent years barring athletes who were assigned as male at birth from taking part in girls’ or women’s sports.The Idaho case being heard by the nine justices stems from the Republican-led state’s 2020 Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.It was challenged by a transgender athlete at an Idaho university, and lower courts ruled that it violates the equal protection clause of the US Constitution.”Idaho’s law classifies on the basis of sex, because sex is what matters in sports,” Alan Hurst, the Idaho solicitor general, said during Tuesday’s oral arguments.”It correlates strongly with countless athletic advantages like size, muscle mass, bone mass and heart and lung capacity,” Hurst said. “If women don’t have their own competitions, they won’t be able to compete.”West Virginia’s 2021 Save Women’s Sports Act was challenged by a middle school student who was not allowed to compete for the girls’ track team.An appeals court ruled that the ban amounted to discrimination on the basis of sex and violated Title IX, the federal civil rights law which prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs.Last February, President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports after campaigning for the White House on the issue.”From now on women’s sports will be only for women,” Trump said. “With this executive order the war on women’s sports is over.”The executive order allows federal agencies to deny funding to schools that allow transgender athletes to compete on girls’ or women’s teams.- UPenn case a lightning rod -University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas became a lightning rod in the debate over transgender athletes in women’s sports after competing in female collegiate meets in 2022. Critics and some fellow swimmers said Thomas, who had earlier swum on UPenn’s men’s team, should not have been allowed to compete against women due to an unfair physiological advantage.UPenn eventually agreed to ban transgender athletes from its women’s sports teams, settling a federal civil rights complaint stemming from the furor around Thomas.The move followed an investigation by the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights which concluded the university had violated Title IX by allowing Thomas to compete in women’s competitions.Conservatives outnumber liberals six to three on the Supreme Court, and the justices weighed in on two high-profile transgender cases last year.They upheld a Tennessee state law banning gender-affirming medical treatment for transgender minors and backed a move by Trump to have transgender troops dismissed from the military.The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the new case in June or early July.

US consumer inflation was steady in December as analysts expected, government data showed Tuesday, capping a year in which affordability worries flared while President Donald Trump’s tariffs weighed on the economy.The consumer price index (CPI), a key inflation gauge, rose 2.7 percent last month from a year ago, the same rate as in November, said the Department of Labor.On a month-on-month basis, CPI was up 0.3 percent, also unchanged from the rate in September. This was the most recent month where comparable figures were available, due to a government shutdown that hampered data collection.Trump was quick to laud the latest figures, saying that inflation numbers were “low.””That means that Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should cut interest rates, MEANINGFULLY!!!” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform, renewing pressure on the central bank chief to slash rates more aggressively.While prices have not surged in the final months of 2025, inflation crept up during the year as Trump imposed wave after wave of tariffs on US imports, hitting goods from virtually all trading partners.But the Trump administration has, in recent months, widened a slate of exemptions to cover key agriculture products and other items.Businesses have reported higher costs, although many have tried to soften the blow by stocking up on inventory ahead of planned hikes in duties to avoid passing on the full additional costs to consumers.In December, the index for housing was the biggest factor behind the monthly inflation uptick, Tuesday’s report said.- ‘Frustration with economy’ -Stripping out the volatile food and energy segments, core CPI rose 2.6 percent from a year ago.This was lower than the 2.8 percent expected by surveys of economists conducted by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.But food costs were up 3.1 percent from a year ago in December, and energy costs were 2.3 percent higher, the report said.”Five of the six major grocery store food group indexes increased in December,” the department added, underscoring the cost pressures that Americans have been feeling.”There’s still a lot of frustration that food and utility prices are up so much in the past year. These are costs Americans have to pay,” said Navy Federal Credit Union chief economist Heather Long.She noted that besides the cost increase for food, electricity prices were up nearly seven percent in the past year, and the price of natural gas was up 11 percent.”Rising costs for these core items in people’s budgets helps explain the ongoing frustration with the economy, even as inflation overall appears to be moderating,” Long said in a note.- Rate cuts, uncertainty -The steady inflation figure is still some way from the Federal Reserve’s longer-term target of two percent.But Sam Stovall of CFRA Research noted that the lack of an uptick suggests that the US central bank has room to lower interest rates in the coming months.”The Fed could cut rates,” he said, although probably not at its upcoming meeting in January.The Fed has a dual mandate of maintaining stable prices and maximum employment as it mulls the path of interest rates.Stubborn inflation could make it tougher for policymakers to lower rates further to boost the economy as the employment market cools.”But with inflation fears fading, officials will feel freer to respond to downside risks to the labor market, should conditions deteriorate,” said Michael Pearce, chief US economist at Oxford Economics.For now, Pearce said, “we expect officials are happy to remain on extended pause, as they wait and see the impact of their recent string of rate cuts.”EY-Parthenon chief economist Gregory Daco expects the Fed will wait until June at least to resume lowering rates.”Importantly, the recent Department of Justice grand jury investigation involving the Fed and Chair Powell is likely to inject additional uncertainty into the policy process,” Daco said.

Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States rose last year, snapping a two-year streak of declines as cold winter temperatures drove demand for heating fuel and the AI boom led to a surge in power generation, a think tank said Tuesday.The 2.4 percent increase in the world’s largest economy came as President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress enacted a series of policies hostile to climate action, though the authors of the Rhodium Group report said the full impact of those decisions will only be felt in the coming years.Rich nations, including Europe’s largest economies Germany and France, are slowing the pace of planet-warming gas reductions even as global temperatures continue to soar, with 2025 set to be confirmed as the third-hottest year on record.US emissions fell in 2024 by 0.5 percent and in 2023 by 3.5 percent, after the economy rebounded from the Covid pandemic and emissions rose in both 2021 and 2022, by 6.3 percent and 1.2 percent respectively.Building emissions rose 6.8 percent, followed by the power sector where emissions increased by 3.8 percent, the report found.”Weather is bumpy year-to-year — we tend to see building emissions bump around like this due to higher fuel use for heating,” Rhodium Group analyst and the report’s co-author Michael Gaffney told AFP.”But in the power sector this is about growing significant demand from data centers, cryptocurrency mining operations and other large load customers,” he added.Compounding matters, high natural gas prices driven by heating demand and increasing liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports allowed a comeback for coal, the “dirtiest” fossil fuel, which accounted for 13 percent more electricity generation than in 2024.Still, solar had a strong year, surging by 34 percent and helping lift the grid share of zero-emitting power sources by one percentage point to a record-high 42 percent — even as wind growth slowed and nuclear and hydropower output held steady.In transport, the highest-emitting sector, emissions were nearly flat despite a fifth straight year of record road traffic, as the vehicle fleet became more efficient and consumers rushed to buy electric and hybrid vehicles before tax credits expired.- Solar energy up -The United States is the world’s second-largest emitter after China, but has the highest cumulative emissions since the start of the industrial era in the mid-19th century.US greenhouse gas emissions have generally trended downward since peaking in 2007, averaging a decline of around one percent per year despite periods of flat or rising emissions, driven by natural gas replacing coal, a growing share of renewables in power generation, improved energy efficiency and more.Since taking office, Trump has declared war on renewable energy — from abruptly halting wind farm permits to signing into law legislation that brought an early end to clean energy tax credits and revoking electric vehicle incentives.He has also opened more public lands to drilling, while his administration has sought to repeal regulations aimed at limiting emissions of the super-pollutant methane from oil and gas facilities.But co-author Ben King told AFP that growth in solar generation and electric vehicle sales still pointed to “sustained progress.”What this all means for the medium and long term remains unclear, though the United States is far off track to meet its previous Paris Agreement target of cutting emissions 50–52 percent by 2035 relative to 2005 levels, set under former president Joe Biden.”Solar, wind, batteries, these are some of the cheapest things to bring onto the grid right now and some of the most available things,” said King.”So there’s some economic impetus to be doing that, regardless of whether the White House or Congress, or whoever likes it or doesn’t.”The Rhodium Group generates its annual estimates using a combination of official data and — because government greenhouse gas inventories have a significant lag — supplements this with modeling based on economic and power-generation data.But since the Trump administration is no longer expected to collect relevant data, future forecasts are set to become more difficult.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to take Greenland by force from NATO ally Denmark in order to keep the Arctic island from Beijing’s hands.But analysts suggested China is a small player in the Arctic region, and thus far from the threat Trump has argued.Here is what we know about Beijing’s presence in the region:- Covered with Chinese ships? -Despite Trump’s claim that, without US intervention, Greenland would have “Chinese destroyers and submarines all over the place”, Beijing’s Arctic military presence is underwhelming.”Greenland is not swarming with Chinese and Russian vessels. This is nonsense,” said to Paal Sigurd Hilde at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies.In other parts of the Arctic, China’s modest military presence has grown in collaboration with Russia since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.”China’s only pathway to gaining significant influence in the Arctic goes through Russia,” Hilde said.The two countries have increased joint Arctic and coast guard operations, including a 2024 bomber patrol near Alaska.China also operates a handful of icebreakers equipped with deep-sea mini-submarines, which could map the seabed — potentially useful for military deployment — and satellites for Arctic observation.Beijing says they are for scientific research.- Is China’s influence growing? -These activities are “potential security concerns if China’s military or military-linked assets establish a regular presence in the region”, said Helena Legarda at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin.”China has clear ambitions to expand its footprint and influence in the region, which it considers… an emerging arena for geopolitical competition,” she said.Beijing launched the Polar Silk Road project in 2018 — the Arctic arm of its transnational Belt and Road infrastructure initiative — and aims to become a “polar great power” by 2030.It has established scientific research stations in Iceland and Norway, while Chinese firms have invested in projects like Russian liquefied natural gas and a Swedish railway line.Competition with China for resources and access to trade routes in the Arctic could threaten European interests, Legarda said.Recently, however, China has faced pushback. Proposals to buy an abandoned naval station in Greenland and an airport in Finland have failed.The US reportedly pressured nations to reject Chinese companies. In 2019, Greenland opted against using China’s Huawei for its 5G networks.Russia remains the exception, with China investing heavily in resources and ports along Russia’s northern coast.- What is China seeking? -Greenland has the world’s eighth-largest rare earth reserves, elements vital for technologies including electric vehicles and military equipment, according the US Geological Survey.While China dominates global production of these critical materials, its attempts to tap Greenland’s resources have seen limited success.A Chinese-linked project at a massive deposit in Kvanefjeld was halted by the Greenland government in 2021 over environmental concerns, while another deposit in southern Greenland was sold to a New York-based firm in 2024 after US lobbying.”There was a fear in Denmark and the US that mining investments several times the GDP of Greenland could have led to Chinese influence a decade ago, but the investments never materialised,” said Jesper Willaing Zeuthen, associate professor at Aalborg University.More recently, “Beijing discourages engagement, because the diplomatic costs have been too high”.- Transforming shipping routes -The Polar Silk Road aims to link China to Europe via Arctic routes increasingly accessible as warming temperatures melt Arctic sea ice.China and Russia agreed in October to develop the Northern Sea Route (NSR) along Russia’s northern border.Last year, a Chinese ship reached Britain in 20 days via the Arctic, half the time of the regular Suez Canal route.The passage could transform global shipping and reduce Chinese reliance on the Straits of Malacca for its trade.But ships have to be modified to travel through ice, fog makes navigation difficult, and the weather is extreme.Chinese ships made just 14 NSR voyages last year, mostly carrying Russian gas.Another possible route — the Northwest Passage — follows the Canadian archipelago, potentially mitigating the risks of a Russian and Chinese-dominated northern passage.The NSR does not pass by Greenland, so it is not the source for Trump’s claim of Chinese ships prowling the island’s coastline.Zeuthen maintains there is no sign of Chinese military activity in or around the Arctic part of Greenland.”Actual security issues are very hard to identify,” he said.

Australia said Tuesday its ambassador to the United States is leaving after a three-year tenure overshadowed by President Donald Trump’s verdict on him: “I don’t like you either.”Former prime minister Kevin Rudd, who departs his post on March 31 to become president of the Asia Society think tank in New York, had sharply criticised Trump while he was out of office.Trump expressed disdain for Rudd during a televised US-Australia meeting at the White House in October last year, prompting some Australian opposition calls for his posting to be ended.Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was “entirely” Rudd’s decision to step down a year early.”Kevin Rudd has a work ethic unlike anyone I have ever met. He has worked tirelessly. He’s moving on to a role that he believes is pivotal,” he told reporters.The prime minister praised Rudd for his “tireless work” for Australia, including lobbying in favour of the so-called AUKUS agreement to equip Australia’s navy with nuclear-powered submarines.Before taking up his post in Washington, Rudd had described Trump as the “most destructive president in history” and a “traitor to the West” who “drags America and democracy through the mud”.Rudd deleted the online comments after Trump won back the White House in November 2024.At the White House meeting in October, the US president suggested Rudd might want to apologize for his earlier remarks.Turning to Albanese at his side, Trump said, “Where is he? Is he still working for you?”Albanese smiled awkwardly before gesturing to Rudd, who was sitting directly in front of them.Rudd began to explain, “That was before I took this position, Mr. President.”Trump cut him off, saying, “I don’t like you either. I don’t. And I probably never will.”Rudd, a Mandarin-speaking former career diplomat, had been tapped as ambassador during Joe Biden’s presidency, with Australia hoping his expertise on China would gain him influence in Washington.

US President Donald Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on any country doing business with Iran, ramping up pressure as a rights group estimated a crackdown on protests has killed at least 648 people.Trump, who has repeatedly threatened Iran with military intervention, said in a social media post on Monday that the new levies would “immediately” hit the Islamic republic’s trading partners who also do business with the United States.”This Order is final and conclusive,” he wrote, without specifying who they will affect. Iran’s main trading partners are China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, according to economic database Trading Economics.Trump has been mulling his options on Iran, which has been roiled by more than two weeks of demonstrations that have defied a near-total internet blackout and lethal force.Sparked by economic grievances, the nationwide protests have grown into one of the biggest challenges yet to the theocratic system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution ousted the shah.Iranian authorities have blamed foreign interference for stoking the unrest and staged their own nationwide counter-rallies.Rights groups warned that the severed communications were aimed at masking a rising death toll. The Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) said it had confirmed 648 people killed during the protests, including nine minors, but warned the death toll was likely much higher — “according to some estimates more than 6,000”.The internet shutdown has made it “extremely difficult to independently verify these reports”, IHR said, adding that an estimated 10,000 people had been arrested. “The international community has a duty to protect civilian protesters against mass killing by the Islamic republic,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. The White House said Monday that Trump remained “unafraid” to deploy military force against Iran, but was pursuing diplomacy as a first resort.  – ‘Four-front war’ -Iran on Monday sought to regain control of the streets with mass nationwide rallies that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed as proof that the protest movement was defeated.In power since 1989 and now 86, Khamenei said the pro-government turnout was a “warning” to the United States. “These massive rallies, full of determination, have thwarted the plan of foreign enemies that were supposed to be carried out by domestic mercenaries,” he said, according to state TV, referring to pro-government demonstrations. In the capital Tehran, state TV showed people brandishing the national flag and prayers read for victims of what the government has termed “riots”. At Enghelab (Revolution) Square, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told the crowd that Iran was fighting a “four-front war” listing economic war, psychological war, “military war” with the United States and Israel, and “today a war against terrorists” — a reference to the protests. Flanked by the slogans “Death to Israel, Death to America” in Persian, he vowed the Iranian military would teach Trump “an unforgettable lesson” if attacked. But Trump said Sunday that Iran’s leadership had called him seeking “to negotiate”.Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told a conference of foreign ambassadors in Tehran that Iran was “not seeking war but is fully prepared for war”, while calling for “fair” negotiations.Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said a channel of communication was open between Araghchi and Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff despite the lack of diplomatic relations. Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s ousted shah who has been vocal in calling for protests, told CBS news the government was “trying to trick the world into thinking that (it) is ready to negotiate once again”. He said Trump was “a man that means what he says and says what he means” and who “knows what’s at stake”.”The red line that was drawn has been definitely surpassed by this regime.” – ‘Respect for their rights’ -State outlets were at pains to present a picture of calm returning in Tehran, broadcasting images of smooth-flowing traffic. Tehran Governor Mohammad-Sadegh Motamedian insisted in televised comments that “the number of protests is decreasing”. Iranian state media has said dozens of members of the security forces have been killed, with their funerals turning into large pro-government rallies. The government has declared three days of national mourning for those killed.The European Union has voiced support for the protesters and on Monday said it was “looking into” imposing additional sanctions on Iran over the repression of demonstrations. The European Parliament also announced it had banned all Iranian diplomats and representatives from the assembly’s premises. French President Emmanuel Macron issued a statement condemning “the state violence that indiscriminately targets Iranian women and men who courageously demand respect for their rights”. Tehran ally Russia, for its part, slammed what it called attempts by “foreign powers” to interfere in Iran, state media reported, in Moscow’s first reaction to the protests.