ISTANBUL — Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Jordan will come together to fight the remnants of the Islamic State group, a move the Turkish foreign minister says would allow the United States to cut ties with Kurdish militants in Syria. 

Washington’s decadelong relationship with Kurdish-led forces in Syria is opposed by Turkey. Ankara says the People’s Defense Units, or YPG, are tied to another Kurdish group listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union. 

The YPG, which spearheads the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, has played a central role in fighting IS alongside American special forces and now guards thousands of IS prisoners in northeast Syria. 

“The basic problem is that the YPG has been guarding Daesh inmates and keeping them in prison … they’re not doing anything else,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Sunday, using the Arabic term for IS. 

“So Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Jordan need to come together to fight Daesh. We are capable of doing that and God willing this is the step we will be taking as four countries in the near future. We have already done the preliminary talks for that process.” 

Fidan, who was speaking at a news conference in Doha, Qatar, alongside Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said that the new Syrian government had indicated it will take responsibility for IS prisoners. 

Turkey wants U.S. President Donald Trump to step back from supporting the Kurdish fighters, who Ankara regards as terrorists due to their links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged war against Turkey since 1984. 

“We hope that President Trump will make the right decision and right this wrong … it is an open wound that needs to be closed as soon as possible,” Fidan added. 

Since Syrian rebels launched an offensive to take the country in November, Turkish-backed fighters have targeted Kurdish forces, taking a number of towns. Meanwhile, the Turkish military has maintained pressure on Kurdish fighters in both Syria and northern Iraq. On Sunday, the Defense Ministry said Turkish troops killed 23 “PKK/YPG terrorists” in northern Syria without providing further details. 

Ankara has called for the Syrian Democratic Forces to be purged of elements linked to the PKK and be absorbed into a future Syrian military. 

The U.S. currently has around 2,000 troops in northeast Syria. During his first term in office, Trump said he would withdraw all American forces from Syria, which triggered a Turkish offensive against the YPG in 2019. 

His seemingly warm relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has led to speculation that Trump will again seek to remove the U.S. military presence. 
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LONDON — Britain will become the first country to introduce laws against AI tools used to generate sexual abuse images, the government announced Saturday.

The government will make it illegal to possess, create or distribute AI tools designed to generate sexualized images of children, punishable by up to five years in prison, interior minister Yvette Cooper revealed.

It will also be illegal to possess AI “pedophile manuals” which teach people how to use AI to sexually abuse children, punishable by up to three years in prison.

“We know that sick predators’ activities online often lead to them carrying out the most horrific abuse in person,” said Cooper.

The new laws are “designed to keep our children safe online as technologies evolve. It is vital that we tackle child sexual abuse online as well as offline,” she added.

“Children will be protected from the growing threat of predators generating AI images and from online sexual abuse as the U.K. becomes the first country in the world to create new AI sexual abuse offences,” said a government statement.

AI tools are being used to generate child sexual abuse images by “nudeifying” real life images of children or by “stitching the faces of other children onto existing images,” said the government.

The new laws will also criminalize “predators who run websites designed for other pedophiles to share vile child sexual abuse content or advice on how to groom children,” punishable by up to ten years in prison, said the government.

The measures will be introduced as part of the Crime and Policing Bill when it comes to parliament.

The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) has warned of the growing number of sexual abuse AI images of children being produced.

Over a 30-day period in 2024, IWF analysts identified 3,512 AI child abuse images on a single dark web site.

The number of the most serious category of images also rose by 10% in a year, it found.
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SHENGJIN, ALBANIA — An Italian navy ship on Saturday took migrants to Italy from asylum processing centers in Albania following a court decision in Rome. It was the third failed attempt by Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government to process migrants in the non-EU country.

A coast guard ship took 43 migrants from the port of Shengjin, 66 kilometers northwest of the capital, Tirana. They were among the 49 men who were transferred to Albania on an Italian naval ship Tuesday. Six were returned the same day for being minors or deemed vulnerable.

Italian media reported the men were from Bangladesh, Egypt, Ivory Coast and Gambia.

An Italian appeals court in Rome on Friday refused to approve the speedy expulsion of 43 asylum-seekers detained in Albania since Tuesday under a controversial migration deal to move the proceedings beyond European Union borders.

The court referred the case to the European Court of Justice, in Luxembourg, which is expected to issue a ruling on Feb. 25 related to the previous cases, in which the series of lower court rulings have opened a fissure between the Meloni government and the Italian judicial system.

In October and November, judges similarly refused to approve the expulsion of much smaller groups of migrants, seeking clarity from the European court on which countries were safe for repatriation of people whose asylum claims are rejected.

Italy last year signed a five-year agreement to process up to 3,000 migrants a month beyond EU borders as part of Meloni’s program to combat illegal migration to Italy, which is the first landfall for tens of thousands of migrants who make the perilous journey across the central Mediterranean Sea.

While the agreement has raised concerns among human rights activists, European partners have expressed interest in the project.

In the first four weeks of this year, 3,704 migrants arrived in Italy, almost three times as many as in the same period last year. In the whole of last year, 66,317 migrants arrived in Italy, a drop of 58% from the previous year. The largest nationality was Bangladeshis, followed by Syrians, Tunisians and Egyptians, according to the Italian Interior Ministry.
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The Arctic is one of the coldest and least populated regions on Earth, much of it covered by ice. But in recent years it has become one of the most important sites of geopolitical tensions — and a key focus of American policy.

Despite its inhospitability, land north of the Arctic Circle has long been inhabited by Indigenous people like the Inuit, Sami and Yukaghir and today includes territories belonging to eight countries: Canada, Russia, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the United States.

In 1996, these countries formed the Arctic Council — a forum that includes all eight countries as member states along with representatives from Indigenous groups. But while the Arctic was once envisioned as a neutral zone where research and conservation could promote deeper international cooperation, multiple developments since then have turned it into a site of competition.

The number one issue facing the Arctic is climate change. Since the 1990s, Arctic sea ice has declined by 7.6 trillion metric tons, with the rate of loss increasing by 57%. Besides contributing to rising sea levels, the loss of ice also reduces global solar reflection. This creates a feedback loop as the darker ocean water absorbs more heat, causing more ice to melt, adversely affecting global weather patterns.

The melting of Arctic ice also directly affects local wildlife, with polar bear populations projected to decline by two-thirds in the next quarter-century as they lose their hunting grounds.

But where some see environmental disaster, others see opportunity. The melting ice is making Arctic trade routes more navigable, providing shorter distances for transoceanic shipping than current lanes using the Suez and Panama canals. Furthermore, increased navigability is expanding potential for exploration and extraction of natural resources.

The Arctic region is estimated to hold over 20% of the world’s remaining fossil fuel reserves, with over 400 oil and gas fields already discovered. Both the seabed and offshore areas also hold vast quantities of minerals ranging from staple commodities like iron, gold, nickel and zinc to rare earth metals such as neodymium and dysprosium, which are used in electronics and battery technology. Even traditional subsistence activity may be greatly altered and expanded as global warming leads fish stocks to migrate north and more coastal land becomes available for agriculture.

Yet economic opportunities in the Arctic are emerging at a time of increased geopolitical tensions, as countries scramble to secure resources, stake territorial claims and develop facilities.

With 53% of the Arctic coastline under its control, Russia has the largest presence in the region in terms of civilian ports like Murmansk and Arkhangelsk as well as multiple airfields and military bases along its northern border. More recently, Russia has moved to expand its claims to the Arctic seabed at the same time that its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has led other members of the Arctic Council to suspend cooperation with Moscow.

While land jurisdiction in the Arctic is largely settled aside from a few small disputes, maritime claims are much more complex. Control over Arctic waters is generally governed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which defines multiple types of territorial waters where a nation may have the right to restrict the activity of foreign vessels. These range from internal waters that are considered part of a nation’s sovereign territory to exclusive economic zones where foreign ships may travel freely but cannot extract resources.

Although the United States played a formative role in negotiating the treaty and abides by most of its provisions, it remains one of the few countries that has not formally acceded to it because of concerns about limitations it places on seabed mining.

Even among UNCLOS signatories, however, boundary definitions can vary. While Canada considers parts of the Northwest Passage to lie within its territorial waters, for example, most other nations including the United States consider it to be an international strait where foreign ships may transit.

Similarly, Russia has claimed parts of the Northeast Passage along its northern coastline as internal waters, moving to restrict the right of passage in areas where it was previously allowed.

Given these disputes, the Transpolar Sea Route through the center of the Arctic Ocean, which lies fully in international waters, will become more attractive as polar ice continues to thaw.

The increasing importance of the Arctic has attracted the attention of other powers without Arctic territory. Several of these states have been admitted as observers in the Arctic Council, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea. China, which is also an observer, has unilaterally declared itself as a “near-Arctic state” and has expanded both research and commercial activity in the region by partnering with Russia as well as investing in infrastructure in Norway, Iceland and Greenland.

China’s increased presence in the Arctic alongside Russia’s more aggressive posture have been among the reasons cited for U.S. President Donald Trump’s insistence on annexing or buying Greenland, a territory of NATO ally Denmark. While Greenland already contains a U.S. military base on its northwest coast, the discussion is likely to result in a further militarization of the territory, even under Denmark.

Satellites are also expected to play a major role in exerting control within the Arctic, given the importance of observation and monitoring in remote areas with poor communications infrastructure.

What was once considered a frozen frontier with little to offer is quickly becoming one of the most contested regions on Earth. And as the planet heats up, competition in the Arctic will as well.
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INDJIJA, Serbia — Hundreds of striking students marched through the Serbian countryside Friday as they took their anti-graft protest toward the northern city of Novi Sad, where they plan to blockade three bridges over the River Danube this weekend. 

The bridge blockade planned for Saturday will mark three months since a huge concrete construction at the railway station collapsed in Novi said on Nov. 1, leaving 15 people dead. 

What started two months ago as a protest against suspected corruption in construction contracts has developed into the most serious challenge in years to the country’s powerful populist leader, President Aleksandar Vucic. 

Meanwhile in Belgrade, a driver rammed a car into a silent protest Friday, injuring two women who work as doctors at a nearby psychiatric institution. Media reports say both hit the pavement with their heads and are being examined. 

The incident, the third of its kind in weeks, happened in downtown Belgrade during 15 minutes of silence observed daily throughout Serbia at around noon when the canopy collapsed at the railway station in Novi Sad. 

Pro-government thugs have repeatedly attacked the protesters, many of them students, twice ramming cars into demonstrations. Two people were seriously injured in the previous attacks. 

Along the way to Novi Sad on Friday, the students were greeted by cheering citizens who honked their car horns or came out of their homes to offer food and drinks. 

When they reached the town of Indjija on Thursday, roughly halfway along their 80-kilometer route, the students were welcomed with fireworks and cheers from residents. 

Although most of them spent the night out in the open in a soccer field, the freezing temperatures did not dampen their desire for major changes in the corruption-ridden Balkan state. 

Nevena Vecerinac, a student, said she hoped the protesters’ demands that include the punishment of all those responsible for the rail station tragedy will be fulfilled. 

“We will make it to Novi Sad,” she said. “Yesterday’s walk was easy. It’s cold now, but we can make it. We all have the same goal.” 

“We need support from all people. With this energy and mood, I hope we can do it, otherwise there will be no brighter future,” said Luka Arsenovic, another student marcher. 

Many in Serbia believe that the collapse of the overhang at the train station was essentially caused by government corruption in a large infrastructure project with Chinese state companies. Critics believe graft led to a sloppy job during the reconstruction of the Novi Sad train station, poor oversight and disrespect of existing safety regulations. 

Monthslong demonstrations have already forced the resignation of Serbia’s prime minister Milos Vucevic this week, along with various concessions from authorities which were ignored by the protesters who say that is not enough. 

Vucic and other officials have shifted from accusing the students of working with foreign powers to oust him, to offering concessions or issuing veiled threats. 

The strength and determination of the protesters have caught many by surprise in a country where hundreds of thousands of young people have emigrated, looking for opportunities elsewhere. 
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Visiting Spain this week, NATO’s secretary-general called for members to boost military spending in the face of the threat from Russia. Spain spends the least on defense relative to the size of its economy. And as Henry Ridgwell reports, US President Donald Trump has singled out Madrid for failing to meet the NATO target.
Camera: Alfonso Beato
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Azerbaijan and Turkey are stepping up efforts to secure a land corridor between their countries through Armenia. Until now, Iran, a key ally of Armenia, has backed Yerevan’s opposition to what is known as the Zangezur corridor. With Iran weakened in the region, Ankara and Baku see an opportunity to secure a key strategic goal. Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.
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As authorities investigate the fourth Baltic Sea cable-cutting incident in recent months, European leaders have expressed concern about the frequency of attacks involving civilian vessels and critical civilian infrastructure.

The Vezhen, a Bulgarian-owned vessel, was detained this week in the Baltic Sea, suspected of dragging its anchor across the seafloor, severing a data cable between Sweden and Latvia.

Aleksander Kalchev, the CEO of the company that owns the Vezhen, denied that the damage was intentional.

Nevertheless, Swedish security services have boarded the vessel for further investigation.

Latvian Minister of Defense Andris Spruds, in a written response to VOA on Wednesday, confirmed that Latvia is working closely with Sweden and NATO to address the incident.

“Latvia’s Naval Forces’ diving team has conducted an inspection at the damage site and collected evidence in cooperation with Swedish Coast Guard vessels,” Spruds told VOA.

He emphasized that Latvia would deploy new technologies and continue working closely with NATO allies to enhance the protection of critical sea infrastructure. “These sabotage actions will not be tolerated, and we will continue to enforce bold actions within the rule of law,” Spruds said.

Growing pattern of attacks

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, whose country launched a sabotage investigation into damage to the Estlink 2 undersea power cable connecting Finland and Estonia on Dec. 25, has emphasized the urgency of the situation.

“This cannot continue,” he told Finnish Lannen Media this week. He called for stronger coordination within the European Union to prevent further attacks. “We must be on a common front in sanctions against Russia. That applies to every EU country,” he told a Finnish journalist.

The government in Poland, another Baltic Sea country with more than 1,000 kilometers of coastline, has called for enhanced security measures.

In an interview with VOA, Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said recent attacks on undersea cables — such as those between Latvia and Sweden, as well as Estonia and Finland — align with broader patterns of sabotage seen in the region. While investigations are ongoing, Poland views these incidents as deliberate actions, he said.

“Even if there is no direct evidence today, sabotage and provocations are part of Russia’s standard arsenal. … We are at a point where we have to assume that this is a conscious, deliberate action,” he told VOA on Tuesday.

Polish officials also emphasize the need for more coordinated maritime security measures.

“We want such policing missions to start taking place in the Baltic Sea. There is a lot of traffic when it comes to ships and vessels … and security is an absolutely fundamental issue here,” he told VOA.

Given its strategic importance and the increasing presence of Russian naval activity, he said, NATO must prioritize the Baltic Sea as a critical security zone.

“The Baltic Sea has become an arena where all tricks are allowed,” Siemoniak said.

Political and strategic motives

While evidence is still being gathered, the geopolitical implications of these attacks are becoming clearer. Analysts believe the sabotage is not just an attempt to disrupt communication networks but also a calculated effort to test NATO’s response capabilities and sow discord among member states.

Lawmakers in Finland, the newest member of NATO, have voiced concerns that these incidents may be part of a broader conflict that many Western governments are hesitant to acknowledge.

“If we don’t know whether we’re at war, it’s always best to assume that we are,” Jussi Halla-aho, the speaker of the Finnish Parliament, said in an interview earlier this month in the Turku daily Turun Sanomat.

Countering hybrid warfare

A significant challenge for NATO and its allies is how to respond effectively to these incidents. Unlike conventional military aggression, these acts of sabotage involve civilian vessels and infrastructure, making direct retaliation difficult.

“If we openly accuse Russia or China of these attacks, the next logical question is: What are we going to do about it?” Matti Posio, a Finnish foreign policy expert and chief editor at Lannen Media Oy, told VOA in an interview. “The reality is that options are limited, and that’s exactly what the perpetrators are counting on.”

With tensions rising, NATO is considering additional measures to secure the Baltic Sea, officials and observers told VOA. One option includes increasing naval patrols and surveillance of key maritime routes. However, “more drastic proposals — such as closing parts of the Gulf of Finland to Russian-linked vessels — remain politically sensitive and legally complex,” Posio said.

Dilemma for NATO and EU

Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen, who visited Latvia this week, issued a a statement with her Latvian counterpart.

“We are aware that Russia is a long-term threat to world peace and international order; therefore, NATO’s deterrence and defense measures must be further strengthened, while coordinating the Allied response to the intensifying threat posed by Russia,” their statement said.

As tensions rise, NATO has launched Baltic Sentry 2025 to enhance security and resilience. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has emphasized the need for greater coordination in protecting critical infrastructure from sabotage.

EU interior ministers will meet in Warsaw on Thursday. Among other topics, they will address growing concerns over sabotage targeting critical infrastructure in Europe.

The ministers are expected to discuss potential countermeasures and coordination efforts to strengthen security and deterrence against future disruptions.
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Nuuk, Greenland — The road south from Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, runs out at the tip of a blizzard-scoured peninsula stretching into the Labrador Sea. Icebergs drift beyond the sea ice toward the open ocean, carved off the glacier some 100 kilometers away at the head of the Nuup Kangerlua fjord.

Locals call this spot “the edge of the world.”

For local Inuit artist and researcher Vivi Vold, it is a place of spiritual power, somewhere she comes to connect with nature – intrinsic to her Greenlandic identity. 

“It reminds me that I am Inuk, that I am Greenlandic… when I am in doubt and want to reconnect with myself and my Greenlandic identity, I find solace in nature,” Vold told VOA.

In her work, Vold researches Inuit “ways of knowing” and how they differ from Western concepts.

“I sense that there is more pride now than earlier. The pride has always been there, but it seems like now there is more acceptance of it. Everything I do as a researcher is about the land and the nature; hunting, the climate, and the way we think,” she said.

Greenlandic pride

A resurgence in indigenous pride can be felt across Greenlandic society. The eyes of the world are on this Arctic island, thanks largely to U.S. President Donald Trump.  

In Greenlandic politics and media, in the pubs and coffee bars, and on social media, the conversation is about the island’s future. There is excitement – but also trepidation.

President Trump has repeatedly said that America needs to take control of Greenland from Denmark for, in his words, “international security.”

“I do believe Greenland, we’ll get, because it really has to do with freedom of the world… And you know what, the people don’t like the way they’ve been treated by Denmark. They don’t like the way they’ve been treated by Denmark and they do like us,” Trump told reporters Saturday on Air Force One.

Meanwhile, Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, attempted to build European solidarity in the face of the challenge posed by Trump’s comments Tuesday, visiting Berlin, Paris and NATO headquarters in Brussels in the space of a single day. Local media reported that France offered to send troops to Greenland in a show of unity with Copenhagen, but the offer was turned down.

A poll released on Wednesday, commissioned by the Danish Berlingske newspaper and the Sermitsiaq newspaper in Greenland, suggested that 85% of Greenlanders do not want to be part of the United States, with 6% in favor and 9% undecided.

However, almost half of respondents said they saw an opportunity with Trump’s interest in Greenland, with the other half seeing it as a threat.

The poll did not ask respondents whether they wanted to break ties with Denmark and become independent. A 2019 survey suggested that more than two-thirds of the Greenlanders want independence at some point in the future.

Danish colonization

A statue of the Norwegian-Danish missionary Hans Egede stands over the capital Nuuk. Greenlanders have lived under varying degrees of Danish rule ever since he landed here in 1721.

In recent years, the statue has been daubed with graffiti calling for its removal and for Greenland’s independence from Denmark. Nevertheless, in a 2020 poll, 62% of Greenlanders voted to keep the statue in place.

Greenland’s government is now largely autonomous and pushing for full independence. Under the terms of an agreement with Denmark, the territory has a right to hold a referendum on the issue.

“Things are changing in the world. We don’t know yet. But we need to have that discussion in Greenland without the outside world requiring us to give an answer to the end goal,” said Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for resources, business, justice and gender equality.

“We need to be able to discuss amongst ourselves how will independence look like, what kind of welfare do we want, what kind of democracy, what kind of institutions should guard it, what kind of constitution. We want those debates for ourselves,” she told VOA.

Independence challenges

Could Greenland stand on its own? Just 57,000 people inhabit the island’s 2.1 million square kilometers. Denmark pays an annual grant of around $800 million dollars, which makes up half the Greenland government’s revenue.

Trump may balk at the cost, said Marc Jacobsen, a researcher at the Royal Danish Defense College in Copenhagen.

“I’m not really sure if they are aware of what the cost is to keep a high living standard in Greenland with the welfare system as we know from the Nordic states. So, in comparison with the Inuit in Alaska or for instance [the indigenous people] in Puerto Rico, it’s a different living standard in Greenland. And that comes with a cost,” he told VOA.

There are hopes that the global attention now focused on Greenland will unlock investment to exploit its vast mineral wealth, which includes graphite, uranium and valuable rare earth metals.

“The problem is pretty much that they are staying there at the moment because nobody’s investing in getting them out,” said Ulrik Pram Gad, an expert on Greenland’s mineral wealth at the Danish Institute for International Studies.

“And that’s not a question of Greenlanders not wanting it or Denmark not allowing it. It’s a question of the only supply chains that exist concerning many of these resources are in China. And the Western world, you might say, cannot present a credible business model to the private companies that would in principle be able to use these materials.”

Tourism

A new international airport opened in November, making access to Nuuk much easier. International flights currently depart for Denmark, Canada and Iceland – but United Airlines is due to begin direct flights from New York later this year.

Greenland’s stark beauty is attracting more tourists.

“The international airport in Nuuk has opened up; there will be another one in Ilulissat where the fantastic ice-shelf glacier is. So there are opportunities for growth in tourism. There’s really a lot of desire for relations not just to the U.S., but to Canada, to Iceland, to Europe, to everybody. And if this turns into that, I think many Greenlanders will be happy,” Pram Gad told VOA.

For now, fishing is Greenland’s biggest industry by far, making up around 85% of total exports. It is deeply entwined with the Greenlandic way of life.

Jesper Jacobsen runs a fishing cooperative in Nuuk. In the depths of the January winter, customers drop in to buy cod and halibut, along with duck and reindeer meat brought in by local hunters. Whale, bear and walrus are sometimes available.

“We have fish and we have natural resources,” Jacobsen said. “And the Americans could pay a lot of money to rent the northern part of Greenland. They could use it for their military. Then we will have our independence because the Americans will pay a lot to rent the northern part of Greenland,” he told VOA.

“Make Greenland Great Again”

A ‘Make America Great Again’ or MAGA hat hangs in Jacobsen’s office, given by Donald Trump Jr.’s entourage when the U.S. president’s son visited Greenland in early January.

The visit continues to cause a stir. YouTubers arrived in the wake of the younger Trump’s visit, handing out U.S. dollars and hats bearing the slogan ‘Make Greenland Great Again.’ Some locals criticized the social media stunt. Others welcomed the attention.

“I don’t want to be a part of Denmark. I don’t like [the] Danish. They took children and they colonized us,” said 20-year-old student Hans Louis Petersen, proudly showing off his “Make Greenland Great Again” baseball cap.

Scandals

Petersen referenced a 1950s social experiment run by the Danish state, where Greenlandic children were taken to Denmark, sometimes without the full understanding of their parents. Many struggled to re-integrate when they returned.

Separately, in recent years it emerged that Danish doctors in the 1960s and 70s had implanted IUD contraceptive devices in Inuit women and girls without their permission, allegedly to limit population growth. A group of 67 Greenlanders is currently seeking $6.3 million in compensation from the Danish state. An investigation into the program is expected to be published later this year.

The scandals have further fueled the campaign for independence.

“I think there is a lack of understanding of the impact of these cases in Greenland,” said Greenlandic Minister Naaja Nathanielsen. “It’s not ancient history, it’s current history. We right now have women, men, families that are directly affected by the actions of the Danish state in the past. It’s traumatizing and some of them have not been able to become mothers.”

“This is not some cases that should be solved in a courtroom. They should be solved politically and with the proper amount of respect and understanding and assuming responsibility for the hurt inflicted on the Greenlandic people. And it’s absolutely necessary for us to move forward,” Nathanielsen told VOA.

Outside forces are building pressure on the government. The island’s prime minister, Mute B. Egede, has repeated the same message when questioned on Trump’s aim to take control of the territory.

“We have said very precisely that Greenland, and us in this country, do not want to be Americans. We don’t want to be Danes either,” Egede said in a televised debate on January 20. 

“We are Greenlanders. We will stand firmly as Greenlanders and cooperate with the West. We will also cooperate with other countries in the world,” he added.
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U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that America needs to take control of Greenland from Denmark for, in his words, “international security.” But as Henry Ridgwell reports from the Arctic island, the global attention is driving a desire among many native Greenlanders to determine their own political future.
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TIRANA, ALBANIA — An Italian navy ship carrying 49 migrants picked up in international waters arrived in Albania on Tuesday, amid a new attempt by Italy to push ahead with a legally contested plan to relocate migrants to the neighboring country.

The navy ship Cassiopea with the migrants reached the Albanian port of Shengjin early on Tuesday, according to a Reuters witness. They will be identified at a facility there and then moved to a detention center some 20 kilometer away.

The navy did not provide details on the migrants.

The Italian government of Giorgia Meloni has built two reception centers in Albania, the first such deal by a European Union nation to divert migrants to a non-EU country in a bid to limit sea arrivals to its territory.

But the facilities have been empty since November after judges in Rome questioned the validity of the relocation plan and ordered the first two batches of migrants previously detained in Albania to be moved back to Italy.

The controversy surrounding the plan, which Meloni sees as a cornerstone of her government’s aim to curb immigration, revolves around a ruling by the European Court of Justice last year, which was not related to Italy.

The Court said no nation of origin could be considered safe if even just a part of it was dangerous, undermining Rome’s idea of deporting migrants to Albania who hailed from a selected list of “safe” countries with a view to swiftly repatriate them.

Ilaria Salis, a European Parliament deputy from a left-wing Italian party, on Monday criticized the Italian government for forcibly transferring “innocent people fleeing war and misery” despite violations of international law and human rights.

The European court is set to review Italy’s plan in the coming weeks and clarify whether it is in compliance with EU law.
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Belarus’ opposition activists and Western officials have denounced the reelection of Alexander Lukashenko to serve his seventh five-year presidential term.   

The 70-year-old leader began his iron-fisted rule in 1994.  

He received nearly 87% of the ballots cast in Sunday’s election in the Eastern European country, according to the Belarus Central Election Commission.  

His victory was not surprising as he has imprisoned many of his opponents, while others have fled abroad to live in exile.  

Opposition leader-in-exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya labeled Lukashenko’s successful reelection as “sheer nonsense.” Before Sunday’s vote, she had encouraged voters to cross out every candidate’s name on the ballot.   

The four challengers in Sunday’s election had all praised Lukashenko’s leadership, according to The Associated Press. 

The European Union, Britain, Australia and New Zealand issued a joint statement condemning “the sham presidential elections in Belarus and the country’s human rights violations under Lukashenko.”  

Britain’s Foreign Office said Monday that it has sanctioned six Belarus citizens and three defense sector firms, after the Sunday polls in Belarus. The sanctioned individuals include the head of the Belarusian Central Election Commission and two prison chiefs. 

“Following Lukashenko’s brutal crackdown in which critical voices within Belarus have been silenced, yesterday’s sham election failed to meet international standards and has been condemned by international partners,” the Foreign Office said. The Foreign Office also said that the sanctions were being placed in coordination with Canada. 

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement, “The world has become well-accustomed to Lukashenko’s cynical pretense of democracy in Belarus, while in reality he brutally represses civil society and opposition voices to strengthen his grip on power.”   

Lukashenko’s successful presidential bid in 2020 set off months of protests in which thousands of people were beaten and more than 65,000 were arrested. He was roundly condemned by the West, which imposed sanctions.    

However, he survived the protests with the help of his close ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom Lukashenko depends on for subsidies, as well as political support.   

Putin called Lukashenko Monday to congratulate him on his “convincing victory.” Chinese President Xi Jinping also congratulated the Belarusian leader.  

The Viasna Human Rights Center, an exiled Belarusian nongovernmental organization, said in a statement that Belarus has over 1,250 political prisoners in custody.

Some information in this story was provided by The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
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