x01a Research Archives

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U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Friday that he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the U.S. controlling Greenland, a message that came as a bipartisan Congressional delegation sought to lower tensions in the Danish capital.

Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be “unacceptable.”

During an unrelated event at the White House about rural health care, he recounted Friday how he had threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

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Around 422,000 people signed contracts with the Russian military last year, a 6% drop from 2024, the deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council said Friday.

The exact reasons for the slight decrease are unclear, although some Russian regions are reported to have cut the size of their military sign-up bonuses last year due to economic strain.

“A couple of words about the results from last year. The supreme commander-in-chief’s goal has been met: 422,704 people signed military contracts,” Dmitry Medvedev said in a video posted on his social media account.

The figure he gave for 2024 was around 450,000.

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The son of Iran’s late shah said Friday he is confident the Islamic Republic will fall amid mass protests and called for international intervention.

“The Islamic Republic will fall — not if, but when,” Reza Pahlavi told a news conference in Washington. “I will return to Iran.”

Pahlavi has lived in exile in the United States since the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled his pro-Western father.

Many protesters have chanted Pahlavi’s name in mass protests that swept Iran, which the regime in Tehran violently suppressed. At least 2,572 people have been killed in the crackdown, according to human rights organisations, although some sources claim the toll could reach 15,000.

Pahlavi said he wants to serve as a figurehead to lead a transition to a secular democracy, despite detractors.

Pahlavi has repeatedly called for intervention by US President Donald Trump, who has not acted despite several warnings to Tehran.

“Iranian people are taking decisive actions on the ground. It is now time for the international community to join them fully,” Pahlavi said.

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Kendra Pierre-Louis: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Kendra Pierre-Louis, in for Rachel Feltman.

Over the past couple of weeks oil—specifically, Venezuelan oil—has been all over the headlines.

It started late on January 2, when President Donald Trump ordered U.S. military forces to enter Venezuela and capture the country’s president, Nicolás Maduro, which they did early the next morning. Last week the country’s interior minister said the action killed 100 people.

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What does the Iranian diaspora want America to do? Do they want intervention? And what do they think is next for Iran?

As protests continue across Iran and US President Donald Trump warns of consequences if the killing continues Yalda Hakim sits down with two Iranian American women to hear the views of the Iranian diaspora.

In this extra episode of the World, she speaks to Azadeh Afsahi, a human rights activist and Moj Mahdara who set up the Iranian Diaspora Collective about their motherland, their relationship to it, and what they want to happen next.

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Tensions remain high in Minneapolis in the aftermath of the killing of Renee Good by a federal agent. About 3,000 immigration officers are either continuing their operations in Minnesota or are en route to deploy in the state.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the Trump administration, accusing federal immigration authorities in Minnesota of racial profiling and unlawful arrests, as Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in response to the widespread protests against the federal immigration operations.

Minnesota’s governor, Tim Walz, has urged demonstrators to “speak out loudly, urgently but also peacefully” and made a direct appeal to the president to “turn the temperature down.”

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The monarch has ramped up his unwavering support for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion, with emotional comments marking the first anniversary of a historic partnership

King Charles has reiterated the United Kingdom’s commitment to Ukraine, telling the nation “we stand with you” amid the deadly ongoing Russian invasion. The monarch also spoke of his hopes for a lasting peace that safeguards its “security, sovereignty and prosperity”.

Charles’ written comments marked the first anniversary of the 100-Year Partnership between the UK and Ukraine, as the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion approaches at the end of February. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy has travelled to Ukraine, according to reports, for a forum of the centenary partnership, to discuss the details of future cooperation between the two nations.

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At least a half-dozen states applied to be in the early nominating window for 2028’s Democratic presidential campaign, kicking off a contentious battle for securing an influential perch inside the primary calendar.

The usual suspects — New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina and Michigan, who made up the early states in Democrats’ 2024 primary calendar, though not in the order set out by the Democratic National Committee — are all back, per their state parties. So is Iowa, hoping to reinsert itself into the process after it was bounced four years ago. Georgia also applied.

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The delegation’s visit follows a meeting in Washington on Wednesday at which Danish representatives said Copenhagen and Washington were in “fundamental disagreement” over the future of Greenland.

In Greenland’s capital Nuuk, residents welcomed the show of support.

“(US) Congress would never approve of a military action in Greenland. It’s just one idiot speaking,” a 39-year-old union representative told AFP.

“If he does it, he’ll get impeached or kicked out. If people in Congress want to save their own democracy, they have to step up,” said the union rep, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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Iranian and US officials traded barbs at UN Security Council meeting on deadly protests in Iran and amid threats of attack by Washington.

The United Nations Security Council has held an emergency meeting to discuss deadly protests in Iran amid threats by United States President Donald Trump to intervene militarily in the country.

Members of the influential 15-member UN body heard from Iran’s deputy UN representative, who warned at the meeting on Thursday that Iranians did not seek a confrontation but would respond to US aggression, and accused Washington of “direct involvement in steering unrest in Iran”.

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A prominent Democratic governor is no longer ducking the question about his national ambitions.

Andy Beshear, the two-term governor of Kentucky, is openly laying the groundwork for a potential 2028 presidential run. While Beshear stopped short of formally declaring, his comments, staffing moves, and message have left little doubt that he sees himself as a serious contender for his party’s next nomination.

Beshear, 48, has become a favorite topic of speculation inside Democratic circles thanks to a resume that stands out in a polarized political environment. A Southern Democrat who has won statewide three times in a state Donald Trump carried by roughly 30 points, Beshear represents a profile many national Democrats believe could broaden the party’s appeal.

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NUUK, Greenland — U.S. President Donald Trump has turned the Arctic island of Greenland into a geopolitical hotspot with his demands to own it and suggestions that the U.S. could take it by force.

The island is a semiautonomous region of Denmark, and Denmark’s foreign minister said Wednesday after a meeting at the White House that a “fundamental disagreement” remains with Trump over the island.

The crisis is dominating the lives of Greenlanders and “people are not sleeping, children are afraid, and it just fills everything these days. And we can’t really understand it,” Naaja Nathanielsen, a Greenlandic minister said at a meeting with lawmakers in Britain’s Parliament this week.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As Democrats across the country propose state law changes to restrict federal immigration officers after the shooting death of a protester in Minneapolis, Tennessee Republicans introduced a package of bills Thursday backed by the White House that would enlist the full force of the state to support President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Momentum in Democratic-led states for the measures, some of them proposed for years, is growing as legislatures return to work following the killing of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. But Republicans are pushing back, blaming protesters for impeding the enforcement of immigration laws.

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BEIJING — Faced with new global challenges, the leaders of China and Canada pledged Friday to improve relations between their two nations after years of acrimony.

Xi Jinping told visiting Prime Minister Mark Carney that he is willing to continue working to improve ties, noting that talks have been underway on restoring and restarting cooperation since the two held an initial meeting in October on the sidelines of a regional economic conference in South Korea.

“It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China–Canada relations toward improvement,” China’s top leader said.

Carney, the first Canadian prime minister to visit China in eight years, said better relations would help improve a global governance system that he described as “under great strain.”

He called for a new relationship “adapted to new global realities” and cooperation in agriculture, energy and finance.

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Irony, thy name is Jacob Frey.

The embattled Minneapolis mayor continues to find extraordinary ways to shoot himself in the foot with his extraordinarily ironic rhetoric.

A viral clip that surfaced Wednesday showed Frey blabbering one of his usual anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement rants: