Bangladesh out of T20 World Cup after ICC’s refusal to change venues
Scotland replace Bangladesh after the BCB’s request to relocate its games from India is turned down by the ICC. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has kicked Bangladesh out of the upcoming T20 World Cup and replaced them with Scotland because of an impasse over security concerns that Bangladesh had raised about playing in India. Following weeks of deliberation and dialogue, the ICC said on Saturday that Bangladesh will be replaced in Group C of the tournament. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “Scotland will replace Bangladesh in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) refused to participate in the tournament per the published match schedule,” the ICC said in its statement. “The ICC, in the absence of any credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team in India, rejected the BCB’s demand to move its matches from India to Sri Lanka,” it added. The tournament, which is due to begin on February 7, is being co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, but all of Bangladesh’s group fixtures were allocated to venues in India. The Tigers were scheduled to play on the opening day of the tournament, on February 7, when they would have faced the West Indies at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. They were set to play two other group-stage games at the same venue before their final Group C fixture against Nepal at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. However, the BCB requested the ICC, on January 4, move their fixtures out of India. The move followed the abrupt removal of star fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from the Indian Premier League (IPL) upon instructions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), due to the ongoing political tensions between the two nations. Advertisement The ICC said its decision followed “an extensive process to address concerns raised by the BCB regarding the hosting of its scheduled matches in India”. “Over a period of more than three weeks, the ICC engaged with the BCB through multiple rounds of dialogue conducted in a transparent and constructive manner, including meetings held both via video conference and in-person,” the ICC’s statement went on to add. “As part of this process, the ICC reviewed the concerns cited by the BCB, commissioned and considered independent security assessments from internal and external experts, and shared detailed security and operational plans covering federal and state arrangements, as well as enhanced and escalating security protocols for the event. These assurances were reiterated at several stages, including during discussions involving the ICC Business Corporation (IBC) Board.” The game’s governing body said its assessments concluded that there was “no credible or verifiable security threat to the Bangladesh national team, officials or supporters in India”. “In light of these findings, and after careful consideration of the broader implications, the ICC determined that it was not appropriate to amend the published event schedule. The ICC also noted the importance of preserving the integrity and sanctity of the tournament schedule, safeguarding the interests of all participating teams and fans, and avoiding the establishment of precedents that could undermine the neutrality and fairness of ICC events.” The ICC’s decision comes two days after the BCB reiterated its stance on not travelling to India for its group matches. The ICC asked the BCB to review its decision with the Bangladeshi government and give a response within a day, following which a final decision would be made. “Following its meeting on Wednesday, the IBC Board requested the BCB to confirm, within a 24-hour timeframe, whether Bangladesh would participate in the tournament as scheduled,” the ICC said. “As no confirmation was received within the stipulated deadline, the ICC proceeded in line with its established governance and qualification processes to identify a replacement team.” Scotland will now play in the T20 World Cup as they are the highest-ranked T20I side not to originally qualify for the tournament. “We want to play the World Cup, but we won’t play in India. We will keep fighting,” BCB President Aminul Islam told reporters. The BCB chief said the ICC would stand to lose if Bangladesh were expelled from the tournament. Advertisement “The ICC will miss out on 200 million people watching the World Cup,” he said. Adblock test (Why?)
Trump threatens 100 percent tariff on Canada over China deal
Donald Trump’s threat comes after Canada reached deal with China last week on trade of agriproducts, electric vehicles. Montreal, Canada – United States President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff against Canada if Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney moves ahead with an announced trade deal with China. In a statement shared on Truth Social on Saturday morning, Trump said Carney is “sorely mistaken” if he thinks Canada can become a “‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States”. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100% Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the U.S.A,” Trump wrote in the post, which referred to Carney as “governor” instead of prime minister. Carney’s office did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on Trump’s remarks. The threat comes as tensions mounted between Canada and the US this week after Carney delivered an address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that was widely seen as a rebuke of the Trump administration’s policies. “We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Carney said in the speech, urging the world’s “middle powers” to deepen cooperation in the face of coercion and threats. The prime minister’s remarks drew the ire of Trump, who responded by saying that “Canada lives because of the United States”. “Remember that, Mark, the next time you make your statements,” he said in Davos. Trump also revoked an invitation for Carney to join his so-called “Board of Peace” this week. The US president has been threatening to impose steep levies on Canadian goods since before he formally came into office in January 2025, while he has repeatedly said he wants Canada to become the US’s “51st state”. Advertisement That has plunged ties between the North American neighbours to historic lows, and pushed Carney in recent months to seek out new economic partnerships, including with China, the European Union and Qatar. “This is all part of Mr Carney’s goal to lessen [Canada’s] reliance on the United States,” Asa McKercher, a professor at St Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia specialised in Canada-US relations, told Al Jazeera after the Davos speech. “He’s a banker, so any sort of ‘diversified portfolio’ lessens our risk to certain shocks. That’s the way a banker would probably see it,” McKercher said. “[Carney] senses the US is a risky trade and security partner, which is not a bad assessment given that Donald Trump is threatening a trade war against America’s closest allies.” Last week, the Canadian government announced a “new strategic partnership” with China after Carney travelled to the country for talks with Chinese leaders. The deal would see Beijing lower tariffs on canola and other agriproducts from Canada in exchange for Ottawa allowing as many as 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market. “At its best, the Canada-China relationship has created massive opportunities for both our peoples,” Carney said in a statement after the announcement. Adblock test (Why?)
Russian ‘shadow fleet’ tanker diverted to French port by naval forces
French prosecutors say Russia-linked tanker ‘Grinch’ under investigation after interception in western Mediterranean. Published On 24 Jan 202624 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The French navy has diverted an oil tanker, suspected of being part of Russia’s sanctions-busting “shadow fleet”, towards the port of Marseille-Fos for further investigation, according to reports. The office of the prosecutor in the southern French city of Marseille, which handles matters related to maritime law and is investigating the case, said on Friday that the ship had been diverted, but did not specify where to. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list A source close to the case told the AFP news agency that the tanker is expected to arrive on Saturday morning at the port of Marseille-Fos in southern France. The ‘Grinch ‘ tanker was intercepted by French naval forces on Thursday while on the high seas in the western Mediterranean, between the southern coast of Spain and the northern coast of Morocco, France’s maritime police said in a statement. It added that navies of other countries, including Britain, supported the operation. Video footage released by the French military of the operation showed a unit of soldiers descending from a helicopter onto the deck of the Russia-linked ship. The boarding of the vessel involved a navy boat and two navy helicopters, according to reports. The Grinch, which was sailing under a Comoros flag, left the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk in early January and is suspected of operating under a false flag and of belonging to the secretive fleet of ships that enables Russia to export oil around the world despite international sanctions due to Moscow’s war on Ukraine. The AFP news agency reported that a ship called “Grinch” is under United Kingdom sanctions, while another named “Carl” – with the same registration number – is sanctioned by the United States and European Union. Advertisement Prosecutors in Marseille said they were investigating the ship’s alleged failure to confirm its nationality. The EU has imposed 19 packages of sanctions against Russia, but Moscow has adapted to most measures and continues to sell millions of barrels of oil to countries such as India and China, typically at discounted prices. Much of the oil, which is key to financing its war in Ukraine, is carried by what is known as a shadow fleet of vessels operating outside of Western maritime industry regulations. In October, France detained another Russian-linked sanctioned tanker, the Boracay, off its west coast and released it after a few days. The Boracay’s Chinese captain is to stand trial in France in February over the crew’s alleged refusal to cooperate with investigators, according to French judicial authorities. This aerial picture taken on October 1, 2025, off the coast of western France shows French soldiers on board a tanker from Russia’s so-called ‘shadow fleet’. Named the Pushpa or Boracay, the Benin-flagged vessel is blacklisted by the European Union [Damien Meyer/AFP] Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,430
These are the key developments from day 1,430 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Published On 23 Jan 202623 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Here is where things stand on Saturday, January 24: Fighting Four people were killed and five were injured in Russian attacks on Cherkasy, in an area of Ukraine’s Donetsk region that is still controlled by Ukraine, Governor Vadym Filashkin said on the Telegram messaging app. Filashkin said that Russian forces shelled settlements in the Donetsk region 10 times over the past day, and that 109 people, including 17 children, were evacuated. Russian forces attacked the village of Komyshuvakha in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region with glide bombs and other weapons, killing one person, regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said. Russian forces launched drones at Kherson city and several villages in the Kherson region over the past day, killing one person and injuring two others, the regional military administration said. Russian forces killed a 72-year-old man and injured two others, including a child, in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, the head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Hanzha, said. Ukraine’s Air Force said it shot down 76 Russian drones of 101 launched towards Ukraine over the past day. Several people were injured in Ukrainian attacks across front-line Russian areas and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, including five people injured on a bus in Russia’s Belgorod region, according to Russia’s TASS state news agency. The General Staff of Ukraine’s military claimed that Ukrainian forces hit a fuel depot and radar facilities, causing a fire, at the Penzanefteproduct fuel depot in Russia’s Penza region. The Russian Ministry of Defence said that its forces captured the village of Symynivka, situated about 47km (29 miles) northeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Ukraine-Russia-US talks Advertisement The first day of trilateral talks involving negotiators from the United States, Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi concluded late on Friday night, the Ukrainian presidency said in a post on X, adding that talks would continue on Saturday. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a statement after Friday’s talks, saying “it is still too early to draw conclusions” about the substance of the negotiations. “By now, our team should already have at least some answers from Russia,” said Zelenskyy. “We will see how the conversation develops tomorrow and what results it produces,” he added. Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said on X that the meeting had “focused on the parameters for ending Russia’s war and the further logic of the negotiation process aimed at advancing towards a dignified and lasting peace”. The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday that the talks were scheduled to last for two days “as part of ongoing efforts to promote dialogue and identify political solutions to the crisis”. Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters that talks between US and Russian officials on the eve of the Abu Dhabi meeting were “substantive, constructive and very frank”. Ushakov said that Russian Admiral Igor Kostyukov would be leading Moscow’s team in Abu Dhabi, and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev would meet separately on economic issues with Steve Witkoff, the envoy of US President Donald Trump. Energy Crisis Maxim Timchenko, the head of Ukraine’s top private power producer DTEK, told the Reuters news agency that the energy situation in Ukraine was nearing a “humanitarian catastrophe” following repeated Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s state grid operator, says there are emergency power outages in most regions of the country following Russia’s latest aerial attacks. Regional Security The Swedish Air Force said on Friday that it “intercepted two Su-35S escorting a Tu-22M [Russian military aircraft] over the Baltic Sea” on Thursday. France’s navy redirected the oil tanker “Grinch” to the port of Marseille-Fos for inspection, suspecting it is part of a “shadow fleet” of vessels Russia uses to export sanctioned oil, according to Reuters. Adblock test (Why?)
Turkiye’s FM Fidan says Israel ‘looking for opportunity’ to attack Iran
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says he has conveyed concerns of possible Israeli attack to leadership in Tehran. Published On 24 Jan 202624 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said there were signs that Israel was seeking an opportunity to attack Iran, warning such a move could further destabilise the region. “I hope they find a different path, but the reality is that Israel, in particular, is looking for an opportunity to strike Iran,” Fidan told Turkish broadcaster NTV in an interview broadcast on Friday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Asked specifically whether this assessment applied to both the United States and Israel, Fidan stated that Israel, in particular, was seeking such an opportunity, the Turkiye Today news outlet reported. The foreign minister added that he had conveyed concerns directly to Iranian officials during a recent visit to the country. “When I went to Tehran in recent days, I told them everything about the process as their friend,” Fidan said. “And you know, a friend speaks bitter truths,” he said, according to Turkiye Today. Fidan’s warning followed after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in a phone call on Thursday that Turkiye was opposed to any foreign interventions in Iran and that it valued its neighbour’s peace and stability. A senior Iranian official told the Reuters news agency on Friday that Tehran would treat any attack by its enemies “as an all-out war against us” – the latest sabre-rattling in an escalating war of words between Washington and the Iranian leadership. On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said that he had sent an “armada” of naval ships towards the Gulf region with Iran in its sights, once again ramping up rhetoric against Tehran after cooling his comments last week after apparently backing away from threats to attack Iran amid widespread antigovernment protests. Advertisement “If the Americans violate Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, we will respond,” the senior Iranian official told Reuters. “This military buildup – we hope it is not intended for real confrontation – but our military is ready for the worst-case scenario. This is why everything is on high alert in Iran,” the official said. “This time we will treat any attack – limited, unlimited, surgical, kinetic, whatever they call it – as an all-out war against us, and we will respond in the hardest way possible to settle this,” the official added. “A country under constant military threat from the United States has no option but to ensure that everything at its disposal can be used to push back and, if possible, restore balance against anyone who dares to attack Iran.” US media has reported that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group of vessels have diverted from the South China Sea to the Middle East and are expected to arrive in the Gulf region in the coming days. The US military last staged a major buildup of naval forces in June 2024 in support of Israel’s 12-day war on Iran and in advance of US attacks on Iran’s nuclear programme. Adblock test (Why?)
US officers detain 5-year-old boy as Minnesota immigration raids continue
School official says the child, Liam Conejo Ramos, was ‘essentially’ used ‘as bait to apprehend his father, who is seeking asylum in the US. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have detained a five-year-old boy arriving home from preschool in Minnesota, after allegedly using him “as bait” to apprehend his father, who has a pending asylum case. Federal agents took the child, Liam Conejo Ramos, from a running car while it was in the family’s driveway on Tuesday afternoon, Columbia Heights Public Schools Superintendent Zena Stenvik said during a news conference on Wednesday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The officers then told the child to knock on the door to his home to see if other people were inside, “essentially using a five-year-old as bait”, Stenvik said. Stenvik said the family, who came to the United States in 2024, has an active asylum case and had not been ordered to leave the country. “Why detain a five-year-old?” she asked. “You cannot tell me that this child is going to be classified as a violent criminal.” Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that “ICE did NOT target a child”. She said ICE was conducting an operation to arrest the child’s father, Adrian Alexander Conejo Arias, who McLaughlin said is from Ecuador. “For the child’s safety, one of our ICE officers remained with the child while the other officers apprehended Conejo Arias,” McLaughlin said, adding that parents are given the choice to be removed with their children or have them placed with a person of their choosing. Liam is the fourth student from Columbia Heights Public Schools who has been detained by ICE in recent weeks, said Stenvik. A 17-year-old student was taken on Tuesday while heading to school, and a 10-year-old and a 17-year-old have also been taken, she said. Advertisement The family’s lawyer, Marc Prokosch, said on Thursday that Liam and his father were taken to an immigration lockup in Dilley, Texas, and that he assumes they were being held in a family holding cell. “We’re looking at our legal options to see if we can free them either through some legal mechanisms or moral pressure,” he said at a news conference. A lawyer who visited the Dilley detention facility last week, as part of an ongoing lawsuit to ensure the safekeeping of immigrant children in federal custody, said conditions were deteriorating. “The conditions were worse than ever,” said Leecia Welch, chief legal counsellor at the advocacy group Children’s Rights. “The number of children had skyrocketed, and significant numbers of children had been detained for over 100 days,” Welch said. “Nearly every child we spoke to was sick – and it seemed there was an epidemic of illnesses going around. Families reported that their children were malnourished, extremely ill, and suffering profoundly from prolonged detention,” Welch said. During a visit to Minneapolis on Thursday, US Vice President JD Vance said he heard the “terrible story” about Liam, but said he was not sure what the federal agents could have done differently. “Well, what are they supposed to do? Are they supposed to let a five-year-old child freeze to death? Are they not supposed to arrest an illegal alien in the United States of America?” said Vance, noting that he was also the parent of a five-year-old. US federal agents have arrested some 3,000 people in immigration raids across Minnesota in recent weeks, according to Greg Bovino, a US Customs and Border Protection official. Julia Decker, policy director at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, said advocates have no way of knowing whether the government’s arrest numbers and descriptions of the people in custody are accurate. Also on Thursday, US Attorney General Pam Bondi said that three people have been arrested in Minneapolis after they protested at Cities Church in St Paul, where they alleged one of the pastors, David Easterwood, was the acting field director for the St Paul ICE field office. Those arrested included Minneapolis civil rights activist Nekima Levy Armstrong and St Paul school board member Chauntyll Louisa Allen, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune newspaper. In a post on X, Bondi said that Armstrong had played a “key role” in organising the protest on Sunday. Adblock test (Why?)
Trump says US still ‘watching Iran‘ as ‘massive’ fleet heads to Gulf region
US president says ‘big force going towards Iran’, but he would ‘rather not see anything happen’ as tension with Tehran ratchets up. Published On 23 Jan 202623 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share United States President Donald Trump said a US naval “armada” was heading towards the Gulf region, with Iran being the focus, as officials said an aircraft carrier strike group and other assets would arrive in the Middle East in the coming days. “We’re watching Iran,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday as he flew back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list “We have a big force going towards Iran,” Trump said. “I’d rather not see anything happen, but we’re watching them very closely,” he said. “And maybe we won’t have to use it … we have a lot of ships going that direction, just in case, we have a big flotilla going in that direction, and we’ll see what happens,” he added. Trump’s announcement on the US naval buildup comes after he appeared to back-pedal last week on his threats of military action against Iran after, he said, receiving assurances that no executions of protesters would be carried out by Tehran. Trump’s confirmation of continuing military preparations in the region follows after US media reports in the past week that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group of vessels were ordered to divert from manoeuvres in the South China Sea to the Middle East. Speaking on Thursday, Trump reiterated that his earlier threats to use force against Tehran had stopped authorities in Iran from executing more than 800 protesters, and he again said he was open to talking with the country’s leadership. Iranian officials have denied plans to execute people who had taken part in the widespread antigovernment protests that began in late December and which Iranian state media said left 3,117 people dead, including 2,427 civilians and members of the security forces. Advertisement Speaking to US broadcaster CNBC on Wednesday, Trump said he hoped there would not be further US military action against Iran, but also said the US would act if Tehran resumed its nuclear programme. “They can’t do the nuclear,” Trump told CNBC in an interview in Davos. “If they do it, it’s going to happen again,” the president said, referring to US air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025 when Washington joined Israel’s 12-day war on the country. Washington last ordered a major military build-up in the Middle East in advance of its attacks in June, and officials later boasted about how it had kept its intention to strike Tehran’s nuclear programme a secret at the time. Writing in the Wall Street Journal newspaper on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned the US that Tehran will be “firing back with everything we have” if attacked. “Our powerful armed forces have no qualms about firing back with everything we have if we come under renewed attack,” the minister wrote. Araghchi said his warning was not a threat, “but a reality I feel I need to convey explicitly, because as a diplomat and a veteran, I abhor war”. “An all-out confrontation will certainly be ferocious and drag on far, far longer than the fantasy timelines that Israel and its proxies are trying to peddle to the White House,” he said. “It will certainly engulf the wider region and have an impact on ordinary people around the globe,” he added. Adblock test (Why?)
Did the US give Greenland back to Denmark? Trump omits history at Davos
On Wednesday, United States President Donald Trump made clear to other world leaders in Davos, Switzerland, that he was unflinching in his demand to acquire Greenland, even as he said for the first time that he did not plan for the US to take the land by force. Trump, who talked up his tariff-based negotiation strategy, cited Greenland’s strategic position between the US, Russia and China as the main reason he wants to acquire the territory. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Retelling the US history with Greenland and Denmark, Trump said, during World War II, “we saved Greenland and successfully prevented our enemies from gaining a foothold in our hemisphere”. This much is accurate: After Germany invaded Denmark, the US assumed responsibility for Greenland’s defence and established a military presence on the island that remains today, albeit in diminished scope. But Trump overstepped when he said, after World War II, “we gave Greenland back to Denmark”. “All the United States is asking for is a place called Greenland, where we already had it as a trustee, but respectfully returned it back to Denmark not long ago,” he said. Although the US defended Greenland during World War II, it never possessed the nation, and so could not have given it back. Experts have told PolitiFact that Greenland’s status as part of Denmark is not in question, and has not been for more than a century. Denmark’s colonisation of Greenland dates to the 1720s. In 1933, an international court settled a territorial dispute between Denmark and Norway, ruling that as of July 1931, Denmark “possessed a valid title to the sovereignty over all Greenland”. Advertisement After the 1945 approval of the United Nations Charter – the organisation’s founding document and the foundation of much of international law – Denmark incorporated Greenland through a constitutional amendment and gave it representation in the Danish Parliament in 1953. Denmark told the UN that any colonial-type status had ended; the UN General Assembly accepted this change in November 1954. The US was among the nations that voted to accept Greenland’s new status. Since then, Greenland has, incrementally but consistently, moved towards greater autonomy. Greenlandic political activists successfully pushed for and achieved home rule in 1979, which established its parliament. Today, Greenland is a district within the sovereign state of Denmark, with two elected representatives in Denmark’s Parliament. What about Iceland? Four times in the Davos speech, Trump referred to Iceland instead of Greenland. “Our stock market took the first dip yesterday because of Iceland,” Trump said. “So Iceland has already cost us a lot of money, but that dip is peanuts compared to what it’s gone up, and we have an unbelievable future.” US markets reacted negatively to Trump’s Greenland comments the day before his Davos speech, falling about 2 percent in value. But in recent weeks, Trump has said nothing about acquiring Iceland, an independent island nation with nearly 400,000 residents, located east of Greenland. In an X post following Trump’s Davos address, the White House press secretary criticised a reporter for posting that Trump “appeared to mix up Greenland and Iceland” several times. Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s “written remarks referred to Greenland as a ‘piece of ice’ because that’s what it is”. Although Trump did call Greenland a “very big piece of ice”, he also separately mentioned “Iceland”. Traditionally, Icelanders have maintained strong ties to the US, dating back to World War II, when Reykjavik invited US troops into the country. In 1949, Iceland became a founding member of NATO, and in 1951, the two countries signed a bilateral defence agreement that still stands. Its location – between the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans, a strategic naval choke point in the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap – means that Iceland, despite its lack of a standing military, is geographically important for both North America and Europe. In 2006, the US gave up its permanent troop presence at the Keflavík airbase – a 45-minute drive south of the capital, Reykjavik – but US troops still rotate through. Icelandic civilians now handle key NATO tasks such as submarine surveillance and operations at four radar sites on the nation’s periphery. Iceland also makes financial contributions to NATO trust funds and contributes a small number of technical and diplomatic personnel to NATO operations. Advertisement Trump’s pick for ambassador to Iceland, former Republican Congressman Billy Long, attracted criticism earlier this month when he was overheard saying Iceland should become a US state after Greenland, and that he would serve as governor. Long apologised during an interview with Arctic Today. “There was nothing serious about that. I was with some people, who I hadn’t met for three years, and they were kidding about Jeff Landry being governor of Greenland, and they started joking about me. And if anyone took offence to it, then I apologise,” Long told the publication. Trump has tapped Landry, Louisiana’s Republican governor, to be the US envoy to Greenland. Silja Bara R Omarsdottir, an international affairs professor who now serves as rector, or president, of the University of Iceland, told the Tampa Bay Times in August that newfound attention to Iceland’s security, including concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the rest of Europe, is “definitely very noticeable at the political level”. Multiple analysts in Iceland told the daily, only half-jokingly, that the key to surviving the Trump era has been to remain out of sight, something Greenland, for whatever reason, was unlucky enough not to be able to do. “You could say Icelandic policy towards the US has been to try to keep under the radar,” said Pia Elisabeth Hansson, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the University of Iceland. Adblock test (Why?)
Flooding causes widespread damage across southern Africa
NewsFeed Severe flooding across southern Africa has submerged roads, homes, schools and businesses, forcing evacuations and disrupting daily life. In Mozambique, the death toll has risen to at least 112 people after weeks of heavy rain. Published On 22 Jan 202622 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)
Video shows severely damaged building in Ukraine from Russian attack
NewsFeed A Russian drone strike hit a residential building in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, injuring seven people and causing significant damage, according to local officials. Residents said the blast shattered windows and sparked a fire in the apartment block. Published On 22 Jan 202622 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)