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Jan. 21 (UPI) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would not impose new tariffs on eight countries in Europe because they opposed his plan to annex Greenland.

Trump had said Saturday he would add 1% to 25% tariffs on those countries unless they allowed him to take the Danish territory.

“Based upon a very productive meeting that I have had with the Secretary General of NATO, Mark Rutte, we have formed the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Based upon this understanding, I will not be imposing the Tariffs that were scheduled to go into effect on February 1st,” he said.

Just before his announcement, the European Union’s parliament paused a vote on the trade deal that Trump negotiated with the bloc last summer. EU leaders were planning an emergency summit Thursday to work on a response to the threats.

Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Wednesday that he will not use force to annex Greenland but warned that if he did, the United States could not be stopped.

Trump’s comments on his ongoing pursuit of acquiring Greenland did not completely rule out escalation, though he referred to Iceland instead of Greenland at several points.

“We never asked for anything and we never got anything,” Trump said. “We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable. But I won’t do that.”

In Trump’s speech and responses during a Q&A with WEF President Borge Brende, he said inflation has been “defeated,” alleged protesters in Minnesota are “paid agitators” and suggested Europe is “not heading in the right direction.”

“People are doing very well,” Trump said. “They’re very happy with me.”

The president referred to the United States as the “economic engine” that all of Europe follows either up or down.

“In recent decades, it became the conventional wisdom in Washington and European capitals that the only way to grow a modern Western economy was through ever-increasing government spending, unchecked mass migration and endless foreign imports,” Trump said. “The consensus was that so-called dirty jobs and heavy industry should be sent elsewhere. That affordable energy should be replaced by the green new scam and that countries could be propped up by importing new and entirely different populations from far-away lands.”

Minnesota and immigration were a particular focus of Trump on Wednesday. He referred to Somalis, which Minnesota has the largest population of in the United States, as “low IQ people.” He used this as an example of the harm he believes immigration brings.

“The situation in Minnesota reminds us that the West cannot mass import foreign cultures,” he said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg before heading to Davos herself, calling Trump’s threat of tariffs “simply wrong” because Europe agreed with the United States on the need to ensure the security of the Arctic.

Von der Leyen said that while Europe preferred to talk out differences, it was “fully prepared to act, if necessary, with unity, urgency and determination,” adding that leaders of EU nations would meet in Brussels to discuss their response at an emergency session of the European Council on Thursday.

Her comments came as the European Parliament was set to announce Wednesday that it was pausing ratification of a tariffs and trade deal with the United States inked in July because it was unlikely to pass.

Without the deal, $109 billion of U.S. exports to the EU will be subject to tariffs starting Feb. 7.

French President Emmanuel Macron told the forum in Davos on Tuesday that the EU must not fall prey to “the law of the strongest” and that it should hold out against what he said was a new type of colonialism, citing lopsided U.S. trade deals and an “endless accumulation” of new tariffs that become even less acceptable when used as leverage to alter borders.

Macron also levelled similar accusations at China, saying its “massive excess capacity and distortive practices threaten to overwhelm entire industrial and commercial sectors.”

“We prefer respect to bullies, we prefer science to conspiracies, and we prefer the rule of law to brutality,” said Macron, who is among those advocating deployment of a so-called “trade bazooka” that was created with China in mind when it was floated in 2023.

A deterrent against bids by global powers to strongarm the EU or member nations into policy shifts, the Anti-Coercion Instrument allows Europe to respond with counter-tariffs, restrict access to the Single Market, block bids for EU contracts, as well as target intellectual property rights and investment.

German officials told Politico that Berlin would ask the European Commission to look at the ACI option when EU leaders meet Thursday in Brussels, however, the outcome was being seen as dependent on what Trump says in his address Wednesday and the result of talks on the sidelines of the forum.

Speaking before departing Washington at a news conference to mark his first year in office, Trump initially ramped up his rhetoric, warning he was prepared to do whatever it took to acquire Greenland, before switching to diplomacy mode, saying he was confident he would be able to find a solution acceptable to both sides.

“I think something’s going to happen that’s going to be very good for everybody. … I think that we will work something out where NATO is going to be very happy and where we’re going to be very happy. But we need it for security purposes, we need it for national security and even world security. It’s very important,” Trump said.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

US president says ‘framework of a future deal’ on Greenland and wider Arctic region reached with NATO chief Mark Rutte.

United States President Donald Trump says he is abandoning plans to impose steep tariffs on European countries opposed to his plans to take control of Greenland, after holding talks with NATO chief Mark Rutte.

Trump said in a social media post on Wednesday that the tariffs won’t be imposed because he and Rutte agreed to “the framework of a future deal with respect to Greenland and, in fact, the entire Arctic Region”.

“This solution, if consummated, will be a great one for the United States of America, and all NATO Nations,” he said, without going into further details about what was agreed upon.

Trump has been threatening for weeks to take control of Greenland, a semi-autonomous island that belongs to Denmark, spurring widespread condemnation in Europe and around the world.

Trump announced on Saturday that he would impose 10 percent tariffs on Denmark, ‌Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, starting on February 1, over the countries’ opposition to his Greenland takeover push.

Trump has repeatedly accused Denmark of failing to do enough to secure Greenland’s territorial waters in the Arctic, and he has argued that the US needs to seize the island for its own national security.

But Greenlandic and Danish leaders have rejected the US president’s stance, which recently spurred mass protests under the banner, “Hands off Greenland”.

“Tariff threats are unacceptable and have no place in this context,” French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media after Trump issued his economic threat on Saturday.

“Europeans will respond in a united and coordinated manner should they be confirmed. We will ensure that European sovereignty is upheld,” Macron said.

Trump’s aboutface on the tariffs came just hours after he told world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday that while the annexation of Greenland was necessary, his administration would not use force to do it.

“People thought I would use force. I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force,” said Trump, adding that he was “seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States”.

Countries say board aims to support reconstruction in the Gaza Strip and advance a ‘just and lasting peace’.

Eight countries across the Middle East and Asia have announced plans to join United States President Donald Trump’s so-called “board of peace” in the Gaza Strip, stressing the need to secure a “permanent ceasefire” in the bombarded Palestinian enclave.

The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar said they would be joining the Trump-led board in a joint statement on Wednesday.

“The Ministers reiterate their countries’ support for the peace efforts led by President Trump,” the statement said.

It added that the board’s mission is aimed at “consolidating a permanent ceasefire, supporting the reconstruction of Gaza, and advancing a just and lasting peace grounded in the Palestinian right to self-determination and statehood in accordance with international law, thereby paving the way for security and stability for all countries and peoples of the region”.

The announcement comes just days after the White House unveiled the makeup of the “board of peace”, which is part of Trump’s 20-point plan to end Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.

The board, which includes senior Trump advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, as well as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, will oversee a Palestinian technocratic committee tasked with managing day-to-day affairs in the Strip.

Palestinians in Gaza, who continue to face deadly Israeli military attacks and restrictions on humanitarian aid, have questioned how the US-led mechanisms will function in practice.

Observers have also raised concerns about Trump’s inclusion of several staunch Israel supporters in the “board of peace”, as well as the participation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Wednesday, the office of Netanyahu, who faces an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza, said he would take part in the mechanism.

Gaza resident Abu Ramzi al-Sandawi rejected Netanyahu, denouncing the Israeli prime minister as “the leader of the war on Gaza”.

“He destroyed our whole world,” al-Sandawi told Al Jazeera in Gaza City. “It’s known that Netanyahu is the cause of this war.”

At least 466 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect in October, according to the latest figures from the Palestinian Health Ministry in the territory.

Jan. 21 (UPI) — NASA astronaut Suni Williams retired from the agency after 27 years of service, including one nine-month stint when she was stranded on the International Space Station.

Williams has been “a trailblazer in human spaceflight, shaping the future of exploration through her leadership aboard the space station and paving the way for commercial missions to low Earth orbit,” said NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman in a statement.

“Her work advancing science and technology has laid the foundation for Artemis missions to the Moon and advancing toward Mars, and her extraordinary achievements will continue to inspire generations to dream big and push the boundaries of what’s possible,” Isaacman said.

Williams has spent 608 days in space, the second-most of any NASA astronaut. She ranks sixth on the list of longest single spaceflight by an American, tied with NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore, both logging 286 days during NASA’s Boeing Starliner and SpaceX Crew-9 missions.

Williams also completed nine spacewalks, totaling 62 hours and 6 minutes, ranking as the most spacewalk time by a woman and fourth-most on the all-time cumulative spacewalk duration list. She was also the first person to run a marathon in space.

The Needham, Mass., native has a bachelor’s degree in physical science from the U.S. Naval Academy and a master’s degree in engineering management from Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne. She is a retired U.S. Navy captain and an accomplished helicopter and fixed-wing pilot. She’s logged more than 4,000 flight hours in 40 different aircraft.

“Anyone who knows me knows that space is my absolute favorite place to be,” Williams said in a statement. “It’s been an incredible honor to have served in the Astronaut Office and have had the opportunity to fly in space three times. I had an amazing 27-year career at NASA, and that is mainly because of all the wonderful love and support I’ve received from my colleagues.”

Williams launched for the first time aboard space shuttle Discovery in December 2006 and returned aboard space shuttle Atlantis. She served as a flight engineer for Expeditions 14/15 and completed a then-record-breaking four spacewalks during the mission.

“From her indelible contributions and achievements to the space station, to her groundbreaking test flight role during the Boeing Starliner mission, her exceptional dedication to the mission will inspire the future generations of explorers,” Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in a statement.

Williams served as a NASA Extreme Environments Mission Operations crew member, spending nine days living and working in an underwater habitat. After her first flight, she served as deputy chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office. She was the director of operations in Star City, Russia, after her second mission to the space station. She recently helped establish a helicopter training platform to prepare astronauts for moon landings.

Wilmore, who was stranded on the ISS along with Williams, retired in August.

Israeli comedian and former combat soldier Guy Hochman was detained and questioned in Toronto after the Hind Rajab Foundation accused him of war crimes and incitement in Gaza, based on his own social media posts.

Donald Trump said the US needs “ownership” of Greenland to defend it from adversaries like China and Russia, but in lengthy comments at the World Economic Forum he said that he “won’t use force” to acquire the autonomous Danish territory.

The three journalists worked for a committee supervising Egyptian aid in Gaza and were documenting a newly set-up camp.

At least 11 Palestinians, including two children and three journalists, have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since dawn, with six others injured, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

Munir al-Bursh, director-general of the ministry, told Al Jazeera that the photojournalists killed when their vehicle was struck on Wednesday worked for the Egyptian Committee for Gaza Relief, which supervises Egypt’s relief work in Gaza.

Anas Ghunaim, Abdul Ra’ouf and Shaath Mohammad Qeshta were documenting developments on the ground in central Gaza near the so-called Netzarim Corridor when they were hit in an Israeli strike, colleagues and medical officials told Al Jazeera. A fourth person was also killed in the attack, an Al Jazeera team on the ground reported.

Video footage circulating online showed their charred, bombed-out vehicle by the roadside, smoke still rising from the wreckage.

Mohammed Mansour, the committee’s spokesman, told The Associated Press news agency that the journalists were filming a newly established displacement camp. He said the strike occurred about 5km (3 miles) from Israeli-controlled territory and that the vehicle was known to the Israeli military as belonging to the Egyptian committee.

Israeli Army Radio, citing an Israeli security source, said that the Israeli Air Force had targeted a vehicle in central Gaza, claiming that its occupants were using a drone to collect intelligence on army forces.

Three killed from single family

In a separate attack in central Gaza, three other Palestinians from a single family – including a child – were killed in eastern Deir el-Balah, sources at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital told Al Jazeera.

The victims were a father, his son and another relative, the sources said.

In southern Gaza, a 13-year-old was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers, an Al Jazeera team on the ground reported.

The Associated Press reported, quoting hospital staff, that the child was shot while collecting firewood in the eastern town of Bani Suheila.

In footage circulated online, the boy’s father could be seen weeping over his son’s body on a hospital bed.

A 32-year-old woman was shot and killed in a separate attack in the vicinity of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, an Al Jazeera team reported.

Two other Palestinians were killed in attacks in the north of the strip, the Wafa news agency reported.

Repeated ceasefire violations

Palestinian officials said Israel has repeatedly violated the United States-brokered ceasefire since it came into effect on October 10.

Israel continues to restrict the entry of food, medical aid and shelter materials into Gaza, where about 2.2 million people face acute humanitarian need in cold weather, barely shielded by flimsy tents.

Israel still has military control of large swaths of Gaza, including much of the south, east and north, according to Israeli military data, but, in effect, occupies the entire territory.

SDF chief Mazloum Abdi urged US-led coalition to ‘bear responsibilities’ for securing facilities coming under gov’t control.

Syrian government forces have entered the vast Al-Hol camp housing thousands linked to ISIL (ISIS) after Kurdish forces who had been controlling the facility for years withdrew.

Armoured vehicles carrying troops moved into the camp, located in the desert region of Hasakeh province, on Wednesday. The peaceful transfer of control suggests that the four-day ceasefire between the government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), announced the previous day, appears to be running smoothly.

The transfer of control of the camp, which houses some 24,000 people – mostly women and children linked to ISIL – came after two weeks of fighting between the army and the SDF that was brought to a halt by Tuesday’s truce.

The fighting has seen the SDF, which played a major role in defeating ISIL in alliance with a United States-led international coalition, lose swathes of north and east Syria.

The Kurdish forces had controlled the territories during the chaos of Syria’s civil war, which ended in December 2024 with the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, which toppled al-Assad and is now replacing the SDF as the US’s key partner in the battle against ISIL, wants the Kurdish fighters to integrate into the Syrian state. That process may now get under way should the ceasefire hold.

Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, said in a statement on Tuesday that the SDF’s role as the primary anti-ISIL force had “largely expired” and that the government in Damascus is “both willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities”.

Earlier this week, President al-Sharaa and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi had agreed that the Syrian state would take over responsibility for ISIL prisoners.

Abdi on Tuesday urged the US-led coalition to “bear its responsibilities in protecting facilities” holding ISIL members.

Largest ISIL camp

Al-Hol is the largest camp for people with links to ISIL, which was defeated in Syria in 2019.

The camp was established by Kurdish forces after they took control of swathes of Syria, with coalition backing.

Those held at al-Hol include about 14,500 Syrians and nearly 3,000 Iraqis.

Some 6,500 others, many of them loyal ISIL supporters who came from around the world to join the armed group, are separately held in a high-security section of the camp.

The SDF remains in control of the vast majority of more than a dozen prisons where some 9,000 members of ISIL have been held for years, according to The Associated Press.

The largest facility, holding about 4,500 ISIL-linked detainees, is the Gweiran Prison, located in the city of Hasakeh, which is still under full control of the SDF.

On Tuesday, the Syrian Interior Ministry said 120 ISIL members escaped from the Shaddadi prison in Hasakeh province.

The army accused the SDF of releasing ISIL detainees from the facility, while the Kurds said they lost control of the facility after an attack by Damascus.

Since then, many of the detainees who fled were captured by government troops who took control of the jail, state media reported.

Hague-based agency for fighting international and organised crime says it has dealt ‘massive blow’ to narco traffickers.

European police have smashed a major network manufacturing synthetic drugs in illegal labs across several countries.

Polish prosecutors announced on Wednesday that investigators had seized more than 9.3 tonnes of narcotics and arrested more than 100 suspects in an operation targeting ⁠a criminal network centred in the Central European country and spanning the European Union.

The operation dismantled 24 industrial-scale labs and seized about 1,000 tonnes of chemicals, imported legally from China and India, used to make street drugs such as MDMA, amphetamine and meth, according to news agency AFP.

Andy Kraag, head of Europol’s European Serious Organised Crime Centre, which coordinated police actions across borders, said the operation had dealt a “massive blow to organised crime groups involved in drug trafficking”.

“I’ve been in this business for a while. This is by far the largest-ever operation we did against synthetic drug production and distribution,” he said.

The yearlong operation involved police from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain. Among those arrested were two suspected ringleaders, both from Poland, Kraag said.

Laboratories and drug production lines were located in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland, which served as the logistical hub.

The majority of those arrested were from Poland, but Belgian and Dutch nationals are also thought to have been involved.

Suspicions were raised in 2024 when Polish police noticed a network importing vast quantities of chemicals from China and India.

Investigators discovered they were being repackaged, mislabelled and redistributed across the EU to the labs.

Kraag said the operation was part of a “supply-chain strategy” to choke off the synthetic drug industry at its source.

“These criminal groups, they don’t have their supply any more,” he said.

The man who killed Japan’s former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a campaign event in 2022 has been sentenced to life in prison. Al Jazeera’s Patrick Fok explains why the court ruling has divided public opinion.

SEOUL, Jan. 21 (UPI) — South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said Wednesday that North Korea is producing enough nuclear fissile material to build between 10 and 20 nuclear weapons each year, warning that Pyongyang presents a growing danger to the world beyond the Korean Peninsula.

Lee made the remarks during a New Year press conference in Seoul, where he outlined his administration’s foreign and security priorities amid heightened regional tensions and an accelerating North Korean weapons program.

“North Korea is assessed to be producing material sufficient for roughly 10 to 20 nuclear warheads annually,” Lee said.

The North also continues to develop intercontinental ballistic missile technology aimed at striking the U.S. mainland, he added.

“One day, North Korea will believe it has enough nuclear weapons to sustain its regime, as well as ICBM technology capable of threatening the entire world, including the United States,” Lee said. “Once they have a surplus, the danger will overflow beyond their borders, posing a global risk.”

Lee said the estimate highlights the need for pragmatic efforts to reduce tensions and prevent miscalculation.

He reiterated a call for a previously proposed three-stage plan for addressing North Korea’s nuclear program, beginning with a halt to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons development, followed by a reduction of its arsenal and ultimately full dismantlement.

“A halt to nuclear material production and further development of ICBM technology, as well as preventing overseas exports, would be beneficial,” Lee said.

Lee also pledged renewed efforts for Seoul to act as a “pacemaker” in facilitating dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, calling U.S. President Donald Trump a “unique figure.”

“A Trump-style approach seems helpful in dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un,” Lee said.

Trump met Kim three times during his first term — in Singapore in 2018, in Hanoi in 2019 and briefly at the Demilitarized Zone later that year — but the talks collapsed amid disagreements over sanctions relief and steps toward denuclearization.

During a visit to South Korea in October, Trump said he wanted to meet Kim Jong Un, though the two sides were unable to coordinate timing.

Kim has also signaled a willingness to resume diplomacy with the United States but warned that any discussion of giving up his regime’s nuclear arsenal would be off the table.

In a June report, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that North Korea currently possesses about 50 nuclear warheads and has enough fissile material for 40 more.

Jan. 21 (UPI) — The U.S. military has seized a seventh tanker transporting oil from Venezuela, as the Trump administration seeks to control the nation’s oil exports and revenue.

The tanker, identified as motor vessel Sagitta, was captured by U.S. military forces Tuesday morning, U.S. Southern Command said in a statement, saying the operation was conducted “without incident.”

The Sagitta is a U.S. sanctioned vessel, first blacklisted by the United States in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, and again on Jan. 10, in an attempt to cut off an important revenue source from the Kremlin.

According to the statement from U.S. Southern Command, the vessel was leaving Venezuela with Venezuelan oil, in “defiance of President [Donald] Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”

The U.S. military seized its first tanker on Dec. 10 amid growing tensions between the United States and Venezuela.

A U.S. military buildup was underway in the Caribbean. On Dec. 16, Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers transiting to and from the South American country.

Tensions between the two exploded earlier this month, when the U.S. military detained Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro, in a clandestine operation.

Trump and other U.S. officials have said that the United States intends to control the sale of Venezuelan oil on U.S. and global markets, and that the proceeds from those sales will initially be deposited in international bank accounts under the Trump administration’s control.

The funds will then be used to stabilize the Venezuelan economy, with decisions about their use to be made under U.S. oversight.

Earlier this month, Trump said Venezuela’s interim government will be giving the United States between 30 million and 50 million barrels of “high quality, sanctioned oil,” and that Venezuela was to use the funds from that deal to buy only American-made goods.

Trump on Tuesday told reporters that oil companies were getting ready to make “massive investments in Venezuela,” while stating that the United States has received 50 million barrels of oil from the South American country in the last four days.

“We’ve got millions of barrels of oil left,” he said. “We’re selling it on the open market. We’re bringing down oil prices incredibly.”

Jan. 21 (UPI) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Wednesday accepted the invitation of U.S. President Donald Trump to join his intergovernmental Board of Peace organization as questions — and concerns — loom over its potential members.

The prime minister’s office announced the decision in a statement published on its Facebook account, making Netanyahu the latest world leader to join the board.

Trump has been courting world leaders to join the board, which he first announced in September as part of a 20-point plan aimed at securing a cease-fire in Gaza.

So far, at least eight nations, including Israel, have publicly stated they will join the Board of Peace, a U.S.-led intergovernmental organization that has been endorsed by the United Nations Security Council in relation to its Gaza peace mandate.

Other nations include Argentina, Belarus, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, and Hungary, while invitations have been sent out to several others, including Canada, Britain, France and Russia, among others.

While conceived as a mechanism to maintain peace in Gaza, the board’s charter makes no reference to the Palestinian enclave. The suggestion that it could seek to address other conflicts has raised concerns that it may undermine the United Nations, a frequent target of Trump.

Asked Tuesday during a White House press conference if he wants the Board of Peace to replace the U.N., Trump said, “it might.”

“I wish the United Nations could do more. I wish we didn’t need a Board of Peace,” he said, later adding, “The U.N. just hasn’t been very helpful. I’m a big fan of the U.N. potential, but it has never lived up to its potential.”

Trump has confirmed that an invitation to join the board has been sent to Russia’s authoritarian president, Vladimir Putin, whose potential inclusion has also raised concerns, along with the inclusion of Netanyahu, who is the subject of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for alleged war crimes, and Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian leader of Belarus who aided Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.

Britain — whose leader, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, has been invited to join the board — has signaled that it may decline the offer.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Britain’s Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the proposal for the board being presented now is “very different” from what had been expected.

She also said, “Putin is not a man of peace and I don’t think he belongs in any organization with peace in the name.”

France is reportedly preparing to decline joining the board, which led Trump on Tuesday to threaten a 200% tariff on French wine and champagne in response.

Membership on the board also reportedly costs $1 billion, which Canada said it will not pay although it does intend to join.

Speaking to reporters at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Tuesday, Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said that “there’s a lot of details to be worked out but, one thing which is clear is that Canada is not going to pay if we join the Board of Peace.”

US president resumed journey to Europe on Boeing 757 that departed just after midnight on Wednesday.

United States President Donald Trump’s plane has been forced to make a U-turn about an hour after departing its base for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Air Force One, carrying the president, his entourage and reporters, returned to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland shortly after 11:00pm (04:00 GMT) on Tuesday night, owing to a “minor electrical issue”, said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Trump resumed his journey to the forum, where he is due to hold meetings with several world leaders and deliver a speech, on a smaller Boeing 757.

The plane, which is normally used for domestic trips to smaller airports, departed just after midnight local time (05:00 GMT) on Wednesday, more than two hours after the initial flight took off.

With its classic blue and white livery, Air Force One is arguably one of the world’s most iconic planes and an instantly recognisable symbol of the US presidency.

The two planes currently used as Air Force One have been flying for nearly four decades. Boeing has been working on replacements, but the programme has faced a series of delays.

The planes are equipped with radiation shielding and antimissile technology, and include a variety of communications systems to allow the president to maintain contact with the military from anywhere in the world.

Last year, the ruling family of Qatar gifted Trump a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet to be added to the Air Force One fleet, which is currently being retrofitted to meet security requirements.

Leavitt joked to reporters on Tuesday night that the Qatari jet was sounding “much better” now.

Last February, an Air Force One plane carrying Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Germany had to return to Washington because of a mechanical issue.

In October, a military plane carrying Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had to make an emergency landing in the United Kingdom due to a crack in the windshield.

New Zealanders are set to go to the polls later this year amid a sluggish economy and rising unemployment.

New Zealand will hold a national election on November 7, the country’s centre-right prime minister has said.

Christopher Luxon announced the election date on Wednesday as he touted his government’s record on the economy and crime.

Luxon said inflation had fallen from 7 percent to 3 percent and there were 38,000 fewer self-reported victims of crime on his government’s watch.

“When we took office, the country was going in the wrong direction, and it’s taken a lot of hard work in the last two years to start turning things around,” the prime minister said in a statement.

“Continuing to deliver on our plan to fix the basics and build the future so that Kiwis around the country get more results like these will remain our focus in the lead – up to the election later this year,” he added.

Luxon’s National Party formed a coalition with the populist New Zealand First and pro-business ACT parties after delivering a crushing defeat to the centre-left Labour Party at the 2023 election.

Luxon, a former chief executive of Air New Zealand, ran on a platform focused on law and order and cost-of-living issues in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But his government’s record has faced growing scrutiny amid sluggish economic conditions. New Zealand’s economy contracted during three out of the last six quarters that ended in September, and unemployment in November rose to 5.3 percent, the highest in nearly two decades.

Recent opinion polls have suggested the National Party is losing ground to Labour, led by Chris Hipkins, though his party would still retain power with the help of its coalition partners under the most recent projections.

New Zealand holds elections for its unicameral parliament every three years, but it is up to the government of the day to choose the exact date.

Coalition governments are the norm in New Zealand because of the country’s mixed-member proportional system, which replaced first-past-the-post voting in 1996.

Jan. 21 (UPI) — Air Force One with President Donald Trump on board was forced to return to Maryland’s Joint Base Andrews late Tuesday due to an electrical issue with the aircraft, officials said.

Trump had boarded Air Force One at 9:34 p.m. EDT Tuesday, with wheels up shortly afterward. The plane was en route to Zurich Airport as the president is scheduled to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, when it was forced to return.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in a statement that after takeoff, the crew identified “a minor electrical issue” and that “out of an abundance of caution,” the plane was returning to Joint Base Andrews where the president would board a replacement aircraft before continuing on to his destination.

Air Force One landed at Joint Base Andrews at 11:07 p.m., according to a statement from the White House. Two replacement planes were on the tarmac, a second pool note stated.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Leavitt, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Adviser Stephen Miller and several others were aboard Air Force One with Trump.

This is a developing story.

Jan. 20 (Asia Today) — A group of North Korean defectors on Tuesday petitioned South Korea’s National Human Rights Commission to block the Unification Ministry’s move to change how defectors are labeled, saying the shift could undermine their identity and deepen divisions within the community.

The group, which calls itself the Association of North Korean Defectors Opposing the Forced Use of the Term “North-bound residents,” said the ministry’s preferred wording goes beyond accommodating the choice of some defectors and amounts to imposing a new designation on most of them.

Lee Eun-taek, the group’s representative, said in a statement that the change risks infringing on “the identity and dignity that individual defectors have chosen for themselves” and is fueling unnecessary conflict among defectors.

“What we seek to protect is the rights and identity of those who have chosen to live as North Korean defectors,” Lee said, adding that diverse views within the community should be respected and that no term should be used to erase someone else’s identity.

Lee urged the commission to prevent defectors from being deprived of the right to choose how they are identified, saying “a name” reflects a person’s life experience and should not be decided by state power or politicians.

The Unification Ministry said in last year’s work report that it intended to change the terms “North Korean defectors” and “North Korean refugees” to “North-bound residents.” The ministry has used the new phrasing internally since this year and plans to adopt it as legal terminology once it becomes socially established, the report said.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Jan. 20 (Asia Today) — Bank deposits in South Korea are falling sharply as investors shift cash toward the stock market during the KOSPI’s rally, raising concerns in the financial sector about an accelerating “money move,” industry data showed Tuesday.

Demand deposits at the five major banks – KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Woori Bank and NH Nonghyup Bank – totaled 673.9145 trillion won ($455.6 billion), down 4.99% from the end of last month, a decline of 35.3973 trillion won ($23.9 billion), the financial sector said.

Time deposits also edged lower, slipping to 938.2555 trillion won ($634.3 billion) from 939.2863 trillion won ($635.0 billion) in December.

Market participants attributed the outflows to a shift into securities-related cash, including investor deposits – standby funds used directly for stock purchases – and cash management accounts.

Investor deposits rose to 91.2182 trillion won ($61.7 billion) as of Friday from 77.912 trillion won ($52.7 billion) at the end of November, the data showed. Cash management account balances climbed to 102.9779 trillion won ($69.6 billion) from 98.0722 trillion won ($66.3 billion) over the same period.

The increase in investor deposits has tracked the KOSPI’s gains, the report said. Investor deposits hovered near 60 trillion won ($40.6 billion) in June last year when the index was around 2,000, then topped 80 trillion won ($54.1 billion) on Oct. 13. As the KOSPI resumed a steady rise in January and touched 5,000, investor deposits moved above 90 trillion won ($60.8 billion), reaching 92.8537 trillion won ($62.8 billion) on Jan. 8.

Banks revived deposit products paying interest in the 3% range in the second half of last year, but they are facing competition from alternatives such as integrated investment accounts known as IMAs, introduced in December, the report said.

The IMA products are marketed as offering principal protection if funds are held to maturity while targeting returns above 4%, the report said. About 220 billion won ($149 million) flowed into one product on its first day, it added.

A banking industry official said the reappearance of 3% deposit products reflects an attempt to respond to the money move. The official said the decline in time deposits remains modest, but banks are monitoring the trend closely.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Jan. 20 (Asia Today) — A South Korean defense advisory panel has recommended creating a Joint Operations Command to streamline wartime and peacetime command as Seoul prepares for the transfer of wartime operational control, while calling for the disbandment of the military’s Drone Operations Command.

The Future Strategy Subcommittee under the Defense Ministry’s civilian-military advisory panel released its findings Tuesday, outlining defense reform tasks and implementation steps covering future defense concepts, command and unit restructuring, force structure and personnel reforms.

The subcommittee said a Joint Operations Command should be established to unify the command structure and strengthen operational command ahead of the wartime operational control transfer, known as OPCON. Under the proposal, the Joint Operations commander would also serve as the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces commander after the transfer, overseeing both wartime and peacetime operations.

The panel said the Joint Chiefs of Staff would shift to a narrower role focused on strategic situation assessment, military strategy development and force development.

The subcommittee also recommended abolishing the Drone Operations Command, saying it creates inefficiency because drone missions and requirements are already being developed by each service. It said a smaller functional command could handle cross-service tasks such as identifying integrated requirements.

In its future defense concept, the subcommittee said planning should account for North Korea’s nuclear and conventional capabilities and gray zone threats, as well as the possibility of disputes with neighboring countries. It recommended building a Korea-led combined defense system after OPCON transfer and a tailored deterrence posture within the alliance using South Korea’s conventional capabilities and broader military power including U.S. nuclear forces.

The panel urged early fielding of key assets tied to deterring North Korea, including high-power, ultra-precise ballistic missiles, long-range surface-to-air missiles and military reconnaissance satellites and microsatellite systems. It also called for raising research and development spending for advanced defense technology such as artificial intelligence, defense semiconductors and robotics by an average of more than 10% per year.

To address declining manpower, the subcommittee recommended expanding the use of civilian resources in non-combat roles and some combat support areas, with legal and institutional changes to enable use in both wartime and peacetime. It also proposed changes to the military service system to allow people to choose multi-year professional service alongside short-term conscripted service.

The subcommittee recommended building a total defense workforce of 500,000 by 2040, including 350,000 active-duty troops and 150,000 civilian defense personnel such as civilian employees and specialized reservists.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Jan. 20 (UPI) — Two more women have accused actor Russell Brand of rape and sexual assault, and a judge in London on Tuesday granted Brand bail ahead of a Feb. 17 pretrial hearing.

Brand, 50, appeared remotely from his home in South Florida via video in the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, during which new charges were entered based on complaints filed by two women.

The additional charges accuse Brand of one count of rape and one count of sexual assault in 2009. The bail amount was not announced.

Those charges are in addition to two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault filed against Brand that are alleged by four women from 1999 to 2005.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring told Brand that one of the charges against him only can be tried in a crown court and granted him an unannounced bail amount ahead of his scheduled pretrial hearing in London’s Southwark Crown Court on Feb. 17.

Tuesday’s hearing lasted about six minutes, during which Brand only acknowledged his name and date of birth.

The entertainer previously denied all allegations against him and said he only had consensual relations with his accusers and all other women.

He called the claims against him a “coordinated attack,” The Guardian reported.

One accuser said Brand raped her in 1999 while in southern England, and another said he “indecently assaulted” her in London in 2004.

A third accuser said Brand sexually assaulted and orally raped her in 2004, while a fourth victim accused him of sexual assault between 2004 and 2005.

Brand in May pleaded not guilty to those charges.

The actor and comedian was married to singer Katy Perry from October 2010 to December 2011 and has appeared in several films and television programs.

He is married to Laura Gallacher, who is the mother of Brand’s daughters, Peggy and Mabel.

Jan. 20 (UPI) — Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, announced Tuesday that they’re expecting their fourth child.

They revealed the news in a joint post on Instagram.

“We’re very excited to share the news that Usha is pregnant with our fourth child, a boy. Usha and the baby are doing well, and we are all looking forward to welcoming him in late July,” the post read.

“During this exciting and hectic time, we are particularly grateful for the military doctors who take excellent care of our family and for the staff members who do so much to ensure that we can serve the country while enjoying a wonderful life with our children.”

JD Vance and Usha Vance, who married in 2014, share three children: Ewan, 8, Vivek, 5, and Mirabel, 4. The last vice president to welcome a child while in office was Schuyler Colfax — who served under President Ulysses S. Grant — in 1870.

Real Madrid beat Monaco 6-1 in the league phase of the Champions League, as forward Vinicius defies boos from home fans.

With three assists and a goal, Vinicius Junior quieted the fans who had booed him again at the start of Real Madrid’s 6-1 rout over Monaco in the Champions League.

Part of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium crowd jeered the Brazil forward nearly every time he touched the ball early on in the league-phase game in Madrid on Tuesday. But the boos dissipated as the match went on and were virtually gone by the time Vinicius scored his first Champions League goal of the season in the 63rd minute.

The early boos were not nearly as loud as they were on Saturday in Madrid’s 2-0 win over Levante in the Spanish league. Both times fans jeered when Vinicius’s name was announced in the starting lineup, but this time, the game ended with fans on Vinicius’s side as he was chosen the man of the match.

Vinicius has been having a lacklustre season, and some fans viewed him as one of the reasons why coach Xabi Alonso was replaced last week.

Vinicius had spats with Alonso, a former Madrid and Spain great as a player, who was replaced as a coach following a tumultuous eight-month stint. Vinicius was reportedly the main player not backing Alonso in the locker room.

He scored his goal on Tuesday with a well-placed strike after getting past a couple of defenders and hitting the upper corner. He did not go towards the fans to celebrate, and instead hugged his teammates near the midfield. Then he ran towards the sideline to salute and hug the new Madrid coach, Alvaro Arbeloa.

Vinicius had assists in goals by Kylian Mbappe in the 26th and Franco Mastantuono in the 51st. The Brazilian also assisted with a cross that led to an own-goal by Monaco defender Thilo Kehrer in the 55th.

“Vini, we are behind you,” read a banner held by a fan at the Bernabeu.

Mbappe scored in the fifth minute to put the hosts ahead. He hugged Vinicius after his second goal later in the first half and again following the final whistle.

Mbappe and Arbeloa had come out defending Vinicius recently, with Mbappe saying the crowd should not single out Vinicius as the one to blame for the team’s struggles.

Many fans applauded a seventh-minute attempt by Vinicius, who just missed wide from inside the area. When he misplayed a ball in the 40th, some of the fans started to boo again, but many more applauded in response.

There were no immediate jeers towards club President Florentino Pérez as had happened against Levante.

Mbappe appeared to apologise to Monaco fans after scoring. He was a former Monaco player. Mbappe has 18 Champions League goals for Madrid, the most of any player in the first 20 appearances with the club, ahead of the 14 of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Jude Bellingham, who was also jeered by some fans on Saturday, scored Madrid’s sixth goal in the 80th minute.

Vinicius came close to scoring again on a breakaway in second-half stoppage time.

Madrid had entered the match against Levante coming off a two-game losing streak, which included a loss to Barcelona in the final of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia – prompting Alonso’s departure – and an embarrassing elimination against Albacete in the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey.

There was a moment of silence before the match in honour of the victims of the train crash, in which more than 40 people were killed, in southern Spain on Sunday.