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US President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested the United States might acquire Greenland, a vast semi-autonomous Danish territory on the shortest route between North America and Europe vital for the US ballistic missile warning system.

The head of Denmark’s Arctic command said the prospect of a US takeover of Greenland was not keeping him up at night after talks with a senior US general last week but that more must be done to deter any Russian attack on the Arctic island.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly suggested the United States might acquire Greenland, a vast semi-autonomous Danish territory on the shortest route between North America and Europe vital for the US ballistic missile warning system.

Trump has not ruled out taking the territory by force and, at a congressional hearing this month, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth did not deny that such contingency plans exist.

Such a scenario “is absolutely not on my mind,” Soren Andersen, head of Denmark’s Joint Arctic Command, told Reuters in an interview, days after what he said was his first meeting with the general overseeing US defence of the area.

“I sleep perfectly well at night,” Anderson said. “Militarily, we work together, as we always have.”

U.S. General Gregory Guillot visited the US Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on June 19-20 for the first time since the US moved Greenland oversight to the Northern command from its European command, the Northern Command said on Tuesday.

Andersen’s interview with Reuters on Wednesday were his first detailed comments to media since his talks with Guillot, which coincided with Danish military exercises on Greenland involving one of its largest military presences since the Cold War.

Russian and Chinese state vessels have appeared unexpectedly around Greenland in the past and the Trump administration has accused Denmark of failing to keep it safe from potential incursions. Both countries have denied any such plans.

Andersen said the threat level to Greenland had not increased this year. “We don’t see Russian or Chinese state ships up here,” he said.

DOG SLED PATROLS

Denmark’s permanent presence consists of four ageing inspection vessels, a small surveillance plane, and dog sled patrols tasked with monitoring an area four times the size of France.

Previously focused on demonstrating its presence and civilian tasks like search and rescue, and fishing inspection, the Joint Arctic Command is now shifting more towards territorial defence, Andersen said.

“In reality, Greenland is not that difficult to defend,” he said. “Relatively few points need defending, and of course, we have a plan for that. NATO has a plan for that.”

As part of the military exercises this month, Denmark has deployed a frigate, F-16s, special forces and extra troops, and increased surveillance around critical infrastructure. They would leave next week when the exercises end, Andersen said, adding that he would like to repeat them in the coming months.

“To keep this area conflict-free, we have to do more, we need to have a credible deterrent,” he said. “If Russia starts to change its behaviour around Greenland, I have to be able to act on it.”

In January, Denmark pledged over $2 billion to strengthen its Arctic defence, including new Arctic navy vessels, long-range drones, and satellite coverage. France offered to deploy troops to Greenland and EU’s top military official said it made sense to station troops from EU countries there.

Around 20,000 people live in the capital Nuuk, with the rest of Greenland’s 57,000 population spread across 71 towns, mostly on the west coast. The lack of infrastructure elsewhere is a deterrent in itself, Andersen said.

“If, for example, there were to be a Russian naval landing on the east coast, I think it wouldn’t be long before such a military operation would turn into a rescue mission,” he said.

US President Donald Trump said Friday he had saved Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khameni from assassination and lashed out at the supreme leader for ingratitude, declaring he would order more bombing if the country tried to pursue nuclear weapons.

US President Donald Trump said Friday he had saved Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khameni from assassination and lashed out at the supreme leader for ingratitude, declaring he would order more bombing if the country tried to pursue nuclear weapons.

In an extraordinary outburst on his Truth Social platform, Trump blasted Tehran for claiming to have won its war with Israel and said he was halting work on possible sanctions relief.

Trump said that the United States would bomb Iran again “without question” if the country was still able to enrich nuclear-weapons grade uranium following US strikes.

The US president accused the Iranian leader of ingratitude after Khamenei said in a defiant message that reports of damage to its nuclear sites from US bombing were exaggerated, and said Iran had beaten Israel and dealt Washington a “slap.”

Trump posted: “I knew EXACTLY where he was sheltered, and would not let Israel, or the U.S. Armed Forces, by far the Greatest and Most Powerful in the World, terminate his life.”

“I SAVED HIM FROM A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH, and he does not have to say, “THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP!’” 

Trump said that he had been working in recent days on the possible removal of sanctions against Iran, one of Tehran’s long-term demands.

“But no, instead I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more,” Trump added, exhorting Iran to return to the negotiating table.

Iran’s foreign minister on Wednesday denied it is set to resume nuclear talks with the United States, after Trump said at a NATO summit in The Hague that negotiations were set to begin again next week.

– ‘Beat to hell’ –

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff had expressed hope “for a comprehensive peace agreement.”

Asked earlier in a White House press conference whether he would consider fresh air strikes if last week’s sorties were not successful in ending Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Trump said: “Sure. Without question. Absolutely.”

Trump added that Khamenei and Iran “got beat to hell” in the hostilities involving the United States and Israel and that “it was a great time to end it.”

He had said during the press conference that he would be “putting out a little statement” on Khamenei’s comments, which appeared to be the Truth Social post.

In the post, he accused Khamenei of “blatantly and foolishly” saying Iran won the 12-day war with Israel, adding: “As a man of great faith, he is not supposed to lie.”

The war of words come as a fragile ceasefire holds in the conflict between Israel and Iran.

Speculation had however swirled about the fate of Khamenei.

In a televised speech on Thursday — his first appearance since the ceasefire — Khamenei hailed what he described as Iran’s “victory” over Israel, vowed never to yield to US pressure and insisted Washington had been dealt a humiliating “slap”.

“The American president exaggerated events in unusual ways, and it turned out that he needed this exaggeration,” Khamenei said, rejecting Trump’s claims Iran’s nuclear program had been set back by decades.

US President Donald Trump on Friday repeated his claims that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan by telling his administration officials to “cancel all deals” with the two countries, after which they agreed to stop the fighting.

US President Donald Trump on Friday repeated his claims that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan by telling his administration officials to “cancel all deals” with the two countries, after which they agreed to stop the fighting.

“We did some great work. India and Pakistan. That was going to be maybe nuclear. We did that. We did a lot of work. I don’t know if there’s ever been a president that’s done much more,” Trump said, as he spoke to reporters at the White House following several decisions from the US Supreme Court, including one limiting the power of lower courts regarding national injunctions in a birthright citizenship case.

Trump again repeated his claim that he stopped the war between India and Pakistan, which he claimed could have turned nuclear, after he told the countries that Washington would not “trade” with Delhi and Islamabad.

“Serbia, Kosovo is going to go at it, going to be a big war. I said, ‘you go at it, there’s no trade with the United States…. That’s what happened with India and Pakistan. I was negotiating with both of them and I said to (Treasury Secretary) Scott (Bessent), I said to (Commerce Secretary) Howard (Lutnick), cancel all deals with India and Pakistan. They’re not trading with us because they’re in a war,” Trump said.

Trump said the two countries “called back. ‘What do we do?’ I said, ‘Look, you want to have trade with the United States. It’s great, but you want to go and start using nuclear weapons on each other. We’re not going to allow that.’ And they both agreed, both have great leaders. They both agreed not to do it. So so we did a lot,” Trump said.

He added that “some of the bigger countries, India, I think we’re going to reach a deal where we have the right to go in and trade. Right now it’s restricted. You can’t walk in there. You can’t even think about it. We’re looking to get a full trade barrier dropping, which is unthinkable and I’m not sure that that’s going to happen, but as of this moment, we’ve agreed to go into India and trade.” “We’re going to be trading in China. That’s going to come a little bit down the road, but we’re going to be trading in China. We have a lot of great things going and we’re getting along with countries, but some will be disappointed. Because they’re going to have to pay tariffs, and we’ve taken in already hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs, no inflation,” Trump said.

India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Trump has repeated the claim several times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

However, India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of the two militaries.

In a nearly 35-minute phone call with Trump last week, PM Modi firmly stated that India does not and will “never accept” mediation and that the discussions between Indian and Pakistani militaries on cessation of military actions were initiated at Islamabad’s request.

Donald Trump’s second son fueled speculation that his family seeks to establish a multi-generational political dynasty, saying he and other relatives may run for public office.

Donald Trump’s second son fueled speculation Friday that his family seeks to establish a multi-generational political dynasty, saying he and other relatives may run for public office.

Eric Trump told the Financial Times that a political career would be “would be an easy one” for family members, as they look beyond President Trump’s second term that ends in 2029.

Eric, 41, is a fierce defender of his father on TV networks, while older brother Don Jr. is a key player in the Trump inner circle, using his podcast and social media presence to fire up the president’s base.

“The real question is: ‘Do you want to drag other members of your family into it?’” Eric Trump said in an interview.

“If the answer was yes, I think the political path would be an easy one, meaning, I think I could do it,” he said. “And by the way, I think other members of our family could do it too.”

Trump’s children and his close family have long been involved in his business life, and have also taken major roles as he moved into politics and took the White House in 2017

In Trump’s first term, his daughter Ivanka and husband Jared Kushner held senior administration posts, though they have retreated from the political frontlines for now.

Eric’s wife Lara Trump co-led the national Republican Party during the last election campaign — receiving lavish praise from the candidate — and she now has her own show on Fox News.

Barron Trump, the president’s only child with wife Melania, is aged 19, but his father says he is interested in politics and helped him to draw in young male voters via podcasts and TikTok.

Kai Trump, 18, daughter of Don Jr. and ex-wife Vanessa Trump, spoke at last year’s Republican National Convention and is a competitive junior golfer.

Eric Trump told the Financial Times he was “wholly unimpressed by half the politicians I see” adding “I could do it very effectively.”

Asked if a Trump would stand for election in future, he replied “I don’t know…Time will tell. But there’s more people than just me.”

Profiting From Politics

Eric and Don Jr. run the Trump family business, which now includes a growing cryptocurrency portfolio.

Eric Trump denied any conflicts of interest, saying “if there’s one family that hasn’t profited off politics, it’s the Trump family.

“The opportunity cost, the legal cost, the toll it’s taken on our family has been astronomical.”

The Trumps are widely believed to have taken the monetizing of their powerful status to unprecedented levels for US first families.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has agreed to finance a film about Melania Trump, reportedly netting her $28 million. Other close family are involved in multi-billion-dollar real estate deals abroad, and Don Jr. is launching a Washington club where membership reportedly costs more than half a million dollars.

In May, President Trump hosted a dinner at one of his golf clubs for investors in his $TRUMP cryptocurrency, which he launched shortly before reentering the White House. Seats went to investors who bought the most of the currency, with the top 25 holders gaining a private reception with Trump himself.

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia was looking to cut its military expenditure from next year, contrasting that with NATO’s plan to ramp up defence spending over the next decade.

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia was looking to cut its military expenditure from next year, contrasting that with NATO’s plan to ramp up defence spending over the next decade.

NATO allies on Wednesday agreed to raise their collective spending goal to 5% of gross domestic product in the next 10 years, citing what they called the long-term threat posed by Russia and the need to strengthen civil and military resilience.

In his first reaction to that move, Putin told a press conference in Minsk that the NATO spending would go on “purchases from the USA and on supporting their military-industrial complex”, and this was NATO’s business, not Russia’s.

“But now here is the most important thing. We are planning to reduce defence spending. For us, next year and the year after, over the next three-year period, we are planning for this,” he said.

Putin said there was no final agreement yet between the defence, finance and economy ministries, “but overall, everyone is thinking in this direction. And Europe is thinking about how to increase its spending, on the contrary. So who is preparing for some kind of aggressive actions? Us or them?”

Putin’s comments are likely to be greeted with extreme scepticism in the West, given that Russia has massively increased defence spending since the start of the Ukraine war.

The conflict shows no sign of ending and has actually intensified in recent weeks, as negotiations have made no visible progress towards a ceasefire or a permanent settlement.

Putin said Russia appreciated efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to bring an end to the war.

“He recently stated that it turned out to be more difficult than it seemed from the outside. Well, that’s true,” Putin said.

Trump said this week that he believed Putin wanted to find a way to settle the conflict, but Ukraine and many of its European allies believe the Kremlin leader has no real interest in a peace deal and is intent on capturing more territory.

Putin said Russian and Ukrainian negotiators were in constant contact, and Moscow was ready to return the bodies of 3,000 more Ukrainian soldiers.

ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN

Russia is seeing a sharp slowdown in economic growth as the budget comes under pressure from falling energy revenues and the central bank is trying to bring down inflation.

Russia hiked state spending on national defence by a quarter in 2025 to 6.3% of gross domestic product (GDP), the highest level since the Cold War. Defence spending accounts for 32% of total 2025 federal budget expenditure.

Defence plants have been working round-the-clock for the past several years, and the state has spent heavily on bonuses to attract soldiers to sign up and on compensation for the families of those who are killed.

Putin acknowledged that Russia had paid for the military spending increase with higher inflation.

The finance ministry raised the 2025 budget deficit estimate to 1.7% of gross domestic product in April from 0.5% after reducing its energy revenues forecast by 24%, and it plans to tap into fiscal reserves this year to balance the budget. The next draft budget is due to appear in the autumn.

Lewis Hamilton’s difficult start to life at Ferrari continued on Friday as he was handed a warning by the race stewards after winding up 10thin second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton’s difficult start to life at Ferrari continued on Friday as he was handed a warning by the race stewards after winding up 10th in second practice for the Austrian Grand Prix. The seven-time champion was alleged to have impeded his successor at Mercedes, Italian teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli, at turn four of the fast and technical Red Bull Ring circuit in the Styrian Alps. Hamilton apologised immediately and explained that he had not seen Antonelli approaching behind him as he descended over the crest of a hill on a slow lap and drifted into the racing line. Hamilton raised his hand to signal his apology to Antonelli as he passed him. 

After speaking to Hamilton, the stewards decided to give the Briton a formal warning — the usual sanction for such a misdemeanour in practice. 

It is the third time this season that Hamilton has been warned. 

“The driver of car 44 (Hamilton), although constantly checking his mirrors after being informed by the team about car 12 (Antonelli) closing in, slowly moved on to the racing line on the approach to turn four and thereby unnecessarily impeded car 12 which had to take evasive action,” said the stewards in a statement.

Hamilton was given a three-place grid drop at the Monaco Grand Prix where he impeded four-time champion Max Verstappen in qualifying when his race engineer Riccardo Adami wrongly informed him that the Dutchman was not on a flying lap. 

Hamilton struggled with gearbox problems on Friday as he evaluated a new floor design on his Ferrari car. 

His team-mate Charles Leclerc was fifth, six-tenths off the pace of McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Max Verstappen declined to comment on the speculation when asked in a news conference on Thursday.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff on Friday suggested he was interested in signing Max Verstappen to partner George Russell in a potentially explosive driver line-up for the 2026 season. During a series of interviews, it emerged that he had made contract with the four-time world champion and that this had affected contract talks with Russell who has been in outstanding form this year. Russell told Sky Sports F1 that it was entirely “normal that conversations with the likes of Verstappen are ongoing”, adding that a team that aims to win the championship has to go for the best drivers, engineers and pit-crews to succeed. 

“But from my side, if I’m performing as I’m doing, what have I got to be concerned about? There are two seats in every Formula 1 team.”

Wolff has flirted with the idea of recruiting Verstappen for some time, but also expressed satisfaction with the current partnership of Russell and teenage rookie Kimi Antonelli — a precocious talent, but not yet an experienced or metronomic points-scorer.

It may be, as many seasoned observers believe, that Wolff feels he can manage the testy rivalry between Russell and Verstappen, who have clashed several times in the last year both on and off the track. 

But, he conceded, it remains much more likely that Russell will stay at Mercedes next year -– his contract ends this season -– than that Verstappen, who is contracted to Red Bull until 2028, will arrive. 

“He has been part of our programme for 10 years,” Wolff said. “He’s always performed to the expectations and he’s continuing to do so. These are normal business contract discussions as I have been doing for 30 years… And contract discussions are not held in Town Halls.”

He added in a separate interview: “At the moment, clearly you need to explore what’s happening in the future, but it doesn’t change anything of what I said before about George, about Kimi, about the line-up that I’m extremely happy having”.

Verstappen declined to comment on the speculation when asked in a news conference on Thursday, but he is known to be frustrated with his Red Bull car this year. 

“I don’t think we need to talk about that,” the 27-year-old said. “It’s not really on my mind. Just driving well, trying to push the performance and then we focus on next year.”

Much may depend on events at Red Bull where long-serving team consultant Helmut Marko is a key part of Verstappen’s inner circle, but may be considering his own future amid reports that four-time champion Sebastian Vettel has been approached to replace him. 

In the wake of the departures of F1’s most successful designer Adrian Newey to Aston Martin and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley to Sauber-Audi, it could be that Verstappen is also ready to leave. 

Next year will see F1 move into a new era with major rule changes requiring new engines and new cars –- an opportunity that may favour a Mercedes revival.

The accused, identified as Deepak, was arrested from the spot and the gun used in the crime along with 11 live cartridges was recovered, they said.

A 26-year-old man allegedly shot dead his father in north Delhi’s Timarpur area after being denied the front seat in a tempo that the family had hired to shift to their native place in Uttarakhand, police sources said on Friday.

The accused, identified as Deepak, was arrested from the spot and the gun used in the crime along with 11 live cartridges was recovered, they said.

The incident took place around 7.30 pm on Thursday near MS Block, Timarpur, where staff patrolling heard a gunshot and rushed to the spot.

“The staff found a man lying in a pool of blood on the pavement while locals were trying to snatch the gun from the accused,” said the source The victim, identified as 60-year-old Surendra Singh, a retired sub-inspector from the CISF, was rushed to HRH Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

The bullet had struck his left cheek, causing multiple pellet injuries to his face, he said.

Initial inquiry revealed that the family was preparing to shift to their native village in Uttarakhand after Surendra Singh’s retirement from CISF six months ago.

They hired a tempo and their belongings were being loaded when an argument broke out between Surendra and Deepak over who would sit in the front seat, said the source.

As Surendra insisted on occupying the front seat due to the loaded items, Deepak turned aggressive, fetched his father’s licensed gun, and allegedly shot him, police source said.

A case of murder has been registered and further investigation is underway, he added.

He added that Canada will soon find out the levy it needs to pay to do business in the United States, calling his country’s northern neighbor “very difficult” to trade with.

President Donald Trump said Friday that he is calling off trade negotiations with Canada in retaliation for taxes impacting major US tech firms, adding that Ottawa will learn of their tariff rate within a week.

“Based on this egregious Tax, we are hereby terminating ALL discussions on Trade with Canada, effective immediately,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

He added that Canada will soon find out the levy it needs to pay to do business in the United States, calling his country’s northern neighbor “very difficult” to trade with.

Washington has previously taken issue with Canada’s digital services tax, requesting dispute settlement talks last year over the matter.

While Canada’s digital services tax is not new — it was enacted last year — US service providers are “on the hook for a multi-billion dollar payment in Canada” by June 30, noted the Computer & Communications Industry Association.

While Canada has been spared from some of Trump’s most sweeping duties, such as a 10 percent rate imposed in early April on nearly all trading partners, it faces a separate tariff regime.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has also imposed steep levies on imports of steel, aluminum and autos.

Last week, Canada said it would adjust its 25 percent counter tariffs on US steel and aluminum after Washington doubled its levies on imports of both metals to 50 percent — if a trade deal was not reached within 30 days.

There is no official word from the Indian side on Singh’s reported meeting with Dong.

China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun Thursday held separate bilateral meetings with his counterparts from member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), including India, Chinese media reported.

The defence ministers of the SCO member states were in this port city of China to attend a two-day conclave.

India was represented by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

There is no official word from the Indian side on Singh’s reported meeting with Dong.

A Chinese readout of the meeting said India does not seek confrontation with China and it is for enhancing communication and mutual trust.

Following the eastern Ladakh border standoff, India has been consistently maintaining that peace and stability along the border is a prerequisite for normalisation of overall ties.

The military standoff in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020 and a deadly clash at the Galwan Valley in June that year resulted in a severe downturn in ties between the two neighbours.

The face-off effectively ended following the completion of the disengagement process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang under an agreement finalised on October 21.

In December last, NSA Ajit Doval visited Beijing and held talks with Wang Yi under the framework of Special Representatives (SR) dialogue on the boundary dispute.

The decision to revive the SR mechanism and other such dialogue formats was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan on October 23.

The PM Modi-President Xi meeting came two days after India and China firmed up a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok.