How The 1917 Virgin Islands Deal Is A Blueprint For Buying Greenland Authored by Dustin Bass via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), When Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood before reporters on Jan. 7 to discuss the military operation that took place in Venezuela four days prior, he added another element of intrigue. He planned to meet with Danish officials this week to discuss purchasing the world’...
How The 1917 Virgin Islands Deal Is A Blueprint For Buying Greenland Authored by Dustin Bass via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), When Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood before reporters on Jan. 7 to discuss the military operation that took place in Venezuela four days prior, he added another element of intrigue. He planned to meet with Danish officials this week to discuss purchasing the world’s largest non-continental island: Greenland. A fjord in western Greenland on Sept. 16, 2025. Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters Such discussions will be new for Rubio, though it is not the first time the Trump administration has broached the subject. President Donald Trump’s brief statement to reporters on Jan. 4 aboard Air Force One was succinct: “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security.” It was a reiteration of his March 2025 congressional address. Additionally, Trump first mentioned purchasing Greenland in August 2019 , a suggestion rebuffed by Danish officials, which led to a brief kerfuffle between the two states. When Rubio sits with Danish leaders for those first discussions, he will have entered upon diplomatic deliberations that stretch back to the Andrew Johnson administration. The first inquiry to purchase Greenland from the Danes came in 1868 from Secretary of State William Seward. America had recently purchased a tundra to its northwest: Alaska . That purchase in 1867 was initially mocked as “Seward’s Folly” by the press, but of course, after the discovery of gold and oil, Seward’s decision was more than justified. Nonetheless, Congress proved disinterested in the icy territory to its northwest. Seeking the ‘Small Gibraltar’ While negotiating the Alaska purchase from Russia, Seward was negotiating the purchase of the Danish West Indies from Denmark. The small islands of St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix—specifically the “small Gibraltar,” St. Thomas—were considered vital to national security. The Civil War had highlighted American vulnerabiliti...
PM’s visit to Beijing seen as a welcome reset to relations in a ‘new world order’ but critics worry what trade deal could mean for Canadian workers Mark Carney’s trip to Beijing this week secured what he described as a “preliminary but landmark” trade deal and a recognition – welcomed by Beijing – that countries are operating in a “new world order”. Carney’s visit is the first time in nearly a dec...
PM’s visit to Beijing seen as a welcome reset to relations in a ‘new world order’ but critics worry what trade deal could mean for Canadian workers Mark Carney’s trip to Beijing this week secured what he described as a “preliminary but landmark” trade deal and a recognition – welcomed by Beijing – that countries are operating in a “new world order”. Carney’s visit is the first time in nearly a decade that a Canadian prime minister has been welcomed in Beijing. It comes after years of a deep freeze in the relationship between Ottawa and Beijing that Carney wants to thaw, in order to reduce his country’s precarious reliance on the United States. Continue reading...
The light L-159 fighter is likely the plane promised by president of Czech Republic, Petr Pavl, to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. What we know on day 1,424 The Czech Republic is set to provide Ukraine shortly with “medium combat planes which are highly effective in fighting drones” , President Petr Pavel told his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Kyiv on Friday. Pavel has previously said Czech-...
The light L-159 fighter is likely the plane promised by president of Czech Republic, Petr Pavl, to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. What we know on day 1,424 The Czech Republic is set to provide Ukraine shortly with “medium combat planes which are highly effective in fighting drones” , President Petr Pavel told his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Kyiv on Friday. Pavel has previously said Czech-made subsonic L-159 fighter jets could be transferred to Ukraine. “I believe we will manage to quickly and successfully conclude this issue,” Pavel told a news conference with Zelenskyy. The Czech army has 24 one- and two-seater L-159 jets , used for training and support for ground forces. They can be armed with missiles and machine-gun pods. Iraq used the jets in the war against Islamic State, and fleets are owned by private companies that loan them to the US and UK air forces for combat training. The Czechs’ main fighter jet is the Swedish Saab JAS-39 Gripen. Pavel said Prague might also supply early-warning systems such as radars. Zelenskyy meanwhile conceded problems with Ukrainian air defences at a critical moment in the war . Some systems supplied to Ukraine by western allies had run out of ammunition amid a wave of Russian attacks that have devastated his country’s energy infrastructure . “Until this morning we had several systems without missiles. Today I can say this openly because today I have those missiles … We received a substantial package in the morning.” He urged both European allies and the US to increase deliveries. Ukraine and the US will hold talks in Miami on Saturday to discuss security guarantees and Ukraine’s economic recovery, Kyiv’s ambassador to the US, Olga Stefanishyna, said on Friday. Zelenskyy said he hoped Ukraine would sign security guarantees with the US next week, possibly at the World Economic Forum in Davos . In Miami, Ukraine’s negotiators would be Kyrylo Budanov, head of the presidential office, and Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s defence cou...
Key PointsThroughout the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, the S&P 500 has generated returns nearly threefold higher than its long-term average.
Key PointsThroughout the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, the S&P 500 has generated returns nearly threefold higher than its long-term average.
Nuclear Bunker Faces Final Days As Coastline Rapidly Erodes A nuclear bunker on the East Yorkshire coast is close to falling into the sea after decades of coastal erosion, according to the BBC . The structure near Tunstall, built around 1959 as a Cold War lookout post, was once more than 100 yards from the shoreline but is now dangerously exposed on the cliff edge. Local historian Davey Robinson, ...
Nuclear Bunker Faces Final Days As Coastline Rapidly Erodes A nuclear bunker on the East Yorkshire coast is close to falling into the sea after decades of coastal erosion, according to the BBC . The structure near Tunstall, built around 1959 as a Cold War lookout post, was once more than 100 yards from the shoreline but is now dangerously exposed on the cliff edge. Local historian Davey Robinson, who has been filming the site, said: "We live on one of the most eroded coastlines in Europe and this bunker hasn't got long left, perhaps just a few days," and described the bunker as "just a few days" from collapse. The East Riding of Yorkshire Council has warned the public to stay away from the area because of unstable cliffs, while the Environment Agency confirms the region has some of the fastest-eroding coastline in the UK. Robinson and his partner Tracy Charlton have returned to the site daily and shared footage online. "We are posting the footage on our YouTube channel and it's getting interest from around the world," Robinson said. The BBC writes that the bunker, known as the Tunstall ROC Post, was part of a network of nuclear monitoring stations. It included sleeping space and basic living facilities. Robinson explained: "It was designed so that people could live inside it and just wait for a nuclear explosion to register and they could tell other people in other bunkers around the country," adding: "It never got used thank goodness." The Holderness coast is losing around 6.5ft (2m) of land each year, and more than 3 miles have disappeared since Roman times. Robinson said the bunker "adds a lot of meaning" to the situation, calling it "a symbol of erosion in this area," and adding, "This whole area is eroding at a rapid rate and to see an actual physical thing moving it just shows what's happening really." Charlton said they would continue filming because the bunker "only had days left" before collapse: "We're invested in this and I guess we're obliged to keep vis...