Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has called for discussions regarding his demands to control the island. He has ruled out using force to do so.
Despite being widely denounced by Greenlanders and European leaders, Trump insisted that the annexation of the autonomous Danish territory is crucial to US national security in a highly anticipated speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday.
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“People assumed I would use force,” he said. I am not required to use force. I’m not interested in using force. He declared, “I won’t use force.”
The US president stated that Denmark had to make a “choice” while the US president said he was “seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the United States’ acquisition of Greenland.”
“You can say “yes,” and we will be very appreciative. Or you can decline and we will remember. A strong NATO means a strong America that is secure and strong.
Trump referred to the Arctic island as “protect this enormous mass of land, this enormous piece of ice,” saying that only the US could do so.
Trump made the mistaken pronouncement of Greenland as Iceland in more than one occasion during his more than an hour-long speech.
According to Christine Nissen, chief analyst at the Europa think tank, Denmark might view Trump’s pledge to use force as a de-escalation.
“We have seen how Denmark and the European Union are altering their positions on Trump in light of the Greenland issue. Given our profound and structural dependence on the US, we’ve had very cautious European countries and Denmark, but our strategy has changed, Nissen said.
She continued, “fairly united Europe, but only time will tell whether that will hold, given the rift between Europe and the US over Greenland.”
Based on his own social media posts, Israeli comedian and former combatant Guy Hochman was detained and questioned in Toronto after the Hind Rajab Foundation accused him of war crimes and incitement in Gaza.
Rifaat al-Assad, the uncle of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the former commander of the paramilitary “Defence Companies” (Saraya al-Difa), has died in the United Arab Emirates at the age of 89.
The Reuters news agency cited two sources confirming his death on January 21, 2026. Rifaat had reportedly fled from Beirut to Dubai following the collapse of the Assad regime and the flight of his nephew to Russia in December 2024.
Born in Qardaha, northwestern Syria, in 1937, Rifaat, a member of the country’s Alawite minority, was a central figure in the establishment of the Assad family’s rule in the 1970s. But he fell out with his brother, former President Hafez al-Assad, following a failed coup attempt in the early 1980s.
Here is a brief timeline of the main events during the life and career of the man known as the “Butcher of Hama”.
The Hama massacre
Rifaat was notorious for his role in the 1982 crackdown on the city of Hama to suppress an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Commanding the Defence Companies – a force of approximately 40, 000 soldiers independent of the regular army – Rifaat led a siege on the city that lasted nearly a month. The operation involved heavy shelling and ground assaults.
According to a 2022 report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the campaign resulted in approximately 40, 000 deaths, and 17, 000 people went missing. The assault destroyed entire neighbourhoods, including 79 mosques and three churches.
In a 2011 televised interview, Rifaat denied responsibility for the events, claiming he “did not know Hama” and attributing the orders to his brother, Hafez.
A photo taken in 1984 shows late Syrian president Hafez al-Assad (R) with his youngest brother, Rifaat, left, at a military ceremony in Damascus]AFP/HO]
Rifaat’s rise to power – and a failed coup
Rifaat joined the Baath party in 1952 and rose through the military ranks. He played a key security role in the 1970 coup, which brought overthrew the former head of state, Salah Jadid, and brought Hafez al-Assad to power.
In the late 1970s, as the regime faced internal opposition, Rifaat advocated for extreme measures. In a 1979 speech at a Baath party congress, he reportedly suggested “Stalinist” methods to purge opposition and proposed closing mosques to curb “sectarian ideology”.
His influence peaked in the early 1980s, but tensions with his brother were mounting. In November 1983, while Hafez was ill, Rifaat attempted to seize control, deploying his own forces in Damascus. The confrontation ended in a standoff.
By 1984, Hafez had regained control. Rifaat was stripped of his command, appointed to the ceremonial post of vice president and sent into exile. Reports at the time suggested he received $200m from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as part of a settlement to leave the country.
Exile and legal troubles
Rifaat spent the next 36 years primarily in Europe, where he faced multiple legal challenges over the source of his wealth.
France: In 2020, a French court sentenced him to four years in prison for money laundering and misappropriation of Syrian public funds, confiscating real estate assets worth an estimated $100m.
Switzerland: In August 2023, the Swiss Federal Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Rifaat for his alleged role in war crimes committed in Hama in 1982.
Assets Frozen: Authorities in the UK and Spain also froze family assets and investigated him for illicit financial activities.
Return and death
To avoid imprisonment in France, Rifaat returned to Syria in October 2021. Despite his previous calls in 2011 for Bashar al-Assad to step down, he appeared voting for his nephew in the May 2021 election at the Syrian embassy in Paris.
Palestinians in Gaza have expressed disbelief in the possibility of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joining a “Board of Peace” to rebuild the Strip. Many claim that the leader to blame for the war is unworthy of reconciliation.
Hamas has agreed to “give up their weapons” and the world will know “certainly over the next three weeks” if the group will follow through, Donald Trump told the World Economic Forum. Hamas will otherwise be “blown away very quickly,” the US president added.
