Connect with us

Published

on

Two events this week will give Greenland and friends in Europe a juddering sense of alarm. 

From the West, the US vice president JD Vance has landed for a controversial visit, despatched by a president openly talking of annexation.

From the East a speech from a Russian leader hinting at carving up the Arctic and its vast mineral wealth with Moscow’s new friends in Washington.

The US vice president and his wife arrive at the US military base in Greenland
Image:
The US vice president and his wife arrive at the US military base in Greenland. Pic: Reuters

In a closely watched speech, Vladimir Putin seemed to give Donald Trump’s plans to seize Greenland the green light.

They were “serious”, he said, and “have deep historical roots”.

Kremlin officials went further saying Russia was open to cooperating with America to exploit the Arctic with “joint investment”.

The Arctic is a huge prize. Its vast mineral wealth is increasingly accessible thanks to climate change.

Russia is well placed to exploit it with bases and ports ringing the Arctic Circle.

Mr Putin though warned that “NATO countries in general are increasingly designating the Far North as a springboard for possible conflicts”.

A map of what surrounds the Arctic Circle
Image:
A map of what surrounds the Arctic Circle

A map of what surrounds the Arctic Circle

This would appear to be a warning to European nations to back off.

Yet another challenge for Europe

The threat of Russia and America jointly exploiting the Arctic in a great power carve-up is yet another challenge for Europe in this new Trumpian world order. And Greenland is caught in the middle.

Mr Trump has said he thinks the American annexation of Greenland “will happen”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

What do Greenlanders make of Trump?

He said so with breezy nonchalance in front of NATO’s secretary general in the White House as if taking another alliance member’s territory was entirely normal.

Astonishingly NATO secretary general Mark Rutte did not push back at the idea.

Read more:
Why does Trump want to take over Greenland?

Donald Trump says he thinks US will annex Greenland

Both President Trump and his vice president say America needs Greenland for security.

This seems disingenuous. There are no hostile fleets circling the Arctic territory whatever they claim.

Besides, America already has a military base there and could ask to build more.

Mr Vance also says Denmark has neglected Greenland. Denmark actually subsidises the territory to the tune of £480m a year.

In reality, what the Trump administration seeks in Greenland is what it seems to seek in Ukraine. Mineral wealth.

When we visited this month, Greenlanders told Sky News Mr Trump’s threats are little more than a gangster shakedown.

A menacing threat designed to extract material gain.

There is no appetite for an American takeover among Greenlanders. And no enthusiasm for the vice president and his wife.

US officials were reportedly going door to door this week asking if anyone would like to meet America’s second lady. None said yes.

The Vances have had to downscale their visit, and have only gone to the US base at Pittufik.

But it seems the Trump administration is determined one way or another to acquire more territory and Greenland seems top of the list.

And its president may have been persuaded by Mr Putin it is in his best interests to share the world with Russia, whatever that means for America’s allies.

That is a challenge they will need to meet.

Continue Reading

World

Just 36 aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday, Palestinian officials claim – short of 600 needed

Published

on

By

Just 36 aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday, Palestinian officials claim - short of 600 needed

Just 36 aid trucks entered Gaza on Saturday – despite the humanitarian situation in the enclave worsening, Palestinian officials have warned.

According to the Gazan government’s media office, most of the humanitarian supplies were looted and stolen – “as a result of the state of security chaos that the Israeli occupation systematically and deliberately perpetuates”.

Officials say at least 600 truckloads of aid are required on a daily basis, adding: “The needs of the population are worsening.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Gaza nurse: ‘We’re rationing care’

A statement released late last night called for “the immediate opening of crossings, and the entry of aid and infant formula in sufficient quantities” – and “condemned in the strongest terms the continuation of the crime of starvation”.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, refuted this – and accused Hamas of “stirring up a slanderous propaganda campaign against Israel”.

He said: “The cruelty of Hamas has no boundaries. While the State of Israel is allowing the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, the terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving our hostages and document them in a cynical and evil manner.

“The terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving the residents of the Strip as well, preventing them from receiving the aid.”

More on Gaza

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Aid drops continue over Gaza

It comes as the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza said its headquarters in Khan Younis were hit by an Israeli strike, killing one staff member and injuring three others.

Footage posted on social media shows a fire broke out in the building.

Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel for a 60-day ceasefire, and a deal for the release of half the hostages still held in Gaza, ended in deadlock last week.

US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy told the families of the hostages yesterday that he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would end the war.

Steve Witkoff, front centre, arrives to meet families of hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel. Pic: AP/Ariel Schalit
Image:
Steve Witkoff arrives to meet families of hostages in Tel Aviv. Pic: AP

Steve Witkoff claimed that Hamas was willing to disarm to stop the conflict, despite the group’s repeated statements that it would not do so.

In response, Hamas said it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital.

Read more from Sky News:
Rescuers searching for five trapped miners find body
Man tries to detonate 14 explosive devices while being arrested

After Mr Witkoff’s meeting with the families of the hostages, Hamas released two videos of an emaciated Israeli hostage, Evyatar David, who was abducted from the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023 and has been held in captivity in Gaza since.

The 24-year-old looked skeletal, with his shoulder blades protruding from his back. He was heard saying that he had not eaten for three days. The distressing videos show him digging his own grave, he said in the footage.

Continue Reading

World

Videos of emaciated Israeli hostage Evyatar David released by Hamas

Published

on

By

Videos of emaciated Israeli hostage Evyatar David released by Hamas

Two videos of an emaciated Israeli hostage, Evyatar David, have been released by Hamas, after US special envoy Steve Witkoff this week met with the families of the hostages.

The now 24-year-old looks skeletal, with his shoulder blades protruding from his back, and says he has not eaten for three days.

The distressing videos show him apparently digging his own grave.

He worked in a restaurant, according to a video posted by Labour Friends of Israel, before he was abducted from the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023.

Since then, he has been held in captivity in Gaza, and the videos suggest he is being kept in dark tunnels and surviving on scarce portions of lentils and beans.

Gaza itself is suffering “man-made mass starvation” because of Israel’s blockade on aid to the enclave, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has previously said.

More on Gaza

Evyatar David before he was captured by Hamas. Pic: Hostages and Missing Families Forum
Image:
Evyatar David before he was captured by Hamas. Pic: Hostages and Missing Families Forum

In the video, Evyatar David writes on a hand-made calendar on the wall of a tunnel
Image:
In the video, Evyatar David writes on a hand-made calendar on the wall of a tunnel

In the second video, released on Saturday, Mr David – according to the English subtitles – says: “I haven’t eaten for three days.”

The captions continue as he speaks while in an underground tunnel: “There’s no [sic] enough food. I barely get drinking water.”

The video shows him talking through what he ate in July, which has been recorded on a handmade calendar hung up on the side of an underground Gaza tunnel.

Speaking while under captivity and under duress, he adds: “They give me what they can get.”

At the end of the video, he is digging a hole. The subtitle reads: “This is the grave where I think I’m going to be buried in. Time is running out.”

He then appears to break down, crouching on the floor and leaning his head on his arm while still clinging to the shovel.

A poster released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum with photos of Evyatar David released in 2023, February this year and July
Image:
A poster released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum with photos of Evyatar David released in 2023, February this year and July

In a statement, his family said: “We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza – a living skeleton, buried alive.

“Our son has only a few days left to live in his current condition.”

They added: “Israel and the international community must oppose Hamas’s cruelty and ensure that our Evyatar immediately receives proper nutrition.

“The intentional starvation, torture, and abuse of Evyatar for propaganda purposes violate even the lowest standards of humanitarian law and basic human decency.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Gaza nurse: ‘We’re rationing care’

‘Famine’ looms in Gaza

On Friday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff visited a site where the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been distributing food in Gaza.

Read more: ‘Little confidence’ US Gaza delegation would see full picture

The controversial GHF scheme has been widely condemned, including by the UK government, after fatal shootings ever since it was set up earlier this year.

According to the United Nations’ human rights office, at least 859 people have been killed “in the vicinity” of GHF aid sites since late May.

The Israel Defence Forces has repeatedly said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians” and has blamed Hamas militants for fomenting chaos and endangering civilians.

Meanwhile, the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IFSPC) this week said a “worst-case scenario of famine” was sinking in across the besieged enclave.

It has also said more than 20,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition since April.

Families of the 50 hostages still in Gaza are concerned they are also starving, and blame Hamas.

On Saturday, Gaza’s health ministry said a further seven Palestinians had died of malnutrition-related causes in the past 24 hours, including a child.

Continue Reading

World

Search for five trapped Chilean miners suffers setback

Published

on

By

Search for five trapped Chilean miners suffers setback

Rescue crews searching for five trapped Chilean miners have discovered a body.

A section of the copper mine had collapsed on Thursday following a strong, 4.2-magnitude tremor.

The remaining four miners are still missing – and rescuers are vowing to continue their search with “strength and hope”.

A man reacts during a vigil at an entrance to El Teniente mine complex. Pic: Reuters/Pablo Sanhueza
Image:
A man reacts during a vigil at an entrance to El Teniente mine complex. Pic: Reuters/Pablo Sanhueza

Andres Music, general manager of El Teniente mine, said: “This discovery fills us with sadness, but it also tells us that we are in the right place, that the strategy we followed led us to them.”

Crews are trying to drill through 90m (295ft) of rock to reach the trapped miners, but Mr Music said they had not yet made contact with the workers.

Just over a fifth of the blocked underground tunnels have been cleared, with teams hoping to get through about 15m to 20m (49ft to 66ft) every 24 hours using heavy machinery.

He said rescue efforts would continue with increased caution, which could slow progress.

More on Chile

Read more from Sky News:
Inside a North Korean tourist resort
Israeli hostage seen emaciated in video

Two people are now known to have died as a result of the collapse.

Another miner, Paulo Marin Tapia, was found dead on Thursday shortly after the incident.

Codelco, which owns the mine, said the identity of the second man is yet to be confirmed.

Nine other miners were injured.

Continue Reading

Trending