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JD Vance has told Denmark it has “not done a good job” with Greenland during a visit to the territory – as President Donald Trump repeated his call for the US to take over the island.

Vice President Vance, his wife Usha and other senior US officials arrived at an American military base in Greenland, the semi-autonomous territory that has been a part of Denmark for more than 600 years.

Follow latest: Key takeaways from Vance’s speech in Greenland

“Our message to Denmark is very simple: you have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Mr Vance said.

“You have underinvested in the people of Greenland, and you have underinvested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people.

“We need to ensure that America is leading in the Arctic.”

Shortly before Mr Vance spoke from Greenland on Friday, Mr Trump continued his threats of taking over the territory, saying: “We need Greenland, very importantly, for international security.

“We have to have Greenland. It’s not a question of you think we can do without it – we can’t.”

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‘We need Greenland’ says Trump

Lars-Christian Brask, deputy speaker of the Danish parliament, told Sky News that Mr Vance was “not welcome” by Greenlanders on his visit.

“It’s a NATO country demanding a piece of another NATO country, which is highly unusual and there is a lack of respect,” he said.

The one-day visit to the US Space Force outpost at Pituffik – located on the northwest coast of the territory – has avoided violating potential diplomatic taboos of a state sending a delegation to another country, without an invitation.

The trip had been scaled back after locals were angered that the original itinerary was made without consulting them – particularly in light of Mr Trump’s repeated claims that the US should control Greenland.

Speaking to soldiers at the US base, Mr Vance claimed Denmark – and Europe by extension – has failed to protect the region.

JD Vance tours the US military's Pituffik Space Base in Greenland. Pic: Reuters
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JD Vance tours the US military’s Pituffik Space Base in Greenland. Pic: Reuters


He said: “This place, this base, this surrounding area, is less secure than it was 30-40 years ago, as some of our allies have not kept up…

“Europe (has) not kept pace… with military spending, and Denmark has not kept pace in devoting the resources necessary to keep this base, to keep our troops, and in my view to keep the people of Greenland safe from a lot of aggressive incursions from Russia, China, and other nations.”

Mr Vance said Mr Trump was “a president of peace”, adding: “We respect the self-determination of Greenlanders, we believe in the self-determination of the population of Greenland.”

Asked if plans have been drafted to use military force to take over Greenland, he indicated the White House planned to wait for the people of the territory to vote for self-determination before acting.

“What the president has said… is that we need to have more of a position in Greenland,” he added.

Read more:
Analysis: Vance felt the cold but had no warm words
Analysis: How Greenlanders view Trump’s threats
Why does Trump want to take over Greenland?

Russia and America’s Arctic plans another challenge for Europe

JD Vance and his wife having lunch with soldiers at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland. Pic: AP
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JD Vance and his wife have lunch with soldiers at Pituffik Space Base in Greenland. Pic: AP

Greenland is the world’s largest island, with a population of 57,000, and is also a founding member of NATO.

Straddling the Arctic circle between the US, Russia and Europe, the island offers a unique geopolitical advantage that America has eyed for more than 150 years.

Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was not surprised the US wants control of Greenland given its long-time interest in the mineral-rich territory.

“It can look surprising only at first glance and it would be wrong to believe that this is some sort of extravagant talk by the current US administration,” Mr Putin said.

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Bodies still remain among the ‘collapsed and inclining’ buildings in quake-hit Mandalay

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Bodies still remain among the 'collapsed and inclining' buildings in quake-hit Mandalay

A man inside Mandalay has told Sky News bodies remain under “collapsed and inclining” buildings after the Myanmar earthquake – as a woman was freed from rubble after 91 hours.

The local inside Myanmar said many of the structures in the city were wrecked or badly damaged after the 7.7 magnitude quake on Friday, adding: “There are some bodies, some dead bodies, that still remain and other destruction”.

Meanwhile, in a televised address, Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing said the number of dead had risen to 2,719 and is expected to exceed 3,000.

Some 4,521 people have been injured, while a further 441 are missing.

More than 10,000 buildings are known to have collapsed or been severely damaged in central and northwest Myanmar, the World Health Organisation said.

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Before and after: Myanmar earthquake

Smell of dead bodies near destroyed buildings

In Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, which was close to the quake’s epicentre, 50 children and two teachers were killed when their preschool collapsed, the United Nations said.

The local in the city told Sky News that “a lot of local assistance associations like charity groups are still struggling with digging out the corpses, the dead bodies, from the destruction”.

He said that “when we pass near the destructions, the collapsed building or very damaged building, we can smell” dead bodies.

“The smell of the dead bodies after four days… it still remains,” he said, before adding: “For the social assistance association… they need permission [to give aid] especially from the government.

“If they don’t have permission, then they cannot do anything.”

People sheltering in a makeshift tent camp in Mandalay. Pic: Reuters
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People sheltering in a makeshift tent camp in Mandalay. Pic: Reuters

He also said others in Mandalay are struggling after the earthquake, which followed the city being affected by cyclones, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the civil war in Myanmar – where a junta seized power in a coup in 2021.

“Some people, they say they have nothing at all,” the local added. “They have no more home, they have no more belongings, because its already damaged.”

Woman freed after 91 hours under rubble

It comes after the fire department in Myanmar’s capital freed a woman trapped under rubble 91 hours after the building collapsed.

The 63-year-old woman was freed early on Tuesday in Naypyidaw.

As the country continues to recover, a worker from the International Rescue Committee said people fear aftershocks and are sleeping outside on roads or in open fields.

Communities are struggling to meet basic needs such as access to clean water and sanitation, and emergency teams are working “tirelessly” to locate survivors and provide aid, the UN said in a report.

Rescue efforts have been complicated by the civil war, as rebel groups say the junta has conducted airstrikes, even after the quake, while NGOs fear that certain areas could be denied vital supplies.

“Myanmar’s military has a longstanding practice of denying aid to areas where groups who resist it are active,” said Joe Freeman, a researcher with Amnesty Myanmar.

“It must immediately allow unimpeded access to all humanitarian organisations and remove administrative barriers delaying needs assessments.”

Read more:
Military regime targeting ‘civilian areas’ in ‘wake of disaster’
Myanmar earthquake leaves some areas almost completely destroyed

The quake was the strongest to hit the southeast Asian country in more than a century.

In neighbouring Thailand, rescuers are still scouring the ruins of a collapsed, unfinished skyscraper for any signs of life.

“There are about 70 bodies underneath, and we hope by some miracle one or two are still alive,” volunteer rescue leader Bin Bunluerit said.

Six human-shaped figures have been detected by scanners, said Bangkok’s deputy governor, Tavida Kamolvej.

Thirteen deaths have been confirmed at the building site, with 74 people still missing, while Thailand’s national number of dead stands at 20.

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Father demands protection after Gaza aid workers’ deaths

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Father demands protection after Gaza aid workers' deaths

The father of a paramedic killed by Israel in Gaza has told Sky News he would have been on the mission to rescue wounded colleagues, but was ill that day and so his son went instead.

“It was supposed to be me, you know. I was on duty that night but fell ill and sent him in my place.”

Speaking at his son’s funeral, Hassan Abu Hileh said Israel is to blame for the death of Mohammed and the other 14 men.

SN footage of P 170800TU GAZA BUNKALL 1700 PKG JJ1
paramedic Hassan Abu Hileh who's son Mohammed was killed by Israeli forces
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Hassan Abu Hileh’s son Mohammed was killed when Israeli forces said they ‘opened fire on suspicious vehicles’

“We need protection from the international community. We need protection for medical teams. We are medics-soldiers of duty, not armed fighters. We carry out humanitarian work. If I see someone who needs medical attention, I’m obligated to serve them,” he said.

The bodies of the Red Crescent and United Nations workers went missing around eight days ago. Despite repeated requests to search for them, all denied by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), the UN eventually found 14 bodies buried under sand in a mass grave. One is still missing.

They were still wearing their uniforms.

Palestinians mourn medics, who came under Israeli fire while on a rescue mission, after their bodies were recovered, according to the Red Crescent, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 31, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
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Funerals took place on Monday for medics killed in Gaza. Pic: Reuters

The director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza has accused Israel of murdering the emergency workers. “We arrived at the scene of the crime to retrieve the bodies and found that all of them had been shot directly in the upper part of their bodies and buried,” said Dr Bashir Murad.

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“The ambulances were also destroyed and buried.”

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Dr Bashir Murad, Director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza
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Dr Bashir Murad, director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza, said the workers had been shot

The bodies were found in sand in the south of the Gaza Strip in what Jonathan Whittall, Gaza head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, called a “mass grave”, marked with the emergency light from a crushed ambulance.

Mr Whittall posted pictures and video of Red Crescent teams digging in the sand for the bodies and workers laying them out on the ground, covered in plastic sheets.

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Bodies of aid workers found in Gaza

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has denied killing innocent medical workers and said Israeli forces opened fire on suspicious vehicles that were travelling without coordination and in an active combat zone.

“The IDF did not randomly attack an ambulance on March 23,” claimed a spokesman.

“⁠Last Sunday, several uncoordinated vehicles were identified advancing suspiciously toward IDF troops without headlights or emergency signals. IDF troops then opened fire at the suspected vehicles.

“Earlier that day, cars that did not belong to terrorists were coordinated and passed safely on the same route.”

Read more from Sky News:
What happened to the ceasefire?
Anti-Hamas chants at Gaza protest

We have asked the IDF why the bodies were found in a mass grave but have received no comment.

More than 400 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, according to the UN.

According to the UN, at least 1,060 healthcare workers have been killed in the 18 months since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

The UN is reducing its international staff in Gaza by a third because of safety concerns.

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China launches large-scale military drills around Taiwan and calls its president a ‘parasite’

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China launches large-scale military drills around Taiwan and calls its president a 'parasite'

China’s military has said it’s begun joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan.

It said the exercises were intended to “serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence”, and called the self-governed island’s president a “parasite”.

China considers Taiwan to be its own territory and has threatened to use force to gain control.

A poster accompanying the drills titled 'Closing In'. Pic: Eastern Theater Command
Image:
A poster accompanying the drills titled ‘Closing In’. Pic: Eastern Theater Command

Its military released a poster entitled “Closing In”, showing Chinese ships and fighter jets circling the island and the words “sinister moves of Taiwan separatists courting disaster upon themselves”.

It comes after the Taiwanese president, President Lai Ching-Te, called China a “foreign hostile force” last month.

He announced measures including a proposal to re-instate a military court system in response to a perceived growth in Chinese infiltration of Taiwanese society and “grey-zone” tactics.

Announcing the joint exercises, China’s eastern theatre command depicted the president as a cartoon bug held by a pair of chopsticks above a burning Taiwan.

“Parasite poisoning Taiwan island. Parasite hollowing Island out. Parasite courting ultimate destruction,” the animation said.

Footage also showed the capital Taipei being aimed at from above and military vehicles patrolling the streets.

An image of Taiwan from above. Pic: Eastern Theatre Command/Reuters
Image:
An image of Taiwan from above. Pic: Eastern Theatre Command/Reuters

The eastern theatre command said on its official WeChat social media account: “The focus is on exercises such as combat readiness patrols at sea and in the air, seizing comprehensive control, striking maritime and land targets and imposing blockade controls on key areas and routes.”

Taiwan’s defence ministry said China’s Shandong aircraft carrier group had entered its response area and it had tracked 19 Chinese navy vessels in the waters surrounding the island in a 24-hour period.

It said the group had dispatched military aircraft and ships and activated land-based missile systems in response.

There is no doubt Beijing is seizing an opportunity here.

The recent hardening of both rhetoric and policy from Taiwan’s president provides an opening for China, not just to practise blockade scenarios and sow feelings of insecurity among Taiwanese, but crucially also to test the resolve of the island’s longstanding backer, the US.

It has been a nervous few months in Taipei as they’ve watched President Trump row back support for Ukraine.

An initial reluctance from the new administration to provide clear condemnation or pushback will have ultimately emboldened Beijing.

However, there have been a few hints in recent days that Washington may ultimately be coming back in behind Taiwan; the hardening of language in a few key statements, a visit by Alaska’s governor and the quiet release of $870m of previously frozen military aid, to name just a few.

Exactly where Trump stands on the Taiwan question is still unclear, he remains a volatile and transactional actor.

It is not impossible, for instance, that Taiwan’s future could be used as a bargaining chip within some future wide-reaching deal with China.

Today’s drills will serve as a test for all involved. Is US resolve indeed hardening, to what extent, and how publicly?

Either way, an intense period of cross-strait relations feels inevitable.

“The Chinese Communist Party has continued to increase its military activities around Taiwan and in the Indo-Pacific
region… and has become the biggest ‘troublemaker’ in the international community,” the statement added.

The drills come two weeks after a large exercise in mid-March, when Beijing sent a large number of drones and ships towards the island.

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