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Latest news
Greenland Crisis US Threats
Trump's Man Is in Greenland: "Will Listen and Learn"
Donald Trump's special envoy to Greenland, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, has landed in Nuuk. Danish media reports.
Landry
is there to participate in a business conference. He has not received
an official invitation - anyone can sign up as a guest.
When asked by DR whether the intention is still to take over Greenland, he answers no.
-
I'm just here to build relationships, listen and learn and see if we
can expand the relationship between the US, Greenland and Denmark.
Trump's instruction is to "go there and make as many friends as you can", he adds.
Trump
has downplayed threats to take over Greenland since the Iran war broke
out. Earlier this week, sources told the BBC that the US and Denmark are
negotiating new US military bases on the island.
Election in Denmark
Government negotiations in Denmark paused
Almost eight weeks after the election, Denmark has not come any closer to a new government, writes TT.
Venstre leader Troels Lund Poulsen, who was given the exploratory mission last week after Mette Frederiksen failed, paused the negotiations today.
“All the parties have different wishes and we want to use Monday to calculate a number of political proposals before we move forward with the negotiations,” he writes on Instagram.
The government formation is the longest in Danish history.
Russian invasion The world's response
Finland and Estonia disagree on dialogue with Russia
The discussion about whether Europe should hold direct talks with Russia or not has become relevant again, several media outlets report.
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna is firmly opposed to talks.
– It is not the time to talk or negotiate. It is the time to increase the pressure on Russia, he said at a security conference in Tallinn on Saturday.
Russia is weakened, is Tsahkna's message. Things are going badly on the front, the economy is limping, the EU's loan to Ukraine has been voted through after Orbán disappeared and Russian frustration over the increased repression is growing.
The statement comes after Finnish President Alexander Stubb said that "it is time to start talking to Russia" in an interview with the Italian Corriere della Sera on Monday.
EU Council President António Costa also opened up for dialogue with Russia earlier in May, but only "at the right time".
Trump's USA Trump critics indicted
James Comey indicted: "Trusts the justice system"
Former FBI Director James Comey, who is being charged with making death threats against Donald Trump, has "complete faith" in the American justice system. He says this on NBC's "Meet the Press".
– It is the last remaining leg on the three-legged stool that is the United States government, but it stands firm. It is the guardian of the rule of law, and I believe in it.
The other two legs he is referring to are the legislative branch (Congress) and the executive branch (the president).
Comey is being charged over an Instagram photo of a seashell formation that forms the numbers “86 47.” “86” is a slang term in the restaurant world that means something is finished, or to throw someone out.
According to Donald Trump, it is a mafia term for murder, which in this case refers to him, the 47th president.
Economy
The political situation in the UK
The worsening economy is Starmer's intractable problem: "Risking a meltdown"
The scandals have taken their toll, but the crisis for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is also due to the fact that the economy is in many ways clearly worse than when he won the election two years ago, writes Bloomberg.
- The overall picture is simply an economy that is growing quite weakly, says Andrew Goodwin, chief economist at Oxford Economics, to Bloomberg.
A lot can be blamed on Donald Trump and the US's erratic foreign policy. But Labour's tax increases for companies are also having their effect, as is Labour's stricter migration policy.
At the same time, Labour inherited a mountain of debt and a runaway budget deficit, and British government interest rates are at the time of writing almost double those in Sweden. Starmer and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves' focus on deficits has given confidence in the fixed income market, writes Bloomberg.
The tasks for a new prime minister have been multiplied by the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and everything that the Conservative Party left behind. If things go wrong, Britain faces a financial crisis, warns historian Anthony Seldon in a column for the Financial Times.
“If Starmer’s successor upsets the bond market, which is absolutely possible, Britain risks a meltdown,” writes Seldon.
Oil Market
Fuel crisis heading for critical turning point this summer: "Risk of global recession"
The fuel crisis resulting from the Iran war is heading for a critical turning point this summer, reports the Financial Times.
More
than two million barrels of oil per day are currently being taken from
strategic reserves, but many of these reserves will run out in July.
Levels are expected to be at record lows by the end of May, according to
CNBC.
According to Paul Diggle, chief economist at investment
firm Aberdeen, it is not unlikely that the price of oil could reach $180
per barrel from today's $109. That would mean runaway inflation and
recession in a number of European and Asian countries.
The
increase in travel and demand for air conditioning as the northern
hemisphere gets summer will put further pressure on reserves.
“If
the conflict in the Middle East does not end in the coming weeks and
the Strait of Hormuz is not opened, I fear we could be facing a global
recession,” says EU Transport Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas.
Electricity prices
Economist predicts record-high summer electricity: “A small patch”
The cold, the Iran crisis and the new electricity export to Finland, together with low water levels, have kept electricity prices up so far this year. As summer approaches, electricity prices usually fall, but now Nibes energy economist Claes Hemberg predicts that they will instead continue to rise.
For homeowners, the monthly bills this summer could end up being between 3,000 and 4,000 kronor, Hemberg believes.
– That’s a lot of money for a household, he tells SVT.
The government's electricity subsidy, approximately 1,500 kronor for a homeowner, is described by Hemberg as a "small band-aid on a big wound".
Middle East crisis Strait of Hormuz
"Hormuz hoarding" an increasingly serious problem in the world
Tickets to Indian "Cola Light parties" with promised access to the drink have sold out quickly when a shortage of aluminum cans has led to hoarding that has caused the soft drink to run out in many parts of the country, reports NBC.
In South Korea, garbage bags and syringes are being hoarded, writes the Financial Times, and previously there have been rumors of condom hoarding in China, reports Norwegian E24.
More than oil and fuel may become scarce goods in the wake of the Iran war, and this type of "Hormuz hoarding" will, just as during the corona crisis, be a factor that exacerbates the shortage.
Another more serious danger concerns the large amounts of artificial fertilizers that previously passed through the Strait of Hormuz, and the UN has warned of an impending famine.
The manufacturing industry is also acting, and there is a global rush to build up stocks, writes Bloomberg in a comment on upcoming industrial statistics from several heavy countries.
The climate threat Global challenges
Truck giants received help after meeting with Kristersson
Truck manufacturers Volvo and Scania have conducted an extensive and successful lobbying campaign for reduced emissions requirements and the government has helped, according to emails that Dagens Nyheter has seen.
The three Swedish CEOs of Europe's three largest truck manufacturers – AB Volvo, Scania and German Daimler – met with Ulf Kristersson (M) in November. The prime minister then asked for a basis for upcoming EU negotiations, and internal instructions show that the Swedish government later presented several of the arguments that the manufacturers sent, writes DN.
In March, the EU hammered through a relaxation of the previous emissions requirements, and according to DN, the change is very similar to the proposal that Scania sent to the government in November.
US-Cuba relations
Report: Cuba may use Russian drones against the US
Cuba has purchased around 300 Russian and Iranian attack drones and is considering using them against the US, according to classified intelligence obtained by Axios.
– It is a growing threat, says a senior US government source.
Cuba has reportedly gradually built up its drone stockpile since 2023, and has deployed them in strategic locations on the island. Possible targets are said to be the Guantanamo Bay military base, US warships or the island of Key West off the southern tip of Florida.
Analysis: Cuba is preparing for a US invasion
Cubans have lived with the threat of a US invasion for so long that it has become a standing joke – but now the tone is more serious, writes Patrick Oppmann for CNN.
The US has steadily increased the pressure, including a fuel blockade, an unfriendly visit from the CIA director and threats of prosecution against former President Raúl Castro, he continues.
“The US has used the carrot and the stick in recent months, with offers of emergency aid or economic pressure, but now carrots no longer seem to be on the menu.”
Cuban property owners have been instructed to develop action plans in the event of an invasion, and state television is showing footage of military training, Oppmann writes.
After decades of tensions, and after the US capture of Maduro in Venezuela and the deadly attack on Ayatollah Khamenei in Iran, many of Trump’s allies want him to bring the Cuban regime to its knees once and for all. Ryan Mancini writes in an analytical text in The Hill.
“But Cuban authorities have stood their ground against American demands. Last month, President Miguel Díaz-Canel equated the US blockade with genocide.”
Cuba has repeatedly tried to convince the United States that they are not a threat, but is adamant that they will defend themselves militarily to the last, Mancini writes.
NATO's Future
3,000 elite soldiers in record-breaking NATO exercise
The largest NATO exercise for special forces to date is currently underway, Sky News reports. 3,000 elite soldiers from the US, the UK and 22 other countries are taking part in the exercise, which is called Trojan Footprint 2026.
The exercise will last ten days on land, at sea and in the air. Sky witnessed an exercise off the coast of Greece in which American and Greek elite forces parachuted from a Hercules plane. They then got into inflatable boats and headed towards a simulated enemy naval base.
One of the Greek elite soldiers says he feels "very close" to the American soldiers. When asked if they could carry out a similar operation without the Americans, he answers:
- Yes, of course.
Sources: Poland Misses US Email Warning
On Wednesday, Poland was
hit by the US decision to suspend the deployment of 4,000 troops.
However, the head of the Polish National Defense Force, Wieslaw Kukula,
had received an email about the decision a few days earlier, three
sources close to Kukula told Politico.
The email from the US
arrived on Monday, according to the sources. It ended up in Kukula's
classified inbox, but was never read. Poland's military leadership then
learned of the decision through the media on Wednesday, after it was
first reported by Army Times.
The Pentagon says the decision is a
strategic decision and was not made spontaneously, but does not provide
details. According to Poland's Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw
Kosiniak-Kamysz, it does not mean a reduction in the total number of US
troops in the country.
Middle East Crisis Reactions
Saudi Arabia: Has stopped three drones from Iraq
Saudi Arabia has shot down three drones that came from Iraqi airspace, reports Sky News.
The military "reserves the right to respond appropriately at the appropriate time," writes a spokesperson on X.
The announcement comes after three drones were fired at the United Arab Emirates earlier today, one of which caused a fire in a generator outside a power plant.
These came from the area around the border with Saudi Arabia in the west, according to the United Arab Emirates, which does not point out any specific country or actor.
Since the ceasefire between the US and Iran, attacks in the region have decreased, but drones have been fired from Iraq against Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Saudi Arabia: “A threat to our entire region”
Saudi Arabia condemns the drone attack on its ally, the United Arab Emirates, Reuters reports.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry calls the attack “a threat to the security and stability of the region” and expresses solidarity with the neighboring country.
Three drones were fired today from the Saudi border into the western emirate of Abu Dhabi, according to the United Arab Emirates, which does not identify any country or actor.
Two of the drones were shot down, but the third hit a generator outside a nuclear power plant. No one was injured.
United Arab Emirates: Drones came from the western border
Three drones were fired at the United Arab Emirates from the country's western border today, the country's Defense Ministry said, according to Reuters.
The country borders ally Saudi Arabia to the west, but the Defense Ministry did not identify any individual country or actor in its statement.
Two of the drones were neutralized. The third caused a fire in a generator at the Barakah nuclear power plant, near the border with Saudi Arabia, but no injuries or damage to the power plant occurred.
Emirati authorities are now investigating who was behind the drones, the ministry writes.
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