A German government source said separately that Germany was “closely working together with other European countries and Denmark on the next steps regarding Greenland”

International News via Reuters:

Allies including France and Germany are working closely on a plan on how to respond should the United States act on its threat to take over Greenland, as Europe seeks to address U.S. President Donald Trump’s ambitions in the region.

A U.S. military seizure of Greenland from a longtime ally, Denmark, would send shock waves through the NATO alliance and deepen the divide between Trump and European leaders.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the subject would be raised at a meeting with the foreign ministers of Germany and Poland later in the day.

“We want to take action, but we want to do so together with our European partners,” he said on France Inter radio.

A German government source said separately that Germany was “closely working together with other European countries and Denmark on the next steps regarding Greenland”.

Leaders from major European powers and Canada have rallied behind Greenland this week, saying the Arctic island belongs to its people, following a renewed threat by Trump to take over the territory.

TRUMP RENEWS GREENLAND AMBITIONS

Trump has in recent days repeated that he wants to gain control of Greenland, an idea first voiced in 2019 during his first presidency. He argues the island is key for U.S. military strategy and claims Denmark has not done enough to protect it.

The White House said on Tuesday that Trump was discussing options for acquiring Greenland, including potential use of the U.S. military, in a revival of his ambition to control the strategic island, despite European objections.

Barrot suggested a U.S. military operation had been ruled out by Washington’s top diplomat.

“I myself was on the phone yesterday with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (…) who confirmed that this was not the approach taken … he ruled out the possibility of an invasion (of Greenland),” he said.

A U.S. military operation over the weekend that seized the leader of Venezuela had already rekindled concerns that Greenland might face a similar scenario.

A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said this week that Trump and his advisers were discussing a variety of ways to acquire Greenland, including a purchase. Greenland and Denmark have said the island is not for sale.

Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, have requested an urgent meeting with Rubio to discuss the situation.

“We would like to add some nuance to the conversation,” Rasmussen wrote in a social media post. “The shouting match must be replaced by a more sensible dialogue. Now.”

DENMARK REJECTS CLAIM RUSSIAN, CHINESE SHIPS STALK GREENLAND

The world’s largest island but with a population of just 57,000 people, Greenland is not an independent member of NATO but is covered by Denmark’s membership of the Western alliance.

The island is strategically located between Europe and North America, making it a critical site for the U.S. ballistic missile defence system for decades. Its mineral wealth also aligns with Washington’s ambition to reduce reliance on China.

Trump has repeatedly said Russian and Chinese vessels are stalking waters around Greenland, which Denmark disputes.

“The image that’s being painted of Russian and Chinese ships right inside the Nuuk fjord and massive Chinese investments being made is not correct,” Rasmussen told reporters late on Tuesday.

Vessel tracking data from MarineTraffic and LSEG show no presence of Chinese or Russian ships near Greenland.

Reporting by John Irish in Paris, Andreas Rinke in Berlin, Terje Solsvik and Nerijus Adomaitis in Oslo; Writing by Niklas Pollard; Editing by Ros Russell

The EU’s carbon border levy, which came into force on January 1, imposes CO2 emissions fees on imports of steel, fertilisers and other goods

International News via Reuters:

France is seeking support from other governments for a push to exempt fertilisers from the European Union’s carbon border levy, which it argues is needed to protect struggling European farmers, a draft document seen by Reuters showed.

The EU’s carbon border levy, which came into force on January 1, imposes CO2 emissions fees on imports of steel, fertilisers and other goods to ensure they do not have an unfair advantage over goods made in Europe, where producers already have to pay for their CO2 emissions.

A draft statement prepared by France and circulated to other EU governments called on the European Commission to temporarily postpone or suspend the carbon border fee for fertilisers.

“Such a postponement would ease tensions in the crop farming sector and give economic operators time to restore satisfactory fertiliser supply conditions for the 2026 crop year,” said the draft statement, seen by Reuters.

The statement said France supports the EU carbon border levy, but warned applying it to fertilisers would hike costs for farmers already struggling with weak cereal crop prices and higher costs from tariffs on Russian fertiliser imports. 

“Farmers’ organisations have been warning of severe tensions over fertiliser supplies for several weeks,” it said.

“We have high hopes of winning our case,” a French agriculture ministry official said.

It was not immediately clear which other governments would back the statement.

EU countries’ agriculture ministers will discuss the issue at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, convened by the EU to convince wavering member countries to sign up to a contentious free trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur.

France has consistently opposed the deal.

While removing fertilisers from the EU carbon border tariff would ease costs for farmers in Europe, it could deal a blow to Europe’s own fertiliser producers whom the border levy was supposed to support, by preventing them being undercut by cheaper imports from countries with weaker climate regulations.

Reporting by Kate Abnett; Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz, Sibylle de La Hamaide; Editing by Jan Harvey

Meteorologists said the conditions were at their worst in six years, when catastrophic bushfires destroyed wide swathes of southeastern Australia, killing 33 people, in what became known as the Black Summer

International News via Reuters:

Australia’s south sweltered through a brutal heatwave on Wednesday that delivered temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some cities, triggering health warnings, straining power grids and causing bushfires to flare.

Meteorologists said the conditions were at their worst in six years, when catastrophic bushfires destroyed wide swathes of southeastern Australia, killing 33 people, in what became known as the Black Summer.

The nation’s weather bureau issued severe or extreme heat warnings for the states of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. It also warned of extreme fire danger across Victoria and South Australia.

“These elevated fire dangers are being driven by a very hot air mass that extends all the way from Western Australia with maximum temperatures in excess of 45 degrees,” said Senior Meteorologist Sarah Scully.

In Victoria, where temperatures reached up to 44 C, and 41 C in the state capital Melbourne, authorities advised residents to stay indoors and keep hydrated.

Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch said firefighters were battling several fires across the state and conditions would worsen on Friday.

“We already have a statewide advice warning message out for severe to extreme intensity heatwave, and are now seeing those conditions kick in across the state,” he said.

“We are particularly wanting Victorians to make sure they are alert to their conditions, make sure you are staying in cool places.”

Temperatures also soared to 31 C in Sydney, 32 C in Perth and 43 C in Adelaide.

Some public spaces like libraries extended their opening hours to help residents stay cool, while others like the Monarto Safari Park were forced to shut for the day. More than 2,000 homes lost power in Adelaide.

“I think psychologically you have to keep calm in the heat and not panic. It’s only two or three days. And then it goes down again,” Adelaide resident Valdine Tuckwell told national broadcaster ABC.

Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry

Authorities in the Netherlands told people to plan to stay at home if at all possible on Wednesday, with a fresh blizzard expected to arrive overnight

International News via Reuters:

More flights will be cancelled, trains will run late and roads will be blocked by snow across Europe in coming days as a cold snap is forecast to worsen, bringing even more heavy snowfall after several days of travel disruption.

Authorities in the Netherlands told people to plan to stay at home if at all possible on Wednesday, with a fresh blizzard expected to arrive overnight.

French Transportation Minister Philippe Tabarot said on Tuesday that airlines had already been ordered to cancel at least 40% of flights at Paris’ main Charles de Gaulle airport the following morning, and a quarter of flights at smaller Orly.

Public transportation in the Paris region will probably also be disrupted by the snow, he added.

As snowfalls are expected again, Dutch airline KLM said it had protectively cancelled 600 flights on Wednesday to avoid last-minute cancellations that could leave travellers stranded at Schiphol airport, one of Europe’s main hubs.

KLM had already cancelled 400 flights at Schiphol on Tuesday and told travellers whose flights had been called off to stay away from the airport to prevent overcrowding.

“We haven’t experienced such extreme weather conditions in years,” spokesperson Anoesjka Aspeslagh said.

A BIRTHDAY IN TRANSIT

Stranded at Schiphol, Simiao Sun said she feared she would spend her 40th birthday in transit. She had been told she would have to wait three days for a rescheduled flight to Britain where she lives.

“My child would miss school and we would both miss work, so I’m queuing here…hoping to get a slightly earlier flight.”

KLM said it was offering alternative flights where possible and doing everything to help travellers, but was “overwhelmed with inquiries”.

On top of that, all domestic rail services in the Netherlands were suspended early on Tuesday after an IT outage hit the rail network.

Trains began running in parts of the country after 0900 GMT, but problems persisted around Amsterdam, with high-speed Eurostar services from Amsterdam to Paris either cancelled or late.

Roads in France were gradually clearing on Tuesday after snow caused severe accidents all over the country, killing at least five people, according to BFMTV news station.

Traffic in the Paris area hit a record 1,000 kilometres of jams on Monday evening.

SNOW FALLS OVER LARGE PARTS OF EUROPE

In Germany, temperatures fell well below minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) in the south and east early on Tuesday. Much of the country was covered in snow.

In Britain, the Meteorological Office said winter weather hazards could continue throughout the week for most of the country. Temperatures overnight to Tuesday had fallen as low as -12.5 degrees Celsius in Marham, Norfolk, in eastern England, marking the coldest night of the winter so far.

Heavy snow and rain have also caused havoc across the Western Balkans, closing roads, cutting power and causing rivers to flood. A woman died in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo on Monday after a tree overburdened with wet snow fell on her.

Reporting by Bart Meijer in Amsterdam, Inti Landauro in Brussels, Louise Rasmussen in Paris, Thomas Seythal in Berlin and Daria Sito-Sucic in Sarajevo; Editing by Michael Perry, Richard Lough, Alexandra Hudson and Nia Williams