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DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — President Donald Trump insisted he won’t use force to acquire Greenland in a speech at the World Economic Forum, where he said that the...

After Trump Meeting, Slovak PM Fico Says 'EU Is Not Taken Seriously' By World Leaders Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said the European Union is “not taken completely seriously” by world leaders because of its “suicidal migration policy” and “nonsense climate goals,” after a phone call on Monday with German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz. According to the government’s press office, cited by the TASR news agency, Fico told Merz that he would send an open letter on Tuesday to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and circulate it to all EU prime ministers and heads of state, in which he would express concerns relayed to him following a meeting with U.S. President Trump at the weekend and offer solutions. “I have proposed several solutions to the Federal Chancellor, and I hope that he will visit Slovakia soon, as he promised. We have something to talk about,” Fico said. He added that several hundred German companies operate in Slovakia and that the Slovak economy is particularly dependent on German economic development because of the high concentration of car production. Fico said he and Merz discussed the current “serious international situation,” including the escalating transatlantic tensions over the future of Greenland, and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. He told the German chancellor about his conversation over the weekend with U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. “The U.S. president is clearly pursuing the nation-state interests of the U.S. If the EU had acted this way, we would be in a completely different place than we are now,” Fico said, again arguing that the European Union is not taken seriously on the world stage. 🇺🇸🇪🇺 EPIC phone call between Slovakia's PM Fico with Germany's Merz, after Fico met Trump. PERFECTLY sums up the situation between the U.S. and the EU regarding Greendland Prime Minister Fico: - "The President of the United States is clearly pursuing the nation state interests… pic.twitter.com/aXFOa6wcXL — Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 19, 2026 The Slovak government described the Fico-Trump meeting as informal and a sign of respect and trust. The talks covered the war in Ukraine, the European Union, and bilateral relations, and were attended by U.S. and Slovak foreign ministers Marco Rubio and Juraj Blanár. On Ukraine, Fico said he reiterated his long-held positions to the American president. “All my positions are well-known, and I repeat them in the same wording at every meeting,” he said, declaring “Slovakia’s peaceful position and the opinion that diplomacy and mutual listening must take precedence over military solutions.” According to Fico, he and Trump shared the view of the European Union as “an institution in deep crisis” in relation to its competitiveness as well as its energy and migration policies. They also discussed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in nuclear energy, ceremonially signed in Washington before the Florida meeting. “Both countries are fully aware that solving serious energy challenges is not possible through wind turbines or photovoltaics, but that the basis for the future is the rapid development of nuclear energy,” Fico said. THE TRIP TO THE UNITED STATES AND TALKS WITH PRESIDENT D. TRUMP WERE SOVEREIGN, CONFIDENT, AND EXCEPTIONALLY IMPORTANT FOR SLOVAKIA FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ENERGY SECURITY. I understand that anti-Slovak media and the opposition are being torn apart by envy and hatred. I have… pic.twitter.com/7rjoxPWLIR — Robert Fico 🇸🇰 (@RobertFicoSVK) January 18, 2026 Fico also said he presented Trump with a Slovak postage stamp depicting a U.S. Marine Corps soldier of Slovak origin, Michal Strank, noting that a photograph of Strank raising the American flag on Iwo Jima in February 1945 later became the model for a major military monument at Arlington National Cemetery. “The trip to the USA was our next…

"Rich Kids Of Iran" Flee To Turkish Nightclubs Amid Deadly Crackdown On Protesters: Report The children of Iran's political and military elite are back in the spotlight for their opulent lifestyles amid reports that they fled the country to party in Turkish nightclubs, even as the regime's security forces carry out its deadliest crackdown on nationwide protests in years, the New York Post reports. Anashid Hoseini, a model and designer, is married to the son of Iran’s ambassador to Denmark. They are considered part of the aghazadeh, or children of the elite The phenomenon of Iran's affluent youth first drew international attention more than a decade ago through the Instagram account @richkidsoftehran (now with approximately 477,000 followers), which features eyebrow-raising posts of luxury cars such, watches, and designer gear. Among the most infamous “Rich Kids of Iran" is Sasha Sobhani, the son of a former Iranian ambassador to Venezuela, who relocated to Spain in 2019 and has posted videos of his Lamborghini and other vehicles. Sasha Sobhani, the son of a former Iranian ambassador to Venezuela, became a social media star showing off his expat life in Spain, where he moved in 2019. Instagram/sasha_sohbani Another account belongs to Anashid Hoseini, who is married to the son of Iran's former ambassador to Denmark and whose Instagram account with over 1.7 million followers regularly displays expensive bling and designer handbags. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Anashid Hoseini (@anashidhoseini) The New York Post reports: Amid an enforced internet blackout that allows an oppressive regime to commit “genocide under the cover of digital darkness,” according to one outraged expert, reporters from The Telegraph are said to have observed “rich Iranians” partying at a nightclub in a popular holiday hotspot on the border with Turkey. And as the Telegraph reports: The province of Van, in far-eastern Turkey, shares a mountainous border with Iran, making it a popular holiday destination for Iranians looking to party. Despite the chaos at home – where more than two weeks of protests had been halted by deadly force and a total communications blackout – The Telegraph witnessed elite Iranians gathering to drink, socialise and party in Van city. Locals said that in recent days, wealthy Iranians – some said to support the Islamic regime – had arrived in Turkey to escape the political instability, fearing the protesters might turn on them as well. "They left Iran for now because they were worried about staying there. Here, they can feel safe. They have made a lot of money from their businesses in Iran, and then they come here to spend it," one Iranian said of the partygoers. "Imagine if, in your country, thousands of people had been killed. Would you have the heart to go out dancing in a bar?" another Iranian told the outlet. The renewed attention on Iran’s showdy elites has come into focus as Iranian authorities have now acknowledged that it’s brutal crackdown on protesters have resulted in significant casualties. In a public address, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei conceded that "several thousand" Iranians died in the violence, which he unsurprisingly attributed to foreign-backed "rioters" and "terrorists" incited by President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. An unnamed Iranian official cited by Reuters estimated the verified death toll at least 5,000, including roughly 500 security personnel. Independent monitoring groups face challenges due to a near-total internet blackout, but the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has confirmed more than 3,900 deaths, while other activist and medical sources inside Iran have cited figures ranging from 12,000 to 20,000 protester fatalities, according to CBS News. Trump has repeatedly condemned the crackdown, urging protesters to continue their efforts and stating that "help is on its way.” The president has warned Tehran of "very strong…

German Chancellor Merz Admits Shutting Down Nuclear Energy Production Was A "Severe Strategic Mistake" Via The Last Refuge, Germany has a severe electricity shortage and cost problem, and it’s getting worse. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently made the admission that shutting down the German nuclear power reactors was a “severe strategic mistake.” “To have acceptable market prices for energy production again, we would have to permanently subsidize energy prices from the federal budget,” Merz said, adding: “We can’t do this in the long run.” “So, we are now undertaking the most expensive energy transition in the entire world,” Merz said with pronounced frustration. “I know of no other country that makes things so expensive and difficult as Germany.” Merz’s government aims to solicit bids to build 8 gigawatts of new gas-fired power plants this year with the goal of having them online by 2031. Another 4 gigawatts of capacity are foreseen for lower-carbon energy sources or gas plants that can switch to hydrogen more quickly. Merz said on industry power price cuts that “the European Commission will also approve the combination of several options.” Keep in mind, Germany represents the largest contributing economy in the European Union. The German industrial sector is the backbone of the European economic model. All of these realities paint a very tenuous picture for the economic future in Europe, when combined with a new trade relationship with the USA, increasingly cheap goods dumped into the EU by China and the EU promising to continue spending on the war effort in Ukraine against Russia. Tyler Durden Wed, 01/21/2026 - 03:30

"Naive To Think We’re Not At War": Latvia's Central Banker Warns Europe On Russia Latvia's central bank governor, Martins Kazaks, has warned European leaders against downplaying the danger posed by Russia, describing in a fresh interview the European Union is already "at war" with Moscow and must be ready for further escalation, particularly in its financial systems. This is raising eyebrows at the Kremlin, but many Russian officials might actually agree with this grim assessment: "It's naive to think that we are not at war" with Russia, Kazaks told the Financial Times. Governor of the Bank of Latvia, Martins Kazaks He cited as examples of an active war situation the ongoing cyberattacks on Europe, alleged acts of sabotage targeting infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, as well as drone violations of Danish and other EU airspace - the latter which has involved plenty of speculation and accusations leveled among EU officials, but no final or clear proof of links to Russia or its intelligence services. Kazaks acknowledged that as of yet, the conflict connected to Ukraine is not being fought directly on EU soil, but he stressed "we need to be resilient to deal with that." In response, Latvia’s central bank has intensified contingency planning in recent years, prioritizing uninterrupted access to cash and digital payments during emergencies and the ability to carry out offline card transactions for essential purchases. On this Kazāks emphasized, "We are in many cases best in the class." He further cautioned that an armed conflict involving a eurozone member could trigger "financial stability issues" - but ironically he claimed that more and constant European/NATO support to Kiev would make these risks "marginal", also as the EU has newly sought to greatly bolster its own defensive capabilities. This is in line with his own government's consistently hawkish anti-Moscow stance, along with the other tiny (but loud) Baltic and former Soviet satellite states. We can say at the very least that Russia-NATO proxy war has been in full swing for quite a while now. As a reminder, the world just reached the following tragic milestone: Russia’s full-fledged war against Ukraine has already lasted longer than the Soviet fight against Nazi Germany in World War II—as discussed in Steve Gutterman’s RFE/RL. “None of the conditions for a final resolution of the conflict are in place,” Ruth Deyermond of King’s College London told Gutterman for his analysis entitled "Will Russia's War Against Ukraine End In 2026?" Deyermond believes neither Ukraine nor Russia are “in a position to achieve a conclusive victory on the battlefield” or to collapse under pressure. According to Deyermond, the main obstacle to peace is Moscow’s stance: “Russia… seems to have no interest in an end to the fighting, let alone the war,” she says, while CSIS analyst Mark Cancian argues the Russians’ “stated goals are totally unacceptable” and their intransigence “stems from their belief that they are winning.” At best, a cease-fire or “temporarily frozen conflict” is possible so long as Putin’s presidency remains tied to the war, according to Crisis Group’s Olga Oliker. But the above doesn't address the other pressing question: can Ukraine and its dwindling and fatigued armed forces last? While the West believes it is weakening Russia, there is little doubt that Ukraine is being fast drained and weakened to the brink of collapse. It is being propped up by the Western powers, financially, militarily, and really on almost every level. For example, on the pressing issue of the country's collapsing power infrastructure, regional media warns amid rolling blackouts, power outages could begin to last over 16 hours a day under newly proposed emergency schedules. The country can't get parts fast enough to replace damaged substations, and this is an area where no amount of external support can keep up, ultimately. Tyler Durden Wed, 01/21/2026 - 02:45