World

Europe’s deep freeze forced widespread travel cancellations and claimed at least six lives for a second straight day, as snow, ice and high winds disrupted transport networks from the North Sea to the Balkans and forecasters warned of more wintry weather ahead. Five people died in France after weather-related accidents on icy roads, authorities said, including three in black ice crashes in the southwest. A taxi driver died after veering into the Marne River in the Paris region; his passenger was being treated for…

European leaders on Monday closed ranks around Denmark and Greenland, declaring the Arctic island “belongs to its people” in a joint statement that rebuffed U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed push to take control of the territory. Trump has repeated in recent weeks that he wants the United States to gain control of Greenland — an idea first floated in 2019 — arguing the move is vital for U.S. military interests and contending Denmark has not done enough to protect the island. Greenland, which has home rule under the…

PARIS — Key Ukrainian allies are meeting in Paris to hammer out security guarantees for Kyiv and advance U.S.-brokered plans aimed at ending the war with Russia, with Washington’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner set to join the talks. The gathering, convened by France and the United Kingdom under the banner of the “Coalition of the Willing,” brings together representatives from 35 countries, including Ireland. The French presidency said the aim is to demonstrate alignment between Washington, Kyiv and European partners…

The United States has ended its longstanding guidance that all children receive vaccines against influenza and three other diseases, shifting to “shared clinical decision-making” between families and providers. The sweeping change — approved by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Acting Director Jim O’Neill without the agency’s usual outside expert review — applies to rotavirus, meningococcal disease and hepatitis A, in addition to flu. Public health experts warned the rollback could lead to preventable…

Foreign Press Association condemns Israel’s move to keep Gaza media ban in Supreme Court filing An international media association criticized the Israeli government for maintaining its ban on unrestricted media access to Gaza, calling the move “disappointing” after authorities told the Supreme Court in a late Sunday submission that the restriction should remain in place. The government’s filing said continued exclusion of foreign journalists from independently entering the Gaza Strip is necessary. “This is for security…

Crans-Montana’s mayor said no official safety inspections were carried out at the Swiss bar where a New Year’s fire killed 40 people and injured 116, acknowledging systemic failures as the Alpine resort town prepares for a national day of mourning. “Periodic inspections were not conducted between 2020 and 2025. We bitterly regret this,” Mayor Nicolas Feraud told reporters five days after the blaze tore through Le Constellation bar in the early hours of Jan. 1. “We are profoundly sorry. We did not have an indication that the…

Thailand accused Cambodia of violating a 10-day-old truce with cross-border mortar fire that wounded a Thai soldier, while Phnom Penh said a separate blast from a “pile of garbage” injured two of its own troops along their contested frontier. The Thai army said Cambodian forces fired mortar rounds into Thailand’s Ubon Ratchathani province this morning, breaching the ceasefire agreed on December 27 to halt weeks of border clashes. In a later statement, Thai officials said Cambodian counterparts contacted a Thai unit to insist…

Skiers in Crans-Montana formed a heart on a snowy slope in a powerful tribute to the victims of the New Year’s Eve blaze at the “Le Constellation” bar, where 40 people were killed and 119 others were injured, many of them severely. The heart-shaped formation, captured on video, became a focal symbol of collective mourning in the ski community after the deadliest nightclub fire in years. Organizers and participants aligned themselves across the piste, their tracks drawing a clear, white outline visible from above — a quiet…

BEIJING — Taoiseach Micheál Martin is set to hold in-depth talks on trade with Chinese Premier Li Qiang during a five-day visit to China, pressing for progress on Irish beef exports and relief from tariffs on dairy products as EU-China trade tensions simmer. The meeting with Li follows Martin’s summit with President Xi Jinping, where the Irish leader raised sector-specific barriers facing Irish agri-food exporters and broader questions about how Europe and China manage an increasingly fraught economic relationship. “I…

Greenland warns ‘that’s enough’ as Trump renews push to bring Arctic territory into U.S. Greenland and Denmark condemned fresh calls by U.S. President Donald Trump for the autonomous Arctic territory to become part of the United States, as European leaders lined up to reject any prospect of annexation and insisted Greenland’s future rests solely with Copenhagen and Nuuk. Speaking aboard Air Force One en route to Washington, Trump reiterated his goal. “We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is…