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As President Donald Trump intensifies his push to secure control of Greenland for the United States, Russia is revelling in the chaos while keeping its own position on US ownership over the island unclear.European countries have warned any US attempt to seize Greenland would rupture NATO, a transatlantic alliance that Russia has long seen as a security threat.But Moscow has also expressed concern about the West expanding its military foothold in the Arctic, an area where it has its own ambitions and which it sees as strategically important.Russian President Vladimir Putin has not spoken publicly about the dispute this year, while his spokesperson and foreign minister have called the situation “unusual” and denied Moscow has any intentions to seize the Arctic territory itself.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Trump would “go down in history” if he took control of the island, while declining to comment on whether this was “good or bad”.Trump says US ownership of Greenland is critical for his country’s national security.He and his aides have argued Denmark, a fellow NATO member, would be unable to defend Greenland should Russia or China ever seek to invade the vast island, a Danish autonomous territory.Greenland sits under the flight path between the United States and Russia, making it a potentially critical outpost for air defences.Without commenting on Trump’s claim, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference on Tuesday: “Greenland is not a natural part of Denmark, it is a colonial conquest.”He pointed to France’s control of Mayotte and Britain’s ownership of the Falkland Islands — which Lavrov referred to as the “Malvinas Islands”, as Argentina calls them — as examples of European powers retaining control of conquered territory.- ‘Close eye on situation’ -Peskov said last week Russia was “like the rest of the world, keeping a close eye on the situation.””We proceed from the premise that Greenland is a territory of the Kingdom of Denmark,” he added in remarks last Friday.”The situation is unusual, I would even say extraordinary, from the point of view of international law,” Peskov said, adding that Trump “as he has said himself, is not somebody for whom international law is some kind of priority”.Pro-Kremlin media outlets and Russian political analysts have meanwhile revelled in the dispute.The Moskovskiy Komsomolets tabloid said on Sunday it was watching with joy at Europe falling into “complete disarray” over the crisis.”Naturally, a split within NATO, a bloc hostile to Russia, is good news for Russia,” Vasily Kashin, an expert at Russia’s Higher School of Economics, told AFP.”Although it is not a given that this will have immediate positive consequences for Russian policy, for example in Ukraine, it is movement in the right direction,” he added.Moscow has not said whether it would oppose the United States taking control of the territory, but it has repeatedly warned NATO against deploying troops and equipment to the Arctic region.Last week, the Russian Embassy in Belgium — where NATO is headquartered — accused the alliance of embarking on an “accelerated militarisation of the North”.Putin has not commented publicly on the issue since it reemerged as a focus for the Trump administration in recent weeks.The Kremlin chief had in March 2025 said Trump had “serious plans regarding Greenland” that had “long-standing historical roots”, after the US President mooted the need for American control of the territory.At the time, Putin said the issue “concerns two specific nations and has nothing to do with us”, but that Russia was “concerned” about what he called increasing NATO activity in the Arctic.

US President Donald Trump has made an astonishing series of attacks apparently designed to humiliate allies France, Britain and Canada as the row over Greenland threatens to engulf the Davos forum.In a flurry of Truth Social posts and comments to reporters a day before he leaves for the elite gathering on Wednesday, Trump leaked apparently private text messages from French President Emmanuel Macron and the head of NATO.His comments leave the transatlantic alliance in perhaps its most fragile state since World War II — and underscore that Trump is determined to make a show of power at the meeting in the Swiss ski resort.On the first anniversary of his inauguration for a second term that has already upended the global order, Trump took particular aim at Macron as their longstanding bromance appeared to implode.Trump first expressed his disdain for Macron’s refusal to join his so-called “Board of Peace” for resolving conflicts worldwide. “Nobody wants him because he’s going to be out of office very soon,” Trump told reporters as he prepared to board Air Force One in Florida, before threatening 200 percent tariffs on French wine and champagne.A number of Western leaders harbour worries that the body, originally designed for Gaza, would create a shadow UN, while the inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin has caused alarm.Shortly afterwards Trump posted a private text message from Macron in which the French leader said “I do not understand what you are doing on Greenland” and offered to organise a G7 summit in Paris with Russia attending on the sidelines.But Trump was far from finished.From Air Force One he posted an altered picture of him meeting European leaders in the Oval Office — with a picture of not only the United States but Canada and Greenland covered in the stars and stripes.The original photo, taken when European leaders rushed to the White House last August with Ukrainian President Zelensky to prop up US support for Kyiv, had already been mocked in some quarters as a sign of European weakness.- ‘Great stupidity’ -While Trump’s quest to take control of Greenland is the one that has shaken the world at the start of 2026, he has also called for Canada to become the 51st US state.He followed up on the posts with an image of himself holding the American flag on an icy landscape next to a sign saying “Greenland. US Territory, Est 2026”, accompanied by Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.Next in Trump’s sights was Britain, whose pride in its “special relationship” with the United States has come under fresh strain from his designs on Greenland.Trump lashed out at what he called London’s “great stupidity” for its deal to give Mauritius the Chagos Islands, an Indian Ocean archipelago that is home to the key Diego Garcia US-UK military base.As recently as May, Trump had endorsed the deal after it was signed.He linked the British decision to his current obsession, saying it was “another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired”.Trump still wasn’t finished — but for a change he had something complimentary to say.His final message unveiled a private text message from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, in which he thanked the former Dutch prime minister.Rutte, who famously referred to Trump as “Daddy” at a NATO summit last year, said in the message that he was “committed to finding a way forward on Greenland”.”Can’t wait to see you,” the NATO chief added. It was all in a night’s work for the US president — but it will leave the Europeans scrambling for ways to shore up the transatlantic alliance that has underpinned Western security for the past 80 years.

Greenland’s biggest dogsled race is a cultural mainstay on the Arctic island but US envoys keep finding themselves disinvited, frustrating attempts by President Donald Trump’s team to wield soft power in the Danish autonomous territory.The annual Avannaata Qimussersua race is dear to Greenlanders as the most prestigious event of its kind, pitting around 30 teams against each other to decide the territory’s top dog sledders.That has piqued the interest of team Trump as the American president pushes to take over Greenland.In the space of a few days, Trump’s special envoy for Greenland, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, was first invited and then uninvited to this year’s race, to be held on March 28 in Qasigiannguit, a small community on the west coast.Last year, after Trump revived his ambition to acquire Greenland, Usha Vance, wife of US Vice President JD Vance, had also planned to attend the race, before her appearance was cancelled.”We’re looking at manoeuvres that, if not outright interference, are at least a form of soft diplomacy that involves meeting local populations with the intent of influencing them,” Mikaa Blugeon-Mered, a researcher on Arctic geopolitics, told AFP.The would-be visits are part of a broader push by Washington to get a feel for the Greenlandic population — which at this point is overwhelmingly opposed to joining the United States — and encourage pro-American sentiment in order to win hearts and minds, according to the researcher.In August, Danish public broadcaster DR reported that at least three Americans linked to Trump were conducting influence operations in Greenland.Their mission was to identify those favouring closer ties to the United States, as well as those in fierce opposition, according to DR.In May, the Wall Street Journal reported that US intelligence agencies had been ordered to gather information on Greenland’s independence movement and views on potential US exploitation of the island’s natural resources.- Identity marker -For many of Greenland’s 57,000 inhabitants, of whom nearly 90 percent are Inuit, the Avannaata Qimussersua is strongly tied to identity.The race, generally held at the end of the winter season, is part of the island’s “living culture”, said Manumina Lund Jensen, an associate professor in the Department of Cultural and Social History at the University of Greenland.”It’s very important for the Greenlanders, and it is a very emotional journey if you go there,” she told AFP.Amid renewed tension between Washington and Europe, the Greenland Dog Sledding Association (KNQK) recently announced that the invitation to Landry — which had been extended without its knowledge by a private tour operator — had been cancelled.”KNQK has been informed that the tourism company that invited Governor Jeff Landry from the United States has unilaterally withdrawn its invitation,” the organisation said in a statement.”This is reassuring,” it added.- ‘Political pressure’ -Greenlandic broadcaster KNR reported last week that Landry had been invited by tour operator Kristian Jeremiassen.Speaking to KNR, Jeremiassen said he had invited “many different people” to the race, without specifying whom, “to promote tourism in northern Greenland”.However, the Greenland Dog Sledding Association said it found it “unacceptable that political pressure is being exerted from outside” and called the invitation “wholly inappropriate”.According to Blugeon-Mered, alongside his work as a tour operator, Jeremiassen is a politician “on the wane… whose primary goal is to make himself a kind of go-between (with the United States) to boost his business”.A year ago, Usha Vance had planned to attend the race without an official invitation.”The US consulate had offered to fund most of the race,” Blugeon-Mered said.”They thought that by being the race’s main sponsor, they could buy the organisers and do whatever they wanted. It didn’t work.”JD Vance’s planned visit had sparked strong objections in Denmark, which saw it as “unacceptable pressure” and said it risked provoking demonstrations during the event.The US delegation ultimately changed its programme, and JD and Usha Vance instead visited an American air base at Pituffik, in the territory’s northwest.

European stock markets slid further Tuesday, while precious metals hit fresh peaks on fears of a US-EU trade war fuelled by Donald Trump’s tariff threat over opposition to his grab for Greenland.Asia’s main equity indices closed mixed, while US equity futures were sharply down, indicating sizeable losses on Wall Street when it reopens after Monday’s close because of the Martin Luther King holiday.Gold, seen as a safe-haven investment, notched yet another record high, at $4,726.70 an ounce.Silver also peaked, touching $95.51 an ounce.The dollar retreated and key bond yields in the United States and elsewhere climbed.”The US dollar is not serving as a safe haven because it seems to be entirely US-driven and raises fears about US policy and European exposure to US assets,” noted Neil Wilson, investor strategist at Saxo UK.When Wall Street reopens, the “Nasdaq looks set to chalk up the biggest declines amid concern about possible retaliatory action from Europe against America’s big tech contingent”, predicted AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. Frankfurt led losses in Europe, shedding 1.5 percent in midday deals. There were sizeable falls also in London and Paris.After a bright start to the year fuelled by fresh hopes for the artificial intelligence sector, investors have taken fright since the US president ramped up his demands for the Danish autonomous territory, citing national security.With Copenhagen and other European capitals pushing back, Trump on Saturday said he would impose 10 percent levies on eight countries — including Denmark, France, Germany and Britain — from February 1, lifting them to 25 percent on June 1.- ‘Mistake’ -The move has raised questions about the outlook for last year’s US-EU trade deal.EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday warned the United States that hitting allied European nations with punitive tariffs over Greenland would be a “mistake”. “The proposed additional tariffs are a mistake especially between long-standing allies,” von der Leyen told the Davos gathering in Switzerland. “The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal last July. And in politics as in business — a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something,” she added.US Treasury chief Scott Bessent on Monday said that any retaliatory EU tariffs would be “unwise”.Trump meanwhile ramped up his rhetoric against France on Tuesday, warning he would impose 200 percent tariffs on French wine and champagne over its intentions to decline his invitation to join his “Board of Peace” set up to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza.- Key figures at around 1100 GMT -London – FTSE 100: DOWN 1.2 percent at 10,075.62 points Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.5 percent at 24,578.77Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 1.3 percent at 8,009.37Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 52,991.10 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 26,487.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 4,113.65 (close)New York – Dow: Closed Monday for holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1732 from $1.1641 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3478 from $1.3428Dollar/yen: DOWN at 157.85 yen from 158.09 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.04 pence from 86.71 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $64.18 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $59.56 per barrelburs-bcp/ajb/jh

A catastrophic collapse of healthcare services in Malawi a year after US funding cuts is undoing a decade of progress against HIV/AIDS, providers warn, leaving some of the most vulnerable feeling like “living dead”.In the impoverished southern Africa country, the US government’s decision to slash foreign aid in January 2025 has led to significant cuts in HIV treatments, a spike in pregnancies and a return to discrimination.Chisomo Nkwanga, an HIV-positive man who lives in the northern town of Mzuzu, told AFP that the end of US-funded specialised care was like a death sentence.After his normal provider of life-saving antiretroviral therapy (ART) vanished due to budget cuts, he turned to a public hospital.”The healthcare worker shouted at me in front of others,” Nkwanga recalled. “They said, ‘You gay, you are now starting to patronise our hospitals because the whites who supported your evil behaviour have stopped?'””I gave up,” he said, trembling. “I am a living dead.”More than one million of aid-dependent Malawi’s roughly 22 million people live with HIV and the United States previously provided 60 percent of its HIV treatment budget.Globally, researchers estimate that hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths have been caused by the Trump administration’s dismantling of US foreign aid, which has upended humanitarian efforts to fight HIV, malaria and tuberculosis in some of the world’s poorest regions.- Lay offs, panic -In Malawi, the drying up of support from USAID and the flagship US anti-HIV programme, PEPFAR, has left a “system in panic”, said Gift Trapence, executive director of the Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP).”The funding cut came on such short notice that we couldn’t prepare or engage existing service providers,” Trapence told AFP.”We had to lay off staff… we closed two drop-in centres and maintained two on skeleton staff,” he said. “We did this because we knew that if we closed completely, we would be closing everything for the LGBTI community.”The Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPAM) non-government organisation, a cornerstone of rural healthcare, has been forced to ground the mobile clinics that served as the only medical link for remote villages.”We had two big grants that were supporting our work, particularly in areas where there were no other service providers,” said executive director Donald Makwakwa.”We are likely to lose out on all the successes that we have registered over the years,” he said.A resident of a village once served by FPAM told AFP there had been an explosion in unplanned pregnancies when the family planning provider stopped work.”I know of nearly 25 girls in my village who got pregnant when FPAM suspended its services here last year,” said Maureen Maseko at a clinic on the brink of collapse.- Progress undone -For over a decade, Malawi’s fight against AIDS relied on “peer navigators” and drop-in centres that supported people with HIV and ensured they followed treatment.With the funding for these services gone, the default rate for people taking the HIV preventative drug PrEP hit 80 percent in districts like Blantyre, according to a report by the CEDEP.”This is a crisis waiting to happen,” the report quoted former district healthcare coordinator Fyness Jere as saying. “When people stop taking PrEP, we increase the chances of new HIV infections… we are undoing a decade of progress in months,” she said.Trapence noted that without specialised support, thousands of patients had simply disappeared from the medical grid.”We lost everything, including the structures that were supporting access… treatment and care,” he said.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday rejected the idea that European governments could aggressively sell American debt to counter Washington’s threats over Greenland, saying such a move would “defy logic”.President Donald Trump said at the weekend that, from February 1, Britain, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden would be subject to a 10-percent tariff on all goods sent to the United States until Denmark agrees to cede Greenland. The announcement has drawn angry charges from the US allies who are pondering countermeasures.These could include retaliatory tariffs but also possibly a concerted strategy to offload US Treasury bonds.About a third of traded American government bonds, estimated at a total of some $30 trillion, is held by foreigners, led by Japan.Other major holders of US sovereign bonds include the UK, Belgium, Canada and France.Aggressive selling of bonds would cause long-term interest rates to spike, make the re-financing of the US debt hugely more expensive for Trump’s administration and weigh heavily on corporate financing and the economy as a whole.”Europeans hold roughly $10 trillion in US assets: around $6 trillion in US equities and roughly $4 trillion in Treasuries and other bonds,” observed Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote. “Selling those assets would pull the rug from under US markets.”But asked by reporters at the Davos World Economic Forum whether the US was preparing for such a scenario, Bessent said that it “defies any logic”.Calling the US Treasury market “the best-performing market in the world” and the “most liquid” debt market, he said he expected Europeans to hold on to their exposure, not offload it.”There’s a completely false narrative there,” he said.”I think everyone needs to take a deep breath. Do not listen to the media who are hysterical.”European Union leaders will hold an emergency summit in Brussels on Thursday to discuss their response to the Greenland crisis, and Trump said he had agreed to a meeting with “various parties” on the standoff while he is in Davos this week.There were signs, meanwhile, in global markets that a “Sell America” movement was underway, said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, a trading firm.US markets were closed on Monday for a public holiday, but “Treasury yields are rising sharply” in anticipation of Tuesday’s reopening, she said.The dollar fell and “Japan leads a global bond sell-off”, the analyst observed, adding that American equities were also marked lower ahead of Wall Street’s session Tuesday.Concerns have mounted “over the Trump administration’s confrontational stance toward global counterparts, which could potentially dampen appetite for US assets”, with longer-term bonds bearing “the brunt of the decline”, said Patrick Munnelly, a money manager at the Tickmill group.Analysts said global investors were intently focused on Davos, where Trump is expected Wednesday, for fresh insights into the US-Europe standoff. 

US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat against Europe over Greenland has hit its top economy Germany just as hopes are growing for a modest recovery after years of stagnation.Germany’s government and its export-reliant businesses were blindsided when Trump again wielded the tariffs axe at the weekend — this time sparked by his anger over a geopolitical rather than an economic dispute.”For Germany, these new tariffs would be absolute poison,” ING economist Carsten Brzeski told AFP, adding that the heightened uncertainties “clearly jeopardise the fragile recovery underway”.Germany — long ailing from high energy prices, falling demand in China and stiff competition from the Asian giant, and last year’s US tariffs blitz — achieved just 0.2 percent GDP growth in 2025 after two years of recession.Huge public spending to rebuild Germany’s armed forces and ageing infrastructure have boosted hopes for a stronger rebound this year, and the government has predicted GDP will expand by 1.3 percent in 2026.That was before Trump — angered by pushback against his desire to seize Denmark’s autonomous territory of Greenland — threatened additional tariffs of up to 25 percent on products from eight European countries, including Germany.The news — which drove down stocks and saw safe-haven assets like gold rise — rattled German companies and provoked a mix of puzzlement and anger.”Greenland is taking this madness to extremes,” Thorsten Bauer, co-head of laser maker Xiton Photonics, told AFP, expressing a sentiment shared by many business leaders. The Federation of German Industries denounced “an inappropriate and damaging escalation for all parties,” which it said “is putting enormous pressure on transatlantic relations”.And the German Association of Wholesalers, Exporters and Service Providers slammed Trump’s latest threat as “grotesque” and stressed defiantly that “we continue to stand by Denmark: democracy and freedom cannot be wiped out by punitive tariffs”.- ‘Out of the blue’ -Trump’s latest salvo comes after the EU and the United States in July agreed to cap tariffs on most EU exports at 15 percent, with most goods in the other direction being tariff-free.Though some criticised the deal as one-sided, many German businesses cautiously welcomed the deal for the certainty it seemed to bring.”Our members largely kept a cool head during last summer’s tariffs debate and waited patiently. But waiting patiently cannot go on forever,” the German Association of Small and Medium-sized Businesses told AFP. “Donald Trump’s erratic policies are poison for the global economy and free trade -– and they damage trust that has been built up over years in rules-based systems.”The group said new tariffs would particularly hurt German SMEs but nonetheless insisted that “Europe must not allow itself to be blackmailed. If the US does indeed impose tariffs, Europe needs to respond quickly and decisively”.European diplomats have promised a firm response if Trump makes good on his threat and powerful conservative German Member of the European Parliament, Manfred Weber, said final ratification of the July deal was now “on ice”.Some experts have voiced hope that all sides will step back from an escalation of a dispute that would hurt everyone involved, and threaten US-German trade worth over 250 billion euros ($290 billion).US tariffs have already exacted a heavy toll on Germany. From January to November, German exports to the United States fell 9.4 percent from a year earlier and the country’s trade surplus with the world’s biggest economy dropped to its lowest level since 2021, statistics agency Destatis said Tuesday.If implemented and sustained for a long period, the new tariffs “could cost the eurozone economy something between 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent of GDP, with a bigger hit for Germany,” wrote Andrew Kenningham of Capital Economics.”In practice though, we doubt that they will be implemented as advertised. We also think the EU will be cautious in any retaliation in an effort to avoid further escalation.”The new uncertainty comes at a tough time for Germany’s crucial auto sector, which is now bracing for resurgent transatlantic trade tensions it had hoped had been put to bed.Automotive analyst Pal Skirta of Metzler Bank told AFP that Trump’s latest threat is worse news than last year’s.”The Liberation Day tariffs were maybe not very reasonable, but you could justify them,” he said. “With Greenland, it comes out of the blue, you can’t justify it by macroeconomic logic.”

Asian markets extended losses Tuesday, while precious metals hit fresh peaks on fears of a US-EU trade war fuelled by Donald Trump’s tariff threat over opposition to his grab for Greenland.After a bright start to the year fuelled by fresh hopes for the artificial intelligence sector, investors have taken fright since the US president ramped up his demands for the Danish autonomous territory, citing national security.With Copenhagen and other European capitals pushing back, Trump on Saturday said he would impose 10 percent levies on eight countries — including Denmark, France, Germany and Britain — from February 1, lifting them to 25 percent on June 1.The move has raised questions about the outlook for last year’s US-EU trade deal, while French President Emmanuel Macron has called for the deployment of a powerful, unused instrument aimed at deterring economic coercion.In response, US Treasury chief Scott Bessent said Monday that any retaliatory EU tariffs would be “unwise”.Trump ramped up his rhetoric against France on Tuesday, warning he would impose 200 percent tariffs on French wine and champagne over its intentions to decline his invitation to join his “Board of Peace” set up to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza.The prospect of another trade standoff between two of the world’s biggest economic powers has fuelled a rush to safety and dealt a blow to risk assets.Asia equities extended Monday’s losses.Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai, Manila and Wellington were all down, while Shanghai was flat. Taipei, Bangkok and Jakarta edged up.London, Paris and Frankfurt were also sharply lower for a second successive day.Gold hit a fresh record of $4,722.76 and silver also peaked, touching $94.73.Meanwhile, Treasury yields rose amid a move out of US assets fuelled by the uncertainty sparked by Trump’s latest volley.Japanese government bonds yields also rose — with that on the 40-year note hitting the highest since it was launched in 2007 — after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called snap elections Monday and pledged to cut a tax on food for a two-year period.The announcement fuelled fresh worries the government will borrow more cash at a time when questions are already being asked about the country’s finances.Her cabinet approved a record 122.3-trillion-yen ($768 billion) budget for the fiscal year from April 2026, and she has vowed to get parliamentary approval as soon as possible to address rising prices and shore up the world’s fourth-largest economy.Eyes are now on Davos, Switzerland, where the US president is expected to give a speech to the World Economic Forum.”Davos now becomes the theatre that matters. Not for soundbites, but for whether the adults step back into the room,” wrote Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.”If this turns sour, volatility will not stay bottled. What would normally be a Ukraine-focused week risks being hijacked by a far more destabilising question, namely, whether the transatlantic alliance is being stress-tested in public. “A NATO fracture, even a rhetorical one, is not something markets are trained to shrug off.”- Key figures at around 0815 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 52,991.10 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 26,487.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 4,113.65 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 10,116.01 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1691 from $1.1641 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3477 from $1.3428Dollar/yen: UP at 158.39 yen from 158.09 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.75 pence from 86.71 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $59.58 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $63.76 per barrelNew York – Dow: Closed for a holiday

Since the US captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in early January, pictures and videos chronicling the events have been crowded out by those generated with artificial intelligence, blurring the lines between fiction and reality.The endless stream of content ranges from comedic memes to dramatic retellings.In one, a courtroom illustration of Maduro in a New York courthouse springs to life and announces: “I consider myself a prisoner of war.”In another, an AI-generated Maduro attempts to escape a US prison through an air duct, only to find himself in a courtroom with US President Donald Trump, where they dance with a judge and an FBI agent to a song by American rapper Ice Spice.Maduro was captured alongside his wife Cilia Flores during US strikes in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on January 3.They have since been taken to a prison in New York where they are being held on drug trafficking charges.While some have celebrated Maduro’s ouster, the “Chavismo” movement he leads — named after his predecessor Hugo Chavez — has worked to reframe what his fall means for Venezuela’s future.- ‘ Confuse, combat, and silence’ -Leon Hernandez, a researcher at Andres Bello Catholic University, told AFP that with AI’s rapid creation of content, we see development of “disinformation labs” that flood social media platforms.”There were things that circulated that were not real during the capture (of Maduro), and things that circulated which were real that generated doubt,” Hernandez said.”That was the idea: to create confusion and generate skepticism at the base level by distorting certain elements of real things.”The goal, he added, is for the content to overwhelm audiences so they cannot follow it.Even legacy media such as the Venezuelan VTV television channel are in on it, with the broadcaster playing an AI-animated video narrated by a child recounting Maduro’s capture.”AI has become the new instrument of power for autocrats to confuse, combat, and silence dissent,” said Elena Block, a professor of political communication and strategy at the University of Queensland in Australia.- ‘Greatest threat to democracy’ -Block pointed out the use of cartoons, specifically, had been a medium of propaganda used in both authoritarian and democratic states.Long before his arrest, Maduro was depicted as the illustrated superhero “Super Bigote” or “Super Mustache,” donning a Superman-like suit and fighting monsters like “extremists” and the “North American empire.”The cartoon’s popularity spawned toys that have been carried by Maduro’s supporters during rallies advocating for his return.And much like his predecessor, Maduro continued a practice of “media domination” to stave off traditional media outlets from airing criticism of Chavismo.”With censorship and the disappearance or weakening of news media, social media has emerged as one of the only spaces for information,” Block said.Maduro is not the only leader to use AI propaganda — Trump has frequently posted AI-generated pictures and videos of himself with “antagonistic, aggressive, and divisive language.””These digital and AI tools end up trivializing politics: you don’t explain it, you diminish it,” Block said. “AI today is the greatest threat to democracy.”

Warner Bros may be for sale, but the studio’s acclaimed hits “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” are expected to dominate the Oscar nominations when the Academy announces its final contenders Thursday.Both are tipped to rack up a dozen or more nods for Hollywood’s grandest awards ceremony — from best picture and best actor to the new best casting prize.The rare and enviable position of a single Hollywood studio boasting the two clear Oscars frontrunners ironically comes in what could be Warner Bros’ swansong year as an independent distributor.Warner Bros is the target of a fierce bidding war between Paramount Skydance and Netflix.Yet despite the struggles of its parent company Warner Bros Discovery, the storied movie studio has enjoyed a banner year, bucking Tinseltown’s obsession with sequels and backing original fare from auteur filmmakers.”Sinners,” a blues-inflected period horror film about the segregated US South, comes from “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler.It is expected to land a best actor nomination for Michael B. Jordan, who plays two twins battling vampires and racists in 1930s Mississippi, plus everything from screenplay to score.According to Variety awards expert Clayton Davis, “Sinners” could break the all-time record for most nominations by a single film — currently 14, by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.”Coogler is “rewriting the math entirely,” and could enter “a statistical stratosphere no filmmaker has ever touched,” Davis wrote.But so far this awards season, Paul Thomas Anderson — whose formidable, eclectic filmography runs from “Boogie Nights” to “There Will Be Blood” — has won almost every prize going for “One Battle After Another.”A zany thriller about a retired revolutionary looking for his teen daughter against a wild backdrop of radical violence, immigration raids and white supremacists, it broke the all-time record for nominations by Hollywood’s actors guild.Former best actor Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio is all but certain to secure his seventh acting nomination from the Academy.Netflix has its own hopefuls in Guillermo del Toro’s monster horror flick “Frankenstein,” tragic Western pioneer drama “Train Dreams” and animated musical sensation “KPop Demon Hunters.”By contrast, rival Paramount’s awards hopefuls shelf is noticeably bare.- Best casting -“Hamnet,” a tragic literary adaptation that imagines William Shakespeare coping with the death of his son, is likely to land a bagful of nominations.Jessie Buckley, who plays the Bard’s long-suffering wife Agnes, appears a lock for a best actress nomination.She is likely to be joined by Emma Stone playing an alien — or is she? — in conspiracy theorist drama “Bugonia,” and Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve in arthouse darling “Sentimental Value.”With the Academy’s overseas voter base rapidly expanding, “Sentimental Value” is one of a trio of non-English-language films that could contend for best picture.Along with Persian-language Palme d’Or winner “It Was Just An Accident,” there is also Brazil’s “The Secret Agent,” though “space feels limited” for all three to make the list, wrote Davis.”The Secret Agent” star Wagner Moura, playing a scientist on the run from Brazil’s 1970s dictatorship, is expected to vie with DiCaprio and Jordan for best actor.But that category’s frontrunner is Timothee Chalamet, whose turn as a bratty, talented and fiercely ambitious ping pong player in 1950s New York in “Marty Supreme,” has already won a Golden Globe, a Critics Choice Award and more.This year sees the introduction of a new Oscar for best casting, honoring the experts who attach actors to projects long before future blockbusters or indie hits begin production.With no precedent, it is unclear what exactly voters will be looking for. “Is it star power? Ensemble cohesion? Finding a discovery?” asked Davis.The nominations will be unveiled Thursday at 5:30am (1330 GMT) in Los Angeles, with the 98th Oscars ceremony to follow on March 15.