• US Completes Withdrawal from World Health Organization
  
  The U.S. has finalized its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, one year after President Donald Trump announced America was ending its 78yearold commitment, federal officials said Thursday.But it's hardly a clean break. The U.S. owes more than $130 million to the...
• US Weighs Full Troop Pullout From Syria
  
  The United States is considering a complete withdrawal of American troops from Syria after a weekend offensive by Syrian government forces left the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces near collapse.
• Greenland's PM: Unclear What's in Trump Deal
  
  Greenland's prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said at a press conference Thursday that he wasn't sure what President Donald Trump meant when he said a deal had been agreed to over his island.
• Report: US, China Approve TikTok Ownership Deal
  
  The U.S. and China have signed off on a deal for TikTok to be acquired by a group of investors led by tech giant Oracle and investment firm Silver Lake, reports Semafor.
• Trump: Rutte More Important Than Danes on Greenland
  
  President Donald Trump said Wednesday that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is "more important" than Denmark's foreign minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen when asked about Danish officials' unwillingness to discuss the possible U.S. acquisition of Greenland.
• Venezuela Opens Debate on an Oil Sector Overhaul as Trump Seeks Role for US Firms
  
  Venezuela's legislature opened debate Thursday on a bill to loosen state control over the country's vast oil sector in the first major overhaul since the late socialist leader Hugo Chávez nationalized parts of the industry in 2007.The legislation would create new...
• Elizabeth Hurley Describes 'Monstrous' Privacy Invasion by Daily Mail in British Media Hacking Case
  
  Elizabeth Hurley accused the publisher of the Daily Mail on Thursday of tapping her phones, putting microphones outside her windows and stealing her medical records among "other monstrous, staggering things" during testimony in a celebritystudded privacy invasion lawsuit....
• US Sanctions Costa Rican Drug Network, Including an Aesthetic Salon, for Trafficking Cocaine
  
  The U.S. imposed sanctions on five Costa Ricans and five Costa Rican entities for allegedly helping to transport tons of cocaine from Colombia, storing the drugs in Costa Rica, then shipping them to the U.S. and Europe.The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets...
• Trump Administration to Expand Ban on Foreign Aid for Abortion Providers to Add Groups Promoting DEI
  
  The Trump administration is expanding its ban on U.S. foreign aid for groups supporting abortion services to include assistance going to international and domestic organizations and agencies that promote gender identity as well as diversity, equity and inclusion programs.An...
• Ukraine's Zelenskyy Says His Repeated Warnings to Europe Feel like 'Groundhog Day'
  
  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted his European allies Thursday for what he portrayed as the continent's slow, fragmented and inadequate response to Russia's invasion nearly four years ago and its continued international aggression.Addressing the World Economic...
• Heritage's Roberts Praised Anti-Israel Influencer
  
  Already in hot water for initially backing a controversial interview between Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts finds himself embroiled with another anti-Israel influencer stoking the fires of antisemitism. A newly surfaced video was...
• Guinea-Bissau Suspends Trump-backed Hepatitis B Vaccine Study for Ethical Review
  
  GuineaBissau is suspending a Trump administrationbacked hepatitis B vaccine study on newborns in the West African country, pending an ethical review, the health minister said Thursday.A sixperson ethics committee didn't meet to review the study during the initial...
• Carla Sands to Newsmax: Greenland Talks Could Rebuild Trust Under Trump
  
  Former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands said the people of Greenland have been "shell-shocked" by what she described as sustained messaging from Denmark that has damaged trust with the United States, even as President Donald Trump moves to strengthen U.S. security and...
• Ukraine Anti-Graft Police Target Fmr Border Guard Chief
  
  Ukrainian anti-corruption authorities said on Thursday they were investigating a former border guard chief over bribery allegations, pressing on with a campaign against graft as the fourth anniversary of Russia's 2022 invasion approaches.
• TEPCO Nuclear Reactor in Japan Shuts Down Hours After Restart
  
  A reactor at the world's largest nuclear power plant that restarted for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster is now being shut down again Thursday due to a glitch that occurred hours after the unit's resumption, its operator said.
• Iraq: Will Prosecute Islamic State Detainees From Syria
  
  Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council said on Thursday it would begin legal proceedings against Islamic State detainees transferred from Syria after the rapid collapse of Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria triggered concerns over prison security.
• Train Collides With Crane Arm in Spain's 4th Rail Accident in a Week
  
  A commuter train collided with a crane arm that swung into its path in southeastern Spain on Thursday, the transport minister said, in the country's fourth rail accident in less than a week.
• Trump: Greenland Agreement Still Being Negotiated
  
  President Donald Trump said the details of a U.S. agreement over Greenland were still being worked out on Thursday, speaking one day after he stepped back from a tariff threat and ruled out the use of force to seize the Danish territory.
• France's Navy Intercepts an Oil Tanker in the Mediterranean Sailing from Russia
  
  France's Navy, working with intelligence provided by the United Kingdom, on Thursday intercepted an oil tanker in the Mediterranean Sea that traveled from Russia, in a mission targeting the sanctioned Russian shadow fleet, officials said.French maritime authorities for the...
• Venezuelan Opposition Leader Son-in-law Released after 380 Days in Detention
  
  Rafael Tudares Bracho, the soninlaw of Venezuelan opposition figure Edmundo González, was released on Thursday after being held incommunicado for more than a year, said his wife, Mariana González, daughter of the former presidential candidate.The release comes just two...
• Zelenskyy Says He Had 'Productive' Meeting With Trump
  
  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed progress on peace talks and air defense supplies at a "productive" meeting with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in Davos on Thursday.
• Putin Offers Frozen Russian Assets in US to Peace Board to Aid Palestinians
  
  Russian President Vladimir Putin told Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday that Russia is ready to send $1 billion dollars of Russian assets frozen in the U.S. to President Donald Trump's Board of Peace initiative to support the Palestinian people, state news...
• The Decision to Move IS Prisoners from Syria to Iraq Came at the Request of Baghdad, Officials Say
  
  The decision to move prisoners of the Islamic State group from northeast Syria to detention centers in Iraq came after a request by officials in Baghdad that was welcomed by the U.S.led coalition and the Syrian government, officials said Thursday. American and Iraqi...
• Trump: Zelenskyy Meeting Was Good, War Has to End
  
  President Donald Trump said on Thursday that his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Davos was "very good" and that his message to Russian President Vladimir Putin is that the war in Ukraine has to end. Trump spoke briefly to reporters after...
• Pope Leo Invited to Join Trump's Board of Peace, Cardinal Says
  
  Pope Leo is among world leaders invited to join President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's top diplomatic official, said on Wednesday.

More Global Talk Stories