Trump’s bid to buy Greenland shows that the ‘scramble for the Arctic’ is truly upon us

World powers are racing to exploit the vast untapped resources of the Arctic as global heating opens up a new frontier

Donald Trump’s cack-handed attempt to buy Greenland, and the shirty response of Denmark’s prime minister, provoked amusement last week. But it was mostly nervous laughter. The US intervention shone a cold light on a rapidly developing yet neglected crisis at the top of the world – the pillage of the Arctic.

Like the late 19th-century “scramble for Africa”, when European empires expanded colonial control of the continent’s land mass from 10% to 90% in 40 years, the Arctic region is up for grabs. As was the case then, the race for advantage is nationalistic, dangerously unregulated, and harmful to indigenous peoples and the environment.

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Trump plans to open US consulate in Greenland despite row over offer to buy

  • State details plan to Senate foreign relations committee
  • President cancelled Denmark visit over notion of purchase

The Trump administration is planning to open a US consulate in Greenland for the first time in decades, amid increased strategic and economic interest in the Danish territory.

Related: Sorry, Mr Trump – Greenland’s no go. But can I interest you in our little island? | Jack Bernhardt

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Did Trump cancel his Denmark visit because Greenland is not for sale? – video report

The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, says she is 'disappointed and surprised' by the US president's decision to cancel his state visit after she dismissed suggestions of selling Greenland as 'absurd'. Here's a look back at what drew the US president to want to make the ‘large real estate deal’ and the strong reaction to his suggestion

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Danish PM reacts to cancelled Trump visit: ‘preparations were in full swing’ – video

The Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, told journalists she was surprised and disappointed to learn that Donald Trump had cancelled his visit to Denmark after she rejected suggestions of selling Greenland to the US. The US president tweeted his decision after Frederiksen dismissed the notion as absurd

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Danish PM ‘surprised and disappointed’ over cancelled Trump visit

US president attacks comments as ‘nasty’ after calling off trip because Greenland not for sale

The Danish prime minister has said she is surprised and disappointed that Donald Trump has called off his planned visit to the country over Copenhagen’s refusal to sell Greenland to the US.

At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Mette Frederiksen reaffirmed that Greenland was not for sale. “A discussion about a potential sale of Greenland has been put forward. It has been rejected by Greenland premier Kim Kielsen, and I fully stand behind that rejection,” she said.

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Greenland highlights Trump’s willingness to offend close US allies

By cancelling his state visit to Denmark, the US president has again showed his thin skin

Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to cancel his state visit to Denmark after it rejected his unsolicited offer to buy Greenland at a knockdown price took most people by surprise, not least his own ambassador.

“Denmark is ready … Partner, ally, friend”, tweeted Carla Sands, the neophyte US envoy to Copenhagen who was previously an actor and chiropractor. Hours later, it was off.

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Trump tweets image of enormous Trump Tower on Greenland

US president pledges ‘not to do this’ but residents of the icy island have hardly warmed to his interest

Donald Trump may still want to purchase Greenland – but the US president has no plans to embellish the island’s coast with a Trump Tower.

On Monday night, Trump tweeted an edited photo of a coastal town dotted with colorful homes – all dwarfed by a golden skyscraper bearing the US president’s name.

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What Greenlanders say about Trump’s interest in their country – video report

Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that he was considering an attempt to buy Greenland. His interest in the largely autonomous Danish territory was met with indignation in both Greenland and Denmark, with the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, echoing the words of her Greenlandic counterpart, Kim Kielsen: ‘Greenland will not be sold.’

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Why does Donald Trump want to buy Greenland?

The US president’s talk of a ‘large real estate deal’ says a lot about his view of the world

Greenland, and more specifically its purchase by the US, is being actively discussed in Donald Trump’s Oval Office. But what exactly is it that makes one of the world’s most desolate places such an attractive proposition?

For the president, it is the real estate deal of a lifetime, one that would secure a land mass a quarter the size of the US and cement his place in US history alongside President Andrew Johnson, who bought Alaska from Russia in 1867, and Thomas Jefferson, who secured Louisiana from the French in 1803.

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Trump confirms he is considering attempt to buy Greenland

  • President says bid would be ‘essentially a real estate deal'
  • Danish semi-autonomous territory has said it is not for sale

Donald Trump has confirmed he is considering an attempt to buy Greenland for strategic reasons, though he said the idea is “not No1 on the burner”.

Related: 'Friends, you're going to love Greenland. I was there on 9/11' | Lawrence Douglas and Nancy Pick

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No thanks, we’re not for sale, aghast Greenland tells Trump

Danish politicians dismiss US president’s apparent interest in island as ‘hopefully a joke’

Donald Trump may have expressed an interest in acquiring Greenland for the US, but Denmark thinks the idea is frankly insane and Greenlanders have pointed out their home is not actually for sale.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the US president has asked his aides and the White House counsel to look into the possibility of buying the world’s largest island, a largely autonomous country of the kingdom of Denmark.

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Donald Trump reportedly wants to purchase Greenland from Denmark

US president has ‘expressed interest’ in the icy territory, according to the Wall Street Journal, but the Danes have yet to weigh in

Donald Trump is fond of bragging about his conspicuous wealth and buying power, plastering his name over buildings and gilding the elevators of Trump Tower. But his latest reported aspiration is on the extravagant side, even for him: to purchase Greenland from Denmark.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the US president has “expressed interest” in buying the expansive icy territory and has asked his aides to explore the possibility. He has even sought the view of the White House counsel, though the Journal noted his inquiries came “with varying degrees of seriousness”.

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Moroccan court orders death penalty for jihadists who beheaded tourists

Three Isis supporters who killed two Scandinavian women given death sentence

Three men have been sentenced to death in Morocco for the Isis-inspired murder of two Scandinavian hikers in the Atlas mountains last December.

The two victims, Louisa Vesterager Jespersen, 24, from Denmark, and Maren Ueland, 28, from Norway, were beheaded by a group of men who wanted to impress Islamic State. The three men confessed to their murder at a court in Salé, near Rabat.

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Mother of Danish student suspected killed by jihadists demands death penalty

Helle Petersen asks trial in Morocco for ‘just’ penalty after murder of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen in Atlas mountains

The mother of a Danish student who was beheaded, along with another Scandinavian woman, while hiking in Morocco’s High Atlas mountains has called for the suspected jihadist killers to face the death penalty as their trial neared its end.

In a letter read out by her lawyer in an anti-terrorist court in Sale, near Morocco’s capital, Rabat, Helle Petersen said: “The most just thing would be to give these beasts the death penalty they deserve, I ask that of you. My life was destroyed the moment that two policemen came to my door on 17 December to announce my daughter’s death.”

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Angela Merkel sits for anthems after latest shaking episode

German chancellor reportedly requests change of protocol after third bout of trembling

Angela Merkel sat through the German and Danish national anthems during a ceremony welcoming Denmark’s prime minister to Berlin. The German chancellor reportedly requested the change in protocol a day after she was seen shaking in public for the third time in as many weeks.

Merkel appeared calm as she and the new Danish leader, Mette Frederiksen, took seats on white upholstered chairs on the red carpet during military honours outside the chancellery in Berlin. The chancellor remained still throughout the hymns, moving only to smile and nod at her visitor.

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Copenhagen police crack down on drunk and stoned scootering

Twenty-eight arrested for riding electric scooters after using alcohol or cannabis

Police in Copenhagen have arrested 28 people for riding electric scooters under the influence of cannabis and alcohol.

During the weekend 24 people were caught riding the scooters drunk and four were stoned, the force announced on Twitter, after police began a crackdown in the Danish capital on misuse of the scooters introduced to the city earlier this year.

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Denmark’s youngest prime minister leads new leftist government

Mette Frederiksen’s Social Democratic party forms minority government

Denmark has became the third Nordic country this year to form a leftist government after the Social Democratic party leader, Mette Frederiksen, finalised terms for a one-party minority government. Aged 41, she becomes the country’s youngest ever prime minister.

“It is with great pleasure I can announce that, after three weeks of negotiations, we have a majority to form a new government,” Frederiksen said on Tuesday.

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‘Hell is coming’: week-long heatwave begins across Europe

Temperatures could hit 40C from Spain to Switzerland, with authorities urging children and older people to stay indoors

Authorities have urged children and older people to stay indoors and issued severe warnings against dehydration and heatstroke as an unprecedented week-long heatwave begins its advance across continental Europe.

Meteorologists said temperatures would reach or even exceed 40C from Spain to Switzerland as hot air was sucked up from the Sahara by the combination of a storm stalling over the Atlantic and high pressure over central Europe.

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Centre-left Social Democrats victorious in Denmark elections

Danes follow Nordic trend away from populism but leader Mette Frederiksen could struggle to form coalition

Voters appear to have returned the third left-leaning government in a year to the Nordic region as Denmark’s Social Democrats claimed victory in parliamentary elections with 25.9% of the vote.

The centre-left party finished clear of the centre-right Liberals of outgoing prime minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who improved on their 2015 score to reach 23.4%, and the populist, far-right Danish People’s party (DPP), which plunged to 8.7% – less than half its tally in the last election.

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Denmark’s centre-left set to win election with anti-immigration shift

Social Democrats expected to return to power this week after backing once far-right policies

Tacking left on welfare and right on immigration looks likely to pay off for Denmark’s Social Democrats, who are widely expected to return to power this week as voters desert the centre-right government and the far right.

A poll this weekend predicted the centre-left party, led by Mette Frederiksen, will be the country’s largest with about 27% of the national vote after the election on Wednesday, while the “red bloc” of left-leaning parties it leads is on course for more than 55%.

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