AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EST

Starmer says a trade war is in no one’s interest after Trump’s Greenland tariff threat

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs against allies over Greenland is “completely wrong” and a trade war is in no one’s interest.

Trump said Saturday that he would charge a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight European nations, including the U.K., because of their opposition to American control of Greenland, setting up a potentially dangerous test of U.S. partnerships in Europe. Greenland is a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark.

The president indicated the tariffs were retaliation for last week’s deployment of symbolic numbers of troops from the European countries to Greenland, which he has said was essential for the “Golden Dome” missile defense system for the U.S. He also has argued that Russia and China might try to take over the island.

Starmer said Britain supports the “fundamental right” of Greenland and Denmark to decide the future of the Arctic island.

Starmer, who has worked to forge a strong relationship with Trump, said the U.K.-U.S. relationship was vital and “we are determined to keep that relationship strong, constructive and focused on results.” But he said that doesn’t mean pretending differences don’t exist.

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Sending soldiers to Minneapolis for immigration crackdown would be unconstitutional, mayor says

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The mayor of Minneapolis said Sunday that sending active duty soldiers into Minnesota to help with an immigration crackdown is a ridiculous and unconstitutional idea as he urged protesters to remain peaceful so the president won’t see a need to send in the U.S. military.

Daily protests have been ongoing throughout January since the Department of Homeland Security ramped up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul by bringing in more than 2,000 federal officers.

Three hotels where protesters have said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were staying in the area stopped taking reservations Sunday.

In a diverse neighborhood where immigration officers have been seen frequently, U.S. postal workers marched through on Sunday, chanting: “Protect our routes. Get ICE out.”

The Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers based in Alaska who specialize in operating in arctic conditions to be ready in case of a possible deployment to Minnesota, two defense officials said Sunday.

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1 dead and 4 wounded in Czech town hall shooting

PRAGUE (AP) — A shooting at a town hall in northern Czech Republic on Monday left one dead and four others wounded, including a police officer, police said.

Police said the suspect was fatally shot and there was no further danger.

The shooting took place at the Chribska town hall, police said.

A motive for the shooting wasn’t immediately clear.

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Death toll in Spanish train collision rises to 39 and authorities fear more bodies could be found

ADAMUZ, Spain (AP) — Spanish police said Monday that at least 39 people are confirmed dead in a high-speed train collision the previous night in the south of the country.

Efforts to recover the bodies are continuing and the death toll is likely to rise. Some bodies were found hundreds of meters from the crash site, Andalusia regional president Juanma Moreno said.

The crash occurred Sunday at 7:45 p.m. when the tail end of a train carrying 289 passengers on the route from Malaga to the capital, Madrid, went off the rails at 7:45 p.m. It slammed into an incoming train traveling from Madrid to Huelva, another southern Spanish city, according to rail operator Adif.

The head of the second train, which was carrying nearly 200 passengers, took the brunt of the impact, Spanish Transport Minister Óscar Puente said. That collision knocked its first two carriages off the track and sent them plummeting down a 4-meter (13-foot) slope. Puente said that it appeared the largest number of the deaths occurred in those carriages.

Authorities said all the survivors had been rescued in the early morning while work remained to recover and identify the dead.

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Hackers target Iran state TV’s satellite transmission to broadcast exiled crown prince

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Hackers disrupted Iranian state television satellite transmissions to air footage supporting the country’s exiled crown prince and calling on security forces to not “point your weapons at the people,” online video showed early Monday, the latest disruption to follow nationwide protests in the country.

The hacking comes as the death toll in a crackdown by authorities that smothered the demonstrations reached at least 3,919 people killed, activists said. They fear the number will grow far higher as information leaks out of a country still gripped by the government’s decision to shut down the internet.

Meanwhile, tensions remain high between the United States and Iran over the crackdown after President Donald Trump drew two red lines for the Islamic Republic — the killing of peaceful protesters and Tehran conducting mass executions in the wake of the demonstrations. A U.S. aircraft carrier, which days earlier had been in the South China Sea, passed Singapore overnight to enter the Strait of Malacca — putting it on a route that could bring it to the Middle East.

The footage aired Sunday night across multiple channels broadcast by satellite from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, the country’s state broadcaster which has a monopoly on television and radio broadcasting. The video aired two clips of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, then included footage of security forces and others in what appeared to be Iranian police uniforms. It claimed without offering evidence others had “laid down their weapons and swore an oath of allegiance to the people.”

“This is a message to the army and security forces,” one graphic read. “Don’t point your weapons at the people. Join the nation for the freedom of Iran.”

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$1 billion gets a permanent seat on Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza, as India and others invited

At least eight more countries say the United States has invited them to join President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, a new body of world leaders meant to oversee next steps in Gaza that shows ambitions for a broader mandate in global affairs. Two of the countries, Hungary and Vietnam, said they have accepted.

A $1 billion contribution secures permanent membership on the Trump-led board instead of a three-year appointment, which has no contribution requirement, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity about the charter, which hasn’t been made public. The official said the money raised would go to rebuilding Gaza.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has accepted an invitation to join the board, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told state radio Sunday. Orbán is one of Trump’s most ardent supporters in Europe.

Vietnam’s Communist Party chief, To Lam, also has accepted, a foreign ministry statement said.

India has received an invitation, a senior government official with knowledge of the matter said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the information hadn’t been made public by authorities.

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US futures sink after Trump warns of higher tariffs for 8 countries over Greenland issue

BANGKOK (AP) — European shares and U.S. stock futures skidded Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to slap a 10% extra tariff on imports from eight European countries because they oppose having America take control of Greenland.

Germany’s DAX lost 1.1% to 25,020.35 and the CAC 40 in Paris shed 1.3% to 8,150.78. Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.3% to 10,206.12.

The future for the S&P 500 fell 0.8%, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.7%.

The European countries targeted by Trump blasted his threat to raise tariffs, saying they “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.” An unusually strong joint statement from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland was the most forceful rebuke from the European allies since Trump returned to the White House almost a year ago.

Trump’s moves are testing the strategic alignment and institutional trust underlying support from Europe, the largest trading partner and provider of financing to the United States, Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

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The current US political climate is spurring a ‘reclaim’ and rallying on the MLK holiday

As communities across the country on Monday host parades, panels and service projects for the 40th federal observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the political climate for some is more fraught with tensions than festive with reflection on the slain Black American civil rights icon’s legacy.

In the year since Donald Trump’s second inauguration fell on King Day, the Republican president has gone scorched earth against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and targeted mostly Black-led cities for federal law enforcement operations, among other policies that many King admirers have criticized.

One year ago, Trump’s executive orders, “Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” and “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” accelerated a rollback of civil rights and racial justice initiatives in federal agencies, corporations and universities. Last month, the National Park Service announced it will no longer offer free admission to parks on King Day and Juneteenth, but instead on Flag Day and Trump’s birthday.

The fatal shooting this month of an unarmed Minneapolis woman in her car by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sent there to target the city’s Somali immigrant population, as well as Trump recently decrying civil rights as discrimination against white people, have only intensified fears of a regression from the social progress King and many others advocated for.

Still, the concerns have not chilled many King holiday events planned this year. Some conservative admirers of King say the holiday should be a reminder of the civil rights icon’s plea that all people be judged by their character and not their skin color. Some Black advocacy groups, however, are vowing a day of resistance and rallies nationwide.

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Syrian government announces a ceasefire with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces

RAQQA, Syria (AP) — The Syrian government Sunday announced a ceasefire with the Syrian Democratic Forces, taking almost full control of the country and dismantling the Kurdish-led forces that controlled the northeast for over a decade.

The announcement comes as tensions between government forces and the SDF boiled over earlier this month, eventually resulting in a major push by government forces toward the east. The SDF appeared to have largely retreated after initial clashes on a tense front line area in eastern Aleppo province.

Hours after the government announced the deal, SDF leader Mazloum Abdi confirmed it in a video statement, saying the group had accepted the agreement, which stipulates their withdrawal from Raqqa and Deir el-Zour provinces “to stop the bloodshed.”

“We will explain the terms of the agreement to our people in the coming days,” he said.

Syria’s Defense Ministry said it ordered the fighting to halt on the front lines after the agreement was announced.

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Small part of Sunshine State becomes Snowy State as Florida gets snow for 2nd year in a row

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — A small part of Florida is the Snowy State for the second year in a row.

Snow briefly covered the grass and rooftops in parts of the western Florida Panhandle on Sunday morning as just enough frigid air rushed in behind a cold front to turn the last rain showers into snowflakes in the Sunshine State.

Elsewhere, the winter weather promised to interfere with playoff football in places — Boston and Chicago — more accustomed to it, although the visiting teams come from warmer climes. And in the upper Midwest, residents braced for blizzard conditions.

The southern snow wasn’t a once-in-a-lifetime thing. Less than a year ago, on Jan. 21, 2025, some of the same areas of Florida that briefly saw frosty lawns received up to 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow in what was the most significant snowfall in many places since the late 1800s.

Snow photos flooded social media. There were a few flakes on the beach and snow nestled into palm fronds. It was too warm to stick to the roads, but a dusting of snow sat on the grass for a little while before mostly melting.