Pompeo Praises Denmark After Trump Cancels Visit
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised ally Denmark amid an argument about Greenland. After President Trump canceled a visit to Denmark, Pompeo called Danish Prime Minister Jeppe Kofod, expressing their appreciation for cooperation. As a response, Kofod welcomed the response. This all comes after Trump called Kofod “nasty” concerning Trump’s idea of buying Greenland.
“The secretary expressed appreciation for Denmark’s co-operation as one of the United States’ allies and Denmark’s contributions to address shared global security priorities,” spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement. “The secretary and Foreign Minister Kofod also discussed strengthening co-operation with the Kingdom of Denmark – including Greenland – in the Arctic.”
“Too Late For Brexit Deal,” Says Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron told new British PM Boris Johnson that it is “too late for a Brexit deal“. It is impossible to meet the October 31st deadline, Macron explained. After a day of talks in Germany, German Chancellor Angela Merkel challenged Britain to come up with a set of alternatives. This includes an approved safety net provisions for the Ireland-UK border.
In addition, Macron left the door open for Britain to seek that solution. However, any alternative must respect the integrity of the EU market and retain Irish stability. “I want to be very clear,” Macron said. “In the month ahead, we will not find a new withdrawal agreement that deviates far from the original.”
German City Offers €1M For Proof It Doesn’t Exist
The German city of Bielefield offered a €1M reward to anyone who can prove that it doesn’t exist. The city, which has been around since the 9th century, has 840,000 residents, a university, and a fort. However, a city marketing group is running the competition to disprove a 25-year-old conspiracy theory.
Back in ’94, a student at Bielefield’s university jokingly posted “Bielefeld? There’s no such thing,” on a message board named Usenet. Subsequently, the joke took off in Germany, fueled by the oncoming internet boom. Currently, Germans have until September 5th to submit evidence, but the city believes it can refute 99.99% of all evidence.
Russian Academics Accuse Kremlin Of Repression
Nearly 550 Russian academics accused the Kremlin on Thursday of repression against activists. Some of these have staged some of Russia’s biggest anti-government protests in years. In an open letter to the Kremlin, they demand that criminal cases brought up against the activists be dropped. They also claim that their protests were peaceful, and accused the authorities of attempting to intimidate them.
“We demand that the people who are running the state apparatus stop this legal arbitrariness, end the political repression and start strictly following the norms of the constitution,” the academics wrote in the letter, published online by the Troitsky science newspaper.
Polish Lightning Strike Kills Several
A lightning strike in Poland killed several and injured many more on Thursday. The lightning strike reportedly hit a group of tourists at the peak of Geiwont. In addition, reports say a child was among the victims. “There were a few deaths in different parts of the Tatra mountains,” mountain rescue service chief Jan Krzysztof told reporters.
