U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Bill White discusses President Donald Trump's support of NATO, U.S. interest in Greenland and EU regulation. He said "we would love to see Europe's regulation simplified, much more simplified if not eliminated.''

A U.S. envoy underscored the robust relationship between the United States and Belgium, noting their alignment on many issues and Belgium's importance as the headquarters of NATO and the EU capital. The envoy emphasized President Trump's strong support for NATO, citing increased defense spending by member countries and reaffirming the U.S. commitment to the alliance.

The envoy also addressed concerns regarding U.S. positions on Venezuela and Iran, stating that the U.S. is not at war with either country but maintains clear national security priorities. The indictment of Venezuelan leader Maduro was attributed to drug trafficking, and the envoy stressed the importance of due legal process.

U.S. wants EU regulation simplified, Trump envoy says

The relationship with Belgium and the United States is extremely, extremely strong. We are as aligned as I hope and would imagine we could be together. There may be some things we talk about or maybe disagree on, but there's so many more things that we do get along with Belgium on. And because Belgium is the headquarters of NATO, it is the seat of the capital of the EU, there is much policy and discussion in all of these areas. As I always say, President Trump has been the greatest supporter of NATO that NATO has ever seen. This is the strongest alliance that the United States has ever had. That continues strong today. I think President Trump has raised over half a trillion dollars for NATO. So when I hear people say, will America still be with us with NATO? Or there are questions about, literally somebody said to me the other day, can we trust America? Well, it doesn't ring true to me because President Trump is the greatest supporter of NATO and he will continue to do that. He's very proud of the fact that Belgium and these other countries have stepped up to meet their 5% spend. And when there are questions about the Greenland or Venezuela, these questions come in. And I think people are understanding now that President Trump literally is the peacemaker in chief. He has not started any new wars. We are not at war with Venezuela. We are not at war with Iran. But there are certain national security interests of the United States that President Trump has drawn a red line on. And these are important ones for him to keep enforced. You know, Maduro was a horrible dictator to the Venezuelan people, but the issue of his indictment was that he was drug trafficking into the United States. And now he's going to face justice in a court of law, presumed innocent until found guilty, if so. And this is the process that should take place.

Ali Shaath, the Palestinian former government official chosen to administer Gaza under a U.S.-backed deal, has an ambitious plan that includes pushing war debris into the Mediterranean Sea and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure within three years.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

U.S. backs Palestinian civil engineer to administer Gaza

The U.S. has announced the launch of the second phase of President
Donald Trump's peace plan in the Gaza Strip, which will involve moving from a ceasefire to demilitarization.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Gaza deal's second phase to begin

CBS News met with fighters from an armed and outlawed Iranian opposition group in the mountains of northern Iraq who said the protests in Iran have given them hope. They believe the regime can be toppled "if the people who are demonstrating on the street get international help."

Tehran

Iranian opposition group says protests give hope to topple regime

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday a "state of emergency" will be declared in the energy sector, after relentless Russian strikes on heat and electricity supplies during freezing winter temperatures.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Ukraine: Zelensky declares energy emergency after Russian strikes

Military personnel from several NATO countries including Germany, France, Sweden and Norway headed to Greenland on Thursday as Denmark and its allies prepared ⁠for exercises to try to assure US President Donald Trump over its security as he pushes to acquire the island.

Nuuk

Several European countries and NATO allies send troops to Greenland

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI said late on Wednesday it imposed restrictions on all users of its Grok AI chatbot that limit image editing after the service produced sexualized images that sparked concerns among global regulators.

California

Musk's xAI curbs Grok image editing after concerns

Protests in the U.S. city of Minneapolis as another person's been shot by an immigration officer.

Minneapolis

Protest erupts in Minneapolis after ICE agent shoots man during raid

The United States has completed its first sale of Venezuelan oil, generating around $500 million, a US official said Wednesday, the first major energy transaction since Washington’s dramatic intervention in Venezuela earlier this month.

Washington

Venezuela Strikes

United States completes first sale of Venezuelan oil

Denmark says fundamental disagreements remain with the US over the future of Greenland. President Donald Trump has said he wants to take over the territory 'one way or another', arguing anything short of full American control is unacceptable.

Greenland, Denmark say Trump set on ‘conquering’ territory after meet

Republicans in the Senate killed a resolution on Wednesday that would have put limits on President Trump's ability to take action in Venezuela. Vice President JD Vance had to step in to break the 50-50 tie.

Senate Republicans kill war powers effort to limit Trump on Venezuela

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted foreign ministers from Greenland and Denmark as President Donald Trump continues to insist on a U.S. takeover of Greenland.

Vance and Rubio meet with officials from Greenland and Denmark

At least 30 people were killed when a construction crane collapsed onto a moving train in northeastern Thailand, at the site of a planned high-speed rail project intended to eventually link China with much of Southeast Asia.

Sikhio District

At least 30 people killed in Thailand train derailment

Tehran has warned neighbors hosting U.S. troops that it would hit American bases if Washington strikes, a senior Iranian official told Reuters, as Iran seeks to deter Donald Trump's threats to intervene on behalf of protesters.

Iran warns neighbors it could hit U.S. bases if Washington strikes

As Prime Minister Mark Carney heads to China to ease trade tensions, President Donald Trump reiterated that the U.S. doesn’t need Canadian goods or the CUSMA. Carney was also urged by Ontario’s premier to not back down on tariffs for Chinese EVs.

Ottawa

Trump says he doesn’t need Canadian goods or the CUSMA

United States President Donald Trump says he has cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials and has told protesters to “take over your institutions” amid Tehran’s crackdown.

Trump cancels Iran meetings, urges protesters to take on institutions

Around 2,000 people including security personnel have been killed in protests in Iran, an Iranian official said, the first time authorities have acknowledged the high death toll from an intense crackdown on two weeks of nationwide unrest.

Iran official says 2,000 killed in nationwide unrest

Former President Bill Clinton is refusing to appear before the House Oversight Committee to testify as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion has more.

Bill Clinton skips Epstein deposition on Capitol Hill

Former Corsican nationalist leader Alain Orsoni, who also served as the president of soccer club AC Ajaccio, was shot dead in Corsica on January 11 during his mother’s funeral. He was 71. Alain Orsoni was one of the leaders of the Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC) in the 1980s. He later founded and led the Movement for Self-Determination (MPA).

Vero

Ex-Corsican nationalist leader Alain Orsoni killed at mother's funeral

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who needs to have a graft conviction overturned to seize her best chance at the French presidency, risks seeing her life's work upended if she loses her appeal. It comes after a French court last year barred her from running for office for five years over a European Parliament fake-jobs scam involving her and other officials from her National Rally party.

Paris

Marine Le Pen's appeal in EU fund embezzlement case opens in Paris

British regulators are investigating X for lewd AI images generated by Grok, the AI arm of Elon Musk's social platform. Michael Goodyear, an associate professor at New York Law School, joins CBS News with more.

London

UK investigating Musk's X over Grok's AI-generated images

As U.S. President Donald Trump weighs a response to Iran's deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, Iranian leaders say they are still keeping communications open with the Americans. But on January 12, large pro-government rallies took place across Iran, and the U.S. was clearly framed as the enemy and instigator of the protests.

Iranian leaders mobilise supporters as U.S. weighs intervention

Last week an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent shot and killed Renee Good, a Minneapolis mother who was observing a law enforcement action carried out by the agency.

Minnesota

Minnesota sues federal government to prevent further ICE deployment

The demonstrations are the biggest Iran has seen in years. Protests spurred by the Iranian currency collapse have morphed into a larger test of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's rule.

Trump weighs military action against Iran over protest crackdown

President Claudia Sheinbaum has sought to safeguard Mexican sovereignty while cooperating with the US on key issues.

Mexico City

Mexico’s Sheinbaum rejects Trump’s threat of strikes on drug cartels

President Donald Trump said that any country which does business with Iran will face a tariff rate of 25% on trade with the U.S., as Washington weighs a response to the situation in Iran which is seeing its biggest anti-government protests in years.

Trump says nations trading with Iran will face 25% U.S. tariffs

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says his country is ready for war but also for dialogue, after US President Donald Trump said the US is considering ‘very strong options’ in response to Iran’s crackdown on antigovernment protests.

Iran FM Araghchi warns ready for war if U.S. wants to ‘test’ it

Britain will bring into effect a law criminalizing the creation of non-consensual intimate images this week, technology minister Liz Kendall told parliament after regulator Ofcom launched an investigation into Elon Musk's X.

UK investigates Musk's X over Grok sexual deepfakes

Iran's internet was cut off late last Thursday, apparently in an attempt by government authorities to prevent protesters from organizing and uploading videos for the outside world to see.

Iran enforcing nationwide internet blackout amid protests

Malaysia and Indonesia have become the first countries to block Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot developed by Elon Musk's company xAI, amid concerns that it is being misused to generate sexually explicit and nonconsensual images.

Malaysia and Indonesia block Musk’s Grok over sexualized AI images

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has welcomed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is on a two-day visit. Merz is traveling with a large business delegation as Germany seeks to deepen economic and security ties.

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