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The reality behind Trump's Greenland 'deal'
European governments and their diplomats here in Washington are as relieved as they are exasperated by this extraordinary Greenland show and latest act which played out in the Swiss Alps over the past 24 hours.

There is no "framework of a deal". Not yet.

Donald Trump may claim there is, but that's only because he needed a way to back down from his threats when he realised that he wasn't going to be able to own Greenland.

Trump to roll out 'Board of Peace' at Davos - live updates

"Is this just Trump's off-ramp? No actual framework of a deal yet?" I asked one diplomat at the heart of it all.

The response: "Exactly."

Through the "Trump whisperer", NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, the Danish and Greenlander positions have essentially been reiterated to the American president.

During a face-to-face meeting in Davos, pre-existing commitments in the 1951 US-Denmark treaty were reemphasised and European nations re-committed to increase their own defence of Greenland.

When they did precisely this last week, by literally sending senior military officials to Greenland, Trump interpreted it as a provocation against him and issued the tariff threat.

"I'm so bored of this now…" one European ambassador told me over the weekend, such is the level of weariness over the American president's antics.

Read more from Sky News:
This crisis is far from over for NATO

A trio of U-turns

The day in Davos was dizzying even by Trump's standards.

He first U-turned on the implicit threat of military action, then he U-turned on the tariff threat, and then he U-turned on the insistence that he take sovereignty of Greenland. All in the space of a day.

The penny had dropped in his head, it seems. He realised his Greenland ownership plans were more than just unpopular at home (among his own side too). They were seen as self-defeating, undeliverable and frankly mad.

He arrived in Davos to a wave of opposition. For once, Europe was united and firm. It can be incredibly effective when it's both of those things together.

Of course, Team Trump will spin this as another blinding example of the president's "art of the deal" playing out; like they achieved something.

But be in no doubt, that's nonsense. It's half show, half ineptitude, which is deeply damaging to the trans-Atlantic partnership. America under Trump is less reliable by the day. And the damage is lasting.

Where are we now - and what next?

On Greenland, we are now back at the position we were in last week when the Danish and Greenland foreign ministers met Trump's team. They agreed then to form a "working group" to seek a middle ground which addressed Trump's security concerns while not handing over Greenland's sovereignty.

All that Trump really did today was to agree on the American participants in that working group.

So where next? Both sides will look for a middle ground that doesn't hand over Greenland to America. There is plenty of space for ideas and creative thinking - there always was if only the American president was willing to listen.

It's likely that the middle ground will involve some sort of arrangement similar to the UK military bases in Cyprus. New US military bases would be established in uninhabited parts of Greenland on a lease or sale deal. They would become American territory, but sovereignty of Greenland would remain unchanged.


£20,000 reward offered to catch 'Beast of Birkenhead'
It's a brutal crime that's haunted the streets of Merseyside for decades. 

In 1986, Diane Sindall, 21, was raped and murdered by a killer dubbed the "Beast of Birkenhead".

The florist had just finished working a late shift at a pub. It was a part-time job that she had only taken on to make some money ahead of her upcoming wedding.

But on her way home, Diane's blue Fiat minivan ran out of petrol. She got out and started to walk.

Then, she was raped and savagely beaten to death. Her body was found in an alleyway the next day.

For decades, investigators from Merseyside Police thought they had caught her killer: a local man called Peter Sullivan, then aged 30.

Mr Sullivan had always maintained his innocence.

But last year, Mr Sullivan, now 68, was released after new tests showed his DNA was not present in semen samples collected at the scene.

By the point that his conviction was overturned, Mr Sullivan had spent 38 years in prison.

It is the longest miscarriage of justice in UK history.

Why there's renewed hope of a breakthrough

Now, Merseyside Police are searching once more for the person who killed Diane and working with Crimestoppers to offer a £20,000 reward for any information that would lead to an arrest and conviction.

"Back in 1986, a sample was recovered from Diane at the crime scene," explains Detective Superintendent Rachel Wilson from Merseyside Police.

"Now we've got the benefit of the enhancements in the DNA work, and we've identified a profile of a man from that sample."

DSI Wilson says this has become the "key line of inquiry" for the force.

"We need to identify who this DNA profile belongs to," she says.

Read more from Sky News:
Officer cleared of killing woman
Five charged with murder after petrol station crash

Of course, after nearly 40 years, police admit Diane's killer may be dead.

But officers say they remain "optimistic" they can identify her killer and bring justice for Diane's family after so many years.


Huge rise in UK adults using ADHD medication
The use of medication to treat Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has risen sharply in the UK, largely due to growing prescription rates among adults - particularly women.

New research shows the proportion of people taking ADHD drugs has tripled over the past decade, increasing from 0.12% in 2010 to 0.39% in 2023.

The increase was most striking among people over 25, rising from just 0.01% in 2010 to around 0.2% in 2023.

Academics from the University of Oxford said this amounts to more than a 20-fold increase among women and a 15-fold rise among men in this age group.

Researchers analysed ADHD prescription rates in Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK - using data from nearly 200,000 people, including more than 31,000 in the UK.

The authors wrote in The Lancet journal: "We observed a dramatic rise in ADHD medication use among adults, especially among females.

"Among adults aged over 18, there was a two to 15-fold increase in prevalence of use during the study period, with the most pronounced increases observed in females, especially in the UK.

"The increase in both prevalence and incidence use among adults reflects the increased awareness of adult ADHD, especially among females."

Read more from Sky News:
Why are more adults being diagnosed with ADHD?
Soaring demand for mental health, ADHD to be reviewed

The authors also found that in the UK and Spain, over 70% of people over 25 had previously used antidepressants.

The researchers said the UK recorded the largest relative rise among the countries examined, with growth also seen among children aged three to 11 and teenagers.

Methylphenidate - sold under brand names including Ritalin, Concerta, Delmosart, Equasym and Medikinet - was the most widely prescribed ADHD medication across all five countries.

The researchers also highlighted a worldwide shortage of ADHD meds since September 2023, noting that better insight into prescribing trends could help forecast demand, enable faster responses, and reduce the risk of shortages.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said last December he had commissioned an independent review into the growing demand for mental health, ADHD and autism services, which will examine diagnosis rates and the support available to patients.


'This is no way to live': The fightback group in 'water limbo'
Water fights are supposed to be fun - but the anger, indignation, and exasperation in Tunbridge Wells mean this one will be feisty.

"They have left us in water limbo," organiser Jonathan Hawker told a packed bar of over 100 residents on Wednesday night.

"And that's no way to live in 2026."

It was the first big public meeting led by Dry Wells Action - a newly established community fightback group.

They've had over three years of disrupted water supplies in Kent and East Sussex that have come to a head this winter.

Although most people are now reconnected, lengthy outages in December and January mean residents fear further water cuts are just inevitable.

They did invite South East Water (SEW) to come along, but they failed to send anyone.

"Their communications are just tragic," one businessman noted, "but you all know that!"

"It's very disappointing SEW didn't send a representative here to speak to the community - that's the least they could have done," Syed Ahmed said.

Mr Ahmed is a consultant hip surgeon who told the meeting he'd had to cancel NHS clinics because his children's schools had to close with hardly any notice.

"I've had to choose between managing my kids and clinical services - and I have had to cancel clinics. The impact is absolutely horrendous.

"It's impacted people who are suffering in pain - who have had appointments rescheduled or surgeries rescheduled - I'm hoping it hasn't cost lives - but we will find out soon."

Read more from Sky News
Huge rise in UK adults using ADHD medication

Doula warning issued after baby's death

People want answers, transparency, and accountability - again they called for the chief executive of SEW to resign.

The last they heard from under-fire boss David Hinton, who has a basic annual salary of £400,000, was when he was obliged to appear before MPs earlier this month.

Much to the irritation of his customers, he rated his company's performance 8/10 for incident response and 6/10 for communications.

'COVID vibes'

At Skinner's Academy in Tunbridge Wells the principal, Hannah Knowles, told Sky News her rating would be zero "or in minus numbers".

She has spent £6,000 to bring several blocks of portable toilets onto the school site so they can assure students that their mock exams will go ahead this week.

While we were filming, messages came through of another potential water cut. Ms Knowles quickly went to check the taps in one part of the school.

"This is just what I do now - check the water," she said.

"There are COVID vibes around needing to adapt quickly and being resilient."

Ms Knowles estimates the total cost in contingency measures and lost measures is £20,000.

"If SEW have got the audacity to not provide us that money back they are literally taking money from young people," she said.

'We haven't been given a solution'

Compensation has been promised to residential customers, but she is expecting SEW to make it difficult for her.

Year 13 student Doris Waugh told Sky News: "They are treating us a little bit like idiots, they will throw technical language in our faces and tell us about the problems, but we haven't been given a single solution."

It's deeper than frustration; this kind of water pressure has created a drumbeat for change in this affluent corner of Kent.

'It's going to get worse'

One of the founder members of the Dry Wells campaign group, Jo Dobson, told Sky News: "It is going to get worse, it is not just investing in the infrastructure, it needs a complete overhaul.

"I do think if we can effect the first change here in Kent and Tunbridge Wells the rest of the country can follow suit."

While the government has outlined plans for a new regulator and tougher checks on water companies, the calls for more radical change, including taking water companies back into public ownership, are growing louder - not least in and around Tunbridge Wells.

Sky News has approached SEW for an interview.


Prince Harry becomes emotional after day of dramatic evidence against Mail publisher
Prince Harry became emotional as he finished an intense day of evidence against the publisher of the Daily Mail - telling the High Court his wife Meghan's life had been made an "absolute misery".

The Duke of Sussex spent about two hours being cross-examined by Associated Newspapers Limited's lawyer, at times appearing visibly frustrated with the line of questioning.

He told the court the idea that he has no right to privacy is "disgusting" and it was "fundamentally wrong to put us through this again when all we wanted was an apology and accountability".

Harry, 41, has brought legal action against Associated Newspapers (ANL) over alleged unlawful information gathering between 1993 and 2011, alongside fellow claimants Baroness Doreen Lawrence, politician Sir Simon Hughes, actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley, and Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish.

ANL strongly denies the claims and also says they have been brought too late.

After two days of opening statements from the lawyers for both parties, Harry became the first witness to give evidence on Wednesday.

He told the court: "I have never believed that my life is open season to be commercialised by these people."

It was right at the end of his evidence, as he mentioned Meghan, that he became emotional.

"They continue to come after me, they have made my wife's life an absolute misery, my Lord," he said, his voice faltering.

The Duchess of Sussex sued ANL and won in 2021 after The Mail on Sunday published parts of a "personal and private" letter to her father, Thomas Markle.

In Harry's written witness statement, which was released on Tuesday, he told of the "uneasy relationship" he had had with the press ever since the death of his mother, Diana, when he was just 12 years old.

He said that when his relationship with Meghan became public in 2016, he started to become "increasingly troubled by the approach of not taking action against the press" in the wake of "vicious, persistent attacks on, harassment of and intrusive, sometimes racist articles".

Harry is relying on 14 articles in his case against ANL.

During his exchanges in court with Anthony White, the lawyer representing ANL, it was clear Harry was frustrated with some of the points being made and told the court he wanted to get his point across.

A couple of times during the hearing, Judge Nicklin politely reminded the duke he did not "have to bear the burden of arguing the case today", but simply had to answer questions put to him; however, Harry told him he had had a "bad experience" previously.

During his questioning, he denied having "leaky" social circles and said his life had been "commercialised" since he was a teenager, with the press"delving into every aspect of my private life".

Read more:
The latest updates from court
Analysis: Harry's biggest case against the press

He also told the court he could not have complained about what he felt was press intrusion when he was an active member of the Royal Family, due to the "institution" he was in, and also because there were "thousands" of articles written about him.

"If you complain, they double down on you, in my experience," he said.

In a statement shared after the hearing, Prince Harry said: "Today we reminded the Mail Group who is on trial and why."

In court on Tuesday, Mr White described the case as "threadbare" and said that journalists would show how they sourced articles legitimately.

In written submissions, the lawyer said the publisher "strongly denies" that there was any unlawful information gathering, including voicemail interception, directed at the duke.

The trial continues - with Hurley expected to give evidence tomorrow.


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