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

Trump on Wednesday abruptly scrapped the tariffs he had threatened to impose on eight European nations to press for U.S. control over Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark. It was a dramatic reversal hours after he insisted he wanted to get the island “including right, title and ownership” — though he also said he would not use force.

He said “additional discussions” on Greenland were being held concerning the Golden Dome missile defense program, a multilayered, $175 billion system that for the first time will put U.S. weapons in space. Trump offered few details, saying they were still being worked out.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement Thursday that security in the Arctic is a matter for all of NATO, and it is “good and natural” that it be discussed between the U.S. president and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. She said that she had spoken with Rutte “on an ongoing basis,” including before and after he met Trump in Davos.

She wrote that NATO is fully aware of the kingdom of Denmark's position that anything political can be negotiated on, including security, investment and economic issues — “but we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty.”

Trump is rolling out his Board of Peace at Davos at a time when US leadership is being questioned

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — President Donald Trump wants to spotlight his proposed “ Board of Peace ” at the World Economic Forum on Thursday, looking to create momentum for a project that has been overshadowed this week first by his threats to seize Greenland, and then by a dramatic retreat from that push.

The new board was initially envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the Gaza ceasefire, but has morphed into something far more ambitious — and skepticism about its membership and mandate has led some traditional U.S. allies to so far take a pass.

Trump expressed confidence in his idea ahead of what the White House said would be a “charter announcement" on the sidelines of the forum in the Swiss alps, featuring opening remarks by Trump and a collection of administration officials and leaders from various countries.

“We have a lot of great people that want to join,” Trump said with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi by his side during a Wednesday meeting. Egypt is among the countries that has announced it will join the board. Trump added, “It’s going to be the most prestigious board ever formed.”

Attending are Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’ son-in-law and a key overseas negotiator for his administration on several fronts.

Trump's European threats could make it harder for future US leaders to repair ties

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barely a month into his presidency, Joe Biden had a message for Europe.

“America is back,” Biden told the Munich Security Conference in 2021. “The transatlantic alliance is back.”

It was a promise Biden delivered often as he sought to cast the disruptions of his predecessor, Donald Trump, as an anomaly. But nearly five years later, Biden's assurances have proven short-lived.

In his second term, Trump has cast aside alliances forged over seven decades with Europe that helped lead to the reunification of Germany and the collapse of the Soviet Union. He has hectored leaders, making demands and leveling accusations more commonly associated with enemies. In the process, he has rocked the stability that has sustained the relationships and left countries to chart a course without U.S. leadership.

The most stark example of this shift has been Trump's threat to take over Greenland, dismissing the nation as a large “piece of ice” as he demanded that Denmark cede control to the U.S., a move that could have caused NATO to rupture.

What to know about two fatal train crashes in Spain

MADRID (AP) — Two fatal train crashes in two days have rocked Spain and the tragedies have led to questions about safety on the country's railway system.

The first crash involved a high-speed train in southern Spain that derailed on Sunday evening, colliding with another fast train, killing at least 43 people and injuring more than 150.

The crash was the deadliest in Spain since a 2013 crash that killed 80 people when a commuter train in the northern region of Galicia hurtled off the rails as it came around a bend going too fast.

On Tuesday night, another train crash happened in northeastern Spain on a commuter line near Barcelona. One person was killed.

Here's what to know about the two crashes.

Israeli fire strikes journalists and children on one of Gaza's deadliest days since ceasefire

CAIRO (AP) — Israeli forces on Wednesday killed at least 11 Palestinians in Gaza, including two 13-year-old boys, three journalists and a woman, hospitals said, on one of the war-battered enclave 's deadliest days since the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect in October.

The United States is trying to push the deal forward and implement its challenging second phase.

Among the dead were three Palestinian journalists who were killed while filming near a displacement camp in central Gaza, a camp official said. Israel's military said it had spotted suspects who were operating a drone that posed a threat to its troops.

The two boys were killed in separate incidents. In one, a 13-year-old, his father and a 22-year old man were hit by Israeli drones on the eastern side of the Bureij refugee camp, according to officials from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah, which received the bodies.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the three had crossed into Israeli-controlled areas.

Millions of Americans brace for potentially catastrophic ice storm. What to know, by the numbers

ATLANTA (AP) — Millions of Americans from New Mexico to the Carolinas are bracing for a potentially catastrophic ice storm that could crush trees and power lines and knock out power for days, while many northern states all the way to New England could see enough snow to make travel nearly impossible, forecasters say.

An estimated 100 million people were under some type of winter weather watch, warning or advisory on Wednesday ahead of the storm, the National Weather Service said.

The storm, expected to begin Friday and continue through the weekend, is also projected to bring heavy snow and all types of wintry precipitation, including freezing rain and sleet. An atmospheric river of moisture could be in place by the weekend, pulling precipitation across Texas and other states along the Gulf Coast and continuing across Georgia and the Carolinas, forecasters said.

Here's a look at the approaching storm and how people are preparing for it, by the numbers:

The number of snowplows owned by the city of Jackson, Mississippi, where a mix of ice and sleet is possible this weekend. The city uses other heavy machinery like skid steers and small excavators to clear roads, said James Caldwell, deputy director of public works. Jackson also has three trucks that carry salt and sand to spread across roads before freezing weather.

Immigration enforcement arrives in Maine as a court freezes restrictions on tactics in Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Maine became the latest target of the Trump administration's immigration enforcement crackdown, while a federal appeals court on Wednesday suspended a decision that prohibited federal officers from using tear gas or pepper spray against peaceful protesters in Minnesota.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was persuaded to freeze a judge’s ruling that bars retaliation against the public in Minnesota, including detaining people who follow agents in cars, while the government pursues an appeal. Operation Metro Surge, an immigration enforcement operation in the Twin Cities, has been underway for weeks.

Attorney General Pam Bondi praised the appeals court on X, saying the Justice Department "will protect federal law enforcement agents from criminals in the streets AND activist judges in the courtroom.”

After the stay was issued, Greg Bovino of U.S. Border Patrol, who has commanded the administration’s big-city immigration campaign, was seen on video repeatedly warning protesters on a snowy Minneapolis street “Gas is coming!” before tossing a canister into the crowd that released green smoke.

Minnesota is a major focus of immigration sweeps by agencies under the Department of Homeland Security and is where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer on Jan. 7. State and local officials who oppose the campaign were served with federal grand jury subpoenas Tuesday for records that might suggest they were trying to stifle enforcement.

Autopsy finds Cuban immigrant in ICE custody died of homicide due to asphyxia

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Cuban migrant held in solitary confinement at an immigration detention facility in Texas died after guards held him down and he stopped breathing, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday that ruled the death a homicide.

Geraldo Lunas Campos died Jan. 3 following an altercation with guards. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the 55-year-old father of four was attempting suicide and the staff tried to save him.

But a witness told The Associated Press last week that Lunas Campos was handcuffed as at least five guards held him down and one put an arm around his neck and squeezed until he was unconscious.

His death was one of at least three reported in little more than a month at Camp East Montana, a sprawling tent facility in the desert on the grounds of Fort Bliss, an Army base.

The autopsy report by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office found Lunas Campos' body showed signs of a struggle, including abrasions on his chest and knees. He also had hemorrhages on his neck. The deputy medical examiner, Dr. Adam Gonzalez. determined the cause of death was asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.

Gunman at large in Australia after leaving 3 dead and 1 wounded

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A gunman was at large after a shooting in a town in Australia's New South Wales state on Thursday left three people dead and another wounded, police said.

Emergency services were called to two locations at Lake Cargelligo, a town of around 1,500 people, after 4 p.m. Two couples, a man and woman, had been shot in each location within minutes, Police Assistant Commissioner Andy Holland said.

Both women and a man died. Another man was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition, he said.

Police knew the identity of a suspect, but did not know his relationship with the victims, who were all Lake Cargelligo locals, Holland said. The suspect's name has not been released.

State police were working to locate the suspect and had sent resources from neighboring districts to the town, including heavily armed tactical police, Holland said. The town had been cordoned off to prevent the suspect's escape.

Former Uvalde officer acquitted in trial over police response to Robb Elementary attack

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — A former Uvalde schools police officer was acquitted Wednesday of charges that he failed in his duties to confront the gunman at Robb Elementary during the critical first minutes of one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history.

Jurors deliberated for more than seven hours before finding Adrian Gonzales, 52, not guilty in the first trial over the hesitant law enforcement response to the 2022 attack, in which a teenage gunman killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers. Had he been convicted, he faced up two years in prison on more than two dozen charges of child abandonment and endangerment.

Gonzales appeared to fight back tears and hugged his lawyers after the verdict was read in a courtroom in Corpus Christi, hundreds of miles from Uvalde, where his legal team said a fair trial would not have been possible.

“Thank you for the jury for considering all the evidence,” Gonzales told reporters. Asked if he wanted to say anything to the families, he declined.

Several family members of the victims sat in silence in the courtroom, some crying or wiping away tears.