The US says it will reopen its consulate in Greenland for the first time in decades – just days after
Denmark’s refusal to sell the region sparked a presidential tantrum. Donald Trump angrily pulled out of a
state visit to Denmark and dubbed prime minister Mette Frederiksen “nasty” for telling him that his wish to
buy Greenland was “absurd”.
But the State Department now says it wants to re-establish a consulate in Nuuk, the capital of the semi-
autonomous region. The US opened a consulate in Greenland in 1940 in response to the Nazi occupation of
Denmark but it was closed in 1953. In a letter sent to Congress the State Department says that the US has a
“strategic interest in enhancing political, economic and commercial relationships across the Arctic region”.
First rocket commanded by Russian humanoid robot fails to dock at ISS
The first Russian spacecraft to be commanded by a humanoid robot failed to dock at the International Space
Station (ISS), Russian news agencies reported. The Fedor (final experimental demonstration object
research) robot was on board a Soyuz spacecraft on a planned two-week mission to support the ISS crew
and test its skills.
The rocket was due to arrive in the early hours of yesterday morning, but was forced to abort due to a failure
with the automatic docking system, Nasa TV reportedly said. The spacecraft is currently 96m away from the
station and officials plan to attempt docking again tomorrow morning according to Russia’s flight control
centre.
The Skybot F-850 is the first humanoid robot sent to space by Russia and is the first robot to take a human
pilot’s place in a Soyuz spacecraft.
Good Morning America host apologises for mocking Prince George over ballet lessons
An American TV presenter has apologised after she was accused of making sexist comments about Prince
George’s love of ballet. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s eldest child will take lessons next year at St
Thomas’s school in Battersea. After a segment about the plans on ABC News Good Morning America, host
Lara Spencer said: “The future king of England will be putting down the Play-Doh to take on religious
studies, computer programming, poetry and ballet among other things.”
Muffling a laugh, she added: “Prince William says George absolutely loves ballet, I have news for you Prince
William – we’ll see how long that lasts.” After footage of his comments went viral, she was accused of both
bullying and sexism. Spencer has now apologised on Instagram.
Alongside a photograph of a lavender field, she wrote: “My sincere apologies for an insensitive comment I
made in pop news yesterday. From ballet to anything one wants to explore in life, I say GO FOR IT. I fully
believe we should all be free to pursue our passions. Go climb your mountain and love every minute of it.”
Teenager may have infected Disneyland tourists with measles
Disneyland visitors may have been exposed to measles after a teenager visited the theme park while she had
the disease, public health officials have warned. A New Zealand girl travelled to the tourist spot and other
popular southern California destinations last week despite being sick with the highly-infectious disease.
Health officials in Los Angeles and Orange counties issued a warning on Friday that people may have been
infected if they were at Disneyland or the Disney California Adventure Park on 12 August. No cases have
been reported yet, according to the California Department of Public Health, but local health agencies have
warned it can take up to 21 days for symptoms to appear. “Measles is spread by air and by direct contact