By Mostafa Salem, Becky Anderson, CNN

(CNN) — Before the Iran war, US President Donald Trump’s Gulf Arab allies lobbied hard against strikes, fearing the attacks Tehran is now unleashing on them. As the war drags on, they fear a quick exit could leave them worse off than before it began.

Over the past week, as momentum toward negotiations to end the war has grown, Gulf Arab officials have stated openly that Iran’s military capabilities, used to punish them for the US and Israel’s actions, cannot remain intact in any future regional order. While the perceived nuclear threat still looms, they see Iran’s missiles as a more urgent risk.

Saudi Arabia wants Tehran’s cruise and ballistic missile capabilities degraded “as much as possible,” before the war ends, a regional official familiar with the Saudi position told CNN, while the United Arab Emirates believes it would be “difficult” for the region to continue to live with an Iranian missile and drone program, according to same official..

The message from the Iran war “has become very clear,” Anwar Gargash, adviser to the UAE president, said last week.

“Our thinking does not stop at a ceasefire, but rather turns toward solutions that ensure lasting security” in the Gulf, he said, including addressing Iran’s “nuclear threat, missiles, drones, and the bullying of the straits.”

“It is inconceivable that this aggression should turn into a permanent state of threat,” he added in a post on X Sunday.

US officials say they are seeking similar objectives.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this month the goal is to “destroy Iranian offensive missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure.”

Rewriting Regional Security

Iranian officials have said that the majority of their firepower has been used against neighboring Arab states, which has baffled regional leaders who insist they played no role in the war and actively lobbied against it. As the war progressed, Tehran accused several Gulf Arab states of allowing the US to use their territories to launch attacks onto the Islamic Republic.

Iran’s demands have also changed throughout the war, with Iranian officials saying they demand a new status quo in the region which includes formalizing Tehran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, war reparations and a shift in the decades-old alliances between Gulf Arab states and the US. It has also threatened to expand its attacks against its Arab neighbors.

The New York Times on Tuesday cited American officials saying Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been pushing Trump to continue the war against Iran, arguing that it presents a “historic opportunity” to remake the Middle East.

The public messaging from Saudi Arabia however remains focused on de-escalation.

A senior Saudi official told CNN that Riyadh “remains supportive” of a peaceful resolution to this conflict, as it has before the war began.

“Our primary concern today is to defend ourselves from the daily attacks on our people and our civilian infrastructure,” the official said. “We remain in close contact with the Trump administration, and our commitment remains unchanged.”

Qatar, whose LNG production has come to a complete halt because of Iran’s attacks, has also insisted that any solution to the war must take into consideration the interests of the Arab neighbors that Iran has struck.

“There has to be a role from our countries in rewriting the regional security system in line with our strategic interests,” Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari told a briefing Tuesday.

By Kara Scannell, CNN

(CNN) — Nicolas Maduro, the former president of Venezuela, will to try to convince a federal judge on Thursday that the US government is interfering with his ability to defend against narco-terrorism related charges and the case should be dismissed.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein initially set the hearing to give lawyers for Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores de Maduro time to review evidence and sketch out a schedule for legal motions and potentially set a trial date.

In a twist in the already unusual case, Maduro’s attorney, Barry Pollack, said last month he will need to withdraw, if the US doesn’t allow the government of Venezuela to pay his legal fees.

Maduro and his wife were captured from their presidential compound in Caracas in early January in a stunning overnight US military and law enforcement operation and brought to New York to face charges.

Pollack said the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control granted and then revoked a license permitting the Venezuelan government to pay his legal fees. The Maduros and Venezuelan government are both sanctioned by the US so anybody seeking payment needs to obtain a license to avoid violating US sanctions laws.

The reversal, he said, violates Maduro’s constitutional right to defend against the charges. Flores de Maduro’s lawyer joined the motion. If the judge doesn’t dismiss the case, they are asking for a hearing to explore the government’s decisionmaking.

Prosecutors said the initial license from OFAC was an “administrative error” and they are still permitting the Maduros to access their personal funds in Venezuela to cover their legal expenses.

“OFAC, however, has denied the defendants’ request for an additional exception: to allow them to pay their legal fees from a slush fund controlled by a sanctioned government. That is because OFAC regulations expressly prohibit using a sanctioned entity’s funds to pay a separate sanctioned person’s attorneys’ fees,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing opposing the indictment’s dismissal.

Lawyers say Maduro has an uphill battle.

“Because he is not recognized as the leader of Venezuela and the whole sanctions regime is meant to cut him off, it’s unlikely that the court is going to feel that he’s entitled to any of the money to help fund his criminal defense,” said Duncan Levin, a former prosecutor who specializes in sanctions law.

Maduro would not be left without any representation. Under US law, he is entitled to a court-appointed attorney.

The Maduros have pleaded not guilty to gun and cocaine importation conspiracy charges that prosecutors allege span more than 25 years, and are being held in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

Pollack has already signaled that he will challenge the legality of Maduro’s arrest and argue he is immune from prosecution because the alleged illegal conduct occurred while he was president.

Maduro was first elected president of Venezuela in 2013. But the US government, along with dozens of other countries, has not recognized Maduro as the legitimate leader of Venezuela since the 2018 presidential election. This year, following Maduro’s ouster, the US State Department recognized Delcy Rodríguez as Venezuela’s head of state.

In early January, US forces descended on the presidential compound, engaged in an intense firefight with Venezuelan air defenses, and captured Maduro and his wife from their heavily fortified home.

Lawyers say while the capture and arrest of Maduro was extraordinary, US law is well established.

“Under the US Constitution, it’s the president who gets to determin

By Emile Nuh, CNN

(CNN) — Denmark’s national soccer team takes on North Macedonia in Copenhagen on Thursday, aiming to move within one game of qualification for this summer’s FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

But given the US’ status as a co-host and American President Donald Trump throwing the idea of an annexation of Greenland back into the global geopolitical discourse as recently as January, it won’t just be six million Danes watching.

Over 2,000 miles away, the lion’s share of 57,000 Greenlanders will also be watching the game with bated breath, drawn not only by the stakes on the pitch, but by what Denmark’s journey to a US-hosted World Cup represents off it.

“Greenlandic people cheer for Denmark,” Greenland men’s national team captain Patrick Frederiksen told CNN Sports. “In football, handball (and) kind of every sport because we are part of the Danish kingdom, so we are one with Denmark.

“When Denmark is playing, some Greenlandic players are cheering for them because it’s something we’ve grown up with. Some are even excited to see Denmark (potentially) qualify for the World Cup.”

However, like all sports, soccer is an emotional, results-driven business, so fan support sometimes follows the scoreboard. “There’s a funny saying here: When Denmark wins, we win. But if Denmark loses, they lose,” chuckled Knud Olsen Egede, a lifelong Greenland fan.

As well as being a close follower of the Greenlandic soccer team, Egede runs the youth team at Boldklubben af 1967 (B-67). B-67 is the most successful team in Greenlandic soccer history with 16 national titles.

But when it comes to international soccer, he told CNN, “We’ve got no strings attached to them (Denmark) when they lose, but if they win, we are supporting the team.”

Egede’s remarks were said in jest but spoke to a deeper truth: The Greenlandic connection to Denmark is real, yet conditional.

And as has historically been the case between the two, it has not always been voluntary.

Support through gritted teeth

What must be understood is that Greenland is an island out on its own in terms of its aspirations to qualify for a World Cup – let alone even competing in one. At the very moment the island has been fighting for geopolitical recognition, it has faced a similar battle on the global soccer stage.

It was just under a year ago that the Greenlandic Football Association (KAK) saw its application to join Concacaf – the confederation which governs soccer in North and Central America and the Caribbean – unanimously rejected in June 2025.

This led to stern criticism from KAK president Kenneth Kleist. “This is not a victory for football democracy,” he said at the time to The Athletic.

“It does not make football accessible to everyone globally, and it shows that smaller nations are facing extreme difficulties in getting permission to play under their own flag.”

CNN Sports reached out to KAK regarding plans to appeal Concacaf’s decision, to which the national soccer body advised that it did not wish to comment on its international status at this time.

Greenland’s FA is also unable to join UEFA, as the European governing body generally only admits countries recognized by the United Nations. And despite being a self-governing autonomous territory, Greenland is not recognized as a sovereign state by the UN as it is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Thus, as KAK is not a member of Concacaf, UEFA or any other soccer federation, it is unable to play com

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Por Brenda Goodman y Adam Cancryn, CNN

El Gobierno del presidente Donald Trump tenía previsto anunciar esta semana a un nuevo director de los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades de Estados Unidos (CDC, por sus siglas en inglés), pero la Casa Blanca aún no está lista para designar a su candidato para el cargo, según el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos (HHS, por sus siglas en inglés).

El doctor Jay Bhattacharya, quien también dirige los Institutos Nacionales de Salud de Estados Unidos (NIH, por sus siglas en inglés), “seguirá supervisando los CDC al desempeñar las funciones delegables del director”, dijo en un comunicado Andrew Nixon, portavoz del Departamento. Sin embargo, podría dejar de ostentar el título de director interino, que ha tenido desde el mes pasado.

El Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos está buscando nuevos candidatos para dirigir los CDC, al tiempo que continúa evaluando a algunos de los ya considerados, según un funcionario de la agencia.

Una ley federal conocida como Ley de Vacantes limita a 210 días el tiempo que un funcionario interino puede ocupar un cargo que requiere confirmación del Senado. Este jueves se cumplirán 210 días desde que la más reciente directora de los CDC, la doctora Susan Monarez, fue destituida por el secretario del Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

En una reunión general de los CDC este miércoles, Bhattacharya dijo que esperaba “que haya un director permanente designado para mañana, pero si no, no espero que cambie mucho”, según una persona presente en el encuentro.

El HHS confía en que mantener a Bhattacharya en su función, sin el título, es legal y resistirá cualquier impugnación, dijo el funcionario de la agencia.

“El secretario Kennedy y Chris Klomp están trabajando con la Casa Blanca en la búsqueda del director de los CDC mediante la evaluación de candidatos que puedan impulsar el objetivo del Gobierno de Trump de devolver a los CDC a su misión original de combatir enfermedades infecciosas”, dijo Nixon. Klomp, quien fue director de Medicare, fue designado recientemente asesor principal del HHS y encabeza la búsqueda de un nuevo director.

En un testimonio ante el Congreso el otoño pasado, Monarez dijo que fue destituida tras solo 29 días en el cargo por negarse a aprobar sin cuestionamientos cambios en la política de vacunas.

Monarez fue la segunda opción del presidente Trump para dirigir la agencia. La Casa Blanca retiró a su primer candidato, el doctor Dave Weldon, después de que quedara claro que no tenía los votos suficientes para ser confirmado.

Los CDC han atravesado meses de incertidumbre y pérdidas durante el segundo mandato de Trump.

Poco después de que Monarez asumiera el cargo, un atacante motivado por la desconfianza en las vacunas atacó la sede de los CDC en Atlanta, disparando más de 180 veces contra varios edificios y matando al agente de policía del condado de DeKalb, David Rose. Algunos impactos de bala en ventanas y muros del complejo aún no han sido reparados.

Antes del ataque, miles de recortes de personal debilitaron divisiones y departamentos, aunque algunos fueron revertidos tras acciones legales. Páginas web sobre seguridad de las vacunas fueron modificadas sin consultar a científicos de la agencia para sembrar dudas sobre afirmaciones previas de que las vacunas no causan autismo. Designados políticos ocuparon puestos de liderazgo que antes correspondían a personal de carrera.

Kennedy destituyó el año pasado a un panel clave de 17 expertos que asesoran a los CDC en decisiones sobre vacunas, sustituyéndolos por personas de su elección, muc