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A green shimmer, like a curtain of light being drawn across the night sky, formed beside the impossibly bright stars above Nuuk late on Friday evening.

The appearance of the spectacular northern lights – a common wonder in these parts – seemed to mark the end of a hugely significant day in the arctic, one that brought icebound Greenland’s hopes and challenges into the sharpest relief.

It was a day in which an acquisitive foreign power had sent an uninvited delegation to the world’s largest island with an uncomfortable message.

On a brief visit to a remote US military base in the far north of Greenland, US Vice-President JD Vance may have tried at times to soften his boss’s stated aim of simply annexing the autonomous Danish territory.

“We do not think that military force is ever going to be necessary,” Vance said, perhaps attempting to sound reassuring.

But the vice-president’s overarching message remained stark and intimidating: the world, the climate, and the Arctic region are changing fast, and Greenland needs to wake up to threats posed by an expansionist China; long-standing Western security partnerships have run their course; the only way the island can protect itself, its values and its mineral wealth is by abandoning weak and miserly Danish overlords and turning instead to the muscular and protective embrace of the US.

“We need to wake up from a failed, 40-year consensus that said that we could ignore the encroachment of powerful countries as they expand their ambitions,” Vance told US troops at America’s Pituffik military base.

“We can’t just bury our head in the sand – or, in Greenland, bury our head in the snow – and pretend that the Chinese are not interested in this very large landmass.”

If you look at a map of the world that has the north pole at its centre, rather than the equator, it is easy to see how Greenland suddenly switches from being an easily overlooked smudge of uninhabited territory and into a key strategic landmass. It is at the heart of what many analysts now accept as an emerging power struggle between China, the US, and Russia, for control of the arctic, its minerals and its shipping lanes.

But the speed and contempt with which the Trump White House has rejected its traditional reliance on Western allies – Nato in particular – has left its partners bewildered.

“Not justifiable,” was the bristling response of Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen after hearing Vance attack her government as he stood on its sovereign territory.

But 1,500km (930 miles) south of the Pituffik base, in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, the American story vied for attention with a very different local event on Friday.

“We will prevail,” a smiling crowd sang, at a ceremony to celebrate the formation of a new coalition government for Greenland.

The mood felt mostly joyful and communal, with people locking arms and swaying gently as a band played inside the town’s house of culture.

It was a powerful reminder of the shared values that bind Greenland’s tiny, and overwhelmingly native Inuit population together – the need for consensus and co-operation in an often hostile natural climate, the desire to protect and celebrate Inuit culture and the wish to be respected by outsiders, be they from familiar but distant Denmark or marginally closer America.

“There are many ways to say things. But I think the way [Trump] is saying it is not the way. It’s like a threat,” said Lisbeth Karline Poulsen, 43, a local artist attending the ceremony.

Her reaction appeared to capture the broader mood here – a recent poll showed just 6% of the population support the idea of being part of the US.

Under its new government, and with overwhelming public support, Greenland is beginning a slow, very cautious move towards full independence from Denmark.

It’s a process that will likely take many years, and which will involve lengthy dialogue with both Copenhagen and Washington.

After all, Greenlanders well understand that their economy needs to be far more developed if their bid for independence is to stand any realistic chance of success.

But they need to balance that development against realistic fears of exploitation by powerful outside commercial forces.

Which brings us to the fundamental confusion, in Greenland and beyond, about the Trump administration’s approach towards their territory.

On his visit, Vance mentioned Greenland’s aspirations for independence, and implied that America’s real intention was not a sudden annexation of the island, but something far more patient and long-term.

“Our message is very simple, yes, the people of Greenland are going to have self-determination. We hope that they choose to partner with the United States, because we’re the only nation on earth that will respect their sovereignty and respect their security.”

If that is genuinely the American pitch – Trump’s messaging remains more aggressive than Vance’s – then Greenlanders can surely relax a little and take their time.

There are still large reserves of goodwill towards the US here, and a keen interest in doing more business with American companies.

On the security front, a 74-year-old treaty with Denmark permitting the US to increase its military presence in Greenland at any time – from new bases to submarine harbours – should surely take care of Washington’s concerns about countering the threat from China, just as it did during the Cold War years.

What remains puzzling is Donald Trump’s impatience – the same impatience he’s displayed in attempting to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

Short of owning Greenland, America could get everything it desires and needs from this vast island without much difficulty. Instead, many people in Nuuk feel they’re being bullied.

It’s a deeply counterproductive approach, which has already forced Washington into one humiliating climbdown – cancelling a planned cultural tour by Vance’s wife, Usha, to Nuuk and another town in the face of planned local protests.

A slower, more respectful, behind-the-scenes sort of engagement would, surely, make more sense.

But that’s not to every politician’s taste.

For two years, Jeannie Dillard has saved what she can on her fixed income to replace the vehicle that was stolen from her home and found totalled a few miles away.

She looked around a used car dealership in Virginia on Thursday, peering at sticker prices with a newfound worry: blanket tariffs on foreign cars and car parts that experts warn could drive up prices in the US, which kick in next week.

She’d like to buy a car now, she said, but “I have to wait until my finances improve”.

Ms Dillard is among the plethora of Americans bracing for expected economic turbulence under President Donald Trump’s sweeping auto tariffs – an unprecedented US trade policy manoeuvre.

“It took me a long time to save up for the last car,” she said. “If prices get too high, I’m obviously not going to buy something that I can’t afford.”

She added: “We’ll just have to wait and see.”

On Wednesday, Trump announced new import taxes of 25% on cars and car parts entering the US from overseas, which go into effect on 2 April.

Charges on businesses importing vehicles are expected on 3 April, and taxes on parts are set to start in May or later.

Trump and members of his administration have argued that the tariffs will lead to “tremendous growth” and increase jobs in the US.

But experts and automakers have warned in dire terms that tariffs could raise prices for US consumers, amplifying the stress of an already sluggish economy.

Mohamad Husseini, co-owner of a used car dealership in Maryland, said that he expects the additional tariff costs to get passed on to the consumer.

“The prices in the wholesale market have skyrocketed already,” he told the BBC.

“It’s going to get worse.”

A car that would sell for $13,000 (£10,000) might rise to $14,500 (£11,200) because of the tariffs, Mr Husseini said. He predicted that consumers will see prices increase in the next three to six weeks.

The auto tariffs will likely force car dealers like Mr Husseini to raise prices.

“We all still have bills to pay, mouths to feed and employees to pay,” he said.

At another car dealership, Robin Sloan was hoping to get a deal before prices increased.

She said she probably would have waited until the summer to go car shopping, but “with the tariffs, I decided I should go out and look now”.

She rejected the Trump administration’s claim that tariffs will cause Americans to buy US cars instead of foreign ones.

“I don’t think I would buy a car made in the United States just because of the tariffs, I think I would probably wait a few years until things settle down,” Ms Sloan said.

From buyers to dealers, the effects of the tariffs will be widespread, for better or for worse, experts say.

In the US, there are 908 motor vehicles per 1,000 people. About 92% of households own a vehicle.

Car ownership is typically higher in the US than in Europe, surveys suggest, partly because, in the absence of extensive public transport, many Americans have no other choice of how to get around.

Cars are also more than just a means of transportation. As symbols of both freedom and success, cars have a unique place in the national identity, from the show Pimp My Ride to Janice Joplin singing “Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz”.

John Heitmann, a University of Dayton professor and automobile historian, who in his free time likes to polish his 1982 Mercedes SL, said that tariffs will have an existential, as well as an economic, impact.

“New cars are really out of the reach of a good number of Americans to begin with,” he told the BBC.

“Consumers will not benefit, prices will go up,” particularly amongst more affordable vehicles made in Korea, like Hyundais, he said.

As a vintage-car enthusiast, he said tariffs have added a layer of uncertainty to his hobby.

“About 50 minutes ago, I got an email from a part supplier in the UK saying, ‘Don’t worry… they’re not going to go up, probably’,” he said.

“‘We haven’t seen anything in writing yet.’ That’s what they said.”

Higher-end imported vehicles, such as Audis, BMWs and Mercedes, will increase in price, too, Prof Heitmann said, though many of those who buy from such brands might be able to absorb a heftier price tag.

A 2024 study by the US International Trade Commission predicted that a 25% tariff on imports would reduce imports by almost 75%, while increasing average prices in the US by about 5%.

The US imported about eight million cars last year – accounting for about $240bn (£186bn) in trade and roughly half of overall sales.

Despite efforts from some car makers – including Ford and General Motors – to discourage Trump enacting auto tariffs, the president is forging ahead.

Some car makers are embracing Trump’s tariffs, however.

On Tuesday, Hyundai, the South Korean car-marker, announced it would invest $21bn (£16.3bn) in the US by building a new steel plant in Louisiana.

Trump said the move is a “clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work”.

But the tariffs are likely to impact the domestic car industry as well.

US auto manufacturing has been deeply intertwined with industries in Canada and Mexico for decades. Parts criss-cross the borders several times before they are assembled, which means that even a vehicle as iconically American as a Ford pickup truck could see a sticker price increase.

Ultimately, Trump’s tariff strategy will thrust the US auto industry into uncharted territory, leaving uncertainty hanging over consumers, dealers and automakers until they go into effect on Wednesday.

“Everything’s topsy turvy now, you know, and it’s also terribly filled with uncertainty, because no one exactly knows what kind of game is really being played by the Trump administration related to all the bluster of these tariffs,” Prof Heitmann said.

Some, like Mya Fountain-Bunch, just want to get through the unease. She took her car into a dealership this week to avoid needing a replacement after the tariffs hit.

“[I’m] making sure that my car is working and hopefully I won’t have to buy another car in the next few years, or at least the next four years until this administration is done with.”

Additional reporting by Meiying Wu

At least 15 people are thought to still be alive and trapped under the rubble of a Bangkok skyscraper that collapsed after a massive earthquake hit Myanmar and Thailand.

Rescuers say they have detected signs of life and communicated with some survivors under the 10-storey tall mountain of debris.

Scores of construction workers remain missing at the site, as the rescue effort heads into its second day.

The 7.7-magnitude quake occurred on Friday afternoon local time, killing hundreds at the epicentre near Mandalay, Myanmar. Its powerful effects could be felt hundreds of miles away in the Thai capital, as well as in China and India.

There have been reports of widespread devastation in the Saigaing region and Mandalay, including flattened buildings and temple spires toppled. Officials in Myanmar say over 1,000 have died so far while another 2,376 are injured.

In Bangkok, thousands experienced the quake’s effects as buildings swayed and water sloshed out of swimming pools. Officials said they received 2,000 reports of cracks appearing in buildings.

But the capital has emerged largely unscathed – except for the unfinished headquarters for the auditor-general’s office, which remains the focal point of the damage in Thailand.

Situated just across from the tourist landmark Chatuchak market, the 30-storey skyscraper once featured a gleaming tower of blue glass and steel.

The earthquake has reduced it to a mountain of twisted rebar and shattered concrete, dwarfing the hundreds of rescue workers scurrying around it.

Out of the more than 400 workers who were at the site, at least 96 are missing, while eight have died and another eight found injured, according to the latest official figures.

Some are believed to be Burmese. Many Burmese migrants work in Thailand’s construction industry.

Throughout Friday night and into Saturday morning, drones, sniffer dogs, cranes and excavators were brought in to help with the rescue effort.

By lunchtime, officials said they had detected at least 15 people alive beneath the rubble, located some 5m to 10m from the top of the pile.

As the “building collapsed like a pancake” – and is continuing to collapse – rescue work has been difficult, forcing officials to refrain from using heavy machinery, one official said.

They said they were able to make contact with some of the survivors who “shouted and made noise”. Others were detected by their movements and body heat.

“We want to save them as soon as possible,” said one official. “Some signs of life we received last night have since gone silent. I want all Thais to pray for them, to be strong.”

Officials have yet to find out why the building collapsed, and have given investigators a week to probe.

In a dusty corner of the construction site, tents and desks were set up to register the details of relatives of the missing.

Solemn-faced groups of people, mostly women, gathered in the tent in the sweltering heat, their faces clouded with worry. Occasionally, some burst out in sobs.

“I wanted to come here desperately, I wanted to see my husband,” wailed one woman, who gave her name as Naruemol, as her friend comforted her.

“I just need to see him once, in whatever condition he’s in.”

One man named Siew, who was waiting to hear news of two missing cousins, told the BBC: “I think the chance of them surviving is very slim… In my heart, I don’t know if they will survive.”

Top government officials have vowed to continue the search for the missing workers.

Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnweerakul addressed reporters while visiting the site, saying: “We work tirelessly and are still working around the clock to make sure that everbody is safe.”

“We will keep working until there is no one left inside… We always have hope.”

Additional reporting by Sawitree Jang, Arunoday Mukharji and Nick Marsh

At least 15 people are thought to still be alive and trapped under the rubble of a Bangkok skyscraper that collapsed after a massive earthquake hit Myanmar and Thailand.

Rescuers say they have detected signs of life and communicated with some survivors under the 10-storey tall mountain of debris.

Scores of construction workers remain missing at the site, as the rescue effort heads into its second day.

The 7.7-magnitude quake occurred on Friday afternoon local time, killing hundreds at the epicentre near Mandalay, Myanmar. Its powerful effects could be felt hundreds of miles away in the Thai capital, as well as in China and India.

There have been reports of widespread devastation in the Saigaing region and Mandalay, including flattened buildings and temple spires toppled. Officials in Myanmar say over 1,000 have died so far while another 2,376 are injured.

In Bangkok, thousands experienced the quake’s effects as buildings swayed and water sloshed out of swimming pools. Officials said they received 2,000 reports of cracks appearing in buildings.

But the capital has emerged largely unscathed – except for the unfinished headquarters for the auditor-general’s office, which remains the focal point of the damage in Thailand.

Situated just across from the tourist landmark Chatuchak market, the 30-storey skyscraper once featured a gleaming tower of blue glass and steel.

The earthquake has reduced it to a mountain of twisted rebar and shattered concrete, dwarfing the hundreds of rescue workers scurrying around it.

Out of the more than 400 workers who were at the site, at least 96 are missing, while eight have died and another eight found injured, according to the latest official figures.

Some are believed to be Burmese. Many Burmese migrants work in Thailand’s construction industry.

Throughout Friday night and into Saturday morning, drones, sniffer dogs, cranes and excavators were brought in to help with the rescue effort.

By lunchtime, officials said they had detected at least 15 people alive beneath the rubble, located some 5m to 10m from the top of the pile.

As the “building collapsed like a pancake” – and is continuing to collapse – rescue work has been difficult, forcing officials to refrain from using heavy machinery, one official said.

They said they were able to make contact with some of the survivors who “shouted and made noise”. Others were detected by their movements and body heat.

“We want to save them as soon as possible,” said one official. “Some signs of life we received last night have since gone silent. I want all Thais to pray for them, to be strong.”

Officials have yet to find out why the building collapsed, and have given investigators a week to probe.

In a dusty corner of the construction site, tents and desks were set up to register the details of relatives of the missing.

Solemn-faced groups of people, mostly women, gathered in the tent in the sweltering heat, their faces clouded with worry. Occasionally, some burst out in sobs.

“I wanted to come here desperately, I wanted to see my husband,” wailed one woman, who gave her name as Naruemol, as her friend comforted her.

“I just need to see him once, in whatever condition he’s in.”

One man named Siew, who was waiting to hear news of two missing cousins, told the BBC: “I think the chance of them surviving is very slim… In my heart, I don’t know if they will survive.”

Top government officials have vowed to continue the search for the missing workers.

Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnweerakul addressed reporters while visiting the site, saying: “We work tirelessly and are still working around the clock to make sure that everbody is safe.”

“We will keep working until there is no one left inside… We always have hope.”

Additional reporting by Sawitree Jang, Arunoday Mukharji and Nick Marsh

Alex Warren is on top of the world.

Ordinary, a song he wrote for his wife Kouvr after their wedding last year, is at number one in six different countries.

He has two more songs in the UK Top 40, and his UK tour has been upgraded to 5,000-capacity venues, due to insatiable demand.

Backstage at the Hammersmith Apollo, the Californian singer is endearingly, humbly bewildered by the whole thing.

“All of this is happening really quickly,” he says. “I only wrote Ordinary three months ago. I’m honestly blown away.”

But the 24-year-old didn’t arrive out of nowhere.

He’s one of the founders of the Hype House – a collaborative TikTok group who lived and worked together in the Los Angeles hills and shepherded millions of teenagers though the pandemic.

You could easily dismiss him as yet another social media influencer trying to break into the music industry. It’s an accusation he’s aware of, and prepared for.

“I watched a lot of people, a lot of TikTokkers, make music and there was no meaning behind it. It was just something they decided to do,” he says.

“But I wanted to write about real things. No one else can sing my songs. I don’t take other people’s demos. This is all mine.”

Even a passing glance at his discography proves him right.

Warren’s arena pop anthems are searingly honest, almost to a fault, drawing on his challenging childhood, and fairytale romance with Kouvr.

His father died when he was nine years old, after a long struggle with kidney cancer. The loss sent his mother spiralling into alcoholism, something Warren only realised when he tried to clear up one of her coffee mugs.

“It turned out to be alcohol,” he says. “And the next day it was alcohol, and the next day it was alcohol, and at 4am it was alcohol, and when we were driving, it was alcohol.”

When he called her out on it, the addiction turned to abuse.

“Every person struggling with addiction needs someone to blame it on, besides themselves, and I became that person,” he says.

When he was 18, she kicked him out. He was broke and homeless. Friends let him sleep in their cars – never their houses, because his mum had convinced their parents he was a trouble-maker.

Around the same time, he was introduced to Instagram model Kouvr Annon by a friend on Snapchat.

“We just clicked right away,” he says. “I felt I could tell her everything, just after our first conversation.”

Within four months, Kouvr left her family in Hawaii, flew out to California and started living with Warren in a car.

Then, as now, they’re an exceptionally cute couple – tender and funny and clearly besotted with one another. When they started posting videos of their romance online, people wanted to see more. In a span of six months, Warren gained more than a million followers on YouTube.

Combined with the prank videos he’d filmed with his friends, he built a big enough audience to start earning money.

“When I got my first cheque for $2,000 in a month, I was like, ‘Holy cow, this is gonna change my life’,” he recalls.

Some of that money went into the creation of the Hype House in 2019. Warren came up with the name, and moved into the property with Annon and a bunch of young internet stars like Addison Rae, Charlie D’Amelio, Chase Hudson and Thomas Petrou.

The collective introduced themselves in December 2019 with a photoshoot that mimicked Backstreet Boys video for I Want It That Way.

By the end of the day, the hashtag #hypehouse was trending, and the mansion quickly became an incubator for viral videos.

The enterprise thrived during lockdown but, as individual members signed TV deals, or grew tired of the escalating demands for content, it started to fall apart. Warren and Annon left in 2022, citing a desire to “move on to the next chapter in their lives”.

Since then, rumours have swirled about behind-the-scenes drama at the house, with some members hinting at exploitation and mistreatment.

“There was falling out,” Warren told the Zach Sang show in 2023. “But a lot of us signed NDAs, so no-one’s going to talk about it.”

He did, however, pour his frustrations into music.

“How do you sleep at night?” he sings on the angst-ridden Burning Down, a song allegedly targeted at one of the Hype House’s co-founders.

“It scars forever when someone you called your friend / Shows you the truth can be so cold.”

Warren says he never made money from the Hype House. What it did give him, however, was a built-in audience for his music.

“I think that’s really rare,” he says. “Usually, when someone goes from social media to music, they lose that fan base.

“But I think a lot of people watched my YouTube videos because they were having a rough life and needed an escape. So when I started making music about my rough life, I think they identified with it even more.”

Warren dreamt of a music career long before he entered the Hype House. Back when TikTok was called Music.ally, he’d even created a burner account to share his songs.

“I didn’t want to post on my main account, because I was terrified of failing,” he explains.

“As a kid, people bullied me for singing and doing talent shows and dedicating songs to my fifth grade girlfriend, you know?

“So I posted on a random account I created, and I filmed myself singing on the toilet because I wanted to show I wasn’t taking it seriously.

“And the next day, I woke up and had 10 million views.”

His first release was 2021’s One More I Love You, a song he started when he was 13 years old and coming to terms with his father’s death.

“I watched my sister go to a daddy-daughter dance without her dad, and that’s when I realised, ‘Oh, wait, my life is different’,” he recalls.

“I started mourning for the first time, and I didn’t know how to process it, so I just went to the piano and played some chords. And that’s kind of where I started learning how to write.”

Warren’s outpouring of grief is powerful in its simplicity, but it has touched people in ways he couldn’t have anticipated.

“The other day, a woman wanted me to sign a Heinz Beans t-shirt,” he says. “I giggled because I thought that was funny, then she turned it over, and it was the same t-shirt her son wore right before he died from cancer.

“One More I Love You was the song that she played at that funeral and the song she listened to help her get over it.”

“I think that’s the most powerful thing in the world.”

The musician, who was raised a Catholic, believes that healing moments like those are part of God’s plan for him.

“Without all the loss, all the trauma, all the things in my life, I wouldn’t have these songs. I wouldn’t have the means to help the 5,000 people coming to the show tonight, I wouldn’t be able to provide for my future family with my wife.

“And I think those are all things that are meant to happen, or can happen if I make the right choices.

“You know, I could have chosen to get into drugs and be a bad person but I chose this path.

“It’s the craziest thing.”

A British man has been praised for tackling a suspected knifeman to the ground in central Amsterdam.

The tourist, who does not wish to be named, restrained the suspect after five people were stabbed near the Dutch capital’s Dam Square on Thursday.

Video of the incident shows the Briton, wearing jeans and a black hoodie, kneeling on his back and twisting his arm until police arrived.

Amsterdam’s Mayor Femke Halsema said she was impressed by his decisive action, telling local broadcasters he showed “exceptional” instinct.

Halsema personally thanked the British man at her official residence, where he was given an award for bravery, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported.

Explaining that he wished to stay anonymous, she said the man had no desire to become “famous” and that his main concern had been for the victims of the attack.

“He is a very modest British man,” she told local broadcaster AT5.

“This man made a decision in a split second, which is truly exceptional and for which there should be a lot of appreciation.”

A police spokeswoman said the “heroic” Briton had performed a citizen’s arrest, restraining the suspect until police could arrest him.

She told the BBC: “We found it very heroic and brave what he did.

“It is a split second whether people go into action or not – it’s really brave if people take responsibility but you also want to take care of your own safety, because you never know what the circumstances are.”

Officers were called just before 15:30 local time (14:30 GMT) and found five injured people at various locations in and around Sint Nicolaasstraat in the centre of the city, police said.

The suspect, a 30-year-old man from Ukraine, was arrested and taken to hospital with a leg injury.

The victims were a 67-year-old woman and a 69-year-old man, both from the US, a 26-year-old Polish man, a 73-year-old woman from Belgium, and a 19-year-old Dutch woman.

Police say the motive behind the attack is under investigation, but they are considering the possibility the suspect could have chosen victims at random.

David remembers the moment he found his elderly stepfather, John, unkempt and suffering from dementia, living alone in an unclean hotel room.

“I didn’t think you’d leave an animal in the state that room was in,” he says. ” There was no care at all. You would not leave a vulnerable old man like that.”

Months earlier, John had vanished. His eldest granddaughter, Amy, had taken control of his welfare and his finances, and stopped any contact between John and the rest of his family, including Barbara, his wife of many years.

With Amy’s help, John had changed his will, making her the sole beneficiary, and had then been left to live by himself in a single room, confused and isolated.

John’s family was one of hundreds who contacted the BBC after hearing The Willpower Detectives last year.

The series revealed how a partner at an Essex-based law firm was using what’s known as Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) to take over the finances of vulnerable clients.

In June, Parliament will debate a private member’s bill to provide extra safeguards to LPA. The bill – introduced by the MP Fabian Hamilton – has cross-party support, and is shaped in part by the BBC’s investigations and the huge public response to the cases raised.

The story of John Wilcox demonstrates how, in handing over responsibility for their financial assets, vulnerable people can sometimes be put at risk by members of their own family.

After many years of running a successful office-furnishing business in Leeds, John and Barbara Wilcox had retired and were living comfortably in mid-Wales.

Both had been married before. John had no children of his own, but he loved Barbara’s son and daughter as his own, as well as her three grandchildren. To each of these, he had given enough money to buy their first homes.

However, everything changed in 2020 when John was diagnosed with dementia.

The condition caused a personality change, and John became delusional and paranoid. He started to accuse Barbara and his own brother Desmond of plotting against him.

Following a collapse at home John was taken to hospital, where – because of Covid restrictions – nobody was allowed to visit.

This isolation fed John’s feelings of paranoia, and the suspicion that he had been abandoned by his family.

It was during this time that John’s eldest granddaughter, Amy – the one person he still seemed to trust – began to take charge of his life.

At first, no-one in the family was suspicious. John had always been close to Amy.

Unknown to them, John had requested and signed a form banning contact between anyone involved in his care and anyone in his family, apart from Amy.

Even though his medical notes describe him as paranoid and delusional, John was declared as having “mental capacity” – this was significant because it meant he could legally grant someone lasting power of attorney over his finances.

Barbara says her efforts to raise concerns with social services were blanked: “They just didn’t want to know. They weren’t interested in the letters that we wrote.”

After three months in hospital, John was discharged into Amy’s care. She suggested he could recuperate at a care home at Paignton in Devon, near where she lived, while she readied her house for him to stay there.

At this stage, the other family members thought this was just a temporary arrangement in everyone’s best interests. Amy said that it was what John wanted, and it would be a respite for Barbara.

However, Barbara recalls: “As soon as she got him down there, the vitriol started.” Amy told the rest of the family they no longer had any say about John’s welfare, and they were not to try to contact him.

In response to their pleas, it was agreed that a niece of John’s would call him once a week to check that he was alright.

But six weeks after he was admitted to the care home, the niece made her regular call, only to be told that John had left.

The family was devastated – John had disappeared.

They went to the police but were told he had signed a form in hospital instructing that no information should be shared with them. They were only told that John was not living with Amy.

The family discovered that John had signed an LPA document giving Amy power of attorney over all his property and finances.

Meanwhile, a solicitor in Devon contacted Barbara asking about their home and joint assets. Barbara later found out about John’s new will, which named Amy as the sole beneficiary.

This development had immediate and stressful consequences. The solicitor asked Barbara to begin the process of selling the home she had shared with John, in order to release his share of their assets.

John’s brother, Desmond, took the lead in trying to find out where John now was. It took him several weeks.

He says he rang 50 care homes, trying to track John down. He and Barbara also wrote to Amy asking her to at least tell them how her grandfather was, but they say they never received a reply.

Eventually, Amy’s aunt confronted her in person, and found out that John was in a hotel in Torquay.

Desmond knew that in the past, John had lent £100,000 to a friend who owned several hotels in south-west England.

It appeared that John had been put up at one of these hotels. The owner had made a deal to offset John’s bill (a nightly rate of £265) against his outstanding debt.

Amy’s father, David, drove to the hotel. He was horrified by what he found: “The conditions he was living in were appalling. I was absolutely astounded.”

John was renting the room only – with no cleaning services or food. There was a fridge and a microwave oven – in which he would heat ready meals supplied by Amy.

For David, it was the ultimate betrayal of a vulnerable man. He says that John was dishevelled and confused: “He was just abandoned. He hardly went out of that room and it was in a terrible state.”

Having found John, his family decided they needed to tread carefully. They say they wanted him to understand the truth about what had been done to him, and they were also worried that Amy might try to move him again.

At first, John refused to see Barbara, claiming she had tried to kill him, and that she had never come to see him in hospital.

And then one day, Barbara drove to John’s hotel with her son David and his partner Julie. She stayed outside in the car but gave David a tin of flapjacks to take to John in his room.

The touch and smell of a faded everyday item – an old cake tin with some homemade flapjacks inside – seemed to have an effect on him.

“I know what’s in there,” he said to his stepson.

“Do you know who made them?” David remembers asking John.

John replied: “Yes I do.”

David then offered to bring Barbara into the hotel room and John agreed.

Barbara says she was heartbroken by her husband’s physical and mental deterioration. He weighed only seven-and-a-half stone, and he was so weak that she thinks he would have died if he had been left much longer.

It was a “very, very emotional” reunion, she remembers. Before long, they were holding hands and John had agreed to come home with her.

The next day, Barbara and her brother Mike came back to the hotel to pick John up. Mike says it felt like they were “planning a heist”. He recalls that “as we drove away and started to get out of Torquay, I said: ‘Oh gosh, we got away with that.’”

Back in Wales, Barbara was able to see John’s bank accounts, and discovered that Amy had taken more than £5,000 – there was just 16p left in his account.

But John’s story had a happy ending of sorts. He managed to get the power of attorney and the new will cast aside, and lived for nine months with Barbara in Wales, before dying peacefully at home.

His tale highlights the difficulties involved when it comes to deciding who has control of what’s often seen as “family money”, and who will inherit it.

Issues of mental capacity have to be considered in situations like these, according to James Warner, a consultant in old-age psychiatry.

“Dementia makes people susceptible to manipulation and those involved with overseeing important changes need to be extra-vigilant,” he says.

The elderly and vulnerable can quickly find themselves in situations where they are extremely vulnerable, he says, and more needs to be done to protect them.

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) holds power of attorney records for more than eight million people in England and Wales, but last year it investigated less than 1% of the cases brought to its attention.

Labour MP Fabian Hamilton says the OPG can be “toothless” for vulnerable elderly people and their families.

Mr Hamilton says changes are needed to provide greater safeguards, and his private member’s bill on attorney powers is due for its second reading in June.

The bill – which has cross-party support – would compel banks and regulators to check for issues such as cognitive decline, and greater scrutiny over whether an attorney is abusing their LPA powers.

Barbara thinks that the proposed legislation could have helped in her situation.

“In cases like John’s, where you have this kind of paranoia, solicitors involved with a power of attorney should be making enquiries of the family and verifying,” she says.

Meanwhile, John’s family have had no contact with Amy, unable to forgive the hurt she caused them and what she put her grandfather through.

They say they still do not understand why Amy acted in the way she did. She (along with John’s other grandchildren) had already been given money enough to buy a house each, and she stood to inherit more eventually.

In May 2024, Amy accepted a police caution for fraud – which in law is an admission of guilt – specifically because she had taken money from John’s account after he had returned to Wales, and was no longer in her care.

When I wrote to Amy about this, she replied that she had only accepted the caution to lift the stress from herself and her family, and didn’t regard it as just.

She told me that there were two sides to every story and that all of John’s decisions were made by him in the company of his solicitor. She added that the decision not to tell John’s family anything was at his request.

The worst part is the mental torture, Patricia Joseph says. The “gut-wrenching” flashes of wondering what her mother’s last moments were. The infinite state of limbo.

Six years after her mother’s mysterious disappearance, Patricia still catches herself looking out for the distinctive orange-lined raincoat that Hyacinth Gage, 74, was wearing the day she vanished, in the hope it may hold a clue.

Tragically, Hyacinth is just one of an ever-increasing number of people on the tiny Caribbean island of Antigua to disappear without trace in what some have dubbed an epidemic, others a crisis. At least nine have vanished in the last two years alone.

That day back in May 2019 started out ordinarily enough. Hyacinth, described as sprightly and self-sufficient, had gone for a routine check-up at the public hospital, but failed to return. She has never been seen since.

It was to trigger an excruciating series of fruitless, island-wide searches and desperate appeals for help.

“We became detectives. My sister and I teamed up to look for leads. I went back to the hospital asking questions,” Patricia explains.

She was able to verify that while her mother had completed scheduled blood tests, she had not shown up for an electrocardiogram. Further investigations revealed she had apparently handed her handbag briefly to another patient to keep an eye on, but never returned. The bag was found by security staff the next day.

The family were also able to track down a motorist who said she had given Hyacinth a lift to a location a short distance from the hospital.

“The police got angry at us for investigating and told us to stop,” Patricia recalls. “Then they became annoyed at our constant questions, so eventually we had to back off and just pray.”

Anniversaries are particularly painful: 6 March would have been Hyacinth’s 80th birthday, a milestone for which the family had long planned a big celebration. Instead, Patricia took the day off work to spend in quiet reflection.

The number of people to vanish in Antigua appears to be disproportionately high compared with neighbouring islands, Patricia says, a notion supported by sources in several of the islands who spoke to the BBC.

In St Kitts, for example, which has a population of 48,000, official police stats provided show that of the total 54 people reported missing in 2023 and 2024, all but two are accounted for. The remaining two are believed to be Haitian migrants who have since left the country.

Antigua’s small size of just 108 sq miles, home to fewer than 100,000 people, makes the phenomenon particularly perplexing.

Speculation is rife. Theories range from the banal – a lack of will to investigate by an under-resourced and under-paid police force – to the sinister.

“Other islands find bodies eventually,” Patricia says. “My mind goes all over the place wondering what happened. People suggest organ trafficking. I’ve even thought of gang activity. Is it something they’re required to do as an initiation?”

The disappearance of a nine-year-old girl on 12 March sent the nation reeling and sparked extensive searches. Chantel Crump’s body was found two days later in a case that has caused widespread public outrage and protests – and sent rumours into overdrive. A woman has been charged with Chantel’s murder.

Antigua’s Acting Police Commissioner Everton Jeffers acknowledges there is “room for improvement” when it comes to the force’s public relations, but rejects the idea that it is uncaring.

He also says he is keeping an open mind on the reason for the high number of disappearances, including a possible organ trade operating on the island.

“It’s something we’ve been hearing and something we will look into. There’s no evidence to support it, but it’s very important we don’t dismiss anything,” he explains.

Patricia has found some solace in connecting with families of other missing people and now plans to set up an action group to ask for international help.

“This isn’t a random thing any more, this is serious, there’s a crisis,” she adds.

Aaron (not his real name) has collated a list of almost 60 people missing in Antigua – more than a third in the last decade alone – and believes there are several more. Men account for roughly two in three of the disappearances, ranging from teenagers to people in their 70s.

“I’ve personally experienced this pain. One of my family members went missing and another was murdered,” he says, speaking on condition of anonymity because of threats he says he has received for highlighting the issue.

“Families are suffering. Many have gone to their graves without ever seeing justice for their loved ones.

“While some may have disappeared due to their involvement in criminal activities, there’s growing concern that an organised organ harvesting ring could be operating behind the scenes,” Aaron adds.

Police say they are collating official figures for missing people covering the last two decades but by the time of publication had not provided any figures.

This year has already seen two more.

In late January, Orden David did not return home after a night out at a local casino. Orden’s burnt-out car has since been recovered, but there have been few other clues.

Alline Henry recalls Orden as her “best friend of 23 years”.

“The worst part is not knowing if he’s being held against his will,” Alline says.

“Is someone abusing him, torturing him? Every day my thoughts run wild. If, God forbid, it’s the worst case scenario, we need closure,” she adds.

Orden, 39, is well known in Antigua as a key litigant in a landmark 2022 case that overturned legislation criminalising same-sex acts.

“I can’t explain how much it hurts that instead of focussing on the fact he’s missing, some people focus on him being gay.

“I believe the case may have made him a target,” Alline says sadly.

With swathes of bushland and ocean all around, the ostensible ease of concealing a body in Antigua may partly explain the absence of answers many families suffer.

“Clearly the local police can’t solve these disappearances. They need to bring in outside help. How many more people have to go missing before they do something. Who’s next?” Alline adds.

Keon Richards, 38, who works for the national school meals programme, was last seen leaving work on 26 February. His mother Dian Clarke says she is “trying to stay positive”, adding: “You hear about people going missing in the news and then it creeps up on you.”

With the exception of a 43-year-old woman, all those to vanish without trace in the last two years are men, aged between 18 and 76.

Hindering investigations is the lack of a local forensic lab which means crucial DNA samples must be sent overseas for analysis, equating to lengthy waits for results.

Director of Forensic Services Michael Murrell tells the BBC that a new lab capable of analysing trace evidence such as hair, blood and semen will become operational within months, but admits DNA capabilities are some way off because of meagre finances.

Updated technology cannot come soon enough for some.

Gregory Bailey’s son Kevorn, 26, has not been seen since he received a phone call from an unknown person who he apparently left his home to meet in August 2022.

Gregory says the telecoms firm claims to have given the caller’s name to police long ago, but “up to now the police can’t tell me who it was”.

His frustration and despair are evident.

“It’s like a part of me is missing. Some people talk about closure, but I couldn’t handle seeing him in a coffin; I prefer to picture him alive,” he says.

“It’s emotionally aggravating to pursue the police. If I don’t call them I don’t hear anything; if I do, I get sweet nothings,” he adds. “I want the government to know people are grieving; I don’t know if they appreciate that.

“I put up missing posters everywhere, but I couldn’t put up any around my home; I couldn’t bear it. It’s the most painful experience of my life.”

Gregory believes the high number of disappearances is largely due to the extent with which criminal factions get away with murder.

Aaron has also collated a list of more than 100 unsolved killings.

“People don’t trust the police; corruption is rampant in law enforcement,” Gregory says.

Aaron agrees: “There’ve been cases where perpetrators have retaliated against the families of victims when reports were made.”

Police Chief Jeffers says “no police force in the world is perfect”. But adds: “I can guarantee 90% of our officers are good.”

He also admits limited finances impede investigations.

“There’s no police force in the Caribbean that has enough resources to do everything we have to do.

“We do a lot to look for people, get leads from the public and matter and pledged a raft of new measures including the establishment of a designated missing persons’ task force and the acquisition of dogs trained to detect bodies.

But that may not be enough to appease those desperately awaiting answers.

“It’s time to take serious action,” Patricia urges. “I hope this doesn’t happen to someone close to them before they take a good fresh look at these disappearances.”

In Murmansk, the largest city north of the Arctic circle, President Vladimir Putin vowed to “strengthen Russia’s global leadership in the Arctic”, while warning that “geopolitical competition in the region” was intensifying.

The first example he gave was Donald Trump’s idea to acquire Greenland.

But from the Kremlin leader there was no criticism of his US counterpart.

And that’s telling, as the White House and the Kremlin try to rebuild relations.

“In short, America’s plans in relation to Greenland are serious,” President Putin said in an address to Russia’s Arctic Forum in Murmansk.

“These plans have deep historical roots. And it’s clear that the US will continue to systematically pursue its geo-strategic, military-political and economic interests in the Аrctic.

“As for Greenland this is a matter for two specific countries. It has nothing to do with us.”

So said the president who had launched a full-scale invasion of a sovereign neighbouring country and claims to have annexed whole swathes of Ukraine.

When Joe Biden was in the White House, Moscow and Washington were vocal in their criticism of one another.

How things have changed.

Today Russia is promoting the idea of economic cooperation with the United States in an Arctic region packed with natural resources.

“We are open to considering different investment opportunities that we can do jointly with the US, in certain sectors approved by the Russian government,” says Kirill Dmitriev, President Putin’s envoy for foreign investment and economic cooperation.

Mr Dmitriev, who is also chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, has already been in talks with US officials.

“We are open for investment cooperation in the Arctic. That could be in logistics, or other areas beneficial to Russia and to the US,” Mr Dmitriev adds.

“But before deals can be done the war in Ukraine needs to end,” I suggest.

“Many people in the West accuse Russia of dragging its feet, showing no compromise or concessions, and just laying down conditions.”

“I am focused on economics and investments, so I don’t comment on political issues,” Mr Dmitriev responds.

“The only thing I can say is we have a very good dialogue, and I think it’s very important that the US is trying to understand Russia’s position.”

Moscow seems confident that it can woo Washington with promises of lucrative deals in the Arctic and across Russia.

That confidence is understandable considering how senior US officials have been repeating Kremlin talking points about the war in Ukraine and about Europe.

In a recent interview with former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff appeared to accept the results of Moscow-organised referenda that were held in Ukrainian territories seized and occupied by Russia.

These votes that have not been recognised by the international community.

In the words of one recent Russian newspaper headline: “US and Russian officials are now talking the same language.”

Are the Russian authorities at all surprised by the sea change in America’s Russia policy?

“[In America] there are two parties that compete with one another,” says Nikolai Patrushev, former head of Russia’s FSB domestic security service.

Mr Patrushev, who is now an aide to President Putin, is one of the most powerful figures in Russia.

While on the side lines of the Arctic Forum he tells me: “When the Democrats were in power, they took one view. The Republicans have another.

“It doesn’t mean that they agree with Russia’s standpoint. Only that they have their own, which they promote, and we can cooperate with them.”

I ask Mr Patrushev: “Do you have a sense that a new world order is being forged?”.

“We used to have a system where two powers dominated in the world. Then it was just one. Now we’re building a multi-polar world. But with its own peculiarities,” says Mr Patrushev.

In the centre of Murmansk, a giant inflatable whale has taken over one of the city’s squares.

Attached to wires, it’s bobbing over a sea of silver balloons designed to look like waves. The balloons are dancing in the wind beneath the blow-up beast.

It’s a giant installation. But then Russia has enormous ambitions, both for the Arctic and for the country’s relations with America.

The whale is attracting a great deal of interest with lots of families posing for photos.

It’s an opportunity to ask Russians whether they support the idea of economic cooperation with America in the Arctic and whether they’re surprised when Washington appears to take Moscow’s side?

Elina isn’t.

“Russia is strong,” she says. “You should always back the strong ones and go along with them.”

“We need to develop the Arctic,” Olga tells me. “Cooperation with ‘friendly countries’ is a good thing.”

“And do you see America as a ‘friendly country’?” I ask.

“You know what? I can’t decide.” replies Olga.

Meanwhile presidential envoy Mr Dmitriev is singing the praises of one particular American – Elon Musk – and counting on cooperation.

“We believe Elon Musk is a great visionary, a great leader and a very successful person,” Mr Dmitriev tells me. “Russia has a lot to offer for a mission to Mars because we have some nuclear technologies which can be applicable.

“There are some video conferences we believe will be upcoming with, let’s say, the Musk team.”

South Africa’s former ambassador to the US has told the BBC it was “self-evident” that there was racism within the Trump administration.

Ebrahim Rasool, 62, was ordered to leave the US last week after Secretary of State Marco Rubio called him a “race-baiting politician who hates America”.

This came after Rasool accused US President Donald Trump of trying to “project white victimhood as a dog whistle”.

Asked by the BBC’s Newshour whether he believed the Trump administration was racist, Rasool said: “I think it is self-evident rather than anyone needing to be called out.”

The BBC has approached the White House for comment.

In one of his first interviews since being expelled from the US, Rasool added: “I’m saying when a piece of wood has a hinge, you begin to suspect it’s a door.”

The diplomat cited the administration’s emphasis on deportating migrants as well as the targeting of foreign students who had supported pro-Palestinian protests. He also accused Trump’s team of mobilising “certain far-right communities”.

The Trump administration has denied accusations of racism. The president says he has a mandate to deport thousands of migrants who entered the US illegally after it formed a central part of his election campaign last year. Rubio has defended revoking visas for students who “cause chaos” on college campuses.

US-South Africa relations have deteriorated sharply since Trump returned to power in mid-January.

Since taking office, Trump and his ally, South-Africa born Elon Musk, have singled out South Africa, in particular criticising it over its land reform policies.

Trump has cut all aid to the country and, despite his hardline stance on most refugees and asylum seekers, says that members of South Africa’s white, Afrikaner community would be granted refugee status in the US because of the persecution he says they face at home.

South Africa’s government says it is trying to correct the country’s racial and economic imbalances following decades of white-minority rule by passing measures to help the country’s black majority.

Rasool denied that the Afrikaner population was facing discrimination.

“It is an unadulterated lie because it tries to besmirch the very DNA of a new South Africa that was born under the leadership of someone like Nelson Mandela,” he told the BBC World Service.

When questioned whether his language was undiplomatic, Rasool said: “It’s not as if being a good boy warded off any punishment. It was that at some point South Africa’s dignity is also at stake – you can’t smile through too many untruths being told about your country.”

After returning home to a hero’s welcome on Sunday, Rasool said that he had no regrets about his remarks.

Asked whether he was surprised by the reaction to his remarks, Rasool said he was surprised by the “thinness of the skin” of the US administration and its “ability to dish out and not to accept an intellectual dissecting of what is [said]”.

He added: “We’ve smiled through a lie about white genocide, we’ve smiled through the punishment of cutting all aid… we’ve smiled through all of that.

“We’ve tried all the conventional ways to get [to] them, until you hit a brick wall and you begin to say: This is not the normal phenomenon of diplomacy.”

While he accepted that his role as a diplomat was to try and “maintain a line of communication”, Rasool said: “Diplomacy is not to flatter your host into into liking you. Diplomacy is not lying along and making as if lies are truth.

“I think what I did was to the best of my intellectual capacity to describe a phenomenon back home in order for me to alert them that it cannot be business as usual.”

Relations between the US and South Africa, characterised by ups and downs over the years, hit rock bottom earlier this year, with Trump’s cutting of aid to the country, citing the new Expropriation Law, which allows the government to confiscate land without compensation in certain circumstances.

Another bone of contention for the US has been the case lodged by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2023.

South Africa has accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians living in Gaza, an allegation Israel denies.

Rasool returned to the US last year, having previously served as US ambassador from 2010 to 2015, when Barack Obama was president.

Paul O’Grady’s husband has shared a “bittersweet” video the presenter filmed just 20 minutes before he died, which Andre Portasio said shows him “as the genuinely kind man he was”.

In the 35-second clip, posted on the second anniversary of his death, O’Grady is seen with two of his beloved dogs, thanking voters who had given him an award.

The TV host died on 28 March 2023 from a sudden cardiac arrhythmia at home in Kent at the age of 67.

“It’s incredible how our minds can shield us from the pain of loss in moments of shock,” Portasio wrote in the caption.

“Today, my iPhotos reminded me of a lost video I recorded of Paul just 20 minutes before he sadly passed – what became the last recording he ever made to camera.

“In this bittersweet moment, you see him as the genuinely kind man he was, expressing heartfelt gratitude to everyone for supporting his book, which he recorded for an award ceremony he couldn’t attend.

“It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since his passing. All the while, he’s surrounded by his beloved dogs.

“We miss you dearly @paulogrady. Happy heavenly birthday!”

O’Grady was known for hosting TV shows including For The Love Of Dogs, and had one of his pets, Eddie, on his lap as he filmed the video, with another, Sausage, by his side.

He recorded a message of thanks for reading and voting for his children’s book Eddie Albert and the Amazing Animal Gang.

O’Grady said: “I’m absolutely delighted with my award. So thank you very much.

“And by the way, this is Eddie. This is my dog. And Butch in the book is based on this little one.”

He remarked how quiet Eddie was before adding: “Anyway, once again, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. Look after yourselves.”

In the replies, fellow TV presenter Gaby Roslin wrote: “Miss him so much. This is special and precious. Big love Andre.”

Actress Michelle Collins added: “This is unbelievable, so sad. Makes you realise what a wonderful person he was. Life can be so fragile. We have to really embrace it like Paul did, such a loss. Wish there were more like him x”

US Vice-President JD Vance has accused Denmark of leaving Greenland vulnerable to alleged incursions by China and Russia, as he asked its people to “cut a deal” with the US.

Speaking during a visit to the Arctic island, Vance minimised recent threats by President Donald Trump to take over the island by force.

Instead, he urged Greenlanders to sever its ties with Denmark, which has owned the island for more than 300 years, saying the nation had not invested enough to protect the semi-autonomous territory.

An overwhelming majority of Greenlanders oppose the idea of annexation, a poll indicated in January. Greenland’s prime minister has said the US visit showed a “lack of respect”.

And Denmark’s King Frederik also rejected the US plan.

“We live in an altered reality,” said the monarch on social media on Friday. “There should be no doubt that my love for Greenland and my connectedness to the people of Greenland are intact.”

Friday’s visit was initially billed as a “cultural” tour by Vance’s wife, Usha, where she would watch a dog-sledding race, but it spiralled over multiple days of adjustments as the visit attracted scrutiny and security concerns, with multiple protests planned.

Instead, Vance and the second lady were in Greenland for just a few hours, visiting just the Pituffik Space Base, a missile defence facility in the remote north of the island, some 930 miles (1,500km) from the capital, Nuuk.

He used the opportunity to take aim at Denmark, alleging it had to “keep the people of Greenland safe from a lot of very aggressive incursions from Russia, from China, and other nations”, without providing further details.

He specifically called out the countries for taking interest in routes and minerals in the region, as the island of 57,000 people is believed to hold massive untapped mineral and oil reserves.

In his remarks, Vance sought to reassure the people of Greenland that the US would not use military force to take the island from Denmark. Instead, he urged Greenlanders to embrace “self-determination” and sever ties with Denmark, which has controlled the region since 1721.

“We think we’re going to be able to cut a deal, Donald Trump-style, to ensure the security of this territory,” Vance said.

“We hope that they choose to partner with the United States, because we’re the only nation on Earth that will respect their sovereignty and respect their security, ” he said, adding “Their security is very much our security.”

The vice-president said the US did not have immediate plans to expand the American military presence on the ground, but would invest more resources, including naval ships and military icebreakers.

“Our message to Denmark is very simple,” Vance said.

“You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have under-invested in the people of Greenland and you have under-invested in the security of this incredible, beautiful landmass.”

Along with his wife, Vance was joined on trip by US national security adviser Mike Waltz, and energy secretary Chris Wright.

The outside temperature at Pituffik was -3F (-19 C).

Back at the White House, President Trump insisted the US needed Greenland to guarantee “peace of the entire world” and that its waterways had “Chinese and Russian ships all over the place”.

“We need Greenland, very importantly, for international security,” he said.

“We have to have Greenland. It’s not a question of: ‘Do you think we can do without it?’ We can’t.”

He said Denmark and the European Union understood the situation “and if they don’t, we’re going to have to explain it to them.”

In a statement to the BBC, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen took issue with Vance’s comments.

“For many years we have stood side by side with the Americans in very difficult situations,” she said. “Therefore, it is not an accurate way for the vice-president to refer to Denmark.”

She said Denmark had significantly increased defence spending, but would further boost its investment with more surveillance, new Arctic ships, long-range drones and satellite capacity.

“We are ready – day and night – to co-operate with the Americans,” she said. “A cooperation that must be based on the necessary international rules of the game.”

Greenland’s new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, said prior to Vance’s visit that it showed “a lack of respect for the Greenlandic people”.

In Greenland’s capital of Nuuk, some people the BBC spoke to were not won over by the US overtures.

At a cultural centre in the city, artist Karline Poulsen said: “There are many ways to say things. But I think the way President Trump is saying it is not the way.”

A woman who gave her name only as Nina said: “I’m concerned [about the visit]. This is kind of odd, I don’t like it.”

Her daughter, Anita, said the visit has caused “a lot of uncertainty and a lot of people are worried”.

Since 2009, Greenland has had the right to call an independence referendum, though in recent years some political parties have begun pushing more for it.

Greenland governs its own domestic affairs, but decisions on foreign and defence policy are made in Copenhagen. Five of the six main parties who participated in this month’s election favour independence from Denmark, but they disagree over the pace with which to reach it.

Trump first floated the idea of buying Greenland during his first term – and his desire to own the island has only grown with time.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he considered Trump’s plans for Greenland “serious”.

He expressed concern that “Nato countries, in general, are increasingly designating the Far North as a springboard for possible conflicts”.

Qupanuk Olsen, a Greenland politician with the pro-independence party Naleraq, told the BBC the country is taking the US interest in the island very serious.

“We’re afraid of being colonised again. We’ve been a colony for the past 300 years under Denmark, it still feels like it,” Olsen says. “Now another coloniser is interested in us.”

Troy Bouffard, a University of Alaska professor focused on arctic security, told the BBC that Trump is leaning on his business sense to accomplish what he wants in the region, rather than geopolitics or diplomacy.

“If you’re thinking of this issue only in terms of diplomacy, you’re going to miss out on what other options the US might have to close this deal to pressure the main actors into negotiating or compromising,” he said.

Mr Bouffard said the endgame for the US is to a have “much more robust relationship” with Greenland.

One of the potential scenarios could be axing Denmark from the picture, and having the US establish a relationship that replaces Denmark, he notes.

Mr Bouffard suggested it’s possible the US changes the nature of the relationship and takes on some responsibilities that normally belongs to Denmark.

Ana Faguy contributed reporting for this story.