Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Russia is closely monitoring the situation, after US President-elect Donald Trump refused to rule out military action to take Greenland from Denmark.

Peskov said the Arctic was in Russia's "sphere of national and strategic interests and it is interested in peace and stability there".

Trump's remarks on Greenland - a largely autonomous Danish territory - have drawn a warning from European leaders.

EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas has stressed that "we have to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Greenland", and Germany's Olaf Scholz has made clear that "borders must not be moved by force".

Trump said earlier this week that the US needed both Denmark and the Panama Canal "for economic security", and refused to rule out using either economic or military force in taking them over.

He also referred to the border with Canada as an "artificially drawn line". Denmark and Canada are both close Nato allies of the US.

Dmitry Peskov said Trump's claims were a matter for the US, Denmark and other nations, but Russia was watching the "rather dramatic" situation surrounding his remarks. "We are present in the Arctic zone, and we will continue to be present there," he said.

Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to dampen concern about the president-elect's remarks during a visit to Paris: "The idea is... obviously not a good one, but maybe more important, it's obviously one that's not going to happen."

About 56,000 people live in Greenland, and it is home to US as well as Danish military bases. It also has considerable untapped mineral and oil wealth.

Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede has been pushing for independence, although the territory's economy relies heavily on Danish subsidies.

Both he and the Danish leader have emphasised that it is "not for sale" and that its future is in the hands of Greenlanders themselves.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy played down Trump's comments, although he acknowledged the "intensity of his rhetoric and the unpredictability sometimes of what he said can be destabilising".

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said Copenhagen has a clear interest in ensuring that the US - "absolutely its closest ally" - plays a key role at a time of rising tensions in the North Atlantic, particularly involving Russia.

The European Commission said Trump's threat to Greenland was "extremely theoretical" and "wildly hypothetical", considering he was not yet in office.

However, it has confirmed that Greenland, as an overseas territory, does come under a mutual assistance clause requiring all EU states to come to its aid in case of attack.

The Kremlin ridiculed the European response, suggesting it was reacting "very timidly... almost in a whisper".

Last week, Greenland's leader said the territory should free itself from "the shackles of colonialism", although he made no mention of the US.

A former Greenland foreign minister, Pele Broberg, who now heads the biggest opposition party, told the BBC that most Greenlanders he talked to believed the US was vital for their defence and safety.

"We are part of the North American continent, that's why the defence of the US is in such a great place with regards to Greenland, because we create a buffer zone that doesn't need to be militarised."

He has called for a "free association agreement" with the US covering trade and defence which would give Greenland independence but hand the US responsibility for security.

Trump's allies have reinforced his views on Greenland.

Keith Kellogg, chosen by Trump to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, said a lot of the president-elect's remarks on Greenland made sense, "putting the United States in a position of global leadership".

Republican congressman Mike Walz told Fox News that the issue was "not just about Greenland, this is about the Arctic", because Russia was trying to take control of the polar region, with its mineral and natural resources.

"Denmark can be a great ally, but you can't treat Greenland, which they have operational control over, as some kind of backwater - it's in the Western hemisphere."

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss has sent a legal "cease and desist" letter to Sir Keir Starmer demanding he stop saying she "crashed the economy".

Her lawyers argue the claim made repeatedly by Sir Keir is "false and defamatory" and harmed her politically in the run-up to losing her South West Norfolk seat in the general election.

Truss was the UK's shortest-serving PM, forced to resign after just 49 days in office when borrowing costs soared in the aftermath of her government's mini-budget.

Downing Street has been approached for comment.

But Commons leader Lucy Powell told MPs "we won't cease and desist from telling the truth that they [the Conservatives] crashed the economy".

Also speaking in the Commons, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones said the actions taken by the Conservatives in government were "not just reckless and negligent - they had a direct impact on family finances".

Meanwhile, the pound has dropped to its lowest level in over a year and government borrowing costs have continued to rise as concerns about the public finances mount.

Sterling began to fall in value after UK 10-year borrowing costs rose again, surging to their highest level for 16 years.

Economists have warned these rising costs could force further tax rises or cuts in spending as the government tries to meet its self-imposed borrowing targets.

Powell said the cost of government debt often fluctuated "because of global markets", but argued the Truss government's mini-budget, in September 2022, which included wide-ranging tax cuts, had led to a market reaction "directly and immediately".

A "cease and desist" letter usually represents a warning that the recipient will face legal action if they continue the allegedly unlawful activity.

In the letter sent to Sir Keir on Wednesday, Truss's lawyers say his statements about their client are "false and misleading".

"Their publication is not only extremely damaging but also grossly defamatory and indefensible... It would be hard to avoid a conclusion that they were made maliciously," the letter adds.

Truss's lawyers say they are seeking "an amicable basis on which you will agree to cease repetition of what is clearly a factually incorrect and defamatory statement about our client.

"This request is made in the context of the basic levels of civility which is due between senior politicians, and we trust that you will respond accordingly."

The letter argues that the movements in financial markets during Truss's tenure in No 10 should not be classified as an economic crash.

The weeks following the mini-budget saw adverse market reaction and mortgage costs soar.

At the Conservative Party conference in October, Truss said it would be "economic illiteracy" to suggest that tax rises from Labour - at that point anticipated in Rachel Reeves' upcoming first Budget - were a result of her economic inheritance.

Deadly wildfires have devastated parts of the city of Los Angeles and the wider county, destroying many homes and businesses, as well as schools and places of worship.

Here are some of the most striking images of places seen before and after the wildfires tore through them.

• Follow live: New wildfire sweeps through Hollywood Hills
• In maps: Thousands of acres on fire in LA
• What role is climate change playing?

Pacific Palisades

This affluent suburb is among those that have been the hardest hit, with many residents being unable to gather much or anything of value before they were had to flee.

Below are images showing the destruction some businesses have suffered.

The Palisades Charter High School is among landmarks in the Pacific Palisades area to have been damaged in the fires.

The well-known school counts celebrities including Will.i.am and Forest Whitaker among its alumni, and has been a filming location for Hollywood hits including Carrie, Teen Wolf and Freaky Friday.

Read more about what happened to the school here.

Pacific Coast Highway

Houses that sit along parts of the major state highway have also been hit by the Palisades fire, including in the city of Malibu.

Satellite imagery below shows what the coastline looked like before and after the fires took hold.

Altadena

The Eaton Fire has destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses in Altadena, which lies behind the mountains north of Los Angeles.

Below you can see the damage the fire caused to one home, as well as a wider look at the full extent of the damage the neighbourhood has suffered.

Pasadena

In nearby Pasadena, a Jewish temple was among the buildings lost to the Eaton Fire.

According to its website, the temple's congregation has more than 100 years of history in the area.

A wildfire that started in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles on Tuesday morning has spread across the west of the city at an alarming rate throughout Tuesday and overnight.

High winds and very dry conditions further fuelled the flames, causing the blaze to rip through neighbourhoods at alarming speeds. The fires reportedly spread from a size of 10 acres to nearly 3,000 in a matter of hours.

Firefighters have been battling the flames throughout the night, as residents were forced to flee amid evacuation orders affecting tens of thousands of people.

Photographers have captured dramatic scenes across the west of the city as firefighters work to control the fires.

The BBC's Regan Morris reported on fires raging out of control, leaving those without power and phone signal unable to receive updates on the latest evacuation alerts.

Meanwhile, CBS reporter Jonathan Vigliotti said firefighters were no longer "trying to save" houses in the Palisades, "they're trying to prevent these flames from jumping to other neighbourhoods".