• US F-16s flew to Greenland for force posturing after Russian aircraft were detected in the Arctic.
• The US and Greenland continue their standard agreement for presence in the Arctic region.
• Tensions are high as President Trump continues pressing his desire to buy Greenland.

US F-16 fighter jets flew to Greenland earlier this week, highlighting the vast autonomous territory's long-standing role in supporting North American defense, even as the new administration complicates matters with new landgrab ambitions.

Right now is an unusually tense time between the US and Denmark, a longtime American ally, as President Donald Trump continues to push forward on ambitions to acquire Greenland. His newly confirmed secretary of state, Marco Rubio, says he's serious.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command confirmed Thursday that it monitored the activity of multiple Russian military aircraft in the Arctic earlier this week. The aircraft remained in international airspace and weren't seen as a threat, but as part of its defense mission, NORAD regularly scrambles patrol aircraft to monitor these situations.

Two patrols — one from the Canadian NORAD region and the other from the Alaskan NORAD region — were dispatched to track the activity. The Canadian patrol consisted of two Canadian CF-18s and KC-135 refueling aircraft, while the Alaskan patrol included two American F-35s, one E-3, and two KC-135 refueling aircraft.

Several hours after those patrols, NORAD "sent two F-16s from Alaska to Greenland exercising its standard agreement with Greenland to forward posture NORAD presence in the activity." The command said that the dispatch was not in response to any current threat.

Aircraft with the bilateral NORAD command regularly deploy to Pituffik Space Base on the western tip of northern Greenland. NORAD Public Affairs said that these aircraft "support various long planned NORAD activities with our allies and partners, building on the longstanding defense cooperation between the US, Canada, and the Kingdom of Denmark."

The routine activity highlights that Greenland isn't simply land; it is part of a strategic partnership.

In recent months, President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in a US acquisition of Greenland, a self-ruling Danish territory. He has called the island, which is rich in natural resources, an "absolutely necessity" and has even suggested using force or coercion to bring it under US control.

Trump's comments on Greenland have been met with a wide range of responses and confusion, especially with Greenlanders and US partners in Europe, but on Thursday, the newly sworn-in US secretary of state, Rubio, said on The Megyn Kelly Show on SiriusXM that Trump's desire to acquire the island is "not a joke."

He said "this is not about acquiring land for the purpose of acquiring land. This is in our national interest, and it needs to be solved."

Beyond its natural resources, Greenland is also primely located in an area of growing strategic competition: the Arctic. It could support the US force posture in the Arctic, making it easier to monitor and counter China and Russia's ambitions in the region. China is a critical factor in Trump's attitude on the Panama Canal, as well.

In response to Rubio's remarks on Trump's ambitions, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Friday, "I would be more surprised if he said it was a joke," per Danish public broadcaster TV2. "We have no interest in selling Greenland to the US, it will not happen."

• OpenAI introduced o3-mini, a cost-efficient reasoning AI model, on Friday.
• The release comes as DeepSeek's R1 model shakes up the tech industry.
• OpenAI said the o3-mini excels in science, math, and coding.

OpenAI's first small reasoning model is here just weeks after a Chinese AI startup emerged as a potential competitor to its artificial intelligence lineup.

The ChatGPT maker launched OpenAI o3-mini, its "most cost-efficient model" in its reasoning series, on Friday. The model was previewed in December, but the release date comes in the same week that DeepSeek's open-source R1 model disrupted Big Tech.

R1 prompted OpenAI to say it was investigating whether DeekSeek "may have inappropriately distilled" the tech company's models.

"We know that groups in the PRC (People's Republic of China) are actively working to use methods, including what's known as distillation, to try to replicate advanced US AI models," an OpenAI spokesperson previously told BI.

While analysts examined the investment strategies of companies like Meta and Microsoft during their earnings calls, the affordability and efficiency of R1 has raised questions.

Most companies have doubled down on investing heavily in AI, and it appears OpenAI is also beefing up its financial arsenal. The company is reportedly discussing a $25 billion investment from SoftBank in its latest funding round, which could give it a $300 billion valuation.

Like R1, o3-mini is meant to handle complex questions, and OpenAI says it's particularly strong in science, math, and coding. Developers can set reasoning to low, medium, or high, depending on how complicated the challenge is.

ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro users have access to o3-mini starting Friday, and free plan users can try it out using the "Reason" option.

The Chicago Cubs have made impactful additions for 2025. They could use another starting pitcher. Is San Diego Padres hurler Michael King a realistic target?

The New York Mets have been trying to acquire ace Dylan Cease from the San Diego Padres. Could they do that while also adding Jake Cronenworth to the deal?

Republicans in the House are looking to deliver on promises made by President Donald Trump.

Government websites for agencies including the FAA reportedly went dark temporarily as President Trump floated a pause on Friday.

Dallas has rounded out their coaching staff with a major hire on Friday.

• Some 18,000 Costco workers might walk off the job on Saturday when their contract expires.
• Ahead of the deadline, Costco announced pay raises for non-union employees.
• That move might have unintended consequences, a legal expert told BI.

The clock is ticking for Costco to strike a deal with 18,000 unionized warehouse workers threatening to strike.

The company has been negotiating with the union, Costco Teamsters, ahead of the expiration of their existing contract at the end of the day on January 31.

Against that backdrop, the company announced this week in a widely circulated memo that its 2025 Employee Agreement, which covers its nonunionized employees, would include successive pay raises that push compensation to over $30 an hour for workers at the top of its pay scale. A spokesperson from Costco did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Andrea Schneider, a law professor at Yeshiva University who is an expert in conflict resolution, told Business Insider that Costco likely made the announcement to lessen "the incentive for a strike" by assuaging concerns about stagnant wages. Compensation is commonly the motivating factor behind a work stoppage.

She added that the pay raise proposal could be the same one that Costco management offered the union. While it's a smart PR move, it might have unintended consequences, she said.

"I think Costco's response to immediately grant the salary increases to everybody is in some way to lessen that chatter and to say, 'Well, you don't need the Teamsters. We'll take good care of you. Trust us to do the right thing,'" Schneider said. "Now, the Teamsters are in a position where they have to get more than what the non-unionized would get."

Matt McQuaid, a Teamsters spokesperson, told BI that wages, pensions, and increased protections of union rights are the outstanding issues at the bargaining table on which the parties have yet to agree.

"There are still 18,000 unionized workers who know their worth and are demanding it," McQuaid said in a statement. "Don't forget Costco wouldn't even be entertaining this increase if not for the immense pressure the Teamsters are putting on them to respect their employees."

On social media, the Teamsters said Costco is offering low raises compared to the $7.4 billion in profits the company reported last year.

"So how's the company rewarding workers? By proposing less than 3 percent raises, kicking workers just $1 in the first year of a new contract. That's not even enough to buy a Costco hot dog," the union said in a Facebook post.

Earlier this month, the union voted "overwhelmingly" to go on strike should the company and the union fail to reach an agreement by the Friday night deadline.

With such strong support within the union, Schneider said Costco may have put itself in a tricky spot despite trying to protect its worker-friendly image.

"In some ways, they've made it more difficult for themselves because the union is not going to back down unless there's something more," she said. "Either there's going to be more money for the union, which is, I think, going to be very hard, or there's going to be some other kinds of benefits or protections or something like that that has to roll out for the union because the Teamsters need to demonstrate their worth. These 18,000 members are paying union dues, they're taking time to organize, they're threatening the strike. They've got to get something for that."

Anti-abortion activist Herb Geraghty of Pennsylvania sought to reject a pardon from the president.

Governer Greg Abbott's proclomation calls for the removal of social media apps owned by Chinese companies on government devices.

A$AP Relli directly addressed A$AP Rocky during his assault trial in Los Angeles, telling the judge his alleged shooter was "staring" at him.

• Robinhood's media arm, Sherwood, has laid off staff.
• "We made the decision to streamline team structure," a spokesperson said.
• Sherwood joins several media companies that have conducted layoffs this year.

Sherwood, the media arm of the financial tech giant Robinhood, has laid off staff.

Sherwood joins several other publishers that have cut staff this year, including NBC News, CNN, TechCrunch, and Vox.

"Over the past 18 months, Sherwood has hired dozens of journalists, launched new products, and acquired the newsletter brand Chartr," a Robinhood spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement. "As we built out our 2025 strategy, we made the decision to streamline team structure."

The spokesperson declined to say how many employees were impacted but said it was a small percentage of staff.

"Moving forward, Sherwood is focused on expanding its operations around timely, breaking markets news as we build through 2025," the spokesperson added.

Robinhood unveiled its media arm in 2023 under the Sherwood branding. It was set up as an independent subsidiary led by the journalist and entrepreneur Joshua Topolsky, who serves as its editor-in-chief and president.

Axios reported that when the Sherwood News website launched in April 2024, the outlet had roughly three dozen employees, including two dozen veteran journalists from Bloomberg, The New York Times, Axios, and Gawker.

Sherwood's editorial focus includes markets, tech, and "the culture of money."

The website features a section dedicated to Snacks, the popular newsletter Robinhood acquired in 2019. Robinhood also purchased Chartr, a data-driven newsletter publisher focused on visual storytelling, in 2023.

• A US Navy destroyer used its deck gun to shoot down a Houthi drone in the Red Sea last year.
• A top commander revealed details of the battle for the first time this week.
• USS Stockdale and other American forces thwarted the massive Houthi missile and drone attack.

A US Navy destroyer operating in the Red Sea last year used its five-inch deck gun to shoot a Houthi drone out of the sky, a top commander revealed this week.

The American destroyer, USS Stockdale, was sailing from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden in November when the attack unfolded, said Vice Adm. Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East.

"As we were heading south, I would say that we were in for a fight, and everybody in the crew knew it," Cooper, who was aboard the Stockdale at the time, told the WEST 2025 conference on Thursday.

After a few quiet hours, the Houthis suddenly launched a ballistic missile from Yemen in the direction of the Stockdale. They launched a second, and a third, and then a fourth missile.

"It was a complex, sophisticated, coordinated attack," Cooper recalled.

The sailors aboard the ship thwarted the initial attack around midnight, but it wasn't over. A few minutes later, the Houthis fired an anti-ship cruise missile, but it was shot down by fighter jets from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

The battle continued into the night. The rebels fired more missiles and drones, which were destroyed by US fighter jets and warships. The Navy responded by launching strikes into Yemen.

At nearly 2 a.m. local time, a low-flying Houthi drone crossed in front of the Stockdale, but it was detected late. A kill order was given.

"To be frank, I thought there was no way they were going to hit it. A couple of seconds later, the five-inch gun is blasting away, and sure enough, they downed that thing," Cooper said. "It just doesn't happen." He said that people erupted in cheers for a solid 15 seconds after the intercept.

"It's a big high-five when you shoot something down with a missile," he said. "But there's a lot of high-fives when you shoot something down with a gun, kind of World War II-style."

The MK-45 is a five-inch artillery gun mounted to the deck of a warship. It is one of many ways a vessel can protect itself, along with surface-to-air missiles, which have been the tool of choice for the US during the Houthi conflict. The Stockdale fended off multiple attacks in the fall while it was deployed to the Middle East.

Over the past 15 months, the rebels have launched over 140 attacks on commercial vessels and targeted US Navy warships more than 170 times with anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, Cooper said. US forces have shot down around 480 Houthi drones.

The Houthis have claimed that their attacks on civilian and merchant ships are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. After Israel and Hamas signed cease-fire deal earlier this month, the rebels said they would limit their Red Sea operations.

Beyond their attacks on shipping lanes, the Houthis have also fired 40 medium-range ballistic missiles and around 300 long-range drones at Israel, Cooper said. Most of the projectiles have been shot down by American and Israeli forces.

The new Trump administration could dramatically affect the US military's approach to the Houthis. Shortly after the inauguration, the White House announced that it was re-designating the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization, reversing a decision by former President Joe Biden to remove the rebels from that list.

Hailie Deegan has opened up on her time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Georgia's tort reform targets rising insurance rates. Critics argue it restricts consumer rights and benefits insurers.

Several federal websites tracking climate science and health care issues like HIV prevention and transgender care were down as of Friday afternoon.

Why it matters: The sites included topics like contraception, transgender issues and climate change that President Trump and Republicans have repeatedly targeted.

---

• The administration immediately began changing White House websites after his inauguration.
• The Trump administration did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

State of play: The following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sites or datasets were scrubbed as of Friday afternoon, though it's not immediately clear what day they were removed:

• The Youth Risk Behavior Survey
• AtlasPlus, which housed HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis and STD information
• A contraception page for health care providers
• A page on ending gender-based violence
• Evidence supporting recommendations for HPV vaccination harmonization across genders, ages 22 through 26 years
• Heart disease death rates by gender, by county, Florida
• Information about transgender and gender diverse people (archived Friday morning)
• Pages related to the HIV prevention drug PrEP
• Social vulnerability index, related to demographic and socioeconomic factors adversely affecting communities
• Health Disparities Among LGBTQ Youth

Context: Trump on Jan. 22 ordered key federal health agencies to pause all external communications.

• He's targeted transgender health care in several executive orders.
• He also pulled the U.S. from the World Health Administration.

Zoom out: USDA websites that were down as of Friday afternoon included:

• The climate change homepage and resources
• A page on climate change and its effects

Catch up quick: Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, which takes a year, and targeted Biden administration climate protections.

Go deeper: Tracking Trump's executive orders: What he's signed so far

Editor's note: This is a developing story and will be updated.

• The American Airlines jet that crashed in DC was given a runway change minutes before the tragedy.
• Audio tapes show the military helicopter had the passenger plane "in sight" before the collision.
• The NTSB will look at pilot and air traffic control actions when investigating the crash.

In the minutes before an American Airlines flight crashed into the Potomac River in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, an air traffic controller requested a last-minute runway change.

The regional jet, operated by PSA Airlines, was descending over Virginia and headed for the north-facing "Mount Vernon Visual Runway 1" approach at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Pilots had confirmed their approach to air traffic controllers at the airport tower around 8:42 p.m.

Moments later, a controller reported high crosswinds on Runway 1 and asked the pilots to shift to the intersecting runway.

"Bluestreak 5342 Washington Tower winds are 320 at 17, gusts 25. Can you take Runway 33?" the controller said. Bluestreak is the call sign for PSA flights.

The pilots agreed, and within minutes, the plane collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter. All 67 people on board both aircraft died.

Business Insider reviewed official briefings, flight data, and air traffic control audio recordings to piece together what happened before tragedy struck.

The plane and helicopter's final moments of flight

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport is an extremely busy airspace, but officials said it was a largely normal night of flying. Winds were gusty — something pilots are trained for — and the skies were clear.

The American flight had been approaching from the south, following the Potomac River along a well-known path for pilots and frequent flyers of the DC area.

The narrow corridor helps separate traffic from highly secure airspace around the White House, Pentagon, and other government buildings.

Seconds before the American flight agreed to change its path, another PSA jet responded to the same request to shift to Runway 33 as "unable," meaning it was not in a position to make the adjustment.

That flight, from Montgomery, Alabama, landed on Runway 1 as planned and continued to its gate.

The PSA pilots of flight 5342 accepting the change is not unusual. Runway 33 is a shorter strip that faces Northwest and can handle a regional aircraft like the Bombardier CRJ700 the pilots were flying.

The switch-up required the plane to move from its north-facing heading toward the Potomac's east bank before swinging back over the river to land.

At approximately 8:43 p.m., flight 5342 was cleared to land.

At the same time as the crew of flight 5342 was prepping for the new runway, an Army Black Hawk helicopter was making its way south along the river's eastern shore, following a standard, published path known as "Route 4."

Several of these channels cut through the DC area, allowing military aircraft to coexist with commercial traffic in and out of airports.

At about 8:47 p.m., a controller asked the helicopter, call sign PAT25, if they had "the CRJ in sight" and to pass behind it. The CRJ refers to the regional CRJ700 aircraft operated by PSA.

The helicopter pilot confirmed that they had the "aircraft in sight" and requested "visual separation."

Just seconds later, gasps from controllers can be heard on the audio tapes. ATC began canceling flight landings and diverting planes from National.

DC fire chief John Donnelly said emergency vehicles were on the scene by 8:58 p.m. to begin rescue operations.

Human factors are just one consideration for investigators

At a briefing Thursday, officials from the National Transportation Safety Board said teams will examine human factors as they piece together a complete picture of the crash.

"They will study the crew performance and all of the actions and factors that might be involved in human error, including fatigue, medication, medical histories, training, workload, equipment design, and work environment," NTSB member Todd Inman said. They'll also be combing through the wreckage and other evidence for clues as to what went wrong.

A preliminary FAA report obtained by the New York Times and others said staffing at National's ATC tower was "not normal" at the time of the crash. The outlet reported that the controller was handling the duties of two people, including directing helicopters in the area and passenger planes landing and taking off.

Brian Alexander, a military helicopter pilot and a partner at aviation accident firm Kreindler & Kreindler, told BI that the nighttime conditions, many aircraft lights, and busy skies may have contributed to the catastrophe.

"There was another jet on final, a couple of other jets on final, and it's conceivable the helicopter pilot was watching the wrong aircraft," he said, emphasizing that was speculation at this point.

An airline pilot previously told BI that flying in and out of National was like "threading a needle" due to the highly restricted corridors and heavy traffic, including low-flying helicopters.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a former Black Hawk pilot, told reporters that military pilots generally wouldn't talk directly to PSA pilots on the radio, but "everyone's listening on the same frequency."

She said the PSA plane would know that the Black Hawk was in the area but would be relying on ATC as the intermediary.

"Did one of the aircraft stray away latitude, sideways in the airspace from the route that they were supposed to be on? Was the Black Hawk higher than the 200 feet?" Duckworth said. "These are all things that the accident investigators would be looking at."

The NTSB said its preliminary report is expected to be published within 30 days.

• "Paradise," a new thriller, premiered this week.
• Shows like "Mythic Quest," "The Bachelor," and "The Recruit" returned.
• Movies including "Goodrich" and "You're Cordially Invited" are streaming.

Several new and returning shows aired this week.

Hulu's new series "Paradise" provides a twist on the typical political thriller. Meanwhile, shows including the Netflix drama "The Recruit" and the hit reality dating show "The Bachelor" both premiered new seasons this week.

Theatrical releases, like last year's "Goodrich," and new streaming-only films, like the rom-com "You're Cordially Invited," are out now, too.

Here's a complete rundown of all the best movies, shows, and documentaries to stream this weekend, broken down by what kind of entertainment you're into.

• First Disney, then Meta. Now it looks like Paramount is planning to settle a Trump lawsuit.
• In normal times, Trump's suits against media and tech companies that upset him would face a steep challenge.
• But since Trump won in November, things have changed. Is this how business will work for the next four years?

Disney paid Donald Trump $15 million. Meta paid $22 million.

Next question: How much will Paramount pay?

The question after that: How many more giant tech and media companies will pay the president of the United States to settle lawsuits?

And the truly big question hanging over all of this: Is this just going to be how business works during Trump 2.0?

Here's the context: Donald Trump has a history of filing lawsuits — or at least threatening to file lawsuits — against people and companies he says have besmirched his image. But until he won his second presidential election in the fall, he had only scattered success when he did that.

Things are different now.

In December, Disney agreed to make a $15 million donation to Trump's future presidential library to settle a defamation suit. Earlier this week, Meta agreed to donate $22 million to the same library to settle a suit Trump filed after the company suspended his Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Now Paramount is in talks to make a similar settlement, as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have reported and I've confirmed. (A Paramount rep declined to comment; I've asked the Trump White House for comment.) And there will be enormous pressure on the newspaper publisher Gannett to settle another suit Trump filed after the election.

There are some differences between the suits. The Disney suit, for instance, was a somewhat straightforward defamation claim, focused on comments ABC's anchor George Stephanopoulos made during a live interview. The Meta case revolved around Trump's argument that the company had violated his First Amendment rights.

The Paramount and Gannett filings accuse those companies of election interference and consumer fraud, respectively. Trump was specifically unhappy with the way Paramount's "60 Minutes" program handled an interview with Kamala Harris, and about a poll Gannett's Des Moines Register published before the election that projected he would lose in Iowa.

What all those suits had in common: lots of skepticism and eye-rolling from legal experts who said Trump would have a very difficult time making his case.

But as it turns out, when the person making that case turns out to be the most powerful man in the world, the equation gets reworked.

Again, each situation is different: Disney sources told The New York Times they were worried the suit could end up at the Supreme Court, and that a loss there could set back First Amendment rights. Meta's settlement comes as Mark Zuckerberg has made a loud and dramatic pivot to become a Trump supporter.

In Paramount's case, both its current owner — Shari Redstone — and the man who wants to buy it — Oracle's founder Larry Ellison, on behalf of his son, David — are aligned with Trump to varying degrees. But that deal requires federal approval, and Brendan Carr, Trump's pick to run the Federal Communications Commission, has already said he intends to scrutinize the way Paramount's CBS handled the "60 Minutes" interview. Technically, Trump's suit and the FCC's approval of the deal are considered separate issues. But it's easy enough to draw a dotted line.

It's also easy to see a stark pattern emerging: Powerful companies with enormous legal resources are deciding that they're better off making a payment — in the form of a donation — to Trump than fighting him.

If you're reading this, that suggests you have some interest in the news. For people who care about news — or any of the protections the First Amendment provides — all of this likely sounds chilling. But even if you're a press/media/Big Tech skeptic or foe, you might worry about the lawsuits and settlements, and the precedent they set. What happens when Donald Trump — or a future president — comes after a company or industry you care about?

The FDA and FSIS both update their websites with information of new food related recalls as they happen.