Greenland’s capital is hardly what most people would consider a geopolitical hot spot or a hot spot of any kind, with average summer temperatures hovering in the low 40s F. Nevertheless, the city of just 20,000 residents has quickly become one of the most closely watched diplomatic hubs on earth. Both Canada and France have bolstered their ambassadorial presences in Nuuk with newly opened consulates, all under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s outspoken imperial ambitions for the Danish territory.

‘Everyone in the world looking at us’
Greenlanders are “curious about the expanding diplomatic presence” in their capital, said CTV News. Canada’s and France’s new outposts “double the number of nations that hold consulates on the island,” which previously hosted only Greenland and the U.S. “We get everyone in the world looking at us,” said Nuuk resident Gaba Christiansen to CTV. 

Canada, in particular, has “obvious reasons for wanting a diplomatic toehold” in Nuuk, including geographic proximity and shared Inuit populations, said The New York Times. France’s connection to Greenland is “less clear,” although French officials have “positioned their move as part of Europe’s pushback” to Trump’s expansionist aspirations.

‘Ill-timed’ and ‘performative’
Canada will “stand together” with Greenland on “defense and security, on economic resilience and bilateral ties, on issues relating to climate change and also Arctic cooperation,” said Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand at the flag-raising ceremony outside the newly opened consulate last week. But not all of Canada is as enthusiastic about deepening ties with Nuuk while relations with the U.S. remain frosty.

Pushing ahead with the consular opening is “ill-timed,” serving only to “further distance us” from the U.S.,” said The Winnipeg Sun. Opening the consulate is a “silly, performative action” that has taken “virtue signaling to a new level.”

For the French, whose consulate opening follows a “high-profile visit” by President Emmanuel Macron in December, Canada is a “partner and a friend here,” said one French diplomat to Politico. “We have a very constant dialogue with them.”

Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and other GLP-1s have been touted as miracle drugs with a myriad of health benefits. However, they come at a high environmental cost. The manufacturing of these weight-loss medications can produce toxic byproducts that end up in waterways and increase plastic waste. So scientists are working to clean up the process.

How do they affect the environment?
GLP-1s are peptide drugs that produce “unsustainable volumes of toxic waste and nondegradable solid supports,” said a study published in the journal Nature Sustainability. Peptide manufacturing uses a method called solid phase peptide synthesis, which “anchors the first amino acid building block to a synthetic resin, such as polystyrene beads,” said Futurism. Then, toxic solvents, “including dimethylformamide, a component of paint strippers,” are used to “add each amino acid one by one, which can then leak into the water supply.” 

Peptide drugs are also “cold chain dependent,” which means “every unit must be refrigerated from factory to pharmacy shelf, multiplying emissions across the supply chain,” said IDR Medical. Along with the manufacturing process, the use of the drugs creates its own waste. Patients who take GLP-1 injectables self-inject once per week, sending millions of disposable auto-injectors to landfills.

Could it be cleaner?
The increased usage of GLP-1s may help the environment in some ways, however. By treating diabetes and obesity, they could “reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease, kidney failure and other conditions, each of which carries a heavy environmental cost through surgeries, hospitalizations and long-term drug use,” said IDR Medical. 

Even so, unless “manufacturing and delivery evolve, the environmental gains from healthier populations could be offset by the waste created to get there,” said IDR Medical. Luckily, a better way to produce peptide drugs may be on the horizon in the form of water-based synthesis. The method pairs amino acids with specific salts, making them water-soluble. 

Certain cancer treatments, as well as crop treatments, veterinary drugs and cosmetic ingredients, also require peptide synthesis. “Why are we still making life-saving medicines using chemical processes that produce mountains of toxic waste?” said study author John Wade. “Could water, the cleanest and most familiar solvent of all, offer a way out?”

Demonstrators shield themselves from a water cannon with wooden boards amid clashes between police and demonstrators during a workers' union protest in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The protesters oppose labor law reform, led by President Javier Milei's administration, that would restrict the right to strike and roll back employee protections.
Tomas Cuesta / Getty Images

Superhero films aren’t for everyone, but a core of dedicated fans that seems to replenish itself when each new generation reaches adolescence keeps the category at the top of Hollywood’s box office hierarchy. It certainly wasn’t always this way, but these smashes helped put the superpowered on top.

‘Superman: The Movie’ (1978)
While its pacing feels positively laconic by modern standards, the original “Superman” was a groundbreaking feature, giving the superhero category its patina of seriousness and Hollywood credibility. It’s an effective effects-driven film that “pointed the way for a B-picture genre of earlier decades to transform itself into the ruling genre of today,” said Roger Ebert in 2010. (HBO Max)

‘Iron Man’ (2008)
The culmination of Robert Downey Jr.’s return to stardom after years of substance abuse and personal struggles, “Iron Man” cemented his Hollywood superstar status and turned the films into his own vehicle. His performance is the “beating heart that makes the whole movie tick,” said Tim Brayton at Alternate Ending. (Disney+)

‘Black Panther’ (2018)
One of a handful of superhero movies to break category containment and influence the broader culture, director Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” was a genuine sensation. Its vision of a “black utopia, a place at the root of all blackness, self-sufficient and untouched by slavery or colonialism,” is part of what made it an international sensation, but it was also Marvel’s “first genuine masterpiece,” said K. Austin Collins at The Ringer. (Disney+)