Foreign News
Canada’s Carney makes statement by choosing Europe, not US, for first foreign trip
Two European politicians, dressed symbolically in red and white, sent a message last week to Canada on social media declaring “we’ve got your back”.
Also signalling support was King Charles, who planted a red maple tree on the grounds of Buckingham Palace and wore his Canadian medals during a high-profile visit to a naval warship.
Canada’s new Prime Minister Mark Carney has arrived in Paris before heading to London on Monday – a day after his 60th birthday – for his first foreign visit hoping to achieve more than symbolic encouragement. He wants solid support from allies.
Not only is Canada being targeted, like Europe, by a raft of swingeing US tariffs, but Donald Trump is making it clear he wants to take over his northern neighbour.
“We appreciate all the symbolic gestures but we need more public backing,” a Canadian official told me in a voice which underlined the nervous disbelief shared by most Canadians – Trump is not joking when he calls Canada the United States’s “51st state”.
The official messaging from Ottawa about Carney’s trip underlines his priorities – finance and fortifying security – a natural fit for the economist who headed the central banks in both Canada and the UK. A statement from his office said his visit is meant “to strengthen two of our closest and longest-standing economic and security partnerships”.
His itinerary is full of great symbolism too.
Carney revealed it on Friday during his first speech as prime minister when he hearkened back – with a shiny polish – to the origins of this former colony. He hailed “the wonder of a country built on the bedrock of three peoples: indigenous, French and British”.
So there’s a third destination on this whistle-stop tour – Iqaluit, the capital of Canada’s northernmost territory of Nunavut and homeland of its Inuit people. That stop, the statement emphasised, was to “reaffirm Canada’s Arctic security and sovereignty”.
Spectacular Arctic and northern terrain makes up 40% of the land mass of the world’s second largest country. Protecting it is a critical Canadian concern in the midst of intensifying rivalry among world powers in the Arctic region, which has drawn in the US, Russia, China and more; it’s the cold war of all cold wars.
And there’s a personal twist. Carney was born in the small town of Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories, which lies next to Nunavut.
His schedule underlines that he also needs to be a quick study in a new skill – retail politics. A federal election, which has to be held by October, is expected to be called very soon. Carney needs to prove that he can engage with voters, in English and French, as naturally as he does with bankers and finance bosses.
And he needs a proper political mandate. He secured a whopping 86% of the vote when his Liberal Party chose to replace Justin Trudeau, who stepped down as [rime minister amid growing calls to resign from his own party after a decade at the top.
But Carney doesn’t have a seat in parliament; he still doesn’t have the vote of Canadians.
His Liberal party has just experienced a dramatic reversal, a “Trump bump” as well as a Trudeau one. The party which seemed certain to lose, and lose badly, is now tied with its main Conservative rivals in the polls.
Looking like a world leader, and understanding the world of tariffs and trade, is a good look when you are running for high office in the dark shadow of an external threat.
“I think part of the purpose of Mark Carney’s trip to Europe is to show that he can talk internationally to other like-minded powers at this very important moment,” reflects the eminent Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan.
Back home, voters will decide if that is what counts.
Carney is certain to talk Trump tactics, in private, with France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. They’ve both taken great pains to flatter the US president in public, and press their case behind closed doors.
Many will be watching to see how Trump addresses Mark Carney – he recently referred to Canada’s former prime minister as “Governor Trudeau”.
Canada’s new top talker has been talking tough.
A week ago, when Carney won his party’s leadership contest, he invoked Canada’s national sport, ice hockey, which has long been locked in rivalry with US teams. “Canadians are always ready when someone else drops the gloves,” Carney declared to rousing applause.
“Make no mistake, Canada will win.”
But everyone knows this is no game. Carney described this escalating trade war as “the greatest crisis of our lifetime”. More than 80% of Canada’s exports cross the border to the US.
And while there have been a few reports of Canadians flying the US flag, a recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute underlined that a thumping 91% of Canadians reject becoming the 51st state.
On Friday, in Ottawa’s icy cold weather, Carney struck a warmer tone, highlighting how he and Trump share a background in business, including real estate.
“The president is a successful businessperson and dealmaker. We are his largest client in so many industries,” he remarked. “Clients expect respect and working together in a proper commercial way.”
Carney says he “looks forward” to speaking with President Trump. But the fact it will be a call, not a visit, is a measure of this moment. Traditionally, the first foreign visit of a Canadian leader is to the US – its closest neighbour and most trusted partner.
[BBC]
At least two dozen people have been killed after gunmen opened fire on a group of domestic tourists visiting a popular beauty spot in Indian-administered Kashmir, authorities have told the BBC.
The attack took place in Pahalgam, a picturesque town in the Himalayas often described as the “Switzerland of India”.
The region’s chief minister, Omar Abdullah, said the attack was “much larger than anything we’ve seen directed at civilians in recent years”. Reports suggest that there are a large number of wounded, with some in critical condition.
US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and EU chief Ursula Von der Leyen were among world leaders who condemned the attacks.
“Deeply disturbing news out of Kashmir. The United States stands strong with India against Terrorism,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Von der Leyen called the Kashmir deaths a “vile terrorist attack”, while Putin expressed “sincere condolences” for the consequences of a “brutal crime”.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi – who cut short his trip to Saudi Arabia in the wake of the attack – said the perpetrators would “be brought to justice”.
“Our resolve to fight terrorism is unshakeable and it will get even stronger,” Modi wrote in a statement on X.
Tuesday’s attack is unusual in that, in three and a half decades of conflict, tourists have rarely been targeted – especially on such a scale.
Home Minister Amit Shah travelled to Srinagar, Kashmir’s largest city, on Tuesday to hold an emergency security meeting.
The region’s Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, said the army and police had been deployed to the scene.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. There has been a long-running insurgency in the Muslim-majority region since 1989, although violence has waned in recent years.
The attack took place in Baisaran, a mountain-top meadow three miles (5km) from Pahalgam.
Vehicles are unable to reach the area where the shooting occurred, Inspector General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Vidi Kumar Birdi told BBC Hindi.
A tourist from Gujarat, who was part of a group that was fired upon, said that chaos broke out after the sudden attack, and everybody started running, crying and shouting.
Video footage shared by Indian media outlets appears to show Indian troops running towards the scene of the attack, while in other footage victims can be heard saying that the gunmen had singled out non-Muslims.
Footage on social media, which has not been verified by the BBC, appears to show bodies lying on a meadow with people crying and pleading for help.
Police said multiple tourists had been taken to hospital with gunshot wounds. The area has been cordoned off and soldiers are stopping vehicles at checkpoints. A joint search operation by the Indian army and Jammu and Kashmir police is ongoing.
Several protests have been organised for Wednesday, according to Indian media.
Since the 1990s, an armed separatist insurgency against Indian rule in the region has claimed tens of thousands of lives, including those of civilians and security forces.
The Himalayan region was divided following India’s independence from Britain, partition and the creation of Pakistan in 1947.
The two uclear armed states both claim the region in its entirety and have fought two wars and a limited conflict over it in the decades since.
Some 500,000 Indian soldiers are permanently deployed in the territory. The government claims the security situation has improved and violence has come down since Modi revoked Kashmir’s partial autonomy in 2019, although there are still incidents of violence.
The last major attack on civilians occurred in June 2024 when nine people were killed and 33 injured after militants opened fire on a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims. In 2019, a suicide bombing in Indian administered Kashmir killed at least 46 soldiers and prompted Indian airstrikes on targets in Pakistan.
Pahalgam is a popular tourist destination, both domestically and internationally, and in recent years the government has attempted to encourage further tourism to the region.
Around 3.5 million tourists visited Kashmir in 2024, according to official figures.
[BBC]
Police in Ecuador say they have arrested four people in connection with an attack by gunmen at a cockfighting ring in which 12 people died.
Weapons and replica police and army uniforms were seized during police raids in the north-western Manabí province on Friday – a day after the attack in the rural community of La Valencia.
Footage of the attack shared on social media showed gunmen entering the ring and opening fire, as terrified spectators dived for cover.
Reports in local media suggested the attackers in fake military gear were members of a criminal gang whose rivals were at the cockfight.
A criminal investigation has been launched by the provincial authorities.
As many as 20 criminal gangs are believed to be operating in the Latin American country, vying for control over major drug routes.
Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa has said that about 70% of the world’s cocaine now flows through Ecuador’s ports before being shipped to the US and Europe.
The drug is smuggled into Ecuador from neighbouring Colombia and Peru – the world’s two largest producers of cocaine.
This January saw 781 murders, making it the deadliest month in recent years. Many of them were related to the illegal drug trade.
[BBC]
Robots ran alongside humans at the Yizhuang half-marathon in Beijing on Saturday.
Twenty-one humanoid robots, designed by Chinese manufacturers, raced alongside thousands of runners over a 21km (13-mile) course that included slopes, turns and uneven surfaces.
Some robots completed the race, while others struggled from the beginning. One robot fell at the starting line and lay flat for several minutes before getting up and taking off.
While robots have made appearances at marathons in China in the past, this is the first time they have raced against humans over the course of a half-marathon.
[BBC]
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