What The Hell America!

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Canada’s next prime minister, Israel cutting off electricity to Gaza, and a maritime collision in the North Sea.

Who Is Mark Carney?

Canada’s Liberal Party elected former central banker Mark Carney on Sunday to become the country’s next prime minister. Securing a landslide 85.9 percent of the vote, Carney will replace outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the coming days, ushering in a new era of Canadian politics at a time when Ottawa is facing one of its biggest geopolitical tests in decades.

“This is a nation-defining moment,” Trudeau said on Sunday in a farewell speech. “Democracy is not a given. Freedom is not a given. Even Canada is not a given.”

Carney, 59, has a difficult task ahead of him. He must lead a NATO country that is only one of two members not to meet either of the alliance’s defense spending targets. He must guide upcoming G-7 foreign minister talks, which will begin in Quebec on Wednesday. And he must address high costs of living and immigration rates that rose under Trudeau’s decade-long leadership.

But his top priority remains centered on one country—and one person. “There is someone who is trying to weaken our economy,” Carney said. “[U.S. President] Donald Trump, as we know, has put unjustified tariffs on what we build, on what we sell, and how we make a living. He’s attacking Canadian families, workers, and businesses, and we cannot let him succeed, and we won’t.”

Last week, Trump postponed 25 percent duties on many Canadian and Mexican goods for one month amid fears of a wider trade war. But threats to steel, aluminum, dairy, and other products remain. Trump has also repeatedly called for Canada to become America’s 51st state and referred to Trudeau as “governor.” Carney said on Sunday that he will keep retaliatory tariffs on the United States in place until “the Americans show us respect,” saying Ottawa “can no longer trust” Washington.

Carney is known for his economic prowess. In 2008, he steered the Bank of Canada through the global financial crisis, and in 2013, he became the first non-Briton to run the Bank of England, leading the United Kingdom through Brexit. His latest posting was as a United Nations special envoy for climate action and finance.

Trump’s aggressive policies have triggered a surge in Canadian nationalism that Carney is hoping to capitalize on. Experts expect Carney to swiftly call federal elections, where he will face off against Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre.

Under Trudeau, the Conservative Party maintained a 20-plus-point lead over the Liberals. But Carney’s election and Trump’s policies toward Canada appear to be closing the gap. New polls show steady Liberal gains, and according to the latest survey from Ipsos, some respondents worry that Poilievre is too ideologically close to the far-right U.S. president.

“Pierre Poilievre’s plan will leave us divided and ready to be conquered because a person who worships at the altar of Donald Trump will kneel before him, not stand up to him,” Carney said on Sunday. “The Americans, they should make no mistake; in trade, as in hockey, Canada will win.”

Today’s Most Read

The World This Week

Tuesday, March 11: U.S. and Ukrainian officials hold talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Greenland holds early parliamentary elections.

France hosts the three-day Paris Defense and Strategy Forum.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte meets with Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins a two-day visit to Mauritius.

Wednesday, March 12: Belize holds a general election.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts European Council President António Costa.

G-7 foreign ministers begin a three-day meeting in Quebec, Canada.

Thursday, March 13: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa hosts Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

What We’re Following

No power. Israel sent a delegation to Qatar on Monday to advance cease-fire and hostage release talks with Hamas. Negotiations for the second phase of the truce deal were supposed to begin a month ago, but Israel has repeatedly delayed its progress, instead pushing for an extension of the first phase in what critics say is a bid to prevent a permanent end to the war.

Last week, Israel blocked essential humanitarian supplies—including food, fuel, and medicine—from entering Gaza, prompting aid workers to warn of worsening threats of famine. And on Sunday, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen announced a cutoff of Gaza’s electricity supply, which will affect a desalination plant that provides Palestinians with drinkable water. “Enough talk, it’s time for action!” Cohen wrote on X.

Israel has provided Gaza with nearly no electricity since the war began in October 2023. But Sunday’s symbolic decision appeased far-right Israeli lawmakers who have pressured Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue fighting until Israel can declare “total victory” over Hamas. The militant group condemned Cohen’s announcement on Sunday as part of what it called Israel’s “starvation policy” and said that discontinuing supplies would harm the hostages that the group is still holding captive in Gaza.

North Sea collision. A container ship crashed into a U.S.-flagged oil tanker, MV Stena Immaculate, in the North Sea on Monday, sparking a massive fire and fears of environmental damage. MV Solong, a Portuguese-flagged vessel positioned off the English coast, was en route to the Netherlands when it hit the U.S. ship. It is not yet clear how or why the collision occurred.

The United Kingdom’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency led a massive rescue effort to save all 37 crew members, with only one person needing hospital treatment. “The collision and ensuing explosions will not impact operations or combat readiness,” a U.S. official said.

Now, experts are worrying about the potential repercussions of a jet oil spill, which the Stena Immaculate was carrying. However, “whilst the images look worrying, from the perspective of the impact to the aquatic environment, it’s less of a concern than if this had been crude oil because most of the jet fuel will evaporate very quickly,” marine ecotoxicologist Mark Hartl told CNN.

Joining forces. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) reached an agreement with the new Syrian government in Damascus on Monday to fully integrate with the Syrian state. Under the deal, signed by interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi, “all civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria” will be merged “into the administration of the Syrian state, including border crossings, the airport, and oil and gas fields.” In addition, the SDF will support Sharaa’s efforts to combat the forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, and the SDF will adhere to a cease-fire across the country.

It is unclear how the deal will affect the constitutional status of the semiautonomous region that the SDF has controlled since 2015. The group is backed by the United States and led by the People’s Defense Units (YPG), a Kurdish group that Turkey views as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Both the United States and Turkey view the PKK as a terrorist organization, but only Turkey applies that same designation to the YPG.

Pyongyang posturing. North Korea fired several ballistic missiles into the sea on Monday. According to Seoul, this is Pyongyang’s fifth missile launch event this year. It comes two days after North Korea unveiled its first nuclear-powered submarine under construction, and it occurs just hours after South Korea kicked off annual Freedom Shield military exercises with the United States.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry called Freedom Shield an “aggressive and confrontational war rehearsal” that could trigger “physical conflict” on the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. military responded by condemning Pyongyang’s latest missile test and urging the country to “refrain from further unlawful and destabilizing acts.”

Freedom Shield exercises are scheduled to run until March 20. But live-fire exercises remain suspended, following two South Korean fighter jets accidentally dropping eight bombs on a civilian area last week after reportedly punching in the wrong coordinates. At least 29 people were injured in the incident.

Odds and Ends

Trump maintains that sweeping U.S. tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China are to combat illegal drug trafficking and undocumented immigration. But official data shows that U.S. customs officers have recorded seizing more illegal eggs than illegal fentanyl, The Logic reported last Friday. At the Detroit field office, egg smuggling has risen 36 percent since last October, and at the San Diego field office, that number skyrocketed 158 percent during the same period. This comes as the average price for a dozen eggs in the United States hits $4.95—almost double what it was at this time last year.