First Thing: Mark Carney to be next Canada PM

Former central banker has positioned himself as uniquely able to handle Canada’s trade war with the US. Plus, why Michael Sheen paid off more than $1m of his neighbors’ debts

Good morning.

Mark Carney, a former central banker, will become the next prime minister of Canada after overwhelmingly winning the Liberal party’s leadership race.

Carney, who has held positions as governor of both the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, will step into the job as Canada faces the risk of falling into recession after Donald Trump imposed a 25% tax on its goods. Carney argued his experience of managing financial crises in North America and the UK and his economic know-how offered him a unique advantage to steer the country at this time.

Pointing to the existential nature of Canada’s situation, Carney told supporters: “America is not Canada. And Canada never, ever, will be part of America in any way, shape or form.” He added that while Canada “didn’t ask for this fight … Americans, they should make no mistake, in trade as in hockey, Canada will win”.

He said he would retain Canada’s tariffs against US imports “until the Americans show us respect”.

Where has Carney come from? He’ll be only the second Canadian prime minister not to have had a seat in the House of Commons. But Carney has deep ties to the party, including as an economic adviser to the outgoing prime minister, Justin Trudeau.

Trump refuses to rule out US recession amid trade tariffs

Donald Trump has refused to exclude the possibility that the US economy will enter a recession this year and that inflation will rise as his tariff policy triggers stock market uncertainty.

Asked in an interview with the Fox News show Sunday Morning Futures whether he expected a recession in 2025, Trump responded: “I hate to predict things like that.” He then claimed that the measures would bring “wealth back to America” and “should be great” for the US, once the country has experienced a “period of transition”.

What did Trump say about inflation? He also conceded that his trade war could fuel inflation, saying: “You may get it. In the meantime, guess what? Interest rates are down.”

Hamas says it has ‘softened’ its demands as it condemns Israel’s severance of electricity to Gaza

Hamas says it has “softened” its demands in negotiations, a spokesperson for the group is quoted as saying in Israeli media, as Israel sent a mediating delegation to Qatar on Monday to continue truce talks. “We agree to the Egyptian proposal to establish a committee responsible for managing the Gaza Strip and its reconstruction,” a spokesperson told Haaretz.

The statement by Hamas said it had done so “at the request of the mediators and Trump’s envoy” and added that it was “Israel’s duty” to move on to the second stage of the ceasefire deal, which includes its military withdrawal from Gaza.

Hamas also condemned Israel’s move to sever remaining electricity supplies to Gaza and threaten to resume fighting as “a threat to the hostages”, who it said “will only be released through negotiations”.

What is the effect of severing power to Gaza? Humanitarian groups said it could further reduce dwindling supplies of clean water, as desalination plants would be forced to shut down. The sewage treatment plant could also be affected.

What has Israel said about it? Israel said it would use “all means available … to ensure the return of all Israeli hostages” and that Hamas would not remain in Gaza after the war.

In other news …

Entire families have reportedly been killed in north-west Syria after fighting broke out between security forces and Assad regime loyalists, with clashes on Thursday and Sunday.

Mass prison escapes in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have triggered panic among civilians, as fighting continues in the conflict in which Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have seized two key cities.

A Finnish museum about the Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin has rebranded itself in response to the country’s changed relationship with Russia.

Stat of the day: Drone attacks have killed almost 1,000 civilians across Africa in three years

Nearly 1,000 civilians have been killed and hundreds more injured in military drone attacks across Africa in the past three years, according to a report that says the use of the weapons on the continent is escalating unchecked. At least 50 deadly strikes have been confirmed in the three years to November 2024. So far, the use of armed drones has been confirmed in at least six conflicts in Africa: Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, where most attacks were seen. Drone strikes by the Ethiopian armed forces against adversaries such as the Tigray People’s Liberation Front were found to have killed more than 490 civilians in 26 separate attacks.

Don’t miss this: Why Michael Sheen paid off more than $1m of his neighbors’ debts

The actor Michael Sheen has spent £100,000 (about $130,000) to buy up debt worth £1m ($1.2m) owed by 900 people in south Wales. Sheen, who grew up in the region in a family that was “barely getting by”, told the Guardian about the unfairness of high-cost credit, a system that many of the poorest people are forced to rely on.

Climate check: Trump’s USAid cuts will devastate global climate finance

Donald Trump’s ending of US foreign aid will devastate global climate finance from the developed world, data shows, with a massive impact on the ability of poor countries to cope with extreme weather. The US was responsible for almost a tenth of the funding that rich countries handed to poor countries to help them reduce emissions and deal with the climate crisis’s fallout, according to analyst organisation Carbon Brief.

Last Thing: From debating online to popping a zit

Ever tried to squeeze a zit and made it approximately 1,000 times angrier? That’s what having an argument online sometimes feels like, observes Edith Pritchett in this week’s cartoon.

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