China to seize the world?...O Canada: "Voldemort"...Bibi shuts off the power...Europe strikes back...AID victims: Rohingya in Bangladesh ... for our paid: China goes all-in on AI and our Cartoonists
In this weekly feature for Andelman Unleashed, we continue to explore how the media of other nations are reporting and commenting on the United States, and how they are viewing the rest of the world.
To emphasize, we cover lots of ground….So, you may not want to read it all, but it's all here for you!
A landslide in Canada …. UPADATING
A landslide for Mark Carney … 85.9% of the 150,000+ votes of Liberal Party members as the new leader of Canada’s ruling party—and the immediate successor to outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Between now and October a national election will be held to choose a new parliament with Carney then as the incumbent and Liberal standard bearer. Carney, a congenial technocrat who has never held elective office, has served as governor of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England. As for America, he’s called Donald Trump ‘Voldemort,’ Harry Potter’s evil nemesis who was roundly defeated in the end.
“This room is strong, this room is Canada strong,” Carney opened his acceptance speech.
How others see America
Much of the world's attention has been focused this week, quite justifiably, on the seismic actions—intentional or unintentional—of Donald Trump. All but lost in this colossal melee, though, has been the opportunity that has come knocking for a host of other nations—the good, the bad, and the ugly—in what will without question be the arrival of a new global order.
As Dewey Sim, diplomatic correspondent for the Hong Kong daily South China Morning Post, reported from Beijing:
In turbulent Trump times, China frames itself as defender of world stability.
In his annual press conference, Chinese foreign minister presents his country as a force of certainty and a champion of the Global South.
When Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi faced the world’s media on Friday, he sought to drive home one key message: that in today’s turbulent world, China is a stabilising force and ready to defend world peace. Although he made just a few direct references to the United States, Wang contrasted the Chinese and American positions on a range of issues, painting the US as a disruptor of global peace and China as a champion of the developing world.
“We’re living in a changing and turbulent world where certainty is becoming a scarce resource. The choices made by countries, especially major countries, will determine the trajectory of our times and shape the future of the world,” he said at the foreign minister’s annual press conference on the sidelines of the “two sessions” in Beijing. “China’s diplomacy will stand firm on the right side of history and on the side of human progress. We will provide certainty to this uncertain world.”
Much of that uncertainty is coming from Washington as Donald Trump returns to the White House with a clearly different approach to those of previous administrations. This includes the feared protectionism and threatened tariffs of his “America first” agenda, which raise the spectre of a wider trade war and damage to a rules-based global system.
In contrast, the top Chinese diplomat pledged China would be a “just and righteous force for world peace and stability”, a “progressive force for international fairness and justice”, and Beijing would “uphold true multilateralism. [We will] build more consensus for an equal and orderly multipolar world. We will be a constructive force for the common development of the world,” Wang said. “We will safeguard the multilateral free-trade system, foster an open, inclusive and non-discriminatory environment for international cooperation and advance universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation.”
Wang concluded that "no country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain good relations with us at the same time."
Indeed, as Wang also observed China’s "heart will always be with the Global South," the SCMP lost no time in examining Brazil, an early harbinger of the turbulence where Donald Trump may be taking America:
Brazil is redoubling efforts to position its agricultural exports to China as competitive alternatives to products from the United States as Washington ramps up its trade war against Beijing….
These include maize and sorghum—crops that US farmers have long dominated in terms of global exports. But this advantage could wane in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s tariff orders and threats aimed at nearly all of his country’s trading partners. Brazil has already made some progress, receiving approval to export maize and sorghum to China, as part of agreements signed between President Xi Jinping and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Brazil’s agriculture ministry had “actively encouraged farmers to consider expanding production”, according to a senior cabinet official.
“It is a market that has been dominated by Americans and has the potential to generate at least US$6 billion per year. This is what we try to explain to our players.”
Election 2025 : O Canada
And its next prime minister is….
No friend of Donald Trump clearly. The ruling Liberal Party is choosing today its candidate to succeed outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who's had a rocky road at home and south of the border, leading to his pledge to resign as party leader—and hence as premier—as soon as his successor is chosen.
Indeed, the most likely winner, Mark Carney, is not even a professional politician, but he may best be known for identifying Donald Trump as "Voldemort," the arch (and eventually decisively defeated) villain of the Harry Potter novels. And he is running ahead in the polls over Chrystia Freeland, Trudeau's finance minister until their break last year, but still too closely identified with him for many Canadian Liberals.
As the CBC reported:
[Mark Carney] The former Bank of Canada governor said he would not dignify annexation talk from Trump, who has made repeated statements about wanting Canada to become 51st U.S. state.
"When you think about what's at stake in these ridiculous, insulting comments of the president, of what we could be, I view this as the sort of Voldemort of comments," he said. "I will not even repeat it, but you know what I'm talking about."
As for how we got here, the BBC reported:
In the wake of US President Donald Trump's threats against Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party has surged in the polls, shrinking the double-digit lead their Conservative rivals had held steadily since mid-2023.
The dramatic change in the country's political landscape reflects how Trump's tariffs and his repeated calls to make Canada "the 51st state" have fundamentally altered Canadian voters' priorities.
Trump's rhetoric has "pushed away all of the other issues" that were top of mind for Canadians before his inauguration on 20 January,” notes Luc Turgeon, a political science professor at the University of Ottawa.
As CBC correspondent Alexander Panetta reported:
Private and public comments in recent days from Trump's team make a mockery of the idea that stopping fentanyl was the principal reason for his tariff policy. The biggest risk for Canada is now coming into focus. And it's bad news if you're one of the hundreds of thousands of Canadians with a job connected to the auto sector. His target may be you.
In closed-door conversation, members of Trump's team have been pushing auto companies in recent days to commit to drastically scaling back their long-term footprints in Canada and Mexico in exchange for permanent tariff relief—without success so far, according to three sources connected to the industry.
Nova Scotia cartoonist Michael De Adder may best have expressed the vast mass of Canadian feelings these days:
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How others view the World
Electric pressure…and water?
It's hard to see how Israel and Gaza could knock Ukraine off a top Unleashed perch, but then that would be to discount Benjamin Netanyahu's ability to ratchet up his level of cruelty. As The Times of Israel reported Sunday morning:
Energy Minister Eli Cohen has instructed the Israel Electric Corporation to immediately cut off the supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip, in an apparent bid to pile pressure on the enclave where 59 hostages kidnapped from Israel are still held.
“We will employ all the tools available to us so that all the hostages will return, and we will ensure that Hamas won’t be in Gaza on the ‘day after,'” says Cohen in a video statement.
The move comes after Israel announced it was halting the entry of goods into Gaza over what it called Hamas’s refusal to accept a proposal to extend the initial stage of the ceasefire and hostage release deal and threatened “additional consequences” and a return to war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last week that he was prepared to raise the pressure and would not rule out cutting off all electricity to Gaza.
Al Jazeera elaborated:
Gaza had been reliant on Israel for much of its electricity supply before the war, but since October 2023 Israel has severely restricted the supply of electricity, and restricted the fuel needed for Gaza’s sole power plant.
Last Sunday, the Israel Hayom newspaper reported that the Israeli government was willing to cut electricity and water if Hamas did not agree to extend phase one of the ceasefire deal instead of moving on to phase two.
And for background, The Jerusalem Post noted:
In July, Israel connected a water facility in Gaza to Israel’s electric grid to provide water on a medium- to longer-term basis for Gazans at a rate of up to 20,000 liters per day, a policy that served to maintain Israel’s global legitimacy, IDF sources said.
Electricity is essential to power the sewage treatment and desalination plants in Gaza that provide the only source of potable water for the besieged enclave.
Also worry about Syria….
….and especially if you're an Israeli, since its leaders seem determined to make enemies wherever they may turn. As Avraham Spraragen observed in Haaretz:
Just hours after the downfall of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israel invaded the demilitarized zone between Syria and the occupied Golan Heights. In response to UN condemnation, the Israeli army claimed that its violation of Syrian sovereignty was necessary for security, "limited and temporary."
However, more than two months later, Israel maintains a presence within and beyond the demilitarized zone, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed last month will be "indefinite." Israel must back off Syria immediately, or squander the opportunity for a post-Assad détente between the two countries….
In the months since Assad's fall, Israel has constructed outposts along the Syrian border, taking over villages, erecting checkpoints, closing roads, raiding homes, conducting night patrols, displacing residents, and firing on those protesting Israeli troop presence. Satellite imagery obtained by Haaretz reveals that the IDF has established at least seven new bases from Syrian Mount Hermon in the north to Tel Kudna in the south. Furthermore, the opportunity presented by Assad's toppling has been used by Israel to escalate airstrikes on Damascus, which have reached an "all-time high."
Meanwhile, back home, Haaretz was also reporting:
And then there is Ukraine ….
No matter what Donald Trump may be saying, or indeed thinking from one moment to the next, Vladimir Putin appears to have made up his mind….as the Institute for the Study of War reported:
Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Kremlin officials explicitly rejected making any concessions in future peace negotiations or accepting any US, European, or Ukrainian peace proposals and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected a negotiated ceasefire.
Putin said during a visit to the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation's Moscow branch that Russia does not intend to "give in to anyone" or make any compromises in future peace negotiations. Putin stated that Russia must choose a peace option that best suits Russia and will ensure peace in the long-term….Putin stated that Russia "will not give up" its "own" territory in future peace negotiations—likely referring to illegally annexed territory in occupied Ukraine….
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that Russia will reject any proposals to station European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine to enforce a future ceasefire agreement….Lavrov stated that Russia will consider the deployment of any European peacekeepers to Ukraine as the "direct, official, undisguised involvement of NATO countries" in the war. Russian MFA Spokesperson Maria Zakharova rejected a negotiated ceasefire and deployment of European troops to Ukraine and claimed Russia considers any proposal that gives Ukraine a "respite" along the frontline as unacceptable.
Lavrov said any peace agreement must account for the alleged "root causes" of the war in Ukraine, including guarantees that NATO will stop expanding, trying to "swallow" Ukraine, and developing threats against Russia. Lavrov claimed Trump "understands" the need to eliminate these "root causes" while European countries attempt to ignore the "root causes."
Meanwhile, on Friday, Andelman Unleashed invited the great Russian journalist-in-exile, Mikhail Zygar, author of a number of deeply-sourced books on the inner workings of the Kremlin and Ukraine and author of the great Substack The Last Pioneer … to an hourlong zoom with our paid members.
Here’s an excerpt, with the full recording below the fold!
Do they fully understand the consequences?
It's quite clear some Europeans are quite intent on forcing Putin to face up to the consequences. Going before Parliament, Prime Minister Donald Tusk minced no words, as Poland's leading daily Wyborcza pointed out:
The Prime Minister announced, among other things, that every adult male in Poland would undergo military training
Donald Tusk delivered a statement on security and the international situation in the Sejm. The head of government spoke, about:
The need to build a half-million man army in Poland
Defense spending of 5% of GDP
The need for Poland to withdraw from the Ottawa and "possibly" Dublin Conventions (use of anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions)
Talks with the French about their idea of a nuclear umbrella over Europe
Reaching "for opportunities also related to nuclear weapons and modern unconventional weapons."
And then Tusk turned to the root cause of this most dramatic change in central Europe since the end of World War II:
Not everyone listened carefully to what the new American administration announced from the first days. We must prepare for this….But let's not pretend to be happy about it. Our security is directly linked not only to events on the front, but also to the future status of Ukraine….[which] should not be treated as it has been in history with countries that fell victim to such agreements over their heads.
Yet it would seem this week that is exactly what is happening. Poland's task is to guard its own eastern border, which is also the eastern flank of NATO and the border of the European Union [applause].
We are facing a very serious race, and it is a race for security, not a race to war. I deeply believe that we will pass this test, that Poland will be safe and, as has always been the case in our dreams, and not always in our history, Poland will also be invincible.
None of this is the kind of talk from Neville Chamberlain following his return from talks with Hitler at Munich.
Still, Trump's holding firm as Le Monde's Piotr Smolar reported the head-snapping comments from Washington:
In the space of a few hours on Friday, the American president threatened Russia with additional sanctions and new customs duties, before praising Vladimir Putin for his "generosity".
On his Truth Socialnetwork, Donald Trump threatened Russia with additional banking sanctions and new large-scale customs duties “until a ceasefire and a final peace agreement are reached” in Ukraine. This remark came at the very moment that Moscow launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
[Yet] Donald Trump continues to assert his confidence in Russian good faith, making the Ukrainian leader the main obstacle to a rapid ceasefire. He has questioned his democratic legitimacy and decided to halt the delivery of weapons and ammunition, as well as the sharing of American intelligence. Questioned on Friday in the Oval Office, Donald Trump already seemed to contradict his own about-face. “I think he’s doing what anybody would do,” he said, regarding Vladimir Putin and the intense Russian bombing.
The White House is facing massive rejection of its pro-Russian line among the public and among traditional Republicans in Congress. In a Reuters-Ipsos poll, 70% of Americans (62% among Republicans) reject the idea that Ukraine is primarily responsible for the war.
It may all come down to dollars or euros
Remember that Russian dough sitting in European banks that was frozen when Putin mounted his "special military operation" aka invasion of Ukraine? Well, now Macron has decided it's time to put it to use for the Kremlin's victims, as Le Monde reported:
France will mobilize 195 million euros for Kyiv "this year" thanks to frozen Russian assets, announces Sébastien Lecornu. The aim is to supply shells and gliding bombs to equip the Mirage 2000 fighter planes already delivered to Ukraine, [Macron's] Minister of the Armed Forces explained.
As France and its European partners attempt to adapt to geopolitical uncertainties and the risks of conflict in Europe, Lecornu cites "ammunition and electronic warfare" as Paris' "urgent issues….Second priority, the dronization and robotization of armies," also pointing to artificial intelligence and space.
"The Russians are reinventing war, that is their great strength," he said. "They are targeting our democracy and our economy," citing in particular "sabotage operations,planning of targeted assassinations against key figures in the economic world, [aggressive] interactions with our armed forces…."
At the same time, Mr. Lecornu recalls the necessary acceleration of the arms industry's production rates, citing Dassault Aviation's objective of "delivering four to five Rafales [jet fighters] per month from 2026"—compared to two in 2024—in view of "our own potential needs for the coming period."
Europe's also got to start singing from the same song book
As London's Financial Times reported:
A proposed €150bn injection into the EU’s defence industry has become a new flashpoint in a long-standing battle between France and Germany over the continent’s rearmament drive and whether it should include countries outside the bloc. During an EU summit on Thursday, several leaders including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the initiative should be open to like-minded non-EU partners. “It is very important to us that the projects that can be supported with this are open to . . . countries that are not part of the European Union but work closely together, such as Great Britain, Norway, Switzerland or Turkey,” Scholz said. However French President Emmanuel Macron, who has long supported increasing European autonomy and boosting domestic industrial production, said “spending should not be for new off-the-shelf kit that is once again non-European."
Still, Putin just can't get Macron out of his mind….
AsLe Mondeobserved, "France, seen as the spearhead of European defense, worries Russia"…..
As soon as the European Council ended, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron launched into history lessons from a distance. "There are still people who want to return to the times of Napoleon, forgetting how it ended," said the Kremlin chief. Without naming him, he targeted the French president, who, after the green light from the 27 member states to beef up their defense and support Ukraine, repeated in Brussels that "Russia is an existential threat to us. Not just to Ukraine, not just to its neighbors, but to all of Europe." On Russian social media in Moscow, Macron was quickly mocked as a powerless Napoleon. And, on television, Putin responded by reminding him of the catastrophic outcome of the Russian campaign in 1812.
But it may all come down to ….
An eight minute speech by a giant of the French Senate that seems to have captivated Europe….
Sen. Claude Malhuret, an Independent, has gone viral on Xwhere it has already been viewed 4.7 million times….
…and quoted by the center-right daily Le Figaro:
"Washington has become the court of Nero. An incendiary emperor, submissive courtiers and a buffoon on ketamine [Elon Musk at the head of DOGE, Editor's note] in charge of purging the civil service. It is a tragedy for the free world, but it is first and foremost a tragedy for the United States…. We were at war against a dictator, we are now fighting against a dictator supported by a traitor.”
Victims of AID? Do not forget the Rohingya
Just one set of victims of catastrophic memory losses by Trump-world of the most vulnerable world, as Reuters reported from Bangladesh:
The United Nations has warned it will have to cut monthly food rations to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh from $12.50 to $6 next month, unless it can raise funds to avert a measure that would worsen hunger in Cox's Bazar, the world's largest refugee settlement.
As for the impact of the USAID cutoff, it's excruciating, as Masum Billah reported from Dhaka for the Devex news site:
Essential food, health, and sanitation programs face disruption and closing down. This latest blow comes as the humanitarian response in Cox's Bazar faces its lowest funding levels since 2018, compounded by Myanmar's escalating civil war and rising violence within the camps. With over a million refugees dependent on aid, the funding uncertainty is pushing an already fragile situation toward crisis.
The USAID freeze is straining humanitarian operations, with Rohingya refugees and aid workers reporting the shutdown of several hospitals in the camps and potential disruptions to key health and water, sanitation, and hygiene programs.
In Cox's Bazar, the great Rohingya photographer Ro Arfat Khan has assembled a vast portfolio of images of this enormous community under siege, which he has shared with Andelman Unleashed ….
Reuters continued:
"Yesterday, I was informed verbally, and today I received the letter confirming a $6.50 cut, which will take effect from April 1," said Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh's top official overseeing the refugee camps. "What they are receiving now is already not enough, so it's hard to imagine the consequences of this new cut."
A spokesperson for the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) in Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital, said the cuts could be averted if the organization raised enough money in the coming weeks, adding it was seeking $81 million. Bangladesh is sheltering more than one million Rohingya, members of a persecuted Muslim minority.
—Ro Arfat Khan
Expelled from neighboring, military-ruled Burma, the Rohingya are seeking desperately to make their voices and their plight known. So the urgent plea from Khan for contributons to a Go-Fund-Me pageresonates deeply….
What’s new on ‘paid’
Now, for our most highly valued, but lightly paid members, we'll conclude with two very special looks at China—hoping to steal a march on the U.S. on AI, making it the real superpower of the future ….
And we'll wind up with our great partner Cartooning for Peace and Le Monde delivering a bonus gallery from cartoonists around the globe on TrumpWorld.
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