Former Central Banker Favored to Replace Trudeau as Canada PM

FILE PHOTO: Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor, and current Liberal Party leadership candidate, Mark Carney looks on before delivering remarks at the still-under-construction Gordie Howe International Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor, and current Liberal Party leadership candidate, Mark Carney looks on before delivering remarks at the still-under-construction Gordie Howe International Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio//File Photo
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Former Central Banker Favored to Replace Trudeau as Canada PM

FILE PHOTO: Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor, and current Liberal Party leadership candidate, Mark Carney looks on before delivering remarks at the still-under-construction Gordie Howe International Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor, and current Liberal Party leadership candidate, Mark Carney looks on before delivering remarks at the still-under-construction Gordie Howe International Bridge in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio//File Photo

Canada's Liberal Party looked set Sunday to choose a former central banker and political novice as its next leader, replacing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as it confronts threats from US President Donald Trump.

Mark Carney, who served as the governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, is widely expected to be named the new Liberal leader when results from a vote of around 400,000 party members are announced later Sunday, AFP reported.

The other main challenger is Trudeau's former deputy prime minister, Chrystia Freeland, who held several senior cabinet positions in the Liberal government that was first elected in 2015.

Whoever wins the vote will take over from Trudeau as prime minister, but will soon face a general election that polls currently show the rival Conservative Party as slight favorites to win.

Carney has racked up endorsements, including from much of Trudeau's cabinet, and a Freeland win would be a shock for the Liberals as they head towards a general election.

Despite dramatically breaking with the prime minister in December, analysts say voters still tie Freeland to Trudeau's unpopular record.

Carney and Freeland have both maintained that they are the best candidate to defend Canada against Trump's attacks.

The US president has repeatedly spoken about annexing Canada and thrown bilateral trade, the lifeblood of the Canadian economy, into chaos with dizzying tariff actions that have veered in various directions since he took office.



At Least 11 Dead after Security Operations Against Militants in Northwest Pakistan

Pakistani security officials inspect the scene where a train was hijacked by suspected militants, in Sibi, Pakistan, 15 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER
Pakistani security officials inspect the scene where a train was hijacked by suspected militants, in Sibi, Pakistan, 15 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER
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At Least 11 Dead after Security Operations Against Militants in Northwest Pakistan

Pakistani security officials inspect the scene where a train was hijacked by suspected militants, in Sibi, Pakistan, 15 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER
Pakistani security officials inspect the scene where a train was hijacked by suspected militants, in Sibi, Pakistan, 15 March 2025. EPA/STRINGER

Pakistan's security forces raided two militant hideouts in the country’s restive northwest on Saturday, triggering gun battles that left at least two soldiers and nine militants dead, the military said in a statement.
The raids were conducted in the Mohmand and Dera Ismail Khan districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, The Associated Press reported.
According to local police officials, the insurgents were Pakistani Taliban, who are known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.
The outlawed TTP is a separate group but an ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO troops were in the final stages of a withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war.
Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries and have even been living openly in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened the Pakistani Taliban.
In a separate incident on Saturday, insurgents ambushed security forces in the northwestern Kurram district of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, local police said. However, authorities have yet to confirm any troop casualties.
Pakistan's military is currently engaged in an ongoing operation in Kurram, an area that has witnessed years of sectarian violence. Hundreds of people have been killed in clashes between heavily armed factions, exacerbating tensions in the region.
Since November, Kurram has remained isolated after authorities blocked key roads following sectarian violence. The closure has led to severe shortages of medicine and food, further deepening the humanitarian crisis.
Also on Saturday, a bomb exploded outside a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing cleric Mufti Shakir, local police said. It was unclear who was behind the attack and an investigation is continuing.