Pakistan’s defense minister on Monday said he believes an incursion by India is «imminent» as tensions remain heightened following a militant attack in India’s Kashmir region last week, which saw the killing of 26 people, first reported Reuters. 

India, which has not named any group it suspects of leading the attack but said it believes Pakistan to have backed the militants involved in the assault, has reportedly engaged in an aggressive hunt to find those involved in the deadliest attack in two decades. 

According to a BBC report, Indian authorities have used explosives to demolish properties allegedly linked to the suspects, more than 1,500 people have been detained for questioning and troops from both India and Pakistan have exchanged cross-border small arms fire.

HERE’S WHY A FLARE-UP BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN OVER KASHMIR MATTERS

«We have reinforced our forces because it is something which is imminent now. So in that situation, some strategic decisions have to be taken, so those decisions have been taken,» Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Reuters on Monday from the capital city of Islamabad. 

Asif did not say why he thought a possible incursion from India was imminent, but noted that allies in the Gulf had been informed, who in turn had apparently communicated the situation on the ground with officials in China and the U.S.

The New York Times on Monday similarly reported that India appeared to be building its case for possible military intervention as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been engaging in mass diplomatic outreach by speaking with more than a dozen world leaders about the situation.

This is a locator map for Pakistan with its capital, Islamabad, and the Kashmir region. (AP Photo)

INDIA VOWS TO HUNT TERRORISTS ‘TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH’ AS TENSIONS WITH PAKISTAN RISE AFTER KASHMIR ATTACK

The feud between India and Pakistan predates last week’s attack by nearly 80 years, following Britain’s decision to end its direct rule in the region following World War II and enact the 1947 Partition of British India, which essentially divided modern-day India and Pakistan based on Hindu and Muslim populations — though it caused massive unrest and displacement along religious lines.

The partition also gave the diverse Jammu and Kashmir region the ability to choose if it wanted to join either newly established nation. 

Ultimately, the conflict ongoing today stems from the previous monarch of the region’s initial attempt to seek independence, followed by its decision to join India in exchange for security against invading Pakistani militias.

Indian security forces stand guard at the site of an attack on tourists in Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Tuesday, April 24. (Reuters/Adnan Abidi)

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India and Pakistan have engaged in several wars and cross-border skirmishes in the decades since. 

While President Donald Trump said last week that resolving the decades-old conflict was down to New Delhi and Islamabad to sort out, the State Department said it was working with both sides to encourage a «responsible solution.»

Mark Carney, el brillante economista que este lunes ganó las elecciones generales de Canadá, ha lidiado con retos como la crisis financiera de 2008 o el Brexit en el Reino Unido, pero ahora se enfrenta a su desafío más trascendental: plantar cara a Donald Trump y garantizar el futuro de Canadá.

Su victoria este lunes en las elecciones legislativas canadienses, cocinada en apenas cinco meses, ha sido un logro que pasará a los libros de historia.

Cuando en diciembre, el Partido Liberal se rebeló contra su líder y primer ministro del país, Justin Trudeau, el apellido Carney era casi desconocido para muchos, nacido en una de las esquinas menos conocidas del país, los remotos Territorios del Noroeste, y criado en la dura y lejana ciudad de Edmonton.

Las encuestas daban por seguro que el líder del opositor Partido Conservador, Pierre Poilievre, se convertiría en el próximo jefe del Gobierno de Canadá.

Pese a esos vaticinios, Carney presentó su candidatura para liderar el Partido Liberal y reemplazar a Trudeau.

El ex gobernador del Banco de Canadá (2008-2013) y del Banco de Inglaterra (2013-2020) ganó, se convirtió de forma automática en primer ministro de Canadá sin haber sido nunca diputado y convocó elecciones anticipadas.

En pocas semanas, y gracias a las amenazas de Trump de anexionarse Canadá y sus agresivas políticas arancelarias, Carney sobrepasó a Poilievre, que llevaba casi tres años preparándose para derrotar a los liberales, y convirtió una derrota casi segura en la cuarta victoria electoral consecutiva del Partido Liberal.

En la madrugada de este martes, en un discurso ante sus seguidores tras confirmarse su victoria, Carney lanzó un mensaje de unidad, optimismo pero también combativo ante lo que espera al país.

“Humildad es también reconocer que una de las responsabilidades de gobierno es preparar para lo peor, no esperar lo mejor. Como he estado advirtiendo desde hace meses, Estados Unidos quiere nuestra tierra, nuestros recursos, nuestra agua, nuestro país. No son amenazas vacías. El presidente Trump está intentando rompernos para que EEUU nos posea”, dijo.

Su primer reto es sentarse ahora con Trump y negociar “entre dos naciones soberanas” la nueva relación económica y en materia de seguridad que los dos países tendrán en el futuro.

El 27 de marzo, tras semanas de ataques de Trump, Carney dio un golpe sobre la mesa: “La vieja relación que teníamos con Estados Unidos basada en la profundización de la integración de nuestras economías, seguridad y cooperación militar se ha acabado. No está claro qué será lo siguiente que haga EEUU, pero lo que está claro es que los canadienses podemos controlar nuestro destino”, sentenció Carney.

Palabras que otorgaron a Carney el respeto casi inmediato de muchos de sus conciudadanos que con una angustia existencial nunca experimentada en generaciones, buscaban un líder capaz de navegar el caos de la segunda llegada de Trump.

Una muestra es el escritor y académico Stephen Henighan que resumió el sentir de muchos en una columna en el periódico The Globe and Mail y en la que afirmó que Carney “ha mostrado confianza en la existencia de Canadá”.

“Ha tranquilizado a los canadienses asegurando que sobreviviremos a los impulsos depredadores de Donald Trump… Muchos canadienses se han sorprendido de que un banquero moderado pudiera articular posturas nacionalistas con una autoconfianza tan discreta”, explicó el profesor de Estudios Españoles e Hispánicos en la Universidad de Guelph.

Trump es el más importante pero no el único reto al que se enfrenta este economista, un católico practicante -aunque no le gusta alardear de ello- de 60 años, casado y con cuatro hijos.

Carney tiene también que dar respuesta al profundo descontento de la población canadiense con muchas de las políticas de su antecesor y que han provocado un fuerte aumento del coste de la vida que amenaza la prosperidad de muchas familias, una vivienda inasequible para millones y una inmigración astronómica.

Le toca además respaldar con hechos la imagen de unificador que se ha ganado en las últimas semanas y detener las tendencias centrífugas de Alberta, en el oeste, y Quebec, en el este, y que pueden amenazar el concepto mismo de Canadá.

Todo esto sin tiempo para aprender a ser un político. Pero Carney asegura que está listo.

“Sé cómo gestionar una crisis y estoy listo para liderar”, declaró este mismo lunes palabras que complementa su esposa, la también economista Diana Fox Carney: “Creo que afrontar retos es una de las características que definen a Mark. Su actitud serena y tranquila bajo presión lo hace especialmente adecuado para este momento”.

(EFE)

Hell hath frozen over: At the White House the other day, Donald Trump «was launching a charm offensive, directed mainly at Goldberg,» as in Jeffrey Goldberg, the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief. «There was none of the name-calling or hostility he regularly levels at our magazine.»

That’s according to Atlantic reporters Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer, who wrote the magazine’s cover story, which was posted yesterday.

For all the insights gleaned from the interview, nothing is more fascinating than how it came about.

They called the president on his cell phone. (Wha? Who do I have to court to get that? The reporters ain’t saying.)

Trump says he did the initial phone interview to see if the liberal magazine could be fair.

PRESIDENT TRUMP TELLS THE ATLANTIC HE RUNS THE COUNTRY ‘AND THE WORLD’

So I’m here to pronounce that the entire, seemingly endless piece is fair. The president hasn’t taken a shot at it on Truth Social, at least so far.

He has, however, ripped new polls from the «Failing New York Times» and «ABC/Washington Post» as «FAKE POLLS FROM FAKE NEWS ORGANIZATIONS,» saying they should be «investigated for ELECTION FRAUD, and add in the Fox News Pollster while you’re at it.» His lowest approval rating, in the Post-ABC survey, was 39 percent.

Meanwhile, we may now look back on Trump’s 2024 victory as inevitable, but after Jan. 6 it was anything but. On the cell call, «The president seemed exhilarated by everything he had managed to do in the first two months of his second term.»

And then came the transaction: «As ever, Trump was on the hunt for a deal. If he liked the story we wrote, he said, he might even speak with us again.»

Goldberg describes the session: «What I found in this particular meeting was a Trump who was low-key, attentive, and eager to convince us that he is good at his job and good for the country. It isn’t easy to escape the tractor beam of his charisma, but somehow we managed, and we asked him what needed to be asked. 

«But squaring Trump the Charmer with the Orcish Trump we more frequently see is difficult…Trump posted on the social-media platform he owns that Ashley is a ‘Radical Left Lunatic’ (she is not) and that Michael ‘has never written a fair story about me, only negative, and virtually always LIES’ (also false). It is our task at the Atlantic not to be bullied by these sorts of attacks.»

STATE OF WAR: HOW TRUMP IS FIGHTING A 9-FRONT BATTLE

The most interesting Trump sound bite is his comparison of the two terms:

«The first time, I had two things to do—run the country and survive; I had all these crooked guys. And the second time, I run the country and the world.»

Parker and Scherer did many other interviews, such as with Steve Bannon. «Our reality is that we won,» and he cited the conspiracy theory that the FBI had incited the crowd on Jan. 6. The reporters said that was simply untrue. 

«Now, here’s the interesting thing,» Bannon said. «Who’s won that argument? I think we have…

«This time it’s ‘Hey, f**k you, Greenland’s ours…When you’ve come back from such long odds, you clearly feel, ‘I can do anything.’ »

What about the four criminal investigations, including the conviction on the weakest one – Alvin Bragg’s hush money case? Trump says his numbers kept going up.

INTERVIEWING DONALD TRUMP: A LAST-MINUTE BLITZ AND NEW CLOSING MESSAGE

«Shockingly, yes,» Trump said. «Normally, it would knock you out. You wouldn’t even live for the next day. You know, you’d announce your resignation, and you’d go back and ‘fight for your name,’ like everybody says—you know, ‘fight for your name, go back to your family.’ …Yeah, it made me stronger, made me a lot stronger.»

He also said in the phone interview: «I got indicted five different times by five different scumbags, and they’re all looking for jobs now, so it’s one of those things. Who would have thought, right? It’s been pretty amazing.»

After the 2016 election, Trump told oil executives at Mar-a-Lago:

If I’m not president, you’re f***ed. Look at your profit-and-loss statements. You realize what would have happened to you if she was president? What’s wrong with you?») She was Kamala Harris, of course.

Referring to the criminal cases against him – including the charges brought forth by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Trump said «it made [him] stronger.» (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP / Trump-Vance Transition Team)

One turning point: When he went to East Palestine, Ohio after the derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals, while Joe Biden didn’t do squat.

On the Kennedy Center: «I didn’t really get to go the first time, because I was always getting impeached or some bulls**t, and I could never enjoy a show.» So he fired the Democrats and made himself chairman.

All right, enough quotes. Wait, one more that captures the tone of the piece:

«I got 38 percent of the male Black vote. Nobody knew that was possible. That’s a lot. I got 56 percent of Hispanics. How about that one? Every county along the Texas border is Hispanic. I won every one of them.» Though every single number he cited was wrong, the general thrust of his observation was correct.»

The reporters chronicled how things have gone south for the president, especially on tariffs and the economy, and how he pressured Hill Republicans into backing his nominees with primary threats. 

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After the March phone interview, the reporters tried Trump’s cellphone again. Just got voice mail. But at 1:38 am, he tried them back. No message.

Trump believes he can win over even his worst enemies. In 2015 or 2016, I watched him make a beeline in the New York green room for Karl Rove, who was very rough on him. At worst, he thinks, he can neutralize the person. Or soften him or her up for the next time. He enjoys the challenge.

The mainstream media almost uniformly can’t stand Donald Trump. He does invite some of his own negative headlines, while providing unprecedented access, but much of the press is back in Resistance mode. 

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Still, the Atlantic’s original pitch is undeniable, that he’s «The Most Consequential President of the 21st Century.»