World Briefing: February 27, 2025

A top White House official has proposed expelling Canada from the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network as Donald Trump moves to annex US’s northern neighbour. Peter Navarro, one of the US president’s closest advisers, is pushing for the US to remove Canada from the Five Eyes — which also includes the UK, Australia and New Zealand — according to people familiar with his efforts inside the administration. Trump has said he wants to annex Canada and has vowed to press ahead with 25 per cent tariffs on imports from the country when a one-month reprieve elapses on March 4. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who will step down from office on March 9, was recently caught on an open mic warning that Trump’s ambition to absorb the US’s northern neighbour was a “real thing”. Navarro did not respond to requests for comment. After the FT’s article was first published, Navarro denied pushing the idea, which he said was “crazy stuff”. “We would never ever jeopardise our national security . . . with allies like Canada,” Navarro said. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Trudeau’s office declined to comment. FT

Navarro later walked back his comments. “That was just crazy stuff. We would never, ever jeopardize our national security ever with allies like Canada. Ever,” Navarro said to reporters in Washington, D.C. Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne defended Canada’s role in the alliance, CTV News reported. “It is a surprising comment, considering the contribution of Canada to the Five Eyes Alliance, not only today, but also in the past, and I would even say in the future,” Champagne said. “Canada is respected. Canada is valued. Canada is essential to a lot of the intelligence and security work that is being done to protect our citizens, to protect our country, to protect even North America and our allies,” Champagne added.

‪There is nothing in the current U.S.-Ukraine deal on minerals on the table that points to security guarantees for Ukraine, an analyst quoted by France 24 said. President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to meet with Donald Trump on Friday to finalize the deal. That was the same conclusion I reached after a careful read of the agreement. To be blunt: it appears that the minerals agreement between US and Ukraine includes no firm security guarantees. According to wording of the text: “The Government of the United States of America supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace.”

Separately, Mr. Zelensky said yesterday that the success of the proposed deal depends on his broader conversations with Mr. Trump and his commitment to helping Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported. “This agreement can have a major success or quietly pass by. And I believe that a major success depends on our conversation with President Trump.” Meanwhile, at a cabinet meeting yesterday, Trump said he expects Russian President Vladimir Putin to make concessions - but without saying exactly what.

Serbia’s president blamed being “tired” for accidentally backing a Ukrainian resolution at the UN General Assembly that blames Moscow for the Ukraine war. President Aleksandar Vucic, who maintains good relations with Russia, walked back his support, saying he was supposed to join the 65 nations who abstained from the vote on Monday calling for Russia to “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces” from Ukraine. “I believe that Serbia made a mistake today. I apologize to the citizens of Serbia for that, and I take the blame for that because I was probably tired and overwhelmed,” Vucic told Serbia’s public broadcaster RTS. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was aware of Vucic’s error and accepted his apology. “Of course, we heard it. Of course, we accepted it,” Peskov said in a statement. “Indeed, technical errors do happen and, of course, such a prompt reaction from the head of state is very appealing to us.” - NY Post

The Trump administration is terminating thousands of USAID foreign assistance grants and awards, according to the State Department. The move effectively guts the six-decade-old agency. The announcement came just hours before a federal district court deadline for the Trump administration to restart payments on those grants. The government still owes more than $1 billion for work done before Trump’s foreign aid freeze. But late Wednesday the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to vacate the lower court order to start funding those programs again, saying that it could not make the payments on the deadline set by the judge. Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily paused the order Wednesday evening, giving the administration more time to make the payments. In his statement to the lower court, Pete Marocco, who is performing the duties of the deputy administrator of USAID, said each of USAID’s grants had been reviewed and Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided to eliminate about 92% worth of the agency’s grants. The State department also cut around 4,100 grants. The government claimed a total savings of nearly $60 billion dollars. “This is a global health massacre,” said one humanitarian official, who isn’t authorized to speak on behalf of their organization. - NPR

Hamas handed over four dead hostages to the Red Cross early Thursday in exchange for Israel’s release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, days before the first phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip will end. An Israeli security official confirmed that Hamas handed the bodies to the Red Cross. The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement. At around the same time, a Red Cross convoy carrying dozens of released Palestinian prisoners left Israel’s Ofer prison. Crowds of cheering families, friends and supporters of Palestinian prisoners were gathered in Beitunia jostling for a glimpse of the bus that was on its way. Israel had delayed the release of over 600 Palestinian prisoners since Saturday to protest what it called the cruel treatment of hostages during their handover by Hamas. The militant group has called the delay a “serious violation” of the ceasefire and said talks on a second phase aren’t possible until the Palestinians are freed. - France 24

The Washington Post‘s Opinion Section editor David Shipley resigned after owner Jeff Bezos mandated the section prioritize two topics, personal liberties and free markets, and not publish dissenting views in those areas. The changes will dramatically reshape The Post’s opinion coverage, which has focused on a broad array of issues, especially politics and policy, for decades. “This is a significant shift, it won’t be easy, and it will require 100% commitment — I respect his decision,” Bezos wrote in a note to staff Wednesday. “We’ll be searching for a new Opinion Editor to own this new direction.” The new announcement, following a controversial move by Bezos to kill presidential endorsements last year, shows how much Bezos is willing to assert his power to shape public opinion as the owner of one of the country’s largest newspapers. The Post lost thousands of subscribers last year over Bezos’ endorsement decision. Members of the Opinion Board resigned in protest. Bezos said the Post will cover other topics “but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.” Bezos’ announcement quickly drew backlash from journalists online, including at The Post. “Massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos into The Washington Post’s opinion section today — makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there,” The Post’s chief economics reporter Jeff Stein posted on X. “I still have not felt encroachment on my journalism on the news side of coverage, but if Bezos tries interfering with the news side I will be quitting immediately and letting you know.” - Axios

A child who wasn’t vaccinated died in a measles outbreak in rural West Texas, state officials said Wednesday, the first U.S. death from the highly contagious — but preventable — respiratory disease since 2015. The school-aged child had been hospitalized and died Tuesday night amid the widespread outbreak, Texas’ largest in nearly 30 years. Since it began last month, a rash of 124 cases has erupted across nine counties. The Texas Department of State Health Services and Lubbock health officials confirmed the death to The Associated Press. The child wasn’t identified but was treated at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, though the facility noted the patient didn’t live in Lubbock County. “This is a big deal,” Dr. Amy Thompson, a pediatrician and chief executive officer of Covenant Health, said Wednesday at a news conference. “We have known that we have measles in our community, and we are now seeing a very serious consequence.” - AP

An Australian couple’s dream trip turned into a nightmare when Qatar Airways flight attendants asked them to stay seated next to the body of a passenger who had died mid-flight for the final four hours of a 14-hour trip from Melbourne, Australia, to Doha. When a passenger collapsed during the flight, flight attendants tried to save her but were unsuccessful. The crew tried to move the body to business class using a wheelchair, but it was too large to be moved through the aisle, Mr. Ring said in the interview. The flight attendants then saw that there were two open seats in the row of four seats where Mr. Ring and his wife, Jennifer Colin, were seated. They asked Mr. Ring to move over one seat, and placed the body in the seat where he had been sitting. Ms. Colin moved to a different row of seats. Upon landing, Mr. Ring said, he was told to stay seated as paramedics removed blankets from the body. The couple said in the interview that the airline had not offered them support. Qatar Airways said in a statement on Wednesday that airline officials had spoken with the passengers seated next to the body to address their concerns. A spokesman did not respond to questions about whether the airline had offered compensation - NYT

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