OTTAWA: Canada plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday, a dramatic policy shift he said was necessary to preserve hopes of a two-state solution.
“Canada intends to recognize the State of Palestine at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025,” Carney said.
With Wednesday’s announcement, Carney positioned Canada alongside France, after President Emmanuel Macron said his country would formally recognize a Palestinian state during the UN meeting, the most powerful European nation to announce such a move.
Macron’s announcement drew condemnation from Israel, which said the move “rewards terror,” while US President Donald Trump dismissed the decision as pointless.
Carney said his decision was informed by Canada’s “long-standing” belief in a two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“That possibility of a two-state solution is being eroded before our eyes,” the prime minister told reporters in Ottawa.
He referenced Israel’s “ongoing failure” to prevent humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza amid its war against Hamas, as well the expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
“For decades, it was hoped that would be achieved as part of a peace process built around a negotiated settlement between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority,” he said.
“Regrettably, this approach is no longer tenable.”
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Canada intends to recognize Palestinian state at UN General Assembly: Carney
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Canada intends to recognize Palestinian state at UN General Assembly: Carney
- Carney positioned Canada alongside France, UK
Colombia’s top guerrilla leader threatens vote disruption
BOGOTA: Colombia’s most-wanted guerrilla leader Ivan Mordisco threatened to disrupt the country’s 2026 presidential election, in a video released on Tuesday, in response to deadly military strikes against his armed group.
The military operations were part of President Gustavo Petro’s intensifying attacks against groups involved in cocaine trafficking, following fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump over his alleged inaction on drug production.
Mordisco, the leader of a dissident faction of the former FARC guerrillas, said the strikes that have killed dozens were a “declaration of war.”
In the video, Mordisco warned of repercussions for next year’s election, which will determine the successor to the country’s left-wing president who is constitutionally barred from running again.
“We wanted the 2026 electoral process to be as smooth as possible, but given the advance of warmongering actors, we have no choice but to take a stand,” he said.
Authorities have confirmed military strikes have claimed the lives of 15 minors since August, sparking public outrage.
The teenagers had been abducted by the same armed groups in the soldiers’ crosshairs.
Petro’s policies were “pandering to the gringos, who are thirsty for the blood of Colombian children,” Mordisco said, referring to Americans.
The president has launched a manhunt with a million-dollar reward to capture Mordisco, whom he likens to cocaine baron Pablo Escobar who was slain in 1993.
Mordisco leads a dissident faction that rejected the 2016 peace agreement that led to the disarmament of the former FARC. His group controls cocaine production in several regions of the country.
The lead-up to Colombia’s 2026 election has already been marred by violence, with candidate and opposition senator Miguel Uribe shot while campaigning in June. He died in hospital in August and police blamed the shooting on guerrillas.
The military operations were part of President Gustavo Petro’s intensifying attacks against groups involved in cocaine trafficking, following fierce pressure from US President Donald Trump over his alleged inaction on drug production.
Mordisco, the leader of a dissident faction of the former FARC guerrillas, said the strikes that have killed dozens were a “declaration of war.”
In the video, Mordisco warned of repercussions for next year’s election, which will determine the successor to the country’s left-wing president who is constitutionally barred from running again.
“We wanted the 2026 electoral process to be as smooth as possible, but given the advance of warmongering actors, we have no choice but to take a stand,” he said.
Authorities have confirmed military strikes have claimed the lives of 15 minors since August, sparking public outrage.
The teenagers had been abducted by the same armed groups in the soldiers’ crosshairs.
Petro’s policies were “pandering to the gringos, who are thirsty for the blood of Colombian children,” Mordisco said, referring to Americans.
The president has launched a manhunt with a million-dollar reward to capture Mordisco, whom he likens to cocaine baron Pablo Escobar who was slain in 1993.
Mordisco leads a dissident faction that rejected the 2016 peace agreement that led to the disarmament of the former FARC. His group controls cocaine production in several regions of the country.
The lead-up to Colombia’s 2026 election has already been marred by violence, with candidate and opposition senator Miguel Uribe shot while campaigning in June. He died in hospital in August and police blamed the shooting on guerrillas.
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