Latest news with #Iranian-led
Global News
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Global News
Yemeni terror suspect arrested in Toronto accused of making threats
A Yemeni citizen arrested in the Toronto area on terrorism allegations has been charged with uttering threats, Global News has learned. Husam Taha Ali Al-Sewaiee was taken into custody on April 19 as he was allegedly preparing to leave Canada to join a terrorist group. But his court file shows that four days before that, he was arrested in Peel Region for uttering threats. Peel Police also confirmed the arrest. The 32-year-old appeared in court for a bail hearing last Thursday. A publication ban prevents news organizations from reporting on the allegations disclosed in court. Sources have told Global News that Al-Sewaiee was trying to join an Iranian-backed terrorist faction. Yemen is the home of the Houthi rebel group Ansarallah. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The Houthis are aligned with the Iranian-led 'axis of resistance,' which includes Hamas and Hezbollah, according to the Public Safety Canada website. Story continues below advertisement 'In the context of the Israel-Hamas war, Ansarallah began disruptive strikes on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea and other waterways, as well as strikes against Israel,' it said. A missile fired by the Houthis struck near Israel's main airport on Sunday. Israeli forces responded on Monday with air strikes on dozens of Houthi targets. Al-Sewaiee remains in custody. His bail hearing was scheduled to resume on Thursday at the Brampton, Ont., courthouse. The RCMP national security team has asked the court to place Al-Sewaiee under a terrorism peace bond that would protect the public. Terrorism peace bonds impose conditions on suspects such as driving and travel bans, but they do not amount to a criminal charge. Al-Sewaiee has used an Arabic interpreter during his court appearances. His social media accounts show him attending Gaza protests in Canada. The charges list his address as a house in Kitchener, Ont., but the homeowner said he did not live there and had 'mental issues.' Prior to his arrival in Ontario, he appears to have lived in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, where court records show he was cited for a traffic violation in North Vancouver in 2021.
The National
26-02-2025
- Politics
- The National
Lebanese parliament backs new government in historic vote
Lebanon 's new government secured a vote of confidence from the country's parliament on Wednesday, supporting a ministerial statement which scrapped the term 'armed resistance' while vowing to establish a state monopoly on arms – a major break from past policies. After Prime Minister Nawaf Salam responded to statements of MPs, a vote was held, with the government receiving 95 votes of confidence, 12 votes of no confidence and four abstentions. The statement, presented by the Prime Minister, pledged to extend 'state sovereignty across all its territories exclusively with its own forces'. It also committed to deploying the army 'in internationally recognised Lebanese border areas' and emphasised the need to implement a commitment by President Joseph Aoun on 'the state's duty to monopolise the bearing of weapons' and 'deciding on war and peace'. The cabinet secured the absolute majority required, breaking two years of political deadlock and allowing the new administration to begin passing legislation and making major appointments to the judiciary, security forces and central bank. The statement was seen as an unprecedented political setback for Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militia and influential Lebanese political party, which has been significantly weakened after months of fighting with Israel, including two months of full-scale war, which ended in November. The conflict has left the group in tatters, decimating most of its top leadership and arsenal. Hezbollah is the only armed group that has not disarmed since the end of Lebanon's civil war. The issue has deeply polarised the country's political scene. On Tuesday, Hezbollah 's parliamentary bloc said that it supported Lebanon's new government. 'We are keen on co-operating to the greatest extent to preserve national sovereignty and its stability and achieve reforms and take the state forward,' Mohammed Raad, the head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, said ahead of the two-day parliamentary session that began on Tuesday. Hezbollah's weakening allowed for the election of Mr Aoun, seen as the US-backed candidate, after more than two years of political deadlock, as well as the formation of a government led by Mr Salam, who Hezbollah initially opposed. This new leadership has been widely viewed as a political blow to the Iran-backed group, which has long played a pivotal role in Lebanese politics, and without whose approval no major political decision could be made. The ministerial statement also vowed to adopt a 'foreign policy that works to make Lebanon neutral from axis conflicts' and ensure 'Lebanon is not used as a platform for attacking' Arab and friendly countries. Hezbollah is part of the so-called Iranian-led 'Axis of Resistance', an alliance that includes Yemen's Houthis, Hamas in Gaza and Shiite militia groups in Iraq, committed to fight the influence of Israel and the US. The group also insisted on the government's commitment to liberating Lebanese territories from Israeli occupation. Israel has maintained control over five key points in southern Lebanon despite a ceasefire agreement calling for a full withdrawal from territories occupied after its ground invasion in October.
New York Times
29-01-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Trump's Retribution Continues With Removal of General Milley's Security Detail
In the last days of 2019, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper and senior Pentagon officials gave President Trump a list of options for responding to Iranian-led violence in Iraq. They included an extreme one — killing Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, Iran's most powerful commander — as almost an afterthought, convinced the president would not take it. He did. On Jan. 3, 2020, the Iranian general was killed in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad International Airport. The fallout was immediate. Iranian groups put a price on General Milley's head. He, along with Mr. Esper and the Central Command leader, Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., moved to the top of Iran's retaliatory kill list, U.S. officials have said. Now, a decision by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to remove General Milley's security detail has raised alarm as President Trump seeks retribution against his perceived enemies at home. Even Mr. Trump's allies are concerned. 'I would encourage the president to revisit this,' Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas and the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Wednesday. 'It's possible that these people could be targeted by Iranian assassins in public where innocent bystanders could be injured,' Mr. Cotton said on Fox Business. 'This could have a chilling effect on the people around the president right now, on giving him the advice that he needs in carrying out his decisions.' Mr. Hegseth, who was confirmed last week, has spent his first days in office targeting transgender troops, diversity programs and Defense Department leaders who caught Mr. Trump's ire. In Mr. Trump's first hours back in office, General Milley's portrait was removed from a Pentagon hallway. Then late Tuesday, Mr. Hegseth announced that in addition to pulling the general's security detail, he was revoking his security clearance and ordering an inspector general inquiry into his record. A day later, a second portrait of the general was taken down from a different hallway at the Pentagon. Sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday late morning, Mr. Esper's portrait was also removed from the Pentagon wall honoring former Army secretaries. A portrait of Mr. Esper as defense secretary was still up as of Wednesday midafternoon. It was unclear what would become of the portrait of Gen. Jim Mattis, who was the first defense secretary during the first Trump administration and also ran afoul of the president. Mr. Mattis's visage was still hanging in the hallway honoring defense secretaries on Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Trump seemed to adore his former senior military and defense leaders when his first term began and often referred to the men as 'my generals.' 'I see my generals — those generals, they're going to keep us so safe,' Mr. Trump said in January 2017 at a lunch with lawmakers after his inauguration. He appointed four of them to senior positions in his government, the most of any modern-day president. Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn was his national security adviser for 22 days until he resigned after reports that he had lied about secret conversations with the Russian ambassador. Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster was Mr. Trump's next national security adviser, lasting about 15 months until he ran afoul of Mr. Trump over policies on Russia, Afghanistan and Syria. Gen. John Kelly, Mr. Trump's chief of staff, was a strict disciplinarian who would eventually call for the president to be removed from office using the 25th Amendment. General Mattis resigned in protest of Mr. Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria and rejection of international alliances. During the first Trump administration, the generals were often viewed as tempering many of the president's more mercurial impulses. General Mattis began his term reassuring Iraq that, contrary to Mr. Trump's musings, the United States would not seize its oil. He pushed against Mr. Trump's suggestion that the United States pull out of NATO. But General Mattis never angered Mr. Trump the way General Milley did. During General Milley's early days on the job, Mr. Trump praised his 'brilliance and fortitude.' But then he, too, began a slide in the president's estimation. Their irrevocable split is rooted in General Milley's decision to apologize for inserting himself into politics when he walked alongside Mr. Trump in 2020, through Lafayette Square near the White House, for a photo op after the authorities used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear the area of peaceful protesters. 'I should not have been there,' General Milley said later. 'My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics.' Mr. Trump's supporters have also attacked General Milley over his assurances to his Chinese counterpart during the first Trump administration that the United States was not seeking to strike China, or trigger a military crisis. General Milley, 66, was promoted to chairman of the Joint Chiefs by Mr. Trump in 2019. At the time, the president was impressed with his military record and his bearing. But he quickly soured on him. A book published by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig, 'I Alone Can Fix It,' reported that General Milley was worried that Mr. Trump might attempt to stage a coup after he lost the 2020 election. General Milley also issued a statement condemning the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. General Milley so angered Mr. Trump that by the time the general's four-year term was over, the president was suggesting on social media that he should be killed. On Truth Social, he called General Milley a 'woke train wreck' and complained about the general's calls with his Chinese counterpart. 'This is an act so egregious that, in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH!' In an apt forecast, he added: 'To be continued!' Now the 'to be continued' part is here. General Milley is losing a security detail, a safeguard that he and Mr. Esper kept after they left government because of the Iranian threats. Last week, Mr. Trump has also revoked the security detail of John R. Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and an Iran adviser, Brian Hook, who have also faced ongoing threats from Iran. Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, was among those who have urged Mr. Trump to rethink his decision on the security details. And Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts and a member of the Armed Services Committee, said in a letter to Mr. Hegseth on Wednesday that 'you appear to be abusing your power to weaponize the government against the president's political enemies.' Mr. Hegseth has asked the Pentagon's inspector general to determine whether 'it is appropriate' to review the rank upon retirement for General Milley, essentially asking whether the general can be demoted. Mr. Trump fired the Pentagon's inspector general amid a purge of inspectors general last week and installed his own, who will presumably preside over Mr. Hegseth's requested review. 'It is reckless that your actions could pave the way for Iran's revenge,' Ms. Warren wrote. She added: 'Any reopening of General Milley's administratively determined retired grade requires prior notice to Congress, due process for General Milley, and in the case of any redetermination, the advice and consent of the Senate.' Amid continued threats of retribution from Mr. Trump against his enemies, General Milley received a pre-emptive pardon from President Joseph R. Biden Jr. hours before he left office last week.
