Latest news with #securityissues
National Post
21 hours ago
- Politics
- National Post
From bear traps to camped-out soldiers, security measures in place for G7 in Kananaskis
Starting Sunday, seven of the most powerful people in the world will be at the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Alta., where they will discuss economic instability and security issues, including Russia's war on Ukraine. Article content Unsurprisingly, to bring the most powerful people in the world together, even at the best of times — and this is not the best of times — necessitates a massive security operation, with coordination across multiple Canadian agencies. Article content Article content Article content '(Security) is both massive and essential,' said John Kirton, the director of the G7 Research Project at the University of Toronto. Article content Article content While Canadians are perhaps unlikely to have wildly strong views about French President Emmanuel Macron or Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, U.S. President Donald Trump has angered millions of Canadians with his aggressive rhetoric. Prime Minister Mark Carney has also angered many by inviting Saudia Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman and India's Narendra Modi. Article content Already, unspecified security concerns have led to at least one ceremonial casualty: Calgary's White Hatter ceremony. Traditionally, the ceremony welcomes delegates to Alberta's largest city, and they're handed a white Smithbilt cowboy hat to celebrate Calgary's frontier spirit. Article content In 2002, when the G8 Summit was also held in Kananaskis, leaders were given the ceremonial hats. U.S. president George W. Bush put it on his head, but Jacques Chirac, the late French president, reportedly turned up his nose at the gift and Russian President Vladimir Putin — not yet the international pariah he is today — examined the hat without putting it on his head. This time, however, there will be no ceremony. Article content Article content 'We have to respect that security considerations today are very different from the last time we hosted the summit in 2002 … there's been a lot of nostalgia about what we were able to do in 2002,' said Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek earlier this week. Article content Article content In 2002, a bear also died after falling from a tree as security officials were trying to scare it away from delegates. This year's security team has a bear trap, should a curious bear get too close to the humans in the region. Article content The meeting, last held in Canada in Charlevoix, Quebec, in 2018, will happen against the backdrop of a global economic reorientation. Under Trump, the United States has initiated an international tariff war, breaking down decades of movement towards free trade. Meanwhile, Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been invited to the conference — and Israel's war on Hamas continues to destabilize the Middle East. Article content Article content For the leaders at the G7, there are a number of security concerns, said Kirton: The first is that Trump survived an assassination attempt in July 2024, so there are general concerns about the safety of attendees. The second is that three leaders — France's Macron, the U.K.'s Keir Starmer and the U.S.'s Trump — need to have staff on hand with the nuclear football in case of nuclear war. (None of the other powers at the G7, unless Modi attends, head countries with nuclear weapons.) There's also the risk of violence or a terror attack or the possibility that a protest will get out of hand, such as in Genoa, Italy in 2001, when more than 200,000 demonstrators took to the streets. Additionally, unlike in Kananaskis in 2002 or Genoa in 2001, there are drones, which can be easily manipulated from afar.
The Guardian
05-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Venezuela warns US is dangerous anyway in Trump travel ban retort
Venezuela has hit back over the Trump administration's travel ban by warning that the US itself is a dangerous place, while Somalia immediately pledged to work with Washington on security issues. The mixed responses came after Donald Trump signed a ban targeting 12 countries also including Afghanistan, Iran and Yemen in a revival of one of the most controversial measures from his first term. 'Being in the United States is a great risk for anyone, not just for Venezuelans,' Diosdado Cabello, the interior minister in Caracas, said after the announcement, warning citizens against travel there and describing the US government as fascist. 'They persecute our countrymen, our people for no reason.' Dahir Hassan Abdi, the Somali ambassador to the US, said in a statement: 'Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised.' Calls early on Thursday to the spokesperson of Myanmar's military government were not answered. The foreign ministry of Laos did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported. There was no immediate response from Iran, but Jamal Abdi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, said: 'The impact of the ban will once again be felt by Americans who were denied the ability to see their loved ones at weddings, funerals, or the birth of a child.' The move bans all travel to the US by nationals of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Trump imposed a partial ban on travellers from seven more countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. Some temporary work visas from these countries would be allowed, his administration said. The bans would go into effect on Monday 9 June, the White House said. Trump said the bans were spurred by a makeshift flamethrower attack on a Jewish protest in Colorado that US authorities blamed on a man they said was in the country illegally. Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this story
