Expelled Indian high commissioner denies involvement in murder of Sikh leader in Canada

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, and Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc, takes part in a press conference about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's investigation into
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, and Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc, takes part in a press conference about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's investigation into "violent criminal activity in Canada with connections to India",on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada October 14, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 20 October 2024
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Expelled Indian high commissioner denies involvement in murder of Sikh leader in Canada

Expelled Indian high commissioner denies involvement in murder of Sikh leader in Canada
  • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police went public this week with allegations that Indian diplomats were targeting Sikh separatists in Canada by sharing information about them with their government back home

VANCOUVER, British Columbia: India’s high commissioner to Canada has denied any involvement in the murder of a Canadian Sikh leader who was killed in British Columbia last year even though the Canadian government has named him as a person of interest in the assassination.
Sanjay Kumar Verma, who was expelled last Monday along with five other Indian diplomats, said in an interview on CTV’s Question Period Sunday that the allegations are politically motivated.
“Nothing at all,” Verma said when asked if he had any role in in the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was killed outside a cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18, 2023. “No evidence presented. Politically motivated.”
Four Indian nationals living in Canada were charged with Nijjar’s murder and are awaiting trial.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police went public this week with allegations that Indian diplomats were targeting Sikh separatists in Canada by sharing information about them with their government back home. They said top Indian officials were then passing that information to Indian organized crime groups who were targeting the activists, who are Canadian citizens, with drive-by shootings, extortions and even murder.
Verma denied the Indian government was targeting Sikh separatists in Canada.
“I, as high commissioner of India, have never done anything of that kind,” he said.
Any action taken by Indian officials in Canada was “overt,” said Verma.
In the interview Verma condemned Nijjar’s death.
“Any murder is wrong and bad,” he said. “I do condemn.”
Verma also pushed back on comments made by Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly that compared India to Russia. She said Canada’s national police force has linked Indian diplomats to homicides, death threats and intimidation in Canada.
“Let me see the concrete evidence she’s talking about,” said Verma. “As far as I’m concerned, she’s talking politically.”
India has rejected the Canadian accusations as absurd, and its foreign ministry said it was expelling Canada’s acting high commissioner and five other diplomats in response.
Verma said “not a shred of evidence has been shared with us” about the Canadian allegations.
The RCMP has said attempts earlier this month to share evidence with Indian officials were unsuccessful.
Verma said the RCMP had not applied for the proper visas to visit India.
“A visa needs to be affixed,” he said. “For any government delegation to travel to another country, you need an agenda to go by. There was no agenda at all.”
Canada is not the only country that has accused Indian officials of plotting an assassination on foreign soil. The US Justice Department announced criminal charges against an Indian government employee Thursday in connection with an alleged foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.
In the case announced by the Justice Department, Vikash Yadav, who authorities say directed the New York plot from India, faces murder-for-hire charges in a planned killing that prosecutors have previously said was meant to precede a string of other politically motivated murders in the United States and Canada.
“An indictment is not a conviction,” Verma said. “It will follow its judicial process.”
India has repeatedly criticized the Canadian government for being soft on supporters of what is known as the Khalistan movement, which is banned in India but has support among the Sikh diaspora, particularly in Canada.
The Khalistan movement supports the establishment of an independent Sikh state in India.
The Nijjar killing in Canada has soured India-Canada ties for more than a year, but Verma doesn’t expect this will impact business relations between the two countries.
“I don’t see much impact on non-political bilateral relations,” he said.

 


Red Sea trade route will remain too risky: industry executives

Red Sea trade route will remain too risky: industry executives
Updated 29 min 18 sec ago
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Red Sea trade route will remain too risky: industry executives

Red Sea trade route will remain too risky: industry executives
  • The leader of Houthis said on Thursday that the group would monitor the implementation of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas aimed at ending the war in Gaza and continue its attacks on vessels or Israel if it is breached

LONDON: Companies transporting their products around the world are not ready to return to the Red Sea trade route in the wake of a Gaza ceasefire deal because of uncertainty over whether Houthis will continue to attack shipping, industry executives said.

The EU’s naval force in the Red Sea said its “threat assessment remains unchanged.”

The leader of Houthis said on Thursday that the group would monitor the implementation of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas aimed at ending the war in Gaza and continue its attacks on vessels or Israel if it is breached.

Executives from shipping, insurance, and retail industries said the risks remained too high to resume voyages through the Bab Al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea, through which exports to Western markets from the Gulf and Asia must pass before entering the Suez Canal.

“There is no way I’m putting any of my merchandise on a boat that’s going to go through the Red Sea for some time to come,” said Jay Foreman, CEO of US-based Basic Fun, which supplies toys to major US retailers like Walmart and Amazon.com. Matt Castle, vice president of global forwarding with logistics group C.H. Robinson, said: “It’s not likely the industry will see a large shift back to the Suez Canal in the short term.”

He said this was due to the challenges of securing cargo insur- ance given perceived high risks and time constraints, as imple- menting a new ocean shipping plan would take weeks or months.

 


Ghana’s president, Mali’s PM pledge to boost security ties

Ghana’s president, Mali’s PM pledge to boost security ties
Updated 17 January 2025
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Ghana’s president, Mali’s PM pledge to boost security ties

Ghana’s president, Mali’s PM pledge to boost security ties
  • “Despite the temporary setback, we must keep our relationships strong. Ghana remains in strong solidarity with Mali,” Mahama added

ACCRA: Ghana’s president and Mali’s prime minister have committed to strengthening relations in the face of rising extremist violence and instability across West Africa.
The northern part of Ghana, as well as nearby Togo and Benin, is increasingly faced with incursions by extremist groups based in the Sahel. “Our security is a common objective, and we must work with each other to ensure our subregion is safe,” Ghana’s John Mahama told the press after meeting with Gen. Abdoulaye Maiga in the capital, Accra.
“If your neighbor’s house is on fire, you must assist them to quench it; otherwise, it will spread to yours.” The Ghanaian leader also acknowledged the recent formation of the Alliance of Sahel States by Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, a defense pact formed after the three junta-led states withdrew from the regional West African bloc ECOWAS.
“Despite the temporary setback, we must keep our relationships strong. Ghana remains in strong solidarity with Mali,” Mahama added.
Maiga praised Ghana’s essential role in promoting pan-Africanism — a central theme of the military leaders who have taken power in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, all of whom have turned away from former colonial ruler France.
“The fight for African sovereignty aligns with the vision of President Mahama. We thank him ... for Ghana’s unwavering support,” the general said.
The visit shows the normalization of relations between the three AES states and their neighbors after coups and their ECOWAS exit strained ties.
It also came as Togo’s foreign minister refused to rule out joining the AES, which would give the currently landlocked security and defense pact access to the Atlantic Ocean.

 


Nine deny attack on Israeli firm Elbit’s UK warehouse

Nine deny attack on Israeli firm Elbit’s UK warehouse
Updated 17 January 2025
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Nine deny attack on Israeli firm Elbit’s UK warehouse

Nine deny attack on Israeli firm Elbit’s UK warehouse
  • Four men and five women, aged between 20 and 51, appeared by video link on Friday at London’s Old Bailey Court
  • All nine pleaded not guilty to aggravated burglary and causing criminal damage which has been estimated at 1 million pounds

LONDON: Nine people appeared in a London court on Friday to deny offenses including burglary, criminal damage, violent disorder and hitting a police officer with a sledgehammer, over an incident at a warehouse linked to Israeli defense firm Elbit.
The nine, who prosecutors have said were activists from the protest organization Palestine Action, are accused of smashing their way into the Elbit Systems UK facility in Bristol, southwest England, in August.
At a previous hearing, prosecutors said a repurposed prison van was used to smash through fencing before some of the group damaged items in the warehouse using sledgehammers.
Four men and five women, aged between 20 and 51, appeared by video link on Friday at London’s Old Bailey Court. All nine pleaded not guilty to aggravated burglary and causing criminal damage which has been estimated at 1 million pounds.
Seven of them also denied a charge of violent disorder, while one, Simon Corner, pleaded not guilty to a charge of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, for allegedly striking a police officer with a sledgehammer.
Another nine people also charged with offenses over the incident appeared at Friday’s hearing but did not enter pleas.
The first trial involving eight of the defendants is due to start in November, with the others appearing at two subsequent trials. A hearing will also be held to determine whether the cases should be treated as a terrorism matter.
Pro-Palestinian protesters have repeatedly targeted Elbit Systems UK and other defense firms in Britain linked to Israel in the wake of the conflict in Gaza.
Palestine Action has said the targeted site was Elbit’s new 35 million-pound ($43 million) research and development hub. Elbit’s website says its UK subsidiary employs 680 people at 16 sites, working on multiple programs for the British military.


Trump swearing-in will move inside Capitol Rotunda because of intense cold

Trump swearing-in will move inside Capitol Rotunda because of intense cold
Updated 17 January 2025
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Trump swearing-in will move inside Capitol Rotunda because of intense cold

Trump swearing-in will move inside Capitol Rotunda because of intense cold
  • “The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., with the windchill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform
  • “There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country. I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way”

WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump may take the oath of office from inside the Capitol Rotunda on Monday due to forecasts of intense cold weather.
“The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., with the windchill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. “There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country. I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way.”
The Rotunda is prepared as the inclement weather alternative for each inauguration in the event of inclement weather. The swearing-in was last moved indoors in 1985, when President Ronald Reagan began his second term. Monday’s forecast calls for the lowest inauguration day temperatures since that day.
Alternate plans are required for the more roughly 250,000 guests ticketed to view the inauguration from around the Capitol grounds and the tens of thousands more expected to be in general admission areas or to line the inaugural parade route from the Capitol to the White House.
Trump said some supporters would be able to watch the ceremony from Washington’s Capital One area on Monday, a day after he plans to hold a rally there. He said he would visit the arena after his swearing-in.
The National Weather Service is predicting the temperature to be around 22 degrees (minus-6 Celsius) at noon during the swearing-in, the coldest since Reagan’s second inauguration saw temperatures plunge to 7 degrees (minus-14 Celsius). Barack Obama’s 2009 swearing-in was 28 degrees (minus-2 Celsius). Adding to the bite: Wind is forecast to be 30 to 35 mph (48 to 56 kph), sending wind chills into the single digits.
Trump’s inaugural committee and the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


Italian minister to stand trial over alleged fraud

Italian minister to stand trial over alleged fraud
Updated 17 January 2025
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Italian minister to stand trial over alleged fraud

Italian minister to stand trial over alleged fraud
  • Santanche, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party, denies committing fraud
  • Opposition parties on Friday called on Santanche to resign

ROME: Italian Tourism Minister Daniela Santanche will stand trial for alleged falsification of financial statements at her former publishing company, a Milan judge ruled Friday.
Santanche, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party, denies committing fraud during her time as chair and CEO of Visibilia, a media publisher and advertising agency.
She is the second Meloni minister to stand trial after Transport Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who was cleared in December over charges relating to his detention of a migrant boat as part of a different government.
“Prosecutors claim the forecasts in the (company’s) business plan were overly optimistic,” Santanche’s lawyer Nicolo Pelanda told reporters at the court.
“It leaves us with a bitter taste in our mouths but we are convinced that we can prove Santanche’s lack of involvement,” he said.
The trial will begin in March.
Opposition parties on Friday called on Santanche to resign. If she does, she would be the second Meloni minister to step down, after a sex scandal last year toppled the culture minister.
Meloni refused last month to confirm whether Santanche would remain in her post if ordered to stand trial.
Santanche is also caught up in two other investigations, including one for alleged benefit fraud.
Milan prosecutors allege Visibilia, which Santanche sold before joining Meloni’s administration in 2022, pocketed government redundancy funds during the coronavirus pandemic for staff members who instead continued to work.
Italy’s highest court will decide at the end of the month whether that case should be transferred from Milan to Rome, after which there will be decision as to whether or not she should stand trial.
Prosecutors are also investigating Santanche over the bankruptcy of organics food company Ki Group-Bioera, which she used to co-manage.