Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Lebanon's president said Wednesday there would be no political cover for anyone implicated in last year's massive explosion at the Beirut port, speaking a day after protests erupted over the handling of the investigation.
The blast on Aug. 4 was caused by the ignition of hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive fertilizer that had been stored for years there with the knowledge of top government officials. The explosion killed over 200 people, injured hundreds more and devastated nearby Beirut neighborhoods.
It's still unclear what exactly caused the explosion, and an investigation by a state-appointed judge has been riddled by charges of political interference. The delays have frustrated the public, particularly amid reports that most of Lebanon's leadership, including the president, knew of the explosives at the port.
The hours-long protests Tuesday outside the house of caretaker Interior Minister Mohamed Fehmi were sparked by his rejection of a request by the new lead investigator to remove immunity for one of the most senior security officials accused in the port case, general security chief Abbas Ibrahim, allowing him to be questioned. The protesters saw Fehmi's move as an obstruction of the probe.
Families of the victims and explosion survivors held a mock funeral while protesters scuffled with members of the security forces guarding the building, who fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. Dozens were lightly injured on both sides.
Amnesty International urged Lebanese authorities to lift immunities granted to all officials, saying that an impartial investigation is essential for a better future in a country with a history of “entrenched impunity.”
“The protesters' demand is simple: let justice take its course,” said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty's deputy regional director. “Any failure to do so is an obstruction of justice.”
President Michel Aoun said Wednesday the investigation is ongoing and that “there will be no political cover for anyone who was negligent or guilty.” However, he did not address critics who said that Fehmi obstructed the investigation.
Aoun's comments came during a meeting with Patrick Durel, French President Emmanuel Macron's envoy.
Aoun also approved Aug. 4 as a day of mourning, declaring it a national holiday. Families of the victims have been campaigning for this recognition.
Lebanon is in the throes of the country's worst economic crisis but the political leadership has been unable to form a government to lead negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for a recovery package.
The caretaker government resigned after the port explosion. Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri has been unable to agree with Aoun on a Cabinet line-up and French and local efforts have failed to bridge their differences.
Hariri met Wednesday with Aoun in renewed efforts to resolve the political deadlock and following a quick trip to Cairo, a close ally. He proposed a new 24-minister Cabinet and said he expects a response from Aoun by Thursday. There were reports this was a last-ditch effort before Hariri steps down.
“We have entered the ninth month trying to form a government,” he said after the meeting. “Now is a time for the truth.”
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.