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Man Accused of Truck Attack on Canadian Muslim Family Appears in Court

People and members of the media are seen at a makeshift memorial at the fatal crime scene where a man driving a pickup truck jumped the curb and ran over a Muslim family in what police say was a deliberately targeted anti-Islamic hate crime, in London, Ontario, Canada June 7, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
People and members of the media are seen at a makeshift memorial at the fatal crime scene where a man driving a pickup truck jumped the curb and ran over a Muslim family in what police say was a deliberately targeted anti-Islamic hate crime, in London, Ontario, Canada June 7, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
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Man Accused of Truck Attack on Canadian Muslim Family Appears in Court

People and members of the media are seen at a makeshift memorial at the fatal crime scene where a man driving a pickup truck jumped the curb and ran over a Muslim family in what police say was a deliberately targeted anti-Islamic hate crime, in London, Ontario, Canada June 7, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
People and members of the media are seen at a makeshift memorial at the fatal crime scene where a man driving a pickup truck jumped the curb and ran over a Muslim family in what police say was a deliberately targeted anti-Islamic hate crime, in London, Ontario, Canada June 7, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

A Canadian man accused of slamming his pick-up truck into a Muslim family in London, Ontario, killing four people, made a brief court appearance Thursday.

Nathaniel Veltman, 20, appeared by videoconference at the hearing in orange prison garb with cropped hair, to sort out his legal representation. A new court date was set for June 14.

Veltman, who has never been convicted of a crime and has no known extremist group affiliations, has been charged with four counts of first degree murder and one count of attempted murder. If found guilty he faces life in prison.

A funeral for the victims -- 46-year-old Salman Afzaal, his 44-year-old wife Madiha Salman, their 15-year-old daughter Yumna Salman and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal -- is scheduled for 1:30 pm Saturday.

The couple's son, Fayez, 9, is recovering in hospital.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called the attack on a family out for a Sunday evening stroll a "terrorist attack."

His public safety minister, Bill Blair, told public broadcaster CBC the killings were "clearly racist."

"And I can confirm that this is being actively investigated as a terrorist act by the police authorities," he said, which could lead to additional charges under Canada's anti-terrorism act.

Detective Superintendent Paul Waight, who is leading the investigation, said Monday there was evidence "that this was a planned, premeditated act, motivated by hate."

"It is believed that these victims were targeted because they were Muslim," he told a news conference.

At about 8:40 pm on Sunday (0040 GMT Monday), according to police, the Afzaal family was walking along a sidewalk when a black 2016 Dodge Ram truck "mounted the curb and struck" them.

The suspect fled the scene and was arrested a few miles away, where he came face to face with a taxi driver on a break, said local media.

He stopped behind the yellow taxi and, according to an account by the taxi driver's boss Hasan Savehilaghi, "yelled at our colleague to call police because he had killed somebody."

The taxi driver -- who is also Muslim -- reportedly spotted heavy front-end damage to the suspect's truck as well as blood splatters.

Police arrived quickly and arrested the suspect, who was wearing what Waight described as a vest "like body armor," as well as a military helmet and a T-shirt emblazoned with a swastika, the taxi company president said.

"He was laughing the entire time," Savehilaghi told local media.

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World

Iran Security Chief Says Strait of Hormuz Unsafe as Long as War Goes On

FILE PHOTO: Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
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Iran Security Chief Says Strait of Hormuz Unsafe as Long as War Goes On

FILE PHOTO: Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed/File Photo

Iran's security chief Ali Larijani said Monday that security in the strategic Strait of Hormuz cannot be restored as long as the war with the United States and Israel continues, AFP reported.

"It is unlikely that any security can be achieved in the Strait of Hormuz amid the fires ignited by the United States and Israel in the region," said Larijani in a post on X, after France said it and its allies were preparing a "defensive" mission to reopen the waterway.

Earlier, France said it is deploying about a dozen naval vessels, including its aircraft carrier strike group, to the Mediterranean, Red Sea and potentially the Strait of Hormuz as part of defensive support to allies threatened by the conflict in the Middle East.

Speaking in Cyprus before visiting the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, which arrived this weekend in the eastern Mediterranean, President Emmanuel Macron sought to reassure his Cypriot counterpart after drones were intercepted heading towards the island last week.
"When ‌Cyprus is attacked, ‌then Europe is attacked," Macron said after meeting ​with ‌President ⁠Nikos Christodoulides ​and Greek ⁠Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Paphos.

European states have been largely sidelined as the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran has escalated, hitting Gulf Arab states and dragging Lebanon into the line of fire after Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel.

But with shipping lanes in the Middle East impacted and the price of oil heading well above $100 a barrel, European powers are grappling with the issue of ⁠how to defend their interests.

"Our objective is to maintain ‌a strictly defensive stance, standing alongside all countries ‌attacked by Iran in its retaliation, to ensure our ​credibility, and to contribute to regional ‌de-escalation. Ultimately, we aim to guarantee freedom of navigation and maritime security," Macron ‌said.

The European Union's main naval activities in the region center on Aspides - Shields in Greek - a Red Sea naval mission launched in early 2024 to guard vessels from attack by Iranian-aligned Houthi militants backing Palestinian militant group Hamas in its war with Israel.

"I will ‌also add my voice to the rest of my European colleagues to reinforce the Aspides operation with more vessels," Mitsotakis ⁠said.

"There are few ⁠of us who are participating, but here too we will need to demonstrate our European solidarity more practically."

Macron, whose navy already provides one warship to that mission, said there would be two in total, but that in all France would deploy eight warships, the aircraft carrier group and two helicopter carriers to the region.

That could ultimately include the Strait of Hormuz to support commercial vessels, Macron said.

"We are in the process of setting up a purely defensive, purely escort mission, which must be prepared together with both European and non-European states, and whose purpose is to enable, as soon as possible after the most ​intense phase of the conflict has ended, ​the escort of container ships and tankers to gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz," Macron said, without elaborating.

World

Türkiye's Halkbank, US Justice Department Agree to Resolve Criminal Charges

FILE PHOTO: A street vendor sells roasted chestnuts in front of a branch of Halkbank in central Istanbul, January 10, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A street vendor sells roasted chestnuts in front of a branch of Halkbank in central Istanbul, January 10, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
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Türkiye's Halkbank, US Justice Department Agree to Resolve Criminal Charges

FILE PHOTO: A street vendor sells roasted chestnuts in front of a branch of Halkbank in central Istanbul, January 10, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A street vendor sells roasted chestnuts in front of a branch of Halkbank in central Istanbul, January 10, 2018. REUTERS/Murad Sezer/File Photo

The US Justice Department has agreed to resolve its long-running criminal prosecution of Turkish state-run lender Halkbank, the judge overseeing the case said in a court filing on Monday, without providing further details of the deal.

Manhattan-based US District Judge Richard Berman said in a written order that he would ask lawyers for both sides about the so-called deferred prosecution agreement at a previously scheduled hearing on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Halkbank shares rose more than 8% after the agreement was announced.

In 2019, prosecutors charged Halkbank with fraud, money laundering and conspiracy for allegedly helping Iran evade American economic sanctions. The bank was sanctions-evasion scheme Halkbank's case has long been a thorn in US-Türkiye relations, with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in 2019 calling the decision to prosecute an "unlawful, ugly" step.

Neither a spokesman for the Manhattan US Attorney's office, which brought the case, nor lawyers for Halkbank immediately responded to requests for comment.

Deferred prosecution agreements let defendants avoid criminal charges if they meet various conditions, typically over several months or a few years. The government dismisses cases after the defendants comply.

World

Jailed Erdogan Rival Clashes with Judge as Türkiye Corruption Trial Begins

Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Presidency)
Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Presidency)
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Jailed Erdogan Rival Clashes with Judge as Türkiye Corruption Trial Begins

Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Presidency)
Türkiye President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (Presidency)

Istanbul's jailed mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, argued with the presiding judge on Monday in a chaotic start to a sweeping corruption trial that could extinguish the ambition of Tayyip Erdogan's main rival to become president at Türkiye's next election.

Imamoglu, 55, demanded permission to speak and urged the judge to "respect the right of people to defend themselves" - but the judge refused as he launched the trial of more than 400 defendants linked to the Istanbul municipality, Reuters reported.

Imamoglu is accused of leading a criminal organization for profit, involving tender-rigging and bribery. He and his main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deny the corruption charges, which carry prison sentences amounting to hundreds of years.

Police maintained tight security outside the courthouse at Silivri prison west of Istanbul, where Imamoglu has been held in pre-trial detention for almost a year amid a judicial crackdown on the CHP that is overshadowing politics ahead of elections expected to be held next year.

JUDGE EMPTIES GALLERY AFTER NOISY PROTEST

Imamoglu, the CHP's presidential candidate, waved his hands as he entered the courtroom, while the other defendants, lawyers and public stood up to clap, whistle and wave back at him. He then rose to protest the judge's decision to hear other defendants before Imamoglu, who is the chief suspect.

The judge called the protest disrespectful to the court, prompting more outcry from the public gallery, which the judge ordered to be emptied, calling a recess until 1030 GMT.

CHP leader Ozgur Ozel and Imamoglu's wife, Dilek, sat side-by-side in the large courtroom fitted out with two large screens.

"We are nervous and anxious," Dilek Imamoglu told reporters before the hearing started. "We hope that they move to trial without detention. I last saw Ekrem last week, and he was in very good spirits."

LEGAL CRACKDOWN CALLED POLITICIZED

In comments to Reuters last month, Imamoglu struck a defiant tone, saying Erdogan should call elections right away. But his prospects of challenging the veteran leader look bleak amid a crackdown that rights groups and foreign observers say has undermined the democratic credentials of NATO member Türkiye.

The government denies exerting influence over the judiciary, which it says is independent. Imamoglu already suffered a severe blow to his presidential ambitions when a court in January rejected his lawsuit challenging the cancellation of his university degree – a qualification required of any presidential candidate. Erdogan, 72, has led Türkiye as prime minister or president since 2003.

Presidential and parliamentary elections are not scheduled until 2028, but if he wishes to seek a third term as president he is obliged to hold the vote early, likely in 2027, unless the constitutional term limits are changed.