Category World News

The cabinet in Lebanon convened for three hours on Friday, where army chief Rodolphe Haykal presented the plan. The army’s capabilities were cautioned against in the plan, which did not specify a deadline for implementation.

Following the session, Lebanese Information Minister Paul Morcos continued to address the government’s support for the plan, but he made no claim that the cabinet had already approved it.

According to him, the army would begin putting the plan into practice based on its logistical, material, and personnel capabilities, which might call for “additional time]and]more work.”

Morcos claimed that the plan’s details would remain secret.

Since Lebanon’s devastating war with Israel last year, which upended a long-held power balance, a national conflict has emerged in the country over Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal Movement, led the Lebanese armed group, which was adamant that it would keep its weapons, when five Shia ministers left the cabinet meeting.

According to local media, the walkout took place as Lebanon’s army chief Haykal entered the meeting and presented a strategy for disarming the group.

The disarmament debate has now caused three Hezbollah and Amal ministers to leave cabinet meetings.

Before the cabinet’s session was over, Hezbollah-aligned Labor Minister Mohammad Haidar declared that any action taken in the absence of Shia ministers would be null and void because it would be viewed as incompatible with Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem warned the government against confronting the organization and claimed possible street protests as a result of last month’s spectre of civil war.

Elijah Magnier, a military and political analyst, claims that Hezbollah did not “have the appetite to start a civil war.” He added that it was impossible for the Lebanese army to confront it.

Additionally, he stated to Al Jazeera, “It doesn’t want a partition of the army because the Lebanese army would not support it if it attacked Shia strongholds.”

Calls become so loud that they fail to ring.

Saudi Arabia and the United States have increased calls for Hezbollah to abandon its predominantly Sunni and Christian allies in Lebanon.

On Friday, US Senators Jim Risch and Jeanne Shaheen, members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released a joint statement supporting Hezbollah’s disarmament.

A free, prosperous, and secure future is what Lebanon deserves. The senators argued that releasing Lebanon from Hezbollah’s and the Iranian regime will be enough to accomplish that.

We applaud the recent approval of Lebanon’s Council of Ministers for disarming militias in Lebanon. We recognize that the government of Lebanon has made significant progress in the last year. This commitment must be fully met, including the approval of Hezbollah’s disarmament plan by the Lebanese Armed Forces.

The bipartisan statement underscores Washington’s ongoing pressure on Beirut to cut back on its influence, a demand that both the US and its international partners have for a long time.

Hezbollah has reacted, saying that discussing disarmament while Israel continues to air strike Lebanon and occupying large areas of southern territory would be a grave mistake. Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday left four people dead.

As part of a business assistance package to help businesses recover from tariff losses from US President Donald Trump, Canada will waive the requirement that 20% of all vehicles sold next year be emissions-free.

The announcement was made on Friday by Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The Liberal government of Justin Trudeau’s era, in 2023, mandated the 20 percent target&nbsp.

Waiving the rule, according to Carney, Trudeau’s successor, would assist the industry in adjusting to punitive US regulations that also target the steel and aluminum industries.

At a televised press conference, Carney stated, “This will provide immediate financial relief to automakers.”

Ottawa will also begin a 60-day review right away to lower costs associated with the requirement for EV sales.

The move was welcomed by the Canadian Association of Automobile Manufacturers, who argued that mandates would increase business costs and threaten investment.

Carney said it was too early to determine whether Ottawa should impose the 100-percent tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles last year. China launched an investigation into the imports of canola from Canada, one of the top suppliers in the world, on Friday.

Carney, who won an April election to support the need to diversify the US economy, promised to establish a new fund with flexible terms worth $5 billion Canadian ($3.6 billion US) to assist businesses in all of the affected industries.

He claimed that the US measures are “causing extreme uncertainty that is holding back enormous amounts of investment.”

With more than $ 370 million Canadian dollars ($267 million US) for farmers to address immediate competitiveness challenges, Ottawa will introduce a new policy to ensure the federal government purchases from Canadian suppliers.