From Huawei arrest 'shockwaves' to UN Iran report: The non-coronavirus news you might have missed

The UN says Iran was source for several items in two arms shipments seized by the US

FILE PHOTO: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers a commencement speech during a ceremony with post-secondary graduates in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada June 10, 2020. REUTERS/Blair Gable/File PhotoShow less

Trudeau: Video of indigenous chief's arrest 'shocking'

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday called for an independent investigation after a "shocking" video showing the arrest of an indigenous chief by federal police.

The video, filmed and released by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, show an officer rushing at Chief Allan Adam on March 10 during an encounter over an expired license plate. The officer tackles Adam and punches him in the face.

"We've all now seen the shocking video of Chief Adam's arrest and we must get to the bottom of this," Mr Trudeau told a daily briefing.

"Like many people I have serious questions about what happened," he said. "The independent investigation must be transparent and be carried out so that we get answers."

In the dashcam video, broadcast by several Canadian media, Adam has a heated exchange with a police officer outside a casino in the province of Alberta.

Venezuela top court names new electoral council, opposition defiant

Venezuela's supreme court on Friday named new leaders to the national electoral council that will oversee parliamentary elections later this year, a widely expected move that opposition leaders call an effort to rig the upcoming vote.

Critics of President Nicolas Maduro have repeatedly accused the elections council of favoring the ruling Socialist Party, and in 2018 boycotted the vote that led to Maduro's re-election on the grounds that it was rigged.

The South American nation must swear in a new congress by the start of next year but has not yet set a date for the poll, which will likely be complicated by the coronavirus epidemic that has led to a strict quarantine.

Indira Alfonzo, a supreme court magistrate who led the electoral chamber, was tapped as the new elections council chief, the overtly pro-government supreme court said in a statement posted on Facebook.

The court said the opposition-run legislature was in "unconstitutional omission" and therefore it had decided to designate the council leaders. The constitution grants this power to congress.

Canada spy agency warned of 'shock waves' from arrest of Huawei founder's daughter

Canada's intelligence agency warned that arresting the daughter of billionaire Huawei founder Ren Zheng would set off global "shock waves" and seriously affect ties with China, just before her detention in Vancouver on a US extradition request, new court documents show.

Released on Friday, the documents show the involvement of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) in the December 2018 arrest of Meng Wanzhou, which soured diplomatic ties between Ottawa and Beijing.

Meng is chief financial officer of China tech giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the company at the centre of next generation 5G wireless technology and a long-running dispute the administration of US President Donald Trump.

A CSIS report was disclosed in the court documents as part of Meng's extradition proceedings. In a redacted Dec 1, 2018 memo, CSIS said it was advised by the US FBI of plans to arrest Meng when she arrived on a flight to Vancouver International Airport later that same day.

"The arrest is likely to send shockwaves around the world," CSIS said. "The planned event will be of great consequence internationally and bilaterally," the report said.

UN links items in arms shipments and missile attacks to Iran

The United Nations says it has determined that Iran was the source for several items in two arms shipments seized by the United States and for debris left by attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil installations and an international airport, according to a new report.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said some of the items seized by the US in November 2019 and February 2020 "were identical or similar" to those found after the cruise missiles and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia in 2019.

He said in a report to the UN Security Council obtained on Friday by The Associated Press that some items seized by the US in international waters off Yemen are not only Iranian but may have been transferred "in a manner inconsistent" with the council resolution that endorsed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

The secretary-general was reporting on implementation of the 2015 resolution enshrining the nuclear agreement aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. It includes restrictions that took effect on Jan 16, 2016, on transfers to or from Iran of nuclear and ballistic missile material as well as arms.

The Security Council is scheduled to discuss the resolution's implementation on June 30, and the US is expected to press for the UN arms embargo against Iran, which is part of it, to be extended indefinitely before it expires in October.