06/03/2026

FRIDAY | MAR 6, 2026

8

‘Canada cannot rule out participation in Middle East’

OIC decries missile attack on Turkiye ANKARA: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has denounced Iran’s firing of a ballistic missile towards Turkish airspace, which was intercepted and neutralised by Nato air and missile defence systems, Anadolu Ajansy reported. On Wednesday, the OIC expressed solidarity with Turkiye and affirmed its unwavering support in defending the country’s sovereignty, security and stability. Its General Secretariat called for an immediate end to any actions that could escalate tensions and destabilise the region. It emphasised that threatening member states and undermining their security violates the principles of international relations, which are founded on good neighbourliness and mutual respect. According to Turkiye’s National Defence Ministry, the missile was detected after crossing Iraqi and Syrian airspace and was engaged by allied defences. Debris from the missile fell in the Dortyol district of Hatay province in southern Turkiye, with no casualties or injuries reported. In a diplomatic response, Turkiye summoned Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Hassan Habibollahzadeh to the Foreign Ministry. During the meeting, it conveyed firm protest and deep concerns over the incident. Officials said any steps risking the expansion of conflicts and further destabilisation of the region must be avoided at all costs. In a statement carried by state media yesterday, Iran’s Armed Forces said it respects the sovereignty of Turkiye and denied firing any missile towards its territory. – Bernama-Anadolu Man hospitalised after bitten by shark SYDNEY: A man has been airlifted to a hospital after he was bitten by a shark while snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of the Australian state of Queensland yesterday, Xinhua reported. The Queensland Ambulance Service said the man in his 50s suffered a deep laceration to his arm and smaller lacerations to the abdomen and hand in the attack near Lady Elliot Island at the southern tip of the iconic reef. The man was airlifted to a mainland hospital in stable condition. A resort on the island said staff were notified of the attack at 8am local time and provided immediate assistance. It said relevant authorities were notified and the snorkelling zones on the western side of the island have been closed until further notice. “It is not known what type of shark was involved. Resort staff and marine shark experts are monitoring the closed snorkel zone.” The island’s website said about 30 different species of shark are frequently seen nearby, including hammerhead and tiger sharks on the western side of the island. In another case, Sydney police have issued a warning about authority scams targeting multicultural communities, with some victims losing thousands of dollars, reported Xinhua. New South Wales (NSW) police said yesterday the scams seem to be targeting multicultural communities across Sydney, including Chinese, Vietnamese and Indian groups. It said victims reported receiving calls from someone claiming to be an embassy or police official and telling them that their passport and personal information had been found on a person recently arrested abroad. The caller then tells the victim that they could be deported to face criminal charges abroad unless they pay a specified sum of money. NSW Police Force Cybercrime Squad detective Acting Superintendent Jason Smith urged those who receive such calls to hang up and report them at once. – Bernama-Xinhua

CANBERRA: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said yesterday he could not rule out his country’s military participation in the escalating war in the Middle East. Carney’s visit to Australia this week has been overshadowed by the expanding war in the Middle East, sparked by a massive US-Israeli strike on Iran that killed former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Speaking alongside local counterpart Anthony Albanese in Canberra, Carney was asked whether there was a situation in which Canada would get involved. “One can never categorically rule out participation,” he said, stressing that the question was a hypothetical one. “We will stand by our allies,” he asserted, elaborating that “we will always defend Canadians”. o We will stand by our allies and always defend Canadians, says PM LOS ANGELES: The Pentagon on Wednesday identified two more soldiers who were killed in the attack on Iran. The two Army Reserve soldiers died on Sunday in a drone attack on a US military facility in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait that also killed four other reservists. The Pentagon said Major Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Iowa was killed in the attack and announced the “believed death” of Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54, of Sacramento, California. Positive identification of Marzan will be completed by a medical examiner, it said. O’Brien and Marzan served in the 103rd Sustainment Command from Des Moines, Iowa, part of the army’s global logistics and supply operation. The US military on Tuesday identified four soldiers of the same command who also died

behind them. We must work together. Great powers can compel, but compulsion comes with costs, both reputational and financial. “Middle powers such as Australia and Canada hold this rare convening power because others know we mean what we say and we will match our values with our actions.” Carney added that the countries would work together as “strategic collaborators” to pool their vast combined rare earth mineral resources. He also detailed renewed cooperation in areas from defence to AI. “We know we must work with others who share our values to build solid capabilities.” He said they would otherwise risk being “caught between the hyperscalers and the hegemons”. He has frequently clashed with US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to annex Canada and slapped extreme tariffs on the country. in New York ruled on Wednesday that importers are entitled to refunds for tariffs they had already paid, which the US Supreme Court recently declared unlawful. Citing a 1977 emergency law, US President Donald Trump had imposed tariffs on dozens of trading partners without congressional approval since the start of his second term. In a landmark ruling last month, the Supreme Court declared those tariffs unlawful. Several companies subsequently filed lawsuits against the government at the Court of International Trade in New York seeking refunds for tariffs already paid. According to calculations by the University of Pennsylvania, the issue could involve about US$175 billion (RM690 billion) for the US federal budget, equivalent to roughly 2.5% of the budget. – Reuters

Carney added that the US-Israeli strikes on Iran were “inconsistent with international law”. However, he supports efforts to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, a position that Canada takes “with regret” as it represents “another example of the failure of the international order”. He reiterated yesterday his call for a “de-escalation” of the conflict. Carney’s trip is part of a multi-country tour of the Asia-Pacific aimed at reducing reliance on the United States, a hedge against what he has described as a fading US-led global order. The Australia leg of the tour is aimed at bringing in investment and deepening ties with a like-minded “middle power” partner. Yesterday, he issued a rallying cry in Australia’s Parliament to “middle powers”, urging them to work together in an increasingly hegemonic world order. He said nations such as Australia and Canada face a stark choice – work together to help write the “new rules” of the global order or have great powers do it for them. “In this brave new world, middle powers cannot simply build higher walls and retreat in the drone attack, marking them the first casualties of the conflict. The military identified the soldiers as Capt Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven in Florida, Sgt First Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue in Nebraska, Sgt First Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake in Minnesota and Sgt Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines in Iowa. The announcement comes as the conflict intensifies, with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth saying on Wednesday the United States “can sustain this fight easily for as long as we need to”. In a separate development, the US administration has suffered another setback in the legal dispute over its tariffs, reported German Press Agency. A judge at the US Court of International Trade

In a speech to political and financial elites at the World Economic Forum in January, Carney said the US-led global system of governance was enduring “a rupture”. – AFP Pentagon identifies soldiers killed in Iran conflict

CLOSE CALL ... Residents standing next to an unexploded missile after it plunged into the ground near Qamishli International Airport in Syria amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. – REUTERSPIC