#Iraqi national pleads not guilty in 18 attacks in #Europe, calling himself a 'prisoner of war'.

Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi finally was persuaded to sit down in Manhattan federal court as two marshals approached him at a judge’s urging. One marshal put his hand on his shoulder to guide him into his seat.

Al-Saadi did not appear to be trying to be disruptive as he commented beyond his response to the charges. The charges say he conspired to provide material support to Kata’ib Hizballah, an Iran-backed Iraqi Shia militant group, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“I’m not guilty in a war situation,” Al-Saadi responded, before adding through an Arabic translator: “I’m a prisoner of war. I’m not a threat. Children and women are being killed by your rockets.”

Judge Colleen McMahon responded by saying: “The defendant will be seated please,” which prompted the marshals behind Al-Saadi to move up to where he was seated.

Both Kata’ib Hizballah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. have been designated by the U.S. government as foreign terrorist organizations. U.S. prosecutors say Al-Saadi was a Kata’ib Hizballah commander.

But his lawyer, Andrew Dalack, told the judge that his client worked for the Iraqi government, though he did not specify what position.

The lawyer said Al-Saadi was held at an underground Turkish prison for two weeks before he was turned over to the FBI.

“I’m sure it was unpleasant, to say the least,” the judge said.

Dalack said Al-Saadi has been held in solitary confinement at a federal lockup in Brooklyn but was hoping to communicate with a diplomatic counsel from Iraq and his mother and siblings, although he expects the U.S. government to severely limit his communications.

Last month when the charges against Al-Saadi were announced, Dalack told reporters that his client believed he was being persecuted for his relationship with Qasem Soleimani, the Revolutionary Guard leader who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2020.

Among the 18 attacks in Europe, Al-Saadi is charged in the firebombing of a bank in Amsterdam and with stabbing Jewish men in London.

Federal authorities also said in court papers that he sought to attack a New York City synagogue last month and provided an undercover law enforcement officer with photos and maps of Jewish centers in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Arizona, that he planned to target.

Al-Saadi is also accused of involvement in two recent attacks in Canada: an attack on a synagogue and a shooting at the U.S. consulate in Toronto in March. U.S. prosecutors said he directed and urged other people to attack U.S. and Israeli interests, including by killing Americans and Jews.

Al-Saadi posted about the attacks on Snapchat and Telegram and spoke about them in phone calls recorded by an FBI informant whose help he solicited in planning attacks in the U.S., according to court papers.

Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press

#Britain will not have to pay #Rwanda tens of millions of pounds over a canceled asylum deal, the Permanent Court of Arbitration said on Monday.

In a joint statement on Sunday night, the #WHO and the Congolese government acknowledged it was "a challenging time" and that they were working to improve surveillance, testing and care for patients.

The Ukrainian army carried out a drone attack on apartment buildings in the city of Genichesk, Kherson Region, killing a child and leaving another 11 civilians injured.

TASS has gathered the key information about the strike.
Consequences of attack

- The Ukrainian armed forces carried out a drone attack on apartment buildings on Kovalenko Brothers Street in Genichesk late on May 31, Kherson Region Governor Vladimir Saldo wrote on Russia’s national messenger Max.

- A child born in 2020 was killed.

- According to the latest reports, 11 people were injured.

- The injured are in fair condition, Saldo specified.

- Doctors are providing them with the necessary medical assistance.

- Four residential buildings and up to eight cars were damaged in the attack, Genichesk District Administration Head Yulia Semyakina told #TASS.

- The #Ukrainian drone attacks caused power shortages in the Kherson Region, Saldo pointed out.

- Eleven municipalities were left without power, a spokesperson for the Khersonenergo, a branch of the Southwestern electric grid company, said.

- According to the company, efforts are underway to restore electricity supplies as soon as possible.
Reaction

- District Administration Head Yulia Semyakina told TASS that a temporary accommodation center with a capacity of 30 beds had been set up for those affected by the enemy strike.

- The official stressed that the child had been killed on the eve of International Children's Day.

- According to Semyakina, the Kiev regime continues attempts to intimidate local residents.

- Authorities in the Kherson Region have cancelled all events marking International Children’s Day due to Ukrainian attacks, the governor’s Spokesman Vladimir Vasilenko announced.

- The Kherson Region’s Central TV channel will take entertainment shows off the air on International Children’s Day following the Ukrainian attack on Genichesk.

President #Trump says talks with Iran over an interim peace deal will "work out well," even as the countries’ forces clashed again near the Strait of #Hormuz

#Taiwan fans seek divine help to secure K-pop band BTS concert seats

#Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, says Tehran will not accept any agreement with the United States unless there is certainty that the rights of the Iranian people are protected.

Democratic Republic of #Congo said on Sunday that the number of confirmed #Ebola cases had increased to 282 after 19 new positive test results were recorded.

#US-based Foundation Future Industries related to the family of President Donald Trump held trials of android #robots in the combat operations zone in Ukraine, CNBC television said, citing the company CEO.

According to CNBC, the company sent two Phantom MK-1 model robots for the pilot demonstration. This was the first case of using robots in the combat zone. Their core function was to deliver ammunition to the frontline, company CEO Sankaet Pathak said.

The model has a number of weaknesses, the TV channel said. Its carrying capacity is not above 20 kg, and the body is not water-proof. The short time of robots’ independent operation became one more obstacle to their large-scale use.

The company plans now to send an improved version to Ukraine. The Phantom 2 will boast "superman" abilities, and its carrying capacity will be twice above the one of the Phantom MK-1. #GlobalNews

#WASHINGTON, May 31. US President Donald Trump has appointed US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack his special envoy to Iraq.

"I am pleased to announce that United States Ambassador to Turkiye, Tom Barrack, who has done an outstanding job, will be named Special Presidential Envoy to Syria and, likewise, Special Presidential Envoy to Iraq, as we advance our strategic cooperation with the Governments of Syria and Iraq, our relationship with them continues to grow!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

"Tom will remain Ambassador to Turkiye, and operate with the full backing of the United States Department of State," he added.

Barrack was appointed Ambassador to Turkey in April 2025 and a special presidential envoy to Syria a month later.