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Gaza evacuees question Canada’s policy for who it will help evacuate

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:33:47 GMT

OTTAWA — Some Canadians who escaped the Gaza Strip say Canada’s definition of family means they had to make the heartbreaking choice to leave loved ones behind.Canadian citizen Amro Abumiddain says he would have rather died with his father in Gaza than leave without him, but said he had to get his children out of the territory while he had the chance.He crossed the border last week after a month of living under constant bombardment, but couldn’t bring his father with him because Canada’s definition of eligible family members only includes spouses, children and grandchildren. Abumiddain’s cousin Maha Abdelwahed in Halifax says after she was told her parents wouldn’t qualify for Canada’s list of evacuees in Gaza she saw that others she knows were able to get their family members out even though they also shouldn’t have qualified.Global Affairs Canada did not reply to repeated requests last week seeking clarity on which family members would qua...

Montreal Jewish community won’t let itself be terrorized, school spokesman says

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:33:47 GMT

MONTREAL — Students at a Montreal Jewish school were back in class today after their school building was hit by gunfire over the weekend for the second time in three days. School spokesman Lionel Perez says that while parents are worried about the violence directed at the school, the Jewish community won’t allow itself to be terrorized.Police said Sunday they responded to an early-morning call about gunshots fired at the Yeshiva Gedola school, in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood, and arrived to find bullet casings on the ground.It’s the latest in a series of crimes since the start of the Israel-Hamas war that have left Montreal’s Jewish community on edge, including previous shootings at Yeshiva Gedola and at another nearby school, as well as firebombs that caused minor damage to a synagogue and a Federation CJA office last week.Nobody was hurt in those incidents, and Perez says the damage from Sunday’s shooting is limited to the building’s exterior. He...

Detroit-area doctor grieves the loss of 20 relatives killed during Israel’s war against Hamas

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:33:47 GMT

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Each time Dr. Emad Shehada’s phone rings, the suburban Detroit pulmonologist worries that it could be more bad news about loved ones in Gaza.He said that so far, 20 cousins and other relatives have been killed since the start of Israel’s campaign against Hamas following the militant group’s deadly Oct. 7 incursion into southern Israel that set off the war.More than 11,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and minors, have been killed since the war began, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. About 2,700 people have been reported missing.More than 1,200 people in Israel died, most of them in the Hamas attack, and about 240 hostages were taken from Israel into Gaza by Palestinian militants.Among those Shehada grieves are his cousin, Mohammad Khrais, three of Khrais’ children and 19-year-old Mayar, who was pregnant.“When you hear about these conflicts, your heart is bro...

Toronto Public Library board to meet on cybersecurity breach

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:33:47 GMT

Over two weeks after a cyber attack shut down Toronto Public Library’s (TPL) online system, the board is holding a meeting Monday night to determine next steps.The library’s network of 100 branches remains open to the public but many of the services that residents rely on are still unavailable, such as the library’s website, “your account” service, tpl:map passes and digital collections. The library says customers can continue to borrow and return items “until further notice.”TPL acknowledged on Friday that sensitive data may have been “exposed” in the ransomware attack but said further investigation was needed to determine the extent of the exposure and the individuals affected.The Toronto Public Library Board is set to meet for discussions involving the security of the property.Security expert Mick Be said those who have accounts with the library should keep an eye on their bank accounts or for suspicious calls.“You just want to keep an eye on any strange activities, p...

Poilievre says he needs to study replacement workers bill before taking position

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:33:47 GMT

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he doesn’t yet have a position on the Liberal government’s proposed legislation to ban the use of replacement workers during strikes and lockouts in most federally regulated workplaces. The bill was tabled last week and will apply to federally regulated industries such as banking, airports and telecommunications, but not to the federal public service or workplaces that are regulated by a province or territory. Poilievre says today he first needs to study “what’s written down on paper,” before deciding how he and his party will vote.The Liberals promised in the 2021 election to ban the use of replacement workers in the event of a lockout, but Bill C-58 expands it to include strikes, as agreed to in the confidence-and-supply deal with the NDP.NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is celebrating the bill as a victory for his party, which has long advocated for the provision along with union leaders.Both the Canadian Ch...

Book Review: ‘UFO’ is a detailed look at the history of the search for the truth that’s out there

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:33:47 GMT

The truth may be out there, but making sense out of it isn’t easy.Discussion about unidentified flying objects has moved over the years from fodder for science fiction movies or jokes to the subject of congressional hearings. Garrett M. Graff’s “UFO: The Inside Story of the U.S. Government’s Search for Alien Life Here — and Out There” is the perfect guide for readers interested in learning how that discussion has evolved. Graff offers an authoritative and objective look at the history of UFO sightings and research into the possibility of extraterrestrial life over the past 75 years. It’s a narrative as compelling as Graff’s other works, including his history of Watergate, and requires the same skill that he’s demonstrated in navigating government documents.The deeply researched history traces the ways the government has struggled to wrap its arms around the questions raised by UFOs — or, as they’re now known, “unidentified aerial phenomena” ...

If an election were held today, who would win? Data projects huge Tory victory

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:33:47 GMT

It has been clear for some time that the Trudeau Liberals have been struggling in the polls, but a new survey and analysis finds if an election were held today, the Grits would be headed to a stunning defeat.Abacus Data crunched the numbers over several polls to make a seat projection. That projection shows the Liberals would lose more than half their seats and Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives would be heading to a solid majority if Canadians cast their ballots right now.“You’ve got the Conservatives winning 204 seats — that’s a 77-seat gain for them. The Liberals are in second at 69, a drop of 87 seats, with the Bloc at 43, and the New Democrats at 27,” explained Abacus Data CEO David Coletto. Related articles: Should Trudeau step down? Who would take his place? Conservative push to expand carbon tax carve out fails, as Bloc sides with Liberals What can the Conservative convention tell us about the future ...

Jewish protesters and allies block Israeli consulate in Chicago, demanding a cease-fire in Gaza

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:33:47 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Hundreds of Jewish peace activists and their allies converged at a major train station in downtown Chicago during rush hour Monday morning, blocking the entrance to the Israeli consulate and demanding U.S. support for an Israel cease-fire as battles rage in northern Gaza.Midwestern Jews and allies traveled to Chicago from Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Illinois for the demonstration, organizers said.The Israeli consulate in Chicago is in a building connected to the Ogilvie Transportation Center, a major commuter rail station. Over 100 protesters who had blocked escalators leading to the consulate were arrested for misdemeanor trespassing and escorted out of the building, according to Ben Lorber, who helped organize the protest led by Chicago chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow, and Never Again Action. That information was not confirmed by Chicago police, who could not immediately provide information on the number and reasons for a...

A British man is sentenced to 8 years in prison over terror offenses with the Islamic State group

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:33:47 GMT

LONDON (AP) — A British convert to Islam who was convicted in Turkey of being part of the Islamic State group was sentenced to eight years in prison in Britain on Monday after he pleaded guilty to terrorism charges.Aine Leslie Davis, 39, was deported from Turkey in August 2022 and detained on arrival at London’s Luton Airport after serving a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for membership in IS.He pleaded guilty last month to having a firearm for terrorism purposes and two charges of funding terrorism.Prosecutors said Davis, who left his home in London and travelled to Syria in 2013 to join the armed conflict there, enlisted his wife to persuade a friend to bring him 20,000 euros ($21,400) to support his cause. The friend was stopped at Heathrow Airport in 2014, and Davis’s wife, Amal El-Wahabi, was convicted of funding terrorism.Davis’ defense lawyer, Mark Summers, issued an apology to the Syrian people on his behalf, saying he and others like him “caused more harm ...

Russian UN envoys shoot back at Western criticism of its Ukraine war and crackdown on dissidents

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 17:33:47 GMT

GENEVA (AP) — Western countries on Monday repeatedly called on Russia to end domestic repression of dissident voices and end its war in Ukraine — and human rights violations related to it — as Russia came under a regular review at the U.N.’s top rights body.A delegation from Moscow, led by State Secretary and Deputy Justice Minister Andrei Loginov, defended Russia’s right to ensure law and order by restricting some forms of protest or voices that might threaten domestic security. He also said Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine had “no relation to the subject matter” at issue in the review.Monday’s 3 1/2-hour hearing in Geneva was part of an exercise known as the universal periodic review, or UPR, which all U.N. member states face about every four or five years in connection with the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council.Russia came under widespread international condemnation after President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in Febr...