Ontario to ban use of cellphones in school classrooms starting in September
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
Global Affairs is reporting the death of another Canadian due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, bringing the number of casualties connected to Canada to nine.
“GAC is aware of the deaths of eight Canadian citizens and one with deep connections to Canada,” the department wrote in its Sunday update on the conflict.
GAC added that the latest death occurred in Lebanon, but did not provide any other details.
The update also stated that around 130 more Canadians, permanent residents and eligible family members were able to leave the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing this weekend.
“Global Affairs Canada (GAC) confirms that the Rafah border crossing reopened to foreign nationals on Saturday, December 2, and that Canadians were permitted to start crossing again,” the agency said in a Sunday update.
This means that a total of 600 Canadians, permanent residents and their family members have crossed into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing since the crossing was first opened up to permit select foreign nationals and injured Palestinians through.
A document published this weekend by Gaza’s General Authority for Crossings and Borders showed 165 names under the “Canada” heading, indicating they had been approved to pass through the border, The Canadian Press reports.
Canada is not in charge of who is permitted to cross and when, and noted in their update that the situation is still “quite fluid and unpredictable,” cautioning that sudden closures of the border may occur.
“We continue to communicate directly with affected people in Gaza asking them to have their travel documents on hand and be ready to travel on short notice,” GAC stated.
“Communications remain difficult with regular blackouts to Gaza’s main telecom services, although we continue to contact Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and their eligible family members through all available channels and we continue to be in touch with their loved ones in Canada.”
There are currently 426 Canadians registered in the West Bank and Gaza, according to GAC. One Canadian remains missing, but Global Affairs has not identified them.
Canadians have been attempting to flee the region since Oct. 7., when Hamas militants launched an attack in Israel that killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 240 hostages—a move which sparked retaliation from Israel in the form of weeks of aerial bombardment, a siege that cut off food, water and fuel to the Gaza Strip and a ground assault that has displaced 1.8 million Palestinians, according to the United Nations.
More than 15,500 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, with 70 per cent of the deaths being among women and children.
After weeks of widening evacuation orders instructing citizens to flee south in the besieged enclave, Israel’s military said Sunday that their ground offensive had expanded to every part of Gaza.
A temporary ceasefire last week allowed for the exchange of dozens of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, but Israel has since called its negotiators home, the Associated Press reports, making hopes for another temporary truce grow dim.
Canada updated its travel advisory for Lebanon in mid-October as fears of a widening regional conflict grew. Canadians are advised to avoid all travel to Lebanon “due to a deteriorating security situation, civil unrest, the increased risk of terrorist attack and the ongoing armed conflict with Israel.”
Israel and militant groups such as Hezbollah have been exchanging blows over the Lebanon border for the past few weeks, the Associated Press reports. On Friday, in their first attack since the seven-day truce between Israel and Hamas, Hezbollah launched attacks on Israeli troops, while Lebanese officials reported Israeli shelling killed two citizens in a village in southern Lebanon.
There are 15,918 Canadians registered with GAC in Lebanon.
Ontario is introducing a suite of measures that will crack down on cellphone use and vaping in schools.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for a specific chocolate brand sold in Ontario and Quebec.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.
Ontario is now home to an invasive and toxic worm species that can grow up to three feet long and can be dangerous to small animals and pets.
One person has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a man who fell from a balcony following an altercation inside a Toronto apartment building.
Dozens of people raised their arms in the fascist salute and shouted a fascist chant during ceremonies Sunday to honor Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on the 79th anniversary of his execution.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's governing party, stung by an extensive slush funds scandal, appeared to have lost all three seats in Sunday's parliamentary byelections, according to media exit polls and preliminary results.
Zendaya and castmates Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor have been on a globetrotting press tour to get the word out about Italian director Luca Guadagnino's original film, which opened in 3,477 locations in the U.S. and Canada.
Quebec will invest $603 million over five years to counter the decline of French in the province, French Language Minister Jean-Francois Roberge announced Sunday.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”