DEVELOPING Latest updates on the major wildfires burning in Canada
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
Israeli strikes hit Gaza City and soldiers battled militants in southern Gaza on Monday after the U.S., its top ally, said it was time to scale back operations. Palestinian authorities said the death toll in the enclave passed 24,000.
South Africa has accused Israel of genocide in the war against Hamas, an allegation Israel has rejected. Although the full case is likely to take years to resolve, the United Nations’ top court could rule within weeks on South Africa's request for an order of an immediate suspension of Israel’s offensive. It’s unclear if Israel would comply with any court order.
The Oct. 7 Hamas attack from Gaza into southern Israel that triggered the war killed around 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage by militants.
Here's the latest:
Hamas has released a video showing what it says are the bodies of two Israeli hostages it claims were killed in Israeli airstrikes.
The video shows three hostages speaking to the camera, likely under duress. The three -- Noa Argamani, 26, Yossi Sharabi, 53, and Itay Svirsky, 38 -- urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt the war and say they are living in difficult conditions without enough food and water and in danger of Israeli airstrikes. At the end of the video, it then displays what it says are the lifeless bodies of Sharabi and Svirsky.
Argamani then tells the camera that separate airstrikes killed Sharabi and Svirsky and that she was injured in her head and body by shrapnel. She then pleads for Israel to bring the hostages home before the video shows what appear to be the bodies of Sharabi and Svirsky.
Hamas had released a video of the three late Sunday, saying it would deliver an update on their conditions on Monday. It was not known when the video was made.
The claims could not be verified, and there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military or the forum representing Israeli hostages and their families.
But in a news conference, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant accused Hamas of waging "psychological abuse" against Israeli families at a time when it is suffering heavy battlefield casualties.
Argamani's case has drawn heavy attention because her mother is dying from cancer and has tearfully called for the release of her daughter while she is still alive.
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- The Palestinian Health Ministry says two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.
The ministry says a 22-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman were shot dead in the southern town of Dura.
The Israeli military said its forces opened fire at group of around 100 Palestinians taking part in a violent protest, some of whom had hurled bricks and firebombs at soldiers. The man who was shot had thrown a firebomb, the military said, without providing evidence.
The West Bank has experienced a surge in violence since the war in Gaza erupted on Oct. 7. The war was triggered by Hamas' surprise attack from Gaza into southern Israel.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed some 350 Palestinians in the West Bank since Oct. 7. Most have been killed in confrontations with Israeli forces during arrest raids or violent protests.
The heads of three major UN agencies are warning that Gaza urgently needs more aid or its desperate population will suffer widespread famine and disease.
While the UN agency chiefs did not directly point a finger at Israel, they said aid delivery is hobbled by the opening of too few border crossings, a slow vetting process for trucks and goods going into Gaza, and continuing fighting throughout the territory. Israel plays a deciding factor in all of those things.
The World Food Program, UNICEF and the World Health Organization said Monday that new entry routes need to be opened to Gaza, more trucks need to be allowed in each day, and aid workers and those seeking aid need to be allowed to move around safely.
"People in Gaza risk dying of hunger just miles from trucks filled with food," said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. "Every hour lost puts countless lives at risk."
JERUSALEM -- Israeli police say at least two Palestinians carried out an attack north of Tel Aviv, ramming cars into pedestrians and stabbing people. One woman was killed and 12 people were wounded.
The police say they arrested two Palestinian suspects from the West Bank. They say the suspects stole three different cars and attempted to run down pedestrians Monday. The police say the two suspects had been working in Israel without permits.
Israeli rescue services say they treated 13 people, including three in serious condition and seven minors. Some of the victims had stabbing wounds.
France's Foreign Ministry said two French citizens are among the wounded. In a statement, it said "nothing justifies terrorism" and that France "assures Israel of its solidarity in this ordeal."
The attack took place in Ra'anana, a Tel Aviv suburb. Police were searching the area for additional suspects.
Hamas praised the attack but neither it nor other armed groups claimed responsibility.
ANKARA, Turkiye — Turkish authorities charged Israeli soccer player Sagiv Jehezkel on Monday with inciting hatred after he expressed solidarity with people held hostage by Hamas militants during a game. He was released from custody pending trial.
The Antalyaspor player was detained for questioning late Sunday after he displayed a bandage on his wrist with the words “100 Days 7.10” — a reference to Oct. 7, the day Hamas attacked Israel and the hostages were abducted — next to a Star of David.
The 28-year-old Israeli international told police he was simply calling for an end to the war.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said late Sunday that Jehezkel was under investigation for “openly inciting the public to hatred and hostility.” Tunc maintained in a statement posted on X that Jehezkel had engaged in “an ugly gesture in support of the Israeli massacre in Gaza.”
CAIRO — Gaza's Health Ministry said Monday that the bodies of 132 people killed in Israeli bombardment have been brought to the enclave's hospitals in the past 24 hours.
According to Gaza’s Civil Defence group, 33 of those were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City.
Hospitals also received 252 wounded, the ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory said in its daily briefing.
The fatalities brought the death toll in the strip to 24,100 dead since the war began on Oct. 7, the ministry said, adding that over 60,834 others were wounded.
The ministry, which does not distinguish in its count between fighters and non-combatants, says two-thirds of those killed in the war were women and children.
Israel says it has killed roughly 8,000 militants in the war.
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis equated war itself with crimes against humanity.
In remarks to the public gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday for his weekly window appearance, the pontiff said: “Let’s not forget how many suffer the cruelty of war in so many parts of the world, especially in Ukraine, in Palestine and in Israel.”
Francis lamented that “at the start of the year, we exchanged wishes for peace, but arms continue to kill and destroy.”
He urged reflection on the fact that war “sows death among civilians and destroys cities and infrastructure. In other words, today, war itself is a crime against humanity.”
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57. His family says 'he passed as he was surrounded by his closest loved ones.'
A ‘lifetime of abuse’ led Dallas Ly to snap and repeatedly stab his mother inside their Leslieville apartment in 2022 but he never intended to kill her, his defence lawyers argued during at his murder trial in Toronto on Thursday.
A burgeoning track star says his dream of going to the Olympics is being derailed by a deportation order after Immigration officials rejected his family’s claim for asylum
A father has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his 34-year-old daughter in southern Quebec.
A medical examiner says a Massachusetts teen who participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge died from ingesting a substance 'with a high capsaicin concentration.'
A Montreal father who kidnapped his daughter who has autism and lied to police when they asked where she was should serve three years in prison, a Crown prosecutor said.
The province’s health minister and solicitor general are urging Toronto to rescind its request to decriminalize simple possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use, calling the proposal 'misguided' and 'disastrous.'
To give Canadians a break on their summer road trips, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to suspend all gas and diesel taxes from Victoria Day to Labour Day.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
ALS patient Mathew Brown said he’s hopeful for future ALS patients after news this week of research at Western University of a potential cure for ALS.
When Adam Kirschner wrote 'Slap Shot,' he never imagined the song would be embraced by his favourite team.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.