El Nino weakening doesn't mean cooler temperatures this summer, forecasters say
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
Hamas released a video of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin on Wednesday, the first proof that he survived being badly wounded during his capture on October 7.
Goldberg-Polin, then 23, was kidnapped from the Nova music festival during Hamas’ attacks on Israel when more than 1,200 people died and more than 200 people were taken hostage.
He is shown in the undated video with part of his left arm missing several inches above the hand.
Video filmed on October 7 showed Goldberg-Polin being taken hostage with his arm severely injured. A firsthand account from a young woman, who was in a bunker with him when Hamas attacked, said he had helped to throw grenades out, before his arm was blown off from the elbow down.
The latest video shows Goldberg-Polin sitting in a chair, addressing the camera. Gesturing occasionally with his injured arm, he identifies himself and gives his date of birth and parents’ names.
He says he has been “here for almost 200 days,” suggesting the video was filmed shortly before Tuesday, the 200th day of the war.
Goldberg-Polin’s hair is cropped short in the video, which is edited with a number of cuts from wide shot to close up.
He criticizes the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as other Israeli hostages in Hamas propaganda videos have done. Held captive in Gaza for six months, he is almost certainly speaking under duress.
He mentions Israeli government ministers sitting down to holiday dinners with their families, an apparent reference to the Jewish holiday of Passover, which began Monday night and is traditionally celebrated with a family dinner.
He urges his own family to stay strong for him and finishes by saying he hopes he was able to give them some comfort on the holiday.
The Biden administration received the video Monday – two days before Hamas made it public – and officials have since been in contact with Goldberg-Polin’s family, according to a US official. The FBI’s Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell is running point on examining the video for any potential evidence and information that can be gleaned about Goldberg-Polin and his captivity, the official said.
Goldberg-Polin is among the most recognizable of the 129 hostages who remain in Gaza. Banners and murals are displayed in Jerusalem, saying: “Bring Hersh Home,” and his parents Rachel and Jonathan regularly meet top US officials in Washington to press the case of the hostages.
Of the 129 October 7 hostages still being held in Gaza, the Israeli government believes 33 are dead.
Following the release of the video, the Goldberg-Polin family demanded immediate action to release their son and the other hostages still held in Gaza.
“Seeing the video of Hersh today is overwhelming. We are relieved to see him alive, but we are also concerned about his health and wellbeing as well as that of all the other hostages and all of those suffering in this region,” his parents Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin said in a video statement.
The Goldberg-Polin family has called on the negotiating parties, including Qatar, Egypt, the United States, Hamas, and Israel, to intensify efforts and strike a deal that would reunite families and end their suffering.
They also sent a personal message to their son, “Hersh, we heard your voice today for the first time in 201 days. If you can hear us, know that we love you. Stay strong, survive.”
The hostage video released Wednesday of Goldberg-Polin was the first proof he had survived his injuries sustained on October 7. Previous footage, taken on the day of that attack, shows Hamas fighters leading him away from the bomb shelter with part of his arm missing.
The first time Goldberg-Polin’s parents saw that video was following an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper in October. The pair were recalling eyewitness accounts of how their son was taken into captivity during a live TV interview, when Cooper realized he had heard details of the story before.
Days earlier, an Israeli soldier at the site of the Nova music festival had shown Cooper a video of Hamas fighters lobbing grenades into a bomb shelter. The video also showed a young Israeli man – with his hand blown off and bone protruding from his wrist – being marched out of the shelter and thrown along with four others into the back of a truck. Cooper realized this was Rachel and John’s son.
Not wanting to spring the news on them on live TV, Cooper contacted them after the interview and asked if they wanted to see the video. They later confirmed the man in the video was their son and asked that the video be shared more widely.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin was told by eyewitnesses that as many as 29 people had huddled together in the shelter before Hamas began to throw grenades inside. Eight people survived by hiding under the bodies of the dead, while her son was one of several hostages taken.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin has campaigned for her son’s release for the past six months. She told CNN in January that she wears a piece of tape marking each day that has passed since Hersh was snatched by Hamas fighters.
Hersh, 23, was set to go on a round-the-world trip he had planned. On December 27, when he had been scheduled to leave, his mother went to the airport with friends and handed stickers of Hersh to passengers on his flight, asking them to send photos from places they visit.
As Canadians brace themselves for summer temperatures, forecasters say a weakening El Nino cycle doesn’t mean relief from the heat.
A 15-year old boy who was critically injured after a stabbing in Nepean on Thursday has died of his injuries, Ottawa's English public school board said Sunday.
The Maple Leafs battled back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Boston Bruins with consecutive 2-1 victories - including one that required extra time - in their first-round playoff series to push the club's Original Six rival to the limit before suffering a devastating Game 7 overtime loss.
Amid scientists' warnings that nations need to transition away from fossil fuels to limit climate change, Canadians are still lukewarm on electric vehicles, according to a study conducted by Nanos Research for CTV News.
Three people have died and two have been hospitalized after a speeding car struck a tree and landed on another vehicle in Fredericton Sunday morning.
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Madonna put on a free concert on Copacabana beach Saturday night, turning Rio de Janeiro's vast stretch of sand into an enormous dance floor teeming with a multitude of her fans.
Thieves killed two Australians and an American on a surfing trip to Mexico in order to steal their truck, particularly because they wanted the tires, authorities said Sunday.
One person was killed and 23 others were injured when a bus crashed early Sunday on Interstate 95 in northern Maryland, police said.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.