Olympian, veteran, first Canadian Indigenous police officer honoured in Belgium
Alex Decoteau didn’t live to see his 30th birthday, but what he accomplished in his 29 years of life was simply remarkable.
The funeral of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general killed alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah drew the largest crowd of top leaders in the paramilitary organization together Tuesday for the first time since Tehran launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel.
Rumours circulated for weeks over the status of the head of the Guard's expeditionary arm, Gen. Esmail Qaani, but the Quds Force leader was seen in a black bomber jacket wiping away tears early Tuesday morning at the body repatriation at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport.
Meanwhile, Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza Strip killed at least 15 people overnight, including six children and two women, Palestinian medical officials said Tuesday. In northern Gaza, where Israel has been waging an air and ground campaign in Jabaliya for more than a week, residents said families were still trapped in their homes and shelters.
It’s been more than a year since Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many were fighters but say women and children make up more than half of the fatalities. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90 per cent of its population of 2.3 million people.
In solidarity with Hamas, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has exchanged cross-border fire with Israel almost daily for the past year. Israel has escalated its campaign against the group in recent weeks.
Here's the latest:
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration believes it has won assurances from Israel that it will not hit Iranian nuclear or oil sites as it considers retaliating to Iran’s missile barrage earlier this month, two U.S. officials say.
The administration also believes that sending a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to Israel and roughly 100 soldiers to operate it has eased some of Israel’s concerns about more Iranian strikes and general security issues.
The Pentagon announced Sunday that the THAAD deployment was to help bolster Israel’s air defenses following Iran’s ballistic missile attacks on Israel in April and October, saying it was authorized at the direction of President Joe Biden.
However, the U.S. officials who spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic discussions, cautioned that the assurance is not iron-clad and that circumstances could change. The officials also noted that Israel’s track record on fulfilling assurances in the past is mixed and has often reflected domestic Israeli politics that have upended Washington’s expectations.
By Matthew Lee
DAMASCUS, Syria — A shelter near Damascus established to house Syrians displaced by the country’s civil war is now housing more than 300 Lebanese families who fled the escalating war between Israel and Hezbollah in their country.
Abdul-Nasser Khatib, the head of the shelter in Herjelleh, said Tuesday that Syria, which was already in the throes of an economic crisis, is struggling to meet the needs of the new arrivals.
He says the center doesn’t have enough drinking water, food, baby milk and clothes, and “we are in urgent need of the assistance of international organizations.”
A child playing with a make-believe train at the center chanted, “Toot toot, to Beirut,” a line from a popular song about Lebanon’s now-defunct railroad.
Nour Murad, a Lebanese citizen from the eastern city of Baalbek, says she fled a “disastrous” situation and has been in Syria for eight days.
“The destruction and blood were everywhere around us,” she said. “Displacement is nothing compared to those who have lost loved ones.” Murad said she plans to return to Lebanon “as soon as the situation calms down.”
Lebanese border authorities say more than 326,000 Syrians and more than 124,000 Lebanese citizens have crossed into Syria from Lebanon since Sept. 23, when Israel began widespread attacks in Lebanon.
Displaced families fleeing the war in Lebanon, gather at the Herjalleh shelter center in Damascus countryside, Syria, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. State Department has dismissed remarks by Iran’s foreign minister who said Tehran shut down an indirect communication route between the two countries in Oman.
Responding to a query from The Associated Press, the State Department said Tuesday: “We have direct and open lines of communication with Iran when it is in our interest.”
“There is no misunderstanding in our position,” the State Department said. “Thus, there is no need at the current time for indirect talks in Oman or anywhere else.”
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state media in Muscat, Oman, that Iran has stopped indirect talks with the U.S. there.
Iran remains braced for a possible retaliatory strike by Israel to Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack on Israel, its second direct attack on Israel amid the ongoing wars in the Middle East.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The U.S. State Department has dismissed remarks by Iran's foreign minister who said Tehran shut down an indirect communication route between the two countries in Oman.
Responding to a query from The Associated Press, the State Department said Tuesday: "We have direct and open lines of communication with Iran when it is in our interest."
"There is no misunderstanding in our position," the State Department said. "Thus, there is no need at the current time for indirect talks in Oman or anywhere else."
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state media in Muscat, Oman, that Iran has stopped indirect talks with the U.S. there.
Iran remains braced for a possible retaliatory strike by Israel to Iran's Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack on Israel, its second direct attack on Israel amid the ongoing wars in the Middle East.
GENEVA -- The UN human rights office is calling for an independent probe into an Israeli airstrike that hit an apartment block in northern Lebanon and left at least 23 people dead.
Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), says the agency has received reports that 12 women and two children were among those killed Monday in the airstrike on the village of Aito.
"With these factors in mind, we have real concerns with respect to...the laws of war and principles of distinction, proportion and proportionality," he told reporters in Geneva Tuesday.
Laurence is calling for a "prompt, independent and thorough investigation into this incident."
Lebanese policemen check a destroyed car at the site of Monday's Israeli airstrike in Aito village, north Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
JERUSALEM -- The Israeli Defence Ministry says it is speeding up development of new technologies to counter drone attacks like the Hezbollah strike this week that killed four soldiers.
Israel's air defences have performed well during a year of war against enemies across the region, particularly against rocket and missile attacks. But at times, they have struggled against drones, with unmanned aerial vehicles responsible for several deadly attacks.
The Defence Ministry said it tested a number of technologies being developed by Israeli companies as part of an "expedited process" to find new solutions. It says it will analyze the results and select several technologies for further development with the aim of deploying them within months.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. and Canada on Tuesday imposed sanctions on the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, or “Samidoun,” a charity that serves as an alleged fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine militant group.
The group operates in Gaza and the West Bank and has been a designated foreign terrorist organization since 1997.
Also designated is Khaled Barakat, a member of the group’s leadership.
Acting Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith said that organizations like Samidoun “masquerade as charitable actors that claim to provide humanitarian support to those in need, yet in reality divert funds for much-needed assistance to support terrorist groups.”
The penalties aim to block them from using the U.S. financial system and bar American citizens from dealing with them.
BEIRUT -- Hezbollah's deputy chief and acting leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, said in a televised speech Tuesday that the group is now focused on "hurting the enemy," exemplified by targeting the Israeli city of Haifa and areas beyond it, including Tel Aviv.
The pre-recorded speech marked his third appearance since Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs on Sept. 27.
"We will defeat our enemies and drive them out of our lands," Kassem said. He accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking a "new Middle East" aligned with Israeli and American interests.
He urged Hezbollah supporters to remain steadfast amid Israeli attacks. "Our hope for victory is limitless," he said. "I give you good news that we are the ones who will hold the enemy's reins and return it to the fold."
Addressing Israelis, Kassem said that a ceasefire is the only solution to return residents of northern Israel to their homes. "We are not seeking a ceasefire because we are weak," he said.
If Israel continues its bombardment and ground invasion in Lebanon, he said that Hezbollah's strikes will expand over a geographically wider area and "more than 2 million will be in danger."
Israeli officials have said the operation in Lebanon is intended to push back Hezbollah and return displaced Israelis to their homes.
People listen to a speech by Naim Kassem, acting leader of Hezbollah, broadcasted on a television channel, at a coffee shop in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Kassem linked the ongoing conflict in Lebanon to the broader struggle of the Palestinians, and to the ongoing war in Gaza.
"We cannot separate Lebanon from Palestine, or Palestine from the world," he said.
JERUSALEM -- A team of American troops supporting a missile defence system in Israel has arrived in the country, the U.S. military said.
A statement from Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder announced the team's arrival in Israel on Monday. They'll operate a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence battery there to defend against ballistic missile attacks from Iran. Tehran has launched two missile attacks on Israel as the wars in Gaza and Lebanon rage.
"Over the coming days, additional U.S. military personnel and THAAD battery components will continue to arrive in Israel," Ryder said. "The battery will be fully operational capable in the near future, but for operations security reasons we will not discuss timelines."
Iran has warned U.S. troops would be in harm's way if Iran launches another attack on Israel.
GENEVA -- The UN health agency says more than 92,000 children aged under 10 in central Gaza received doses of novel oral polio vaccine as a second phase of a vaccination campaign got underway.
World Health Organization spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters Tuesday that the kick-off a day earlier to the second round of polio vaccinations was part of efforts to reach over 179,000 kids in central Gaza -- and over 590,000 across the entire strip.
"What we have received from colleagues is that the vaccination went without major issues yesterday," he told reporters at a regular UN briefing in Geneva. He expressed hopes that a "humanitarian pause" will be respected in north and south Gaza over the next six-to-eight days.
Jasarevic said 92,821 children aged under 10 received the vaccine on Monday, the first day of the new phase of the vaccination campaign.
"No one wants to see any child paralyzed (because of polio)," Jasarevic said. "But there are so many other problems that people in Gaza are facing, and we need sustained access."
JERUSALEM -- Israeli police say one officer was killed and four civilians were wounded in a shooting Tuesday on a highway in central Israel.
Police did not immediately provide the identity of the shooter, but police spokeswoman, Mirit Ben Mayor, said that it was a militant attack.
Police said the attacker approached the highway and shot the officer before firing on civilians, wounding four. The attacker was then shot by a paramedic arriving on the scene, Israel's rescue services said, without saying whether the attacker was killed.
The shooting occurred on a two-lane highway near the city of Yavne, just south of Tel Aviv.
Israeli security forces examine the scene of a shooting attack where they said a police officer was killed and several others were wounded near Yavne, Israel, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
Ohad Yehezkeli, a spokesperson for nearby Assuta Hospital, said the officer died on the way there and another civilian was being treated for moderate injuries. He said two more wounded people were being transported to the hospital.
Palestinians have carried out dozens of stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks against Israelis since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza.
Israel has ramped up military operations in the occupied West Bank, killing more than 750 Palestinians. Most have been killed during gunbattles with the army or violent protests, but the dead also include civilian bystanders.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A general in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard directly threatened the lives of Israelis during a funeral service in Tehran for a general slain alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The comment from Gen. Ali Fadavi, a deputy commander in chief of the Guard, comes as Iran awaits a threatened retaliation by Israel over its Oct. 1 ballistic missile attack.
"That land is a small land. It's not even as big as one of Iran's small provinces," Fadavi said. "If we will, we can obliterate all the Zionists."
Iranian officials routinely refer to Israelis as "Zionists."
The Guard's leadership attended a funeral service for Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, who was killed alongside Nasrallah in an airstrike in Beirut. Guard leaders and others in Iran's theocracy have threatened to destroy Israel in the past during the more than four decades since the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution.
JERUSALEM -- Israeli police accused Hamas operatives in Turkiye of directing a militant attack in August in Tel Aviv in which an explosive went off on a busy street, killing the attacker and wounding a bystander.
There was no immediate comment from Turkiye. Relations between the two countries have plunged since the start of the war in Gaza.
Turkiye has long provided political support for Hamas, including welcoming its top leaders on visits, but denies involvement in its military activities.
The bomb appeared to have gone off before it was planned to, and it was unclear if the attacker had planned to carry out a suicide bombing or plant the explosives. Both Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group claimed the attack.
Police said Tuesday that they filed indictments against eight suspects. They said the attacker was a militant from Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, who had been directed by an operative in Turkiye. They said one of the attack planners had traveled to Turkiye several times for explosives training, and that a raid in Nablus uncovered more bombs and funds transferred from Turkiye. The police did not provide evidence.
"The findings of this investigation clearly indicate the establishment of Hamas headquarters in Turkiye and their extensive efforts abroad to incite violence and carry out bombings in Israel," the police statement said.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip -- Palestinian first responders say they recovered 11 bodies, nearly all women and children, from a home destroyed in an airstrike in northern Gaza, where Israel has been waging an air and ground operation for over a week.
The Gaza Health Ministry's ambulance service said the dead recovered Tuesday were all from the same family and included seven women and three children.
Fares Abu Hamza, head of the emergency service, said ambulances were only able to reach the area in the Jabaliya refugee camp around 12 hours after the airstrike late Monday. He said funeral prayers for the dead, which included a medic killed in Jabaliya, were held Tuesday in the courtyard of the Kamal Adwan Hospital.
First responders from the Civil Defence said its teams evacuated three families Tuesday who were stuck inside their homes in Jabaliya for several days because of heavy fighting.
Since the start of the war, the Israeli military has carried out several large operations in Jabaliya -- a densely populated urban refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation -- only to return months later after saying militants had regrouped there. Israel launched a large operation there on Oct. 6.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- The funeral of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general killed alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah drew the largest crowd of top leaders in the paramilitary organization together Tuesday for the first time since Tehran launched a ballistic missile attack on Israel.
The Guard's leadership hasn't been as visible in the two weeks since Iran's Oct. 1 attack on Israel. The Guard is the main power behind Iran's theocracy and oversees its arsenal of ballistic missiles -- which would be crucial in any future attack on Israel.
Commander of the Iran's Revolutionary Guard Quds Force, Gen. Esmail Qaani, centre, mourns during the funeral ceremony of the late Revolutionary Guard Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut in late September, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
At the funeral in Tehran for Gen. Abbas Nilforushan, the Guard's chief commander, Gen. Hossein Salami, attended alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and the head of the country's judiciary. Other Guard generals also attended, including Gen. Esmail Qaani of the Guard's expeditionary Quds Force, about whom rumours had circulated for days regarding his status after the strike that killed Nasrallah.
At least two prominent Guard generals were not on hand: Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of Guard's aerospace division that oversees its missile program, and Gen. Ali Reza Tangsiri, commander of the Guard's navy, did not attend.
Iran offered no explanation for their absence, though Israel has threatened to carry out a serious retaliatory strike against Iran.
Alex Decoteau didn’t live to see his 30th birthday, but what he accomplished in his 29 years of life was simply remarkable.
The majority of strokes could be prevented, according to new guidelines aimed at helping people and their doctors do just that.
In the middle of a Berlin hotel cafe, Masih Alinejad raises her voice and starts singing at the top of her lungs in Farsi, as waiters turn to watch along with the three German government bodyguards assigned to protect her.
Quebec provincial police (SQ) found a man who escaped lawful custody in the Laurentians.
Decluttering your closet can be an easy task when you follow the "one in, one out" rule according to an Ottawa specialist.
Lawyers for an alleged high-ranking member of the Italian Mafia in Toronto claim evidence is being used against him that is the product of foreign interference by Italian police.
The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree arrived in New York City on Saturday, signaling the start of the holiday season in the Big Apple.
Queen Camilla will miss Britain's annual remembrance weekend events to honor fallen service personnel while she recovers from a chest infection, Buckingham Palace said Saturday.
Televisions that measure 97 inches (and more) diagonally across – a.k.a. XXL TVs – are becoming a huge hit as the cost of giant screens sinks sharply, and viewers look to replace the screens they bought during the peak of the pandemic a few years ago.
A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.
As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.
A group of women in Chester, N.S., has been busy on the weekends making quilts – not for themselves, but for those in need.
A Vancouver artist whose streetside singing led to a chance encounter with one of the world's biggest musicians is encouraging aspiring performers to try their hand at busking.
Ten-thousand hand-knit poppies were taken from the Sanctuary Arts Centre and displayed on the fence surrounding the Dartmouth Cenotaph on Monday.
A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.
A Windsor teen’s social media post showing off a distinctive Windsor pizza topping has gone viral, drawing millions of views worldwide and sparking new curiosity about Windsor-style pizza.
Auston Matthews has come face to face with his look-alike. On Thursday, the Maple Leafs star met seven-year-old Grayson Joseph, who went viral for dressing up as an Auston Matthews hockey card.
A Halifax junk remover shares some of his company’s strangest discoveries.