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Israeli fighter jets pounded several homes overnight in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, killing at least 28 people, according to the Hamas-run Interior Ministry. The ministry reported other airstrikes across the besieged territory which it said left dozens dead. Follow our live coverage.
As Israeli restrictions continue to impede humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip, the United States is challenging a ban on fuel supplies to the besieged Palestinian territory.
Israel has barred any aid supplies to Gaza that it suspects might benefit Hamas, and fuel has been the most contentious case so far. UN relief workers have warned that the ban on fuel will “strangle” the people of Gaza by halting water pumps and hospital operations within days.
The United States has now added its voice to the dissent over the fuel ban. “We know you need fuel to run power generators in hospitals,” John Kirby, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, said in a briefing for foreign journalists in Washington yesterday. “You need fuel to run the pumps in desalination facilities so that people can drink fresh, healthy water. So fuel is another thing that we’re working on.”
- Also: Palestinians in the West Bank fear escalating violence that has left dozens dead
- China urges Israel to avoid further Gaza escalation
- Hamas frees two Israeli women as U.S. advises delaying ground war to allow talks on hostages
- Opinion: In this moment of division, let’s unite to push for the release of the hostages in Gaza
In Canada:
- Joly calls for de-escalation of violence in Middle East but stops short of demanding ceasefire
- Student union that backed Palestinians says it won’t be silenced by political ‘bullying’
- MPP Sarah Jama removed from Ontario NDP caucus by Leader Marit Stiles
Palestinians, who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, gather to get their share of charity food offered by volunteers, amid food shortages, at a UN-run school where they take refuge, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, October 23, 2023.STRINGER/Reuters
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Chinese disinformation campaign targeted Trudeau and Poilievre, Global Affairs says
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Official Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre, as well as other members of Parliament, were the targets of a disinformation campaign carried out by the Chinese government in August and September, Global Affairs Canada said yesterday.
The department’s Rapid Response Mechanism, which was set up to counter foreign state-sponsored disinformation, said the aim of the campaign, known as “Spamouflage,” was to discourage MPs from criticizing China’s authoritarian Communist Party.
The department said Spamouflage is a tactic that uses networks of new or hijacked social media accounts to post and amplify propaganda messages across multiple platforms.
St. Lawrence Seaway strike stalls road salt, wheat, steel cargo as winter closing nears
A strike by 350 unionized workers on the St. Lawrence Seaway has stopped shipments of road salt, Western wheat and steel products amid the yearly rush to move the grain harvest and other key commodities ahead of winter.
About 100 vessels have been forced to anchor at ports and harbours along the 3,700-kilometre Great Lakes/Seaway system that connects the heart of North America with markets in Europe and Africa.
The timing of the strike is a problem for grain companies who face financial penalties if they cannot deliver wheat and crops on time, and other companies that move gasoline, jet fuel, cement, canola and other goods.
The locks in the Welland Canal and the St. Lawrence River close for the winter in late December. They will stay closed until late March.
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Also on our radar
Outsourcing firms submitted records of company that doesn’t exist: IT staffing firms at the centre of misconduct allegations submitted contracting reports to the federal government that included a detailed description of a company that doesn’t exist, documents show. The documents are another example of what the co-founders of software company Botler allege is misconduct on the part of IT outsourcing companies that receive millions of dollars each year in federal contracts.
- Exclusive: RCMP probes alleged misconduct in outsourced CBSA contract
- Campbell Clark: System failure: Ottawa has a chronic computer problem
Demand for fossil fuels to peak this decade, agency says: Demand for oil, coal and natural gas will peak this decade, as the share of fossil fuels in the global energy supply drops because of a “phenomenal rise” in the use of clean energy technologies, according to the International Energy Agency.
Experts concerned about poor vaccine messaging: Health experts are raising concerns about the inadequate messaging around the importance of getting an updated COVID-19 vaccine, saying that it could lead to more severe cases this fall and winter.
Fall update will include housing supply boost, ministers say: The federal government’s fall economic and fiscal update will include new measures to boost the supply of housing, federal ministers say. Both Chrystia Freeland and Sean Fraser said in recent days that there are several new policies in the works that could be announced in the fall update and also over the coming months.
Rock reveals moon’s age: Using rock samples collected from the moon during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, scientists have determined that the celestial body is about 40 million years older than previously thought, forming more than 4.46 billion years ago.
Morning markets
Stocks steady: Global stocks steadied on Tuesday as a flicker of investor risk appetite lifted equities and commodities, although trading was cautious given the war in the Middle East and looming make-or-break data for the outlook for U.S. interest rates. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.22 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 added 0.16 per cent and 0.32 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.20 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.05 per cent. New York futures were positive. The Canadian dollar was little changed at 73.04 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Editorial: “If the Liberals wanted a buyback program, they could have one in place by now. The fact that they keep putting it off is just more proof that, for them, gun control is just as much an electoral wedge issue as it is one of public safety.”
Tony Keller: “Montreal’s real and growing bilingualism and trilingualism is a major economic asset, and does not have to be a threat to the French fact. But no politician would be foolish enough to ever say such a thing.”
Today’s editorial cartoon
Illustration by David Parkins
Living better
Ultra-processed diet increases risk of depression, study suggests
New research from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health points to another good reason to cut back on highly processed foods, especially ones that contain artificial sweeteners. Doing so, the study suggests, helps guard against depression. Here’s what to know.
Moment in time: Oct. 24, 1986
Drake performs during Lil Baby's Birthday Party at State Farm Arena on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2022, in Atlanta.Paul R. Giunta/The Associated Press
The birth of Drake
The Started From the Bottom hip hop superstar Aubrey (Drake) Graham was born this day in 1986. He started, in fact, in Toronto, the son of African-American musician Dennis Graham and teacher Sandra Graham, of Jewish-Canadian descent. After his parents divorced when he was five years old, he was raised by his mother. “I’m proud, a proud young Jewish boy,” Mr. Graham said in 2012, speaking during the filming of a music video that staged a second bar mitzvah. His show-business career began at age 15, when he was cast in the Canadian high school drama Degrassi: The Next Generation. Mononymously branded as Drake, he released a debut mixtape in 2006 with the self-aware title Room For Improvement. His first album, 2010′s Thank Me Later, was critically well-received: “He’s subtle and rueful rather than loud and lively; emotionally transparent rather than thuggy,” wrote Rolling Stone’s Jody Rosen. Eight LPs later, Drake is recognized as a visionary artist with more than 170 million records sold. This month his six-year-old son, Adonis, released the song My Man Freestyle. Unlike his father, the nepotistically gifted child started at the top. Brad Wheeler
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