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Canadians stuck in Israel as flights are cancelled, embassy closed for Thanksgiving

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Some Canadians said they were stuck in Israel amid deadly fighting Sunday, as airlines cancelled flights out of the country and reaching the Canadian Embassy on a holiday weekend proved difficult.

Global Affairs Canada, meanwhile, said in a statement Sunday afternoon that it was aware of reports of one Canadian who has died amid the fighting and two others who are missing.

No further information about the identity of the Canadian who reportedly died, or the others who were missing, was included in the statement.

“Canadian government officials in Israel are in contact with local authorities to confirm and gather additional information,” the statement said.

“The Government of Canada’s first priority is always the safety and security of its citizens. For this reason, we will not comment on or release any information which may compromise ongoing efforts or endanger the safety of Canadians.”

Toronto residents Kendall and Marie Fullerton were at the ancient site of Megiddo on Saturday when Hamas militants fired thousands of rockets and sent out dozens of fighters to infiltrate the heavily fortified border by air, land and sea.

The unprecedented attack has been called the deadliest on Israel in years, with the incursion and counteroffensive killing hundreds on both sides and injuring thousands more.

“Right now, the situation is OK, but I think that Israel is probably going to ramp up some offensive operations, and that’s probably going to put pressure on other entities around the region,” Kendall Fullerton told The Canadian Press from Tel Aviv, where he’s been vacationing with family members since late September.

“It may get more heated as time goes on, so we’re kind of anxious to leave this place.”

The Israeli government formally declared war on Sunday and gave the green light for “significant military steps” to retaliate against Hamas as the military tried to crush fighters still in southern towns and intensified its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, where he “unequivocally condemned” Hamas’ attacks and said he is “gravely concerned” about the atrocities that have unfolded.

Trudeau reaffirmed that Canada stands with Israel and fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself and the leaders agreed to remain in close contact as the situation develops.

The Fullertons said Sunday was mostly quiet in Tel Aviv, but they have witnessed fighter jets, smoke from distant Arab cities and multiple air raid sirens — leading to stints in their hotel’s bomb shelter — since the incursion.

After their scheduled flight home was cancelled, they spent Sunday trying to book another one to no avail, as most airlines continued cancelling their flights out. Air Canada had said it was temporarily cancelling flights to and from Tel Aviv as of Sunday and would adjust plans as things developed.

Marie Fullerton said they’ve been trying to reach the Canadian Embassy in Tel Aviv since news of the attack broke, but they’ve been bounced to hotlines and unable to get direct information due to the embassy keeping Thanksgiving long weekend hours.

“What I would appreciate is having a flight that we can guarantee and bank on and put money on and get out on,” said Kendall Fullerton, noting they were considering driving to neighbouring Jordan and flying out from there, but were unsure if it would be safe to do so.

Robbie Segall, a 22-year-old from Montreal in Israel for an internship, said he felt safe in the West Bank settlement of Efrat, where he’s been staying with friends for the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, but was frustrated with “the lack of care or assistance from the Canadian government.”

Segall said he was at a synagogue when air raid sirens began going off, prompting multiple trips to bomb shelters and cancelling holiday services.

He said he contacted the emergency contact line set up for Canadians in Israel but was redirected to the Canadian Embassy. Segall said he was told the embassy was closed for Thanksgiving, and requests for travel information and emergencies wouldn’t be answered until after the long weekend.

“Luckily I’m in a place where I feel safer, but if I felt that I really, really needed to get out, I wouldn’t be able to get any help from the Canadian government, from the embassy until Tuesday,” he said in an interview.

Global Affairs Canada’s statement Sunday did not address questions about the embassy being closed over the weekend. It said Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly spoke with her counterparts in Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Egypt on Sunday “to discuss the horrific terrorist attacks on Israel and how Canada can work with partners to restore calm.”

The statement reiterated advice that the more than 1,400 registered Canadians in Israel and 492 in the Palestinian territories limit their movements and shelter in place until it’s safe to leave, and provided phone numbers and emails for them to call for assistance.

The department has urged Canadians travelling to the region to exercise a “high degree of caution” in Israel and avoid all travel to the Gaza Strip and the country’s borders with Syria, Egypt and Lebanon. Non-essential travel to the West Bank and Gaza Strip border were also discouraged.

It said the Canadian government’s ability to provide consular services to Canadians in the Gaza Strip is “limited” and in cases of deportation, local authorities are not obliged to notify the Canadian Embassy in Tel Aviv nor the Representative Office of Canada in Ramallah.

Montreal-based Doctors Without Borders said in a statement its team in Gaza was preparing a donation of medicine to hospitals and health facilities, which are overcrowded with injured patients and short on drugs and generator fuel, in the region Sunday. The group said there were few safe options to move patients to health facilities, as ambulances were being hit by airstrikes.

“It’s all been gunshot wounds and injuries from shrapnel, spread at random on the upper and lower limbs,” medical activity manager Jean Pierre said in a statement.

In Canada, some police forces have upped their presence at mosques and synagogues as a result of the violence and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau strongly condemned the attacks by Hamas, saying he had spoken to Jordan’s King Abdullah II about co-ordinating efforts in the region.

Speaking from Edmonton, Mousa Qasgas, spokesman for the Canada Palestine Cultural Association, told The Canadian Press the group would hold a rally Sunday in solidarity with Palestinians.

“We know the events yesterday are hard to watch,” Qasqas said, noting his group has condemned terrorism.

Meanwhile, in Montreal, a few hundred demonstrators gathered downtown, where they waved Palestinian flags and marched through the streets, shouting slogans such as “Free Palestine!” and “Resistance is justified when people are occupied.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 8, 2023.

— With files from Tyler Griffin in Toronto, Rob Drinkwater in Edmonton, Morgan Lowrie in Montreal and The Associated Press

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Australia plans a social media ban for children under 16

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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Australian government announced on Thursday what it described as world-leading legislation that would institute an age limit of 16 years for children to start using social media, and hold platforms responsible for ensuring compliance.

“Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

The legislation will be introduced in Parliament during its final two weeks in session this year, which begin on Nov. 18. The age limit would take effect 12 months after the law is passed, Albanese told reporters.

The platforms including X, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook would need to use that year to work out how to exclude Australian children younger than 16.

“I’ve spoken to thousands of parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles. They, like me, are worried sick about the safety of our kids online,” Albanese said.

The proposal comes as governments around the world are wrestling with how to supervise young people’s use of technologies like smartphones and social media.

Social media platforms would be penalized for breaching the age limit, but under-age children and their parents would not.

“The onus will be on social media platforms to demonstrate they are taking reasonable steps to prevent access. The onus won’t be on parents or young people,” Albanese said.

Antigone Davis, head of safety at Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said the company would respect any age limitations the government wants to introduce.

“However, what’s missing is a deeper discussion on how we implement protections, otherwise we risk making ourselves feel better, like we have taken action, but teens and parents will not find themselves in a better place,” Davis said in a statement.

She added that stronger tools in app stores and operating systems for parents to control what apps their children can use would be a “simple and effective solution.”

X did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. TikTok declined to comment.

The Digital Industry Group Inc., an advocate for the digital industry in Australia, described the age limit as a “20th Century response to 21st Century challenges.”

“Rather than blocking access through bans, we need to take a balanced approach to create age-appropriate spaces, build digital literacy and protect young people from online harm,” DIGI managing director Sunita Bose said in a statement.

More than 140 Australian and international academics with expertise in fields related to technology and child welfare signed an open letter to Albanese last month opposing a social media age limit as “too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.”

Jackie Hallan, a director at the youth mental health service ReachOut, opposed the ban. She said 73% of young people across Australia accessing mental health support did so through social media.

“We’re uncomfortable with the ban. We think young people are likely to circumvent a ban and our concern is that it really drives the behavior underground and then if things go wrong, young people are less likely to get support from parents and carers because they’re worried about getting in trouble,” Hallan said.

Child psychologist Philip Tam said a minimum age of 12 or 13 would have been more enforceable.

“My real fear honestly is that the problem of social media will simply be driven underground,” Tam said.

Australian National University lawyer Associate Prof. Faith Gordon feared separating children from there platforms could create pressures within families.

Albanese said there would be exclusions and exemptions in circumstances such as a need to continue access to educational services.

But parental consent would not entitle a child under 16 to access social media.

Earlier this year, the government began a trial of age-restriciton technologies. Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, the online watchdog that will police compliance, will use the results of that trial to provide platforms with guidance on what reasonable steps they can take.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the year-long lead-in would ensure the age limit could be implemented in a “very practical way.”

“There does need to be enhanced penalties to ensure compliance,” Rowland said.

“Every company that operates in Australia, whether domiciled here or otherwise, is expected and must comply with Australian law or face the consequences,” she added.

The main opposition party has given in-principle support for an age limit at 16.

Opposition lawmaker Paul Fletcher said the platforms already had the technology to enforce such an age ban.

“It’s not really a technical viability question, it’s a question of their readiness to do it and will they incur the cost to do it,” Fletcher told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

“The platforms say: ’It’s all too hard, we can’t do it, Australia will become a backwater, it won’t possibly work.’ But if you have well-drafted legislation and you stick to your guns, you can get the outcomes,” Fletcher added.

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A tiny grain of nuclear fuel is pulled from ruined Japanese nuclear plant, in a step toward cleanup

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TOKYO (AP) — A robot that has spent months inside the ruins of a nuclear reactor at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi plant delivered a tiny sample of melted nuclear fuel on Thursday, in what plant officials said was a step toward beginning the cleanup of hundreds of tons of melted fuel debris.

The sample, the size of a grain of rice, was placed into a secure container, marking the end of the mission, according to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which manages the plant. It is being transported to a glove box for size and weight measurements before being sent to outside laboratories for detailed analyses over the coming months.

Plant chief Akira Ono has said it will provide key data to plan a decommissioning strategy, develop necessary technology and robots and learn how the accident had developed.

The first sample alone is not enough and additional small-scale sampling missions will be necessary in order to obtain more data, TEPCO spokesperson Kenichi Takahara told reporters Thursday. “It may take time, but we will steadily tackle decommissioning,” Takahara said.

Despite multiple probes in the years since the 2011 disaster that wrecked the. plant and forced thousands of nearby residents to leave their homes, much about the site’s highly radioactive interior remains a mystery.

The sample, the first to be retrieved from inside a reactor, was significantly less radioactive than expected. Officials had been concerned that it might be too radioactive to be safely tested even with heavy protective gear, and set an upper limit for removal out of the reactor. The sample came in well under the limit.

That’s led some to question whether the robot extracted the nuclear fuel it was looking for from an area in which previous probes have detected much higher levels of radioactive contamination, but TEPCO officials insist they believe the sample is melted fuel.

The extendable robot, nicknamed Telesco, first began its mission August with a plan for a two-week round trip, after previous missions had been delayed since 2021. But progress was suspended twice due to mishaps — the first involving an assembly error that took nearly three weeks to fix, and the second a camera failure.

On Oct. 30, it clipped a sample weighting less than 3 grams (.01 ounces) from the surface of a mound of melted fuel debris sitting on the bottom of the primary containment vessel of the Unit 2 reactor, TEPCO said.

Three days later, the robot returned to an enclosed container, as workers in full hazmat gear slowly pulled it out.

On Thursday, the gravel, whose radioactivity earlier this week recorded far below the upper limit set for its environmental and health safety, was placed into a safe container for removal out of the compartment.

The sample return marks the first time the melted fuel is retrieved out of the containment vessel.

Fukushima Daiichi lost its key cooling systems during a 2011 earthquake and tsunami, causing meltdowns in its three reactors. An estimated 880 tons of fatally radioactive melted fuel remains in them.

The government and TEPCO have set a 30-to-40-year target to finish the cleanup by 2051, which experts say is overly optimistic and should be updated. Some say it would take for a century or longer.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said there have been some delays but “there will be no impact on the entire decommissioning process.”

No specific plans for the full removal of the fuel debris or its final disposal have been decided.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Strong typhoon threatens northern Philippine region still recovering from back-to-back storms

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A strong typhoon was forecast to hit the northern Philippines on Thursday, prompting a new round of evacuations in a region still recovering from back-to-back storms a few weeks ago.

Typhoon Yinxing is the 13th to batter the disaster-prone Southeast Asian nation this season.

“I really pity our people but all of them are tough,” Gov. Marilou Cayco of the province of Batanes said by telephone. Her province was ravaged by recent destructive storms and is expected to be affected by Yinxing’s fierce wind and rain.

Tens of thousands of villagers were returning to emergency shelters and disaster-response teams were again put on alert in Cagayan and other northern provinces near the expected path of Yinxing. The typhoon was located about 175 kilometers (109 miles) east of Aparri town in Cagayan province on Thursday morning.

The slow-moving typhoon, locally named Marce, was packing sustained winds of up to 165 kilometers (102 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 205 kph (127 mph) and was forecast to hit or come very near to the coast of Cagayan and outlying islands later Thursday.

The coast guard, army, air force and police were put on alert. Inter-island ferries and cargo services and domestic flights were suspended in northern provinces.

Tropical Storm Trami and Typhoon Kong-rey hit the northern Philippines in recent weeks, leaving at least 151 people dead and affecting nearly 9 million others. More than 14 billion pesos ($241 million) worth of rice, corn and other crops and infrastructure were damaged.

The deaths and destruction from the storms prompted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to declare a day of national mourning on Monday when he visited the worst-hit province of Batangas, south of the capital, Manila. At least 61 people perished in the coastal province.

Trami dumped one to two months’ worth of rain in just 24 hours in some regions, including in Batangas.

“We want to avoid the loss of lives due to calamities,” Marcos said in Talisay town in Batangas, where he brought key Cabinet members to reassure storm victims of rapid government help. “Storms nowadays are more intense, extensive and powerful.”

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones, left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, flattened entire villages and caused ships to run aground and smash into houses in the central Philippines.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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