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Israeli troops enteredGaza’s biggest hospital. Israel and America say that Hamas militants operate from tunnels underneath the buildings. So far small caches of arms have been found. Israel now has effective control in northern Gaza. In the south a humanitarian crisis is escalating. Meanwhile Israel lowered the death toll of the number of people murdered by Hamas on October 7th from 1,400 to 1,200. The authorities are still identifying the remains of the deceased.
America carried out fresh air strikes on facilities in eastern Syria that it says are being used by militias aligned with Iran to carry out drone attacks on American forces. American and coalition troops have been attacked at least 40 times in Syria and Iraq since early October, though there have been no casualties.
Josep Borrell, the European Union’s chief diplomat, warned of “another genocide” in Sudan’s Darfur region after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and Arab militias murdered between 800 and 1,300 black Africans there.
A former doctor from Rwanda went on trial for his role in the genocide against Tutsis in 1994, 28 years after complaints were first laid against him in France in 1995. Sosthene Munyemana denies wrongdoing.
More than 100,000 people marched in Paris against antisemitism. The demonstration brought together leaders from across the political spectrum, except the hard left, which boycotted the event. Similar marches took place in other French cities. In Washington 290,000 people took part in a March for Israel, according to the organisers, the largest pro-Israeli demonstration ever in America.
He’s baaaack
Rishi Sunak, Britain’s prime minister, shocked pundits by bringing David Cameron back into government, appointing him foreign secretary and giving him a peerage. Lord Cameron led the country from 2010 to 2016, resigning after losing the fateful Brexit referendum. Because he sits in the House of Lords he cannot answer questions from MPs in the House of Commons. Some of those MPs have raised concerns about Lord Cameron’s past cosiness with China.
As Lord Cameron was appointed foreign secretary, his predecessor, James Cleverly, was moved to the home office to replace Suella Braverman, who was sacked. Ms Braverman had become a thorn in Mr Sunak’s side, most recently for her outspoken opposition to what she describes as “hate marches” in London in support of Palestine.
MPs in Parliament easily defeated a motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. However, 56 opposition Labour MPs defied the instructions of their leader, Sir Keir Starmer, and voted for the amendment. Eight shadow ministers in the party quit their positions rather than be sacked by Sir Keir for rebelling.
Britain’s Supreme Court ruled against the government’s policy of sending asylum-seekersto Rwanda to be processed and settled there. The court decided there was a significant risk that they might be returned to unsafe countries. Mr Sunak said he would forge a treaty with Rwanda and introduce emergency legislation to bring the plan to fruition.
The German government’s plan for spending on climate-change policy was in disarray, after the Constitutional Court ruled that shifting €60bn ($65bn) into an off-budget fund earmarked for the policies was unlawful.
Huge protests, sometimes violent, took place across Spain against a plan by Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister, to offer an amnesty to separatists in Catalonia who organised an illegal referendum on independence in 2017. Mr Sánchez has forged a left-wing coalition to stay in power after an inconclusive election in July in which his Socialist party came second to the conservative People’s Party. The PP failed to form its own coalition, but wanted a new election, rather than “a dictatorship through the back door”.
Germany’s defence minister, Boris Pistorius, admitted that the EU’s goal of providing Ukraine with 1m artillery shells by March next year will not be met. The commitment has been bogged down by bureaucracy and delays as EU countries pool their ammunition, rather than pledge the shells individually. Russia has sometimes fired up to 30,000 shells a day in the war; Ukraine launches about a quarter of that number.
Finland’s prime minister accused Russia of channelling migrants over their border. Petteri Orpo said the migrants were being “escorted or transported” to the border, and that Finland would protect its territorial security.
Iceland declared a state of emergency in anticipation of a volcanic eruption, which has been preceded by a series of earthquakes. The town of Grindavik, which lies 53km (33 miles) from Reykjavik, the capital, has been evacuated.
image: Reuters
Joe Biden and Xi Jinping spoke for four hours at a retreat near San Francisco, only their second face-to-face meeting as leaders of America and China. They agreed to restore direct contacts between their armed forces. China also promised to help curb the flow of precursor chemicals to make fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that has killed tens of thousands of Americans.
Taiwan’s two main opposition parties, the Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party, agreed to field a single candidate in January’s presidential election. Both parties favour closer relations with China than the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. The DPP’s candidate, William Lai, the current vice-president, is leading the polls.
Pakistan opened three new border crossings with Afghanistan to expedite the expulsion of Afghans living in the country illegally. Pakistan blames Afghan migrants for a spate of terrorist attacks. More than 280,000 have left Pakistan since the order was announced in early October.
The buck stops here
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court ruled that the country’s recent economic collapse was the fault of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was president from 2019 to 2022, his brother Mahinda, who was prime minister, and several former senior officials. The court held that they had violated the constitution with their “complete undermining of the rule of law”, a decision that could leave them open to lawsuits.
America’s House of Representatives passed a bill that again postpones a government shutdown, but only until early next year. The bill was supported by 209 Democrats and 127 Republicans; 93 Republicans opposed it. It was the first big test for the new speaker, Mike Johnson. His predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, was booted out of office amid bickering among Republicans about a similar bill.
Joe Manchin announced that he won’t seek another term in the Senate, putting the slim Democratic majority at risk in next year’s election. Mr Manchin has represented West Virginia, an increasingly Republican state, for the Democrats since 2010, though he often scuttled Democratic bills by withholding his vote.
Responding to allegations that two of its justices had not declared gifts they received, America’s Supreme Court issued its first-ever official code of ethics, sort of, to clear up any “misunderstanding” about the rules. The document is largely “a codification of principles” that the court has long lived by, but said nothing about how the rules would be enforced.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
REGINA – Saskatchewan Opposition NDP Leader Carla Beck says she wants to prove to residents her party is the government in waiting as she heads into the incoming legislative session.
Beck held her first caucus meeting with 27 members, nearly double than what she had before the Oct. 28 election but short of the 31 required to form a majority in the 61-seat legislature.
She says her priorities will be health care and cost-of-living issues.
Beck says people need affordability help right now and will press Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government to cut the gas tax and the provincial sales tax on children’s clothing and some grocery items.
Beck’s NDP is Saskatchewan’s largest Opposition in nearly two decades after sweeping Regina and winning all but one seat in Saskatoon.
The Saskatchewan Party won 34 seats, retaining its hold on all of the rural ridings and smaller cities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia‘s growing population was the subject of debate on Day 12 of the provincial election campaign, with Liberal Leader Zach Churchill arguing immigration levels must be reduced until the province can provide enough housing and health-care services.
Churchill said Thursday a plan by the incumbent Progressive Conservatives to double the province’s population to two million people by the year 2060 is unrealistic and unsustainable.
“That’s a big leap and it’s making life harder for people who live here, (including ) young people looking for a place to live and seniors looking to downsize,” he told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
Anticipating that his call for less immigration might provoke protests from the immigrant community, Churchill was careful to note that he is among the third generation of a family that moved to Nova Scotia from Lebanon.
“I know the value of immigration, the importance of it to our province. We have been built on the backs of an immigrant population. But we just need to do it in a responsible way.”
The Liberal leader said Tim Houston’s Tories, who are seeking a second term in office, have made a mistake by exceeding immigration targets set by the province’s Department of Labour and Immigration. Churchill said a Liberal government would abide by the department’s targets.
In the most recent fiscal year, the government welcomed almost 12,000 immigrants through its nominee program, exceeding the department’s limit by more than 4,000, he said. The numbers aren’t huge, but the increase won’t help ease the province’s shortages in housing and doctors, and the increased strain on its infrastructure, including roads, schools and cellphone networks, Churchill said.
“(The Immigration Department) has done the hard work on this,” he said. “They know where the labour gaps are, and they know what growth is sustainable.”
In response, Houston said his commitment to double the population was a “stretch goal.” And he said the province had long struggled with a declining population before that trend was recently reversed.
“The only immigration that can come into this province at this time is if they are a skilled trade worker or a health-care worker,” Houston said. “The population has grown by two per cent a year, actually quite similar growth to what we experienced under the Liberal government before us.”
Still, Houston said he’s heard Nova Scotians’ concerns about population growth, and he then pivoted to criticize Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for trying to send 6,000 asylum seekers to Nova Scotia, an assertion the federal government has denied.
Churchill said Houston’s claim about asylum seekers was shameful.
“It’s smoke and mirrors,” the Liberal leader said. “He is overshooting his own department’s numbers for sustainable population growth and yet he is trying to blame this on asylum seekers … who aren’t even here.”
In September, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller said there is no plan to send any asylum seekers to the province without compensation or the consent of the premier. He said the 6,000 number was an “aspirational” figure based on models that reflect each province’s population.
In Halifax, NDP Leader Claudia Chender said it’s clear Nova Scotia needs more doctors, nurses and skilled trades people.
“Immigration has been and always will be a part of the Nova Scotia story, but we need to build as we grow,” Chender said. “This is why we have been pushing the Houston government to build more affordable housing.”
Chender was in a Halifax cafe on Thursday when she promised her party would remove the province’s portion of the harmonized sales tax from all grocery, cellphone and internet bills if elected to govern on Nov. 26. The tax would also be removed from the sale and installation of heat pumps.
“Our focus is on helping people to afford their lives,” Chender told reporters. “We know there are certain things that you can’t live without: food, internet and a phone …. So we know this will have the single biggest impact.”
The party estimates the measure would save the average Nova Scotia family about $1,300 a year.
“That’s a lot more than a one or two per cent HST cut,” Chender said, referring to the Progressive Conservative pledge to reduce the tax by one percentage point and the Liberal promise to trim it by two percentage points.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Houston announced that a Progressive Conservative government would make parking free at all Nova Scotia hospitals and health-care centres. The promise was also made by the Liberals in their election platform released Monday.
“Free parking may not seem like a big deal to some, but … the parking, especially for people working at the facilities, can add up to hundreds of dollars,” the premier told a news conference at his campaign headquarters in Halifax.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
