Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
The latest in the Israel-Hamas war
A timeline for the beginning of the ceasefire and release of hostages was revealed today by Qatari mediators. The four-day truce will begin tomorrow at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET) and some aid would start flowing into Gaza, Qatar’s foreign ministry said.
The first group of 13 Israeli women and child hostages would be freed at 4 p.m., with the total number rising to 50 over the four days, the ministry says.
Egypt – also involved in mediation – is receiving lists of hostages and prisoners that are expected to be released and called on both sides to respect the agreement, its state information service said.
Read more:
- In Vancouver, Jewish and Palestinian restaurants try to find a new normal
- Toronto man says his family needs Canadian help to get out of Gaza
- Mosque, rabbi unite to condemn hateful attacks across Canada
- Israel-Hamas, Ukraine wars to feature prominently in St. John’s EU-Canada Summit beginning today
Opinion: How Canadians feel about the Israel-Hamas war - Nik Nanos
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Kyiv counters Poilievre over revised free-trade agreement with Canada
Ukraine’s embassy in Canada says the upgraded free-trade agreement between Ottawa and Kyiv does not contain a carbon tax, contrary to what Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has alleged.
The Conservative Party voted Tuesday against the enabling legislation for a revised Canada-Ukraine free-trade agreement. Poilievre said that his MPs could not support a deal that imposes a carbon tax on Ukraine.
Today, Poilievre doubled down on his allegation, defending his party’s vote, which was a rare partisan split in Parliament over issues related to Ukraine.
Meanwhile on the frontline, a Russian attack using cluster munitions killed three people in a suburb of of Kherson, a Ukrainian official said, bringing the number of civilians to die in the conflict today to at least six.
Opinion:
- Pierre Poilievre playing to base on free-trade agreement is a compromise on democracy - John Ibbitson
- Ukraine fatigue risks leaving Volodymyr Zelensky out in the cold - Konrad Yakabuski
Political shift in the Netherlands as populist Geert Wilders wins big
Geert Wilders has been the face of European populism for more than 20 years, but was a marginal figure in Dutch politics and shunned from getting anywhere close to the centre of power. Until yesterday.
Now Wilders is in the pole position to become the Netherlands’ next prime minister after his Party for Freedom, or PVV, scored a stunning election victory.
He still has to negotiate a coalition with at least two other major parties to secure a majority of seats in parliament. Those discussions could take months and could easily fail.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Ortis trial aftermath: While a jury has declared former RCMP intelligence official Cameron Ortis guilty of disclosing security secrets, there’s much more the jurors didn’t hear. Material previously covered by publication bans reveals that authorities were gravely worried about his next steps.
Opinion: The Canadian judicial system has passed an extraordinary test - Wesley Wark
Rainbow Bridge explosion update: The FBI has ended its probe into the fiery car wreck at the border checkpoint that killed two people after finding no evidence of a terror attack.
Ontario education boost: The province’s public elementary schools will add 401 specialist teachers to help young learners advance in their reading skills, according to a tentative agreement negotiated between the government, school boards and a teachers’ union.
OpenAI saga continues: Ahead of CEO Sam Altman’s four days in exile, several staff researchers wrote a letter to the board of directors warning of a powerful artificial intelligence discovery that they said could threaten humanity, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Wild images: From a horseshoe crab gliding over mud to a mushroom surrounded by a cloud of spores, some of the winning images in this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition seem as if they’re from another world. An exhibition of 100 photos from the contest opens Saturday at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.
Life on the edge by Amit Eshel, taken in the Zin Desert, Israel, was the winner in the Animals in their Environment category.Amit Eshel/Wildlife Photographer of the Year
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index ended higher today as industrial and energy shares climbed, but a pullback in the consumer staples sector limited the advance.
The S&P/TSX composite index rose 2.7 points or 0.01 per cent to 20,116.66, while U.S. stock markets were closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The dollar traded at 73.03 U.S. cents.
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TALKING POINT
Yes, restaurant tipping has gone too far
“In the post-lockdown spending binge, diners took these cost increases in stride. But now, with a slowing economy and growing financial stress from high rates and inflation, restaurant spending is slipping.” - Rob Carrick
LIVING BETTER
Start planning your weekend watching with film editor Barry Hertz’s top picks. They include CBC Gem expanding the riveting dance documentary Swan Song into a mini-series, while Netflix is playing another Squid Game.
TODAY’S LONG READ
U.S. charges against Binance’s CEO expose the deceit at crypto’s core
Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, right, leaves federal court in Seattle on Nov. 21 after pleading guilty to violations of U.S. anti-money laundering laws.Ken Lambert/The Associated Press
There is no more guessing, and no more sugar coating, what the cryptocurrency titans were really up to. In some cases, it was outright fraud. In others it was, at best, outlandish naiveté fuelled by Silicon Valley’s oft-stated desire to “move fast and break things” – even if that meant moving money in and out of countries sanctioned by the United States.
This week, the U.S. government hit Binance with a US$4.3-billion fine and laid federal charges against founder Changpeng Zhao, who is Canadian. The Justice Department accused Zhao of prioritizing Binance’s growth over compliance with U.S. law., and claimed he told employees it was “better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”
There have now been federal charges laid against at least seven different crypto founders and CEOs, and Binance was the largest, processing US$9.5-trillion worth of cryptocurrency trades in 2021 – roughly half of all transactions on crypto exchanges. This is about much more than a traditional bubble. Something much more nefarious transpired, and it was widespread. Read the full analysis by Tim Kiladze.
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