Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Latest developments from the Middle East
Israel agreed today to let fuel trucks into Gaza and promised “no limitation” on aid requested by the United Nations, appearing to bow to global pressure after warnings that its siege of the Palestinian enclave would cause starvation and disease.
Israel said it had agreed to let in two truckloads of fuel a day to help the UN meet basic needs. It also spoke of plans to increase aid more broadly, including setting up field hospitals. The remarks seemed to signal a shift in tone after UN agencies warned that humanitarian conditions for 2.3 million Gazans were quickly deteriorating, including a stark warning from the World Food Programme of the “immediate possibility of starvation.”
Read more:
- Israeli troops kill five Palestinians, including three militants, as West Bank violence surges
- Gulf Arab state Bahrain calls for Hamas-Israel ‘hostage trade’
- As the battle for Gaza rages, families of people taken hostage wait with trepidation
- String of Ottawa events linked to antisemitism alarms local Jewish community
- Charge against pro-Palestine protester in Calgary stayed
- Opinion: Hold Israel to fighting within the rules, but blame Hamas for the war, and its casualties
- Opinion: The international order has failed the Palestinians
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Sudan’s military junta demands UN withdrawal as bloodshed intensifies
Chadian cart owners transport belongings of Sudanese people who fled the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, while crossing the border between Sudan and Chad in August 2023.ZOHRA BENSEMRA/Reuters
The military regime in Sudan has demanded the immediate termination of the United Nations mission in the country, a move that could silence one of the last remaining international voices in an increasingly horrific conflict. The UN’s political mission in Sudan has only about 400 civilian employees and little influence over the war, although it works to verify atrocities on all sides. The war between Sudan’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has killed thousands of people and forced more than seven million to flee their homes, leaving entire cities in ruins.
- Read more: EU condemns Darfur violence and warns of ‘another genocide’
Ethics watchdog to probe conflict-of-interest allegation against SDTC chair
The federal Ethics Commissioner has opened an investigation into the role of Sustainable Development Technology Canada’s chair in approving pandemic-relief payments to companies in the agency’s portfolio, including one she leads as chief executive. Jeffrey Jones reports.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Trudeau at APEC: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declined to follow U.S. President Joe Biden in describing Chinese President Xi Jinping as a dictator. But he offered little explanation as to why Canada failed to arrange a formal meeting with Beijing’s top leader at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which wrapped up today.
First World War battalion: Ottawa today earmarked $2.25-million to honour the legacy of Canada’s only all-Black unit to serve during the First World War. The money will be spent over five years on commemorative activities, educational materials and community war memorials. The battalion had 600 members who faced systemic anti-Black racism before, during and long after the war.
Azerbaijan: Judges at the World Court ordered Azerbaijan today to let ethnic Armenians who fled Nagorno-Karabakh in September return, and to keep remaining Armenians safe. Azerbaijan recaptured the region in September.
Teck: The Vancouver-based miner recently announced a deal to sell its steelmaking coal assets to a consortium led by Glencore. The repositioning comes at a good time for investors, as the U.S. and China have declared support for ramping up renewable energy capacity, which would drive global demand for the copper that Teck mines in British Columbia, Chile and Peru.
George Santos: Representative George Santos is one step closer to being expelled from Congress. The chairman of the U.S. House Ethics Committee said he filed a resolution today to force a vote on expelling Santos, one day after allegations that Santos misused campaign donations. Expulsion from Congress has only happened five times in the history of the chamber, most recently in 2002.
ChatGPT: ChatGPT maker OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman will depart after the board found he was “not consistently candid in his communications,” the company said today. Chief technology officer Mira Murati will serve as interim CEO during the formal search for a permanent CEO.
The Royal Canadian Mint unveiled new coins bearing the face of King Charles III. True or false: In continuing with tradition, the King will face left, opposite to the direction of Queen Elizabeth II?
a. True
b. False
Test more of your news knowledge here
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index rose today to an eight-week high as a rebound in oil prices boosted energy shares and domestic producer price data raised optimism that the Bank of Canada’s interest rate-hiking campaign is at an end. The S&P/TSX composite index ended up 122.70 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 20,175.77, its highest closing level since Sept. 20.
Wall Street’s third straight winning week came to a quiet close today, as stocks tacked a whisper more onto their sizzling gains for November so far.
The S&P 500 edged up by 5.78 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 4,514.02 and is near its highest level in three months. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up by 1.81, or less than 0.1 per cent, to 34,947.28, and the Nasdaq composite gained 11.81, or 0.1 per cent, to 14,125.48.
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TALKING POINTS
The loss of the Afzaal family reminds us what happens when hate goes unchecked
“A 9-year-old was orphaned by this attack. He will need much support to heal. No matter what fear his family’s attacker tried to instill, every Muslim child needs to know that they should not be afraid to be authentically themselves and that they fully belong to this society.” - Sheema Khan
Starving the world to win elections and wars
“This year’s grain shortages and price spikes are overwhelmingly political. While weather, climate and shifting demand play a secondary role, the world nevertheless has more than enough grain and food staples for everyone in Africa, Asia and the Middle East – if it were not for self-interested political decisions turning a globalized food market into a set of national islands.” - Doug Saunders
Canada needs doctors — so why is the country forcing Canadian physicians into exile?
“I went abroad to study because of a conviction that medicine was my calling, and I will practise medicine where I am welcomed. At present I am not welcomed by my own country.” - Celine Pichette
China wants to shape the world alongside the United States. So what does it want in the Middle East?
“Beijing’s greater involvement in the Middle East should be encouraged. This way China can share some of the diplomatic burden and, given its influence over Global South countries, help resolve a crisis that has historically been America’s to fix.” - Omer Aziz
LIVING BETTER
Want to set your kids up for success? Work out with them
Raising active kids matters when it comes to their physical and mental health, writes Alyssa Ages.Bomb Fitness
Exercising with your kids can set them up for long-term goals and show them why working out is good for more than just appearances. It also teaches them it’s okay to fail sometimes. If you’re not already exercising with them, here’s why it’s important and how to get started, according to Alyssa Ages.
TODAY’S LONG READ
The making of Premier Wab Kinew
The New Democrats’ victory made Wab Kinew Manitoba's first Indigenous premier since John Norquay, a Métis politician who served in the 1880s.Zachary Prong/The Globe and Mail
Manitoba’s new leader, New Democrat Wab Kinew, who was elected Oct. 3, shares the story of his upbringing in Winnipeg, how he turned around a life of addiction and crime and the greatest gift he got from his father. The sense of hope that Mr. Kinew inspired in his supporters has much to do with a life trajectory unique in the history of major political candidates in this country, writes Nancy Macdonald.
Evening Update is written by Maryam Shah. If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday evening, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.