The majority of mail-in ballots tallied this weekend for the final count in B.C.'s nail-bitingly close 2024 provincial election went to the NDP, increasing the party's chances of clinching a third term.
Israel arrests Palestinian American woman in the West Bank. Her relatives don't know where she is
Israeli forces have arrested a 46-year-old Palestinian-American woman after breaking into her home and pulling her from her bed in the occupied West Bank, her family said Tuesday, saying they had no idea where she was nearly two days after she was detained.
News of the arrest came just ahead of Secretary of State Antony Blinken's arrival in Israel on a diplomatic mission aimed at forging a cease-fire in Israel's war in the Gaza Strip. Samaher Esmail's congressman in her home state of Louisiana vowed "to get to the bottom" of her arrest, while the State Department said it was looking into the matter.
Relatives said that Israeli soldiers burst into the woman's house while she was sleeping in the early hours of Monday and pulled her out of bed in the West Bank town of Silwad. A video of the incident posted to Twitter by her son showed soldiers surrounding her and herding her into an armoured vehicle.
"They broke into her house and pulled her out, took her out of her bed," said her brother, 35-year-old Mubarak Esmail, who lives in the U.S. "They didn't even let her put on her hijab," or traditional headcovering. He said his sister lived alone and probably did not even hear the soldiers because she takes medication for her uterine cancer that makes her drowsy.
The Israeli military said she had been arrested for "incitement on social media" and taken away for questioning.
Esmail is from Gretna, Louisiana, the same hometown of a Palestinian American teenager who was recently killed by Israeli fire in a nearby village. The death of 17-year-old Tawfic Abdel Jabbar drew an expression of concern from the White House and an uncommonly quick pledge to investigate from the Israeli police. No findings from that investigation have yet been released.
Esmail's family said she often traveled back and forth between West Bank and the U.S., where she managed a family-owned grocery store in Gretna and worked as a tutor at a nearby high school. The family is in touch with U.S. Embassy officials but said they know nothing about her current whereabouts.
Rep. Troy A. Carter, Democrat of Louisiana, said he was "deeply concerned" by the arrest.
"I am in contact with the American Embassy and the State Department to get to the bottom of why she is being held and will continue to gather facts about this ongoing situation. I am praying for her safety," he said.
A U.S. government spokesperson said the State Department was aware of reports that a U.S. citizen had been detained and was "seeking additional information" about the incident but had no further comment.
Late Tuesday, Blinken arrived in Israel, where he is expected to press ahead with efforts to at least pause Israel's offensive in Gaza and curb violence in the West Bank.
Since the Gaza war erupted on Oct. 7, Israel also has held the territory under a tight-grip, staging often-deadly raids into cities and villages and arresting dozens of Palestinians, in some cases accused of posting inciting material on social media.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Monthly food bank use soars to record 2 million, driven by cost of groceries, housing
Canada's reliance on food banks has soared to a grim new milestone, according to data from Food Banks Canada.
Woman charged with assaulting Australian senator who shouted at the King
A woman appeared in an Australian court on Monday charged with a May assault on the Indigenous senator who shouted at King Charles III during a royal reception last week.
Key mediator Egypt proposes a 2-day Gaza ceasefire and the release of 4 hostages
Egypt's president announced Sunday his country has proposed a two-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas during which four hostages held in Gaza would be freed. There was no immediate response from Israel or Hamas as the latest talks were expected in Qatar, another key mediator.
Why a group of Canadian doctors says workplace sick notes need to go
Canadian doctors are calling for employers and schools not to require sick notes when it comes to short-term minor illnesses.
Latin superstar Bad Bunny backs Harris for president after comedian's racist jokes at Trump event
Bad Bunny threw his support behind U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris on Sunday by sharing a video of the Democratic presidential nominee shortly after a comedian at Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally made crude jokes about Latinos and called Puerto Rico a 'floating island of garbage,' angering artists and some Hispanic Republicans.
Here's when you need to change your clock back
Millions of Canadians will notice their clocks turn back by one hour on Nov. 3, marking the end of daylight saving time this year.
A major amusement park is part of Ontario's grand vision to turn the Niagara region into Las Vegas north, but Marineland may not fit the bill, the provincial tourism minister says.
Trump's Madison Square Garden event features crude and racist insults
Donald Trump took the stage Sunday night at New York's Madison Square Garden to deliver his campaign's closing argument with the election nine days away after several of his allies used crude and racist insults toward U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris and other critics of the former president.
Local Spotlight
The Westfield & District Recreation Association hosted its first Witches and Warlocks on the Water event Saturday, with costumed paddlers in pointed hats launching from Westfield Beach.
A new resident at a Manitoba animal rescue has waddled her way into people's hearts.
Hundreds of people ran to the music of German composer and pianist Beethoven Wednesday night in a unique race in Halifax.
He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.
A meteor lit up our region's sky last night – with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.
Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.
A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.
A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.
A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.