A former Alberta teacher has been sentenced to four years for sexually abusing a student.
The Security Council revives the Palestinian Authority's UN hopes. The U.S. says not yet
The UN Security Council on Monday revived the Palestinian Authority's hopes of joining the United Nations as a full member.
But the United States said relations between Israel and the Palestinians are far from ripe. That all but quashes the Palestinian Authority's UN membership hopes for now.
The U.S. is one of five permanent members who can veto any council action. Members of its UN delegation reiterated Monday that the Palestinian Authority needs to exert control over all of the Palestinian territories and negotiate statehood with Israel before it wins statehood.
The Palestinian Authority administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Its forces were driven from Gaza when Hamas seized power in 2007, and it has no power there.
鈥淭he issue of full Palestinian membership is a decision that should be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians,鈥 U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood told reporters Monday.
After years of failed on-and-off peace talks, the Palestinians have turned to the United Nations to fulfill their dream of an independent state. Israel says such steps are an attempt to sidestep the negotiating process. Israel鈥檚 current right-wing government is dominated by hard-liners who oppose Palestinian statehood.
Supporters of the Palestinians鈥 request for full membership in the United Nations asked the Security Council last week to revive the application for admission submitted in 2011. The Palestinians鈥 fresh bid for UN membership comes as the war between Israel and Hamas that began on Oct. 7 nears its sixth month and the unresolved decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains in the spotlight after years on the back burner.
Israel鈥檚 UN ambassador dismissed any possibility of Palestinian statehood, reducing the issue to a question of his country鈥檚 very ability to survive.
鈥淔rom well before the establishment of the UN, the Palestinians鈥 goal has be clear: the annihilation of the Jews,鈥 Ambassador Gilad Erdan told reporters. The UN was founded in the wake of World War II and 鈥渢he same genocidal ideology that this body was founded to combat is still prevalent among the Palestinians,鈥 he said.
The Security Council decided to make a formal decision on Palestinian UN membership this month and a committee that weighs membership applications will meet again Thursday, said Malta鈥檚 UN Ambassador Vanessa Frazier, the current Security Council president.
鈥淭his is a historic moment again,鈥 said Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas delivered the Palestinian Authority鈥檚 application to become the 194th member of the United Nations to then Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Sept. 23, 2011, before addressing world leaders at the General Assembly.
鈥淚t was a historic moment then, and now that historic moment has been revived again,鈥 Mansour told reporters.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ontario will not allow international students in medical schools beginning in the fall of 2026, and will also cover tuition for more than 1,000 students who commit to becoming a family doctor in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford said Friday.
Here's a look at Musk's contact with Putin and why it matters
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of major government contractor SpaceX and a key ally of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the last two years, The Wall Street Journal reported.
DEVELOPING Four arrested in Poland over alleged plot to send explosives via courier to Canada, U.S.
Polish authorities have arrested four individuals they allege planned to send parcels containing camouflaged explosives and dangerous materials to Canada and the United States, according to Poland鈥檚 government website.
DNA tests identify 19th-century teenager's skull found in Illinois home's wall
Investigators have determined that a skull discovered in the wall of an Illinois home in 1978 was that of an Indiana teenager who died more than 150 years ago, authorities announced Thursday.
Mother sues AI chatbot company Character.AI, Google over son's suicide
A Florida mother has sued artificial intelligence chatbot startup Character.AI, accusing it of causing her 14-year-old son's suicide in February and saying he became addicted to the company's service and deeply attached to a chatbot it created.
Mom and child jumped from a window to escape a Las Vegas fire that killed 2 children and 2 adults
Two adults and two children were found dead in the charred rubble of a house fire after a mother and another child jumped from a third-floor window to escape flames in a southwest Las Vegas neighborhood, authorities said.
'Well-man' remains found at a castle have been linked to an 800-year-old Norse saga
Researchers have connected the identity of skeletal remains found in a well at Norway鈥檚 Sverresborg castle to a passage in a centuries-old Norse text.
A Montreal man is charged with first-degree murder in connection to the stabbing death of a woman at a park in Ottawa鈥檚 south end on Thursday.
Local Spotlight
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 鈥 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.
Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.