A former Alberta teacher has been sentenced to four years for sexually abusing a student.
Watchdog group says attack that killed videographer 'explicitly targeted' Lebanon journalists
A watchdog group advocating for press freedom said that the strikes that hit a group of journalists in southern Lebanon earlier this month, killing one, were targeted rather than accidental and that the journalists were clearly identified as press.
Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, published preliminary conclusions Sunday in an ongoing investigation, based on video evidence and witness testimonies, into two strikes that killed Reuters videographer Issam Abdallah and wounded six journalists from Reuters, AFP and Al Jazeera as they were covering clashes on the southern Lebanese border on Oct. 13.
The first strike killed Abdallah, and the second hit a vehicle belonging to an Al Jazeera team, injuring journalists standing next to it. Both came from the direction of the Israeli border, the report said, but it did not explicitly name Israel as being responsible.
"What we can prove with facts, with evidence for the moment, is that the location where the journalists were standing was explicitly targeted...and they were clearly identifiable as journalists," the head of RSF's Middle East desk, Jonathan Dagher, told The Associated Press Monday. "It shows that the killing of Issam Abdallah was not an accident."
Dagher said there is not enough evidence at this stage to say the group was targeted specifically because they were journalists.
However, the report noted that the journalists wore helmets and vests marked "press," as was the vehicle, and cited the surviving journalists as saying that they had been standing in clear view for an hour and saw an Israeli Apache helicopter flying over them before the strikes.
Carmen Joukhadar, an Al Jazeera correspondent who was wounded that day and suffered shrapnel wounds in her arms and legs, told the AP the journalists had positioned themselves some 3 kilometers (2 miles) away from the clashes.
Regular skirmishes have flared up between Israeli forces and armed groups in Lebanon since the deadly Oct. 7 attack by the militant Palestinian group Hamas on southern Israel that sparked a war in the blockaded Gaza Strip.
"Everything was on the other hill, nothing next to us," Joukhadar said. "If there was shelling next to us, we would have left immediately."
The Lebanese army accused Israel of attacking the group of journalists.
Israeli officials have said that they do not deliberately target journalists.
Reuters spokesperson Heather Carpenter said that the news organization is reviewing the RSF report and called for "Israeli authorities to conduct a swift, thorough and transparent probe into what happened."
The Israeli military has said the incident is under review. When asked to comment on the RSF report, the military referred back to an Oct. 15 statement. In the statement, it said that Israeli forces responded with tank and artillery fire to an anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah across the border that evening and a "suspected a terrorist infiltration into Israeli territory" and later received a report that journalists had been injured.
--
Associated Press writers Julia Frankel and Josef Federman contributed from Jerusalem.
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.
A B.C. nurse has been suspended for one week for diverting narcotics from their workplace and using them personally, according to the regulatory body for the profession.
'I'm still not giving up': Third stage of landfill search begins in Manitoba
It's been a long and emotional journey for Manitoba residential school survivor Susan Caribou. Her niece, Tanya Nepinak, has been missing since September 2011 and has never been found.
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.
AP sources: Chinese hackers targeted phones of Trump, Vance, people associated with Harris campaign
Chinese hackers targeted cellphones used by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, his running mate, JD Vance, and people associated with the Democratic campaign of Kamala Harris, people familiar with the matter said Friday.
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.
Winnipeg police are looking for a suspect after a woman's dorm room was broken into at the U of M and she was assaulted.
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.