Pope marks 50th anniversary of Cold War-era deal on security and human rights
At the end of his general audience, history's first American pope said that Aug. 1 marks the anniversary of the conclusion of the 35-nation summit in Finland that resulted in the Helsinki Final Act, which years later helped give birth to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
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Toronto Star
20 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Sudan accuses the UAE of funding Colombian mercenaries to fight alongside the RSF in civil war
CAIRO (AP) — Sudan has accused the United Arab Emirates of sending Colombian mercenaries to fight alongside the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces against the military in the country's civil war. The foreign ministry said in a statement Monday that the Sudanese government has 'irrefutable evidence' confirming mercenaries from Colombia and some neighboring African countries were sponsored and financed by Emirati authorities. The statement didn't share the evidence or name the neighboring countries.
Toronto Sun
20 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
LILLEY: Videos of hostages show the horror Carney is effectively backing
As hostages continue to live in horrible conditions, a Hamas leader said Canada's recognition of a Palestinian state is a fruit of October 7. Get the latest from Brian Lilley straight to your inbox This image from an undated video released on Aug. 1, 2025, by the armed wing of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, shows Israeli hostage Evyatar David marking a food log on a calendar inside the Gaza tunnel where he is being held. Photo by Hamas via AP / AP The images of an emaciated Evyatar David digging his own grave in a Hamas terror tunnel should elicit outrage from the world. The video was released last week by the Al-Qassam Brigades, the elite military wing of Hamas. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account They showed the 24-year-old Israeli, who was taken hostage on Oct. 7, 2023, looking like a skeleton, but one digging his own grave in a dark, underground tunnel. The release of the video of David came just after the release of a video from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a fellow traveller with Hamas, of 22-year-old Rom Braslavski. The young man is seen writhing on the floor and saying that food and water must be brought to Gaza. This screengrab from a video released on July 31 by Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad shows a hostage, identified as Rom Braslavski by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, who was abducted to Gaza in October 2023 during the attack that sparked the Gaza war. Photo by Islamic Jihad Media Office / AFP via Getty Images I've seen a lot in my career, covered heinous murders, child abuse court cases, witnessed destruction firsthand, and I've stood in the Kibbutz homes that Hamas attacked and burned people alive in, when you could still smell the fire and the death. These videos shocked me, they repulsed me, I wanted to vomit. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Yet, the people who produced these propaganda videos are the ones who have benefitted from the decision by Canada – along with France and Britain – to recognize a Palestinian State this coming September at the United Nations General Assembly. The very people who would carry out horrific terrorist attacks, take hundreds of hostages and hold them in deplorable conditions are the beneficiaries of Canada's naive foreign policy under Prime Minister Mark Carney. ' Canada intends to recognize the State of Palestine at the 80 th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2025,' Carney said last Wednesday. He went on to lay out a pile of conditions, including elections that will happen in 2026 – long after the vote at the UN has happened – and claims that Hamas can have no part in these elections or the future of a Palestinian state. With all due respect to Prime Minister Carney, the leaders in Gaza and the West Bank – or Judea and Samaria as it is properly known – have made these claims before to bigger countries, bigger leaders, with more to offer them, and they have broken them every single time. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Carney, by his unilateral action, which goes against a vote in Parliament on this issue just last year, has granted a PR win for Hamas. But don't take my word for it, here is what Hamas themselves said. 'The initiative by several countries to recognize a Palestinian state is one of the fruits of Oct. 7,' Hamas senior member Ghāzi Hamad told Al Jazeera in an interview. ' Without our weapons, no one would be looking in our direction.' In the past, Hamad has said that given the chance, Hamas would commit Oct. 7-style attacks over and over again until Israel was destroyed. He also has denounced the idea of a two-state solution and said the Oct. 7 attacks were carried out in part to thwart the normalization of relations between Israel and several Arab neighbours. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. If you think Hamad doesn't look like he's starving in Gaza, it's because like most of the terror group's senior leadership, he doesn't live there. He and his cadre or fellow villains coordinate Hamas activities from a very safe distance in places like Beirut, Cairo or Doha. That includes releasing videos of hostages in emaciated states. Make no mistake, this Hamas video of Evyatar David, like the one released by PIJ of Rom Braslavski, are nothing but pure propaganda. If the world had its head screwed on straight these videos would have backfired by now and ramped up rage against the terrorists, instead these groups continue to garner support. As Israel delivers aid to the United Nations to be distributed, Hamas steals it and either feeds their fighters or sells it on the black market for a significant profit. Don't worry though, Canada's overstretched military, the men and women asked to fly planes in less than stellar shape just did an air drop of food aid into Gaza. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Will any of that food aid reach Evyatar David or Rom Braslavski? That's doubtful, but Canadians – especially Carney supporters – can stay smug. They did the right thing they can tell themselves, they did the humanitarian thing. In reality, they emboldened a banned terrorist group that is now taking credit for Canada's decision to recognize a Palestinian state by calling it a fruit of Oct. 7. Be careful who you endorse and who you stand next to. Read More Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Opinion Relationships Columnists
Winnipeg Free Press
20 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Sudan accuses the UAE of funding Colombian mercenaries to fight alongside the RSF in civil war
CAIRO (AP) — Sudan has accused the United Arab Emirates of sending Colombian mercenaries to fight alongside the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces against the military in the country's civil war. The foreign ministry said in a statement Monday that the Sudanese government has 'irrefutable evidence' confirming mercenaries from Colombia and some neighboring African countries were sponsored and financed by Emirati authorities. The statement didn't share the evidence or name the neighboring countries. 'This unprecedented phenomenon poses a serious threat to peace and security in the region and across the continent,' the foreign ministry said, asserting that hundreds of thousands of mercenaries were hired from across the African continent. There was no immediate response from the UAE or Colombia. The civil war in Sudan erupted in April 2023 in Khartoum before spreading across the country following simmering tensions between the RSF and the army. The fighting has killed over 40,000 people, displaced as many as 12 million and pushed many to the brink of famine. Sudan has long accused the UAE of being involved in the war by supplying the RSF with weapons, but the Gulf country has denied that claim. In November, an Amnesty International report said armored vehicles manufactured by the UAE and equipped with French defense systems had been captured by the Sudanese military. A spokesperson for the Emirati government said at the time that the UAE was the 'target of a coordinated disinformation campaign aimed at undermining our foreign policy, regional role and humanitarian efforts.' Sudan's army and the RSF both have been accused of committing atrocities like ethnic cleansing, extrajudicial killings and sexual violence against civilians, including children.
