Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed…
Israeli minister rejects outside probes of Gaza
As Canada escalates its criticism of how Israel is fighting the war in Gaza, one Israeli junior minister says her government won’t submit to international investigations of the war that it feels are meant to undermine the state’s legitimacy.
“We are a democracy with checks and balances and a robust judicial system,” said Sharren Haskel, Israel’s deputy minister of foreign affairs.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, the Toronto-born Haskel — whose role in Israel’s cabinet makes her the equivalent of a Canadian junior minister — said Canada needs to do more to combat the threats posed by Iran abroad and antisemitism at home.
She said Israelis are fighting Iran and its proxies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi movement in Yemen and Hamas in the Palestinian territories. The Iranian regime has for years called for the destruction of Israel.
But Canada has increasingly expressed concerns about casualty numbers and Israeli tactics in Gaza, and with how Israel’s occupying soldiers are patrolling the West Bank.
Here’s what else we’re watching…
5 Israeli soldiers killed overnight in northern Gaza and 18 dead in Israeli strikes
Five Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack in Gaza, the Israeli military said Tuesday, while health officials in the Palestinian territory said 18 people were killed in Israeli strikes.
The bloodshed came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting the White House for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump about a ceasefire plan to pause the Gaza fighting. While there was no word of a breakthrough, the killings of the soldiers could add to the pressure on Netanyahu to strike a deal in Israel, where polls have shown widespread support for ending the war.
An Israeli security official said explosive devices were detonated against the soldiers during an operation in the Beit Hanoun area in northern Gaza, which was an early target of the war and an area where Israel has repeatedly fought regrouping militants.
Militants also opened fire on the forces who were evacuating the wounded soldiers, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss the incident with the media.
The military said 14 soldiers were wounded in the attack, two of them seriously. It brings the toll of soldiers killed to 888 since the war against Hamas began in 2023.
Kelowna fire that shut airport is under control
The BC Wildfire Service says a blaze that shut down Kelowna’s airport and triggered a handful of tactical evacuations has been brought under control.
Police began telling residents to get out on Sunday afternoon and later that night the Regional District of Central Okanagan ordered residents out of homes at seven addresses at risk from the Whelan Creek wildfire.
That evacuation order was being downgraded to an alert as of 6 p.m. Monday and those residents will join people living at more than 100 other addresses being told that they need to be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.
The airport west of the fire shut down its operations on Sunday due to the blaze, but issued an update Monday saying it had returned to regular operations, although it cautioned that passengers may experience cancellations or delays.
The wildfire service says the fire isn’t projected to spread beyond its current perimeter, and it was estimated at about six hectares in size.
Group claims court win in psychedelic therapy case
A non-profit group that advocates for access to therapy using psychedelic drugs has won a legal battle in a years-long fight with Health Canada — one the organization believes is far from over.
“There’s an obvious societal turning point here, one where the public, for sure, clinicians and certainly parts of the government are waking up to the reality that psychedelics work,” said John Gilchrist, director of communications for Therapsil.
Therapsil obtained exemptions under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in 2020 that allowed 19 health-care workers to undergo experiential training that involved taking mushrooms containing psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms.
In 2022, Therapsil applied for exemptions for 93 more health-care workers as it worked to expand access to psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. Health Canada denied the application.
The case made its way late last fall to the Federal Court of Appeal, which ruled in June that the health minister failed to provide justification for refusing the second round of exemptions. The court ordered the government to make a new decision.
Crowd control tested at Toronto’s Rogers Stadium
Coldplay fans appeared to experience a smoother exit from Toronto’s Rogers Stadium on Monday night, after complaints of poor crowd control following the outdoor venue’s inaugural show last week.
As crowds leaving the stadium thickened, staff held up the red lights and instructed people to wait inside the venue before they could proceed to transit areas. A green light meant go.
The practice, which operator Live Nation Canada refers to as “pulsing,” was also in use at the venue’s first show. This time, the operator promised to reconfigure the exit routes so that crowds would be dispersed to multiple nearby subway stations.
While some fans complained about the temporary standstills, the crowd control technique appeared to help prevent overcrowding at Downsview Park, the nearest subway and GO train station, with a limited number of people flowing through at a time.
It appeared to be a significant improvement over the venue’s inaugural show last week, when some attendees said it took up to two hours to exit the 50,000-person capacity stadium.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 8, 2025.
The Canadian Press