Right-wing U.S. media covered fiction as fact: A non-existent terrorist attack from Canada at Rainbow Bridge
CBC
For a few hours Wednesday afternoon, Canada appeared to be staring down the barrel of an unwelcome and potentially painful international crisis.
News reports were awash in misinformation following an explosion at the Canada-U.S. border crossing at Rainbow Bridge near Niagara Falls.
Some U.S. media began describing it as a terrorist explosion, caused by a vehicle entering from Canada.
Every element of that preceding sentence was dispelled within hours as flat-out wrong.
There was no attack from Canada; the incident occurred entirely on U.S. soil; in fact, authorities don't believe it was a terrorist attack at all.
That didn't stop a candidate for president of the United States from appearing on Fox News to promote an aspect of his platform: Building a border wall with Canada.
"I have been sounding the alarm bell about the northern border for a long time," said Vivek Ramaswamy during a lengthy interview about an incident he did not witness, was not a subject-matter expert on, and had no insight into.
"This is a mounting crisis. We're ignoring it."
The Republican candidate's argument for a border wall involves a spike in fentanyl seizures at the Canadian border. Left unsaid by him: seizures near Canada amount to approximately 0.0074 per cent of the fentanyl seized by U.S. border officials this year — or about one kilo at the northern border out of the 12 tonnes seized overall.
Scrutiny shifted swiftly to Canada's immigration system.
On Fox News, talking heads were talking about their porous borders, and also about Canada's allegedly porous immigration system.
"It is untenable to let millions of people into this country when we don't know who they are," said former State Department official Morgan Ortagus.
"Similarly, there have been people hawkish on immigration who have not been comfortable with Canada's vetting system."
One host on Fox News expressed astonishment that this had suddenly become the biggest story in the country, supplanting the hostage release in Gaza.
Israel's cabinet approved a deal early Saturday for a ceasefire in Gaza that would release dozens of hostages held there and pause the 15-month war with Hamas, bringing the sides a step closer to ending their deadliest and most destructive fighting ever.
A complex and fragile deal to pause fighting in the Gaza Strip has been reached, with hostilities expected to cease on Sunday — more than 15 months after the Israel-Hamas war began.
The contrasting reactions between Palestinians and Israelis to the long-awaited news of an impending hostage exchange and ceasefire have been telling.
Amid the relief at the prospect of hostages returning home and an end to the slaughter and destruction in Gaza, there are also plenty of questions about why the potential ceasefire between Israel and Hamas — being brokered with the help of Qatar — couldn't have been signed eight months ago.
Foreboding weather forecasts keep tensions high in Los Angeles as one of North America's largest cities battles wildfires that have already claimed at least two dozen lives and thousands of homes.
Qatari mediators have sent Israel and Hamas a draft proposal for an agreement to halt the fighting in the Gaza Strip and exchange hostages for Palestinian prisoners as a first step toward an end to the 15-month-old war.
Over the last nine months of the war in Gaza, Nora al-Batran was pregnant with twins. The 38-year-old was displaced multiple times with her husband and children as they skirted bombs and gunfire and sought refuge in a tent in the town of Deir al Balah.
U.S. special counsel Jack Smith has resigned from the Justice Department after submitting his investigative report on president-elect Donald Trump, an expected move that comes amid legal wrangling over how much of that document can be made public in the days ahead.
When people think of wildfires, burning trees are likely the first image that comes to mind.
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has escaped any legal punishment other than a criminal record for his felony crimes, after a judge on Friday handed him an alternative sentence called an unconditional discharge.
Thursday was marked by massive marches and a confused high-profile abduction in Venezuela, on the same day that Canada recognized opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the legitimate president of the country.
Firefighters battled early Thursday to control a series of major fires in the Los Angeles area that have killed five people, ravaged communities and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes.
Finland says it has found more than two dozen serious deficiencies aboard the impounded Eagle S, a ship that was carrying Russian oil and is accused of deliberately dragging its anchor in the Baltic Sea on Dec. 25, damaging an underwater power line and four telecommunication cables.
As if having the ear of incoming U.S. president Donald Trump weren't enough, tech billionaire Elon Musk has been on a tear this week, trashing European politicians on both the left and right, and using posts on his social media platform, X, to disrupt politics across the continent.
A wildfire whipped up by extreme winds swept through a Los Angeles hillside dotted with celebrity residences Tuesday, burning homes and prompting evacuation orders for tens of thousands. In the frantic haste to get to safety, roadways were clogged and scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some toting suitcases.
A strong earthquake killed at least 95 people in Tibet on Tuesday and left many others trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the high-altitude region of western China and across the border in Nepal.
For two centuries, the certification of U.S. presidential election results was little more than a ceremonial rubber stamp by Congress.
Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank on Monday, killing at least three people and wounding seven others.