Year in review: A look at events in August 2024

A look at news events in August 2024

1 – The Israeli military confirms the death of Hamas’ military leader, Mohammed Deif. Deif was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July, knocking another leader of the militant terror group off Israel’s hit list. Israel says it targeted Deif in a July 13 strike on the outskirts of Khan Younis, but hasn’t been able to confirm the kill for weeks. The Israeli confirmation came a day after an apparent Israeli airstrike in Tehran killed Hamas’ top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh.

1 – The U.S. and Russia complete their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history. Moscow released some two dozen people today, including Canadian-born Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, in a multinational deal. The exchange took place in Turkey and officials there confirmed the news. U.S. President Joe Biden thanked Turkey as well as Germany, Poland, Slovenia and Norway for their assistance. He praised the negotiations as a “feat of diplomacy.”

1 – Canadian swimming sensation Summer McIntosh brings another gold home from Paris. The 17-year-old won her second gold medal and set an Olympic record in the women’s 200-metre butterfly. She’s now one of three Canadians to ever win two gold medals at an Olympic games.

1 – Nova Scotia marks its first Acadian Heritage Month with a flag-raising ceremony. The month of August will celebrate over four centuries of Acadian culture and language in the province, kicking off with the Acadian flag raised today at the legislature. August will see concerts and other gatherings in Acadian communities across the province. That includes the World Acadian Congress — the largest gathering of people of Acadian ancestry in the world, taking place Aug. 10 to 18.

2 – Tech giant Google responds to Ottawa’s digital services tax with a fee of its own. Starting in October, the company will implement a 2.5 per cent surcharge to its advertisers for ads displayed in Canada. That’s in response to a 3 per cent levy on foreign tech giants generating revenue from Canadian users — which was approved by Parliament in June.

2 – U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris says she’s honoured to be the presumptive Democratic nominee. The chair of the party’s National Committee confirmed that Harris has secured enough votes from delegates to become the party’s nominee for president. Harris is now poised to be the first woman of colour at the top of a major party’s ticket.

2 – A funeral ceremony is held in Qatar for slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Thousands of mourners gathered around the flag-draped coffin of Haniyeh as fallout from his death in an alleged Israeli attack continues. Angry crowds from Jordan and Morocco to Yemen and Somalia waved Palestinian flags as they rushed out of mosques after midday prayers, chanting about revenge. The U.S. Pentagon has announced it is moving a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East where it will maintain an aircraft carrier, in response to rising tensions.

2 – Two Alberta men are found not guilty of conspiring to kill police at the 2022 Coutts border blockade. However, Anthony Olienick, and Chris Carbert were convicted of mischief and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, while Olienick was also convicted of possessing a pipe bomb. The two were arrested after police found a stash of weapons, ammunition and body armour near the blockade at the Canada-U. S. border crossing. It was one of several blockades held across the country in protest of COVID-19 rules and vaccine mandates.

3 – Canadian swimming phenom Summer McIntosh becomes Canada’s first triple gold medallist in an Olympic Games with a win in the 200-metre individual medley in Paris. The Toronto teen also won gold medals in the 200 butterfly and 400 I-M, plus a silver in the 400 freestyle.

4 – A firefighter dies while on duty in Jasper National Park. RCMP say the 24-year-old man was fighting an active fire north of Jasper when he was seriously injured by a falling tree. He was rushed from the scene to hospital by an air ambulance — but later succumbed to his injuries. Officials say the man was originally from Calgary and was based out of the Rocky Mountain House area.

5 – Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigns, ending 15 years in power as thousands of protesters defy a military curfew and storm her official residence. Shortly after local media showed the embattled leader boarding a military helicopter with her sister, Bangladesh’s military chief announced plans to seek the president’s guidance on forming interim government. He promised that the military would stand down, and to launch an investigation into the deadly crackdowns that fuelled outrage against the government.

5 – Chinese-American physicist Tsung-Dao Lee dies at 97. He became the second-youngest scientist to receive a Nobel Prize in 1957. A Chinese university and a Beijing-based research centre released a joint obituary saying Lee was one of the greatest masters of the field. Robert Oppenheimer once praised Lee as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists of the time.

5 – U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris secures the Democratic presidential nomination. The Democratic National Committee announced the formal results of online voting by delegates on Monday night. The nomination became official after a five-day round of online balloting by Democratic National Convention delegates. The party says 99 per cent of delegates cast their ballots for Harris. It caps a rocky period for the party after U.S. President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance and his subsequent withdrawal from the race. Harris is America’s first female vice-president and now becomes the first woman of colour at the top of a major party ticket.

6 – The Canadian Olympic Committee revokes accreditation from the coach of six-time Olympic medal-winning sprinter Andre De Grasse. The COC announced that “new information” has come to light about the appropriateness of accrediting Rana Reider. It says Reider was on probation with the U.S. Center for SafeSport until this past May, and his approval had been based on the understanding that he had no other sanctions against him. The COC did not specify the nature of the new information. But U.K. media outlets reported the decision is tied to safeguarding concerns and allegations of sexual and emotional abuse, and court documents filed in Broward County, Fla., show three women filing suit against Reider there.

6 – Kamala Harris chooses Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. The 60-year-old Democrat, military veteran, retired teacher and union supporter has made his state a bastion of liberal policy after winning the governor’s office in 2018. He and his lawmakers have repealed abortion restrictions since then while protecting gender-affirming care for minors and legalizing recreational marijuana use.

6 – Canada’s women’s basketball team centre Natalie Achonwa retires from Olympic competition. The 31-year-old from Guelph, Ont. was just 16 when she joined the national team and went on to play in four Olympics. She holds the women’s team’s record for most appearances, games played and all-time assists.

6 – Hamas chooses Yahya Sinwar as its new leader. Sinwar is the mastermind behind the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel and rises to the head of the militant group replacing Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Iran the previous week in a presumed Israeli strike. Sinwar is at the top of Israel’s kill list.

7 – A second woman comes forward claiming she was sexually targeted as a child by the husband of late Canadian writer Alice Munro. Sixty-four-year-old Jane Morrey says she was nine when Gerald Fremlin exposed himself to her while he was staying at her family’s Toronto home. She’s speaking publicly about it – 55 years later – after learning that Fremlin sexually abused one of Munro’s daughters.

7 – Alysha Newman scores Canada’s first-ever medal in women’s pole-vault at the Paris Games. The Delaware, Ont.-native cleared the same height as the silver medallist from the U.S., but the American vaulter was able to clear the 4.85 metre-bar in fewer attempts. Newman is the first Canadian pole vaulter to win a medal since the 1912 Stockholm Games, and the third in Olympic history.

8 – Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez dies at the age of 88. He was a Hall of Fame golfer whose antics on the greens and inspiring life story made him among the sport’s most popular players. Rodriguez said he learned to play golf by hitting tin cans with a stick but was perhaps best known for fairway antics including celebratory dancing and twirling his club like a sword. He had 22 victories on the Champions Tour from 1985-2002 and was inducted into the PGA World Golf Hall of Fame in 1992.

9 – Officials in Brazil say 62 people are dead after passenger plane flight 2283 crashed into a gated residential community in Sao Paulo. The airline VOE-PASS says 57 passengers and four crew members were aboard when it crashed. A Brazilian television network showed aerial footage of an area with smoke coming out of an obliterated plane fuselage, while other footage showed the plane drifting downward in a flat spin. Sao Paulo’s public security secretary says no survivors were found and that the plane’s black box was found intact. The airline says the plane was headed for Sao Paulo’s international airport and did not say what caused the accident.

9 – Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson are the first Canadian women’s team to reach the Olympic podium in beach volleyball. The pair of Torontonians came in second after losing to Brazil in Friday’s final at Eiffel Tower Stadium.

10 – As Israel-Hamas war ceasefire negotiations are set to resume, a new Israeli airstrike strikes deep inside Lebanon and kills a local Hamas leader. It comes as American, Qatari and Egyptian mediators renew their push for the two parties to achieve a ceasefire agreement that could help calm the war. Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel’s war campaign in Gaza has killed more than 39,600 Palestinians and wounded more than 91,700 others.

11 – Team Canada brings home 27 medals from the Paris Olympics – nine gold, seven silver and 11 bronze – following more than two weeks of competition. The total tally and the country’s nine gold medals are both records for Canada at a non-boycotted Summer Olympics. The figures surpass previous highs set in Tokyo three years ago and 1992 in Barcelona. Swimming phenom Summer McIntosh and men’s hammer throw champion Ethan Katzberg were set to carry Canada’s flag at the closing ceremonies.

12 – A trove of ancient artifacts from Egypt’s last dynasty is discovered in 63 tombs. Artifacts include gold pieces and jewelry dating back to Egypt’s Late and Ptolemaic periods. The Ptolemaic dynasty was Egypt’s last before it became part of the Roman Empire. Experts were working to restore and classify the finds as some items could be displayed at one of Egypt’s museums.

13 – The U.S. Department of Homeland Security takes steps to tighten asylum rules at the Canadian border. Homeland Security says after reviewing the Safe Third Country Agreement with Canada, it can streamline the process. Now people seeking asylum at the border with Canada will have four hours to consult a lawyer before making their case, instead of 24 hours. Asylum claimants must also have documentary evidence with them when they arrive.

13 – British Columbia’s fruit growers co-operative, which served farmers for close to a century, files for creditor protection. The B.C. Tree Fruits Cooperative is citing $58 million in liabilities and a disastrous crop failure this year that it called “the final tipping point.” A former board member of the co-operative says the board’s decision to close the business was made amid a power struggle for control and member discontent over its management.

14 – Japan’s Prime Minister announces he will not run in the upcoming party leadership vote. That means Japan will have a new prime minister when Fumio Kishida’s three-year term expires in September. Kishida was elected president of his governing Liberal Democratic Party in 2021.

14 – The United Auto Workers union files unfair labour-practice charges against Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. The move came after the two discussed on the social media platform X about Musk supposedly firing striking workers. In documents filed with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board, the UAW alleges both men interfered with workers who may want to exercise their right to join a union.

14 – The World Health Organization declares m-pox outbreaks in Africa a global emergency, with cases confirmed in more than a dozen countries. A new form of the virus has begun spreading, with cases confirmed among children and adults. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously announced more than 500 deaths from m-pox outbreaks.

14 – Quebec says it will begin authorizing early requests for medical assistance in dying — or MAID — from certain patients. The province adopted a law to allow people with serious and incurable illnesses like Alzheimer’s to ask for MAID while they have the capacity to do so — but have the procedure done after their condition has worsened. Quebec has been calling on the federal government to modify the Criminal Code to allow this but now says it won’t wait for Ottawa any longer.

15 – Manitoba follows other provinces in restricting cellphone use in classrooms, beginning this school year. Schools will ban cellphones for students in kindergarten to Grade 8, while those in high school will be restricted from using their devices during class time. The bans are designed to reduce distractions. The province says exemptions will be made for medical or accessibility reasons, as well as for educational purposes in high schools, when directed by teachers.

15 – Ontario’s Marineland has to pay $85,000 in fines and restitution over animal cruelty charges. The Niagara theme park was found guilty in March of keeping three blackbears, Slash, Toad and Lizzy, in small enclosures without sufficient access to water. The ruling calls for the theme park to pay out $15,000 for each of the bears, and restitution for the cost of care of the animals after they were seized.

15 – The federal government gives Ukraine the green light to use Canadian weaponry and equipment within Russia’s borders. A National Defence spokesperson says Canada does not place geographic restrictions on how military equipment donated to Ukraine can be used. The statement follows an unprecedented, surprise incursion into Russia, which has seen Ukrainian soldiers capture several settlements and advance deep into the Kursk region. Ottawa has committed $4 billion in military assistance to Ukraine through 2029.

16 – Canada’s former Manhattan residence to house its consulate general in New York is up for sale, boasting a more than $13-million price tag. The 12-room, five-bedroom apartment on Park Avenue is expected to exceed the purchase of Canada’s new $9 million Manhattan condo. Global Affairs Canada says the newer, smaller and more suitable Condo has everything the old one lacked, meeting the 2021 Accessible Canada Acts requirements and saving taxpayers money.

16 – The Canada Border Services Agency says it will start using a facial recognition app to keep track of people who have been ordered to be deported. A spokesperson says the app, called ReportIn, will be launched this fall. It will use Amazon’s facial recognition technology to confirm a person’s identity and record their location data when they use the app to report to the CBSA. However, critics say they have numerous concerns, including user consent and transparency around how the technology makes decisions.

16 – Montreal issues a boil-water advisory for about 150,000 homes after a major water main broke, flooding streets and buildings. Witnesses described a “wall of water” 10 metres high bursting through the ground and flooding the densely populated neighbourhood near the Jacques Cartier Bridge. The source of the flooding is a pipe more than two metres in diameter that was installed in 1985. Officials say the asphalt and concrete above the broken section of pipe will need to be excavated before they know how serious the problem is.

16 – United Nations agencies call for seven-day pauses in the war in Gaza to vaccinate Palestinian children against polio. The World Health Organization says the vaccination campaign for the 640,000 Palestinian children will have two rounds, starting at the end of the month. The WHO say three children in Gaza who have already been found with “acute flaccid paralysis” are a major worry after a variant of type 2 was discovered last month in wastewater samples. The organization says the Gaza Strip has been polio-free for the last 25 years, and a ceasefire is the only way to ensure public health security.

17 – The World Health Organization declares monkeypox a global health emergency. It follows this year’s alarming rise in cases and comes as a new form of the virus identified by scientists in eastern Congo spreads. Scientists say the new variant could spread beyond the five African countries where it had already been detected, a warning that fell as Sweden reported its first case of the new strain.

18 – Internationally acclaimed French actor Alain Delon dies at the age of 88. He is known for his roles embodying both the bad guy and the policeman. Fans say he was able to combine toughness with an appealing, vulnerable quality that made him one of France’s memorable leading men. Delon first drew acclaim in 1960 with “Plein Soleil,” directed by Réne Clément, in which he played a murderer trying to take on the identity of his victims. In 2019, his career was honoured at the Cannes Film Festival.

19 – Phil Donahue, who was dubbed “the king of daytime talk,” dies at 88. “The Phil Donahue Show” show ran for 26 years and won 20 Emmy Awards. It was the first to incorporate audience participation in a talk show and that set it apart from other interview shows. It influenced a format that made household names of Oprah Winfrey, Montel Williams and Ellen DeGeneres.

19 – A superyacht carrying mostly foreign passengers capsizes off the coast of Sicily and one Canadian reportedly dies. The luxury boat was carrying a crew of 10 people and 12 passengers when a tornado hit nearby waters, causing it to flip over and sink. Local authorities say one body was recovered and six people remain missing, while 15 others were rescued.

20 – A woman considered the world’s oldest person dies. Maria Branyas, an American-born Spaniard, was 117 years old and was listed as the oldest in the world by the Gerontology Research Group. Her family posted on Branyas’ X account that “she has gone the way she wanted: in her sleep, at peace, and without pain.” At the time of her death she was living in a nursing home in the town of Olot in northeast Spain.

21 – The largest study of Canada’s catastrophic 2023 wildfire season says it is “inescapable” that the record burn was caused by extreme heat and parching drought. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, warns that the extreme temperatures seen last season were already equivalent to some climate projections for 2050.

21 – The man who created Newfoundland and Labrador’s famed Screech-in ceremony dies at age 85. Myrle Vokey’s lively performances began in 1974 as he was travelling the province as a director and speaker with the provincial teachers association. He used it as a way to instil pride in Newfoundland’s unique dialect, music and humour.

21 – Ottawa says it will spend $16 million over five years to help the Yukon increase its capacity to fight wildland fires. And the Yukon government says it is contributing a further $5 million to the initiative. The federal government says the money will help buy personal protective gear, utility vehicles and other firefighting equipment. It will also be used for hiring and training wildland firefighters.

22 – Freight trains across the country stop as Canada’s major railways fail to agree on a new contract for its workers by the midnight deadline. Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City locked out a combined 9,300 employees in a move that threatens national supply chains. The unprecedented shutdown marks the first-ever simultaneous work stoppage of the two railway companies that haul about a billion dollars in goods each day. Transit authorities have said select commuter lines that run on Canadian Pacific tracks in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are suspended, affecting thousands of people. Later in the day, CN ended its lockout of workers and began a recovery plan, following news the federal government would intervene. Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon has said he’ll ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose final, binding arbitration to end the labour stoppage.

22 – Officials in Pakistan say bandits armed with rocket-propelled grenades and guns have ambushed a police convoy in the eastern Punjab province, killing at least 11 officers. Punjabi police say officers were passing through a deserted area in a patrol targeting robbers when the attack happened. Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militants attacks in recent years, but such a high number of police casualties in one attack is rare.

23 – New Brunswick declares a provincewide outbreak of whooping cough. They say there has been a “higher number” of cases than usual in multiple parts of the province. So far, the Department of Health says 141 cases have been reported this year, well exceeding the annual average of 34.

23 – Emergency officials in Nepal say a bus carrying dozens of Indian pilgrims has driven off a highway, plummeting some 150 metres, killing at least 14 and leaving 16 more injured. They say the bus veered off the highway and rolled toward a fast-flowing river before stopping on the rocky bank. The Indian embassy in Kathmandu says there were 43 people on board the bus, all Indian nationals.

23 – An attacker with a knife kills three people and seriously wounds eight others a festival in western Germany. The attack happened in a central square in the city of Solingen. It’s believed the stabbings were carried out by a lone attacker, and the Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility.

24 – The Canada Industrial Relations Board orders thousands of workers from Canada’s two major railways back on the job. The decision comes following a “marathon nine-hour hearing” after Canada’s labour minister asked to send the parties to binding arbitration while an agreement is hammered out between Canadian National, Canadian Pacific Kansas City and the Teamsters union representing thousands of their workers.

25 – The jersey Babe Ruth wore during his famous “called shot” home run in the 1932 World Series sells at auction for more than US$24,000,000. Heritage Auctions says an anonymous buyer took home the New York Yankee slugger’s jersey following a roughly six-hour-long bidding war in Dallas. The record-breaking amount the jersey sold for topped fellow Yankee Mickey Mantle’s 1952 rookie card, which sold for $12.6 million a couple of years ago.

26 – More than 40 people are killed in southwest Pakistan after multiple attacks in the area that are blamed on separatists. Gunmen killed people who were dragged off of buses and out of cars and trucks in Baluchistan province, while police and passersby were shot dead in another district. A railway bridge connecting Balushitan with the rest of Pakistan was also blown up while a police station was attacked.

27 – Canada moves to match the U.S. with new tariffs on electric vehicles made in China in a bid to keep the cars from getting a significant foothold in the North American market. Canada is promising to increase import taxes on Chinese-made EVs from 6.1 per cent, to 106.1 per cent in October.

27 – Zachary Knowles, 34, is crowned 2024 air guitar world champion in Finland. The Hamilton, Ont. native wore a bright white outfit and visor as he played Nickelback’s “Photograph” on his invisible axe en route to victory.

27 – The Israeli military says it has rescued a hostage in Gaza who was kidnapped during Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel last October. The military says Qaid Farhan Alkadi was rescued “in a complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip” but provided no further details. The 52-year-old was working as a guard at a packing factory in a farming community attacked by Hamas. Hamas is still holding around 110 hostages, about a third of whom are believed to be dead.

27 – Paralympic veterans Patrick Anderson and Katarina Roxon are named Canada’s flag-bearers for the following day’s opening ceremonies in Paris. Anderson from Fergus, Ontario is considered one of the best wheelchair basketball players of all time, and competed in his sixth Paralympic Games. Roxon from Corner Brook, Newfoundland, was the first Canadian woman to compete in five Paralympic Games in swimming.

27 – British Columbia is the latest province in Canada to ban the use of cellphones in classrooms. It follows similar moves by Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia.

28 – Convicted Winnipeg serial killer Jeremy Skibicki is handed four concurrent life sentences for the first-degree murders of four Indigenous women. He must serve 25 years before he’s eligible for parole. The judge says he was bound by law to impose the automatic sentence, adding the women’s families deserve more than what can be accomplished in a courtroom. The sentencing hearing earlier heard victim impact statements from relatives and supporters.

28 – British Columbia Opposition Leader Kevin Falcon suspends BC United’s election campaign. He’s now encouraging supporters to instead back the rival BC Conservative Party. Falcon says nominations of BC United candidates will be withdrawn to allow the Conservatives to draw from them for its election slate, less than two months before the province goes to the polls.

29 – The World Health Organization says there will be limited pauses in fighting in the Gaza Strip to allow for polio vaccinations in the territory. A WHO representative says the “humanitarian pauses” will last for three days in different parts of Gaza, where polio has made a resurgence after months of war. Hundreds of thousands of children will be immunized against polio in what the WHO says is a campaign co-ordinated with Israeli authorities.

29 – Space tourism takes another 99.8-kilometre leap from the desert in West Texas. The 26th New Shepard flight from Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin blasted off with six civilians in tow, carrying them past the internationally recognized lower limit of space. The passengers included a philanthropist, a cardiologist, a university professor and a college student. It was Blue Origin’s eighth human flight and lasted about 11 minutes.

29 – An earthquake warning system is activated in B.C. Federal Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says it will provide people and infrastructure managers with up to 10 seconds of warning ahead of a potentially harmful tremor. He says alerts will be transmitted automatically via cellphones, radio and TVs when a strong earthquake is detected. The system will also allow critical infrastructure leaders to take immediate action, such as halting traffic from driving onto bridges or into tunnels.

29 – It’s a new record for space tourism – a U.S. college senior becomes the youngest woman to reach the edge of space. Karsen Kitchen and five others went up 99.8 kilometres in a Blue Origin rocket launched from the company’s Texas spaceport. The 21-year-old says it was her childhood dream come true. Kitchen is an intern with Blue Origin, and her father took a similar trip to space two years ago.

30 – The Columbus Blue Jackets of the NHL confirm the death of forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew. New Jersey State Police confirm the 31-year-old, and his brother died the night before after being hit by a suspected drunk driver while they were cycling not far from their hometown. Johnny Gaudreau played with the Calgary Flames for his first eight seasons of professional hockey before signing a seven-year contract with the Blue Jackets in 2022.

30 – Postmedia CEO Andrew MacLeod says job cuts at Atlantic Canada’s largest newspaper chain are necessary as the properties were facing bankruptcy. MacLeod says the company is looking to find efficiencies in the operations of SaltWire so it can provide a stable future for more than two dozen newspapers it has acquired. Toronto-based Postmedia finalized its $1-million purchase of insolvent SaltWire Network and the Halifax Herald earlier in the week.

30 – The Federal Court agrees to hear a case about public servants’ return-to-office mandate. The Public Service Alliance of Canada president says the decision is an “important win for federal workers fighting for a fair and transparent approach to telework.” The federal government’s decision to mandate public servants return to the office three days per week is set to begin on Sept. 9.

31 – Rescuers search for a helicopter that went missing in Russia’s Far East with 22 people on board. The Mi-8 helicopter – a big, twin-turbine chopper – took off in a region close to the well-known volcano but did not arrive at its destination as scheduled. The Soviet-era aircraft is widely used in Russia, where crashes have been frequent, as well as in neighbouring countries and many other nations.

The Canadian Press