 Here’s what you need to know to get the day started: | | | Why investigating sexual violence on Oct. 7 is likely to be a long, difficult process | | |  | Members of the Israeli Army and Israel's ZAKA rescue crew search for human remains at Kibbutz Be'eri on Oct. 22, 2023, in Israel. (Amir Levy/Getty Images) | | | WARNING: This article contains graphic content and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
After more than two decades working with survivors of sexual violence, Orit Sulitzeanu knows the one piece of evidence investigators might want most as they look into the atrocities that took place during the Hamas-led invasion of Israel in October is likely to be the one they never get.
"It's the golden piece of evidence: The woman that will come forward … and say, 'Yes, it happened to me,'" said Sulitzeanu, the executive director of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel.
"No one will dare to say, 'I was a victim of rape by Hamas terrorist.'"
Israeli police and the United Nations are looking into widespread reports of brutal sexual violence during the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on Oct. 7.
Even under normal circumstances, investigating sexual violence can be difficult as victims may be reluctant to speak to authorities. This particular case is further complicated by the fact that the Oct. 7 attack set off the deadliest fighting between the groups in decades and officials believe many of the victims were ultimately killed.
Experts, including Sulitzeanu, say investigating these reports will likely take years, if not longer, and justice may look different than what people might imagine.
Sulitzeanu says she started hearing reports about rape, disfigurement and sexual abuse of women and men in the days after Oct. 7.
The group Physicians for Human Rights Israel, which has historically advocated for the health of people in occupied Palestinian territories, published a report in November on the sexual violence based on photos, video and other publicly available online information, as well as its own interviews with eyewitnesses, soldiers and first responders.
The report documented such incidents at the Nova music festival near Israel's southern border, homes around the Gaza Strip and an Israeli military base. | | | | | James Webb telescope captures luminous images of 19 spiral galaxies | | |  | (NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Janice Lee (STScI), Thomas Williams (Oxford), PHANGS team/Reuters) | | | | Spiral galaxy NGC 628, located 32 million light-years away from Earth, is seen in an undated image from the James Webb Space Telescope. The image shows a densely populated spiral galaxy, anchored by its central region, which has a light blue haze that takes up about a quarter of the view. Read how 19 newly released images like this one are offering new clues on star formation as well as galactic structure and evolution. | | | | | | | | | In brief | | | The Ontario government will announce Tuesday that it wants to refurbish the half-century old Pickering nuclear generating station, potentially keeping the plant operating for another 30 years, CBC News has learned. The announcement comes as demand for electricity in Ontario is forecast to increase sharply over the coming decades. Meanwhile, all provinces face federal clean electricity regulations that would require future power plants to produce net-zero carbon emissions. Energy Minister Todd Smith will announce the Ford government's support of Ontario's Power Generation's plan to refurbish the power plant, according to an advance copy of a provincial news release provided to CBC News. The four nuclear units that would be refurbished are all Candu reactors that date back to the early 1980s, collectively known as Pickering B. The refurbishment would supply 2,000 megawatts of power, comparable to the current output of those existing units. The news release says the refurbishment will take 11 years, create about 11,000 jobs per year and increase Ontario's GDP by $19.4 billion, but it does not state the project's total budget. A similar refurbishment of four units at the nearby Darlington nuclear station is more than midway through completion, on a total budget of $12.8 billion. Read more.
After listening to more than two weeks of testimony, the jury at the coroner's inquest into the stabbing massacre at James Smith Cree Nation is expected to begin deliberating today. The inquest, which began on Jan. 15 in Melfort, Sask., has been examining the events of Sept. 4, 2022, when Myles Sanderson killed 11 people — 10 from James Smith and one from the neighbouring village of Weldon. Eight jurors — two of whom are alternates — have been listening to testimony and evidence. Now, six of them are expected to be tasked with providing recommendations to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future. During the past two weeks, jurors have heard from 30 witnesses including RCMP officers, a psychologist, forensic pathologists, Sanderson's former partner and officials from the Parole Board of Canada. A second public inquest is scheduled to begin on Feb. 26 in Saskatoon and examine the death of Myles Sanderson. He died in custody on Sept. 7, 2022. Read the full story here.
After routine childhood vaccinations fell during the pandemic, public health officials across the country are working to get Canadian students back up to date on immunizations for serious yet preventable diseases. In southwestern Ontario's Waterloo region alone, public health officials said they sent letters to the families of 32,000 elementary and secondary school students, about a third of pupils in the region's public and Catholic schools, notifying them that they are at risk of suspension over incomplete immunization records for preventable diseases like measles, chickenpox and whooping cough. When public health staff introduced COVID-19 testing and vaccinations during the pandemic in 2020, routine immunization programs for students across the country fell behind, according to a 2021 study. As well, 19 to Zero, a not-for-profit coalition of medical and public health experts that facilitates vaccination, conducted a national survey in fall 2021 that pointed to 300,000 children who missed or delayed routine immunizations. Read the full story here.
Jolene Chateauneuf was just trying to avoid getting evicted. It was 2021, and she was short $1,500 for the rent on her apartment in Princeton, B.C., where she was living at the time. So she took out a rapid loan from a payday-style lender and gave the money to her landlord. Rapid loans are sometimes referred to as instalment loans, to differentiate them from traditional payday loans, which — as the name implies — are paid back in one lump sum when the borrower's paycheque arrives. In the last few years, rapid loans have become common as most provinces cracked down on predatory payday loan practices, prompting alternative lenders to instead offer larger loans with longer payment periods. The first few times Chateauneuf picked up a rapid loan, she was able to pay it back, she told Cost of Living. But when she got behind on payments, and they were sent to collection agencies, she'd apply for new loans to cover the shortfall so she could make sure her family had a roof over their heads. Today the 28-year-old mother of two young children is sinking under about $50,000 in debt from rapid loans, combined with student loans and car payments. Read more.
Now here's some good news to start your Tuesday: Edmonton artist Josh Harnack is giving new surreal life to old paintings, captivating a contemporary audience. The paintings could have hung in dental offices or hotels, as most of the art was painted in Korea for mass production. But now, in Harnack’s hands, a branch has become a tentacle, a hat or a bird's nest. “I get a lot of joy out of trying to figure out how I can add something to the scene into their lighting and composition, so it's kind of a seamless addition where you wouldn't notice it right away until you do that double take,” he said. Watch the story here. | | | FIRST PERSON | I'd become complacent around wildlife working in parks — until a predator stole my supper | Chad Dupuis had been living and working in the northern Alberta forest for several years and had numerous wildlife encounters. His lost dinner was a reminder that the parks are the animals' home and we're encroaching on it. Read his column here. | | | | | | | CBC PODCASTS | CBC News launches 7 local podcasts across Canada | CBC is launching seven podcasts spotlighting and celebrating the diverse local communities and answering listeners' questions from coast to coast. Audiences are invited to join CBC journalists and hosts on an adventure to explore and learn something new, valuable and authentic about their communities.
Get connected to Edmonton, Ottawa, Vancouver Island and Calgary each week with their This Is podcast. Meet the people behind the essential, sometimes random, and occasionally infuriating stories shaping your community every week.
Learn more about Montreal, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island each week with their Good Question podcast. Every week, this podcast will answer your questions about your community. Nothing too big, too small, or too weird.
Find these podcasts on CBC Listen or wherever you get your podcasts. | | | | |  | Is Palworld more than 'Pokémon with guns'? | In its first two weeks of release, Palworld has become one of the most played video games on the planet. But is the game — dubbed "Pokémon with guns" by some — at risk of legal action from Nintendo for ripping off its most successful franchise?
Listen to today's episode | | | Today in history: January 30 | | | 1948: India's leader Mohandas Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, is assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu nationalist. The man who led his country to independence from British rule, Gandhi was 78.
1979: Iran's civilian government announces that opposition religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who was living in exile in France, would be allowed to return.
1991: Hudson's Bay Company announces it was getting out of the fur business, on which it was founded in 1670. The Bay cited declining sales.
2013: Research In Motion announces it was changing its corporate name to BlackBerry. | | | (With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters) | | | | |  | CBC NEWS APP | The most convenient way to get your news
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