- NewsThe Canadian Press
The Trump Unit: Inside Canada's PMO squad to save NAFTA
If Donald Trump deploys the big bomb during upcoming NAFTA negotiations, and threatens to blow up the continental trade agreement, a unit within the office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be assigned to try disarming it. The Canadian government has created an election-style nerve centre to handle White House-related challenges and officials describing it say it has about eight regular staff: two former trade officials, two senior PMO officials, an ambassador, a writer, a cabinet minister, and it's run by a young staffer with a reputation for staying cool while smothering political fires. The most blistering inferno it's preparing to confront is a scenario where the president threatens NAFTA.
- NewsThe Canadian Press
Spanish town struggles to reconcile locals as extremist cell
In the suspected extremist cell's final days, the group accumulated more than 100 gas canisters, blew up a house in a botched effort to make bombs, drove a van through Barcelona's storied Las Ramblas promenade, and attacked beachside tourists, Spanish authorities said. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks that killed at least 14 people and left scores wounded. Now, Ripoll is cut off by police roadblocks as the search for an alleged cell member thought to still be on the run continues.
- NewsCBC
Grease fire sends 2 kids to hospital
Two children were sent to hospital after a grease fire started in the kitchen of their St. Anne's Road apartment Saturday afternoon. A young boy and a young girl were taken to Children's Hospital with minor injuries. Fire crews are still looking into what caused a fire that spread to two homes in the North End Saturday night.
- NewsCBC
Toronto man who disappeared 3 years ago surfaces on Interpol list of feared ISIS suicide bombers
A Toronto man is named on an Interpol list of individuals suspected to belong to an ISIS suicide brigade, according to a Canadian expert on radicalization and foreign fighters. Tabirul Hasib first disappeared five years ago when he booked a flight to the Middle East along with three other Toronto men: Malik Abdul (better known as Abdul Malik) and two others — Nur and Adib — whose last names are not known. What followed was a desperate attempt by the men's parents to keep them from falling into the hands of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), beginning with missing person's reports to Toronto police.
- NewsCBC
Mead in P.E.I.: Island farm producing fermented honey beverage
Charles Lipnicki had been looking for an escape from the daily grind of his job as a salesman. "She said 'You know Charles I really envy the people that live in Prince Edward Island … they're never more than 20 minutes from the ocean, they have these fertile rolling fields, wonderful farmland … it's a beautiful place to live, the people are so warm … I would love to be one of those people,'" recalled Lipnicki. "It's not part of the vernacular of most people, but mead is the oldest fermented beverage known to man," said Lipnicki.
- NewsThe Canadian Press
From panhandlers to street musicians, not everyone is ready for cashless society
The sound of Anthony Lovison's singing echoes through the corridors of the Montreal subway, reaching commuters' ears long before they see the young brown-haired man and his guitar. Barely a minute into "Heaven's Door," a man walks up with a smile and throws 50 cents into Lovison's open guitar case -- the first customer of the day. As he sings his way through a repertoire of Snow Patrol and Ed Sheeran songs, more change comes clinking in: four dollars from a man in a suit, some quarters from a girl who looks about 10 years old, and two dollars from an elderly woman with a cane who flashes Lovison a 'V' sign.
- BBC News
Chocolate box town where terrorists lived
Quiet Ripoll is in shock after becoming the focus of the Barcelona van attack investigation.
- NewsThe Canadian Press
Magician Penn Jillette apologizes for calling Newfoundlanders 'stupid'
Celebrity magician Penn Jillette has apologized after Newfoundlanders took him to task for insulting their intelligence on a talk show. Jillette, half of the comedic magic duo "Penn & Teller," talked about his Newfoundland roots during an appearance on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" that aired Friday night. Jillette apologized to the Twitter user, and called the comment a failed attempt at self-deprecation.
- NewsCBC
Wildfire efforts could lose up to 40% of crews as students return to school
The B.C. Wildfire Service could lose between 30 and 40 per cent of its fire crews in September as students return to school and seasonal contracts come to an end. The loss of personnel also extends to dispatchers and radio operators, many of whom work on seasonal contracts. Kevin Skrepnek, chief information officer for the B.C. Wildfire Service, said that out-of-province and international crews are being brought in to offset the potential deficit.
- NewsThe Canadian Press
Teachers lack confidence to talk about residential schools: study
A study suggests that while teachers may want to instruct about residential schools and include Indigenous culture in their classrooms, they don't feel confident enough and are nervous about saying the wrong thing. Emily Milne, an assistant professor of sociology at MacEwan University in Edmonton, interviewed 100 Indigenous and non-Indigenous parents and teachers in southern Ontario between 2012 and 2014. "There were educators I met who didn't know about residential schools.
- NewsThe Canadian Press
Ontario university students touring nuclear disaster site in Japan
A handful of Ontario university students are touring parts of Japan to better understand the devastating effects of the country's 2011 nuclear disaster and the problems that persist. Five graduate students from McMaster University's radiation sciences program landed in Japan on Wednesday for a 10-day tour of the Fukushima region where they'll spend time in a restricted zone, stay with families devastated by the disaster and tour the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi power plant, the site of the nuclear meltdown.
- NewsCBC
Significant road closures in effect for Open Streets TO
Open Streets TO will cause headaches for drivers on Sunday as some major streets downtown will be closed for pedestrian traffic. Bloor Street West will be closed from Montrose Avenue to Yonge Street and Yonge Street will be closed from Bloor Street to Queen Street, on Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The 161 Rogers Road bus will divert to and from Ossington Station via Ossington Avenue and Dupont Street.
- NewsCBC
Loon Lake, B.C. property owners may return home Sunday, ending 5-week evacuation
Property owners near Loon Lake, B.C., who were evacuated from their homes in mid-July due to a wildfire, will be permitted to return home Sunday. The Thompson-Nicola Regional District said the evacuation order will be lifted Sunday at 1 p.m. PT. "It's been a long five weeks," wrote Carole Stocker-Hall on Facebook.
NewsAgence France-PresseBooks to go: bringing literature to refugees stuck in Greece
The brightly coloured minivan that pulls into Athens' food market, drawing a group of refugees around it, is not carrying something edible. One of them is Echo Refugee Library -- a minivan fitted with shelves carrying over 1,000 books that does a weekly round of refugee camps in the greater Athens area, plus poorer districts of the capital where many refugees live in UN-rented flats. The goal of the initiative is to "make culture accessible to all," says Esther Ten Zijthoff, 25, the Dutch-American coordinator of the project.
NewsAgence France-PresseApple under pressure to dazzle as market slows
As Apple and Samsung gear up to launch new flagship smartphones, the market leaders are seeking a wow factor that can help them fend off challenges from rising Chinese-based manufacturers. Apple is under particular pressure to dazzle as the culture-changing California iPhone maker looks for a way to maintain its image as an innovation leader in a global market showing signs of slowing. "Clearly, Apple wants to do something different for the 10th anniversary" of the iPhone, NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker told AFP.
- NewsCBC
Only Canadian Muslim soldier to die in WW1 honoured at ceremony in London, Ont.
Pte. Hasan Amat was 23 years-old when he died during the Battle of Hill 70, which took place one hundred years ago this week. Amat, originally from Singapore, is believed to be one of 22 Muslim soldiers to serve for Canada in the First World War. Amat's story has a few twist and turns — including a stop in London, Ont. — where he'll be honoured on Sunday along with others who served with him at the Battle of Hill 70, which lasted for 10 days in August 1917.
- NewsCBC
Ottawa's first zero-waste grocery store officially opens
Ottawa's first zero-waste grocery store has officially opened its doors. Nu Grocery in Hintonburg sells a variety of products — dry food, fresh produce, cleaning and beauty supplies — without any packaging. "If you go shopping today, most of the things that you buy are highly packaged," said owner Valérie Leloup during the store's official launch Saturday.
NewsAgence France-PresseChina's solar panels shine spotlight on North Korea trade
Traders from North Korea visit Yuan Huan's shop in the Chinese border city of Dandong several times a month to place orders, bringing their own translators and wads of cash. Yuan, manager of Sangle Solar Power, said sales to North Koreans have soared in the past two years, one of the border businesses still thriving despite growing US pressure for China to limit commerce with the Stalinist regime. Since North Korea mostly relies on outdated generators, blackouts are common and solar panels are prized for their role as backup power.
- NewsCBC
This survivor wants Toronto to know what happens when you give refugees a chance
Lainez has teamed up with Oxfam, a global charity whose Stand as One campaign urges international leaders to expand refugee programs. Oxfam says they've reached 32,000 concert-goers who have lent their support to their crusade, and say past campaigns have elicited pledges from powerful entities worldwide, including the World Bank.
- NewsCBC
Big Lift bridge closures to be finished by late fall
Motorists will be able to put weekend closures of the Macdonald Bridge in Halifax in their rear-view mirror by the middle of September, but nighttime closures will still be happening until late fall. For more than two years, the deck replacement project known as the Big Lift has had evening and weekend shutdowns. Four large bumps on the Macdonald Bridge have also slowed down the commute.
NewsAgence France-PresseLos Angeles at war over gentrification
One morning, Los Angeles businesswoman Eva Chimento was about to open her art gallery in the city's Hispanic enclave of Boyle Heights when she found the door slightly open. "It was horrible, I was insulted," says Chimento, who believes the incidents are part of a larger pattern of harassment from community activists trying to halt an influx of affluent residents. Mihai Nicodim, a neighboring gallery owner, has had his door vandalized and his store front defaced with insulting slogans while exhibition openings have been met with protests.
- NewsCBC
Sask. Baseball Hall of Fame inductees include an entire family and a club
Jane Shury is president of the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. "As time goes on we keep getting good nominations," said Shury. For the Woodard family, their induction has been 100 years in the making.
- NewsThe Canadian Press
New Nova Scotia data raises concerns about use of solitary confinement
Close to a quarter of solitary confinements in Nova Scotia's jails are due to medical issues or protection from other inmates, according to recent figures offering a glimpse of why offenders in the province spend weeks buried in virtual isolation. Experts say the statistics are worrying, especially when isolation is used for non-disciplinary reasons. … It's a very austere form of confinement," says Howard Sapers, who recently prepared recommendations for reforms on the use of segregation in Ontario.
- NewsCBC
Two of North America's best cobblers are a Vancouver father-son duo
Ronald Nijdam runs the Quick Cobbler shoe repair store in Vancouver with his son Patrick. The duo recently took home top awards at the Robert DiRinaldo Grand Silver Cup — a competition where shoe repairers from across the United States and Canada compete for the title of best crafts person. This year, Ronald won gold and Patrick — who had entered the competition for the first time — took home bronze.
- NewsCBC
From oilsands mine to wetland: Is Syncrude's reclamation experiment working?
Eric Girard had no idea at the time whether the science experiment would even work, whether Syncrude could actually transplant that piece of wetland to a former oilsands mine and have it regrow. Half a decade after the work started, Girard and his team said this week they have achieved some success with their multi-million-dollar reclamation project called Sandhill Fen. Lee Foote, who once worked on the Sandhill Fen project, commended the company's efforts but said he doubts Syncrude will ever return portions of its lease into a pristine fen.
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