German aerospace company signs 10-year deal to use Nova Scotia rocket launch pad

HALIFAX - The company vying to build Canada’s first commercial rocket launch pad in Nova Scotia has signed a deal with a German aerospace firm that could see orbital launches by 2028.

Halifax-based Maritime Launch Services Ltd. says Germany’s Isar Aerospace plans to build a dedicated complex for its Spectrum rocket at the Nova Scotia company's site near Canso, N.S., on the eastern shore.

The two-stage rocket is designed to carry small- and medium-sized satellites into space. The German company, which has already established its first launch site in Norway, has created a new Canadian subsidiary, Isar Aerospace Canada Inc.

"While every nation needs data from space, almost no nation has the end-to-end capability to access it independently,” Alexandre Dalloneau, Isar’s vice-president of mission and launch operations, said in a statement.

A look at defunct past pipeline pitches and their recent revivals

CALGARY - Pipeline proposals long considered dead and buried are coming back from the grave — sort of.

Past plans to send oilsands crude east, west and south are being revived with different branding, proponents and routes. And, at least in the first two cases, the efforts are being driven by politicians rather than the private sector.

Here is a look at defunct projects of yore and their resurrected versions:

East

Inside Saskatchewan’s Cigar Lake mine, a ’boutique’ operation with abundant uranium

CIGAR LAKE, SASK. - Cessa Fern's day begins with being squished into a metal cage with 19 others, and dropped to a depth greater than the height of New York’s Empire State Building into a dark world of rock walls, pipes and wires.

It's where uranium is mined and fears are faced.

The radiation student technician had reservations about the job before taking her first trip down the elevator.

"I was like, 'No way am I going to work in the mine,'" Fern recalled in an interview.

‘Forward guidance’ on Canadian climate targets

At last, some honesty in Canadian climate policy

Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke the truth last week about where greenhouse gas emissions were going in Canada: up, not down. This is the first time any prime minister has stated the reality of the country’s emissions trajectory. Until now, it’s all been about putting a positive gloss on far-off reduction goals and unrealistic ambitions.

The prime minister’s second instalment of “forward guidance”, as he calls it, focused on what’s ahead on energy and climate. It was a refreshing and overdue pivot in crafting a more realistic and durable climate policy for the country.

Here’s what he said: “I want to be clear on this point. The changes we have made will mean that our emissions will be higher in the next few years than they were projected to be under the previous government’s plan. But in my judgment, that plan was not sustainable over the long term.”

In America 250 years later, Thomas Jefferson's elegant phrases remain hollow

In the 16th and 17th centuries, countries and territories such as the Netherlands and Portugal boldly declared their independence from Spain. But 250 years ago, on July 4, 1776, the American Declaration of Independence — marked in the U.S. by the semiquincentennial celebrations — was the first time an overseas colony (the 13 colonies, in this case) had set out in an official document its reasons for breaking away from its mother country.

Because the Declaration ultimately gave birth to the United States, it is considered one of the greatest of historical treatises. Thomas Jefferson, its primary author, later explained that his main aim was “not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of … but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject; in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent.”

He did so brilliantly, creating, in theory at least, an enlightened argument for American independence based on the political, economic, social and philosophical thinking of the era.

Influenced by such philosophers as John Locke and Montesquieu, Jefferson, then 33 years old, a lawyer, landowner, Virginia politician and a delegate to the Second Continental Congress which met in Philadelphia, passionately believed in natural law — that all human beings were born free and equal and that no king or ruler could abolish these rights. It was a key point he made in the Declaration’s well-known preamble.

World gets glimpse of its climate future

Midway through 2026, two major climate dynamics are emerging in parallel. One is a mass rollout of renewable energy. The other is an ominous El Niño brewing, likely to soon trigger fierce weather extremes.

Alberta separatists gain partial court win, referendum petition to be verified

EDMONTON - The group behind a petition for a separation referendum in Alberta has won a partial victory in court.

An Alberta Court of Appeal judge ruled on Monday that the signatures on the petition can be counted and verified and that the results can be shared publicly.

Justice Alice Woolley, in a written decision, said not verifying the signatures now could create more problems later on should things change with larger issues that have yet to be decided in court.

"People who signed the petition may move or die. They may change addresses or phone numbers. Trust and confidence in the security and integrity of the collected sheets will begin to erode (if they're not verified now),” Woolley wrote.

Canada being side-swiped by Trump’s Cuba policy

Canada’s decades-long relationship with revolutionary Cuba has always been a three-country affair — with the United States frequently settling for the spurned third-wheel.

Since the early 1960s, successive U.S. governments have strenuously objected to Canadian trade and commercial engagement with the island. Officials in Washington have always believed that the Canadians were trying to make a “quick buck” at America’s expense, while simultaneously seeking to undermine the U.S. blockade of Cuba.

For almost 70 years now, Canada has had to negotiate the thorny issue of the U.S. trade embargo. Added to that was the anti-Cuba Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 and the still active 1996 Helms-Burton Law. Complicating matters further for Ottawa have been the various additions and subtractions to the unrelenting U.S. efforts to strangle the Cuban economy — particularly during the presidency of Barack Obama.

In January, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a near-ironclad (some Russian oil is getting through), illegal fuel embargo against Cuba, using American naval vessels and U.S. Coast Guard ships. Additionally, he signed an executive order in early May to expand U.S. economic warfare, or what some call “secondary sanctions,” against those materially assisting the Cuban government.

Palestinian Canadians share keepsakes, memories in CMHR’s Nakba exhibition

Fouad Sahyoun was four years old when his family fled their home in Haifa amid bombardment from encroaching Israeli paramilitary forces in 1948.

“We took a few suitcases and (some) money and we went to Alexandria. We were never allowed to go back,” said Sahyoun, a Palestinian Canadian living in Montreal. “When the money ran out, we became real refugees.”

The 82-year-old is one of an estimated 750,000 Palestinians forcibly displaced in 1948 following the partitioning of Palestine and during the creation of the State of Israel. This event is known as the Nakba, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic.

Sahyoun’s story and the deeds to his family’s seized property in Haifa are included in Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present, a new exhibition open to the public Saturday at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Divers Tiaglei, Rumpit jumping their way through 50 states in 50 days

Two months ago, Winnipeg high-diver Alex Tiaglei received a call that he could’ve easily confused for a belated April Fool’s joke.

On the other end was his American-born friend Braden Rumpit, whom Tiaglei had dove against at several competitions around the world.

Rumpit gave it to him straight: he planned to do a cliff dive in all 50 United States in 50 days, and he wanted Tiaglei to do it with him.

“I mean, at first I thought he was kind of crazy,” said Tiaglei. “But then I started thinking about it, and the pieces were definitely falling together pretty well.”

World Cup a mosaic of the human experience

On June 13, the third day of the ongoing World Cup, Morocco played more than a quarter of its Group C match against Brazil without a single Moroccan-born footballer on the pitch.

Instead, the starting eleven deployed by manager Mohamed Ouahbi between the 64th and 89th minutes included players from Belgium, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Canada. (Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou was born in Montreal.) Ouahbi, himself, hails from metropolitan Brussels.

According to the BBC, nearly 25 per cent of the players at this tournament were born in countries other than the ones they’re representing.

One of the more prominent examples of this experience is Luca Zidane.

Greece bets on space technology to contain wildfires in a global first

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — In the searing Mediterranean summer, wildfires turn dangerous in minutes.

Greece has learned that at a terrible cost. In 2018, a blaze east of Athens moved with ferocious speed, killing more than 100 people. Five years later, a massive fire tore through a remote nature reserve; it was the largest wildfire ever recorded in the European Union.

Greece is looking to the heavens for help, with a dedicated satellite constellation that monitors for fires. It's a model for the continent as Europe races toward broader independence in space technology.

Four satellites, each smaller than a piece of carry-on luggage, were launched into low orbit in May. That made Greece the first nation in the world to integrate a dedicated satellite array into its national firefighting system.

Europe’s extreme heat would be impossible without climate change, scientists say

The record-breaking heat that's scorching Europe day and night this month would not have been possible without climate change, according to a new study.

The World Weather Attribution rapid study released Friday found that the heat would have been virtually impossible just five decades ago, and is 200 times more likely today than it would have been 20 years ago.

Millions in France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe are experiencing extreme temperatures and humidity this week associated with a heat dome. Daytime temperatures have topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in many places, while high nighttime temperatures have also made it harder to cool down and recover.

The scientists estimated that a heat wave with similar characteristics occurring in the climate of June 1976 would have been about 3.5 degrees Celsius (6.3 Fahrenheit) cooler during the day and about 2 degrees Celsius cooler (3.6 Fahrenheit) in 2003. The nighttime temperatures would have been about 2.4 degrees Celsius (4.3 Fahrenheit) cooler in June 1976 and about 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) cooler in 2003.

Carney coming to Calgary Stampede, carrying message that separation is no magic wand

Prime Minister Mark Carney is coming to next week’s Calgary Stampede, and plans to reiterate that quitting Canada will not be the magic wand separatists think it is.

Carney, taking questions from reporters in Ottawa on Thursday, said the fallout from the United Kingdom voting to leave the European Union a decade ago should serve as a clear cautionary tale.

"I saw firsthand what gets sold in these referenda, that everything's gonna be easy, that you can keep your passport, the currency — you can stay in the country and leave it at the same time," he said.

Carney said Alberta's vote comes when Canada is trying to be seen as a stable, reliable international trading partner.

Nova Scotia launches three-year plan to expand its $2.2-billion seafood industry

HALIFAX - The Nova Scotia government has announced a three-year strategy aimed at growing the province’s $2.2-billion seafood industry as it tries to cope with with rising costs, labour shortages and global trade challenges.

Provincial Fisheries Minister Kent Smith said Wednesday that $1.5 million will be set aside this year to establish an innovation hub for applied research.

As well, the strategy calls for expanding the aquaculture sector, providing support for product diversification and offering up to $4 million over three years to diversify markets, among other initiatives.

The strategy was developed with input from industry representatives, said Smith, who made the announcement at Sea Star Seafoods Ltd. in Clark’s Harbour, N.S., a lobster fishing community near the province's southwestern tip.

A Serbian town is known for raspberries that are exported around the world

ARILJE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia 's town of Arilje is known as the Balkan country's “raspberry capital,” with its fame reaching beyond borders.

Arilje and its surroundings yield berries that are exported as far as the United States and Japan. Serbia is among the top three exporters of raspberries globally.

“We are born, we live and we die with raspberries,” said Mileta Pilcevic, who heads a local association of raspberry producers. “Arilje is unique in the world. You can’t find a smaller place with such big concentration of raspberry production.”

The hilly landscape has ideal climate for raspberry cultivation. The berries from Arilje are grown without chemicals and picked by hand for high quality.

How a heat dome is formed and why experts blame one for Europe’s baking temperatures

Europe is sizzling under an early heat wave this week, with millions of people experiencing extremely high temperatures, and experts say a phenomenon known as a heat dome is to blame. Here's what to know.

MMF suing governments over hunting, fishing rights

The Manitoba Métis Federation has filed two lawsuits against the provincial and federal governments over where in the province its citizens have the right to hunt and fish.

In separate statements of claim filed in the Court of King’s Bench earlier this month, the federation seeks declarations from a judge that the Métis have harvesting rights in several regions of Manitoba, despite current restrictions there, and that those restrictions on Métis hunting and fishing have unjustifiably infringed on their Aboriginal rights under Section 35 of the Constitution.

“The Métis, the Red River Métis, without a doubt have Section 35 rights … equal, side by side with the First Nations and Inuit,” said MMF president David Chartrand in an interview.

One of the claims is over game hunting areas 5, 7 and 7A around Manigotagan and Grass River, north of The Pas, and areas 17A and 26 on the southeast of Lake Winnipeg.

Cuba pushes through sweeping free-market reforms in biggest economic shift since the revolution

HAVANA (AP) — Observers on Friday called Cuba’s new free-market reforms the most sweeping economic overhaul of the island’s communist economy since the Cuban revolution, as the grandson of former President Raúl Castro said in an interview that Cuba must seek to move its economy forward.

The 176 measures aim to further decentralize Cuba’s state-run economy, which has been left gasping by a tightened embargo under President Donald Trump. Under the island’s current economic model, the government largely determines what is produced, who produces it, the prices at which goods are sold and how the country’s resources are allocated.

The plan includes more space for private businesses, imports and exports without state intermediation, free hiring of personnel, authorization for private banks and investment by Cubans abroad. It even permits fast-food chains to establish themselves on the island.

“Elements that for decades were listed as pillars of the revolutionary economy, such as the state monopoly on foreign trade and the centralization of productive forces, have been dismantled,” said Luis Carlos Battista, a Cuban-American political scientist and lawyer who is a doctoral candidate at the University of Salamanca.

Inuit could pursue foreign partners if relationship with Ottawa sours: ITK leader

OTTAWA - Canada's national Inuit organization is calling on the federal government to be better partners, saying Canada must respect Inuit rights to governance and self-determination.

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami wrapped up a two-day Arctic sovereignty conference in Ottawa on Friday.

In a statement following the summit, ITK says it firmly rejects what it calls "outdated, colonial approaches to Arctic policy that repeat Canada’s past mistakes of marginalizing" Inuit.

"We call on the federal government to partner with Inuit in advancing a more ambitious vision for its Arctic territory by prioritizing improved coordination with Inuit rights holders in decision-making, and the investments in the infrastructure and services needed to create prosperity and bring the entirety of Inuit Nunangat into the rest of the country," ITK said in a statement.

Inside the colorful, compelling and controversial jersey designs at the World Cup

A look at some of the more compelling — and controversial — backstories from the kit designs on show in soccer’s biggest event.

Carney’s support for controversial sand mine sparks criticism

Prime Minister Mark Carney has thrown his support behind the controversial Sio Silica sand mine in southeast Manitoba before its second, scaled-down proposal has been licensed.

At the G7 leaders summit Wednesday, Carney trumpeted the memorandum of understanding signed by Manitoba’s Sio Silica and solar technology manufacturer RCT Solutions in Germany to extract sand from a large area east of Winnipeg and turn it into solar panels.

In a news readout, Carney said he met with Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the summit in France and that both welcomed “new investment partnerships” between the two nations, including two in Manitoba to “support a high-purity silica project, to extract 99.9 per cent-plus pure silica sand, highly valued for manufacturing solar panels and semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, and defence-related technologies.”

It said the second partnership involves Sio Silica, RCT Solutions and the Southern Chiefs Organization to build a fully integrated solar manufacturing hub in Manitoba.

Potash ‘test shipment’ planned for Churchill

The owner of Manitoba’s sole potash mine plans to send its first shipment to Europe via the Port of Churchill this fall.

Upwards of 200 tonnes of potash will travel to the Port of Antwerp-Bruges in Belgium, said Daymon Guillas, president of the Potash Agri Development Corporation of Manitoba (PADCOM).

From there, it’ll be taken to a client in France.

“This is a test shipment,” said Guillas, who declined to give the customer’s name.