Subtropical storm bringing rain and wind to parts of Atlantic Canada

Subtropical Storm Josephine is expected to bring rain and wind to parts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland Friday.

Environment Canada issued a yellow rainfall warning Thursday for parts of northern and eastern Nova Scotia with rainfall amounts of up to 70 millimetres continuing into Friday. 

It also issued wind warnings for the south coast of Newfoundland with wind gusts expected to reach up to 100 kilometres per hour along the coast Friday afternoon and evening.

The storm started as a low pressure system and is currently moving northeast, tracking south of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

Hot take on Canada’s Rainy Lake

Boasting more than 2,000 islands, fish-filled Rainy Lake sits about 70 per cent in Ontario, the rest in Minnesota. Fish can’t discern the international line. Neither can fishers, unlike the U.S. Border Patrol — as if I’d know much about that.

Well, not much.

Four or five hours from Winnipeg, Rainy Lake stretches east from Margie’s and my cherished hometown of Fort Frances — “The Fort.” Discover LaVerendrye Parkway, Betty’s, Northwoods Gallery, the Flint House, Hallet Brewing. And arriving through Emo, find the wonderfully eclectic Emo Feeds store offering “Rainy River District” fridge magnets showing a hayfield against the Rockies.

The Fort abuts the U.S. boundary. The town’s recent tagline: “Boundless.” And it is, right up to the boundary. Across the Rainy River lies the city of International Falls, Minn. — “The Falls.” If a resident says, “I live in The Falls,” you exclaim, “You must get soaked!”

Ottawa cautions Canadians against travel to Saudi Arabia after airports targeted

OTTAWA - Global Affairs Canada has issued an advisory cautioning against travel to Saudi Arabia and specific airports that have been targeted during the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The advisory, issued by Canada's embassy in the kingdom, notes the airports in Riyadh and Dammam have been targeted in recent days and the Riyadh airport remains closed.

Saudi authorities have attributed the Oct. 10 attack on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport to a Houthi missile strike.

The advisory encourages Canadians in the region to book travel through neighbouring countries like Bahrain and Qatar and offers information on ground transport options to those locations.

New York to ban Central Park’s horse-drawn carriages after teen’s death

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City lawmakers plan to ban horse-drawn carriages from Central Park, ending their more than 150-year run as an iconic, old-timey tourist attraction, following decades of opposition from animal welfare activists and the death of a teenage tourist last spring.

The City Council is expected to approve a bill next week that would end the rides by 2028. Three consecutive mayors had called for an end to the carriage rides because of safety concerns, only to have lawmakers yank back the reins.

A spokesperson for Julie Menin, the council speaker, confirmed the incoming vote and said the proposal had enough support to pass. Mayor Zohran Mamdani's office said he had reached a deal with the speaker on the legislation.

“The horse carriage industry is coming to an end in New York City,” Mamdani said in a social media post.

Cross-border visits by Canadian and U.S. residents up from last year: StatCan

Statistics Canada says more Canadians and Americans have travelled across the border between the two countries over the last six months compared to last year. 

The agency says Canadian residents made 1.9 million return trips from the United States last month by automobile and by air, up 6.8 per cent compared to September 2025. 

Statistics Canada says the spike marks the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year growth of visits to the U.S. by Canadian residents.  

StatCan says trips by Canadian residents to the U.S. last month remain 31.1 per cent lower than in September 2024 despite the rise compared to the same month last year. 

Canada advises no travel to Riyadh airport after Houthi attacks, embassy remains open

OTTAWA - Canada's ambassador to Saudi Arabia said on Sunday the embassy in Riyadh remains open for Canadians in need of consular assistance, which came as Ottawa condemned Houthi attacks on the international airport in Riyadh.

Ambassador Jean-Philippe Linteau said in a video on Sunday that anyone in Riyadh who encounters military debris should walk away and contact authorities, and not post about it on social media.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen said another projectile hit a passenger terminal at the Riyadh airport on Sunday. That comes just a day after a missile attack on the same terminal killed 12 people and injured hundreds more.

Canada issued a travel advisory to avoid all non-essential travel to Saudi Arabia, and to avoid all travel to the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh.

The scaffolding will be removed from the facade of Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal

MONTREAL - After close to ten years behind scaffolding, the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal is preparing for the grand unveiling of its facade, scheduled for October 25.

While the restoration of the facade is complete, the basilica still has several years of work ahead of it. About 20 per cent of the necessary work has been completed, said Michel Issa, executive director of the Fabrique de la paroisse Notre-Dame de Montréal.

He estimates that work on the exterior of the church will take four years, but said this figure may be optimistic. The interior restoration of the basilica might take another five to ten years, he said.

The total cost of the restoration will add up to $100 million, said Issa. To fund this work, the basilica organizes benefit concerts, generates revenue from its coffee shop, Le Firmament, and holds fundraisers.

Lively streets, flavourful food and serene parks all part of Shanghai bike tour

My wife, Kerry, and I probably hold the world record for being honked at the most times by moped drivers in Shanghai.

You see, we’re on a China Cycle Tours’ half-day Classic Bike Tour of this megatropolis and controlled chaos is the name of the game.

It’s illegal for car drivers to beep their horns in Shanghai’s city centre.

However, moped drivers have free rein. And they exploit the rules like crazy, honking constantly at cyclists like us, other mopeds, pedestrians, vehicles and just because.

Alberta’s gopher museum closed until further notice as owners find new facility

A quirky Alberta roadside attraction that has delighted travellers for decades with its stuffed rodents in tiny costumes is closed until further notice.

Manitoban Kent Monkman debuts beaver sculpture in Toronto’s ambitious new waterfront park

Kent Monkman’s first-ever public art installation is dam good. The 15-foot-high bronze structure features beavers dancing, feasting and celebrating, evoking Indigenous ceremonies.

Canada extends travel restrictions linked to Ebola outbreak for 60 days

OTTAWA - Canada has extended its travel and immigration restrictions related to the Ebola outbreak for another 60 days, and the health ministry in the Democratic Republic of Congo has released new data showing there have been more than 8,000 cases of the virus.

People from Uganda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo have been barred from travelling to Canada since May.

The measures were set to expire on Monday at midnight but have been extended to Nov. 27.

Immigration documents, including valid visas and travel authorizations, remain suspended for people from all three countries, leaving tens of thousands in limbo.

‘This is torture’: Lives of Congolese people disrupted by Canada’s Ebola travel ban

TORONTO - A wedding missed. A school semester deferred. 

The last several months have been marked by misses for people from the Democratic Republic of Congo with ties to Canada. 

Visa holders from the DRC have been banned from entering the country since May, which Canada's government has called a precautionary measure as an Ebola outbreak rapidly spreads predominantly in a concentrated area of northeastern Congo. 

“This is torture for people, to be separated from their families,” Theodyle Kumpava said from Kinshasa, almost 3,000 kilometres from the outbreak in the country's southwest, where no cases have been reported. 

Clutch moments galore, on friends’ epic road trip from Vancouver to Arctic and back

VANCOUVER - When Jaden Konishi rolled his 1986 Porsche 944 into Vancouver after an 8,000-kilometre road trip to the Arctic Circle, he had a surplus of new memories but no clutch.

It had died about 3,000 kilometres earlier, somewhere in the Yukon's Tombstone Territorial Park.

"It's a part that you can't replace on the car unless you remove the engine," he explained.

Konishi and a group of friends have just returned from an epic three-week journey from Vancouver to Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T., to swim in the Arctic Ocean and test both the limits of their mechanical prowess and the capabilities of six cars that might generously be described as novel choices.

25-year-old New Brunswick town crier to compete at world tournament in the U.K.

A 25-year-old New Brunswick woman only a few months into her new job as a town crier is getting ready to compete at a world tournament of her peers — many of them twice her age.

Flair Airlines secures $76-million bailout from Ottawa as fuel costs soar

The federal government has approved $76 million in emergency aid for Flair Airlines as the high price of jet fuel continues to bleed money from carriers.

Flair CEO Len Corrado said in an interview the financial lifeline shows that government officials “recognize the severity of the problem” and want to keep the industry competitive.

The Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corp. says it approves bailout loans to offset soaring fuel costs and make airfares more affordable.

The Crown corporation says the loan must be repaid within four years, with interest that sits below market rates.