In the news today, July 4

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CROSS-EXAMINATION RESUMES IN BOYLE ASSAULT CASE

Caitlan Coleman told an Ottawa courtroom today that she believes that if her husband Joshua Boyle had wanted her dead he would have already killed her. Coleman, 33, is under cross-examination at Boyle’s sexual-assault trial, which resumed this week after being suspended for several weeks while the courts determined whether the defence could question Coleman about her sexual history. The couple, now estranged, spent five years as hostages of Taliban-linked extremists in Afghanistan. They were captured in October 2012 during a backpacking trip to the country and freed in October 2017 by Pakistani forces. The couple had three children while in captivity.

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CONCERNS FLAGGED IN EFFORTS TO SAVE RIGHT WHALES

Measures taken to protect North Atlantic right whales from being struck by ships and getting caught in fishing gear may not be doing enough to prevent more whales from being hurt or killed in Atlantic Canada, according to data contained in a new federal scientific review. Speed restrictions and fishing-zone closures in the Gulf of St. Lawrence have lowered risks that the endangered whales will be harmed, but dangers remain — especially in the waters outside protected zones, according to the national study. The review was done late last year by scientists who work in federal departments and universities across Canada, looking at data compiled by marine-mammal experts over the last three years. They wanted to get a better idea of how many whales congregate in Atlantic Canadian waters and why.

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REPORT IDENTIFIES TOP CANADIAN CLIMATE RISKS

New research for the federal Treasury Board has concluded that buildings, coastlines and northern communities face the biggest risks from climate change in Canada. In a report released Thursday, the Council of Canadian Academies has narrowed down a myriad of threats posed by climate change into the most pressing dozen — a list co-author John Leggat hopes will wake people up to the urgent need to prepare for them. The council is comprised of Canada’s leading academics and researchers. The report, done at the Treasury Board’s request, was conducted by experts from industry, insurance firms, engineers, sociologists and economists. Climate change is such a broad issue that it can be difficult to figure out what to do first, Leggat said, adding that the report is an attempt to do that.

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GROWING DISASTER RISK PUTS FOCUS ON INSURANCE

The Fort McMurray wildfire in May 2016 destroyed almost 2,600 homes and resulted in many tales of hardship but Rob de Pruis says one man’s “heart-breaking” story stands out for him. The director of consumer and industry relations, western, for the Insurance Bureau of Canada, was stationed in the northern Alberta community for a year after the fire forced the temporary evacuation of more than 80,000 people. At an event to help people with their insurance claims, a man who was nearing retirement age asked for advice, explaining his single-family home had burned to the ground.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— Justice Minister David Lametti provides greetings at the Cambridge Lectures 2019 at Queens’ College, University of Cambridge.

— Sentencing for a former senior Nova Scotia Mountie convicted of stealing 10 kilograms of cocaine from an exhibit locker. Craig Robert Burnett — the one-time commander of an RCMP National Port Enforcement Team — stole the drug from the force’s Nova Scotia headquarters in 2010 or 2011, and replaced it with another substance.

— Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends the Sunfest opening ceremony and delivers brief remarks.

— The United States Embassy in Ottawa hosts its annual Fourth of July celebration.

— Natural Resources Minister Amarjeet Sohi speaks to Chamber of Commerce on the federal government’s vision for the future of Canada’s natural resources.

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The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

In the news today, July 4

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