In the news: Carney in Norway, Canada CUSMA talks leverage, March break destinations

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed …

Carney to observe NATO Arctic drills in Norway.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is in Norway today, where he will observe NATO’s Cold Response exercises alongside the Norwegian prime minister.

Carney is on the trip at the invitation of Norway, which hosts these joint NATO exercises every two years.

This year, about 25,000 troops from 14 different nations are taking part in the exercises, which are aimed at enhancing the alliance’s Arctic military capabilities.

The Canadian Armed Forces would not say exactly how many Canadian troops are taking part.

Price shocks from Iran war could give Canada leverage in CUSMA talks: experts

Countries around the world are grappling with skyrocketing costs for key commodities like oil and fertilizer as the war with Iran continues to upend global trade.

With no end in sight, the war is likely to cast a shadow over trade negotiations ahead of the mandatory review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade — and could ultimately offer Canada more leverage in those talks.

“If you’re sitting in Washington and you’re seeing what’s happening to global markets, you’re going to be looking at your secure producers and suppliers perhaps slightly differently from the way you … might’ve been looking at them before the conflict began, which was solely in tariff terms,” said Fen Osler Hampson, a professor of international affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa and co-chair of the Expert Group on Canada-U.S. Relations.

Crude oil and natural gas prices shot up after Iran essentially closed the Strait of Hormuz in response to the United States-Israel bombing campaign.

Canadians turning to March break alternatives amid tensions in Cuba, Mexico

Many Canadian travellers have opted for alternative March break destinations this year, travel agents say, as unrest and violence disrupt tourism in some of the traditionally popular affordable destinations.

Travel agents in the Greater Toronto Area say the economic and political uncertainty in Cuba, fear of violence in Mexico and the impact of a devastating hurricane in Jamaica have forced many people to change their vacation plans, with some choosing to go to new countries and others deciding to stay put.

Cuba is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis triggered by fuel, food and medicine shortages caused by a U.S. oil blockade as President Donald Trump says there may or may not be a “friendly takeover” of the island.

Last month, cartel violence erupted in Mexico’s Puerto Vallarta, stranding some Canadian visitors in the region for days. And parts of Jamaica are still reeling from October’s Hurricane Melissa.

Decision expected on Alberta teachers’ back-to-work bill injunction hearing.

A judge is expected to issue a decision today on a possible injunction against a bill that forced Alberta’s striking teachers back to work last fall.

A two-day hearing took place earlier this month.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association has said that if it wins the injunction, the union would be in a legal position to strike again.

Association president Jason Schilling has said that doesn’t necessarily mean it would happen as it would be up to rank and file teachers to decide.

B.C. appointed them to map old-growth. Now they say province is failing to save it

Every member of a former panel the British Columbia government appointed to identify old-growth for potential protection in 2021 now says they’re concerned about continued logging in those same rare and “irreplaceable” forests.

The five former panellists say in a document sent to Premier David Eby and other officials this week the proposed old-growth deferrals were meant to be an interim measure to reduce the risks of logging, allowing time for long-term planning.

But the process has not worked as intended, ecologists Rachel Holt and Karen Price, landscape analyst Dave Daust, veteran forester Garry Merkel and economist Lisa Matthaus say in the document provided to The Canadian Press.

Instead, the B.C. government continues to approve logging in forests the panel identified, while long-term plans have yet to be finalized, Holt said in an interview.

Quebec’s masked band Angine de Poitrine is blowing up. Meet the men behind the noses

Quebec’s newest breakout band wears paper-mâché masks with giant phallic noses and polka-dot-speckled costumes that cover their entire bodies. Their music sounds like a freewheeling jam session that wandered out of a dream and crashed into a carnival ride. Their identities are a mystery.

Naturally, the internet can’t look away.

Meet Angine de Poitrine, a duo from Saguenay, Que., whose performances went viral after Seattle’s KEXP shared a clip of their meandering math-rock set, full of angular riffs and odd time signatures, in early February. Their show at the Trans Musicales festival in Rennes, France, has racked up more than 2.8 million views, sparking bewildered tweets, reaction videos and fan theories about who “or what” might be behind the masks.

Known simply as Klek and Khn de Poitrine, the self-described “space-time voyagers” prefer to remain anonymous. When interviewed on camera, they must wear their whimsical costumes and ‘talk non-human” ” via alien grunts and squeals” their publicist says.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13th, 2026

The Canadian Press