Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.
A number of cabinet meetings met privately on Tuesday morning to discuss the rail blockades across Canada. Party leaders Jagmeet Singh, Yves-Francois Blanchet and Elizabeth May were all invited to take part, but Andrew Scheer was not. Trudeau said it was because of the Conservative leader’s “unacceptable speech” earlier on Tuesday.
"Mr. Scheer disqualified himself from constructive discussions with his unacceptable speech earlier today," Prime Minister @JustinTrudeau said of Scheer being excluded from today's meeting of party leaders on the blockades today.#cdnpoli
More here: https://t.co/VKpHDDc2F8 pic.twitter.com/v0AAEwrsQ2— Rachel Gilmore (@atRachelGilmore) February 18, 2020
Parts of Africa are dealing with the worst locust invasion in decades and it’s putting millions of people at risk due to food shortages. Specialized teams are trying to deal with the short-horned grasshoppers, but there are fears that the problem could become even bigger.
Locust swarms ravaging East Africa are the size of cities & could expand 500 times by June. The pest threatens millions with hunger.
— OCHA Southern & Eastern Africa (@UNOCHA_ROSEA) February 18, 2020
“There is a link between #ClimateChange & the unprecedented locust crisis,” UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres said.
➡https://t.co/lOejJg2xaF
It’s incredible that Ryan Newman is even alive. The Nascar driver, who was just metres away from winning the Daytona 500 before a horrific crash on the race’s final turn, is now awake at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. According to an update from his team, he’s speaking with his family and doctors.
Update on Ryan Newman: pic.twitter.com/TdJHDZ3O7O
— Roush Fenway (@roushfenway) February 18, 2020
American president Donald Trump has high expectations for his upcoming trip to India. He spoke on Tuesday and revealed that he’s been told that between the airport and his event with Prime Minister Modi, he’ll be greeted by seven million people. The two leaders will meet at the new Motera Stadium, which is the world’s biggest cricket stadium with a capacity of more than 100,000.
”Well, we can have a trade deal with India, but I’m really saving the big deal for later on,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to California https://t.co/zSbc3VQoTQ pic.twitter.com/S3sSJM82qJ
— Economic Times (@EconomicTimes) February 19, 2020
A newly-announced partnership between private space exploration company Space Adventures and the Elon Musk-led SpaceX is expected to send private citizens to space in the next two years. It’s expected that up to four people will be sent into Earth’s orbit aboard the fully autonomous Crew Dragon by late-2021 to mid-2022.
Space Adventures announces agreement with @SpaceX to launch private citizens on Dragon spacecraft https://t.co/yjAsZULZ9s pic.twitter.com/J6d3wEWomb
— Space Adventures (@SpaceAdventures) February 18, 2020
Millie Bobby Brown (16), Victoria Justice (27), Seal (57), Smokey Robinson (80), Nikola Jokic (25)
If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.
If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.
