Germany's Scholz meets PM, Premiers hold health-care summit: In The News for Aug. 22

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what's on the radar of our editors for the morning of Monday, August 22, 2022 ...

What we are watching in Canada ...

A busy day lies ahead for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during the first full day of the German leader's three-day visit to Canada. 

The two leaders will start the day in Montreal with a meeting, at which they will be joined by numerous federal cabinet ministers.

Trudeau's office says the leaders hope to encourage investment and partnership opportunities, including in the critical minerals and automotive sectors.

Scholz and Trudeau then plan to tour a national artificial intelligence institute funded by the federal government before heading to Toronto for an official dinner.

The chancellor and Trudeau are expected to sign a deal for Canada to supply clean hydrogen to Germany, as well as discuss the war in Ukraine.

Scholz, who took over from Angela Merkel late last year, is also slated to stop in Stephenville in western Newfoundland during his Canadian visit, which began late Sunday.

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Also this ...

The premiers of Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I. will meet in Moncton today for a summit to discuss Canada's struggling health-care system.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is also scheduled to meet individually with New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, P.E.I. Premier Dennis King and federal Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic Leblanc prior to the summit.

Ford met with his Nova Scotia counterpart Tim Houston on Sunday in Halifax to discuss health-care system pressures.

His visit to the Maritimes comes as Ontario's health system has been strained by staff shortages in recent weeks.

Some emergency rooms have been forced to close for hours or even days at a time.

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What we are watching in the U.S. ...

Three Arkansas law enforcement officers have been suspended following social media outrage over a video that shows a suspect being held on the ground and beaten. 

Crawford County Sheriff Jimmy Damante said Sunday that two deputies will be suspended during the course of investigations by the Arkansas State Police and sheriff's department. 

Police said when the officers confronted the man Sunday morning, he pushed a deputy to the ground and punched the back of his head, leading to his arrest. A video shows three law enforcement officers atop of the suspect, sometimes striking him with clenched fists. 

Police said the man was taken to a local hospital. He faces charges of terroristic threatening, resisting arrest and other assault charges.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world ...

Pakistani police have filed terrorism charges against former Prime Minister Imran Khan, escalating political tensions in the country as he holds mass rallies seeking to return to office. 

The terrorism charges come over a speech Khan gave in Islamabad in which he vowed to sue police officers and a female judge and alleged that a close aide had been tortured after his arrest. 

Khan himself appeared to still be free and had not immediately addressed the police charge sheet being lodged against him. 

Pakistan TehReek-e-Insaf, Khan's political party, published online videos showing supporters surrounding his home to potentially stop police from reaching it.

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On this day in 1711 ...

Thick fog thwarted an assault by British Admiral Walker on Quebec. Eight of 15 warships were wrecked and almost 900 men drowned.

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In entertainment ...

Prince Andrew will be the subject of a satirical TV musical in the latest season of shows from U.K. broadcaster Channel 4. 

His infamous BBC Newsnight interview in 2019 about his ties with the late sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein will be "reimagined" as part of the program. 

The interview was widely considered a public relations catastrophe for the Duke of York. Critics tore into the prince after the interview for his perceived lack of empathy for Epstein's sex abuse victims. 

"Prince Andrew: The Musical" will send up the life and times of the duke.

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And this ...

Canadian crooner Michael Buble (boo-BLAY') is a dad again. 

His wife, Luisana, gave birth to a girl last week. 

The couple has named her Cielo (SYAY'-loh) Yoli Rose Buble. 

They also have two sons and one other daughter.

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Did you see this?

A team of scientists are planning a "CAT scan" of a British Columbia volcano to help harness the underground heat that turns rock into magma for renewable energy.

Geologist Steve Grasby of Natural Resources Canada is planning to lead a team of researchers to a British Columbia mountain near the community of Whistler. Mount Cayley's last lava flow was centuries ago. But there's still plenty of heat underground and Grasby and his team are hoping to draw a 3-D image of Cayley's innards to help geothermal energy companies find the highest temperatures and the hottest underground water.

The team will study how electromagnetic energy flows through the mountain, creating what Cayley likens to a CAT scan of a human body. He says Mount Cayley could be a world-class geothermal resource, helping Canada reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power generation.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 22, 2022

The Canadian Press

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