Church Street pedestrianization pilot project getting warm reviews from residents and businesses
It’s been three weeks since a stretch of Toronto’s Village neighbourhood was closed to vehicle traffic and many people using the area say the atmosphere is a welcome change.
Two blocks of Church Street between Wellesley and Alexander Streets have been closed to cars and cyclists since June 19 as part of a pilot project aimed at giving pedestrians more room to walk around and provide a boost to local businesses at the same time.
CityNews spoke with multiple residents and several business owners to evaluate how the project has been working so

Saskatchewan grounding 3 wildfire planes that are same model as one in N.W.T. crash
REGINA — Saskatchewan is pausing three planes from wildfire missions because of a fatal crash involving the same aircraft model in the Northwest Territories.
The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency says it’s conducting a full review of the three bird dog planes out of an abundance of caution.
It says Saskatchewan still has four bird dogs available to support wildfire suppression across the province.
Three people were on board a Turbo Commander 690 that crashed near Fort Simpson, N.W.T., west of Yellowknife, on June 24

Canadian man wanted for U.S. crimes has been arrested in France
VANCOUVER — A West Vancouver man named in an American indictment as part of a multipronged investigation into international organized crime has been arrested in France.
RCMP say Garinder Deo was picked up on July 7, a day after authorities in Los Angeles announced they had disrupted three crime syndicates connected to India that were responsible for drug smuggling, extortions and the assassination of B.C. Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Police say in a statement that Deo is in custody in France and awaits extradition to the United States on indictments related to

Apple files lawsuit accusing ChatGPT maker OpenAI of stealing trade secrets
Apple on Friday accused OpenAI of stealing trade secrets as it seeks to build its own hardware for ChatGPT, a major rupture in a partnership between the iPhone maker and the artificial intelligence company.
Apple said in the lawsuit filed in a California federal court that the theft of its trade secrets was part of a “coordinated pattern of misconduct at an institutional level” by OpenAI.
“This case is about Apple’s former employees stealing Apple’s trade secrets for the benefit of OpenAI,” the filing says. “Apple

Birthday for the ages: Canada’s oldest reported man turns 110 in Montreal
Joseph Mery Arthur reached a milestone few ever will on Tuesday when he turned 110 years old, officially making him Canada’s oldest reported man.
Born in Saint-Marc, Haiti in 1916, Joseph moved to Montreal 55 years ago, with his 10 children following him a few years later. Today, he has 25 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren, including eight-year-old Olivia-Rose Simmons.
Simmons believes that her great-grandfather’s secret to

Ajax teen charged in firearm investigation: DRPS
A teen from Ajax has been charged in connection with a firearm investigation, Durham police have confirmed.
Authorities say 19-year-old Tuan Ubayd Badurdeen was arrested in early July after police executed a search warrant at a residence in Pickering.
“The suspect was located inside the residence and taken into custody without incident,” police wrote in a release shared Friday.
“A search of the residence located a Glock auto sear switch, drugs, and drug paraphernalia,” authorities added.
Police say Badurdeen was on weapons

OINP applicants take Ford government to court over fair review of applications
Standing outside Osgoode Hall on Wednesday, Shobitjeet Singh, one of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) applicants, described what the day meant after months of uncertainty, protests and unanswered questions.
“For the first time since our applications were returned, somebody has actually paid attention to our voices.”
Singh is among roughly 2,600 individuals whose OINP applications were rejected or returned in late 2025 after the province cited concerns related to fraudulent activity and systemic misrepresentation. Approximately 300 of those

Trump admin responds to border wall lawsuit by waiving a law at the center of the case
Two weeks after the Trump administration was sued over its plan for a border wall through the Big Bend region of West Texas, with plaintiffs claiming the plan violated a federal law, the administration responded by waiving that law entirely for the wall project.
The lawsuit was filed last month by the Presidio Municipal Development District, a local economic development group. PMDD claims that potential flooding, and the border wall in general, will harm the entity’s property and initiatives. The group is asking a federal judge to issue an injunction

Madison Shipman to make Blue Jays history with broadcast debut
There will be some history made in the Toronto Blue Jays booth on Friday night.
Madison Shipman will make her TV broadcast debut for Sportsnet, alongside Ben Shulman, as the Blue Jays face the San Diego Padres on Friday night.
Shipman, who will be in the booth for the entire three-game series, is breaking gender barriers with her debut as she becomes the first woman to call a regular-season Blue Jays game.
It won’t be the first time she’s taken to the booth for the

US-Canada bridge set to open by late July after delay due to issues between countries, sources say
SAWYER, Mich. (AP) — A completed bridge linking Detroit and Canada is expected to open by the end of the month after U.S. and Canadian officials reached an agreement to resolve the dispute that delayed its debut, according to two people directly involved in the negotiations.
The sources were not authorized to publicly disclose the deal before a formal announcement.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for early June was postponed after the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority said the two countries needed more time to resolve “outstanding issues
