Weekly News Recap: March 27, 2026

Weekly News Recap: March 27, 2026

A $10 million gift to Red Deer Polytechnic will result in the establishment of the Institute for Financial Literacy. (Contributed photo)

Learning never exhausts the mind. - Leonardo da Vinci

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • No passport, no problem. Meet the border-hopping cat who comes and goes as he pleases (CBC) The U.S. might have to rename ICE. "On Zero Avenue in South Surrey, B.C. lives a cat without a care in the world, and a supercilious name to match. Louis Vuitton has become a local legend for doing with ease what most humans wouldn’t dare. Each day, he leaps back and forth across a narrow ditch that sits smack dab on the Canada-U.S. border. He hasn’t always been such a rebel, but he is extremely friendly,' Deb Tate, Louis' owner, told As It Happens host Nil Koksal. He just loves people, says Tate, and he doesn't care what side of the border they're on."

  • The world's happiest countries for 2026 - and what they get right (BBC) Go Costa Rica! "From Nordic trust to Costa Rica's sense of community, residents explain what daily life looks like in the countries topping the 2026 World Happiness Report. While the Nordic countries have long dominated the World Happiness Report, 2026 brought one surprise. For the first time in the report's 14-year history, a Latin American country made its way into the top five as Costa Rica continued its multi-year rise to fourth place, jumping from 23rd in 2023."

  • VIDEO: After 40 years, this Surrey crossing guard has become like family to many in the community (CBC) Everyday heroes. "Every school day, Lucy Hembrough dons her neon vest and carries her big red sign out to the street near William F. Davidson Elementary School in Surrey. She pushes a button activating a flashing light that signals to drivers that they need to stop for pedestrians. Just to be safe, she walks out into the road, holding up her sign — adorned with stickers gifted by students — as children wander through the crosswalk behind her. It’s how Hembrough, 78, has spent most mornings and afternoons for the last 40 years."

  • VIDEO: #TheMoment UBC's hockey captain ran from her med school interview to her final game (CBC) Ha, love this! "University of British Columbia's hockey captain Annalise Wong tells The National about the moment she ran from a med school interview to make the final period of her last game at the U Sports women's championships in Elmira, Ont."

  • VIDEO: #TheMoment a 5th grader hit a backwards buzzer-beater (CBC) Great shot! "Caden Farrare, 11, and his dad Aubrey tell The National about the moment Caden hit a backwards buzzer beater shot to win the Grade 5 basketball championship in Laurel, Md."

  • VIDEO: Even 3-Meter-Long Bull Sharks Can Have Best Mates – "The Sharks Are Actively Choosing Who They Associate With" (IFL Science) Reminds me of the Finding Nemo line: 'Fish are our friends, not food.' "The concept of friends in the animal world is one that’s been studied fairly frequently. We’ve learned that jaguars have best friends, and even female sperm whales can have a BFF. Now there’s a surprise new species joining the social circle, as the once-deemed solitary bull sharks are teaming up with their best mates and even forming social connections with a wider group. "

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. At 90, David Suzuki says he has done everything he could to protect the Earth, but fears he has fallen short (CBC) Happy Birthday Dr. Suzuki. "For decades, David Suzuki has been a familiar face and voice in Canada — known for his rare ability to make complex scientific and environmental issues understandable. That gift reached millions through The Nature of Things, the iconic CBC television series he began hosting in 1979. Over time, he became known not only as a scientist and broadcaster, but as a passionate and outspoken environmental advocate — one of the first major public figures to call for urgent action on global warming."

  2. 🚨: This is the surface of the Sun, the most detailed image ever taken. (X.com) We live in an amazing universe.

  3. Warren Buffett Defends the Giving Pledge Against Peter Thiel. The 94-year-old still has time to defend his belief that the wealthy have an obligation to make society better. (Inc) Thank you Mr. Buffet. "According to the New York Times, Peter Thiel has privately encouraged roughly a dozen signers of the Giving Pledge to cancel their commitments, calling the initiative an 'Epstein-adjacent, fake Boomer club.' Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, quietly left the group. Larry Ellison 'amended' his pledge. At the same time, the pace of new signers has dropped sharply. The Giving Pledge — the philanthropic initiative Warren Buffett co-founded with Bill Gates in 2010, asking the world’s wealthiest people to commit the majority of their wealth to charity — is facing what the Times is calling a billionaire backlash. Buffett’s response was characteristic: a short, direct email to the Times reaffirming his belief in the Pledge, noting with his usual dry candor that while his 'physical limitations' have reduced his own participation in gatherings in recent years, he has no intention of changing his position on the success of the Pledge."

  4. VIDEO: Edmonton architectural firm says it's in talks to potentially redevelop former Royal Alberta Museum (CBC) I can't wait to see what they do. It really is a lovely building. "An Edmonton architectural firm says it is in talks with the provincial government to potentially redevelop the former Royal Alberta Museum. Last week, Vivian Manasc, founding principal of Reimagine Architects, told a webinar for the National Trust for Canada charity about her firm's plans to revitalize the space [...] The National Trust for Canada's website says the charity is an organization that 'empowers communities to save and renew heritage places,' and describes the Edmonton building as a 'stunning example of midcentury modern architecture.' "

  5. The Polar Bear’s Double Life as an Arctic Conservation Architect (Science Blog) "The collar weighs about a kilogram and transmits six times a day. Fitted to an adult female somewhere in western Hudson Bay, it relays her position to a satellite, which passes that fix to a server, which adds it to a database that now contains more than 230,000 such locations collected from 355 individual bears across two decades of fieldwork. For most of its existence, that dataset existed to answer a fairly specific question: where do polar bears go? A new study published today in Arctic Science argues it can answer a considerably larger one. Where should we protect the Arctic? The answer, according to researchers at the University of Alberta and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, is roughly the same place. The concept behind this logic is called an umbrella species, and it has a long and occasionally contentious history in conservation biology. The basic idea is that some animals, by virtue of their size, their ecological position, and the breadth of their movements, effectively stand in for the wider community of species they live among."

  6. Canadian Donations to Charity Stable Despite Continued Pressure on Household Finances (Leger) "At a time when many Canadians are still watching their budgets closely, charitable giving has proven more resilient than expected. A new Leger study shows that charitable giving in Canada remained steady over the past year, despite continued pressure on household finances and a broader climate of economic uncertainty. According to the findings, 54% of Canadians donated to a charity, foundation, or nonprofit organization in 2025. This figure is essentially unchanged from 2024 and 2023. Among donors, the average annual donation was $654, which was also stable compared with last year’s results. While Canadians are still feeling financial strain, they have not significantly pulled back from giving."

  7. In Canada’s Frozen North, With Canada’s Frozen Soldiers (New York Times) We need to take a lesson from the Finns -- we are the North. "Canadian soldiers transported M777 howitzers to the High Arctic to show their ability to fight in an increasingly contested part of the world. It did not go as planned."

  8. Butterflies crossing oceans, moths navigating by the stars: unravelling the mysteries of insect migrations (The Guardian) "Trillions of insects embark, largely unnoticed, on epic journeys every year across mountain ranges, deserts and seas, and it is only now, as their numbers suffer huge declines, that scientists are tracking their movements."

  9. VIDEO: Canada’s sports system is ‘broken, unsustainable,’ report finds (Global News) "Canadian sport needs an overhaul. That was the conclusion of the Future of Sport in Canada Commission’s final report [...] 'The work must begin now,' said Lise Maisonneuve, a former chief justice of the Ontario court of justice, who headed the commission. 'Our review has revealed the Canadian sport system is broken, fragmented and in its present form, unsustainable. In many settings, and for far too many people, it has caused and continues to cause real lasting harm.' "

  10. VIDEO: Relive the ’90s by working in a virtual video store (Popular Science) Ha! This is terrific! "Growing up in the early 2000s, few weekly rituals stuck with me quite like New Release Tuesday. Every week, without fail, I remember wandering the slightly-moldy-smelling, blue-carpeted aisles of our local Blockbuster while my mom scrutinized the newest covers. If I was lucky, I might even walk out with a video game rental or some snacks."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. An Average Joe’s Guide to HVAC (The Art of Manliness) Great skills to have.

  2. How to Use Almost Any Computer Without Leaving a Trace (Lifehacker) Use for good.

  3. What Exactly Is USB-C? Everyone’s Forced to Use (Simple And Kind) I love my USB-C connections. It has made my life so much better.

  4. The ancient reason there are 60 minutes in an hour (Future) Hint: look at your hands.

  5. INTERACTIVE: Drake Equation (Mendiak) Something here for everyone. Are we alone? Are the aliens coming?

  6. How to Make ChatGPT Give You Better Answers (Oxair) A wee primer.

  7. The tooth fairy is back in growth mode, with payouts up 17% (Axios) For all the toddlers out there who need some ammo.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. [Red Deer Polytechnic receives $10 million gift to establish Institute for Financial Literacy] (https://reddeeradvocate.com/2026/03/24/red-deer-polytechnic-receives-10-million-gift-to-establish-institute-for-financial-literacy/) (Red Deer Advocate) Congratulations! A remarkable gift. "Red Deer Polytechnic has received an anonymous $10 million donation to establish the Institute for Financial Literacy. This is the second-largest gift in the post-secondary institution’s [history.]"

  2. Mass General Brigham lands $50M donation to advance cancer treatment (Wicked Local) "Mass General Brigham announced that it recently received a 'transformative' $50 million donation to support cancer research and treatment."

  3. VIDEO: Morris County HS receives $2.5M toward brand new fitness center (North Jersey) "Morris Catholic High School has received an unprecedented $2.5 million donation to support the construction of a brand new health and fitness center on the Morris County campus. The record-setting donation was gifted by an alumnus and his [spouse.]"

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

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