Cbc News

U.S. officials have begun informal talks to prepare for new negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), David Cohen, the country's ambassador to Canada, told CBC News in an interview published Saturday."On the U.S.

Temperatures at the North Pole could be up to 20 degrees higher than average this Christmas Eve, in what scientists say is a record-breaking heatwave. Temperatures throughout November and December were 5C higher than average. The surface temperatures close to the Pole was about -4C, according to data from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. At this time of year the average figure is about -30C. "There's a low pressure between Greenland and Spitsbergen, with a very powerful air current" that is sending warm air surging north, Justyna Wodziczko, a Norwegian Meteorological Institute forecaster, told Reuters. Climate scientists say these unseasonably warm weather patterns in the Arctic region are directly linked to man-made climate change.

The City of Vancouver has issued a request for proposal for a company to build and install up to 300 shipping container-sized modular housing units to temporarily house the homeless, repots CBC News. Providing temporary living spaces in shipping containers or other portable housing units is part of the latest plan to tackle homelessness in Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson's city. “Previous units that we have already in the City of Vancouver are two standard shipping containers off a ship that have been offset and welded together to create a two room suite. They are very nice. You would never guess that were containers,” City Councillor Kerry Jang said. Jang says developers could be offered tax incentives to allow the units to be placed on land until it’s developed.

The Canadian Navy Fleet Replenishment ship 'HMCS Protecteur' has been taken in tow in rough seas by  the U.S. navy cruiser USS Chosin, after an engine fire left it drifting some 600 km from Pearl Harbor, reports CBC News. Citing Commodore Bob Auchterlonie, the commander of Canada's Pacific naval fleet, CBC reports that the USS Michael Murphy, is accompanying Protecteur as the ships make their way at five knots or less [9 km/h] toward Pearl Harbor, 630 km away. In addition the fleet ocean tug USNS Sioux is also on station near Protecteur should problems arise.

Quebec rower Mylène Paquette has arrived in Lorient, France, after a  voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, the first North American to row solo, from west to east, across the North Atlantic, reports CBC News. Mylène left Halifax just over four months ago in a specially designed 7.3 metre boat propelled only by herself and the currents. Earlier in her voyage, In September 2013, the lone rower got a helping hand from the cruise ship Queen Mary 2, after being hit by the remnants of Hurricane Humberto, losing key items including her anchor, iPhone and satellite phone.

The federal government is looking for a company to build the proposed Nanisivik naval facility. The government has issued a 'Request for Qualifications  — the first step in the tendering process as it seeks a company with experience of building in the Arctic, reports CBC News. The document estimates the cost of the construction to be $56 million, but it is not clear whether that will cover all the work, and the federal government has already budgeted more than $100 million for the facility. The project has been fraught with setbacks since it was first announced in 2007. Source: CBC News

The government's assistance package, revealed in March 2012, includes the forgivable loan worth up to $260 million (but Irving will have to repay it if it doesn't reach those job targets) and a repayable loan of $44 million for human resources, technological, and industrial development, reports CBC News. The Department of Economic Development said the 4,000 jobs will be created over the 29-year life of the agreement, while the NDP government defends the arrangement on the basis the shipbuilding work will generate $2.8 billion in tax revenue for the province. In 2012, a Conference Board of Canada study found that Nova Scotia could benefit from an average of 8,400 indirect jobs between 2012 and 2030, peaking at 11,500 jobs during the program’s busiest years.

The federal government approves a 25-year export licence for shipping LNG from Kitimat, a West Coast terminal proposed by a Shell consortium . The licence awarded to LNG Canada, a consortium of Shell, Korea Gas Corp., Mitsubishi Corp., and PetroChina International, will allow the export of up to 24 million tonnes of LNG per year, the largest of three export licences awarded to date, according to The Canadian Press. The LNG Canada terminal is one of five proposed for the B.C. coast, and the project has yet to undergo an environmental assessment. Plans to make the B.C.

The Canadian government launches its largest search yet for the lost ships of Sir John Franklin's doomed 1845 quest for the Northwest Passage. This year's search, led by Parks Canada, is the fourth government-led expedition over the past five years, and is by far the biggest, involving a much larger alliance of federal departments and other public and private interests. A previous large-scale search for the Franklin ships was launched by National Defence in 1967 as part of Canada's centennial.

The Carnival Glory is the first of 73 cruise ships that are expected to make a stop in Saint John this summer, informs CBC News. More than 187,000 passengers are expected to visit Saint John between now and the end of October. Clive Douthwright, a greeter in the city, said he looks forward to the stampede of passengers coming off the ships.

Irving gets $304 million assistance for next-generation naval ship construction from Nova Scotia authority Irving Shipbuilding Inc. is getting $304 million from the Nova Scotia government to help prepare for the construction of the Royal Canadian Navy's next fleet of vessels, according to a CBC news report. The government's assistance package, includes a forgivable loan worth up to $260 million and a repayable loan of $44 million for human resources, technological and industrial development. The company said it needed provincial support to be the winning bidder for the federal $25-billion shipbuilding contract to build 21 combat vessels. The contract is expected to maintain a steady flow of work at the Halifax Shipyard over the next 20 to 30 years.

According to a report from CBC News, Grand Manan residents waiting for the island's new $65-million ferry will have to wait longer after the Grand Manan Adventure experienced mechanical problems on June 26 in Panama City, Fla., where 82-car ferry is being constructed, the Department of Transportation announced.   Source: CBC News

According to a report from CBC News, the B.C. government is pouring $550,000 into a shipbuilding training centre at Camosun College in Saanich. The centre will help support the B.C.'s shipbuilding industry as a Vancouver company is vying for some of the $35b in federal shipbuilding contracts currently up for bid.   Source: CBC News

According to a Nov. 10 report from CBC News, A major contract has been awarded to start work on Newfoundland and Labrador's Hebron offshore oil project. U.S. construction company Peter Kiewit has won a $70m contract for engineering and site preparation. The work will be done at Bull Arm fabrication site in eastern Newfoundland. Kiewit is sharing the work with Aker Solutions, and Exxon Mobil is leading the consortium to develop Hebron. (Source: CBC News)

According to a report from CBC News, workers at the largest field in Newfoundland and Labrador's offshore oil industry have accepted a new contract. Hibernia workers on Friday, Nov. 5, ratified a new contract that includes pay raises, shift differentials and improvements in scheduling leave (Source: CBC News)

According to a Nov. 4 report from CBC News, the captain of a South Korean freighter has been sentenced to 14 days in a U.S. jail for commanding a vessel through the Juan de Fuca Strait at the south end of Vancouver Island while drunk and without any navigational charts. (Source: CBC News)

According to a July 29 report from CBC News, J.D. Irving Ltd. said it is optimistic some of the $40b Ottawa has committed to Canada's shipbuilding industry will filter into more work for the company's East Isle Shipyard in Georgetown, P.E.I. The federal government has reached an agreement with Canada's shipbuilders over how it will tender the building of 50 large ships over the next 30 years. Companies have 45 days to submit bids. (Source: CBCNews.ca)

The federal government followed through on a major budget promise on Thursday, announcing it will spend $324m to purchase six new vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard. The vessels, which will be phased into the existing coast guard fleet between 2009 and 2014, will include four midshore patrol vessels and two offshore science vessels. All six will be built in Canada, which should boost the country's shipbuilding industry, said Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn. In addition to the six new vessels, Hearn said the coast guard will spend $17 million to buy a high-speed air cushion vehicle that will be used in search and rescue services in Quebec. The government will also redeploy two of its icebreakers from the Maritimes to Newfoundland and Labrador over the next two years.

Emergency crews off Bangladesh's coast have recovered at least 16 bodies, after a ferry carrying more than 70 people capsized on Thursday. The vessel was in the Bay of Bengal travelling from the island town of Sandwip to Chiitagong, 216 kilometres south of Dhaka. A police official said that the death toll included seven children. In addition to police and emergency crews, nearby fishing boats helped pull survivors from the water. Source: CBC News

It has been reported that hundreds of grieving relatives attacked offices belonging to the owners of a Red Sea ferry which sank with 1400 people on board. Rioters threw furniture into the street and burned the company's signboard. Police had to be called to intervene and fire tear gas to restore order after the mob broke into the offices of El Salam Maritime in the Red Sea port early in the morning and began throwing everything out into the street. The company owned the Al-Salaam Boccaccio 98 which sank early on Friday with the loss of about 1000 lives. The rioters took a large photo of one of the company's ferries and burned it in the middle of the road. Riot police who were guarding the nearby port gates quickly dispersed the crowd.

According to CBC News, a security breach aboard a cruise ship visiting St. John's resulted in passengers being forced to disembark while crews searched the vessel. The Star Princess, which can accommodate more than 2,500 passengers, underwent a full sweep that ultimately found nothing substantial. Passengers aboard the Star Princess cruise ship were required to disembark while crews searched the vessel. Three suspicious packages were found onboard, although the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary said they were found to pose no danger. After it was cleared, the Star Princess left port Wednesday night, almost three hours past its scheduled departure.

According to reports, oil prices fell by three per cent Monday, slipping below $59 a barrel as traders looked ahead to U.S. supply data due out Wednesday that is expected to show rising inventories of crude. Doubts about OPEC's ability to implement a 1.2 million barrels a day production cut also weighed on prices. Last week, oil prices surged after the U.S. Energy Department data showed a large decline in crude-oil inventories. But some analysts believe the market overreacted to the data by failing to account for the impact of a temporary shutdown of the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port, through which 10 per cent of all U.S. oil imports flow.

Husky Energy Inc. Norsk Hydro Canada Oil & Gas say they have found new energy deposits near the Terra Nova oilfield off the East Coast. Calgary-based Husky and Norwegian-owned Norsk Hydro said late Tuesday that offshore drilling in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador had found hydrocarbons near Terra Nova, Canada's second major offshore field after Hibernia. The companies said the West Bonne Bay F-12 well is about 320 kilometres southeast of St. John's. Under a farm-in agreement with Norsk Hydro, Husky drilled the well to a depth of 4,666 metres and also drilled a sidetrack well to determine the size of the oil reservoir. Both wells showed energy deposits in the Upper Hibernia formation, the companies said.