The Friday news briefing: An at-a-glance survey of some top stories

Highlights from the news file for Friday, April 29:

RISING COMMODITY PRICES PUSH UP LOONIE: The Canadian dollar brushed against the 80 cent mark on Friday, thanks to rising commodity prices and weakness in the American greenback. The loonie hit the 80-cent US level after North American stock markets opened for trading, but it later pulled back. CMC Markets Canada analyst Colin Cieszynski says the loonie has been building momentum since late January when it was trading around the 68 cent U.S. mark.

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CANADIAN FUNDED HOSPITAL DESTROYED: An aid agency says Russian and Syrian government warplanes have destroyed a Canadian-funded hospital in Aleppo. The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations says the Al Marjeh Primary Health Care Centre has received millions of dollars in medical supplies from Canada since it opened in 2014. The Syrian Civil Defence Agency says there were no casualties because the clinic was empty. The organization says it was the second bombing of a civilian hospital in Syria in the past three days and it is calling on the international community to protect hospitals and aid workers.

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ECONOMY SUFFERS SLIGHT SETBACK: The economy lost ground in February, with the gross domestic product dropping 0.1 per cent. It’s in stark contrast to the 0.6 per cent growth in January and the first time the economy has contracted since September. CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld says the weak result in February could mean some moredisappointing results in the coming months. He notes U.S. imports fell in March, including in categories where Canada is a major supplier.

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GOVERNMENT STILL IN THE BLACK:The latest update from the federal finance department is fuelling debate about whether the Harper government left the books in the red when they left office. The government ran a budgetary surplus of 7.5-billion dollars over the first 11 months of its fiscal year. That suggests the government will have to post about a 13-billion dollar deficit in March to match the Liberals’ projection of a 5.4-billion dollar shortfall. Tory MP Lisa Raitt says the new numbers reveal her party left the Liberals with a solid foundation that continues to generate revenues because of the “low-tax environment” it left behind. But Finance Minister Bill Morneau cautions the final, year-end numbers should look a lot different.

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BEAUDOIN FAMILY WON’T GIVE UP CONTROL OF BOMBARDIER: The family that founded Bombardier says it won’t change the voting structure of the aerospace giant. Pierre Beaudoin told a shareholders meeting that family control allows for long-term investment and prevents the dismantling of the company. Beaudoin is executive chairman of the board and a member of the Beaudoin-Bombardier family that effectively controls the company through its multiple voting shares. It’s an apparent sticking point with the federal government over possible financial assistance for Bombardier.

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WASHINGTON TRIP SUCCESS, NOTLEY SAYS: Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is calling her three-day trip to Washington a success. Notley says she made inroads in explaining the province’s climate-change plan to U.S. politicians and officials in the Obama administration. Thursday night, in a speech at the Center for Canadian Studies at Johns Hopkins University, the premier stressed that oil remains critical to her province, and is responsible for one job out of six.

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NEW BRUNSWICK MAN WINS BEER BATTLE: A New Brunswick judge has dismissed charges against a man accused of illegally bringing 14 cases of beer and some liquor from Quebec. Gerard Comeau’s lawyer Mikael Bernard says the ruling has“huge” ramifications across Canada. Comeau was charged with violating New Brunswick’s Liquor Control Act, which prohibits anyone in the province from having more than 12 pints of beer that wasn’t purchased through a liquor store in the province. His lawyers challenged the provincial laws as unconstitutional, arguing the Constitution says anything produced in one province shall be admitted free into the other provinces.

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BATTLE LINES DRAWN OVER CONSERVATIVE SOCIAL POLICY: Next month’s Conservative party convention could feature a battle over social policy. Social conservatives say they’ve succeeded in getting a resolution to the floor to protect people from being required to perform same sex marriages. At the same time lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Conservatives are calling on the party to drop its formal opposition to same sex marriage. The party says no final decisions have been made yet on which of the 340 proposed resolutions will actually be debated and a list will be made public ahead of the convention.

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THIRTEEN DEAD IN NORWAY CHOPPER CRASH: A helicopter carrying oil workers from an offshore platform in the North Sea crashed off the Norwegian coast, killing all 13 on board. Rescuers say 11 bodies were found, and the search is one for the remaining two.Most of the Statoil workers on board the chopper were Norwegians, but there was one person from the United Kingdom and one from Italy. The cause of the crash is not known.

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JUSTICE DEMANDED FOR AFGHAN HOSPITAL VICTIMS: Survivors and the families of the 42 people killed in a U.S. airstrike on a hospital in Afghanistan want justice. They’re dismayed that those responsible for last October’s attack on the facility run by Doctors Without Borders will not face criminal charges. The Pentagon is releasing a report that says the U-S military personnel responsible will receive only administrative punishments.

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PROTESTERS DOG TRUMP: Several hundred protesters gathered near a Burlingame, California, hotel where Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will address the state G-O-P convention. Protesters pelted police with eggs. Trump supporters and opponents got into confrontations on Thursday outside a Trump rally in Southern California, and raucous protesters damaged police cars.

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