Six stories in the news today, March 31

Six stories in the news today, March 31 from The Canadian Press:

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TRUDEAU TO TALK NUKE SAFETY IN WASHINGTON

Justin Trudeau is speaking this morning to a very different Washington audience than the ones he addressed in his last trip to the U.S. capital. The prime minister will be making his third visit this month to the U.S.: this time for a gathering of world leaders attending a summit on nuclear safety.

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FIRE IN FIRST NATION COMMUNITY KILLS 9 PEOPLE

Residents of an Ontario First Nation are in mourning after nine members of one family, including three children under five, died in a house fire. A resident of the Pikangikum First Nation who did not want to be identified says three generations of a family died in the blaze late Tuesday. Authorities have not yet determined what caused the fire.

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SAFETY BOARD PROBES QUEBEC PLANE CRASH

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says the plane crash that killed former cabinet minister Jean Lapierre and six other people on Tuesday appears to be an “approach-and-landing accident.” That assessment came as investigators began collecting evidence from the crash site in a field near an airport in the Iles-de-la-Madeleine. Lapierre, his wife, three of his siblings and both crew members died in the crash.

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SEARCH EXPANDS FOR MISSING NUNAVUT POLITICIAN

The search is expanding on Baffin Island for a Nunavut member of the legislature and his two companions who haven’t been seen for more than a week. Pauloosie Keeyootak and two others left Iqaluit eight days ago for an overnight snowmobile trip to Pangnirtung. They didn’t arrive the next day as expected and it’s believed they don’t have a communications radio with them.

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WOE CANADA!ALL 7 CANADIAN NHL TEAMS MISS PLAYOFFS

It’s rare, but the Stanley Cup playoffs will go ahead this spring without any of the seven Canadian teams. The Ottawa Senators were the last of the Canadian squads to be mathematically eliminated last night. The only other time this has happened in NHL history was 1970. Five of the Canadian clubs reached the playoffs last season.

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HYDROGEN CARS BACK ON HORIZON

Automakers and fuel cell developers say the hydrogen-powered age is almost here — again. Hyundai now has a hydrogen-fuelled vehicle available in Canada, and Toyota wants to introduce theirs here too, while Canadian fuel cell developers that include Ballard Power Systems and Hydrogenics have been busy putting their product in everything from trains to buses and forklifts.

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ALSO IN THE NEWS TODAY:

— Rona holds a shareholder vote on Lowe’s $3.2 billion takeover offer.

— Statistics Canada will update the gross domestic product, payroll employment, earnings and hours figures for January.