Global National: July 24, 2026 | Canada’s Gordie Howe bridge opening catches Trump’s attention

On this Friday night, a bridge over troubled water.After disinviting American officials, Canada celebrates the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge.

We're standing against uncertainty, against threats, against bullies.

How the U .S.President is reacting.Donald Trump's new tariffs take effect.The international backlash to the American allegations of forced labour.More evacuation orders over expanding wildfires in BC.

Absolutely not.Why some residents are standing firm on staying put.Plus, Spain declares its first ever wildfire emergency.And a self -described tiny Canadian's oversized impact on Hollywood's biggest blockbuster.

I might be only four foot six, you know, but here I am doing all these cool things.

Why she was selected as movie star Matt Damon's stunt double.

Good evening and thank you for joining us.We begin tonight in the border city of Windsor, Ontario, where an event that was supposed to be a celebration of Canada -U .S.trade ties is instead highlighting how much that relationship has soured.After eight years of construction and $6 .5 billion, the Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Windsor with Detroit was officially unveiled in a ribbon -cutting ceremony on the Canadian side of the border today.But American dignitaries were disinvited after Donald Trump's latest tariff threat.

As Mackenzie Gray reports, the celebration of Canadian pride caught the attention of the U .

S.president.Give him a little slash.

Hurry up before he leaves.Howe family advice passed down through the generations.as Gordie house sons and a bridge named after the pastime, but missing from Markhouse hometown of Det and there's been a lot ofthings but I think it's I think there's gonna be a lot of truckers are gonna be pretty happy this bridge is opening.The ribbon -cutting Canadians only Trump officials not welcome after the president's 50 % tariff threat a cancellation he noticed posting during the ceremony Canada disinvited the United States of America to the opening of the Gordie Howe Bridge, which is fine, considering they're paying substantial tariffs to the United States.Comments that underscore how the bridge has turned from the epitome of cooperation and friendship into a symbol of the Canada -U .

S.trade war.Given the back and forth between our levels of government, we thought it's more appropriate for us to focus on celebrating here in Canada today.Trump bragged about the new deal, which gives the U .S.50 percent of bridge revenues after maintenance costs for 15 years, despite Canada paying the entire $6 .4 billion to build the bridge.

Windsor's mayor just happy it's opening.

We're standing against uncertainty, against threats, against bullies.

A view shared by Cavalier Tool and Manufacturing, a Windsor -based injection mold maker that sends 90 % of their goods to the U .S.

on six trucks.Being quicker across the border, of course, helps.Everything for us is just in time.We're delivering to make a product that's got to be made right away.

Travelers are expected to save 48 years' worth of time each year with the new bridge because it's connected to highways in both Canada and the U .S.Unlike the rival Ambassador Bridge, currently the only truck crossing in the area, where tolls are up to $40 higher for truckers, who often face massive congestion.But while a new bridge is nice, what Windsor businesses say they really need is an end to the trade war.

That uncertainty is causing problems in Canada, causing problems for us in manufacturing, but not just manufacturers.

It's for every industry.Barring another presidential change of heart, the bridge is supposed to open on Monday, Jeff, the same day Donald Trump will be in Michigan, likely for his victory lap on the bridge.

Mackenzie Gray in Windsor, Ontario tonight.World leaders are voicing their frustrations after the U .S.imposed new tariffs on dozens of countries, accusing them of importing products made with forced labor.Sixty countries have been targeted.Canada, Mexico and the U .

K.are among those facing a 10 percent tariff, though that levy doesn't apply to the vast majority of Canadian exports, which are covered under KUSMA.More than 40 other countries, including Japan, China and Australia, will face a higher 12 .5 percent duty.The tariffs replace a previous regime that just expunged required.Jillian Piper has more on reaction and a reality check on those forced labor allegations.

To keep that money flowing, the U .S.

president has found a workaround.You have other ways to do it, and we did that.

His new argument?That Canada does not do enough to combat forced labour.Slapping a fresh 10 % duty on non -free trade compliant goods the same minute his global 10 % tariffs expired overnight.

One of the new provisions we forced Canada and Mexico to take was their own prohibition on forced labour.We're finding that they aren't actually enforcing that.

But the Canadian government rejects that claim.

We don't agree with the Section 301 tariffs.We have some of the strongest provisions around forced labour.

Other global leaders also pushing back.The argumentation behind that it's forced labour, I mean, sorry, but you can't say that for European Union.

This imposition of higher tariffs on Australia.

is completely unjustified.China, which has been criticized over using ethnic minority Uyghurs forced labor, also hit by the new duty.But the Chinese government not pledging to make any labor changes, only saying trade wars are not in anyone's interest.As the prime minister seeks to boost trade with Beijing, this formerCanadian diplomat in China warns the government needs to take action.

Since Mr. Carney came into power, units within the government that had been dedicated to tracking forced labor products have been reduced.

Ottawa introduced a bill last month which would require importers to prove products were not made through slavery.But there is no timeline for when that change will become law.

I think it's important that we get this legislation on the floor of the House of Commons.

More tariffs could still be on the way.A 50 % U .S.duty on Canadian goods could kick in next month, and the president has warned a separate tariff stemming from American complaints over Canadian wildfire smoke is also on the table.

Jeff?Jillian Piper in Ottawa.Thanks, Jillian.Turning to the wildfire fight now, and a growing number of evacuation orders and alerts in B .C.In the Fraser Canyon, two out -of -control fires have now merged together, threatening homes in and around Boston Bar.

And further north, hundreds of people in the village of Clinton have now been told to leave the area.Those evacuees are gathering and taking shelter tonight in Kamloops, and that's where we find our Sarah McDonald.Sarah, what can you tell us?

Yeah, Jeff, the city of Kamloops has become a place of refuge hundreds of British Columbians and their pets tonight.The village of Clinton was ordered evacuated early this morning, but even so, as flames get dangerously close to town there, some say they won't be leaving.Surrounded by flames from three separate out of control wildfires, including this one.The village of Clinton has been ordered to evacuate.

We all watch the news, the global, right?And we see this happen to people.And it's funny, now we're going through it.

More than 600 people here have been on alert and ready to go for days now.

There's nothing you can do about it, right?

Reluctantly ready to hit the road at any time.

The best thing we can do is just try.to hope the fires blow the opposite way.No faith whatsoever.

On Thursday night, before the order came down, Ira Robinson, who's lived here for 60 years, was insistent he wouldn't be going anywhere.

No, I'm not leaving.I'm old school.I've fought a lot of fires in my lifetime, but the government doesn't let us fight them the way we used to.

And in this close -knit village that's been here before, forced out by wildfire for more than two weeks back in 2017, he might not be alone.

We'll fight whatever we got, right?Whether it's a bulldozer, whether it's an excavator, we'll fight it.

Structures have already been lost less than an hour north in Big Bar Lake.With residents also ordered out in the Caribou, southeast of Williams Lake.

We have pets and everything, and we're quite concerned about that.

With a fiery trifecta closing in on Clinton, Lee Longstreet didn't even wait on the official order to leave.

Man, I'm just getting out of here.Just getting out of here.

Already up and gone, First Thing Friday.And Lee's neighbors here in Kamloops will be put up in hotels for the weekend, Jeff.While the firefight on the West Coast here might get a bit of a helping hand from the weather this weekend, this hot, dry heat is expected to break with some rain in the forecast.

Sarah McDonald in Kamloops, B .C.tonight.Thanks.The scale of those fires is visible from space.Take a look.

Smoke is filling the valleys in eastern B .C.and is now wafting into Alberta, where the air quality today was among the worst in the world.Calgary was ranked a 10 -plus out of 10, or very high risk for people with heart and lung conditions.Environment Canada is also advising children and the elderly to avoid outdoor physical activity.And Europe is also contending with a severe wildfire season.

And for the first time in history, Spain has declared anational emergency due to wildfires, as flames tear through a large area near Madrid.Fires in southwestern France have forced more than 100 ,000 people to flee the Atlantic coast.As Redmond Shannon reports, there is little relief in sight.

From the ground and from the air.The vistas are equally terrifying.Fires across a huge area west of Madrid have triggered Spain's first ever wildfire national emergency.Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says the government has deployed all available resources.The president of greater Madrid calls it a perfect storm of heat and wind and the emergency management chief now says the fires are out of control.NASA satellite data shows what were three fires 40 kilometers outside Madrid have today merged to become two.

Evacuees like Enrique are thankful just to be alive.He says if he and his wife had waited five more minutes to leave home, they'd be dead.Spanish police say they are investigating two people for allegedly causing one of the fires by negligently using heavy machinery.Authorities are pleading with people to more carefully dispose of cigarettes and glass bottles.On the Atlantic coast of France, residents of all species are also fleeing two huge wildfires.Some of the tens of thousands on the move arrived to safety by boat.

This entire peninsula, popular with tourists, now empty in the middle of July.This government official described one of the fires as exceptional in intensity and scale.He fears the wind may soon change direction and threaten towns.that he had hoped would escape the flames.What's more, temperatures in the region are forecast to climb into the high 30s again next week.Redmond Shannon, Global News, London.

The body of a second boy has now been recovered from a lake in Manitoba's Whiteshell Provincial Park.Search teams recovered the body of 13 -year -old Aaron O. Ramirez last night, one day after they found the body of his 10 -year -old brother, Maximo.The pair were walking along the shoreline on Saturday when Maximo slipped on the rocks and fell into the fast -moving rapids.Police say Aaron then jumped in to rescue him, but both were caught in the current and pulled down the falls.The cyclospora outbreak keeps growing.Coming up...

The parasite linked to iceberg lettuce spreads to more states.In Washington State, 11 people on board a float plane had to be rescued after the aircraft crashed into the San Juan Islands last night.Take a look at this video.The plane tries to make an emergency landing before crashing and then bursting into flames.Incredibly, the passengers and crew survived, though all were sent to hospital with various injuries, including broken bones and head lacerations.At least one person is now listed in critical condition.

Officials are now investigating the crash.The cyclospora outbreak that has sickened thousands of people across the U .S.is still growing.The cases, linked to shredded iceberg lettuce from Mexico, have now spread to at least nine states.The rising infections are fueling questions about the handling of the outbreak.

Tariq Ezri reports.

Michigan woman Abigail Lamont could barely get out of bed, except to run to the bathroom.I have never been miserable like that in my life.She believes she contracted cyclosporiasis after eating at a Taco Bell last month.Because she's pregnant, doctors were unable to give her the stamina she needs.The more I thought, this can't be good for the baby either.Lamond is starting to feel like herself again, but she's among the thousands of Americans reeling from the parasitic infection.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the outbreak, concentrated in the Midwest, has spread to four more states.Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, with nearly 12 ,000 cases in all, most of them in Michigan.

Cyclosporiasis, The intestinal infection caused by cyclospora can cause diarrhea that can last for weeks, even longer than that.

The Food and Drug Administration has linked it to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants and supplied by a plant in central Mexico.The company Taylor Farms voluntarily recalled the produce.The FDA is reporting another cluster of cases with more than 70 people sick, but so far has not identified the source.

There continues to be lack of clarity, let alone certainty, as to where it started, how it spread, and where it's going.

The Trump administration is facing heat for recent cuts to federal health agencies.

The FDA's budget is coming under assault and people are doubting whether the CDC even needs to exist.It definitely does.

The Public Health Agency of Canada says the outbreak has not spread to this country.But there has been an increase in cases in Quebec.More than 140 have been reported in the province since May.Most of them related to travel to Mexico.Taria Izri, Global News, Montreal.

Move over Will Hunting.Still ahead, a real -life Canadian math whiz receives the discipline's highest honour.A professor from the University of Toronto has won the world's top honor in math.Jacob Simmerman was awarded the Fields Medal, which is considered the Nobel Prize for mathematics.Prime Minister Mark Carney posted his huge congratulations to Simmerman, adding that nearly a century after Canadian mathematician J .C.

Fields established this award in Toronto, it comes home.Eric Sorensen reports on Simmerman's win and his predictions for artificial intelligence.

He always loved math puzzles.

Every chance I got to engage with math, it became my recreation time.Jacob Zimmerman, from childhood to lecturer as a University of Toronto professor.to the lambda.And now a recipient of the Fields Medal, the Nobel, so to speak, of mathematics.What he won for seemed almost incomprehensible.Looking for geometric explanations for concepts like this.

This is the beginning of Hodge theory, which uses period integrals as a way of studying these algebraic objects.

Did you get that?Seems a lot of theories came together.It's really nice when a bunch of subjects come together on a concrete problem like this.He knew he'd won months ago but couldn't tell anyone.

I'm a pretty public person, not a very private person.So it's nice to have everyone know and be able to share with everybody.

There were cheers at a watch party at U of T. Zimmerman's extraordinary talent admired as both researcher and teacher.

He's well beloved by his students for bringing the enthusiasm we saw there for his discoveries to the classroom.

The award was founded by John Charles Fields, a Toronto mathematician more than a century ago.It's quite exciting to have the medal come home to Canada and the University of Toronto.It's also a profound moment for mathematics with the advent of artificial intelligence.We have to figure out how to transition to a world where AI is not just a tool.math, how to direct it.Zimmerman sees himself shifting his research now to explore AI to keep it safe for humanity.

Mathematics historically has been great at setting things on a firm foundation.So that's sort of one of the approaches that I think is important and academia has a part to play.

For young people who like math, it's inspiring to see a Canadian at the very top.

I really feel a sense of hope towards the future and definitely inspiration.

AI will present new challenges, but could also usher in a new era for the next generation of math whizzes.Eric Sorensen, Global News, Toronto.

A prized collection of Canadian sports memorabilia has just won a reprieve from being sent to the United States.The Naismith Museum is located in Almonte, Ontario, the hometown of the inventor of basketball, Dr. James Naismith.The collection includes one of the original basketballs, but the museum faced a funding shortfall and there were fears those artifacts could be sold to a basketball museum in the U .S.Well, the municipality now says a deal has been reached to keep the collection in Canada.And speaking of basketball history makers, the NBA's all -time leading scorer, LeBron James, has just announced that he will play for the Philadelphia 76ers for his record -setting 24th season.

The four -time NBA champion says he thought he'd played his last game with the L .A.Lakers last season, but the 41 -year -old believes he still has more to give and that he can help make Philadelphia a championship team.James will reportedly sign a two -year deal worth $8 million.Up next, the unlikely Canadian stunt double for the star of this summer's biggest blockbuster.Welcome back.

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has quickly become the blockbuster of the summer, raking in more than $300 million at the box office in just one week.And among its star -studded cast, a Canadian stuntwoman is stealing the spotlight after she was praised by star Matt Damon for her work as his double.Heather Yerkes -West spoke with her about the experience and her newfound fame.

In The Odyssey, Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, an ancient Greek hero trying to get home.But that's not the Hollywood superstar in every scene of this trailer.That, right there, is Canadian stunt performer Devin Dalton.Congratulations on the recognition you're receiving for your work on this movie.

It's so exciting to be a part of big productions and I've been blessed over my career to work on so many cool projects.

Dalton is currently working on another movie in New Zealand while responding to the crush of interview requests that came after Damon sang her praise in his recent round of press.

My double was a woman.a female stunt performer arms I've ever seen.

It's to get some recognition a just been really humbled women have been reaching inspired and I think it' you know, being like a s Dalton worked to add mus six frame for her work on Odysseus and his men encou to be small.

That's why I people is like, don't put of what you and limit you only four ft six, you kno doing all these cool thin 80 credits as an actor an

Dalton says she's grateful for every opportunity.

I've done so many different creatures and animals and I've doubled kids, I've doubled women, I've doubled men.So I would just say like the possibilities are endless.

The journey to this cinematic moment and beyond, an odyssey Devon Dalton's happy to be on.

No one could stand between me and home.

Heather Yurek's West Global News, Calgary.

And that is Global National for this Friday night.I'm Jeff Semple.Tonight's your Canada is Little Atlan Lake in southern Yukon.We love seeing your Canada, so please email your photos to globalnational at globalnews .ca.Thanks for watching.

Hope to see you back here again tomorrow.Have a great night.