Good morning. As war in the Middle East extends into the fourth week, it also spreads across the region. More on that below, along with a new defence bank and a major top court hearing. Let’s get to it.
A drone view shows damage in a residential neighbourhood, after a night of Iranian missile strikes in Dimona, southern Israel on March 22.Roei Kastro/Reuters
TOP STORY
More regional energy facilities face threats
The latest: The war against Iran is on the verge of a massive escalation, with Iran threatening to lay mines along the entire Persian Gulf, two days after U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to destroy Iran’s power plant unless the country opens the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
In the sky: American military aircraft have been using Canadian airspace to refuel on their way to the Middle East, backed by a long-standing NORAD agreement that does not require the U.S. to ask permission from Canada to do so.
Strait of Hormuz: On Saturday, President Donald Trump warned that the U.S. will “obliterate” Iranian power plants if it doesn’t fully open the Strait of Hormuz. Iran says the strait would be “completely closed” if an attack against them were to happen.
Lebanon: Yesterday, Israel expanded its attacks to target bridges in the south of Lebanon, which President Joseph Aoun called “a prelude to a ground invasion.” Israel said Hezbollah is using the bridges to move fighters and weapons into the south. Lebanese authorities say Israel’s strikes have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced more than one million.
What’s next: The war on Iran has scrambled global markets and disrupted energy supplies, but it now also threatens one of the world’s largest migration routes: that of workers from South and Southeast Asia to the Persian Gulf region. Neha Bhatt and James Griffiths have the story.
Outlier: The Greek shipping tycoon willing to take his chances in the Strait of Hormuz
Opinion: The consequence of Trump’s war on Iran is a still-metastasizing military disaster
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Amrit Kaur at her home in Birmingham, England, on Feb. 3. Ms. Kaur is one of those who are challenging Bill 21 at the Supreme Court.Paul Stringer/The Globe and Mail
Justice
A Supreme Court constitutional clash
The latest: The notwithstanding clause is at the centre of one of the biggest top court cases in the four-plus decades since the enactment of the Charter of Rights. At the Supreme Court’s hearings on Quebec’s Bill 21, that constitutional consensus of the 1980s faces a 21st-century test. At the heart of the decision will be questions of what limits, if any, there are on governments’ powers to quash the rights and freedoms of Canadians.
What’s next: Most cases at the top court are heard on a single day. Two days is a long hearing. Bill 21 will be heard over four days. The court will tackle the case starting today.
Opinion: The constitutional challenge to Bill 21 is one of the most important cases in Charter history – and the Supreme Court’s ruling could alter the essence of Canadian federalism for generations to come.
Use our handy guide to destinations for every dream and budget.Photo illustration by Matthew Billington/The Globe and Mail
How We Live
Plan your bucket-list trip
The latest: Few mega-trips ever make it past the idea stage. Now, as geopolitical realities redraw the map of our daydreams around travel, The Globe set out to help readers make the planning process a little easier. Our editors spent months hand-picking experiences and The Globe’s data team combined these insights into a virtual travel assistant. The result is this interactive database of bucket-list itineraries for different travel tastes and budgets.
What’s next: Give the tool a whirl, then read what Canadians had to say about budgeting for their own bucket-list trips. Before you go, get inspiration from our writers’ bucket-list-worthy trips, including retracing Shackleton’s expedition in Antarctica, exploring Japan’s art islands and bodysurfing in Costa Rica.
Defence
Montreal to hold defence-bank negotiations
The latest: Canada will play host to the first round of in-person negotiations to establish a new multinational bank dedicated to financing defence projects, further solidifying its role as a leading country in setting up the institution. Members of 18 anchor countries will attend the meetings in Montreal this week.
What’s next: The first round will begin on Monday in Montreal and run until Wednesday. It will be the first of three rounds of meetings, to decide upon the bank’s charter, treaties, headquarters location and chief executive officer. Negotiations will conclude in April.
World
Hospitals under attack in Sudan
The latest: A drone strike on a hospital in East Darfur is part of a much larger pattern across the country, adding to a mounting death toll from attacks on health facilities in Sudan, the World Health Organization says. Sudan’s three-year war is widely considered to be the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, with hundreds of thousands of civilians killed.
What’s next: The war is spilling across Sudan’s borders. In the east, there are widespread reports that Ethiopia has been providing logistical help to the notorious Rapid Support Forces. And last week, the war crossed Sudan’s western border into Chad.
Bookmarked
- Abroad: An Air Canada jet hit a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Sunday night, killing two
- At home: Canada and the rest of the democratic world are facing a “tsunami” of transnational and digital repression in the coming years, according to a Canadian cyber-research group.
- For your finances: How the oil shock could lead to wider economic pain for Canada.
- For your health: Does ambient noise really help you get a better night’s sleep?
- Conversation starter: René Redzepi ran Noma like a cult. But is the real cult the restaurant industry itself?
The Quote
God put us on this planet to laugh. We’re here to have a good time, to laugh until we cry. I’m trying, in my own humble way, to use music to break through the noise – to ensure that women have dignity, to return dignity back to the women from whom it was taken.
— Tomson Highway, Indigenous playwright
Tomson Highway’s musical Rose, which receives its professional premiere with the National Arts Centre’s Indigenous Theatre at the end of the month, is a catalyst for deep-bellied laughter.
The Shot
From left to right: Dr. Dave McRuer, Parks Canada veterinarian, continues to monitor a deer as it wakes up after the administered anesthesia has been reversed, with Aaron Shafer, associate professor at Trent University, on Feb. 28, 2025, at Thousand Island National Park.Kaja Tirrul/The Globe and Mail
How far do deer go in a year? These scientists are tracking the ultimate border crossers.