Good morning. Today, we’re introducing an interactive digital museum of objects that embody our current moment in time, and speak to what may lie ahead, curated by The Globe’s foreign correspondents, editors and reporters. More on that below, along with a major development in the push for a ballot question on Alberta separatism.
Today’s headlines
- Separatist setback: A provincial judge has tossed a petition for a vote on an independent Alberta, ruling that the government had a duty to consult First Nations on the petition.
- Data privacy: Messaging service Signal might exit Canada over concerns that Ottawa’s proposed lawful access bill could compromise its users’ privacy, a top company executive told The Globe in an interview.
- AI effect: There is no clear evidence yet of widespread job losses from artificial intelligence, according to rare remarks from a top Bank of Canada official about the technology’s possible labour-market impact.
A red hat suggesting an unconstitutional third term for President Donald Trump symbolizes a turbulent period in U.S. politics.May Truong/The Globe and Mail
World
Object permanence
Hello. I’m Hamida Ghafour, The Globe and Mail’s deputy foreign editor.
It is something of a cliché that journalism is the first draft of history. But there is some truth to it: Reporters witness events unfolding in front of them and out of the shorthand scrawled in notebooks they assemble articles that are published within hours, sometimes minutes, of a breaking story, capturing the sights, smells and sounds of a significant event.
Later, and with the vantage point of time, museum curators sift through the layered, sometimes inchoate record captured by our profession to make sense of it all. They use their deep knowledge of a subject to interpret history and to gather and preserve artifacts. A museum is not the final draft of history, but an exhibit is a better approximation than daily news coverage of the blur of a battlefield or the immediacy of a political rally.
Rubber dinghies used by migrants from Africa and the Middle East have come to represent tensions in Europe over immigration.Emilio Morenatti/The Associated Press
What if the worlds of journalism and museum curation were to merge? That question was the inspiration for A World in Transition, an online exhibition and interactive digital experience in which The Globe’s award-winning foreign correspondents and reporters curated the nine objects representing a pace of change not seen since the Second World War. A talented team of visual editors and designers built the exhibition.
Most of the time the foreign correspondents are on the road, filing dispatches from a world that often feels like it is unravelling. The corollary is a relentless and disorientating news cycle. But by pausing and reflecting, we might determine which people, places, events and objects from our time are likely to be remembered as pivotal. The exhibits embody subjects they have covered for many years.
Africa's largest hydroelectric project, The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, speaks to the power of the Nile River in a time of climate change, population growth and industrialization.AMANUEL SILESHI/Getty Images
Browse through to understand why Xi Jinping is China’s most powerful leader in decades. Learn why a ball cap could signify a break with the U.S. Constitution. Or how an inflatable dinghy has become a symbol of Europe’s divisions over immigration.
Untethered to the limitations of a physical exhibition space, our digital project stretches the definition of artifact to include a dam in Ethiopia and an air raid siren in Ukraine.
But just as amber suspends tiny animals and plants you see displayed in glass cases, our online exhibition captures a moment in time of a world disappearing and a new, unknown one emerging.
The Shot
“This is the Senate of the Philippines, and we are allegedly under attack.”
Security personnel and police officers ask journalists to stay back after gunshots were heard at the Philippine Senate in Manila.Eloisa Lopez/Reuters
Gunfire rang out at the Philippine Senate building on Wednesday, sparking chaos as authorities tried to arrest a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court for his alleged role in a deadly government crackdown on drugs. Nobody was hurt in the incident and Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, a former head of the country’s national police force, has so far evaded arrest.
The Wrap
What else we’re following
At home: A former RCMP officer was found not guilty of acting to help China pursue a white-collar criminal living in Vancouver.
Abroad: The U.S. Senate confirmed President Trump’s nominee Kevin Warsh to lead the Federal Reserve at a fraught moment for the world’s most powerful central bank.
On the ice: The Professional Women’s Hockey League will add another Canadian team for its 2026-27 season with a new franchise in Hamilton.
On the hook: Ontario’s government incurred nearly $200,000 in extra costs when it purchased a private jet that the premier decided to resell days later following public backlash.
Inside and out: A roundup of Canada’s most stunning architecture and interiors, from a laneway recording studio to a basement event space.