Planet Seattle

Rent is continuing to drop across the province, but housing remains expensive. Police are investigating possible arson amid major wildfire activity. BC Hydro is buying a gas power station to improve grid reliability. Rental in British Columbia keeps getting cheaper, but affordability is still a long way off British Columbia’s rental market is in a landmark phase: housing prices have been falling for the 25th month in a row, marking the longest streak of price declines in recent years. According...

Top stories of the day: BC Place was named one of the best concert stadiums in the world, a missing tourist was found alive after three nights in the wilderness, and in the Belcarra Regional Park near Vancouver, a wildfire was brought under control. BC Place named one of the world’s best stadiums for concerts Vancouver’s BC Place has made a list of the top twenty stadiums in the world, according to live-industry experts. The ranking, called “Stadium Stars,” was compiled by the British magazine...

Wildfires in British Columbia have led to heavy smoke across Vancouver and other cities. The air quality index has reached dangerous levels, and residents have been advised to cut back on time outdoors. The Bradley Creek fire has destroyed about 230 homes, and thousands of people have been evacuated. Wildfire smoke blankets Vancouver: orange alert level in the Fraser Valley The Canadian province of British Columbia is once again dealing with the fallout of large wildfires, and this time the...

Wildfires in British Columbia have turned deadly and destructive: near Vernon, the fire has destroyed hundreds of homes, and thousands of people have been evacuated. Smoke has reached Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, where air quality warnings have been issued. Meteorologists expect conditions to improve along the coast starting Wednesday, but eastern areas will remain under smoky skies for longer. Smoke over Vancouver: Where the haze came from and when it will lift In these days, residents of...

British Columbia’s fire season is still under way: smoke from wildfires is again blanketing the south of Vancouver Island, and the head of the evacuated First Nation is warning that the situation has not eased—“the emergency isn’t over.” Against this backdrop, CBC is launching a tournament to crown the province’s best roadside attraction—from giant capes to the “Zero Mile” marker—reminding people of the small wonders along the sides of the road. Searching for the best roadside attraction in...

In British Columbia, the long weekend is being overshadowed by wildfires and evacuations, chaos in the air, on ferries, and at the border. Meanwhile, the Vancouver Whitecaps are announcing a Pride match with a touching story about a young fan named Jack. Storm front in British Columbia: Lightning sparked new wildfires and expanded the evacuation area The situation with wildfires in the Canadian province of British Columbia continues to intensify — both literally and figuratively. Another round...

Canada news digest: a record 315-metre skyscraper has been approved, a court has approved compensation for victims of violence at Catholic schools, and the prime minister backed port expansion for trade independence. Vancouver approves construction of the tallest skyscraper in Western Canada Vancouver City Council has made a major planning decision that will significantly reshape the downtown core. On the morning of Monday, July 27, city officials approved a zoning change for an ambitious...

In Brief: 30 years of Canada’s first co-housing, Mark Carney’s plan to expand ports in British Columbia for independence, and a union pushing back against a sale of B.C. Place. Canada’s co-housing turns 30: how one community in British Columbia changed the way we think about neighbours In Langley, a suburb of Vancouver, the community of Windsong recently celebrated its 30th anniversary—Canada’s first co-housing project, which helped lay the groundwork for an entirely different approach to...

In today’s digest: Vancouver’s housing market is being weighed down by an overhang of unsold condominiums, leading to a 35% drop in new builds; WestJet is suspending five winter routes out of Vancouver due to low demand; and city council has approved the placement of a floating spa facility in Kitsilano Marina, despite residents’ protests over its size. Unsold condos are weighing on Vancouver’s housing market: analysts warn of further decline The accumulation of unsold units in Vancouver is...

At first glance, these three pieces appear to be about completely different things: falling water levels at the largest reservoir in the United States, rising costs of the U.S. war with Iran, and a tragic killing committed by a woman who had already been convicted of a similar crime. But if you look more closely, they share one important theme: the price of an accumulating crisis, when natural, political, and personal destruction stop being abstract and become measurable losses—water, money,...

Taken separately, three very different pieces of news. But together they reveal the same logic of modern U.S. politics: power increasingly tries to respond to a sense of instability not through broad compromises, but through hard, symbolically strong decisions. On the financial front, the White House and the Federal Reserve argue about what matters more—weak labor-market conditions or accelerating inflation. On the legal and political front, Donald Trump is once again trying to narrow...

Across all three pieces—about the death of a pilot in Oregon, a fatal FedEx truck crash in Louisville, and Euronews’ website being declared “extremist” in Belarus—the same theme comes to the fore: how authorities, companies, and investigative bodies try to manage the fallout from events that pose a threat to people, infrastructure, and public order. In one case, it is an in-air crisis and urgent provision of safety on the ground; in another, it is an investigation into a tragedy on the road and...

Across all three pieces—about Fauci, about a shot Mexican influencer, and a string of attempts on Trump—there runs the same thread: publicity is increasingly becoming a zone of risk. A politician, a doctor, a blogger, a candidate, or a sitting president is not merely a participant in public debate, but a target around which hatred, suspicion, weapons, and institutional conflicts concentrate. These stories differ in scale and context, but together they show just how fragile the boundary has...

If you look at these three pieces together, one big theme comes into view: in today’s politics and sports, it’s no longer enough to simply “win the primary round.” After that comes a more complex test—whether you can gather, hold, and correctly allocate the resources around you. In a Michigan senatorial race, this becomes a proving ground for Abdul El-Sayed: after winning the primary, he must demonstrate that a progressive agenda can unite a wider electorate. In the story about appointing a new...

If you look at these three pieces together, they seem unrelated: a tragic incident involving Perez Hilton, a high-stakes fight over control of the U.S. Senate through primaries in Michigan, and a local road crash in Pennsylvania. But there’s a common denominator: all three texts show how today’s news agenda is built around moments of high uncertainty—when the outcome isn’t yet clear and the consequences can be anything from personal drama to a reshuffling of political power, or simply an...

Taken together, these three pieces are linked not by plot, but by a systemic theme: how power- and control-focused institutions—military, sports, and financial—respond to risk, conflict, and breaches of rules. In one case, it’s a direct clash with the American military presence in South Korea. In another, it’s a deal in professional baseball where delicate managerial calculations and a player’s value matter. In the third, it’s a far more serious and institutionally significant question: how...

If you look at these three pieces together, what comes to the fore isn’t their thematic variety, but a single general principle that now shapes how the information environment operates: concentrating resources where it delivers speed, reliability, and economies of scale. In one case, it’s an urgent closure of a highway due to an accident, where information must be transmitted to drivers instantly. In another, it’s a baseball trade, where a sports newsroom tries to quickly assess a player’s...

At first glance, we’re dealing with three very different stories: the US Department of Justice is stripping naturalized people of citizenship at scale, Russia is hitting Ukraine with a record number of missile strikes, and US financial regulators have imposed a record fine on UBS. But when you put these reports into a single picture, the main common direction becomes clear: in the United States, government institutions and their partners are responding more harshly to systemic risks—whether...

In news coverage, the United States is again at the center of attention due to its tougher approach to migration, visas, and border control. Even when debates differ in assessments and emphasis, the overall tone is the same: the world is closely watching how entry and movement rules are changing—and what that means for ordinary travelers, families, and those making plans for work or study abroad. What comes to the fore is the practical side of the reaction—growing caution, tighter oversight,...

On Thursday evening, a blast went off in a passenger bus traveling along the main streets during rush hour in the Syrian city of Jaramana (Rif-Damascus Province). According to the latest figures from the director of health for the province, Dr. Taufik Hisba, 14 people were injured and there were no deaths. Videos have appeared online showing that the bus roof was completely destroyed, with passengers’ and passersby’s belongings scattered around. This was the first such explosion in the city...

Jorge Rodríguez, head of the National Assembly elected in 2020, announced the start of a new phase of national dialogue with former parliament members from 2015. The information was shared via his official Telegram channel. The talks’ agenda includes three key areas: assistance to the population following the double earthquake that occurred on June 24, institutional strengthening, including updates to the Supreme Court and the National Electoral Council, and political guarantees for all...

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad ash-Shibani visited Ankara on Thursday, where he met with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan. This is the second visit by the Syrian minister to Turkey since the beginning of the year. At a joint press conference, ash-Shibani stressed that the country’s government intends to put an end to the existence of any weapons outside state control and continues its fight against terrorism. He also said it is necessary to strengthen stability in southern Syria, halt...

Syria’s economy is entering 2026 at a turning point: a faster recovery is expected, along with improved confidence among investors and consumers, driven by the return of about 1.5 million refugees and the gradual reintegration of the country into regional and international economic life. According to the International Monetary Fund, GDP growth this year could exceed 10%, despite ongoing regional tensions. However, the durability of this upswing will directly depend on addressing deep imbalances...

At a recent institutional meeting, US President Donald Trump spoke positively about the state of relations with Venezuela, emphasizing the development of diplomatic ties between Washington and Caracas, as well as the momentum in the energy sector. The head of the White House said openly: “I love Venezuela; everything is going very well for us,” thereby noting progress in cooperation in hydrocarbons, which has become a key factor in the two countries’ trade talks. These words underscore the...

Relations between Moscow and Damascus are once again in the spotlight. Russia has appointed Dmitry Dogadkin as the new ambassador to Syria, Syrian authorities have announced the launch of regular direct flights between the capitals starting August 16, and the Russian House in Damascus is resuming operations after a break of more than a year and a half. These moves prompt a question: is this merely routine diplomatic procedure, or the beginning of a new phase in strengthening Russian influence...

In Latin America, unease is growing over how Washington uses economic and political levers in the region: from tariffs and trade disputes to attempts to influence countries’ internal decisions. Against this backdrop, discussions are turning to the risks for local economies and the resilience of alliances already in place—along with the question of how far American involvement in the region’s external and internal agendas may go. Taken together, this builds a picture of “external pressure,” to...

Syria is planning to put back into service the Haditha–Baniyas oil pipeline, through which Iraqi oil will be able to reach the Mediterranean coast. According to Yusuf Kablawi, head of the Syrian Oil Company, the rehabilitation will take between 30 months and three years. Talks with Baghdad on the final contract are already under way and are expected to be concluded within the next two to three months. Only after the deal is signed will engineering surveys begin, followed by procurement of...

Imagine: you’re walking through the biggest park in Seattle, and suddenly something strange appears from behind the bushes. A concrete wall. A rusted door. A dark corridor going down underground. This isn’t a castle or a movie-style bomb shelter — it’s an old military bunker. And there are several of them here. A park where squirrels run today, eagles nest, and wildflowers bloom — once it was a secret soldiers’ camp. And the ground under your feet holds history you won’t find in any...

Imagine you need to clean up your room, but your mom says, “Don’t touch the ceiling — it’s special.” What do you do? Most people would be at a loss. But engineers in Seattle in that kind of situation… just lifted the ceiling into the air. Along with the entire roof. Weighing twenty thousand tons. That’s about the same as the weight of three thousand elephants. And this isn’t a fairy tale — it really happened, right in the middle of the city. A Gift from the Past: What Remained After the...

Imagine walking down a street that smells of engine oil, where there are garages everywhere and metal-mesh fences everywhere—then suddenly you see a building that looks like a palace. Tall arched windows, beautiful columns, brick the color of dark cherry. Inside are enormous turbines the size of a two-story house. This is Georgetown—one of Seattle’s oldest neighborhoods. And this is a place people truly fought for. Not with fists—with words, posters, and stubbornness. And they won. When the...

Imagine: you walk into a library and, instead of a quiet hall with wooden shelves, you see a huge glass ship. The walls tilt in different directions, as if the building were squeezed and twisted by someone. Inside are bright yellow escalators, floors that “hang” in midair, and a staircase that never ends. That’s what the Seattle Central Library looks like. And the most interesting part is that it’s strange for a reason. It’s strange because the architect first looked honestly at how people...

Imagine: November 1999, the streets of an American city—Seattle. Among thousands of people with placards, you see… giant turtles. Not real, of course—people in green cardboard-and-fabric shells. They wave their “paws,” chant slogans, and look a little ridiculous. But it was these turtles that became one of the most memorable images from protests that went down in history as the “Battle of Seattle”—and their story is surprisingly similar to what’s happening in the world right now. What was...

In the very heart of Seattle there’s a building that does something truly unbelievable. It stands directly over the highway. Not beside it, not near it—right above it. Beneath the floor of this massive building, thousands of cars stream by every day, while above them people drink coffee, hold meetings, and carry out important negotiations. This is where, in 1999, an event took place that people around the world still talk about today. And it all began when one engineer decided: if you can’t...

Imagine a city with not a single patch of green. No parks, no backyards, no trees—only cobblestone streets, smoke from factory chimneys, and the clatter of horse-drawn carriages. That was the world millions of children lived in in American cities in the late 19th century. And it was these children—more precisely, the adults who took up their cause—who launched a movement that ultimately gave Seattle one of the most beautiful park systems in the world. A City That Forgot About Children In the...

Imagine it: early Sunday morning, a typical Seattle drizzle hanging in the air, and the street already smells of hot coffee and old books. People spread out vinyl records, handmade earrings, worn-out jackets, and porcelain little cats on their tables. Someone is selling, someone is bargaining, someone just wanders around and looks. This is the Fremont Sunday Market—and it has been running every weekend for more than thirty years. Even when it pours. Even when everything around it changes. Even...

Imagine that every autumn, salmon appear in Seattle’s rivers. They swim in from the ocean, make their way into city streams — and then suddenly start acting strangely: circling in place, losing their balance, and dying a few hours later. It happened again and again. And no one — not fishermen, not scientists, not city officials — could figure out why for a long time. Fish that died after the rain Seattle is one of the few major cities in the world where wild salmon still enter directly into...