Planet Seattle

From November 12 to 19, there’s something for everyone in Seattle and the surrounding area: catch performances by Yuki Chiba, the Four Tops, and Garth Brooks; see ballet and cabaret; visit film and comedy festivals; or wander among the WildLanterns light displays. The lineup also includes local makers’ markets, art walks, tastings, sports games, and family events. Some events continue beyond the week. More details are available on the Events12 website and on the organizers’ pages:...

This roundup is designed to help you plan ahead, so you can choose concerts, shows, games, and holiday events for the first week of December. It covers events across the region, from large arenas and downtown Seattle theaters to intimate clubs and comedy venues in Tacoma, Bremerton, and on Bainbridge Island. You’ll find classic Christmas productions such as The Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol, holiday concerts featuring well-known performers, NHL and NFL matchups, basketball games, and parties...

Powerful fall storms in British Columbia have left more than 400,000 people without electricity, raised the threat of flooding and isolated entire communities. Utilities warn that restoring power will take days. Meanwhile, Vancouver held its 102nd Remembrance Day ceremony at Victory Square, where thousands of residents honored the fallen with a moment of silence and wreath-laying. British Columbia battered by severe weather: utilities warn power may be out for days A series of powerful fall...

A third wave of storms threatens British Columbia with flooding and landslides, an RCMP motorcyclist was injured in a crash in downtown Vancouver, and a Fraser Institute report found that Vancouver incomes lag behind those in Victoria and Kamloops. British Columbia Braces for a Third Wave of Storms: Up to 250 mm of Rain and Flooding Threats Canada’s West Coast is enduring a prolonged spell of extreme weather, and conditions continue to worsen. After two previous rounds of storms battered...

British Columbia news roundup: a third Pacific storm is bringing rain, wind and flood risks to a region already saturated with water; Stray Kids have announced a 2027 concert at Vancouver’s BC Place; and a Langley financial adviser has been found in contempt of court for concealing assets from his ex-wife. British Columbia Braces for a Third Storm: Rain, Wind and Rising Concern Canada’s West Coast, still recovering from a series of destructive weather events, is preparing for another test. The...

The second storm system to hit over the weekend knocked out power to tens of thousands of homes on Vancouver Island and across British Columbia, killed a driver in Surrey and forced residents of Zeballos to evacuate. Utilities are warning that a third storm will arrive on Monday. Second storm in a week knocks out power to tens of thousands of homes on Vancouver Island Late last weekend, another powerful storm swept over Canada’s west coast, leaving tens of thousands of British Columbians...

The south coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia is being battered by a series of powerful Pacific storms and atmospheric rivers. New cyclones have brought winds gusting up to 90 kilometres per hour, B.C. Ferries cancellations and widespread power outages that affected about 80,000 BC Hydro customers at the height of the bad weather. In the village of Zeballos on Vancouver Island, a state of emergency was declared because of the risk of landslides, and 22 properties were evacuated....

Heavy rain and the threat of a landslide have forced the evacuation of Zeballos on Vancouver Island, while storm-force winds have led to widespread BC Ferries cancellations. Another series of storms is on the way. Flooding and landslide threat force evacuation of Zeballos on Vancouver Island Residents of the small village of Zeballos on the northwest coast of Canada’s Vancouver Island were forced to leave their homes overnight into Friday after torrential rain caused flooding and created a real...

The historic Springwater Lodge on Mayne Island is for sale for C$1.999 million—less than the average price of a home in Vancouver. The property has been vacant since 2024 but could be revived. The province’s new Conservative government plans to repeal Bills 43 and 44, which promoted denser development; according to expert Tom Davidoff, doing so could worsen the housing shortage and drive prices higher. Meanwhile, Environment Canada has issued a heavy-rainfall warning for much of Vancouver...

A bench at a SkyTrain station in Burnaby caused a transit shutdown, a funeral procession passed through Richmond to honor a soldier killed during training, and accounts belonging to a British Columbia couple suspected of insider trading were frozen. Burnaby bench fire: How a morning incident on SkyTrain disrupted transit—and what lies behind it Early Wednesday morning, SkyTrain passengers in Burnaby, a Vancouver suburb, faced an unexpected transit disruption: three stations were closed after a...

British Columbia is bracing for a sharp change in the weather: after a record-dry October, an atmospheric river is moving into the province, bringing torrential rain, mountain snow and strong winds, with a risk of flooding and power outages. Meanwhile, the Civil Resolution Tribunal has overturned a fine imposed on X, ruling that geoblocking an intimate image was a reasonable measure under Canadian jurisdiction and underscoring the challenges of regulating global platforms. And the resort...

Jensen Huang’s departure as head of Nvidia has turned a leadership change into an event with consequences far beyond the company itself. Nvidia has become one of the leading suppliers of computing power for the artificial intelligence boom, while Huang has been not only its co-founder and chief executive but also a prominent voice in debates over U.S. AI policy. The question now is not just who will run the company, but whether Nvidia can maintain its momentum and investors’ confidence without...

Coverage of GLP-1 drugs shows how quickly medications for obesity and diabetes are moving beyond the confines of conventional medical debate. Researchers are studying their possible effects on cognitive health, obstetricians and gynecologists are developing pregnancy guidance, and patients and doctors are facing questions about fertility and safety. The overall picture remains unclear: the metabolic benefits are better established than the proposed effects on the brain or reproductive system,...

These stories center on how technological expectations influence consumers’ and investors’ decisions, but in different ways. Inflation in the United States is fueling expectations of tighter monetary policy and weighing on stocks, especially those sensitive to the cost of capital. Meanwhile, the video game market shows another side of technological progress: GTA VI prioritizes a richly detailed world and visual complexity over the highest possible frame rate. The stories are not directly...

Measles outbreaks in individual counties in Vermont, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are part of a broader picture: an infection the United States considered eliminated domestically in 2000 is spreading across the country again. Local authorities are working to curb transmission through targeted measures—tracing contacts, warning people of possible exposure and strengthening controls at medical facilities. But these measures cannot replace vaccination: declining immunization rates are creating...

Three stories illustrate different aspects of the current news agenda: diplomatic efforts to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, the continued attrition of the armies, and, separately, consumer news about discounts on the MacBook Air. The two military stories are directly linked: ahead of talks in Abu Dhabi, Europe insists that no peace deal should be reached without its involvement, while Ukrainian figures on Russian losses underscore how high the cost of the war remains. The laptop story stands...

The measles outbreak in the United States has become both a test of the public health system and a political test for the federal government. Children’s deaths and thousands of cases show that a disease once considered conquered is returning where vaccination rates are too low. Against this backdrop, one question looms especially large: can the country retain its official measles elimination status—and what role is being played by the policies of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F....

The materials presented here cover a range of topics, from an unusually early flu season and vaccination options to the experimental use of a vaccine in oncology and a strike on a Russian oil refinery. They can only be partially linked into a single story: the central theme of the two medical articles is the potential role of the flu vaccine, primarily in reducing the risk of severe illness. The article about the drone-and-missile war targeting oil infrastructure belongs to a different context...

Two weeks before the release of Grand Theft Auto VI, the game has already become more than a major launch: it is a large-scale cultural and commercial event. Preorders, promotional projects, and player preparations reveal different sides of the same phenomenon: Rockstar is turning the new GTA into a product for a mass audience, a collector’s item, and a focus of investor expectations all at once. Yet the impressive sales figures do not offer a simple answer to how successful the launch will be...

There are still several weeks to go before Black Friday on November 27, 2026, but sales have already begun: stores are cutting prices on Apple and Samsung products, while Best Buy is rolling out a series of major promotions. The picture is mixed: some devices are already seeing record discounts, but the biggest offers on smartphones often depend on trading in an old phone, signing up for a plan, or receiving the discount gradually through monthly bill credits. The main trend in early sales is...

Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva held their first bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UN climate summit in Antalya. According to the Brazilian government, both leaders said they were ready to restore relations at the highest level and expand cooperation between the countries. Economic talks focused on investment in the energy sector: the sides discussed the possibility of increasing Brazilian investment in Venezuela’s oil industry. To...

The Associated Press reported that Israeli forces have detained dozens of Syrian citizens in the south of the country, many of whom were subjected to abuses and ill-treatment at Israeli detention facilities. One of them was 20-year-old Ali al-Abdallah. He said he was detained in June 2025 at an Israeli checkpoint near the village of Ain Dar, close to the buffer zone. His hands were tied, and he was transferred between Israeli prisons for five months without ever being formally charged. Another...

Over the past two days, three interconnected issues have dominated public debate in Venezuela: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s statement that a new Supreme Court and a “non-political” National Electoral Council (CNE) would soon be established to declare the presidency vacant and pave the way for elections; ExxonMobil’s return to the oil sector after a 19-year absence; and increasingly vocal debate over who actually governs the country—Caracas or Washington—and why ordinary Venezuelans have...

Imagine a child born to a Syrian woman and a foreigner, raised abroad but still attached to the homeland of their mother; a child born in Syria who does not have Syrian citizenship and faces restrictions on their rights; or a Palestinian whose father, grandfather and the Palestinian themselves were all born and lived their lives in Syria without ever obtaining citizenship. These stories raise a fundamental question: how can the law protect such people without undermining the state’s interests...

After the National Assembly approved amendments to the National Electric Power System Law, lawmaker José Gregorio Correa called them an important step toward overcoming the crisis. He said that, for Venezuelans today, electricity shortages have become a more pressing problem than inflation and crime. The new rules remove barriers to attracting foreign capital to restore infrastructure, while also envisaging the use of local workers. Correa acknowledged that the law is not perfect, but said it...

Venezuela is going through the strangest moment in its recent history: after U.S. special forces took Nicolás Maduro to New York in January 2026, the country is being led by his former vice president, Delcy Rodríguez. At the same time, she is negotiating with Washington over oil, debt and elections, while the opposition, led by María Corina Machado, has returned to the country and is demanding a timetable. Over the past two days, Venezuelan media have focused on U.S. Secretary of State Marco...

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, speaking in an interview on Al Jazeera’s Al-Muqabala, discussed agreements with Turkey and progress on restricting weapons. He said the prime minister’s visit to Turkey produced a clear understanding on managing water resources in exchange for energy flows: Turkish companies or the government will manage water projects inside Iraq to combat drought, while oil exports via the Iraq–Turkey pipeline will continue. Shipments through the pipeline have risen from...

The Venezuelan government has signed a memorandum of understanding with US company ExxonMobil providing for its return to oil and gas exploration and production in the country. President Delcy Rodríguez announced the agreement at a ceremony attended by John Barrett, the US chargé d’affaires in Venezuela. The document marks the culmination of months of bilateral negotiations. The parties plan to jointly develop fields onshore, in deepwater areas and in undeveloped sites, where oil reserves are...

The November 9, 2026, edition of Behind the News discussed why Jordan and Syria overcame the recent crisis that erupted after Jordan shelled southern Syria following an incident in the Jordanian city of Karak. Both countries reaffirmed their intention to strengthen their strategic partnership and tighten border controls, signaling that Amman and Damascus want to put relations back on a pragmatic footing and prevent a new escalation.

Seattle has bridges that don’t rest on supports but float on the water like enormous rafts. And then there’s a road that was never built—because city residents stood up to protect their park. Here’s how it happened. A Bridge That Isn’t Afraid of Deep Water Lake Washington is very deep. In some places, the lakebed lies dozens of meters below the surface, covered in soft mud. Driving supports into a lakebed like that would be almost impossible: they would just sink deeper, like a spoon in thick...

Did you know that Seattle is named after a man who did not want to fight its residents? In the winter of 1856, a real battle took place on the shore of Puget Sound. It later became known as the Battle of Seattle. But the story is more complicated than it may seem: it involved newcomers who built wooden forts, people who had lived there for thousands of years, and a wise chief whose name the city bears. Who Was Here First Imagine that you’ve joined a new class. Everyone already knows one...

Picture a big bowl of steaming Vietnamese pho. A handful of fresh greens goes on top: mint leaves, basil, fragrant herbs. The soup just isn’t the same without them. In Vietnam, these greens are called “rau thơm,” meaning “fragrant herbs.” In Seattle, USA, they grew in a very unusual place: on a steep hill that residents turned into a staircase of garden beds. How Vietnamese people came to Seattle In 1975, the long war in Vietnam ended, and many families were forced to leave the country. Some...

Imagine an ordinary net used to catch shrimp. Sea turtles often got caught in it along with the shrimp, and many died. So someone came up with a simple idea: build a “door” into the net that a turtle could use to escape. It seemed like a small thing. But that door became the reason for a dispute that spilled onto the streets of Seattle in 1999—and people are still arguing about it today. Why the Net with a Door Mattered The device is called a TED, short for “turtle excluder device.” Inside the...

When you turn on the tap in Seattle and pour yourself a glass of water, its journey began far away, high in the mountains, in the vast forest around the Cedar River. For many years, people argued about what to do with that forest: cut down the trees or protect them. It was a long and difficult debate, but it ended with the forest becoming a true treasure for the whole city. Where tap water comes from Imagine a huge green sponge. Rain and snow fall on the mountains, and the trees, moss, and soil...

Imagine walking into a store to buy boots and finding a rock standing inside. You can climb it, and nearby there’s a room where real rain falls. A store like this really exists in Seattle, and it wasn’t built just to look good. The building tells the story of an unusual company where the customers are also the owners. What Is a Cooperative? The word “cooperative” may sound grown-up, but the idea is simple. Imagine your whole class pitching in to buy a big ball for gym class. The ball belongs to...

Imagine your family is building a house and sets aside one kopeck for every ruble spent to decorate it. Hardly noticeable, right? In Seattle, they came up with that kind of rule for an entire city. Since 1973, whenever the city builds something new—a school, library, or park, for example—about one percent of the money goes to art. People from different professions and backgrounds helped shape the policy, and many of the artists whose works stand in the streets were children of immigrants. Where...

In Seattle, there are streets where cars don’t drive, and water laps beneath the windows. People live here in floating homes—real houses with kitchens, bedrooms, and flowers on the windowsills, but built not on land, but on water. These homes seem like something out of a fairy tale, but there’s a lot more to them: how they stay afloat, how they survived the changes people made to the lake, and how their residents care for it. How can a house float without sinking? Imagine filling a bathtub with...

In 2014, something happened in the American city of Seattle that would later spark debate among scholars, mayors, and ordinary ice cream vendors. The City Council decided to gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. No other major U.S. city had done this before. It became a huge urban experiment, and its main lesson was this: even a good idea needs to be tested, and every city can learn something from another. What is the minimum wage, and why do we need it? Imagine you’ve opened a...