Good morning. This is Hanna Lee.

This wildfire season is the second worst on record in Canada. While that sounds shocking, it also may unfortunately be our new normal — and experts say we're not prepared. We'll have more on that below.

THE LATEST

• Three wildfires are now out of control in New Brunswick, while parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, including Conception Bay South and Paradise, are on evacuation alert.
   
• China has announced a preliminary anti-dumping duty on Canadian canola imports — a fresh escalation in a yearlong trade dispute that began with Ottawa's imposition of tariffs on Chinese EVs last August.
   
• U.S. President Donald Trump has announced another 90-day pause on placing sweeping tariffs on China, just hours before their last agreement was due to expire.
   
• Keep your eyes on the sky tonight, as the Perseid meteor shower peaks. Under ideal conditions, it could produce roughly 100 meteors per hour.

This is our second-worst wildfire season on record — and it could be the new normal

(Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press)

An area roughly the size of New Brunswick has burned in Canada so far this year, and experts say this may be the new norm — for which we aren't prepared.

What's happening: The last three fire seasons are in the 10 worst on record, with the blazes of 2023 taking the top spot. While Manitoba and Saskatchewan account for more than half the area burned, B.C., Alberta and Ontario are also well above their 25-year averages.

Why it matters: Climate change is creating longer fire seasons and drier landscapes, which allow fires to quickly balloon in size. Back-to-back record seasons can also have huge consequences, severely damaging forests to the point where trees can't regrow for years. It also means less carbon being stored, which doesn't help with the fires' heavy emissions. Meanwhile, breathing in wildfire smoke has been linked to myriad health complications. All this means we need new strategies — and the status quo doesn't appear to be working.

Ukrainians brace for betrayal as Trump prepares to meet Putin

(Oleksandr Ratushniak/Reuters)

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. Ukrainians and their allies fear the leaders will emerge from the summit with a losing deal for Kyiv. 

What's happening: Trump has done little to allay their fears. Despite vowing to impose sanctions on Putin within weeks if he didn't act to end the war, Trump has now agreed to hold this meeting without the Russian leader having to give anything up in return. Meanwhile, Russia's demands to end the war remain largely unchanged since it first invaded Ukraine in 2022. 

What could happen: Some see the most likely outcome as a ceasefire that freezes the current lines of control. Ukraine would keep most of its territory, but not the Russian-held areas, including Donetsk and Kherson. This would be "vaguely tolerable" for Ukraine, said Roman Waschuk, a former Canadian ambassador to Ukraine. But it might not stop Russia from launching another invasion.

Al Jazeera journalist killed in targeted strike was 'loved by everyone,' says colleague

(Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)

Israeli forces killed five Al Jazeera journalists in a targeted strike in Gaza City on Sunday. The military says it was striking Hamas militants, while press freedom advocates say it was meant to silence journalists on the front line of the bloody war in Gaza.

Anas al-Sharif, pictured above, was among those killed. Israel says the 28-year-old led a Hamas cell responsible for launching rockets against Israeli citizens, which Al Jazeera has said is unsubstantiated. Al-Sharif's colleague, Hani Mahmoud, visited him in the tent where they were killed a few hours before the strike. He spoke with CBC's As It Happens about the incident, and about al-Sharif's life. "He was ... very, very loved by everyone," Mahmoud said, "because he talked about people. He reported about their stories."

PICTURE THIS

More than 7.3 million hectares have burned this year so far, more than double the 10-year average for this time of year, according to the latest figures from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre and Natural Resources Canada. The last three fire seasons are among the 10 worst on record, with 2023's devastating blazes taking top spot. Read more here.

In case you missed it

• U.S. President Donald Trump is deploying the National Guard in D.C., despite data showing crime there is at a 30-year low. 
   
• Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke by phone ahead of the upcoming Russia-U.S. meeting.
   
• WestJet says some passengers' personal information has been stolen in a cyberattack. While passport data was compromised, credit and debit numbers, as well as passwords, are safe, it said.
   
• AOL is discontinuing its dial-up internet service, a relic of the 1990s that was still being used in some rural areas.

IN LIGHTER NEWS

Tea dance brought back to Kahkewistahaw First Nation after 80 years

(Darla Ponace/CBC)

This year, the Cree community of Kahkewistahaw First Nation decided to bring back the tea dance for the first time in 80 years at their week-long traditional gathering. Long ago, people hoped the dance would make sicknesses think they were crazy and pass over them. It was outlawed, along with other Indigenous practices, until 1951. "It's time to come home," said tea dance leader Ken Saddleback. "Come home to our culture, our spirituality, our language."