Canada Morning Brief: What You Need To Know For June 16

Good morning — Andrew from Narcity here!

Curious why a nervous-looking Andrew Garfield told fellow Marvel star Simu Liu to "shut the f*ck up" at the TIME100 Gala earlier this week? The reason may or may not point to the existence of a global conspiracy! (OK, definitely not.)

5 Things You Need To Know Today

🍫 HOLIDAY
It's National Fudge Day in the U.S. — which is all the excuse you need to partake in a fake holiday almost certainly invented by a company with a vested interest in selling a lot of fudge.

⚽ SOCCER
FIFA is set to unveil the cities for the 2026 World Cup at 5 p.m. ET today. Canada, the U.S. and Mexico are co-hosting the tournament and Toronto, Vancouver and Edmonton are on the shortlist to host live action.

🏀 BASKETBALL
With a 3-2 lead entering tonight's Game 6 of the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors will look to put a bow on the 2021-22 NBA season. The Boston Celtics will try to force a winner-takes-all Game 7 back in San Francisco. Tip-off is at 9 p.m. ET.

🎥 FILM HISTORY
Even if you've never actually seen Psycho — which debuted in theatres on this day in 1960 — you can thank Alfred Hitchcock's horror classic for your paranoia that someone could be lurking on the other side of your shower curtain.

🎂 BIRTHDAY
Happy 22nd birthday to tennis star Bianca Andreescu, who became the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title at the U.S. Open back in 2019. The Mississauga native is currently ranked 69th on the WTA Tour.

In Case You Missed It

FINALLY SOLVING THE SERVICE CANADA LINES
You've seen — or even worse, experienced first-hand — the ridiculously long lines to get your passport renewed. Well, so have the feds, Helena Hanson writes. To address the "significant surge in demand," Employment and Social Development Canada will look to increase automation and consider "potential policy changes" to streamline the process. In the meantime, at least they're posting approximate wait times online.

THE NEW DEFINITION OF 'FULLY VACCINATED'
Acknowledging that the current phrasing leaves room for confusion, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says Canada will look to update what "fully vaccinated" means — a concession that merely having two doses isn't really up to date in a world where booster shots offer the best protection against the spread of COVID-19. Once again, here's Helena with another story on how changes at the national level will impact you.

'SQUID GAME' REALITY SHOW GETS GREEN LIGHT
Netflix is spinning off its bloody 2021 South Korean thriller "Squid Game" into a reality TV competition, aptly called Squid Game: The Challenge. The best part? Unlike the source material, you won't be brutally murdered for screwing up. The second-best part? The winner will take home a $4.56 million cash prize — which, again, sounds almost as good as not being executed. Sameen Chaudhry has the eligibility details here.

BRADLEY COOPER OPENS UP ABOUT SOBRIETY
If not for some timely tough love from a fellow actor, Bradley Cooper may have never become the A-lister (and nine-time Oscar nominee) we know today, Cata Balzano writes. In a recent podcast appearance, the A Star is Born actor credited Will Arnett for helping him recognize his destructive relationship with drugs and alcohol.

CANADA'S ODD 'WAR' WITH DENMARK IS OVER
After years, Canada's dispute with Denmark over which country controls a tiny uninhabited island off the coast of Greenland came to an end earlier this week with the two countries agreeing to split Tartupaluk/Hans Island. The result: Canada now has a 1.3-kilometre land border with Denmark. For more on our decades-long "Whisky War" with the Danes, here's Lisa Belmonte.

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