BREAKING Bob Cole, veteran CBC broadcaster and former voice of 'Hockey Night in Canada,' dead at 90
Bob Cole, legendary CBC broadcaster and former voice of Hockey Night in Canada, has died. He was 90.
Prince William announced 15 inaugural finalists Friday for the Earthshot Prize, his ambitious global environmental award that aims to find new ideas and technologies to tackle climate change, air pollution and the Earth's most pressing challenges.
The finalists include a 14-year-old student who proposes using solar energy to replace charcoal to power millions of roadside ironing carts in India; a land-based coral farm in the Bahamas to restore dying coral reefs; a community project in Congo devoted to protecting gorillas; and a Kenyan enterprise that turns organic waste into fertilizer and insect protein for farmers.
Five winners will be chosen next month from the 15 finalists, and each will receive a grant worth 1 million pounds (US$1.4 million). In addition, 14 global companies and brands, including Microsoft, Unilever, Ikea and Walmart, have agreed to support and scale the ideas developed by the finallists.
"When we launched the prize last year, our ambition was to find the most innovative solutions to the world's greatest environmental challenges," William said in a pre-recorded video announcing the finallists.
He said the award received over 700 nominations this year, and that the ambition and quality of the submissions "should fill us all with optimism and hope that our goals for this decisive decade are achievable."
William and his charity, The Royal Foundation, launched the Earthshot Prize last year, inspired by U.S. President John F. Kennedy's 1962 "Moonshot" speech that challenged and inspired Americans to go to the moon. William said he wanted to capture that "spirit of human ingenuity, purpose and optimism."
The prize is billed as the most prestigious of its kind, with a 50 million-pound prize pot to be awarded to five winners every year until 2030.
One of the shortlisted candidates is Delhi-based Vidyut Mohan, who has developed a portable technology that rapidly converts crop residues that would otherwise be burned into bio-products like fuel and fertilizer.
Mohan, 30, said he was inspired to act after seeing the skies of his hometown engulfed with black smog from burnt agricultural and forest waste, putting his own family's health at risk.
"It really felt nice that the problem that we are working on and mission that we are working on is now going to be projected on a global scale and the problem is going to be highlighted," he said.
Teenager Vinisha Umashankar, also from India, wants to use solar energy to replace charcoal to power the millions of ironing carts used by street vendors pressing clothes daily on the roadside.
"Whatever suited people in the past doesn't suit the present generation anymore, and it doesn't suit our world situation anymore either," said Umashankar, 14.
The award is the most ambitious project yet launched by William, who has long supported conservation charities in Africa and led work to tackle illegal wildlife trafficking.
Jason Knauf, chief executive of The Royal Foundation, said William was inspired by both his father's and grandfather's work on the environment and wanted to leave a "personal" legacy with the award.
"It's like if you know that this is the 10 years that really matters, it's the legacy: `What am I going to be able to say to my children in the future about what my contribution was during this decisive decade?"' Knauf said.
The winners will be chosen by a committee including veteran broadcaster David Attenborough, actor Cate Blanchett and World Trade Organization director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
The winners are due to be announced in a ceremony on Oct. 17.
------
James Brooks contributed to this report from Copenhagen, Denmark
Bob Cole, legendary CBC broadcaster and former voice of Hockey Night in Canada, has died. He was 90.
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.