In this photo provided by NASA, the Earth and its moon are seen from NASA's Orion spacecraft on Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. Orion and its three test dummies entered lunar orbit on Friday, Nov. 25, more than a week after launching on the first flight of the Artemis program. THE CANADIAN PRESS/NASA via AP)

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what's on the radar of our editors for the morning of April 3 ...

What we are watching in Canada ...

It's like a high-tech, high-stakes Canadian Idol finale — only instead of a recording contract, the prize is a perilous 10-day journey into deep space and a permanent place in history.

Later today, NASA and the Canadian Space Agency will introduce the four astronauts who will steer the next stage of an ambitious plan to establish a long-term presence on the moon.

One of them will be Canadian — the first ever to venture beyond Earth's orbit and around the dark side of the lunar surface.

Artemis II, as it's known, is currently slated to launch as early as November 2024 and will be the first crewed mission to the moon since the final Apollo mission took flight in 1972.

The crew will orbit Earth before rocketing hundreds of thousands of kilometres into deep space for a figure-8 manoeuvre around the moon before their momentum brings them home.

The other three astronauts will all be American, making Canada and the U.S. the only two countries to ever venture that far into space.

The plan is to put a man and woman on the moon in 2025 in service of the ultimate goal: eventually dispatching astronauts to Mars.

"This is a big moment for humanity," Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Sunday after touring the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he had a chance to chat with astronauts and visit Mission Control.

"This time Canada is writing history with our American friends … it's not even a new chapter. For me, it's almost like a new book in space exploration."

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Also this ...

There is still no sign of a missing Akwesasne man whose boat was found where the bodies of eight migrants were pulled from the St. Lawrence River last week.

Akwesasne Mohawk Police have been looking for 30-year-old Casey Oakes since Thursday, whom officers were searching for when the first bodies were discovered.

Oakes was last seen Wednesday night operating a boat that was found next to the migrants' bodies, but police have made no direct connections between Oakes and the deaths.

Police have said the eight victims consisted of two families, one of Romanian and another of Indian descent.

Authorities said they were allegedly attempting to illegally cross into the United States from Canada through Akwesasne Mohawk Territory, which straddles provincial and international boundaries and includes regions of Quebec, Ontario and New York state.

Police identified two of the migrants on Saturday as Cristina (Monalisa) Zenaida Iordache, 28, and 28-year-old Florin Iordache, who was carrying Canadian passports for two young children _ aged one and two _ who were among the victims. All four were of Romanian descent.

The identities of four Indian nationals also pulled from the marsh have not yet been confirmed and their next of kin had not been notified.

During an appearance Sunday on a French-language talk show, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his thoughts are with those affected by the tragedy, and that he wants to discourage people from putting themselves in danger to cross the border irregularly.

He said that is part of the reason why Canada signed an improvement to the Safe Third Country agreement with the United States to regulate and encourage proper immigration.

He told popular Radio-Canada television show Tout le monde en parle that Canada continues to be an open and welcoming country, "but we privilege people who come in a regular way."

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What we are watching in the U.S. ...

NEW YORK _ A report says McDonald's has closed its U.S. offices for a few days as the company prepares to inform employees about layoffs.

The Wall Street Journal cited an internal email from the Chicago-based fast-food giant saying U.S. corporate staff and some employees overseas should work from home while the company notifies people of their job status.

McDonald's did not immediately reply to emailed requests for comment. The report said McDonald's would inform its employees this week about staffing decisions that are part of a wide restructuring of the company announced earlier.

Though the U.S. labour market remains strong, layoffs have been mounting, mainly in the technology sector, where many companies over-hired after a pandemic boom. IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, Facebook parent Meta, Twitter and DoorDash have all announced layoffs in recent months.

Policymakers at the Federal Reserve have forecast the unemployment rate may rise to 4.6 per cent by the end of this year, a sizable increase historically associated with recessions.

McDonald's has more than 150,000 employees in corporate roles. About 70 per cent of those employees are based outside the United States.

The company reported its global sales rose nearly 11 per cent in 2022, while sales in the U.S. climbed almost six per cent. Total restaurant margins rose five per cent. In its latest annual report, it cited difficulties in adequately staffing some of its outlets.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world ...

Russian police on Monday were searching for a woman suspected of delivering a bomb that killed a well-known military blogger who fervently supported Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Russian officials said Vladlen Tatarsky, 40, was killed Sunday as he was leading a discussion at a café on the banks of the Neva River in the historic heart of St. Petersburg. Over 30 people were wounded by the blast, and 10 of them remain in grave condition, according to the authorities.

Russian news reports said the bomb was hidden in a bust of the blogger that the suspect had given to him as a gift just before the explosion.

The Russian Interior Ministry identified the suspect as Darya Tryopova, a 26-year-old St. Petersburg resident who had been previously detained for taking part in anti-war rallies. The Interfax news agency reported her arrest late Sunday, but later said that she was on the run while her mother and sister were summoned for questioning.

The Interior Ministry put Tryopova on the wanted list Monday.

Witnesses said that the suspect asked questions and exchanged remarks with Tatarsky during the discussion. One witness, Alisa Smotrova, said the woman told Tatarsky that she had made a bust of the blogger but that guards asked her to leave it at the door, suspecting it could be a bomb. They joked and laughed, and then she went to the door, grabbed the bust and presented it to Tatarsky.

A video showed Tatarsky making jokes about the bust and putting it on the table next to him just before the explosion.

Russia's Investigative Committee, the state's top criminal investigation agency, opened a probe on charges of murder.

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On this day in 2021 ...

Canada reached more than one million cases of COVID-19. The national tally topped the grim threshold when British Columbia reported 2,090 new infections. Canada had been recording about 100,000 new cases every three to four weeks, surging past the 900,000 mark on March 13.

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In entertainment ...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ "Son of a Sinner'' singer Jelly Roll was the big winner at the CMT Music Awards, as the rapper-turned-country singer took home three awards on Sunday as an outsider who won over fans with his confessional songs.

The tattooed singer got emotional during the show in Austin, Texas, as he thanked the country radio industry for its acceptance and shouted out to those who felt like him.

"You can be whatever you want to be. I promise you that. I told them that I wanted to be a country singer and I am standing here at the CMT Awards with the male video of the year, baby,'' he shouted.

The show started off with a sombre tone as country singer and co-host Kelsea Ballerini read off the names of six victims of a school shooting killed Monday in Nashville, Tennessee. She noted how she shared their pain, explaining that in 2008 she witnessed a school shooting in her hometown high school cafeteria in Knoxville and prayed for "real action'' that would protect children and families. Earlier in the evening, country artists wore black ribbons on the red carpet to honour victims of the shooting.

Canadian country superstar and five-time Grammy winner Shania Twain was given the Equal Play Award, recognizing her for being a "visible and vocal advocate'' for diverse voices in country music. Texas native and Grammy-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion introduced Twain and the pair danced and hugged to Twain's hit, "Man, I Feel Like a Woman.''

Lainey Wilson won twice with female video of the year for "Heart Like a Truck'' and collaborative video of the year for "Wait in the Truck'' with HARDY.

Co-host Kane Brown took home the last award of the night with his wife, Katelyn, winning video of the year for their duet, "Thank God.''

Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd were honoured with a tribute performance following the death in March of the last original member, Gary Rossington. ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Slash of Guns N' Roses and the Allman Brothers' Warren Haynes and Chuck Leavell wrapped the show with singers Paul Rodgers and Cody Johnson and backup vocals from LeAnn Rimes and Wynonna Judd.

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Did you see this?

OTTAWA _ The sweeping calls for change stemming from the public inquiry into the 2020 deadly mass shootings in Nova Scotia include a push to overhaul Canada's approach to the "epidemic'' of gender-based, intimate-partner and family violence _ something one advocate says will require transformative change.

The Mass Casualty Commission _ which examined the shooting spree in rural Nova Scotia that left 23 people dead, including the gunman _ released a report last week that makes 130 recommendations aimed at improving public safety and policing.

The commissioners singled out their findings about domestic violence, saying they believe it to be the "single most important'' lesson to be learned.

There is growing evidence, the report says, "that many men who commit mass casualties have previously committed gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, or family violence,'' and that many mass violence events begin with an attack on a specific woman, as it did in Nova Scotia.

"It is alarming to know that some people responded to the early RCMP communications on the night of April 18, 2020, by thinking, 'It's a domestic situation.' The mistaken implication is that a 'domestic situation' is not one that sets off warning bells,'' the report said.

The women initially targeted are frequently seen as "triggers'' rather than victims of the violence, the report noted. Nova Scotia RCMP publicly characterized gunman Gabriel Wortman's attack on his partner Lisa Banfield the night of April 18, 2020, as a "catalyst'' for the ensuing 13-hour rampage.

But the commissioners say that perpetuates the false belief that there is a distinction between private and public violence.

"We need a bold, transformative approach to this, because our current systems and structures and institutions are not working,'' said Kristina Fifield, a trauma therapist at Avalon Sexual Assault Centre in Halifax, one of the groups that participated in the public inquiry.

The commission said the first step in preventing mass violence is recognizing the danger of escalation inherent in all forms of violence and calls for a "prevention-oriented public health approach'' to the issue, which should include treatment for perpetrators.

Fifield said organizations like hers will need stable funding from governments to help both survivors and victims.

"We also need to have adequate services funded for men who experience violence, but also for men that perpetrate violence,'' she said.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 3, 2023.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2023