Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

The last time humans went to the moon, it was a destination.

But when NASA's Artemis 1 mission launches Monday, the moon will be more of a way station.

"It's really to learn how we can go further," said Isabelle Tremblay of the Canadian Space Agency, which is playing a big role in the Artemis missions. "It's really to learn how we can go to Mars."

A United Nations body that monitors some of the world's greatest natural glories is in Canada again to assess government responses to ongoing threats to the country's largest national park, including plans to release treated oilsands tailings into its watershed.

In a series of meetings beginning Thursday, UNESCO investigators are to determine whether Wood Buffalo National Park should be on the list of World Heritage Sites In Danger — a move the agency has already deemed "likely."

By Brittany Hobson and Bob Weber in Lac Ste. Anne

Pope Francis spoke in three First Nations languages at a sacred pilgrimage site hours after his public mass in Edmonton was called a missed opportunity for not including Indigenous culture or traditions. 

On Tuesday, Francis joined hundreds of people at Lac Ste. Anne, northwest of Edmonton, and during a church service, wearing a red Metis sash around his neck, said hello in Nakota, Cree and Blackfoot.

"Aba-wash-did! Tansi! Oki!"

Many cheered.

Introducing young hockey players to bodychecking at an early age doesn't protect them from injury as they move into older, harder-hitting leagues, new research has concluded.

In fact, the opposite may be true, said Paul Eliason of the University of Calgary, lead author of a new paper in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

"More bodychecking experience is not protective against injury and concussions," he said. "The rates of injury and concussion were actually substantially higher among those who had more bodychecking experience."