What are we supposed to make of tensions on the Korean peninsula? In this morning’s folio, The Globe and Mail surveys the various threats and counter-threats plaguing the people on either side of the border separating north from south. The rough conclusion: the North is being belligerent, the South is being abnormally belligerent right back, and the relative newness of both countries’ leaders means a small problem could boil into a catastrophe. Or, if you believe the skeptics quoted in the folio, this is all nothing new—just different stakes in the same, decades-long game of ratcheting up and lowering of tensions. What’s real and what isn’t is impossible to tell apart, at least from this far away.

Kind of makes it hard not to worry. Unless, of course, we have no reason to.

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What’s above the fold this morning?

The Globe and Mail leads with improving relations between Canada and the United Arab Emirates. The National Post fronts Conservative attack ads targeted at presumptive Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. The Toronto Star goes above the fold with the Blue Jays’ opening night loss. The Ottawa Citizen leads with the first charge laid as a result of the robocalls voter suppression scandal. iPolitics fronts the need for federal regulations that reduce emissions in the energy sector. CBC.ca leads with a third man with whom two Canadians allegedly involved in an Algeria hostage-taking travelled overseas. National Newswatch showcases John Ivison’s column in the Post about forthcoming Conservative attack ads aimed at Trudeau.

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Stories that will be (mostly) missed

1. Nuclear waste. American authorities concluded there’s little environmental risk involved with shipping liquid nuclear waste from Ontario’s Chalk River plant to a processing facility in South Carolina.	2. Climate change. An environmental NGO says the federal government is coming to a “make-or-break moment” as it prepares to regulating greenhouse gas emissions in the oil and gas industry.
3. Arms trade. The UN General Assembly passed a treaty that restricts the global arms trade, and cautious Canadian officials will now consider its ratification—a process that will include some form of consultations.	4. Homophobia. A pair of restaurant owners in Morris, Man., are closing their business because they simply can’t weather constant homophobic slurs directed their way by local townspeople.

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