The Thursday news briefing: An at-a-glance survey of some top stories

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EU TURNS SCREWS ON TRADE DEAL:  European Union president Donald Tusk is warning if the free trade deal with Canada fails it could mean the end of such agreements with any other country.  Tusk and other EU leaders are pushing hard to persuade Belgium’s francophone Wallonia region back the proposed deal, which needs unanimity among all EU members. Belgium can only back it if it has unanimity among all of its regions. Tusk says to have a deal between over 500 million EU citizens and 35 million Canadians fall apart over the objections of a region of 3.5 million after seven years of talks would undermine the credibility of the EU as a whole.

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ADVISERS SAY FEDS SHOULD SPEND HEAVILY ON INFRASTRUCTURE: The Trudeau government’s team of economic advisers is suggesting there be more than $200 billion worth of infrastructure projects over the next decade using as few taxpayer dollars as possible. The advisory group met in Ottawa on Thursday. It said the infrastructure money could be raised by creating an independent bank that would attract private capital by offering investors steady returns through user fees generated by projects such as toll highways, bridges and airports.

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IRVING PREDICTS ENERGY EAST WILL GO AHEAD:  The head of Irving Oil said Thursday that he is sure that Energy East pipeline project will be eventually approved. But Arthur Irving told a speech in Halifax that the regulatory approval process is taking too long.  Irving says that Alberta’s struggling economy urgently needs the pipeline to transport its crude oil, and his firm is eager to partner with TransCanada (TSC:TRP) to build a deepwater terminal in the Bay of Fundy.

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BIG BUCKS NEEDED TO SOLVE HOMELESS PROBLEM:   A report on homelessness in Canada says the problem could be eliminated by nearly doubling federal spending on affordable housing to about $44 billion. The federal government has already promised to increase spending on affordable housing, but two groups say those increases don’t go nearly far enough. The report says with enough money — homelessness could be reduced to the point where it’s not a chronic problem. 

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QUEBEC LIBERALS PROBE SEX-ASSAULT ALLEGATION: The governing Quebec Liberals scrambled to gather information Thursday after a young woman’s allegation she was sexually assaulted by a caucus member. Premier Philippe Couillard said he’s taking the matter seriously and has asked the party whip to launch an immediate internal investigation to determine if the accusation is founded.At a Universite Laval vigil Wednesday evening in support of victims of alleged sex crimes at a student residence, a woman said she was assaulted while working as a hostess at a Quebec City restaurant in the summer of 2014. In a Facebook post that has since been deleted, the woman wrote the alleged aggressor was a Liberal member of the legislature.

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BROADCAST REGULATOR OUTLINES RESPONSIBILITIES FOR LOCAL BROADCASTERS: The head of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission says television stations have a responsibility to produce local news, even if it’s not profitable. Jean Pierre Blais told a parliamentary committee Thursday that financial profits aren’t everything. In June, the CRTC announced changes to the way broadcasters can pay for local TV news and required licence holders in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary to produce at least 14 hours a week of local news content — and to keep all of their stations running.

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SPECIAL FORCES JUMP INTO FRAY IN IRAQ:  Iraqi special forces backed by attack helicopters launched an attack into the town of Bartella outside Mosul Thursday. Islamic State militants at least nine suicide truck bombs, but Iraqi officials say the special forces retook Bartella. More than 25,000 forces, including the Iraqi army are taking part in the Mosul offensive.

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STERN COACH SENT TO PENALTY BOX: A Montreal minor hockey league has suspended a coach who ordered his team to do push-ups after a loss.  Hockey Lac St-Louis recently decided to suspend Louis Isabella after learning he ordered his 11- and 12 year-old peewee AAA players to do push-ups following a 7-2 loss on Sept. 18. The suspension is in place until May 2017. Although media reports said the children were assigned hundreds of push-ups, Fortier said he was told the number was between 50 and 100.

The Canadian Press