Global National: Dec. 6

With the busiest shopping season of the year in high gear, some private shipping companies, including Purolator and UPS, say they’re stretched to the limit after picking up the slack from Canada Post amid its strike, and are even temporarily suspending certain shipments. Some more bad news for Canada’s economy, with the latest employment numbers, released on Friday. According to Statistics Canada, unemployment saw a surprising jump 6.8 per cent in November — which has driven the loonie down to just shy of its weakest level this year. The federal government embarked on a new frontier on Friday, launching its “Arctic Foreign Policy.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals will appoint an “Arctic Ambassador” and create two diplomatic posts in Alaska and Greenland to boost Canada’s presence in the north as well as increase security against foreign threats. And, te NYPD is intensifying the hunt for the man wanted in the shooting death of U.S. health care executive Brian Thompson. The killer has been on the loose since Wednesday and investigators believe he has left New York City. Plus, Taylor Swift takes the stage Friday night in Vancouver, B.C., in the final stop of her record-setting Eras concert tour. She will perform three shows at B.C. Place, to an estimated 160,000 fans.