230m users ask ChatGPT about health

 

Prime number: 230m users ask ChatGPT about health

Nick Iluzada

Who needs doctors when you can ask a robot if your nagging cough is just a cold or, far more likely, a rare 18th-century pulmonary disease? OpenAI says there are hundreds of millions of you doing the latter. The AI company behind ChatGPT said that 230 million users ask the chatbot health questions every week. That’s about 29% of the app’s total user base (as of late last year). Health is such a popular topic on ChatGPT that OpenAI announced it’s launching a dedicated experience with “enhanced privacy” to store all of your health-related questions. The new platform, ChatGPT Health, allows users to connect their medical records and wellness app info. OpenAI stresses that it’s meant “to support, not replace, medical care.” It added that ChatGPT Health is not intended to diagnose or treat illnesses. For that, you still need to be a human with a medical degree.

U.S. Exits UN Climate Bodies, 66 International Organizations

 BREAKING: U.S. Exits UN Climate Bodies, 66 International Organizations

U.S. Exits UN Climate Bodies, 66 International Organizations
January 7, 2026
Reading time: 9 minutes

Full Story: The Associated Press with files from The Energy Mix
Author: Matthew Lee, Farnoush Amiri, Tammy Webber




UNclimatechange/Flickr



The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are among the 66 international organizations the United States is exiting under an executive order signed by Wednesday by Donald Trump.

The order suspends U.S. support for 66 organizations, agencies, and commissions, following the administration’s review of participation in and funding for all international organizations, including those affiliated with the United Nations. A White House memorandum said the withdrawal affects organizations and treaties that are “contrary to the interests of the United States.”

“Not exactly a smart move leaving rulemaking to others,” Andreas Sieber, associate director of policy and campaigns with 350.org, said on LinkedIn. “This will hurt the U.S. influence for decades.”

Many of the targets are UN-related agencies, commissions, and advisory panels that focus on climate, population, labour, migration and other issues the Trump administration has categorized as catering to diversity and “woke” initiatives, The Associated Press reports. Other non-UN organizations on the list include the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, and the Global Counterterrorism Forum.

“The Trump administration has found these institutions to be redundant in their scope, mismanaged, unnecessary, wasteful, poorly run, captured by the interests of actors advancing their own agendas contrary to our own, or a threat to our nation’s sovereignty, freedoms, and general prosperity,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

Trump’s decision to withdraw from organizations that foster cooperation among nations to address global challenges follows Saturday’s military action against Venezuela and accelerating threats aimed at Greenland, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico, and Canada.
Forfeiting Climate Influence

The withdrawal from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the latest effort by Trump and his allies to distance the U.S. from international organizations focused on climate and addressing climate change.

The UNFCCC, the 1992 agreement between 198 countries to financially support climate change activities in developing countries, is the underlying treaty for the landmark Paris climate agreement. Trump—who calls climate change a hoax—withdrew from that agreement soon after reclaiming the White House.

Gina McCarthy, former White House National Climate Adviser, said being the only country in the world not part of the treaty is “shortsighted, embarrassing, and a foolish decision.”

“This administration is forfeiting our country’s ability to influence trillions of dollars in investments, policies, and decisions that would have advanced our economy and protected us from costly disasters wreaking havoc on our country,” McCarthy, who co-chairs America Is All In, a coalition of U.S. states and cities concerned about the climate crisis, said in a statement.

Settled science shows that climate change is behind increasing instances of deadly and costly extreme weather, including flooding, droughts, wildfires, intense rainfall events, and dangerous heat, AP writes.

The U.S. withdrawal could hinder global efforts to curb greenhouse gases because it “gives other nations the excuse to delay their own actions and commitments,” said Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson, who chairs the Global Carbon Project, a group of scientists that tracks countries’ carbon dioxide emissions.

It will also be difficult to achieve meaningful progress on climate change without cooperation from the U.S., one of the world’s largest emitters and economies, experts said.
Building on a Pattern

The administration previously suspended support for agencies like the World Health Organization, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) serving Palestinian refugees, the UN Human Rights Council, and the UN cultural agency (UNESCO). It has taken a larger, à la carte approach to paying dues to the world body, picking which operations and agencies it believes align with Trump’s agenda and those that no longer serve U.S. interests.

“I think what we’re seeing is the crystallization of the U.S. approach to multilateralism, which is ‘my way or the highway,’” said Daniel Forti, head of UN affairs at the International Crisis Group. “It’s a very clear vision of wanting international cooperation on Washington’s own terms.”

The moves mark a major shift from how previous administrations—both Republican and Democratic—have dealt with the UN, and it has forced the world body, already undergoing its own internal reckoning, to respond with a series of staffing and program cuts.

Independent non-governmental agencies—including some that work with the United Nations—have cited many project closures because of the U.S. administration’s decision last year to slash foreign assistance through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The Washington- and London-based Center for Global Development estimates the impact of the USAID cuts at 500,000 to a million lives lost, with more to follow in the years ahead.

Despite the massive shift, AP writes, Trump administration officials say they see the potential of the UN and want to instead focus taxpayer money on expanding American influence in many of the standard-setting UN initiatives where there is competition with China, like the International Telecommunications Union, the International Maritime Organization, and the International Labor Organization.

The UN Population Fund, the agency providing sexual and reproductive health worldwide, has long been a lightning rod for Republican opposition, and Trump cut funding for it during his first term. He and other GOP officials have accused the agency of participating in “coercive abortion practices” in countries like China.

When President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, he restored funding for the agency. A State Department review conducted the following year found no evidence to support GOP claims.

Here is a list of all the agencies that the U.S. is exiting, according to the White House:
Non-UN organizations

— 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact

— Colombo Plan Council

— Commission for Environmental Cooperation

— Education Cannot Wait

— European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats

— Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories

— Freedom Online Coalition

— Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund

— Global Counterterrorism Forum

— Global Forum on Cyber Expertise

— Global Forum on Migration and Development

— Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research

— Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals, and Sustainable Development

— Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

— Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

— International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property

— International Cotton Advisory Committee

— International Development Law Organization

— International Energy Forum

— International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies

— International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

— International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law

— International Lead and Zinc Study Group

— International Renewable Energy Agency

— International Solar Alliance

— International Tropical Timber Organization

— International Union for Conservation of Nature

— Pan American Institute of Geography and History

— Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation

— Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia

— Regional Cooperation Council

— Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century

— Science and Technology Center in Ukraine

— Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme

— Venice Commission of the Council of Europe
United Nations Organizations

— Department of Economic and Social Affairs

— UN Economic and Social Council, or ECOSOC — Economic Commission for Africa

— ECOSOC — Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

— ECOSOC — Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

— ECOSOC — Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia

— International Law Commission

— International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals

— International Trade Centre

— Office of the Special Adviser on Africa

— Office of the Special Representative of the secretary-general for Children in Armed Conflict

— Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict

— Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children

— Peacebuilding Commission

— Peacebuilding Fund

— Permanent Forum on People of African Descent

— UN Alliance of Civilizations

— UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries

— UN Conference on Trade and Development

— UN Democracy Fund

— UN Energy

— UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

— UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

— UN Human Settlements Programme

— UN Institute for Training and Research

— UN Oceans

— UN Population Fund

— UN Register of Conventional Arms

— UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination

— UN System Staff College

— UN Water

— UN University

The main body of this story is based on two Associated Press dispatches that were republished Jan. 7 by The Canadian Press.

Gmail adds an AI inbox

  

Gmail adds an AI inbox to help you not read all that

Google

A challenger emerges in the fight against your extended family’s 77-thread email exchange: As part of an AI makeover for Gmail, Google is introducing a secondary smart inbox with message summaries and broadening access to other Gemini-powered Gmail features, the company announced yesterday. Still in beta mode, the new AI Inbox presents a personal assistant-like rundown of your unread mail, along with suggested to-dos. It will roll out to “trusted testers” in the US before expanding “in the coming months,” Google said. Meanwhile… All consumer Gmail accounts will gain access to Suggested Replies personalized for tone, AI summaries atop email threads, and the Help Me Write tool for generating and polishing messages—features that were previously only available to premium Google subscribers. The new features for paid users include a proofread tool that dances on Grammarly’s grave and an AI-enabled search bar that lets you find an email by asking questions like, “Who was the plumber that gave me a quote for the bathroom renovation last year?” per Google’s launch video. Google is crushing the AI race. Its parent company, Alphabet, surpassed Apple in market capitalization this week for the first time since 2019, buoyed by optimism around its latest Gemini model and its custom chips. Alphabet is now the second-most valuable company in the world behind Nvidia.

Possible insider trading on Polymarket?

 

Possible insider trading on Polymarket? You don’t say

XNY/GC Images

While you were enjoying the $5 payout from your scratch-off ticket, one well-timed bet by an anonymous Polymarket user locked in a $400,000+ payout. The user placed a $20,000 bet on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s downfall just hours before President Trump ordered his capture, raising concerns over insider trading in a wildly unregulated market. Last year, sportsbooks, financial platforms, and even media organizations like CNN signed deals with existing prediction markets or announced their own, further legitimizing the industry. Monthly bets placed on Polymarket and Kalshi jumped from less than $100 million in early 2024 to more than $13 billion last November. You can bet on anything. We have $20 on you reading this sentence, but only after you speedrun the puzzle at the bottom of the newsletter. Polymarket, which currently bans users in the US (that can be circumvented with a VPN), gives bettors the ability to wager on things like the January Fed rate decision, the 2026 Super Bowl winner, the next US presidential nominees, and the fall of the Iranian regime: Kalshi, which is regulated by the government and allows US users, said it doesn’t list contracts on war, but does have related bets, like whether or not Greenland will become a part of the US. Polymarket, meanwhile, now offers contracts on whether the US will strike Cuba, Colombia, or Somalia. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which regulates Kalshi (and will oversee Polymarket once it’s approved for use in the US), has long been considered under-resourced, leading critics to argue that prediction platforms can be manipulated by deep-pocketed bad actors. Kalshi and Polymarket have both said that they have systems to root out market manipulation and insider trading. Big picture: Polymarket is in hot water with gamblers who thought they’d get massive payouts from the more than $10.5 million in bets they collectively placed on a US invasion of Venezuela. The platform said that the capture of Maduro does not technically qualify as an invasion.—MM

 

 

McDonald’s is facing a lawsuit over its McRib

Niv Bavarsky

What exactly is in a McRib? The question you’ve been too afraid to ask for fear of the answer is at the center of a class-action lawsuit filed against McDonald’s. The plaintiffs are accusing the fast-food giant of deceiving the public about the contents of its cult-favorite sandwich. Much like your one ex, the McRib comes into and out of your life with no notice and disappears for long stretches. It returned in a limited capacity in November and, perhaps like that same ex should, it is now facing scrutiny: The federal case, filed in Illinois last month, alleges that the McRib contains lower-grade pork products like heart, tripe, and scalded stomach formed into a rib-shaped patty—but no actual rib meat. The suit alleges that using “rib” in the name allows the restaurant to charge a premium price—as much as $7.99, per McRib Locator—for a non-premium product, creating “millions of dollars in consumer harm.” McDonald’s told news outlets that the lawsuit “distorts the facts,” and that there are no hearts, tripe, or scalded stomach in the McRib. What’s next? The four plaintiffs are seeking class certification for anyone who bought the sandwich over the past four years, along with damages and restitution “to prevent further deceptive advertising practices.”

Meta pausing roll-out of smart glasses

 

Meta smart glasses fans abroad will have to wait

Andrej Sokolow/Getty Images

UK techies hoping to ask their glasses what to make with leftover beans and bread will have to resort to institutional knowledge for now. Meta said yesterday in a blog post that it’s pausing the international rollout of its Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses to focus on fulfilling orders in the US amid massive popularity and limited inventory. Meta said it’s received “an overwhelming amount of interest” in the specs that put a computer on your face without it actually looking like there’s a computer on your face. The company released the Display glasses with Ray-Ban owner EssilorLuxottica last fall to relatively positive reviews, offering a counterpoint to the historically flop-filled category of AI wearables and smart glasses. EssilorLuxottica credited its record Q3 sales last year partly to the success of the glasses, boasting a 11.7% YoY revenue increase, to $8.1 billion: The newest version of the glasses costs $799 and, in addition to an upgraded camera, it has built-in AI features and comes with a wristband to help answer calls and texts. Meta is also rolling out a teleprompter feature that can display text notes.

Grok under scrutiny for generating sexualized images

VCG/Getty Images


Grok under scrutiny for generating sexualized images of women and children. Regulators in the UK, France, India, and other countries are looking into reports that Grok, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, allowed X users to request and share deepfakes of people—including children—in bikinis. Several US lawmakers also condemned X, while the Justice Department said it will “aggressively prosecute any producer or possessor” of child sex abuse materials. Grok posted an apology last week for generating images that “violated ethical standards and potentially US laws,” but has continued to provide them in response to users’ prompts. X says that it removes illegal content and permanently suspends accounts associated with it. Yesterday, xAI, the company that owns both Grok and X, announced it raised $20 billion in a Series E funding round

If We had a Functional Constitution, We Wouldn’t have an Illegal War

If We had a Functional Constitution, We Wouldn’t have an Illegal War

If We had a Functional Constitution, We Wouldn’t have an Illegal War
MAGA stooges destroyed the rule of law

Jennifer Rubin
Jan 05, 2026





Donald Trump’s unprovoked and unconstitutional war against Venezuela demolished any notion that we live in a rules-based, constitutional democracy. If the Constitution—which explicitly grants Congress the exclusive power to declare war—were operative, lawmakers would have been briefed before the operation, robust debate would have ensued, and Congress would have voted (or not) to go to war.

Instead, without legal justification, Trump blithely killed scores of civilians on boats, launched an illegal war on Venezuela (killing more civilians), kidnapped its president, and declared he wants to take its oil and “run” a sovereign country. (Aside from its constitutional defects, an unprovoked war to extract oil is a moral disgrace, depriving us of moral standing to contest others’ nations’ wars of aggression.)

While egregious, this is not an isolated assault on the rule of law. Under Trump’s regime, the Constitution has begun to resemble Swiss cheese, or perhaps the redacted Epstein files—displaying more blacked out sections than text. The sections in Article I that establish Congress’s powers have all but been eliminated. In the words of Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, MAGA Republicans “have abolished the Congress.” She accurately observed, “They just do what the president insists that they do.”

Specifically, MAGA lackeys in Congress have allowed Trump to abscond with, among other things, the powers to declare war and make rules regulating the military (e.g., allowing Trump to violate the prohibition on murder of shipwrecked civilians), enact tariffs, establish uniform rules of naturalization (Trump now claims the power to “de-naturalize” enemies), and coin money (no pennies!). Trump’s stooges have also ceded the power to appropriate money from the Treasury (by condoning rescission), and to legislate for the District of Columbia (making a mockery of home rule).

The MAGA Senate gave away its power to confirm “officers of the United States” (e.g., U.S. attorneys), leaving it up to litigants such as James Comey and Letitia James to defend the Senate’s advice and consent role. As for Cabinet officials, MAGA senators have refused to render independent judgment on nominees they know to be unfit, including Pam Bondi, RFK, Jr., and Pete Hegseth. (In acquitting Trump for the insurrection that he staged 5 years ago, MAGA senators put a stake through the heart of the impeachment power.)

United States Capitol Building viewed between columns of the Supreme Court at sunset

The erasure of the Framers’ handiwork does not stop there. The president’s Article II obligation to faithfully execute the law has been deleted as he repeatedly ignores court orders and now contemptuously rejects the notion that our obligations under the United Nations are binding on the U.S. He runs roughshod over First Amendment protections for speech, press, and association, and has attempted to brush aside the 14th Amendment (affirming birthright citizenship and disqualifying insurrectionists from federal office).

Certainly, the overthrow of our constitutional order could have been stopped by minimally responsible House and Senate Republican majorities. But we cannot ignore the Supreme Court’s responsibility for wrecking the Constitution.



Despite Chief Justice John Roberts’s preposterous ode to the “rule of law” in his year-end report, he and fellow partisan hacks on the Supreme Court have made mincemeat of the Constitution. (In declaring our founding documents to be “firm and unshaken,” he reminds us that “hypocrisy is the compliment vice pays to virtue.”) Roberts’ 2024 majority opinion, devoid of textual or historical legitimacy, granted Trump immunity for virtually all crimes while in office, thereby ushering in his return to office, unprecedented executive overreach, reign of domestic terror, and now an unconstitutional and shameful war for oil. No chief justice has done more to destroy the “rule of law” than Roberts.

Since Trump’s return, Roberts and the other robed-MAGA functionaries have continued to hack away at Article I by bestowing on Trump unilateral power to destroy congressionally enacted departments and override statues (which, for example, establish independent regulatory bodies and mandate spending). Arrogantly disregarding the need for briefing or explanation, the MAGA justices summarily have overturned numerous decisions of lower courts to greenlight Trump’s executive overreach.

It would be useful if members and judges such as Roberts aligning themselves with the “Federalist Society” would actually read the Federalist Papers, which cautioned about the very outcome Trump achieved. “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny,” James Madison warned in Federalist No. 47. Madison’s notion that “the preservation of liberty requires that the three great departments of power should be separate and distinct” now sounds quaint, archaic and foreign.

Before the 2024 election, Protect Democracy warned:


Authoritarian projects cannot succeed without the cooperation or acquiescence of legislatures, courts, and other institutions designed to provide checks and balances. In some cases, authoritarians explicitly rewrite the rules to strengthen executive power and weaken legislatures, while in others they simply stack these competing institutions with lackeys and compliant allies or engage in “constitutional hardball” by manipulating existing loopholes or pushing boundaries of existing laws. Authoritarians also often justify the expansion of executive power with cults of personality and aggrandizement of the trappings of office, while denigrating checks and balances as corrupt obstacles to the popular will.

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Put differently, the “Constitution” as drafted and amended over more than two centuries is unrecognizable, and concepts such as “rule of law,” “separations of powers,” and “checks and balances” have become meaningless platitudes. We are left with a wholesale obliteration of checks and balance, which in turn resulted in an illegal war with uncertain consequences.

However, while Trump and his MAGA acolytes certainly have made considerable headway in destroying the exoskeleton of our democracy (a written constitution in which power is divided to thwart tyranny), done incalculable damage to our democracy, ruined countless lives (e.g., fired civil servants, deported hard-working immigrants), endangered our troops, and destroyed our moral standing in the world, we should not conclude the Constitution is gone for good.

We can begin to restore constitutional order with sustained, robust, and peaceful protest to educate the public and hold Republicans responsible for serial outrages. Democrats should be encouraged to use every device to stop the slide into fascism and focus on Trump’s multiple outrages and broken promises. (Prices are up, corruption is at unprecedented levels, and a new illegitimate war is underway.)

With that predicate, Democrats then must run up the score in the midterms, the essential mechanism to halt further constitutional vandalism and set the predicate for democracy’s revival. The latter will require curtailing president powers through elections, legislation, constitutional amendment, and/or judicial decisions; electing a Congress that fulfills its constitutional obligations; and reforming an anti-constitutional Supreme Court by limiting justices’ terms, expanding the court, and shrinking its appellate jurisdiction.

In sum, we must be honest about the constitutional wreckage, the culprits responsible, and the work that we must undertake. If Americans rise to the occasion, they can deliver an historic rebuke to scads of Republicans, allowing the hard work of repair to begin. Our failure to do so would spell catastrophe for democratic recovery.




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80th ROLEX Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

80th ROLEX Sydney Hobart Yacht Race

Master Lock Comanche takes Line Honours


Home2025Master Lock Comanche takes Line Honours



Matt Allen and James Mayo have sailed Master Lock Comanche to Line Honours in the 2025 Rolex Sydney Hobart, the 80th edition of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 628 nautical mile race.
news—
28 December 2025 at 6:37 pm


28/12/25 - 18.15pm ( 53.15 hours after start) 

After an all-day game of cat and mouse with three other yachts, Master Lock Comanche, the race record holder since 2017, finished the race at 18.03.36 this evening, in the time of 2 days 5 hours 3 minutes 36 seconds to claim the title. Her finish time was nowhere near her record time of 1 day 9hrs 15mins 24secs.



Master Lock Comanche powering away - ROLEX/Andrea Francolini pic.

Master Lock Comanche, LawConnect (Christian Beck) and SHK Scallywag 100 (owned by Seng Huang Lee and skippered by David Witt) were locked in a battle for the lead, each taking the race lead during today, with Bryon Ehrhart’s Lucky (USA) snapping at the heals, little more than a mile separating the four which were in sight of each other most of the day.



LawConnect was unable to catch Master Lock Comanche - ROLEX/Andrea Francolini pic.

However, this afternoon Master Lock Comanche made her escape, leaving the rest in her wake.



SHK Scallywag held the lead earlier in the day - ROLEX/Andrea Francolini pic.

Allen and Mayo’s victory put to bed the pain of last year when Master Lock Comanche, the newest of the 100 footers, became one of the early casualties of the race when her mainsail tore, forcing her retirement.

Di Pearson/RSHYR media

Liberal Party leadership race begins in Quebec with Charles Milliard

Liberal Party leadership race begins in Quebec on Monday

Quebec Liberal Party leadership race begins Monday
ByErika MorrisOpens in new window


Updated: January 11, 2026 at 11:57AM EST

Published: January 11, 2026 at 11:50AM EST

Charles Milliard, candidate for the leadership of the Quebec Liberal Party, delivers a speech at the Quebec Liberal Party leadership convention in Quebec City on Sat., June 14, 2025. (Joel Ryan/The Canadian Press) (Joel Ryan/La Presse canadienne)

The latest Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) leadership race kicks off Monday to find Pablo Rodriguez’s successor after he resigned while mired in controversy last month.

So far, one candidates has officially thrown his name into the ring: Charles Milliard — former head of the Quebec Federation of Chambers of Commerce.

Milliard came in second behind Rodriguez in the previous race.


Others have floated the idea of vying for the leadership, including farmer Mario Roy, who would be running a second time, former Via Rail Canada President and CEO Yves Desjardins-Siciliano and former Desjardins Group President and CEO Guy Cormier.

Desjardins-Siciliano announced Sunday he changed his mind despite “having received expressions of confidence ... [and] support.”

The former president of the Conseil du patronat, Karl Blackburn, has already announced that he will not be running.

Hopefuls have until Feb. 13 at 5 p.m. to register and enter the leadership race. The new head of the party will be chosen at the PLQ convention March 14.


The latest race will be significantly shorter than the previous, which officially started Jan. 13, 2025 and ended when Rodriguez was elected on June 14.READ MORE: Quebec Liberal leadership hopeful wants to bring back to ‘bread and butter’ issues

The party announced last week it has appointed a “compliance and ethics officer” to ensure compliance with the Election Act in terms of financing for its new leadership race.

Just months after winning his bid last June, Rodriguez was severely criticized following reports alleging some party members were paid to vote for him in the campaign.

Last November, The Journal de Montréal alleged that some 20 donors had been reimbursed for their $500 contributions at a fundraising event.

As a result, the National Assembly adopted a “no-brownies” law, effectively closing a loophole in the province’s electoral law which technically allowed offering a donation in exchange for a vote — provided all candidate expenses were submitted to Quebec’s chief electoral officer.

The PLQ launched an internal investigation into the allegations. Quebec’s anti-corruption police is also investigating the party.

BC’s population has dropped: Why it’s lower and what it means - Victoria Times Colonist

BC’s population has dropped: Why it’s lower and what it means - Victoria Times Colonist

B.C.'s population has dropped: Here's why it's lower and what it means
Between July and October of this year, over 26,000 non-permanent residents left B.C. as part of a trend that dropped Canada’s overall population by 0.2 per cent.
Alec Lazenby, Vancouver Suna day ago





For the first time in recorded history, B.C.’s population has dropped. MARK VAN MANEN, PNG

Listen to this article
00:05:35


For the first time in recorded history, B.C. has finished the year with fewer people than it started with.

Experts say that while the population drop could help drive down rents in some parts of the province, it is unlikely to help the struggling health-care system — and it could exacerbate shortages of workers in certain sectors.

“We’re definitely seeing the impacts on the post-secondary system in the country because a lot of institutions are struggling financially,” said Lisa Brunner, a research associate at the University of B.C.’s centre for migration studies.

“We’re also starting to see it in some companies that are saying that they’re having difficulty hiring workers.”

Between July and October of this year, more than 26,000 non-permanent residents left B.C. as part of a trend that dropped Canada’s overall population by 0.2 per cent.

That is the second-highest drop in population in the country over that period, behind only Ontario. Only Alberta and Nunavut saw their population increase.
How does the population drop compare to past years?

Premier David Eby and his government have been pointing to B.C.’s population growth as part of the reason for the increasing demand for housing, health care and other public services.

In September, he drew a correlation between Canada’s temporary foreign worker program and high youth unemployment, which saw 18,500 young people stop their search for a job in June.

“We can’t have an immigration system that fills up our homeless shelters and our food banks. We can’t have an immigration system that outpaces our ability to build schools and housing. And we can’t have an immigration program that results in high youth unemployment,” said Eby, drawing rebuke from some members of his party.




B.C. gained large numbers of people in 2022, 2023 and 2024, and its population soared from 5.3 million to just under 5.7 million.

Losses in the first quarter of this year were due to a decline in natural population growth and interprovincial migration. But decreases in the past two quarters, making up the vast majority of the decrease, have been due to out-migration.

Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon said in a statement that the reduction gives the province “a moment to breathe,” but said he recognizes that immigration will be needed to help fill gaps in the labour force.

Brunner said the caps on international students and federal changes to work permits and permanent residency have made it harder for work permit and study permit holders to stay in Canada permanently.

She criticized the federal government for encouraging people to come to Canada during and immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 with the promise of permanent residency, only to take that away.

“Those temporary residents became a political liability, and so the government is choosing to send home many members of our communities that our society has really depended on during the pandemic,” Brunner said.



Kevin Root, chairperson of the Alliance of B.C. Students, said many international students have told him they “feel like the rug has been pulled out from under them.”
Will it address issues surrounding housing and health care?

Rentals.ca has logged a 6.8 per cent drop in average rents across the province, while the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported this month that vacancy rates have risen in both Vancouver and Victoria.

Andy Yan, director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University, said most non-permanent residents are renters, meaning that a drop in their numbers could be good news for those looking for more affordable housing.

But, he said, most non-permanent residents are of working age, meaning their exit is unlikely to make much of a difference to the health-care crisis.

“Certainly they may need some health care, but they’re not necessarily in the kind of more expensive types of care,” Yan said.

Brunner said many high-income countries are struggling with an aging population, and Canada is no exception.

She said that the country will have to make some difficult decisions if it no longer plans to rely as much on immigration to solve its demographic challenges, though she recognizes that Ottawa isn’t fully moving away from welcoming new residents.

“It’s not just about demographics, it’s about the social services that we provide for our community members,” Brunner said.

“Canada will still need to rely on immigration.”
What does it mean for employers?

Since the pandemic, many sectors have been having trouble attracting the kinds of workers they need, and business leaders fear the changes will affect their ability to hire skilled employees.

Ryan Mitton, director of legislative affairs for B.C. for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said a recent poll conducted by his organization found 47 per cent of small businesses are struggling to find employees.

“We are asking the federal government and the provincial government to pursue permanent paths to citizenship for current economic immigrants,” Mitton said.

“Temporary foreign workers who have already come into Canada, who have received the skills training, who have been here for several years, they’re looking for a permanent path to citizenship, and we need to enable that, because businesses have already spent time investing and training these workers.”

Read more stories from the Vancouver Sun here.

TrumpDance

 TikTok signed agreements to create a new US joint venture. The company said yesterday that it had signed the deals, moving forward with a plan to avoid the app being banned in the US. The agreements are with Oracle, Silver Lake Management, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX. When the deal closes, which is expected to happen next month, it will create a company separate from TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, that will be majority-owned by the American investors. The new company will be responsible for protecting data, moderating content, and the algorithm’s security in the US, according to a memo to TikTok employees viewed by news outlets.

There'll be no iPhone 18 launch this year

 

There'll be no iPhone 18 launch this year - reports suggest

 

Apple appears unlikely to release a standard iPhone 18 model this year, according to a growing number of reports. Instead, the new phone will probably arrive in the spring of 2027, marking a major shift in Apple's annual launch cycle. The expected change apparently allows for better differentiation among models and improved management of the tech giant's supply chains. The Pro models, however, should arrive in the fall of this year, as usual ...

Secure Proton eMail

 Proton Mail: https://go.getproton.me/aff_c?offer_id=7&aff_id=13658 I never intended to switch away from Gmail. But I went ahead and set up an account with Proton Mail anyway, and I haven’t opened Gmail since.

The Politics of Plunder

The Politics of Plunder
Trump’s domestic and foreign policies have one consistent theme.



WILL SALETAN, CATHY YOUNG, ANDREW EGGER, SAM STEIN, AND JIM SWIFT



DEC 26

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MAGA Christmas was a choose-your-own-adventure affair this year. Did you want to hear Donald Trump wax eloquent, in what is definitely his own writing, about “the graces of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection” that “pour out on all who believe”? Just head over to his “Presidential Message on Christmas,” posted to the White House website. Are you the sort who found all that a little pious and drab? You might find Trump’s Truth Social message a little more your speed:




Joy to the World! Happy Friday.



President Donald Trump on Christmas Eve at his Mar-a-lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP via Getty Images)
The President Is a Pirate

by Will Saletan

Donald Trump calls himself the “Peace President.” But this week, as he outlined his plans to capture Greenland and hijack Venezuelan oil, his real agenda became obvious. It’s not peace. It’s extortion, conquest, and theft.

Trump spent his life pursuing wealth, not public service. As president, he reduces every question to money. He arm-twists companies into giving the government a chunk of their stock. He withholds food stamps as a bargaining chip. He calls low-income housing an offense against rich people. He muses about awarding himself $1 billion from the Treasury.

He treats international relations the same way. He slaps our allies with heavy tariffs, insisting that they “pay for the privilege of access to our market.” He bails out Argentina, meddles in its election, and then brags that his candidate’s victory “made a lot of money for the United States.” He bars immigrants from “third world countries” and sells visas to multimillionaires instead.

He also exploits war. Two months ago, in a speech to American troops in Japan, he fondly recalled the days when “they used to say, ‘To the victor belong the spoils.’” In more recent wars, he complained, “We’d win, and then we’d leave.” He made it clear that he would restore the doctrine of spoils. “Unlike past administrations, we will not be politically correct,” he told the troops.

In some parts of the world, Trump has cashed in on the use of force by other countries. In February, after Israel had leveled much of Gaza, he announced a plan to seize the territory, “own it,” and develop it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” A reporter asked the president whether he truly meant permanent occupation. “I do see a long-term ownership position,” Trump replied.

In Ukraine, Trump has taken advantage of Russia’s invasion. By choking off Ukraine’s access to military aid and intelligence, he extracted Kiev’s agreement to give much of its mineral wealth to the United States. “I made a deal to take rare earth,” he boasted. “That’s the equivalent of much more” than the aid Joe Biden had sent to Ukraine, he said.

Trump also found a second revenue stream from the war: selling weapons to NATO—at “full price”—which NATO would then deliver to Ukraine. “We’re making money,” he told reporters. “We have the hottest company,” he added a minute later. Then, catching his slip, he corrected the last word to “country.”

Like Vladimir Putin, Trump has concocted grievances to justify aggression against other nations. In his inaugural address, he vowed to seize the Panama Canal, claiming that Panama had violated its 1977 agreement to keep the canal neutral. Then, in a bid to annex Canada, he threatened to choke off that country’s foreign trade. To rationalize his coercion, he alleged that Canada “stole” its auto industry from the United States.

Now Trump has deployed the Navy, the Coast Guard, and other forces to harass and intimidate Venezuela. Last week, he issued an ultimatum, warning that the military buildup would continue until Venezuelans “return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us.”

Trump’s tales of oil and land theft apparently date to 1976, when Venezuela nationalized its oil industry. As usual, he’s wrong—American companies didn’t own any of Venezuela’s land or oil—but he’s plotting to capitalize on his propaganda. On Monday he said he had spoken to “all the big” U.S. oil companies about returning to Venezuela once the current government, under American pressure, is ousted.

And oil companies aren’t the only ones who stand to profit. Last week, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, a Trump ally, introduced legislation authorizing “private American citizens and their businesses” to confiscate boats and other alleged property of drug cartels.

Meanwhile, after months of hectoring Greenland to separate from Denmark and join the United States—under threats of tariffs and military force—Trump announced on Monday that he had appointed a special envoy whose self-described assignment was to “make Greenland a part of the U.S.” Trump dismissed Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland, scoffing, “They say that Denmark was there 300 years ago or something with a boat. Well, we were there with boats, too, I’m sure.”

This isn’t the foreign policy many of Trump’s voters wanted. They thought “America First” meant staying home. Instead, Trump has gone abroad to seize land and treasure. He’s a pirate. And being a pirate is all fun and games until somebody loses an island.

Requirements for Porting Your Number

 Requirements for Porting Your Number

To successfully port your number, make sure you meet the following conditions: An eligible phone number for porting, as certain prepaid numbers might not qualify. No prior cancellation of the number (your current service must still be active) An account in good standing with no unpaid balances. The exact account holder name and billing address as registered Your account number and, if applicable, a PIN or password A copy of your recent bill (some providers may request this for verification)

Providing accurate information is key. Incomplete or incorrect details can delay the porting process or even result in a rejected request from your new carrier.
Why Port Your Number to a VoIP Provider?

Porting your phone number to a VoIP provider is a smart upgrade that offers long-term benefits for both individuals and businesses.

Here’s why making the switch is worth it:
Keep your existing phone number

Switching providers no longer means losing your number. With number porting, you can move to a VoIP service with better pricing or features without disrupting your business contacts or workflows.
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Ashley MacIsaac concert cancelled after AI wrongly accuses him of being sex offender | CBC News

Ashley MacIsaac concert cancelled after AI wrongly accuses him of being sex offender | CBC News

Ashley MacIsaac concert cancelled after AI wrongly accuses him of being sex offender
'I'm telling you, this is not a nice place to be,' he told CBC News
The Canadian Press · Posted: Dec 23, 2025 1:39 PM PST | Last Updated: December 24


Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac said 'I'm not the first and I'm sure I won't be the last,' after a Google AI-generated summary mistakenly confused him with someone else with the same last name. (Kelly Clark/The Canadian Press)

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Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac says he may have been defamed by Google after it recently produced an AI-generated summary falsely identifying him as a sex offender.

The Juno Award-winning musician said he learned of the online misinformation last week after a First Nation north of Halifax confronted him with the summary and cancelled a concert planned for Dec. 19.

"You are being put into a less secure situation because of a media company — that's what defamation is," MacIsaac said in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press, adding he was worried about what might have happened had the erroneous content surfaced while he was trying to cross an international border.


"If a lawyer wants to take this on (for free) ... I would stand up because I'm not the first and I'm sure I won't be the last."

MacIsaac said the summary falsely asserted he had been convicted of a series of offences including sexual assault, internet luring, assaulting a woman and attempting to assault a minor. As well, he said the Google entry accused him of being listed on the national sex offender registry, which is also untrue.

"I could have been at a border and put in jail," he said. "So something has to be figured out as far as what the AI companies are responsible for ... and what they can prevent."

MacIsaac performed at the 2013 East Coast Music Awards in Halifax. (Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press)
First Nation apologizes

The 50-year-old virtuoso fiddler said he later learned the inaccurate claims were taken from online articles regarding a man in Atlantic Canada with the same last name.

Google Canada spokesperson Wendy Manton issued a statement saying Google's "AI overviews" are frequently changing to show what she described as the most "helpful" information.
With gigs dried up, Cape Breton's Ashley MacIsaac wants to play in your living roomFamed fiddler Ashley MacIsaac first to buy legal marijuana in Cape Breton

"When issues arise — like if our features misinterpret web content or miss some context — we use those examples to improve our systems, and may take action under our policies."

Meanwhile, the Sipekne'katik First Nation issued a public apology to MacIsaac, saying in an online post that the cancellation was based on incorrect information.

"We deeply regret the harm this caused to your reputation and livelihood," the message says. "Chief and council value your artistry, contribution to the cultural life of the Maritimes, and your commitment to reconciliation."

As for the cancelled concert, MacIsaac says he's looking forward to rescheduling the event. But he said he wanted things to settle down before setting a date.
People reading AI summaries on Google search instead of news stories, media experts warnTop AI assistants misrepresent news content, study finds

"I don't feel comfortable about going there right now because I don't think the proper information can be disseminated within a week. It's seen so many shares," he said. "I didn't want to bring any attention negatively to the community."


He speculated about how the misinformation might have prompted the cancellation of a concert scheduled for earlier this year in Mexico.

MacIsaac said he doesn't have the money to pay for a lawsuit that could take years to settle.

But when CBC News reached him by phone on Christmas Eve, he said he'd already received queries from law firms across the country interested in taking it on pro bono.

He says he's considering his options in the hopes that he can prevent other people from experiencing something similar in the future.

“I'm telling you, this is not a nice place to be," he said. "I'm sitting outside my grandmother's going in for Christmas. This isn’t a conversation I want to have today — 'Oh, yeah, somebody called me a sex offender.'”
No stranger to controversy

MacIsaac burst onto the music scene in the 1990s as a wildly talented teenager who blended traditional Celtic music with a high-energy, rocking style.

To be sure, he is no stranger to controversy.

During a 1999 concert in Halifax, he launched into a profanity-laced rant that ended the show and resulted in widespread cancellations of his gigs. And in early 1997, he attracted attention for discussing his sexual proclivities with a reporter and flashing his private parts during an appearance on a late-night U.S. talk show.
WATCH | MacIsaac buying pot in 2018:




First to buy 'in God's country': Ashley MacIsaac talks his pot purchase
October 17, 2018|
Duration0:57Fiddler Ashley MacIsaac was the first to buy legal cannabis in Cape Breton on Wednesday. He discusses what he bought.

But he hasn't had any real run-ins with the law, aside from receiving an absolute discharge and no fine in 2001 for possessing marijuana in Saskatchewan. When Judge Linton Smith granted the discharge, he told MacIsaac's lawyer, "The only condition I'd like to attach is if you could get my wife an autograph."

When cannabis was legalized in Canada in October 2018, MacIsaac was the first in line at a Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. branch in Cape Breton, which was about to become the only legal place to buy recreational cannabis on the island.


"I don't need to be a criminal anymore, and that's a great feeling," he said at the time. "And my new dealer is the prime minister!"