📈 The Peak on Saturday

Good morning. It’s true that teamwork makes the dream work — even for sea mammals. 

For the first time, orcas and dolphins were spotted collaborating to hunt salmon. The discovery was made by researchers off the coast of B.C. who detailed the findings in a new study. The dolphins appear to be acting as “scouts” for the orcas, who would then go in for the kill, and leave leftover scraps for the dolphins as a sort of finder’s fee. Not a bad setup.   

—Quinn Henderson, Taylor Scollon

🎬 Disney is investing US$1 billion in OpenAI and will license its library of characters for use in OpenAI’s video platform Sora. (Mouse Trap)

🩺 A new study found that 5.9 million Canadians are without a family doctor, which is actually 700,000 fewer than in 2022. (What’s Up Doc?) 

❌ Taxpayers filed more than 128,000 objections to the CRA for assessment errors in 2024-25, up from 66,000 in 2019-20. (Tax Mistakes)

📡 Canada’s Defence Investment Agency awarded its first contract, a ~$3 million deal to build military satellite comms in the Arctic. (Defence Dollars) 

🎭 Canadian spending on entertainment in October jumped over 200% compared with 2018 levels, despite pullbacks elsewhere. (That’s Entertainment)

Lilo & Stitch is a box office hit, the Detroit Pistons are good again, and American government officials are talking about “weapons of mass destruction” and regime change in an oil-rich nation — no, you haven’t time-travelled to the early 2000s, this is all happening right now.

Driving the news: The Trump administration is ramping up the pressure on Venezuela and may be inching closer to a full-blown war to topple its government, led by authoritarian president Nicolás Maduro.

Why it’s happening: The Trump administration has blamed Venezuela — and Maduro, specifically — for the flow of drugs and migrants into the U.S., while Venezuela says the U.S. is after its natural resources, including the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves.

Why it matters: As violence in the region escalates, the risk of a war breaking out between the U.S. and Venezuela is growing.

The Canadian connection: Venezuela and Canada both produce heavy crude oil, which U.S. refineries are tooled to process. If Venezuelan oil exports ramp up — because, say, a government friendly to Washington were to take power — demand for Canadian oil would suffer.—TS 

Ukraine open to territorial concessions. Kyiv has reportedly accepted a U.S. peace plan that would require it to make territorial concessions and demilitarize the Donbas region. As part of the plan, the region would be put under international supervision. Meanwhile, the EU agreed on a plan to freeze hundreds of billions of dollars of Russian assets indefinitely. (Le Monde)

Thailand and Cambodia agree to ceasefire, Trump says. In a social media post yesterday, Donald Trump said the two countries agreed to a ceasefire after conflict between the two states flared up this week. (AP News)

Reddit sues Australia over social media ban. The company has asked Australia’s top court to invalidate the new law, arguing that it limits teenagers’ freedom to participate in political discourse. (Wall Street Journal)

Do Kwon sentenced to 15 years in prison. The South Korean crypto entrepreneur, who developed the TerraUSD and Luna currencies, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud and wire fraud. Both cryptocurrencies crashed in spectacular fashion during the “crypto winter” of 2022. (Guardian)

King Charles shares ‘good news’ on cancer treatment. Buckingham Palace reported that the King’s treatment for cancer has moved "into a precautionary phase" after he "responded exceptionally well to treatment." (BBC News)

The athleisure brand colloquially known as ‘Lulu’ has been handed some lemons the past few years, but investors are hopeful that a change in leadership will result in some freshly squeezed lemonade.  

Driving the news: Shares of Lululemon were up ~10% yesterday following the announcement that CEO Calvin McDonald will leave his post on January 31. Prior to Friday’s surge, shares of the Canadian apparel giant were down ~50% on the year. 

Why it’s happening: Even though Lulu essentially created the athleisure market, sales in North America have ground to a halt as it struggles to keep up with competitors — losing on the price front against brands like Nike, and on the trendiness front against rising hotshots like Alo Yoga and Vuori. 

Meanwhile: Chip Wilson — Lulu’s founder, its largest independent shareholder, and a noted Red Hot Chili Peppers fan — launched a campaign against Lulu’s leadership. He even went so far as to take a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal titled “Lululemon: in a Nosedive.”

Why it matters: Investors are optimistic a new leader with expertise in product development can turn the ship around. If whoever takes the helm fails to do that though, Lulu and its leggings could go the way of skinny jeans and become just another millennial cultural relic.—QH

Eat a carrot skincare salad. Skincare internet is swearing by this viral raw carrot salad as a way to help clear up skin. Also dubbed the “retinol salad” (even though carrots don’t contain retinol), it almost certainly isn’t curing acne… but it still looks really tasty. May as well try it! 

Read the Financial Times Business Book of the Year, which this year went to The Thinking Machine by Stephen Witt. The chronicle of the rise of Jensen Huang and Nvidia beat some stiff competition. When you’ve finished it, check out the list of other nominees. 

Watch The Mastermind on Mubi. One of 2025’s most acclaimed films is now streaming. Directed by the singular Kelly Reichardt and starring rising star Josh O’Connor, it’s a drier-than-a-desert heist comedy about a small-town loser trying to rob an art gallery. 

Listen to Holo Boy by This Is Lorelai. Do-it-all indie rocker Nate Amos feels poised to reach new heights with the latest album under his This Is Lorelai moniker. Twangy acoustics mix with electronic bloops to create an unpredictable canvas for his gut-punch lyrics.—QH

Congratulations to the winners of last week's cartoon caption contest and thanks to everyone who submitted!

Want to see this week's cartoon and try your hand at another caption? Click here and give us your best witticism.

Step up to the plate and take a swing at The Peak’s Saturday Crossword! 

Plus: Want to test our new Sudoku? Give it a spin here. But keep in mind there may be bugs (and we’d appreciate you reporting any using the “report a bug” button above the puzzle).

Then, a fake headline is on the loose and only you can corral it. 

Keep scrolling for the answer.

Boom! #1 is the fake headline.