Good morning. In a scene that surely must have happened before in some martial arts cop movie, Thai police officers busted a thief trying to smuggle precious Buddhist artifacts by disguising themselves as lion dancers during Bangkok’s Lunar New Year celebrations.
The police recorded footage of the takedown — including a POV from inside the costume. So give it a watch here, and please, don’t go stealing during the Year of the Fire Horse.
—Quinn Henderson, Taylor Scollon, Lucas Arender
WORLD
What Trump’s tariff defeat means for Canada
Source: Lucas Parker / Shutterstock.
The U.S. Supreme Court just gave Canada’s CUSMA negotiators a gift.
What happened: In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump’s global tariffs announced on last year’s “Liberation Day” are illegal, as well as duties the White House claims it imposed in response to fentanyl trafficking.
Trump called the decision a “disgrace” and said he would use various other trade laws to restore the tariffs, as well as impose a new 10% global duty.
Yes, but: Because of CUSMA, around 90% of Canadian imports were unaffected by the now-illegal tariffs, and the ruling does not roll back the tariffs that have been most painful for Canada — the sector-specific duties on aluminum, steel, auto, and lumber imports.
Why it matters: The ruling does improve Canada’s position when it comes to renegotiating CUSMA by removing the threat of “reciprocal” tariffs suddenly being applied universally to Canadian goods.
On the other hand, it will also — at least temporarily — make imports from other parts of the world cheaper in the U.S. market, which could hurt Canadian importers who have enjoyed a relatively privileged duty-free position.
What’s next: The Trump administration will certainly try to resurrect its tariff regime by other means, but those are also likely to be challenged in the courts. This ruling suggests the White House could struggle to make a broad tariff policy stick without the approval of Congress, which it will almost certainly not be able to secure.—TS
INTERNATIONAL AISLE
Source: miss.cabul / Shutterstock.
🇮🇷 A U.S. strike against Iran is on the table. When asked about a limited military strike on Iran yesterday, Donald Trump said, “I guess I can say I’m considering that.” The two countries are trying to work out a nuclear deal under increasingly tense circumstances, with Iran refusing to budge on ending its nuclear program entirely. Recent reports have said the U.S. could eventually pursue targeted attacks on individuals and even regime change. (Wall Street Journal)
🇵🇪 Peru’s interim president ousted after just four months in office. Peru’s Congress voted to remove José Jerí, who is dealing with two different corruption scandals. José María Balcázar will take over as Peru’s ninth president since 2016, and he’s already in hot water for past comments about child marriage. Presidential elections are in April. (BBC News)
🇭🇺 Hungary stymies the EU’s €90 billion Ukraine loan. Though the loan was approved in December, unanimous approval is still necessary to let the European Commission use part of the EU’s budget to borrow money to lend to Ukraine. Hungary, which has heightened its anti-Ukraine rhetoric as of late, is using that requirement to block the loan. (Financial Times)
🇵🇱 Poland wants reparations from Russia. Poland is preparing a claim seeking to secure reparations for Soviet war crimes in the 1940s and the “economic and social consequences” stemming from decades of “Soviet systemic supremacy.” In 2022, Poland demanded €1.3 trillion from Germany for WWII reparations, a request that’s gone nowhere. (Financial Times)
🇫🇷 France gets its “Charlie Kirk moment.” Nine people were arrested in France in relation to the murder of 23-year-old far-right activist Quentin Deranque, allegedly killed by far-left militants. The killing, which some have called France’s “Charlie Kirk moment,” has put pressure on the leftist France Unbowed party and galvanized the hard-right National Rally party. (Reuters)—QH
BUSINESS
Toyota brings humanoid robots to Canada’s auto industry
Agility Robotics’ Digit humanoid robot.
Toyota Canada’s newest employees won’t be hacking darts in the parking lot or going out for beers after work.
What happened: Toyota is employing seven humanoid robots from Agility Robotics at its Woodstock, Ontario, assembly plant to aid in the production of RAV4 SUVs. The bots, called Digits, got the gig after Toyota conducted a year-long pilot where it also tested other bots.
In the still-nascent humanoid robot industry, Digit is an early winner. It was the first bot to get a paying job and works at plants for various companies, including Amazon.
Why it matters: The auto industry represents a major potential customer for humanoid robots, but Toyota is actually the first automaker in Canada to trot them out on the floor for commercial production. The Woodstock plant will be a proving ground for further industry use.
These robots promise to boost productivity and reduce stress on workers in the most physically demanding tasks, leaving them room to focus on more rewarding duties.
Of course, this comes with job loss fears. A Toyota spokesperson told the Toronto Star the bots are “absolutely not” meant to replace workers… but one has to wonder.
Big picture: The performance of humanoid robots can be more fickle than the performance of the Canadian men’s hockey team (please win gold), but that’s not stopping auto industry giants from pursuing them, like Canada’s Magna International and Hyundai — which is building them in-house via Boston Dynamics. And don’t forget Tesla, which has partially staked its future on humanoids.—QH
Catch-up on yesterday:
In another hair-raiser, the Canadian men’s hockey team beat Finland 3-2 to qualify for the gold medal match.
Canadian Valérie Maltais won her third medal of the Games, securing another bronze in the women’s speed skating 1,500m final.
Canadian Brendan Mackay won bronze in the men's freeski halfpipe, crushing his final run of the competition.
The Canadian women’s curling team came up short against Sweden in the semifinals, losing 6-3.
What’s happening this weekend:
The Canadian women’s curling team plays the U.S. for bronze on Saturday at 8:05 a.m. Eastern.
The Canadian men’s curling team takes on top-ranked Great Britain for gold on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. Eastern.
It was destined to happen: Canada and the U.S. duke it out for gold in the men’s hockey final on Sunday at 8:05 a.m. Eastern
Bid farewell to the Games with the closing ceremony, starting on Sunday at 2 p.m. Eastern.
WEEKENDER
Eat a toast cookie. This is exactly what it sounds like: a cookie made using pieces of toast. The concept has taken off since recipe creator Lungi Mhlanga posted her miso buttered toast cookie and it went viral. The one that caught our eyes though was her jam and buttered toast cookie.
Read Feed the People! by Jan Dutkiewicz and Gabriel N. Rosenberg. Two food policy experts come in hot with a contrarian take: maybe the modern industrial global food system isn’t so bad. Or at least, its problems can be addressed without tearing down and starting over.
Watch Rental Family on Disney+. This crowd-pleaser from last year’s festival circuit is now streaming. In it, Oscar winner and Canadian treasure Brendan Fraser plays a struggling actor in Tokyo who starts working for a company that provides people with stand-in family members.
Listen to Get Birding with Sean Bean. When British actor Sean Bean isn’t busy getting killed onscreen (e.g., Ned Stark, Boromir), he loves to go birdwatching, making him the perfect host for the new season of this delightfully quaint and cozy ornithology podcast.—QH
DROP THE PIN
🌎 Hint: Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in the ‘70’s, this city is known for its colonial Spanish architecture, stunning mountain views, and growing some of the best coffee in the world. It’s also surrounded by three volcanoes, one of which erupts regularly.
Think you know where this might be? Take a closer look and lock in your guess here.
WAIT, THERE’S MORE
Canadian retail sales fell 0.4% in December, but early data showed a healthy 1.5% jump in January.
Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. cleared an anti-trust hurdle, paving the way for the deal to go through if WB accepts it over Netflix’s offer.
Sam Altman warned that “the world is not prepared” for more capable AI models that will be available “soon.”
PEAK PICKS
If you invested $100 in every asset class in 1965, what would your investments be worth today?
YouTube has begun testing its experimental conversational AI tool in televisions.
Seven phrases you should avoid if you don’t want to come off as hard to talk to.
Read: How Big Agriculture has stoked a country music boom in Brazil.
A Game of Thrones play is coming to the British stage this summer.
Watch: What do scientists have to say about brain rot?
SATURDAY CARTOON
Artwork by Hailey Ferguson.
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.
Get your weekend going with The Peak’s Saturday Crossword, the daily sudoku, and Codebreaker.
Then, put on your sleuthing hat and figure out which of these headlines is fake.
A “Boneless Wing” Needn’t Come From Wing Meat, Judge Rules.
World’s Top Curling Stone Manufacturer Is Now Making Granite Timepieces.
Japan’s Largest Toilet Maker is Undervalued AI Play, Says Activist Investor.
Man in Sicily Trained His Dog to Illegally Dump Trash, Say Police.
Keep scrolling for the answer.
ANSWER
You deserve a gold medal if you deduced that #2 is the fake headline.