Good morning. Call it a holly-jolly heist.
A band of shoplifters in Montreal stole ~$3,000 worth of groceries while dressed in Santa and elf costumes. A group called “Robins des ruelles” claimed responsibility, saying that — in true Robin Hood fashion — they robbed the goods so they could give back to the less fortunate, placing the purloined food under a public Christmas tree and in community fridges.
We can hear several Canadian filmmakers rapidly typing out screenplays at this moment.
—Quinn Henderson, Taylor Scollon
FACTS OF INTEREST
🍃 Canadians have lost more than $131 billion investing in cannabis businesses, but stocks boomed this week as the U.S. eased up on pot. (Touch Grass)
⬇️ Canada’s population fell by ~76,000 people in the third quarter, just the second time on record that the population has fallen in a quarter. (Pop Drop)
🛒 The federal government is Canada’s single-largest buyer of goods and services, making $37 billion worth of purchases annually. (Buy Canadian)
📺 Viewers watched 700 million hours of podcasts on YouTube in October, nearly double the amount of time in October of last year. (Pod Boom)
🛻 Ford will take a US$19.5 billion hit this quarter, mainly from its EV division; the automaker is now abandoning the electric F-150 truck. (In Reverse)
TECH
China takes a leap forward in chip race
Source: ASML’s rendering of a EUV system.
China may have just found the last piece of its cutting-edge computer chip puzzle.
What happened: Scientists at a lab in Shenzhen have reportedly built an extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machine prototype critical to the manufacturing of the most advanced semiconductor chips.
Why it matters: China needs EUV technology to make high-end chips on par with what Western companies can produce. While Xi Jinping has made chip self-sufficiency a top priority, it was expected that it would take at least a decade before China could build its own EUV machines — this moves that timeline up significantly.
With a working prototype, China could now begin producing chips with EUV technology as early as 2030.
Catch up: EUV systems use extreme ultraviolet light to create extraordinarily complex patterns on tiny chips. ASML, a Dutch company that spent decades and billions of dollars developing the technology, is the only one in the world that can build them.
According to media reports, several ex-employees of ASML were involved in the development of China’s prototype and given fake names by Chinese officials to maintain secrecy, suggesting that the project involved a heavy dose of reverse engineering.
EUV is seen as such an important and sensitive technology that ASML only sells to customers in the U.S., Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan — the company’s sales of equipment to China are heavily restricted.
Our take: We should know by now to take China’s government seriously when it says it’s going to catch up technologically in an industry. It’s a pattern that’s played out in cars, fibre optics, robotics, energy, electronics, batteries, and now in chips.—TS
INTERNATIONAL AISLE
Source: Shutterstock.
🇪🇺 EU approves €90 billion loan to Ukraine. The money will not, however, come from the billions of euros worth of frozen Russian assets currently held in Belgium, after a plan to use that cash fell apart. Instead, the loan will be financed through the EU’s shared budget and only repaid when (and if) Russia pays reparations to Ukraine. (BBC News)
🇨🇳 ByteDance to form a joint venture for operating TikTok in U.S. Under the proposal, Oracle, private equity fund Silver Lake, and UAE investment firm MGX will become majority owners of TikTok, with ByteDance retaining a minority stake. The company will also be overseen by a board of directors made up mostly of Americans. (Reuters)
🇯🇵 Japan hikes rates as inflation bites. The Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to 0.75%, which (believe it or not) is a three-decade high. After years of negative interest rates to fight deflation and sluggish growth, Japan finally turned the corner… and is now dealing with three consecutive years of above-target price and wage increases. That has to be frustrating. (Financial Times)
🇦🇺 Australia announces new gun control measures after mass shooting. The Australian government will introduce new gun control laws and launch a gun buyback program in the wake of last weekend’s Bondi Beach attack. Fifteen people were killed when two gunmen — one of whom had a firearm licence — opened fire at a Jewish festival on the beach. (BBC News)
🇬🇧 Britain pays 570 million pounds to rejoin European student-exchange. After leaving the Erasmus program in 2020 following the Brexit vote, the U.K. is now coughing up some serious quid so that its students can study and work across the rest of the European Union. ( Guardian)
WORLD
Is hair loss treatment a “matter of survival”?
Source: Cloudy Design / Shutterstock.
South Korea is dealing with a national health crisis: male pattern baldness.
Driving the news: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung suggested that the government explore expanding national health insurance to cover cosmetic hair loss treatments, calling the issue of baldness a “matter of survival” that’s eroding young people’s confidence.
Currently, South Korea’s universal healthcare scheme only covers hair loss treatments for ailments like alopecia; Lee has been vocal about expanding coverage in the past.
Medical professionals and rival politicians criticized Lee’s request, calling it both a frivolous expense the country’s insurance scheme can’t afford and a blatant grab for votes.
Big picture: Baldness is a major stigma in South Korea among young people. An estimated 40% of people who visited hospitals for hair loss in 2024 were in their 20s or 30s, per health authorities. Shame around hair loss is one facet of the nation’s notorious beauty standards.
Outside of hair loss, the majority of this beauty burden falls on women. An estimated one in three South Korean women aged 19 to 29 have had plastic surgery.
Why it matters: Lee’s claim may be a tad hyperbolic, but it’s not totally off-base. Increased access to skincare products, weight-loss drugs, and minor cosmetic surgery procedures has created heightened societal expectations around looks, even outside beauty-obsessed South Korea.
Not meeting superficial expectations has career consequences. As a recent viral Business Insider article put it, “being hot is now a job requirement” for some gigs.
Our take: If getting plugs materially improves people’s quality of life, there’s an argument for expanding coverage, particularly in a place where baldness is accompanied by major professional and personal disadvantages. Doing so is sadly easier than dismantling systemic beauty norms.—QH
WEEKENDER
Eat a helping of cabbage. If this article is to be believed, cabbage is going to be one of the defining foods of 2026 as interest in fibre spikes and people continue to seek out cheap groceries. Prepare for the Year of Cabbage and get familiar with these 58 Delish recipes.
Read The Curious Case of Mike Lynch by Katie Prescott. This new book details the life of Mike Lynch, a controversial British tech billionaire who beat a prolonged fraud case, only to die months later in Sicily when his superyacht was capsized by freak weather conditions.
Watch Avatar: Fire and Ash, now in theatres. The third instalment in Canadian legend James Cameron’s record-smashing sci-fi film series is now in theatres. Our Na’vi heroes Jake Sully and Neytiri must defend Pandora from a new threat, the warfaring Ash People.
Listen to Guys. This comedy pod looks at a different type of guy each week. E.g. Beer Guys, Lawn Guys, Rat Pack Guys, and, this week’s episode, Canada Guys. If you want intellectual discussions, look elsewhere. If you want stupid laughs, look no further.—QH
WAIT, THERE’S MORE
DraftKings launched its own prediction market to compete with Polymarket and Kalshi.
The U.S. Justice Department released more files on Jeffrey Epstein, but over 500 pages were completely blacked out.
OpenAI is trying to raise another US$100 billion.
Prime Minister Carney shuffled deputy ministers in some key portfolios.
Sony is buying the IP of the Peanuts franchise (that’s Charlie Brown) for $630 million from Canadian company WildBrain.
The man police believe was responsible for last weekend’s shooting at Brown University and the killing of an MIT professor was found dead in New Hampshire.
PEAK PICKS
The video the New York Knicks made to try to recruit Kawhi Leonard in 2019 has leaked. Ben Stiller and Tracy Morgan make an appearance.
Beef may be crazy expensive, but at least lobster is cheap.
Does cold weather actually make you sick? The experts weigh in.
Barack Obama’s favourite movies, music and books of 2025.
Watch: Is The Line really dead in Saudi Arabia?
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.llectual discussions, look elsewhere. If you want stupid laughs, look no further.—QH
GAMES
Get crackin’ on relaxin’ with The Peak’s Saturday Crossword! Then, follow it up with today’s sudoku.
And finally, catch that pesky fake news item from this batch of headlines.
Russian Ban on Roblox Gaming Platform Sparks Rare Protest.
“Purr-senger” Doesn’t Count: Ottawa Woman Fined for Driving With Cat in Carpool Lane.
Mermaid Bubble Bath Repealed After Reports of Children Turning Purple.
Can You Do the “Guinness Pour?” Turns Out King Charles Can.
Keep scrolling for the answer.
ANSWER
Just like mermaids, headline #2 is fake.