The Peak on Saturday

Good morning. A brief programming note this morning: this will be the only newsletter from us this weekend. 

Our team is hard at work developing a new and improved weekend edition of The Peak that will feature, among other things, some more original reporting, which takes more time to do. As a consequence, we’re pressing pause on the Sunday edition. 

Drop The Pin fans need not fret, though — we’re just moving it to Saturday.

—Lucas Arender, Quinn Henderson, Taylor Scollon

🚗 Uber and Waabi are planning to launch a fleet of at least 25,000 robotaxis in the near future as the rideshare giant backs the Canadian startup. (Beep Beep) 

🧠 Just 32.4% of startups founded by Canadians that raised more than $1 million were actually based in Canada in 2024, according to a new study. (Brain Drain)

🛒 The cost of groceries and housing has grown 50% faster than Canadians’ average hourly pay since 2021, leading to a spike in food insecurity. (Inflation Rebate)

👶 StatCan found Canada’s fertility rate hit a record low of 1.25 children per woman in 2024, putting the country in the “ultra-low fertility” category. (Baby Blues)

⚾️ Montreal-based sports streamer LiveBarn has been acquired by U.S. firm GTCR for ~US$400 million, the latest PE buyout in the youth sports space. (Big Leagues)

One week into the job, and TikTok’s new American owners have a hot new competitor on their hands. 

Driving the news: Australian social media platform UpScrolled catapulted to No. 1 in the U.S. App Store rankings this week following the sale of TikTok’s U.S. businesses to a group of mostly American investors.

Why it matters: UpScrolled has capitalized on recent allegations that TikTok’s new U.S. owners — particularly Oracle, which is led by an ally of Donald Trump — are censoring content for political reasons, including videos of ICE, content that is critical of Trump, and even the word “Epstein”. 

Yes, but: UpScrolled claims to be a politically neutral platform, but it certainly has activist roots and appears to have already made politically charged design decisions.

Our take: UpScrolled may or may not stick around, but its sudden surge in popularity shows that there is a real appetite for a version of social media that isn’t driven entirely by algorithms. In the meantime, some healthy skepticism about claims of political neutrality is probably warranted. Remember, it wasn’t too long ago that Twitter was rebranded to X under a very similar free speech ethos.—LA

🇺🇸 Millions of pages of Epstein files released. The documents included friendly correspondence between Epstein and multiple powerful people in business and politics, including Elon Musk, RIchard Branson, and Howard Lutnick. The U.S. Justice Department said the files released yesterday — 3 million pages, 2,000 videos and 180,000 images — were the last remaining tranche, and that it had fulfilled its obligations to disclose materials related to Epstein. It also said it was withholding around 200,000 pages of material “based on various privileges.” (Associated Press)

🇵🇦 Panama cancels Hong Kong company’s canal deal. The country’s Supreme Court struck down a contract for the Panama Ports Company, which is owned by a Hong Kong-based holding company, to operate ports along the Panama Canal. The decision is a blow to China’s efforts to grow its influence in the area. (BBC)

🇺🇳 U.N. faces “imminent financial collapse.” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the organization could run out of cash by July because of US$1.57 billion in unpaid dues. Guterres did not name which countries haven’t paid up, but the U.S. has publicly pulled funding from dozens of U.N. initiatives. (Reuters)

🇲🇽 Mexico pauses oil shipments to Cuba. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government was suspending exports of oil to Cuba, attributing the decision to changes in the oil market. The Trump administration has threatened to tariff countries that sell oil to Cuba. (Associated Press)

🇪🇺 EU and India sign trade deal. The new agreement — dubbed “the mother of all deals” — will allow the free trade of most goods between India and the European Union, which together make up 25% of global GDP. Under the terms of the deal, professionals will be able to move and work more easily between India and Europe. (BBC)

It was fun while it lasted, but the announcement of the next Federal Reserve chair may have brought the party in the silver and gold markets to an end. 

What happened: Donald Trump picked Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as chair of the Fed, sparking a sell-off in the metals markets as traders breathed a sigh of relief that the central bank would keep rates high enough to quash inflation. 

Why it’s happening: Warsh is regarded as a “hawkish” figure by Wall Street, in that he is seen as committed to keeping inflation in check and defending Fed independence from political influence.

Yes, but: Warsh’s mentor and legendary investor Stanley Druckenmiller told the Financial Times the incoming Fed chair may not be as hawkish as Wall Street thinks, and that he is “open-minded” when it comes to lowering interest rates — even during periods of growth.

Why it matters: Whatever his deep-down beliefs about monetary policy happen to be, Warsh is set to take over the Fed at a time when much of the world is trying to wean itself from American influence, economic and otherwise. How he leads will play a role in accelerating or arresting that transition.

Eat a snow ice cream cone. If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re surrounded by snow right now. Given the abundance of the stuff, a trend has gone viral where people are making ice cream in snowbanks. If you have whimsy in your heart, and don’t mind the cold, join in on the fun — just make sure that snow is fresh.

Read Vigil by George Saunders. The renowned American satirist returns with his first novel since 2017’s award-winning Lincoln in the Bardo. His latest, a mix of dark wit and genuine hopefulness, tells the story of a celestial being tasked with bringing a blustering oil tycoon to the afterlife.

Watch Send Help, now in theatres. Visionary director Sam Raimi has gone back to his horror roots and we couldn’t be happier. This survivalist thriller stars Canadian queen Rachel McAdams as a put-upon employee who turns the tables on her boss when they crash on a deserted island.

Listen to The History Bureau. The first season of this new BBC Sounds history podcast travels back to Russia, 1999. Vladimir Putin has just become prime minister and a spree of apartment bombings has rattled the country. But is the official story of what happened really true?—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.

🌎 Hint: The city is home to the largest ancient castle complex in the world, the oldest operating astronomical clock, and a lot of beer drinking. The country as a whole proudly holds the honour of the highest beer consumption per capita in the world. In fact, the Pilsner — now the most commonly drunk beer in the world — originated just outside of this city. 

If you think you know where we’ve brought you this week, lock in your guess here.

We’re overflowing with games today! Play The Peak’s Saturday Crossword, the daily sudoku, and Codebreakers.

And then, use your detective skills to root out the fake news headline.

Don’t get spooked, but #4 is the fake headline.