Start your day off right with five things you need to know this morning.
Five things you need to know
Canada is the number one target for Chinese Communist Party influence operations on a per-capita basis, according to researchers who delivered a warning in Ottawa on Wednesday. The groups, including the Jamestown Foundation think tank, said they had identified more than 2,000 organizations across the US, Canada, UK and Germany with links to the CCP's United Front Work Department, with at least 575 in Canada. Business groups, cultural organizations and Chinese-language media were among the entities highlighted. The influence operations are often legal, the researchers said, but nonetheless help to shape the political environment.
Living standards and economic growth in Canada's biggest city have been stagnant since the year 2000, according to a damning report from the Fraser Institute. The research points to Toronto's eight per cent unemployment rate and a -0.2 per cent decline in employment-income over the last two decades. It adds: "Far from being an economic powerhouse, the evidence presented here points to rising unemployment, weak income growth, and stagnant living standards in Canada’s largest metropolitan area."
Stagnant Living Standards in the City of Toronto
— Lorrie Goldstein (@sunlorrie) February 12, 2026
Toronto struggling economically: 8 per cent unemployment rate in Toronto eclipses provincial and national averageshttps://t.co/6t5nazH2ky
An AI safety researcher has quit his job at a US firm and warned the "world is in peril" in part because of developments in the technology. Mrinank Sharma said he was going to "become invisible" after leaving Anthropic by moving to the UK and writing poetry. It comes after a number of high-profile staff at prominent AI firms quit the industry in recent months, with one researcher resigning from OpenAI – the creator of ChatGPT – over the company's decision to allow advertising on the chatbot.
AI researcher says 'world is in peril' and quits to study poetry https://t.co/DA3lXloEYl
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) February 12, 2026
Former prime minister Justin Trudeau has bought a home in Montreal for $4.26 million. Trudeau, who is heir to a family fortune, signed the deed on the home in Outremont on Monday. The two-storey, 5,000 sq ft property was build in the 1930s and was valued at $5.99 million for municipal tax purposes.
Justin Trudeau just bought a $4.26-million home in Quebechttps://t.co/WbW0Aqin0Z pic.twitter.com/vIrD4oo1p5
— National Post (@nationalpost) February 11, 2026
The co-owner of Manchester United soccer club has apologized for saying the UK had been "colonized by immigrants." Sir Jim Ratcliffe, a billionaire industrialist, said an "open debate" on the subject of migration was needed in the country, but the prime minister and mayor of Manchester have joined other prominent figures in condemning the comments.
Manchester United part-owner has told @EdConwaySky the UK has been "colonised" by immigrants, who are draining resources from the state, as he warns of the country facing profound political, social and economic challenges.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 11, 2026
🔗 https://t.co/bie6uFZ1Tp pic.twitter.com/qFpiO0HkfO
