Here’s a fact about playing vinyl records. Do they sound consistently good all the way through? In other words, does the music sound as good nearer to the outside of the record as it does as the tonearm moves closer to the centre label? No.

The outer grooves move faster under the stylus, meaning it has to wiggle less per rotational inch. That translates into less distortion. But as the tonearm approaches the centre of the record, the available space for grooves is less, creating what’s known as “inner groove distortion”—and there’s not much anyone can do about it, because this is an inherent limitation of vinyl.

It also explains why some acts put what they consider their best songs as tracks one, two or three on the side of an LP. They want them to have the best sonic quality.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Canada’s Drug Agency is recommending that public drug plans pay for a treatment shown to slow the progression of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease if patients meet certain conditions.

Lecanemab is an antibody that targets the buildup of amyloid plaque in the brain, which is believed to be an underlying cause of the disease.

Health Canada approved it last October, but Canada’s drug agency recommended against publicly funding it in February due to concerns about effectiveness and possible side effects of brain swelling or bleeding.

But after reconsidering at the request of the drug’s manufacturer, Eisai, the agency’s expert committee found it may have underestimated lecanemab’s “clinical meaningfulness.”

In an updated recommendation released Thursday, the drug agency says it recognizes patients with early Alzheimer’s disease “are faced with a progressive and ultimately debilitating condition for which there are limited treatment options.”

The agency says eligible patients must have only mild cognitive impairment, have amyloid protein confirmed by a brain scan or cerebrospinal fluid analysis and get regular MRI’s to check for any signs of brain swelling or bleeding.

“The committee discussed patient autonomy in making informed decisions about treatment in consultation with their health-care team regarding the potential benefits and risks,” the recommendation says.

If a patient’s condition worsens from mild to moderate dementia, the drug should no longer be covered, it says. Studies have only shown lecanemab to be effective in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s societies in Canada have been urging the drug agency and provincial governments to publicly fund lecanemab, also known by its brand name, Leqembi.

They say the drug can extend the period of better cognitive function and give patients more quality time with loved ones before their dementia progresses.

Some dementia experts have said that the possible side effects of brain swelling or bleeding are usually minor and don’t cause significant symptoms even though they’re visible on MRI scans.

According to the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging, the cost of lecanemab is about $32,000 per year.

It is given intravenously every two or four weeks, according to the consortium’s website.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to address the nation on Thursday night on topics he said will include elections and voting machines, suggesting he is likely to revisit some of the unproven claims he has previously made about Republican losses, particularly his own in 2020.

Trump’s fixation on his loss to Democrat Joe Biden six years ago and the long-debunked theories he’s circulated about it are something he still brings up regularly when discussing other subjects. But elevating the deeply political and conspiratorial topics to a presidential primetime address underscores the lengths to which Trump has used his second term to both blow past norms and fixate on old grievances.

Trump has offered only vague details about the address, scheduled for 9 p.m. When asked by a reporter on Tuesday if it would concern “election machines and integrity,” Trump said it would “concern that subject” and “we’ll have a couple of other things to say also.”

He went on to say that he has “really, really big news and our country has to shape up. But that’s what we’re going to be talking about Thursday.” He added that “it doesn’t get bigger because without free and fair elections, you don’t have a country.”

Despite Trump’s comments, the White House on Wednesday suggested that the content of the speech could change.

“As usual, anonymous sources are speculating about what President Trump will say during his speech on Thursday evening. The truth is, nobody knows yet what President Trump will ultimately say, which is why everyone should tune in,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Primetime presidential addresses are typically reserved for major milestones or nationally significant events.

Trump last did it in April to speak on the Iran war, a month after it started. He said then that the U.S. would accomplish its objectives “very shortly” and that “the hard part is done, so it should be easy.” The war, however, has dragged on and strikes between the U.S. and Iran have intensified this week.

Trump also delivered a politically charged primetime speech in December in which he sought to blame the challenging economic climate on Democrats.

It was unclear if TV networks were planning to air the speech or to what extent. Messages to ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox News and MS NOW asking about coverage plans were not immediately returned.

Democrats warned that Trump was trying to revive false claims of past stolen elections in order to delegitimize the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, in which Trump’s Republican Party is facing headwinds.

“Tomorrow night, Trump is going to use a primetime address to stoke misleading claims about our elections in order to justify interfering in our midterms. It’s on all of us to follow the facts and not accept his constant stream of misdirections and lies,” Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said in a statement on X.

“Trump is again trying to drum up baseless election conspiracies ahead of the November elections,” New Jersey Democratic Sen. Andy Kim said in a post on X.

“Americans are tired of endless war, skyrocketing gas prices, and a president that isn’t looking out for them. Voters will make their voices heard, whether Trump wants them to or not.”

On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance bristled when asked if he’d encourage Trump in his Thursday remarks to stay focused on November’s midterm elections rather than relitigate past elections. “’The unfounded claims,’” Vance said, repeating the reporter’s language. “You’re basically assuming an answer in the very question that you ask.”

“The president is going to talk about a number of things tomorrow night. I’m obviously not going to get ahead of his remarks,” Vance said.

“But we can talk about a number of the American people’s problems. We can solve a number of the American people’s problems.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters that he doesn’t know what Trump is going to say. “But,” he said, “the only thing I can tell you is that we are focused on the 2026 election, at least I am, and I think most of my colleagues are.”

© 2026 The Canadian Press

An internal government audit of Canadian diplomatic missions in the U.S. completed late last year found staff faced safety risks and problems with accessing health care — more than a year after a union flagged those same issues.

“U.S. cities present security risks related to street crime, protests, the widespread presence of firearms, and broader social crises such as substance abuse and mental health issues,” says the audit completed by Global Affairs Canada.

“These factors make security and emergency management a critical component of day-to-day mission operations.”

Canadian diplomats are posted to the embassy in Washington, D.C., and to consulates and trade offices in 15 other cities, from Boston to Los Angeles. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has said she will open a new consulate in Anchorage this year.

At the time the audit was conducted in late 2025, Canadian missions in the U.S. had 130 diplomats, 254 Canadian staff from various federal departments and 356 Americans hired to help mission staff.

Global Affairs Canada said it launched the audit because it had never done one for U.S. diplomatic postings, despite how critical the Canada-U.S. relationship is to Ottawa.

“Canada maintains a large mission footprint in the U.S. requiring considerable effort and expenditures,” the department said.

The audit, which is dated last November, was published earlier this year. The document does not say when auditors took input from mission staff.

The Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers, the union that represents diplomats in labour contract talks, raised concerns about the safety of Canadian diplomats based in the U.S. in early 2024.

Citing lockdowns and evacuations in an office hosting one Canadian consulate in the U.S., the union recommended diplomats posted to the United States receive higher pay to compensate them for the risk.

The audit notes that Washington embassy staff make regular visits to consulates across the U.S. to “lead emergency training exercises.”

It says auditors found that the Los Angeles consulate’s readiness training “needs significant improvement,” as do emergency management plans for the Atlanta and Detroit consulates.

In 2024, the foreign service union also reported Canadian diplomatic staff abroad were experiencing difficulty accessing health care — a problem it said was particularly acute in the U.S., where providers can withhold treatment until an insurance payment is sorted out.

The audit reports the medical insurance system Global Affairs Canada uses to handle claims from U.S.-based diplomats was still not fully functional.

Canadian diplomats in the U.S. “consistently raised concerns about the administrative burden relating to their medical insurance provider” and some were forced to take on personal debt to cover health care costs, the audit says.

“Some reported needing to rely heavily on advances (over $100,000 in one instance) or credit card debt to carry medical costs,” the audit says. “Given the high cost of health care in the U.S., these challenges can result in substantial financial strain.”

Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers president Pam Isfeld said Wednesday it’s encouraging to see GAC is aware of these issues, though they’re nothing new to the people she represents.

“We’re hoping to see more and more of these real-time assessments of what’s going on, and hopefully it will lead to some real-time action,” she said.

“The U.S. is important in particular, and if conditions are getting so much worse there, it gets hard to recruit people.”

GAC auditors also found the salaries Ottawa is offering are not high enough to recruit Americans to jobs in consulates and the Washington embassy.

“Missions indicated that salaries were often not competitive enough to attract qualified candidates, and that the departmental staffing process was sometimes inefficient, leading to delays in hiring and onboarding,” the audit says.

Auditors also found that Ottawa was capping rent budgets well below what the market offers in multiple American cities.

Canadian diplomats posted to the U.S. are given a maximum rent budget based on location, salary and family configuration. Diplomats can then find housing that falls within that budget, supplement that budget personally or ask for exemptions.

A whopping 65 per cent of all rents across the U.S. network exceeded the ceiling Ottawa set, the audit says. The problem is particularly bad in Los Angeles, Boston and Minneapolis, it adds, “due to compounding factors such as low inventory, geographic limitation, or security issues” and “proximity to school.”

The audit says diplomats have “expressed concerns related to the stress and time pressures associated with securing suitable housing in competitive markets. In response, some missions have established real estate broker support services to assist incoming (diplomats) with their house-hunting trips.”

Isfeld said she hopes Ottawa updates its rental assessments for each U.S. city.

“Their cost-of-living surveys have gotten really behind in some cities and I think they obviously need to address this,” she said.

She also warned that appointing heads of U.S. missions from outside of the foreign service will make it harder to improve how consulates are run, since political appointees are not familiar with GAC systems and protocols.

She noted three of four people appointed this week to lead Canadian missions in the U.S. have no diplomatic background and will be leading teams facing staff cuts.

“If you’re going to be sending people without experience out to missions and then cutting the locally (hired American) staff or the budgets for those missions, that’s going to make the work of those people harder, no matter what their great skills or intentions are,” Isfeld said.

Overall, the audit says Canadian diplomatic missions in the U.S. “generally maintained good oversight and communication mechanisms that promote transparency and foster collaboration” and many had “robust controls over both physical and information security.”

The audit only asked Global Affairs Canada to respond to recommendations on process and protocols. The Canadian Press has asked for comment from the department about the broader issues its staff flagged to auditors, but has not yet received a response.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

The European Union issued two new rules for Google on Thursday to force it to share search data and open up its Android operating system to rival AI companies.

In the latest attempt to rein in tech behemoths’ deep control of the digital economy, the EU said it will support innovation and diversity in the field by enabling fair access to AI features on Android devices and search engines.

“Thanks to these measures, we hope to see emerging alternatives to Google Search and Google’s AI services, such as Gemini, and that users in the EU can enjoy greater choice of services,” Henna Virkkunen, an executive vice president at the European Commission overseeing tech, said.

The measure is the latest advancement of Brussels’ growing rules and regulations that have given the 27-nation bloc a global leadership position in checking the power of tech juggernauts or “gatekeepers” like TikTok, which are largely based in China and the U.S.

Recently, Brussels has pushed through efforts to ensure Google gives access to Gemini AI services to rival AI companies and search engines; forced Apple to add interoperability features to its devices to connect to non-Apple products; and demanded Meta dismantle “key addictive features” like infinite scrolling.

Kent Walker, president of global affairs for both Google and its parent company Alphabet, said the new rules could backfire by removing safeguards that the company had built to protect user privacy like the vetting of third-party AI assistants.

“Europeans’ private searches would be exposed to unfamiliar companies, without adequate anonymization of the data and without user knowledge or consent. This would weaken citizens’ privacy, risk business trade secrets, and endanger national security,” he said in a statement.

U.S. President Donald Trump has lashed out at EU tech regulation in the past.

In issuing the two new rules, the commission said it found that AI agents not made by Google were unable to function on Android phones at the same level as Google’s Gemini.

Google must now allow voice-activation of these alternative AI agents and enable them to run background tasks like booking restaurants via third-party apps.

By January 2027, Google must also begin sharing anonymized search data with some rivals. The commission said the move is meant to level the playing field since Google controls a vast trove of user data that no competitor can match.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Wildfire smoke still blankets large parts of southern Ontario, including Toronto, and conditions may not improve until Friday morning.

Environment Canada’s orange air quality warning continues to be in place Thursday, a day after it was first implemented for the smoke that turned the skies in Canada’s largest city orange.

The smoke from the wildfires in northwestern Ontario plummeted Toronto’s air quality to the worst in the world throughout Wednesday morning. Only Detroit was ahead of Toronto early Thursday morning according to IQAir, a Swiss air quality technology company that operates the world’s largest real-time air quality information platform.

IQAir described Toronto’s air quality Thursday morning as “hazardous,” an upgrade from Wednesday morning when it considered it “unhealthy.”

The smoke forced the cancellation of several outdoor events Wednesday, including the FIFA Fan Festival watch party in Toronto and the Rock the Park music festival in London.

There were 136 active wildfires in the northwest region as of 8 p.m. Wednesday, according to data from the Ontario government. Of the fires, 63 are considered to be out of control.

The fires have prompted evacuation orders for several communities, including Armstrong, Lac La Croix First Nation, Whitesand First Nation, Gull Bay First Nation and Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation.

One fast-moving blaze has damaged and destroyed homes and buildings on Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, also known as Collins First Nation, north of Thunder Bay.

Premier Doug Ford has said crews are hard at work fighting the fires, and the province will spare no expense in keeping people safe.

Environment Canada is advising Canadians to limit time outdoors and prioritize keeping cool inside. It said conditions may improve Friday morning.

“You may experience mild and common symptoms such as eye, nose and throat irritation, headaches or a mild cough. More serious but less common symptoms include wheezing, chest pains or severe cough. If you think you are having a medical emergency, seek immediate medical assistance,” Environment Canada said.

“People more likely to be impacted by wildfire smoke, including people aged 65 and older, pregnant people, infants and young children, people with an existing illness or chronic health condition, and people who work outdoors, should avoid strenuous activities outdoors and seek medical attention if experiencing symptoms.”

The air quality warning follows a heat warning that lifted Wednesday after it was put in place Monday.

Maximum temperatures of 30 to 36 C were expected Wednesday, with humidex values making that feel like 38 to 42 C.

Tuesday was the worst day during the heat wave as humidex values made it feel like 38 to 45 C in parts of southern Ontario.

— with files from The Canadian Press

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The vinyl revival shows absolutely no sign of going away as LPs continue to outsell CDs and show double-digit growth year after year. Here are a couple of facts you may not know about vinyl.

First, it is a myth that coloured vinyl sounds inferior to plain black vinyl. In fact, black vinyl is actually coloured. Polyvinyl chloride, the material used to make records, is naturally transparent. To make it black, you need to add carbon. Today’s multi-coloured vinyl is made using dyes that don’t hurt anything and, in fact, are up to today’s best standards.

Yes, back in the day, coloured records could sound bad, but that’s when they were considered novelty items and didn’t receive the proper love when it came to mastering and pressing.

More next time.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Officials in British Columbia have their eyes on the skies as dry lightning strikes are listed as the probable cause of several new wildfires across the southern Interior.

Environment Canada meteorologist Colin Fong says it’s been so dry that any falling rain typically evaporates before hitting the ground.

While the province’s fire season has so far been moderate, the BC Wildfire Service says a recent surge in lightning strikes could trigger up to 150 fire starts in a single day.

Parched conditions have triggered a ban on all fires except small campfires in the Northwest Fire Centre, and the Coastal Fire Centre is set to implement a ban on all fires later today.

The dry-lightning forecast comes as officials continue to battle the Brunswick complex of fires, which increased fire activity earlier this week.

Wildfire officials have said elevated activity is expected to persist through the dry-lightning forecast.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Premier Doug Ford says the hotel expense scandal that’s triggered a wave of public backlash is “nothing compared to previous governments,” even as he promises that expenses incurred by his MPPs will be paid back to taxpayers — within reason.

In a brief 90-second interview as Ford walked back to his office at Queen’s Park on Wednesday, the premier also defended his government when asked whether the hotel expenses violated his 2018 election promise that the party with the taxpayer dollar is over.

“The party with the taxpayers’ dollars are over, believe me,” Ford said at the time.

Global News was first to report on the hotel room expenses incurred by members of the Ford government who live within driving distance of Queen’s Park. Several Progressive Conservative MPPs submitted the expenses under a “special circumstance” designation normally reserved for emergencies such as a snowstorm.

Tourism Minister Stan Cho, who lives less than six kilometres away from Queen’s Park, was scrutinized after billing taxpayers for more than $16,000 in Toronto hotel room stays over the past three years.

The Ford government claimed Cho repaid the entire amount after the story broke, but did not provide evidence.

On Wednesday, the Ontario NDP revealed that 20 PC MPPs charged taxpayers a total of $120,000 over the course of several years to stay in downtown Toronto hotel rooms, despite living within 50 kilometers away from the Ontario legislature.

That included two Peel Region cabinet ministers and a parliamentary assistant who billed $50,000 between them in hotel stays over two years.

The Premier’s Office said that while the legislature was responsible for approving the expense requests, any hotel room stay that “did not meet the intent of the rules will be reimbursed to the Legislature in full.”

That language, though, has raised questions about what falls within the “intent” of the policy.

Currently, GTA-area MPPs can be reimbursed for their accommodation costs for “special or unusual circumstances while on Legislative Assembly business,” which includes a night sitting at Queen’s Park.

Ford, who sources said was angered by the expenses story and addressed his caucus about the scandal earlier this week, clarified that only expenses incurred while the legislature was not in session would have to be paid back.

“If we were sitting, that’s one thing,” Ford said. “But anything else they’re paying back … I have zero tolerance for that.”

Opposition parties have scoffed at the suggestion that government members would require special accommodation for night sittings and said most MPPs are always prepared for these situations.

“I had sheets in my office … I’ve slept on that couch a few times,” NDP Leader Marit Stiles said. “And that’s what a lot of MPPs do if there’s a big night sitting.”

On Wednesday, the Ford government asked opposition parties to support their effort to eliminate the benefit by changing the rules at an internal committee that governs the affairs of the Ontario legislature.

Liberal MPP Stephanie Bowman, who sits on the Board of Internal Economy, said she was willing to support the change with one major condition.

“If the government is willing to disclose all the expenses that were incurred since 2022, provide the date, the amount, the purpose of that expense, then I’m prepared to have a conversation to support the motion to remove this rule altogether,” Bowman said.

Global News also asked Ford about Cho’s expenses and whether it was acceptable for a cabinet minister to charge taxpayers more than $16,000 for hotel rooms, despite living six kilometres away from Queen’s Park,

“And that’s why he’s paying it back,” Ford said before ending the brief encounter and walking into his office.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A former high-ranking Iranian regime official caught living in Canada has asked a federal judge to halt his deportation, documents obtained by Global News show.

Seyed Salman Samani, who was until recently Iran’s deputy interior minister, claimed in an appeal to the Federal Court that expelling him would violate his rights.

In a court application filed in Toronto, Samani said that on June 19 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada had denied his request to defer his removal back to Iran.

Calling the decision “unlawfully made” and “patently unreasonable,” the 45-year-old former Iranian government spokesperson asked the court to overturn the ruling.

At the same time, he filed an “anonymity order notice” in which he urged the court to scrub his name from all documents related to his appeal.

Due to the “high-profile nature” of his case, Samani said he wanted to be identified only by “randomized and arbitrary initials” such as A.B. or X.Y.

The court has not yet ruled on the matter.

Samani is one of almost three dozen alleged senior members of Iran’s repressive regime who have been found in Canada, according to figures released by federal immigration officials.

The Immigration and Refugee Board ordered his deportation more than two years ago but his court appeal, filed on Canada Day, shows he has still not been sent home.

The CBSA declined to comment on the case.

Iranian-Canadians have long complained that the country risks becoming a safe haven for members of Iran’s regime, and have called for better screening to weed them out.

The Canadian government banned all “senior” Iranian government officials from entering Canada in 2022, but immigration officials have struggled to deport them.

Of the 34 suspected regime members that the Canada Border Services Agency has identified for possible deportation, only one has been sent back to Iran to date.

Samani is a “career politician” who held a “plethora” of government positions in Iran between 2007 and 2021, according to the CBSA’s report on him.

“The subject demonstrated his commitment and loyalty to the regime throughout his career,” the CBSA wrote in its report, obtained by Global News.

After leaving the Iranian government in August 2021, Samani flew to Canada using a visitor visa issued in Ankara, Turkey.

In 2024, he became one of the first Iranian regime members brought before the Refugee Board for a deportation hearing under the ban on senior officials.

At his hearing, Samani downplayed his importance in the government and denied any involvement in human rights abuses.

But the CBSA said he held “significant influence on the exercise of government power” and was “only two positions removed from the President of Iran.”

As the Ministry of Interior’s official spokesperson, he “served as a conduit for state propaganda, responsible for disseminating information that aligned with the government narrative and suppressing any dissenting views.”

Samani’s department sent agents to attack political protests and was responsible for “frequent violations of speech and assembly rights in Iran,” the CBSA argued.

In his recent court filings, Samani argued that Canadians should not be permitted to know about his case.

He wrote that he had a “considerable profile as a former member of the Iranian government, which has gathered substantial media attention.”

If his case were heard in public, he might face “possible retribution from Iranian authorities,” he claimed.

Although Canada’s courts are open to the public, the Federal Court allows applicants to ask to have their cases anonymized, meaning they are not identified by name, but that is done rarely.

Samani also tried to ban the press from his deportation hearing in 2024. Global News fought the move and the Refugee Board ruled it would be held in public.

Another alleged regime member, Abbas Omidi, tried to ban news reporters from his deportation hearing as well, but the IRB ruled in March that such cases were in the public interest.

“For all Canadians, I find that transparency regarding the type of allegation Mr. Omidi is facing is an important safeguard that enables accountability, deters impunity, and reinforces public confidence in Canadian legal processes and institutions,” the Board wrote.

“In this context, hiding Mr. Omidi’s identity would have a strong deleterious/negative effect on the public’s interest in the open court process.”

Canada has had tense relations with Iran since the country’s 1979 Islamic revolution. Ottawa severed diplomatic ties with Tehran in 2012, citing the regime’s nuclear program and support for terrorist groups.

More recently, the government’s threat assessment agency said in a declassified report that the regime’s intelligence service may be linked to attacks in Canada since the start of the Iran war.

Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.