VANCOUVER – Even Nathan Rourke gets tongue-tied.

The B.C. Lions quarterback met a childhood idol on Saturday when his team added 2006 Grey Cup MVP Travis Lulay to its wall of fame.

When the pair were introduced, Rourke started to call the Lions legend Travis but decided in the moment Mr. Lulay might be more appropriate.

“Then I came out somewhere in the middle,” he said with a smile. “I told him I hope that we can chat sometime and just kind of pick his brain a little bit.”

Meeting Lulay has long been a dream for the Canadian quarterback.

“When I was young, and I watched the Lions, he was the quarterback. And so he’s the quarterback for the Lions for me,” Rourke said. “Everyone has their era … who’s the identity of their team and who’s their quarterback of their era, and Travis was that for me growing up. So it was pretty cool to see, and I hope to be in that position at some point down the road.”

Rourke put on yet another performance Saturday that could help cement his position in Lions’ lore.

The 28-year-old amassed a combined 394 yards, throwing for 317 with a touchdown and powering the Lions to a 48-29 victory over the Montreal Alouettes. He added 77 yards on the ground and a rushing major as B.C. (7-6) split a home-and-home series with the CFL powerhouse.

B.C. jumped out to a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter, only to see the visitors rally and get the game to within four points late in the first half.

The Lions showed resilience, Rourke said.

“I’ve just been really impressed with that,” he said. “This team, we’ve had a lot of adversity this year. The way we’ve responded to it, I’ve been really proud of.”

Davis Alexander threw for 242 yards for the Alouettes (10-3) with two TDs and an interception.

“He’s a heck of a player,” Lions head coach Buck Pierce said of Montreal’s starter. “He plays with fire. He plays tough. We did a good job of being able to stop some of that momentum that he’s able to create.”

The Lions opened the scoring Saturday with a 35-yard field goal from Sean Whyte early in the opening frame, then boosted their lead following a successful challenge.

Tyrice Beverette swooped in to collect Rourke’s pass in the end zone, and it looked like the visitors had made good on the interception. Pierce challenged the play and, after review, officials ruled Lorenzo Burns had interfered with the pass, putting B.C. at the one-yard line.

Running back Zander Horvath capitalized, plunging in and Whyte’s convert gave the home side a 10-0 lead.

Seconds into the second quarter, Alexander tried to get a pass off before he was pulled down from behind, but defensive tackle Casey Sayles nabbed the ball and sprinted in for another TD that put the Lions up 17-0.

The interception ended a streak in which the Als QB went 108 attempts without getting picked off.

Montreal responded with a big drive, capped by Alexander’s 26-yard toss to Tyson Philpott in the end zone to put the visitors on the scoreboard.

It didn’t take the Alouettes long to further chip away at the deficit.

Beverette snuck around B.C.’s offensive line and hauled Rourke to the turf. Mustafa Johnson collected the loose ball and ran it in for another TD. Maltos Diaz missed the convert, but the Lions’ lead dwindled to four points.

The two sides then traded seven-point scores, with Rourke finding Keon Hatcher Sr. in the end zone under pressure before Alexander sent Tyler Snead a deep ball to make it 24-20 for B.C.

Action continued on both ends of the field in the dying seconds of the first half.

With 35 seconds left in the quarter, Rourke kept the ball himself after a snap and darted down the field, getting the ball to the corner marker for a touchdown before being forced out of bounds. Whyte’s convert put B.C. up 31-20.

“We responded when we needed to respond, I thought,” Pierce said. “Especially in the first half when you look at some of the field position we started with offensively and what they started with as well. We were able to keep pace, still get the ball in the red zone, and then finish drives in the end zone.”

A string of penalties on Montreal’s next possession made for choppy play, but the Als persisted and, with five seconds to go in the half, Maltos Diaz put a 25-yard kick through the uprights to make it 31-23 heading into the locker rooms.

Both sides struggled to capture momentum in the second half, but Montreal took another bite out of B.C.’s lead midway through the third with a 33-yard field goal from Maltos Diaz.

The Lions broke through the stalemate midway through the frame when Horvath muscled his way through traffic for his second TD of the night.

Montreal lost a key piece on the ensuing kickoff return when receiver Devonte Dedmon was upended and suffered an apparent leg injury in the process. After being examined on the field, he was taken away on a cart.

Horvath struck again with less than five minutes to go in the game, diving across the goal line for his third touchdown of the game and 16th on the ground this season. The 27-year-old American has also reeled in two receiving majors.

“I think he’s probably scored too many touchdowns at this point. Let’s give it to somebody else, give someone else a chance to score,” Rourke said with a grin. “But, yeah, he’s done a fantastic job answering the bell when we needed him in a lot of different ways and certainly been a huge addition to the offence in terms of all the carries that he’s gotten this year.”

Montreal answered with a 50-yard field goal from Maltos Diaz before Whyte sealed the game at 48-29 with a 42-yard kick through the uprights.

The Lions hope they haven’t seen the last of the Alouettes this season, Rourke said.

“We recognize that they’re a very good team, we believe we’re a good team, and I think the competitive juices definitely were flowing (tonight),” the quarterback said.

“Feels good to get this one for sure, and I’m sure if we want to get to where we want to get to and be champs at the end of this year, we’re gonna have to go through them again. So we look forward to that.”

UP NEXT

Alouettes: Visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (4-9) on Friday.

Lions: Have a week off before hosting the Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-5) on Friday, Sept. 25.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

EDMONTON – The longest CFL playoff drought in Edmonton football history has finally come to an end.

Joe Robustelli caught a pair of touchdown passes as the Edmonton Elks clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2019 with a 53-16 rout over the rival Calgary Stampeders in the Labour Day rematch on Saturday.

Edmonton, which won its fourth straight game to improve to 10-3, snapped a five-year run of post-season futility which was the team’s worst since the 1960s.

“That felt really good, a three-phase win,” said Elks head coach Mark Kilam. “This place was rocking, too. What we’re trying to build this place into, it’s going to be a hard place to come play in the playoffs.

“I’m really proud of the team for focusing on the task at hand.”

It was the fifth time in team history that Edmonton has scored 50 or more against Calgary, the last being in 1991.

“It was big,” said Elks quarterback Cody Fajardo. “Phase 1 to any Grey Cup run, you’ve got to clinch (a spot) first. We’ve done that, but it’s just Phase 1 of a four-step plan that we’ve got to take care of. It was a very good team win. We were battling. A lot of guys went down and we were shuffling the deck.”

Fajardo passed for 232 yards and three TDs, increasing his seasonal total to 23, five better than his career high of 18.

The Stampeders, who allowed the Elks to score 24 fourth-quarter points last week en route to a 38-28 victory in the Labour Day Classic in Calgary, have lost two straight to remain last in the West at 5-8.

“We just got beat,” said Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson. “They outplayed us, were the better team, had a better plan, everything. They took it to us, and we have to be honest about that and move forward.”

Calgary quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. was picked off on his team’s second possession by Nick Anderson, allowing the Elks to take a 3-0 lead on a 32-yard Vincent Blanchard field goal.

Aided by a long pass interference call, the Stampeders surged ahead on a 13-yard pass into the end zone from Adams to Erik Brooks.

A long interception return by Tyrell Ford led to Edmonton clawing back with a 42-yard Blanchard field goal.

Edmonton took a 13-7 lead with just over three minutes to play in the second quarter as a big passing play from Fajardo to rookie ShunDerrick Powell set up a one-yard TD plunge by third-string QB Cole Snyder.

The Elks expanded their lead to 12 points with one minute to play in the second frame as Robustelli reeled in a 22-yard touchdown pass from Fajardo. The convert failed.

Calgary kicker Rene Paredes nailed a 38-yard field goal to end the half with Edmonton up 19-10.

Unfortunately for the Elks, running back Justin Rankin left the game with a first-half injury and didn’t return.

Edmonton came out flying in the third as they capped off a solid drive with an impressive 35-yard TD catch by Joshua Cephus.

Blanchard added a 26-yarder on their next possession.

Paredes responded with a 41-yard field goal.

The Elks got a huge play late in the third as Silas Hubert blocked a punt in the end zone and picked it up himself for the defensive TD and a 36-13 lead.

Calgary promptly fumbled the ball away on its own 46, eventually leading to an 18-yard TD pass from Fajardo to Robustelli.

Edmonton continued the beating midway through the final quarter as backup QB Taylor Powell hit Zach Mathis for a 15-yard TD strike.

Paredes kicked a 45-yarder with four minutes left.

Blanchard responded with a field goal from the 46.

“We’re in a lull right now,” said Calgary linebacker Marquel Lee. “We’ve got to look in the mirror this week and fix the mistakes and come back better and execute a whole better.”

NOTES

Paredes, who made his CFL debut in 2011, played in his 250th career regular-season game … Stamps receiver Reggie Begelton returned from a lengthy leg injury, suiting up for the first time since June 14, 2025 … The announced attendance was 31,531.

UP NEXT

Stampeders: Host the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday, Sept. 19.

Elks: Visit the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday, Sept. 19.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

WINNIPEG – Willie Jefferson didn’t mince words when explaining the importance of safety Redha Kramdi to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers defence.

Back from a full stint on the six-game injured list with a broken bone in his left hand, Kramdi looked no worse for wear, forcing a fumble and making a late game-sealing interception to help beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 19-6 in the annual Banjo Bowl at Princess Auto Stadium Saturday afternoon.

“Having him on the field, being able to communicate to the back end, but then being able to step into the box and let the linebackers and the defensive line know how we want the defence to move on certain downs and distance,” Jefferson said. “(He) played a huge role.”

Indeed, Kramdi’s skill set was on full display, with the 29-year-old Kramdi forcing a critical fumble midway through the first quarter with the Roughriders threatening, and then picking off Roughriders’ quarterback Trevor Harris midway through the fourth quarter with the Bombers protecting a 10-point lead.

“Guys know where to go to for the answers after hours when coaches are off planning, and they need to watch more film or text somebody, they go to Redha,” Blue Bombers coach Mike O’Shea said. “He’s not underrated in this building. I don’t think he’s underrated in the league, either.”

Winnipeg improved to 7-6 with the win and are back in the thick of the West Division playoff race. The Edmonton Elks (9-3) and Roughriders (8-5) remain ahead, while the B.C. Lions (6-6) and Calgary Stampeders (5-7) trail just behind. The Stampeders, Lions and Elks were all playing Saturday night.

With the season-series now settled, tied one game apiece, the Bombers claim the series tiebreaker owing to a higher point differential in the two games.

“It was a total, three-phase win. Our defence played lights-out,” running back Brady Oliveira said. “They were hitting from the first snap to the last snap.”

Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros lasted fewer than three quarters before being pulled with an undisclosed injury. He exited with a stat line of 13-for-19 passing for 175 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

Collaros took a beating before leaving, suffering four of the Roughriders’ five sacks. Jake Ceresna had the lone sack for Winnipeg.

Dru Brown took over in relief and finished 4-for-5 for 46 passing yards, with zero touchdowns or interceptions.

The Bombers recorded 291 net yards on offence, with Tommy Nield scoring the lone touchdown. Sergio Castillo rounded out the scoring with four field goals, connecting from 31, 45, 44 and 36 yards.

Oliveira registered 100 yards on 14 rushes. The last time Oliveira rushed for more than a 100 yards against Saskatchewan’s defence was in the 2023 Banjo Bowl.

The Winnipeg native also became the first Canadian in CFL history to record five consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

“This is an incredible milestone, something I’m extremely proud about. No one else has ever done it,” Oliveira said. “But I’ve been very fortunate to have great offensive lines in front of me, year after year.”

The Roughriders are still firmly entrenched in second place in the West, behind only Edmonton. Saskatchewan finished with 278 yards of net offence and was a dismal 4-for-22 on second down.

Harris struggled to find a rhythm, registering 231 passing yards and completing 24 of his 45 attempts, along with one interception.

“We didn’t really get to stay on the field and get into a rhythm,” Harris said. “There were a few plays there where I thought we could have made, but they did a good job defensively.”

The Roughriders opted to bench struggling kicker Alex Hale, instead dressing Dawson Hodge, a 24-year-old out of Coquitlam, B.C. Hodge went two-for-two on field goals, including one from 33 yards.

Dhel Duncan-Busby led all receivers with 80 yards on seven catches, with running back Quali Conley limited to 35 yards on seven carries.

The game opened as a defensive battle, with the first quarter scoreless and just a combined 13 points by halftime.

The Bombers opened the scoring early in the second quarter, with Collaros connecting with Nield on a 30-yard touchdown. Castillo added a field goal from 31 yards to increase Winnipeg’s lead, before Hodge split the uprights on a 33-yarder to make it a 10-3 game at halftime.

For Nield, who has struggled since signing with the Bombers during the off-season after a breakout year with the Riders in 2025, it was his first touchdown of the season.

After the two sides exchanged field goals in the third quarter to keep it a one-score game, 13-6, the Bombers added two more from Castillo to round out the scoring and secure the win.

“We cut it to a one-score game and then we fell into a hole of 10 points and that can kind of make you a little more one-dimensional,” Roughriders head coach Corey Mace said. “Versus that team and their defence, if you’re just going to sit back there all day, they can be challenging. Credit to them, they do a good job. Lots of respect for this team and that coaching staff.”

UP NEXT

Roughriders: Visit the B.C. Lions on Friday, Sept. 25.

Blue Bombers: Host the Toronto Argonauts on Friday, Sept. 25.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Canada will co-host an international conference in Toronto later this month aimed at securing the return of Ukrainian children, detained civilians and prisoners of war held by Russia.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand announced Saturday that Canada, Ukraine and Norway will host the two-day conference on Sept. 28 and 29.

The event, called Pathways to Peace: Second International Conference on Returning Ukrainian Children, Detained Civilians, and Prisoners of War, will bring together foreign ministers, senior government representatives and international organizations.

“Canada, Ukraine and Norway are convening the conference to strengthen international support for efforts to bring people home, protect those who remain under Russian control and ensure that those who return can access rehabilitation and reintegration services,” Global Affairs Canada said in a statement.

Ukrainian authorities have documented 20,651 cases of possible unlawful deportation or forcible transfer of Ukrainian children by Russia, according to the federal government.

So far, 2,573 children have been returned from deportation, forcible transfer and temporarily occupied territories.

As of June, Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights had confirmed 1,878 civilians were being unlawfully detained by Russia. Global Affairs Canada said the true number could be significantly higher, with some civil society organizations estimating that as many as 20,000 civilians could be detained.

Ukraine does not disclose the exact number of its prisoners of war being held by Russia.

As of August, 9,529 Ukrainian military personnel and civilians had been returned from Russian captivity, according to Global Affairs Canada.

Participants in Toronto will discuss ways to strengthen tracing and information sharing and establish pathways for people to return to Ukraine.

The conference will also focus on humanitarian access and family contact for those who remain under Russian control.

The gathering comes as Russia intensifies its air campaign against Ukraine.

Russian strikes killed eight civilians and wounded dozens more across Ukraine on Saturday, according to local officials.

Two people were killed when Russian drones struck a residential area in Zaporizhzhia, while another person was killed in Kryvyi Rih. In Odesa and the surrounding region, 35 people were wounded in what regional officials described as a “massive attack.”

Three people were also killed when drones struck vehicles in Kramatorsk, while two others died in a Russian attack on a grocery store in the Zhytomyr region.

The attacks came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the deployment of European troops to Ukraine would mean direct conflict with Russia.

“Now they’re talking about how they’re considering sending troops into Ukraine. That means a war with Russia,” Putin said Friday during a summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies in India.

Some European leaders have pledged support for a potential peacekeeping force in Ukraine as part of a future peace agreement, a proposal Moscow has repeatedly rejected.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, meanwhile, said in an interview published Saturday that he would be willing to meet Putin if both leaders were invited to the G20 summit in Miami in December.

Canada has committed more than $26 billion in multifaceted support to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, including more than $750 million for recovery and reconstruction, according to the federal government.

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

A Cobourg, Ont., man is facing eight charges after police say additional alleged victims were identified in an ongoing sexual assault investigation involving a tailoring business in Brighton.

The investigation began on Aug. 20 after officers received complaints about incidents at the business, Northumberland OPP said in a news release Friday.

An employee, a 53-year-old man from Cobourg, was arrested and charged on Aug. 24. As the investigation continued, police said additional alleged victims were identified, resulting in further charges.

The man now faces four counts of sexual assault and four counts of voyeurism. He is scheduled to appear before the Ontario Court of Justice in Cobourg on Sept. 23.

Investigators say they believe the suspect has previous business connections in the Orillia and Collingwood areas.

Police are asking anyone with information about the investigation or who believes they may have experienced a similar incident to contact Northumberland OPP.

Support is also available through Peterborough Northumberland Victim Services, police said.

 

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

Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to meet his counterpart in the United Kingdom for the first time.

The Prime Minister’s Office says Carney will meet Andy Burnham in Liverpool during a three-day trip to Europe set to start on Tuesday, and the two leaders will discuss Canada-U.K. relations on defence and security, energy, artificial intelligence and critical minerals.

The Canadian leader congratulated Burnham after the U.K. prime minister took office on July 20, Carney’s office said at the time, but this will be the first time the two world leaders meet in person.

Burnham is the United Kingdom’s fourth prime minister in four years after a revolving door in the country’s top office has seen former Conservative leaders Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, and former Labour leader Keir Starmer, struggle to hold onto the job.

Starmer was forced out by his own party, and a leadership race within the governing Labour Party handed Burnham — former mayor of Greater Manchester — the keys to 10 Downing Street.

Carney is also set to address the European Parliament in Strasbourg and attend the State of the European Union address during the trip, adding to a busy week for the prime minister who is hosting a two-day investment summit in Toronto on Monday and Tuesday.

The European Union’s ambassador to Canada said earlier this week in an interview that Carney and EU officials are looking to hash out a new partnership when he visits the European Parliament.

Carney has been pursuing deeper ties with countries in Europe and around the world as relations with the United States have worsened.

On Tuesday, Canadian counter tariffs on billions of dollars of U.S. products went into effect in a tit-for-tat response after Canada-U.S. trade talks broke down in late August.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

TORONTO – Lirim Hajrullahu’s 29-yard field goal on the game’s final play earned the Toronto Argonauts a 26-23 win over the hard-luck Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday afternoon.

Hajrillahu’s boot capped a stellar 12-play, 74-yard march by Toronto (7-6), which took possession at its 14-yard line with 2:25 to play. And it continued a season of misery for Ottawa (0-12).

Brett Lauther made it 23-23 with a 21-yard field goal at 10:09. It was set up by Kalil Pimpleton’s 88-yard punt return to the Toronto 17-yard line before a BMO Field gathering of 12,494.

Lauther pulled Ottawa to within 23-20 with a 28-yard field goal at 7:21. Kelly found Damonte Coxie on a 21-yard TD strike a minute in to put Toronto ahead 23-17 as Redblacks’ defensive lineman Luiji Vilain blocked the convert.

Toronto earned its fifth win in its last six meetings with Ottawa. Starter Chad Kelly was 35-of-42 passing for 443 yards with two touchdownsm adding to his CFL-leading 29 on the season. He also had two interceptions, bringing his league-leading total up to 20.

Ottawa not only remained winless this season but suffered its 18th straight defeat dating back to 2025. The Redblacks extended their CFL’s modern era record for consecutive defeats.

The contest was Redblacks head coach Ryan Dinwiddie’s first at BMO Field since heading to Ottawa. He spent five seasons as Toronto’s head coach, appearing in the East Division final four times and winning two Grey Cups (2022, ’24) while being named the CFL’s coach of the year in 2023 after leading the Argos to a club-record 16 wins.

And Toronto under Dinwiddie went 30-13 at BMO Field and 51-35 overall while reaching the playoffs four times. But Ottawa’s struggles continue despite bringing 12 new faces — including 11 on defence — to the active roster for Saturday’s contest.

But Ottawa starter Jake Maier suffered a 12th straight defeat, extending his CFL record for most losses by starting quarterback to begin a season. Maier completed seven-of-10 passes for 42 yards before being replaced by McLeod Bethel-Thompson in the second quarter.

Bethel-Thompson, who won two Grey Cups with Toronto (2017, 2024), was 16-of-23 passing for 192 yards and a TD.

Bryson Barnes and Keelan White scored Ottawa’s touchdowns. Lauther kicked the converts and three field goals.

David Ungerer III had Toronto’s other touchdown. Hajrullahu added four field goals, a single and convert.

Lauther’s 46-yard field goal at 12:32 of the third made it 17-17. Kelly staked Toronto to a 17-14 lead with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Ungerer at 10:21 of the third.

Bethel-Thompson found a wide-open White on a 28-yard TD strike at 7:17 of the third after Hajrullahu hit from 35 yards out at 4:34.

Hajrullahu’s 23-yard field goal to end the second quarter made it 7-7 at halftime. He capped a 47-yard, eight, play march.

Barnes put Ottawa up 7-4 with a one-yard TD run 13:07. Bethel-Thompson came off the bench to engineer the 70-yard, 13-play drive in place of Maier, who’d completed seven-of-10 passes for 42 yards.

The scoring plays followed two lost opportunities for Toronto, thanks to interceptions by Ottawa’s King Ambers.

Ambers halted a 68-yard, 11-play Argos drive in the first quarter with a pick at the Ottawa 12-yard line. He added his second was in the Redblacks’ end zone in the second quarter.

The interceptions drastically tarnished a solid opening half for Kelly, who completed 17-of-22 passes for 235 yards.

Hajrullahu put Toronto ahead 4-0 with a 25-yard field goal at 8:10. His 98-yard kickoff for a single opened the scoring just 12 seconds into the first quarter.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

The CEO of Anthropic said Saturday the artificial-intelligence industry should slow its fast-moving development to give safety measures time to catch up. Without it, Dario Amodei warned AI could be capable within six to 12 months of leading a swarm that could take over the entire internet, among other risks.

Amodei is one of the leading voices in AI, and he offered a plan in a post on his website to increase checks on the industry, one part of which he said Anthropic is undertaking by itself already. The others would require coordination among the broad industry and with governments around the world, including authoritarian ones.

“I believe that if slowing down bought us even an extra year or two before models reach critical levels of capability, and we used that time to advance alignment, we could greatly reduce the risk that something goes seriously wrong,” Amodei said.

He got some quick encouragement from other big names in the industry. OpenAI’s Sam Altman said on X that the company behind ChatGPT will commit to one of Amodei’s proposals for safety and will “have more to share soon.” Elon Musk, meanwhile, said on X that “Dario is right.”

The stakes are high, even as some critics dismissed earlier warnings as ways to gin up excitement about the AI industry and its capabilities. Anthropic and OpenAI are preparing for possible debuts on the stock market that could value them at many hundreds of billions of dollars, while a big chunk of Musk’s SpaceX business is involved with AI.

Anthropic said two days earlier that it blocked efforts by bad actors to use its AI models for malicious activity, such as cyberattacks, surveillance and research that could have led to biological weapons. In July, OpenAI shook the industry after saying its AI system hacked into another company on its own in an “unprecedented cyber incident.”

Amodei’s post comes only a few days after one of Anthropic’s researchers announced he’s resigning over concerns that Anthropic and its competitors are not acting responsibly in AI development. Another former Anthropic employee, Joe Benton, wrote in a Substack post published Friday that he left his job as part of a safety team “to hold AI companies accountable” and that humanity “may not survive this transition.”

“Many of the people I know who work on safety research at AI companies want to do what is right for the world,” Benton said in his posting. “But they feel their companies are trapped in a race to build superintelligence: either they stop and other, less conscientious people take their place; or, they continue, and risk participating in enormous harm themselves.”

Amodei said he still believes in the tremendous benefits that AI could create, such as cures for major diseases. But he said he’s grown more worried over the last few months about AI’s growing ability to improve itself and build the next generation of AI. “Left unchecked, it could outrun our ability to understand and control these systems, and so must be pursued very carefully, if at all.”

He also pointed specifically to the attack in July where OpenAI’s system hacked into Hugging Face. Some have called it an example of AI going “rogue,” though researchers have said that may be unnecessarily anthropomorphizing AI, which was working on a goal set by humans.

OpenAI said the hack was the result of AI going to “extreme lengths to achieve a rather narrow testing goal” and that it “found ways to gain access to secret information that it could use to cheat the evaluation.”

To help rein in the risks, Amodei suggested that all companies at the frontier of AI commit to giving “ongoing, employee-like access” to a team of outside evaluators, who can monitor safety practices.

He said Anthropic already plans to do so itself, including offering desks in its offices, access badges and company laptops. Having such independent, embedded evaluators is what OpenAI’s Altman also quickly committed to doing.

The other parts of Amodei’s suggested plan may be more difficult to implement. One asks the U.S. government to potentially issue waivers that would allow U.S. AI companies to coordinate and set safety standards without running afoul of antitrust laws.

Another asks the U.S. and other democratic governments to try to coordinate with authoritarian governments, so that companies from China and other countries don’t accelerate their efforts when U.S. rivals are intentionally pacing theirs.

“The measures I propose to advance the frontier at a safe pace will not be easy,” Amodei acknowledged. “But I believe we owe it to humanity to try.”

© 2026 The Canadian Press

U.S. President Donald Trump says Canada wants to reach a deal with the United States “very badly” and suggested an agreement could come “fairly soon” if Ottawa addresses his concerns about agricultural trade.

Trump made the comments Saturday in Ireland, where he was asked whether he was considering withdrawing from the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

“No, we’re doing great. We’re gonna have a great relationship with Mexico,” Trump said.

He then turned his attention to Canada, saying the two countries have a good relationship while repeating his criticism of the trading relationship.

“We actually have a good one with Canada, but the United States has been ripped off for 50 years by Canada,” Trump said.

“We don’t need their product and they need our product. They do all of their business almost with us and we do very little with them.”

The Office of the United States Trade Representative says Canada is consistently one of the top trading partners for the U.S.

Trump said Canada “wants to make a deal very badly,” but suggested he does not believe Ottawa is ready yet.

The U.S. president then compared Canada’s desire to reach a deal with those of Iran.

“I hope Canada appreciates being in the same sentence with Iran,” Trump said. “It’s very interesting — Canada and Iran.”

“Canada wants to make a deal and Iran wants to make a deal. At the right time, both of those things could happen.”

Trump said agricultural trade remains among his concerns, repeating his criticism of Canadian tariffs on some U.S. agricultural products.

“Canada has to treat our farmers better and they can’t charge our farmers tariffs,” he said.

“When those things go away, and they’re willing to get rid of all of them, you’ll probably see a deal with Canada fairly soon.”

Trump’s comments came during a weekend visit to Ireland, where he also weighed in on the politically sensitive question of Irish reunification.

Speaking alongside Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in Dublin, Trump said he would “love to see” the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland unified.

“I don’t want to cause any problems, but I’d love to see it unified,” Trump said. “It’s going to happen eventually. It may as well happen now.”

– With files from The Canadian Press and Reuters

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

A Canadian childhood cancer charity is calling on the federal government to provide more financial support to families whose children are undergoing cancer treatment.

The foundation has seen demand for its financial support programs rise 40 per cent over the past two years, but says government funding has not kept pace.

“This is the time to step up, talk to our parliamentary leaders, as well as make sure those families going through it have a helping hand,” said Kyle Smith with Childhood Cancer Canada.

The charity is asking Ottawa for $15 million in the next federal budget to sustain those programs, while also seeking changes to tax credits and employment insurance requirements to better support families dealing with childhood cancer.

About 1,500 children are diagnosed with cancer every year in Canada, according to the charity.

For many families, a diagnosis can mean a parent leaving work or reducing their hours to become a full-time caregiver, creating financial pressures that can continue long after a child’s treatment ends.

Smith said many parents caring for a child with cancer are under the age of 40, meaning time away from the workforce can have lasting consequences for their finances.

“That’s no RRSPs being built up, that is no other benefit,” he said, adding that decades later, “their retirement is impacted, the child’s retirement or education fund is impacted.”

For the Masikewich family, those pressures came after their daughter Sloane was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma in May 2023.

Treatment and a compromised immune system meant Sloane missed Grade 1 entirely, while Grades 2 and 3 were interrupted by trips to the hospital.

“It was hard not being in school and not being able to see my friends, but I enjoyed the time I got to spend with my mom and dad in the hospital,” Sloane said.

This school year marks a significant milestone for the family.

“This is the first year she doesn’t have to be in treatment, which is really incredible for our family and for Sloane,” her mother, Claire Masikewich, said.

Claire said families already coping with a child’s cancer diagnosis should not also have to contend with mounting financial pressures.

“The added financial stress for families on top of what you’re already going through is just not needed,” she said.

Childhood Cancer Canada raises awareness, funds research and provides support to families navigating a childhood cancer diagnosis.

The organization says financial stability is particularly important because it can allow parents to focus on caring for their children during treatment.

Beyond its $15-million funding request, the charity is calling for policy changes involving tax credits and EI requirements to provide more direct support to affected families.

For Sloane, being out of treatment has meant returning to the parts of childhood that cancer disrupted.

“I got to hang out with my friends, and I got to meet all my new classmates,” she said.

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