We all know that music can be good for the mind, body, and soul, which is why researchers continue to look at how music can be used for treating all manner of maladies.
A recent study at UC Irvine took saliva samples from a choir before and after they performed a piece by Beethoven. They found that a specific antibody—something called secretory immunoglobulin A—increased by 240% by the simple act of singing. This antibody’s job is to coat your throat, airways, and gut with a coating designed to protect us against any kind of respiratory virus we may breathe in.
How? Singing stimulates the vagus nerve, which controls our “rest and digest” responses. Singing helps the nervous system calm down, reduces stress hormones, and boosts your immune system.
So maybe the next time you feel a cold coming on, you might want to spend some time singing.
WATCH: Ottawa's stolen Winston Churchill portrait recovered in Italy, charges laid
The man who stole the “Roaring Lion” portrait of Winston Churchill from the Château Laurier in Ottawa will have a chance to appeal his sentence in the Supreme Court of Canada.
The famous image was snapped by photographer Yousuf Karsh during Churchill’s wartime visit to the Canadian Parliament in December 1941.
Jeffrey Wood stole the portrait in January 2022, replaced it with a cheap copy and sold the original through a London auction house.
The print was returned to public display at the Ottawa hotel with help from authorities in the United Kingdom and Italy.
Wood was sentenced in May 2025 to two years less a day in jail after pleading guilty to the theft.
The Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed his sentence appeal in a two-to-one ruling.
After talks to end the Iran war, in another blow to the global oil markets, the United Arab Emirates announced that it will leave the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in May. A decades-long partnership has ruptured in the Middle East. Nathaniel Dove reports what we know about the cause and how this could affect global gas prices.
Oil futures fell early Thursday while Wall Street rose even as stalled U.S.-Iran talks raised doubts over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a permanent end to the Iran war.
U.S. markets ticked higher before the bell with some of the country’s biggest technology companies posting first quarter earns this week.
Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent before the opening bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.6 per cent. Nasdaq futures gained 0.5 per cent.
Brent crude to be delivered in June slid $1.93 overnight to $108.51 per barrel. That remains extraordinarily high. Before the war began in late February, Brent crude was trading around $70 per barrel.
Benchmark U.S. crude also slid, falling $2.37 per barrel to $104.51 per barrel, but U.S. gasoline prices continue to tick higher. The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline jumped another 7 cents overnight to $4.30. The price at this point last year was $3.18.
The U.S. has continued its blockade of Iranian ports while the Strait of Hormuz is closed, pushing oil prices higher in recent days. Reports Thursday suggesting a possible escalation by U.S. President Donald Trump doused hopes for a quick end to the conflict.
“The breakdown of talks between the U.S. and Iran, along with President Trump reportedly rejecting Iran’s proposal for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, has the market losing hope for any quick resumption in oil flows,” ING Bank strategists Warren Patterson and Ewa Manthey wrote in a research note.
Oil prices vary depending on the type of crude oil, where it is being traded and under what terms, for futures contracts. By some measures, Brent has hit its highest level since its peak of $147.50 per barrel in 2008 during the global financial crisis.
In equities trading, Alphabet jumped 7.4 per cent overnight after Google’s parent company delivered another quarter of stellar growth driven by its investment in artificial intelligence. Those investments, CEO Sundar Pichai said, “are lighting up every part of the business.”
Alphabet earned $62.6 billion, or $5.11 per share, during the January-March period, an 81 per cent increase from the same time last year.
Shares of Facebook owner Meta tumbled nine per cent overnight after it posted better-than-expected results but raised its forecast for capital expenditures. The owner of Instagram and Facebook earned $26.77 billion, or $10.44 per share, in the January-March period, up about 61 per cent from $16.64 billion, or $6.43 per share, in the same period a year earlier.
Elsewhere, in Europe at midday, Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 1.3 per cent after the Bank of England kept its main interest rate on hold at 3.75 per cent Thursday as policymakers assess the economic impact of the Iran war and Tehran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s crude passes. The decision was widely expected and echoes the decision of the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday to keep rates unchanged. It was the same theme in Japan on Tuesday.
France’s CAC 40 lost 1.1 per cent, and Germany’s DAX traded 0.2 per cent lower.
Asian stocks mostly fell. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 shed one per cent to 59,284.92 and the Kospi in South Korea fell 1.4 per cent to 6,598.87.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 1.3 per cent to 25,776.53, and the Shanghai Composite index closed 0.1 per cent higher at 4,112.16. China’s factory activity for April slowed slightly but remained in expansion territory for the second month, despite the global energy shock prompted by the Iran war, an official survey showed.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.2 per cent at 8,665.80.
Taiwan’s Taiex was one per cent lower and while India’s Sensex lost 0.5 per cent.
WATCH ABOVE: AI tax tools can come with security risks
As the deadline to file your tax returns expires on Thursday, the surge of artificial intelligence over recent years may have Canadians wondering if the Canada Revenue Agency plans to use it to review taxes.
The deadline comes as a report by tax firm H&R Block warned earlier this month that more than half (56 per cent) of Canadians would be uncomfortable using AI to file their taxes. It also found that 90 per cent of Canadians are concerned about the security implications of inputting sensitive financial information into publicly available AI tools.
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service, the CRA’s counterpart south of the border, has increasingly been using AI tools in its functioning.
A report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office published last month expressed concern over the IRS’s ability to develop and use AI, seeing as the agency lost 20 per cent of its staff in 2025.
The IRS’s research, applied analytics and statistics wing, which works on deploying AI, lost 63 employees in 2025. IRS voicebots and chatbots also allow users to get information about their personal accounts, status of refunds, balances due, payment plans and other questions.
A 30-country Ipsos survey on AI attitudes released last June found Canada was the least enthusiastic about products and services using AI, with just 31 per cent of Canadians saying they are excited about it. Two-thirds said the idea made them nervous, one of the highest scores among the countries surveyed.
“Unlike closed enterprise AI tools that are implemented into companies’ systems for use only by their clients whereby data isn’t shared outside of the company, open AI tools carry both risks and significant limitations when it comes to inputting personal financial information or to help do your taxes,” said Yannick Lemay, tax expert at H&R Block.
AI tools like ChatGPT are not trained “on the ever-evolving changes to the hundreds of tax credit and benefits available,” Lemay said.
“The reality is that every Canadian’s tax situation is unique based on numerous considerations that AI tools won’t have line-of-sight into,” he said.
“This can result in Canadians receiving inaccurate tax advice and can lead to missing out on getting the full refund they’re entitled to.”
The CRA is “exploring the responsible use of AI” to increase efficiency, the agency told Global News.
When it comes to taxes, the CRA says no decision being made on personal taxes is made by AI.
“All tax returns and individual tax files continue to be reviewed and processed with human oversight,” CRA spokesperson Nina Ioussoupova said.
“AI is not used to make decisions on personal tax situations.”
The agency currently uses 19 AI systems, including a chatbot powered by generative AI tools. The chatbot was introduced as part of the CRA’s efforts at modernizing customer service.
While the chatbot “helps Canadians quickly access reliable, general information about the CRA’s programs” and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it does not replace human interaction with CRA employees, the agency said.
The chatbot only deals with general information and won’t process individual tax files or address personal tax situations, the agency said.
The CRA also uses AI for internal operations. AI is also used to classify and sort documentation and for “corporate functions.”
Employees at the CRA also use internal generative AI models for drafting and summarizing internal documents, as well as coding assistants for developers.
The CRA, like all federal government departments, is subject to government guidelines on the use of AI.
The federal government’s guidelines clearly prohibit public servants from entering any Canadian’s private information into any publicly available online generative AI tools.
This is because all personal information handled by federal institutions is subject to the requirements of the Privacy Act.
If a government department plans to buy, develop or deploy an AI tool, it must consult privacy officials.
The federal government’s Directive on Automated Decision-Making, which applies to the use of any automated systems in the government’s work, applies to artificial intelligence. The directive requires departments to complete an “algorithmic impact assessment,” which ensures that the AI tool being used complies with government guidelines.
A Toronto police cruiser is pictured in Toronto, Ontario on Aug. 17, 2022.
THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Lars Hagberg
Police say a fire at a Toronto yacht club is now being investigated as arson after a blaze ripped through the building on the shores of the Humber River.
A spokesperson for Toronto police confirmed to Global News they were treating the three-alarm fire early on Wednesday morning at the Toronto Humber Yacht Club.
The three-alarm fire was described as “fully involved” by firefighters, spreading from the property but not causing any injuries.
Initially, officers said they didn’t know what caused the fire, but on Thursday, they confirmed they suspected arson.
Local Coun. Amber Morley said her office had been “engaged” in helping the yacht club work out what to do next.
“My office has been engaged in the future of the Toronto Humber Yacht Club for the last several months, both with Council and the local community,” her office said in a statement.
“This morning’s fire was an unexpected and deeply unfortunate incident. I am thankful there were no injuries and for the great efforts of Toronto Fire. We await the findings of the Fire Marshal and will keep the community updated as details become available.”
WATCH: Ottawa hires 1,000 new border agents to strengthen security
A Quebec coroner says Canadian officials turned away a Brazilian woman at border crossings three times in the days before she got lost in the woods and died of hypothermia near the U.S. border in 2024.
Coroner Donald Nicole says passersby alerted authorities after discovering the 36-year-old woman’s body near Coaticook, Que., in April 2024.
In his report, Nicole wrote that she likely died around Jan. 15 after entering Canada through a forested area.
The police investigation revealed she tried to enter Canada on Jan. 7, Jan. 10, and Jan. 11, but the Canada Border Services Agency turned her back each time.
An autopsy found that there were no signs of violence or third-party involvement, and the coroner ruled the death accidental.
The head of a Montreal-based advocacy group for migrants says the case raises serious concerns about border policies.
The jack-up rig Noble Regina Allen sits on the heavy-lift vessel GPO Amethyst in Halifax harbour on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan
AV
A joint federal-provincial regulator says a U.K. company has won the rights to explore for oil and gas in the water off Nova Scotia.
The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Energy Regulator says Inceptio Oil and Gas Ltd. has committed $210 million for exploration activities such as seismic testing and drilling.
However, the company will only get an exploration licence after approval from the federal and provincial governments.
And further authorizations will still be required before Inceptio Oil and Gas can actually start seismic testing.
Premier Tim Houston says the successful bid means Nova Scotia is back in the offshore oil and gas business.
Nova Scotia’s once active offshore energy sector vanished after the closure of two major gas fields in 2018.
ExxonMobil’s Sable Offshore Energy Project and Encana’s Deep Panuke Project reflected the industry’s potential in the province, Houston said.
“We proved we can build, operate and responsibly manage offshore energy at scale. That was not the peak. It was a preview,” the premier said in a statement Thursday.
“Across our entire offshore margin, we believe there is the potential for 148 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 49 billion barrels of oil.”
In 2023, the provincial and federal governments vetoed a winning bid by Inceptio to explore for oil and gas in Nova Scotia’s waters, following a call for bids by the joint energy regulator.
Counterfeit works purportedly created by a polish artist and sold to collectors for $2 million.
DOJ USAO Eastern District of New York
A father and daughter in New Jersey have pleaded guilty to wire fraud and operating a global counterfeiting scheme that sold millions of dollars’ worth of forged works, consigned as originals by Picasso, Warhol and Banksy, to auction houses and galleries.
Erwin Bankowski, 50, and his daughter Karolina Bankowska, 26, commissioned an artist in Poland to create hundreds of fake paintings of lesser-known works by famous painters and defrauded industry professionals out of US$2 million, New York prosecutors said in a statement Tuesday.
“For years, these defendants painted themselves as purveyors of fine art while selling lies on canvas to unsuspecting collectors,” Joseph Nocella Jr., United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, stated.
“Today’s convictions strip away the varnish and reveal the fraud underneath.”
Between 2020 and 2025, the defendants conspired to auction more than 200 counterfeit artworks they said were painted by revered artists, including Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Banksy, Raimond Staprans, Richard Mayhew and Native American artist Fritz Scholder.
A counterfeit work purportedly by Raimond Staprans sold for $60,000.
DOJ USAO Eastern District of New York
As part of the scheme, the father-daughter duo fabricated ownership histories to claim that some of the forged works had belonged to private collectors, individuals associated with the artists, now-closed art galleries or the private collections of corporations that were no longer in operation, prosecutors said.
Their most profitable fake, purportedly by Mayhew, was sold by the auction house DuMouchelles last October for $160,000, The Associated Press reported.
Several other auction houses targeted in the scheme, including Bonhams, Phillips, Freeman’s and Antique Arena, either declined to respond or did not respond to AP inquiries.
Global News did not independently verify the claims with the auction houses in question.
“These two individuals didn’t just sell counterfeit art – they undermined trust, exploited buyers, and attempted to profit from fraud,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle explained.
“In this instance, the FBI, with its partners, has made it clear that those who manipulate the market for personal gain will be caught and held accountable.”
The defendants chose galleries and companies that were no longer operational, making it harder for potential buyers to verify the origin of the counterfeit works, lawyers also said.
The duo went so far as to forge certificates of authenticity for some of the counterfeits, using antique books to imprint custom-made stamps, which they then attached to the forged paintings.
The defendants then consigned the fake art to galleries and auction houses across the U.S., which then attempted to auction the works to buyers for up to $160,000, the statement says.
Counterfeit Work Purportedly by Andy Warhol Sold for $5,500
DOJ USAO Eastern District of New York
In court on Tuesday, Bankowska told a judge that her “conduct was wrong and I am guilty.” Her attorney, Todd Spodek, said his client had placed more than $1 million in an escrow account.
Through a Polish interpreter, Bankowski also apologized. His attorney, Jeffrey Chabrowe, added that his client had “regrettably made a terrible decision in an effort to support his family.”
Both father and daughter are facing more than three years in prison, as well as $1.9 million in restitution and the possibility of deportation to Poland.
WATCH Minden Hills residents continue to handle flood emergency
Minden Hills, Ont. has officially ended its state of emergency as Mayor Bob Carter says water levels have stabilized.
Parks Canada and the Ministry of Natural Resources data show water levels on the Gull River, which runs through Minden, are now manageable. Water levels peaked in mid-April causing flooding throughout the community.
The township enacted the state of emergency on April 14 in response to heavy rainfall and snow leading to higher water levels.
The municipality said it took action to prevent escalating impacts on the community and its infrastructure. Declaring a state of emergency also allowed the township to access provincial supports.
“When there’s this much water, there’s very little that can be done,” Mayor Carter told Global News when the state of emergency was put in place. “Obviously, we prepare by making sure that in the future, buildings are built in such a way that they wouldn’t have a basement, as an example. And there’s a few other things that we are looking at as we continue to develop the whole area. But again, you have to manage this, as opposed to prevent it.”
Spring flooding is not uncommon in the area. Floods in 2013 and 2019 caused significant damage to many homes in Minden.
This year, many downtown streets were flooded when water levels peaked and at least one road was closed. Residents were encouraged to sandbag their homes to prevent flooding.
Residents Tiffany English and Mya Carpenter, 6, fill sand bags for their neighbours in Minden, Ont., on Thursday, April 16, 2026.
Fred Thornhill/The Canadian Press
Mayor Carter expressed his satisfaction with how the community responded, stating “when our community is faced with adversity, the best comes out in Minden Hills”.
“We come together, help one another with acts of care and kindness,” he added. “It is inspiring and I say a sincere thank you to everyone.”
Some rain is expected in the region throughout the week. The MNR says it will continue to monitor water levels over the next two weeks.
Sheriff Susan Hutson speaks at a city council meeting following the escape of 10 inmates from the Orleans Parish Justice Center in New Orleans, May 20, 2025.
Sophia Germer/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP, File
Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson faces 30 counts of misconduct in office and Bianka Brown, the jail’s chief financial officer, faces 20 counts, according to the bill of indictment.
Attorney General Liz Murrill released a statement following news of the indictment, saying that she made a “commitment to the people of New Orleans and the people of our state that those responsible for the Orleans Parish Prison break would be held accountable.”
“While Sheriff Hutson did not personally open the doors of the jail for the escapees, her refusal to comply with basic legal requirements and to take even minimal precautions in the discharge of her duties directly contributed to and enabled the escape,” she added.
The brazen jailbreak through a hole behind a toilet set off a monthslong search before all the escapees were eventually captured.
The 30-count indictment handed up by a New Orleans grand jury charges Hutson with malfeasance, obstruction of justice and falsifying public records.
According to the bill of indictment, Hutson, in capacity as sheriff of Orleans Parish, committed the offence of malfeasance in office between the dates of May 2, 2022, and April 8, 2026.
The legal docs said Hutson committed malfeasance “by intentionally refusing or failing to perform any duty lawfully required of her, as such officer or employee, or by intentionally performing any such duty in an unlawful manner, or by knowingly permitting any other public officer or public employee, under her authority, to intentionally refuse or fail to perform any duty lawfully required of her, or to perform any such duty in an unlawful manner, in Orleans Parish, Louisiana.”
“OPSO is aware of the recent legal developments involving Sheriff Hutson and CFO Brown. Due to the ongoing legal proceedings, OPSO will not comment on the specifics of the case,” the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office (OPSO) said in a statement to Global News.
OPSO added that the agency “remains focused on ensuring continuity across all operations.”
Court records show the bond for Hutson has been set at US$300,000 and that she was ordered to turn in her passport and not leave the state, The Associated Press reports.
Hutson, who lost a re-election campaign, said in a farewell address Tuesday that her office faced numerous challenges and said the jailbreak “tested us to the limit.” She added that her office “responded with professionalism, urgency and resilience, and we came out stronger because of it.”
Hutson’s charges stem from the May 16 jailbreak, where inmates escaped from the Orleans Parish jail, a correctional facility where 1,400 people are being held, while the lone guard watching them went to get food.
On the cell wall, they drew an arrow pointing at the gap they slipped through — above it was a graffiti message: “To Easy LoL.”
Prisoners at the Orleans Parish jail escaped through a hole in the wall behind a toilet.
Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office
After exiting through the hole behind the toilet, the inmates scaled a barbed wire fence, quickly shed their uniforms, changed into regular clothes and fled into the dark, police said.
The inmates’ absence was not reported until a routine morning headcount more than seven hours later. Many of those inmates, ranging in age from 19 to 42, have been charged with or convicted of violent offences such as murder.
A maintenance worker at the jail was arrested in May 2025 after authorities said he helped facilitate the escape.
Sterling Williams is accused of cutting off the water so the inmates could pull the toilet from the wall, Murrill said in a press release.
Williams’ lawyer claimed that the inmates clogged a toilet to shut the water off so that they could escape through a hole behind it. Williams did not know about the plan and did not allow the inmates to cut a pipe behind the toilet to create an opening for their escape, lawyer Michael Kennedy told The Associated Press.
Authorities have said an inmate instructed Williams to turn off the water to a toilet. Kennedy said that after a deputy called Williams to fix a toilet, he found it overflowing.
“This was clearly all part of an orchestrated plan,” Kennedy said. Williams “was nothing more than the tool they used to turn off the water, which they knew would have to happen after clogging the toilet.”
The men accused of breaking out of the city jail pleaded not guilty to escape charges last July, appearing via video call from the Louisiana State Penitentiary.
“Everyone is entitled to due process. But there’s a video of these detainees running out of the jail in the middle of the night. They were not heading to court hearings,” Murrill said. “We will continue to hold everyone accountable for the escape.”
All 10 men are charged with simple escape, which is tacked on top of previous criminal counts that initially landed them in jail, according to Murrill’s office. The escape charge carries a sentence of two to five years in prison.
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