#Chinese toymaker accused by U.S. of sharing children’s data sells products in Canada.

A Chinese toymaker accused by U.S. authorities of illegally sharing children’s location data is selling app-controlled toys in Canada.

Headquartered near Hong Kong in Shenzhen, Apitor Technology sells Lego-like building kits for robots that are programmed and controlled through a smartphone app. According to the company’s website, Apitor markets the toys as STEM education tools that help “kids learn and grow in science, technology, engineering and math.

According to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Apitor’s app allowed a third party in China to collect location data from children without notifying parents or obtaining their consent. By doing so, U.S. authorities say Apitor violated what’s known as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

“Apitor allowed a Chinese third party to collect sensitive data from children using its product,” Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a news release. “Companies that provide online services to kids must notify parents if they are collecting personal information from their kids and get parents’ consent — even if the data is collected by a third party.”

The third party that received the data is a Chinese mobile developer and analytics provider known as both Jiguang and Aurora Mobile. Jiguang’s privacy policy allows it to use the data it collects for any purpose, including advertising and sharing it with other third parties.

In Canada, Apitor’s toys are available through several large online retailers.

CTVNews.ca reached out to Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, which said it has not received any complaints about Apitor.

“The Office will be reaching out to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to better understand the situation and determine next steps,” a spokesperson said.

The office is responsible for overseeing compliance with Canada’s privacy laws, including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). The act requires organizations to provide information about data collection and seek user consent.

The privacy watchdog previously published tips for parents about internet-connected toys. In May, Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne announced a consultation to help inform the development of a new children’s privacy code.

“Organizations must provide privacy information to young people (and their parents/guardians as appropriate) in a concise, prominent and clear manner suited to the maturity of the young person,” the privacy office spokesperson said. “They should also be transparent about any privacy risks associated with using their product or service.”

On Tuesday, the DOJ announced that a U.S. federal court order had resolved the allegations against Apitor. Apitor has been ordered to delete any personal information that was improperly collected, and it must also now make reasonable efforts to directly notify and obtain verifiable parental consent before gathering or using data from children. A court-ordered civil penalty of US$500,000 has been suspended due to Apitor’s alleged inability to pay.

Apitor did not respond to a request for comment.

“The (DOJ) will vigorously work to ensure businesses respect parents’ rights to decide when their children’s personal information can be collected and used,” U.S. Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said in a news release. “We will continue to work with the (FTC) to stop unlawful intrusions on children’s privacy.”

Yukon election campaign to kick off with new ridings, vote on electoral reform.

WHITEHORSE — Yukon’s territorial election is expected to be called today with Premier Mike Pemberton waiting until the last opportunity under the law.

Pemberton told supporters on Thursday that he would be meeting with Commissioner Adeline Webber to formally bring the 35th Yukon legislative assembly to an end and trigger the next election.

It will be held on Nov. 3, the last possible day under the territory’s fixed election legislation.

The election will be the territory’s first with 21 ridings, up from the current 19, and 15 will have new boundaries after a commission recommended changes last year.

The Yukon Liberals have been in power since 2016, securing a minority government in 2021 with the support of the three New Democrats in the legislature.

More than 36,000 Yukon residents are eligible to cast a ballot in the election next month, which will also include a non-binding vote on electoral reform.

Voters will be asked if the method of electing members of the legislature should change from the current system of first past the post to a ranked vote.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2025.

The Canadian Press

Excavators find US$1 million in gold coins from Spanish shipwreck along Florida’s ‘Treasure Coast’

#FBI fires agent trainee who displayed Pride flag, sources say.

FBI Director Kash Patel has fired a longtime bureau employee who displayed a Pride flag in his workspace during a past assignment, according to multiple people familiar with the termination.

The employee was undergoing new agent training at the FBI’s academy in Quantico, Virginia, when he received a letter from Patel ordering his immediate dismissal.

In a previous non-agent role with the FBI, the employee, who received multiple awards for service during his career, had also been a field office diversity program coordinator and displayed a Pride flag at his workstation, sources said.

In notifying the individual of their dismissal, Patel did not specifically mention the Pride flag by name, but said the agent trainee was being summarily dismissed for past “poor judgment” and “an inappropriate display of political signage,” sources said.

Two FBI veterans told CNN displaying the flag at one’s desk historically would not violate any past FBI policy. However, since taking office, President Donald Trump has vowed to rid the federal government of what he calls “woke” ideology.

The FBI didn’t immediately return a request for comment from CNN.

The firing comes less than a week since Patel fired over a dozen other FBI employees who took a knee while conducting crowd control in 2020 after being confronted by a group of demonstrators in the nation’s capital. The act of taking a knee, which appeared to de-escalate the situation, drew sharp criticism from some conservatives, including people inside the FBI. Previous FBI Director Christopher Wray concluded that it did not violate bureau policy.

Since assuming office, Patel has fired or forced the resignation of numerous FBI personnel, including three senior executives who filed a lawsuit claiming their terminations were driven by the White House at the urging of Trump’s political allies.

By Josh Campbell, Jamie Gangel, CNN

#Trump ally threatens immigration sweep at Bad Bunny Super Bowl show.

U.S. authorities could conduct immigration sweeps at next year’s Super Bowl, a Trump administration official has warned, following the announcement that Puerto Rican megastar Bad Bunny will headline the halftime show.

“There is nowhere that you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally, not the Super Bowl and nowhere else,” said Corey Lewandowski, an advisor to Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem.

“We will find you. We will apprehend you. We will put you in a detention facility, and we will deport you,” he added in a podcast Wednesday with conservative influencer Benny Johnson.

U.S. President Donald Trump began his immigration crackdown after returning to power in January, vowing to deport millions of undocumented people living in the U.S.

Bad Bunny recently said his worldwide tour was skipping the United States over fears that immigration officials would target his concerts.

“If there are illegal aliens, I don’t care if it’s a concert for Johnny Smith or Bad Bunny or anybody else, we’re going to do enforcement everywhere, because we’re going to make Americans safe,” said Lewandowski.

Like many other Trump officials, Lewandowski criticized the NFL as “woke” for choosing Bad Bunny to headline the halftime show of the American football showpiece next February - with the performance routinely drawing audiences of more than 100 million viewers.

“It’s so shameful that they’ve decided to pick somebody who just seems to hate America so much,” he said.

Super Bowl halftime shows have traditionally attracted the biggest names in music, with past performers including Michael Jackson, the Rolling Stones and Madonna.

Trump’s loyal Make America Great Again movement is particularly furious about Bad Bunny’s selection for 2026 given that he almost exclusively performs in Spanish.

Bad Bunny is also out of favor as he supported Trump’s presidential rival Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.

Activists aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla said Israeli warships surrounded several of its boats on Wednesday and that the interception of the main vessels was under way.

Kilauea’s lava soared as high as a skyscraper during a 6-hour eruption. Here’s what to know.

On Wednesday, the volcano had its 34th episode since December. Scientists believe they are all part of the same eruption because magma has been following the same pathway to the surface.

Fountains from the south vent at Kilauea’s summit crater soared 1,300 feet (400 metres) into the air, the U.S. Geological Survey said. That is taller than New York’s Empire State Building which is more than 100 stories.

The eruption died down after six hours.

The lava has been contained within the summit crater inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and hasn’t threatened homes or buildings. It isn’t expected to affect local commercial airports.

Park visitors can see the eruption in person. Others can watch popular livestreams offering a choice of three different camera angles made possible by U.S. government geologists.

Kilauea is on Hawaii Island, the largest of the Hawaiian archipelago. It is about 200 miles (320 kilometres) south of the state’s largest city, Honolulu, which is on Oahu.

Here’s what to know about the latest eruption at Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes:
Fountains of molten rock

A lower magma chamber under Halemaumau Crater has been receiving magma directly from the earth’s interior at about 5 cubic yards (3.8 cubic meters) per second, said Ken Hon, scientist-in-charge at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. This blows the chamber up like a balloon and forces magma into an upper chamber. From there it gets pushed above ground through cracks.

Many of the eruptive episodes since December have featured lava flying high into the air. In some cases, the lava formed towers topping 1,000 feet (300 metres.) The fountains are generated in part because magma -- which holds gases that are released as it rises -- has been traveling to the surface through narrow, pipelike vents.

The expanding magma supply is capped by heavier magma that had expelled its gas at the end of the prior episode. Eventually enough new magma accumulates to force the degassed magma off, and the magma shoots out like a Champagne bottle that was shaken before the cork was popped.

This is the fourth time in 200 years that Kilauea has shot lava fountains into the air in repeated episodes. There were more episodes the last time Kilauea followed this pattern: The eruption that began in 1983 started with 44 sessions of shooting fountains. Those were spread out over three years, however. And the fountains emerged in a remote area, so few got to watch.

The other two occurred in 1959 and 1969.
Predicting Kilauea’s future

Scientists don’t know how the current eruption will end or how it may change. In 1983, magma built enough pressure that Kilauea opened a vent at a lower elevation and started continuously leaking lava from there rather than periodically shooting out from a higher elevation. The eruption continued in various forms for three decades and ended in 2018.

Something similar could happen again. Or the current eruption could instead stop at the summit if its magma supply peters out.

Scientists can estimate when lava is likely to emerge days ahead of time by using sensors that indicate when magma is inflating or deflating.

“Our job is like being a bunch of ants crawling on an elephant trying to figure out how the elephant works,” Hon said.

At times the lava fountains have been shorter. Steve Lundblad, a University of Hawaii at Hilo geology professor, said the vent may have gotten wider in such cases, leaving molten rock less pressurized.
Carrying stories of Pele

Some people may see lava flows as destructive. But Huihui Kanahele-Mossman, the executive director of the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation, said lava is a natural resource that hardens into land and forms the foundation for everything on Hawaii Island.

Kanahele-Mossman’s nonprofit is named after her grandmother -- the esteemed practitioner of Hawaiian language and culture. The foundation’s hula halau, or school, is celebrated for its mastery of a style of hula rooted in the stories of Pele and her sister, Hiʻiaka.

Kanahele-Mossman has visited the crater a few times since the eruption began. She initially watches in awe and reverence. But then she observes more details so she can go home and compare it to the lava in the centuries-old tales that her school performs. While at the crater, she also delivers a chant prepared in advance and places offerings. Recently she presented awa, a drink made with kava, and a fern lei.

“You as the dancer, you are the storyteller and you carry that history that was written in those mele forward,” she said, using the Hawaiian word for song. “To be able to actually see that eruption that’s described in the mele, that’s always exciting to us and drives us and motivates us to stay in this tradition.”
Visiting the volcano

Park visitation has been increasing since the eruption began. In April, there were 49% more visitors than the same month of 2024.

Park spokesperson Jessica Ferracane said those wanting to see the lava in person should sign up for U.S. Geological Survey alert notifications because the eruption could be over quickly, she said. Most episodes since December have lasted a day or less.

She cautioned that visitors should stay on marked trails and overlooks because unstable cliff edges and cracks in the earth may not be immediately apparent, and falling could lead to serious injury or death. Young children should be kept close to adults.

Volcanic gas, glass and ash can also be dangerous. Nighttime visitors should bring a flashlight.

Audrey Mcavoy, The Associated Press

Colombia gives chunk of Pablo Escobar’s ranch to conflict victims.

Escobar, once head of the powerful Medellin Cartel, was one of the richest men on the planet in the late 1980s, with Forbes magazine estimating his fortune at US$25 billion.

His lavish 4,000-hectare Hacienda Napoles estate in northwest Antioquia department, which he filled with exotic animals, including hippos, became a symbol of his power and wealth.

After he was shot dead by police in 1993, the state took over the estate and leased it to local authorities, who turned it into a successful theme park, complete with a hotel and zoo.

Petro said that part of the estate had now been handed over to victims of Colombia’s more-than-six-decade armed conflict between left-wing guerrillas, drug cartels, right-wing paramilitaries and the state.

“We have begun to recover the Napoles estate for the victims,” Petro wrote on X.

The government said that 120 hectares (297 acres) of land had been given to local women farmers.

The women received a loan of the land from the local Puerto Triunfo municipality in 2017, but according to the national government, were later evicted by the police.

“I feel very happy because today there are women who have hope, who have land for life,” Millinery Correa, one of the beneficiaries, said in a video shared by the state-run National Land Agency.

Land ownership has been a key driver of Colombia’s conflict.

In May, Petro had asked that Escobar’s estate be included in a land reform program, under which thousands of hectares of land, including some properties previously owned by drug traffickers, be given to rural Colombians.

Tourism companies operating at Hacienda Napoles had protested the plan to break up the estate, pointing to its role in attracting tourists to the region.

Hacienda Napoles is famous for the replica plane that he mounted over the entrance gate -- an emblem, since removed, of the planeloads of drugs he smuggled into the United States -- as well as its hippo population.

Escobar brought a small number of the African beasts to Colombia in the late 1980s.

After his death the animals were left to roam freely beyond the estate’s boundaries and to multiply. They now number around 150.

Colombia has declared them an invasive species and made plans to transfer 70 of them to overseas sanctuaries.

A Gaza-bound aid flotilla is currently sailing toward the enclave, entering a high-risk zone where previous missions have faced attacks and interceptions.

Family says a Mexican man shot at a Dallas ICE facility has died, becoming attack’s second victim.

The family of Miguel Ángel García-Hernández, 32, said he died after being removed from life support, according to a statement provided through the League of United Latin American Citizens, a civil rights organization.

Authorities have said the gunman in the Sept. 24 attack, Joshua Jahn, 29, fired indiscriminately from a nearby roof onto the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and a van holding detainees in a gated area. Authorities have said Jahn hated the U.S. government and wanted to incite terror by killing federal agents.

No ICE personnel were hurt in the shooting, and Jahn fatally shot himself following the assault.

Norlan Guzman-Fuentes, 37, a detainee from El Salvador, was also killed.

The attack happened as heightened immigration enforcement has generated backlash against ICE agents and stirred fear in immigrant communities across the country.

Stephany Gauffeny, García-Hernández’s wife, said in the statement that her husband, “was a good man, a loving father, and the provider for our family.”

“We had just bought our first home together, and he worked hard every single day to make sure our children had what they needed,” she said. ”His death is a senseless tragedy that has left our family shattered. I do not know how to explain to our children that their father is gone.”

Gauffeny is expecting their fifth child, LULAC said.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday that her administration helped García-Hernández’s mother with the necessary paperwork to allow her to travel to Dallas.

Sheinbaum also said her government asked U.S. authorities for an investigation and that Mexico would get involved if there was any kind of violation of García-Hernández’s rights.

Following ICE procedures, the detainees were restrained inside the van, an ICE official said, adding that federal agents ran into gunfire to remove them and render aid.

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Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland, and María Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.

By Jamie Stengle