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Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States, appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, on May 8, 2025.
Hard Numbers: Conclave selects new pope, American TV loses amid Canadian hockey wins, Trump makes Ovechkin a Canuck, Wildfires scorch Alberta, Measles ravages Ontario, JD Vance’s half-brother advances in mayoral race
78 million: The 78 million Catholics living in the US and Canada finally have one of their own at the head of the church. After two days of deliberations, the Vatican conclave on Thursday named Robert Francis Prevost as pope, the first American ever to hold the job. Pope Leo XIV, as he will be known, is seen as a middle-of-the-road choice by comparison with his reform-minded predecessor, Pope Francis. But his strong, recent criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration policy sets up immediate tension between the Vatican and the White House.
29%: Canada’s hockey success is America’s loss, if TV ratings are anything to go by. Canada has five teams in the National Hockey League playoffs for the first time since 2017, but US audiences don’t seem interested. Playoff viewership on ABC/ESPN dropped 29% from last year, and the corresponding ratings for TNT/TBS fell 16%. No team from Canada has won the Stanley Cup since 1993. If it happens, a lot of Americans might miss it entirely.
895: Speaking of hockey, US President Donald Trump appears to think that the Washington Capitals’ star player Alexander Ovechkin is Canadian. “You happen to have a very, very good hockey player right here on the Capitals,” Trump said during his meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney. “Just broke the record, and he’s a great guy.” Ovechkin, who just broke the record for all-time goals in the NHL with his 895th gino last month, is Russian. At least the US president knows where The Great One is from.
72 hours: Wildfires northeast of Edmonton have caused two county offices to issue states of local emergency, with Thorhild County ordering the residents of rural Boyle to evacuate their homes for 72 hours. But the effects may not be confined to Alberta: two years ago, Canadian wildfire smoke and pollution turned blue skies orange across North America.
1,383: The number of confirmed or probable measles cases in Ontario hit 1,383 on Tuesday, with another 265 cases in Alberta, and 40 more in Quebec. Canada’s total cases now exceed those in the United States, which stand at 935. On a per-capita basis, Ontario’s outbreak is 21 times larger than America’s. Experts blame the measles spread on falling vaccination rates – a study last year found that immunization rates among Canadian children in five provinces fell seven percentage points between 2019 and 2023.
2,894: Coffee shop owner Cory Bowman, half-brother of Vice President JD Vance, advanced to the general election for Cincinnati mayor, despite receiving just 2,894 votes (13%) in the all-party primary. Incumbent Mayor Aftab Pureval, a Democrat, dominated the primary election, winning 18,505 votes. The general election will take place in November.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford speaks during a campaign stop at Walker Construction in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 31, 2025.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford no longer likes Donald Trump
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who is seeking a new mandate in an election later this month, has been forced to explain a pro-Trump comment captured by a hot mic.
Ford, a Progressive Conservative, liked Donald Trump until the US president threatened to impose 25% tariffs on Canada, which would wreck the US-dependent Ontario manufacturing industry. In the video clip filmed at a rally, Ford says, “On Election Day, was I happy this guy won? 100% I was. Then the guy pulled out the knife and f***ing yanked it in me.”
Premier of Canada’s biggest province since 2018, Ford called a snap election for Feb. 27, some 15 months earlier than necessary, saying he needed a mandate to stand up to Trump. This quick election will allow him to get a new mandate before a federal election that is likely to elect Conservative Pierre Poilievre. Ontario has a long tradition of voting differently at the provincial and federal levels.
Ontarians have embraced Ford’s tough-on-Trump message. One poll shows him with the biggest lead since the turn of the century.
He had been attacked by his Liberal and NDP rivals for the hot mic comment but the controversy is unlikely to hurt him electorally. Ontario voters know and like the larger-than-life Ford despite — or because of — his often brash but authentic approach to politics.A drone view shows a flooded area in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, in Houston, Texas.
Hard Numbers: Doctors at a distance, US inflation falls again, Beryl barrels through insurers, Virginia bans smartphones in schools
670,000: Is there a doctor in the house? Maybe, but if you’re an Ontarian, you might have to travel. At least 670,000 residents of the province live more than 50 kilometers from their family physician, according to a new report. Meanwhile, the number of Ontarians who have no family doctor at all has risen by a third since 2020 to more than 2.5 million people.
3: Annual inflation in the US fell for the third straight month in June, coming in at 3%, down from 3.3% in May. That will give the Fed room to start cutting rates again soon, but popular perceptions of inflation persist. Polling earlier this spring showed that two-thirds of Americans consider high prices a top problem, even after months of declining inflation. Why? Because things cost significantly more than they did before the pandemic-driven price surge.
2.7 billion: Damage inflicted by Hurricane Beryl will cost US insurers at least $2.7 billion, according to initial estimates. The storm, which slammed into southeastern Texas on Monday, lashing the Houston area with heavy wind and rains, destroyed property and left millions without power. For more on how climate change is cooking US insurers, see our special report by Ian Bremmer here.
1.2 million: Virginia will limit or ban cellphone use in public schools, a move that would affect 1.2 million students. Earlier this summer, the Los Angeles city school system issued a similar ban, amid heightened attention to the ways that smartphone use by adolescents can interfere with learning and threaten mental health. In Canada, Alberta will soon join Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia with a similar measure.
A homeless man's tent is seen in an alley in downtown Toronto, Ontario.
HARD NUMBERS: Ontario’s ex-cons struggle to find homes, First Nations challenge carbon tax, “Super pigs” eye the border, Alberta cashes in on TV
17.3: The percentage of prisoners released from Ontario jails who have nowhere to live has nearly doubled over the past five years, reaching 17.3% in 2021-2022, the most recent annual data show. Experts blame a triple crisis of housing affordability, mental health, and addiction, and warn that there is a high correlation between homelessness and recidivism.
133: A group representing 133 indigenous groups in Ontario filed a lawsuit today challenging the federal government’s carbon tax, which they say disproportionately burdens their communities. The tax, a cornerstone of Justin Trudeau’s climate agenda, has seen growing local pushback, especially after the PM excluded home heating oil from the tax in October in a move viewed as a sop to his constituents in Atlantic Canada, where the fuel is most common.
62,000: As if there weren’t enough to worry about in the world, the US is now bracing for an invasion of “super pigs” from Canada. More than 62,000 of the voracious, destructive, and nearly unkillable creatures have already been spotted roaming the US-Canada borderlands. They are the crossbred descendants of wild boars that Canadian farmers released into the wild after the boar meat market crashed in the early 2000s. Experts say the pigs are an “ecological train wreck.” We can’t read this story without hearing “Super Pig” to the tune of Rick James’ “Superfreak” — and now … neither can you.
141 million: And the last (of us) shall be first … The post-apocalyptic HBO show “The Last of Us” generated $141 million for the province of Alberta, where it was shot in 2021-2022. That makes it the most lucrative TV show ever shot in Canada. Next season, the drama moves to British Columbia.