Weekly News Recap: December 12, 2025

Weekly News Recap: December 12, 2025

Donors Bob Xu and Linda Chen cited the leadership of outgoing of U of S President Peter Stoicheff as one of the reasons for making their donation. Photo by Michelle Berg /Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness. -- Frank Ghery

SOME GOOD NEWS

  • Inside Seattle's silent book clubs (Axios) I like it! "No assigned reading. No forced discussion. Just you, your book and a roomful of fellow introverts quietly reading. The big picture: Silent Book Clubs are built around the simple idea of giving people a low-pressure way to read together without deadlines or required discussion."

  • 14-Year-Old Wins Prize For Origami That Can Hold 10,000 Times Its Own Weight (Science Alert) #Wowie "While most 14-year-olds are folding paper airplanes, Miles Wu is folding origami patterns that he believes could one day improve disaster relief. The New York City teen just won $25,000 for a research project based on an origami fold called Miura-ori, which is known for collapsing and expanding with precision."

  • VIDEO: Shaquille O'Neal quietly paid for a random guy's engagement ring while standing in line (Upworthy) I heart Shaq. "As the young man talked with the clerk at the jewelry store counter about how much he still owed for his ring and when he'd be able to pay it off, an extraordinarily large hand handed the clerk a credit card. Shaquille O'Neal, the 7' 1'' basketball legend known colloquially as 'Shaq,' overheard their conversation and decided to take care of the bill himself. No big announcement. No fanfare. He just handed over his credit card, shook the stunned customer's hand and patted him on the back, and that was that."

  • Lost for 5 months in the Northern Rockies, this cat is heading home to Oklahoma for Christmas (CBC) CANADIAN STORY #TheCatCameBack "After nearly five months lost in northeastern B.C, a beloved family cat is heading home for the holidays. Since July, Shadow the cat has been surviving in the wilderness of the Northern Rockies. The black cat was lost when his American owner Jeremy Barton stopped for a break at Liard Hot Springs Provincial Park, a 300-kilometre drive northwest of Fort Nelson on the Alaska Highway. Barton was travelling back from Alaska to his home state of Oklahoma – when the cat slipped out. Barton searched for hours."

  • VIDEO: #TheMoment the family of Mr. Christmas continued a P.E.I. holiday tradition (CBC) PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND STORY "Nadine Tibbits, of North Rustico P.E.I., tells The National about the moment her family continued the holiday decorating tradition of her father, known as Mr. Christmas, after his death earlier this year."

TOP TEN STORIES OF THE WEEK

  1. Japan's viral 7-Eleven egg salad sandwich launches in the U.S. Why is it so popular? (CBC) Hmmm...I don't get it but I do get it. "Take in Tokyo's bustling Shibuya crossing. Visit Kyoto's Golden Pavilion temple. Marvel at Mt. Fuji. Eat a plastic-wrapped sandwich from 7-Eleven. Of all the varied and delightful cultural experiences for tourists in Japan, you might not think consuming an egg salad sandwich sold at a chain belongs on the list. But Japan's ubiquitous convenience store sandwiches have a cult-like following, and its 7-Eleven stores are described as a national treasure. There are travel blogs and guides dedicated solely to them."

  2. VIDEO: Prince Rupert, B.C., celebrating the holidays with Christmas tree made out of crab traps (CBC) PRINCE RUPERT STORY Love this! "Prince Rupert, B.C., residents are celebrating the holidays this year with coastal flair. Instead of decking the halls, they’re stacking crab traps to create a tree on the docks of Rushbrook Marina. A towering display of more 160 traps, complete with lights, ornaments and decorations, the 30-foot (9.1-metre) tree is part of a holiday festival kicking off this week, called Winterfest."

  3. Calgary parents now have permanent, dedicated place to bury miscarried babies (CBC) CALGARY STORY This is a wonderful addition to the Queen's Park cemetery. I wish we had one of these in Edmonton when we lost our daughter Madeline. "Sara Francis was 11 weeks pregnant when she lost the baby she had already come to love. He was her fifth child. She named him Jude. 'It was devastating, and I really felt a loss of identity. I really questioned my ability to be a good mom. I felt ashamed that my body had let me down,' said Francis."

  4. VIDEO: Old YWCA building gets $1 million lifeline in Calgary's 2026 budget (CBC) CALGARY STORY "After sitting vacant for more than two months, the former YWCA building in the Beltline is getting a million dollar boost from Calgary's new city budget. City council approved the funding on the final day of 2026 budget deliberations. The money will support a scoping report examining the condition of the city-owned building, as well as the now closed Beltline Aquatic Centre."

  5. Benevity Celebrates Over $150 Million Donated and 7.2% Increase In Donation Volume During Giving Tuesday 2025 (Financial Post) CANADIAN STORY "Benevity, Inc., the leading global provider of social impact software, today announced that over $150 million was donated to nonprofits through its platform this Giving Tuesday. Nearly 16% of the donations were made by first-time donors, contributing to the biggest single-day participation event across donation and volunteering activity on the Benevity platform."

  6. GivingTuesday raises $4 billion, up 13 percent from 2024 (Philanthropy News Digest) "The 2025 GivingTuesday event raised an estimated $4 billion, a 13 percent year-over-year increase, the GivingTuesday Data Commons reports. The number of participants increased this year, with 38.1 million people making gifts, up 6 percent from 2024. The number of volunteers this year also increased significantly to 11.1 million, an increase of 20 percent compared to GivingTuesday 2024. This year’s giving boosts the cumulative total of GivingTuesday donations since its launch in 2012 to $22.5 billion."

  7. UCalgary fifth-ranked research university in Canada: Research Infosource (CTV) CALGARY STORY This is HUGE! Well done UofC! "The University of Calgary has been named one of the top five research universities in Canada. The ranking by Research Infosource of the country’s top 50 research universities for 2025 is based on external funding in 2024—U of C received nearly $600 million in research funding that year. The fifth-place ranking is one spot higher than the previous year. Ed McCauley, U of C president and vice-chancellor, said research happening there “improves the world around us.”"

  8. VIDEO: Renowned Toronto-born architect Frank Gehry dead at 96 (CBC) CANADIAN STORY RIP to one of the great architects of our time. We will not see his like again. "Frank Gehry, the Canadian-born renegade architect behind some of the world's most recognizable buildings, has died at 96. Meaghan Lloyd, chief of staff at Gehry Partners, LLP, said he died on Friday morning at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., following a brief illness. Known for his unconventional style and daring designs, Gehry brought unique life to cultural spaces including Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif."

  9. VIDEO: Montreal honours 14 victims of Polytechnique massacre at ceremony (CBC) MONTREAL STORY I was an engineering student at uAlberta when this happened. We will remember them and also bring awareness to all gender-based violence. "Montreal officials held a ceremony to mark the 36th anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre. A total of 14 women were murdered in the anti-feminist attack on Dec. 6, 1989. Their names were: Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte and Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz."

  10. Varcoe: Three month job-creation spree drives significant plunge in Alberta unemployment rate (Calgary Herald) ALBERTA STORY "More than 28,000 new jobs were created in Alberta last month, making up more than half of the increased employment in the country — despite weak oil prices. What’s just as impressive is Alberta’s unemployment rate, which has served as an anchor on the provincial economy this year, has not only budged but it’s rapidly falling, dropping from 7.8 per cent in October to 6.5 per cent last month."

SEVEN LIFE AND CAREER HACKS

  1. In a Word: How to Complain About the Cold Like a Boss (Saturday Evening Post) Ha, like we need to learn this in Canada :-)

  2. Mad Men’s legacy: What ’60s men’s fashion can teach us today (The Manual) Without a doubt, my favourite style-era.

  3. PODCAST: How to Make Better Decisions Under Pressure (HBR) We can all learn to do this better.

  4. The best 100 albums of 2025 (Noise Narrative) This is awesome. For me, when Spotify gave me my year, it said I had the musical age of a 74-year-old (ouch). I am using this list to bring that age down to Christine's (her's was 26).

  5. VIDEO: I Grew a Pine Tree from a Pine Cone │ 2 Year Timelapse (YouTube) Amazing!

  6. How a Nightly “Dark Shower” Could Help You Sleep Better (Inside Hook) *I do this on occasion, I might try doing it more often. *

  7. How to Make Homemade Hot Cocoa (The Art of Manliness) Mmmm..much better than store bought hot chocolate.

TOP THREE GIFTS OF THE WEEK

  1. University of Saskatchewan announces $10-million donation towards School for the Arts (Saskatoon Star Phoenix) SASKATOON STORY This is terrific. Thank you for your service Peter. "A pair of University of Saskatchewan alumni are making a historic donation to recognize what they call 'the leadership and dedicated service' of outgoing president Peter Stoicheff. Xiaoping (Bob) Xu and Ling (Linda) Chen have gifted the university $10 million to support the School for the Arts in the university’s [College of Arts and Sciences.]"

  2. VIDEO: $2M donation gifted to IWK to fund women’s health research chair (CTV) HALIFAX STORY "A $2 million donation has been gifted to IWK Health in Halifax. The money was donated by prenatal researcher Dr. Margaret Oulton to fund a research chair dedicated to women’s health research. Oulton started her research career at the former Grace Maternity Hospital in the 1970s."

  3. THE SLAIGHT FAMILY COMMITS $10 MILLION TO SUPPORT FOOD PROGRAMS IN THE GTA AND ACROSS CANADA (NewsWire) CANADIAN STORY "As food bank use reaches record levels in Ontario and across the Greater Toronto Area, the Slaight family is committing $10 million to help keep communities fed in Toronto, the GTA and across Canada."

LAST WEEK'S MOST POPULAR STORIES

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