Good morning. This is Hanna Lee.

Yesterday ended in tumult after the podcaster and right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at a university event in Utah. Neither the assailant nor any motive have been identified yet, but it comes during a time of escalating political violence in the U.S. We'll have more on that below.

THE LATEST

• More than 10,000 full-time support workers from Ontario's 24 public colleges are going on strike today in an effort to ensure job security, says the union.
   
• Canada is "evaluating" its relationship with Israel after its strike on Qatar, said Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand.
   
• Opening statements will begin this morning in Fort Pierce, Fla., for the trial of a man charged with trying to assassinate U.S. President Donald Trump on a golf course last September.

Slain podcaster, Trump ally Charlie Kirk built influence among young conservatives

(Cheney Orr/Reuters)

Charlie Kirk, the podcaster, right-wing activist and founder of the conservative group Turning Point USA, was shot and killed at a university event yesterday. He was 31 and had a wife and two young children. 

What's happening: Kirk's death was announced by a key ally of his — U.S. President Donald Trump. The commentator was addressing a crowd of about 3,000 at Utah Valley University in Orem when he was shot in the neck. Authorities said the assailant likely fired from a rooftop. The search for the shooter was ongoing as of publication time.

Influential figure: Kirk was an effective and significant voice for the conservative movement. He had 5.2 million followers on X and hosted a popular podcast and radio program, The Charlie Kirk Show. He was often controversial, promoting conspiracy theories about COVID-19 and the 2021 U.S. election. He was also a staunch gun rights advocate, speaking for the National Rifle Association in Parkland, Fla., after the mass shooting at a high school in that city in 2018.

Rising violence: The U.S. is undergoing its most sustained period of political violence since the 1970s. According to Reuters, there have been more than 300 documented cases of politically motivated violent acts since Trump supporters' attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Carney set to unveil first round of 'nation-building' projects today, including more LNG

(Paul Daly/The Canadian Press)

The latest: Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to unveil a list of five "nation-building" projects this morning. 

The initial tranche of major projects the federal government is hoping to get off the ground include expanding liquefied natural gas production in B.C., and upgrading the port in Montreal, CBC News has learned.

The list, printed in a draft news release shared with CBC News, is being sent to the newly created major projects office for consideration.

According to that list, the projects are:

• Phase 2 of LNG Canada in Kitimat, B.C., doubling its production of liquefied natural gas.
• The Darlington New Nuclear Project in Clarington, Ont., which will make small modular reactors.
• Contrecœur Terminal Container Project to expand the Port of Montreal.
• The McIlvenna Bay Foran Copper Mine Project in Saskatchewan. 
• The expansion of the Red Chris Mine in northwestern B.C.

Poland says it found 14 Russian drones on its territory. Just how will NATO respond?

(Agencja Wyborcza.pl via Reuters)

In case you missed it

• One child has been killed and six more injured after a vehicle drove into a daycare in Richmond Hill, Ont. A man in his 70s has been arrested, and police don't believe the crash was intentional.
   
• The accused in the sexual assault of a three-year-old girl in Welland, Ont., had been let out of jail early this past March. He'd been sentenced for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy.
   
• Prince Harry and King Charles met for the first time in nearly two years, in what may be the first step in ending their much-publicized rift.
   
• More than 51,000 Alberta teachers will strike starting Oct. 6 if an agreement isn't reached before then.

IN LIGHTER NEWS

How does the ratfish hold on during sex? With its forehead teeth, of course

(Submitted by Karly Cohen)

Ratfish are a slippery, limbless type of fish. So how do they mate? Thought you'd never ask. The male has a unique, club-shaped appendage on its forehead, called a tenaculum, which it uses to cling to the female's pectoral fin while mating. Scientists once thought these appendages were lined with the same hard, spiny scales that cover the bodies of the ratfish's distant cousins, sharks and rays. Not so, according to new research. 

"No, they're totally teeth," said marine biologist Karly Cohen.