This TikTok account pumped out fake war footage with AI — until CBC News investigated

Why Christmas trees in Europe are so much cheaper than in Canada

Every year in late November, in the central square of Padua, Italy, a spectacular Christmas tree goes up.

Heavy with baubles and bright with lights (and the neon-lit signs of that year's corporate sponsors), it doesn't just mark the official beginning of the Christmas season. At more than 20 metres tall, it quickly becomes a local landmark, a beacon to tourists who've lost their bearings among the city's medieval streets.

An exquisite Nordmann fir like this, grown over more than two decades, can cost a city upwards of $200,000 to harvest, transport and decorate. Not everyone is buying 20-metre trees, but it wasn't long ago that this variety was so highly sought after in Europe that the then-head of Denmark's Christmas tree growers' association called it "the Rolls-Royce of Christmas trees," capable of fetching double the price of other, cheaper varieties.

Yet today, across the street from Padua's glimmering tree, you can find a two-metre (6½-foot) Nordmann fir for the rock-bottom price of 15 euros ($22), bundled in the corner of a dimly lit grocery store.

This fact suggests something is changing in Europe, where Christmas tree prices have been falling for the better part of the last decade — in stark contrast to Canada, where the average price in some regions for a six-foot (1.8-metre) tree is $75 or more.

While concrete data on Europe's Christmas tree markets can be hard to come by, it seems that despite shrinking forests, smaller farms and more people to supply, their trees today are much cheaper than Canada's. Read more

Family sues after man allegedly got medically assisted death during day pass from hospital

The family of a B.C. man with bipolar disorder and chronic back pain is suing the federal and provincial governments after he allegedly used a day pass from hospital to end his life with medical assistance.

In a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court, the man's family claims the 52-year-old — known as JMM — fell into a group of people whose concurrent physical and mental illnesses leave them "vulnerable" under Canada's medical assistance in dying (MAID) framework.

"JMM received approval for medical assistance in dying, but he subsequently expressed that he did not wish to proceed with the procedure and instead, he wished to pursue other treatments, including rehabilitation," the claim reads.

"Regrettably, while receiving treatment at St. Paul's Hospital for his incapacitating illness, JMM left the hospital on a day pass, visited a clinic in the afternoon, and died through the improper administration of MAID."

JMM's children, his former spouse and his father will be in court Friday seeking to keep their names anonymous and to seal any documents filed in the case beyond the notice of claim.

It's the second time the MAID framework has come under the scrutiny of the court in recent months. In late October, another judge issued a last-minute injunction to prevent the medically assisted death of a woman planned for later the same day. Read more

What else is going on?

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Rep. Jennifer Wexton, a Democrat retiring from Congress after being diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy, said farewell to her colleagues using an AI-generated voice trained on recordings of her natural speech.

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Loonie first hit 0.6999 US in early morning hours Tuesday, according to Bloomberg data.

What do you think we should investigate next? Send us your gripes and groans at marketplace@cbc.ca.