And a large crypto trading platform has halted withdrawals.
Happy Thursday and welcome to your wrap of the key headlines from around the world.
We begin in Canada, where the country is in shock after one of its deadliest mass shootings.
Initial reports said seven people were killed yesterday at a remote school in British Columbia and two others were killed at a nearby home. A woman, who police believe was the shooter, was found dead, apparently from a self-inflicted wound, police said. The motive at this stage remains unclear.
However, in the past hour, the police have corrected the death toll; they now say that six people were killed at the school in Tumbler Ridge and that the victims at the house were the shooter's mother and step-brother, the BBC reported
Police have also named the shooter as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar. They said the suspect was "born as a biological male, who.... approximately six years ago began to transition to female, and identified as female".
More than 25 people were wounded in the attack in the small mountain community, including two with life-threatening injuries. Tumbler Ridge has a population of about 2700 and is located 1000 kilometres northeast of Vancouver.
Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, was tearful when speaking about the attack. “Parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers in Tumbler Ridge will wake up without someone they love. The nation mourns with you, and Canada stands by you.”
As Associated Press notes, school shootings are rare in Canada, which has strict gun laws and has responded to previous mass shootings with strict measures, including a recently broadened ban on assault weapons.
Mark Carney.
In other news, much-anticipated US employment numbers were released earlier this morning, showing job growth unexpectedly accelerated in January, with the unemployment rate falling to 4.3% from 4.4% in December.
As reported by Reuters, the signs of stability in the US labour market could see the Federal Reserve hold interest rates steady for some time while policymakers monitor inflation.
That would put the Fed once again in the crosshairs of US President Donald Trump, who has long agitated at the central bank for not cutting rates fast enough.
However, the large increase in payrolls is thought to have exaggerated the true health of the labour market, as revisions showed the economy added only 181,000 jobs in 2025 instead of the previously estimated 584,000. There were downward revisions after every month in 2025.
Economists have noted that other indicators, such as job openings, pointed to a tepid market, with most of the job growth largely occurring in healthcare and social services.
“The only jobs being filled in January are in healthcare and social assistance, along with some nonresidential specialty trade contractors probably related to AI facilities, all of which do not guarantee the economy's future success," FWDBONDS chief economist Christopher Rupkey said. "If you are looking for a job ... you are unlikely to find anything to apply for in today's report."
Wall Street’s main indices were not motivated after the release of the jobs report, with all down between 0.1% and 0.5% as the reduced chances of an interest rate cut likely dampened enthusiasm. US 10-year Treasury yields initially spiked as high as 4.202% before retreating to 4.155%, while gold has gained about 1.6% overnight, and Brent crude oil rose 1.38%.
In news reminiscent of the crypto winter of 2022, US institutional crypto trading platform BlockFills has halted withdrawals and restricted trading, according to the Financial Times and CoinFlip.
Based in Chicago and backed in part by market-making giant Susquehanna Investment Group, BlockFills saw US$60b ($99b) in trading volume last year, according to FT.
"In light of recent market and financial conditions, and to further the protection of clients and the firm, BlockFills took the action last week of temporarily suspending client deposits and withdrawals," a spokesperson told the newspaper. "Clients have been able to continue trading with BlockFills for the purpose of opening and closing positions in spot and derivatives trading and select other circumstances," they added.
The moves come as the price of Bitcoin has plummeted, falling by close to half over the past six months to as low as $60,000 before a recent rebound. Bitcoin was down 3.3% overnight to around $66,500.
In corporate news, consumer food giant Kraft Heinz is putting the brakes on its plans to split the company in half.
As reported by CNBC, Kraft Heinz chief executive Steve Cahillane, who joined the company last month, said that many of its issues were “fixable and within our control”.
“My number one priority is returning the business to profitable growth, which will require ensuring all resources are fully focused on the execution of our operating plan,” he said. “As a result, we believe it is prudent to pause work related to the separation and we will no longer incur related dis-synergies this year.”
It plans to invest $600m in its marketing, sales and research and development to fuel the company’s turnaround. In September, the company announced the split, a decade after Warren Buffett engineered a US$46b mega-merger to create one of the biggest food manufacturers in the world.
Britney Spears.
The company’s chief executive at the time, Miguel Patricio, said the complexity of the company’s structure had made it difficult to allocate capital efficiently.
Finally, this morning, pop superstar Britney Spears has sold the rights to her entire music catalogue for around US$200m, the BBC reported.
Spears, who is 44, is said to have sold them to independent music publisher Primary Wave at the end of last year.
The singer, whose protracted conservatorship long dictated her personal and professional life, is best known for hits such as Baby One More Time, Oops!... I Did It Again, and Toxic.
Primary Wave did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment, and representatives for Spears declined to comment.
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