Health Canada reshapes children’s rules, Huawei fires arrested employee, and more top news

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Health Canada is softening its regulations restricting food and drink marketing to children, after pushback from the food and advertising industries, reports The Globe and Mail. The federal department has been working on the rules to restrict ads for foods that contained more than a certain daily threshold of salt, sugar and/or saturated fats for more than a year and a half.  A proposal to broadly restrict TV advertisements during a time of day when children are likely viewers has been weakened and will now only apply to programs where children make up a certain percentage of the audience. The proposals could affect $350million in TV ads and $600million in digital ads, according to media firm GroupM. ? Here’s what people are saying.

Huawei Technologies has fired an employee who was arrested in Poland on charges of “conducting high-level espionage on behalf of China.” Wang Weijing’s arrest followed the arrest in December of the Chinese technology giant’s CFO in Canada, on behalf of the U.S. government. American officials consider Huawei an accomplice in the Chinese government’s efforts to spy on Americans. ? Here’s what people are saying.

PG&E CEO Geisha Williams is stepping down from California's largest utility firm as it faces billions in potential fire liability costs, pushing it to the "brink of bankruptcy." Many of the wildfires were started by the company’s equipment, with investigators implicating PG&E in at least 17 major wildfires in 2017. The company's electric distribution system is now being questioned by state regulators and other lawmakers. It hasn't been determined whether the PG&E played a role in November’s Camp Fire, the deadliest in California's history. ? Here’s what people are saying.

SpaceX will cut about 10% of its workforce in order to "become a leaner company," reports The Los Angeles Times. Elon Musk’s privately-held rocket company will eliminate hundreds of jobs from its staff of about 6,000 employees. The firm — whose income derives mainly from commercial and national security satellite launches — said the layoffs were necessary in order to move ahead with ambitious projects such as space-based internet and its plans to send humans to Mars. ? Here’s what people are saying.

Hedge-fund-backed media group, MNG Enterprises, is set to make an offer for USA Today publisher Gannett, reports The Wall Street Journal. MNG, also known as Digital First Media, is one of America’s largest newspaper chains and plans to offer to buy Gannett for $12 a share, per the Journal. Gannett, which owns and operates dozens of publications, has seen its shares drop about 15% in the past year. ? Here’s what people are saying.

Idea of the Day: Sport can change our lives beyond mere fitness, says former Olympic medallist and Paris 2024 Organising Committee President, Tony Estanguet.

“I built myself through sport. The training hours… have shaped me well beyond the sporting world: they have built me as a man, as a leader, as a citizen.”

What's your take on today’s stories? Share your thoughts in the comments.  

— Carmel Melouney and Jessica Hartogs