Maple Express | October 12, 2026 — Man Dies in OPP Custody in Orillia; SIU Launches Investigation

1. Man dies in OPP custody in Orillia; SIU launches investigation

Ontario's police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), says it has launched an investigation after a 44-year-old man died in police custody in Orillia.

The SIU says Ontario Provincial Police officers responded to a disturbance on Sunday shortly after 6:45 p.m. and arrested three men. The three were taken to the OPP's Orillia detachment and lodged into cells after being searched.

During a routine check on Monday at around 6:30 a.m., one of the men was found without vital signs and was pronounced dead after unsuccessful resuscitation efforts. Three investigators and one forensic expert have been assigned to examine the circumstances surrounding the death.

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2. Canada signs joint statement denouncing Iran after U.K. air base plot

Canada is joining more than two dozen other countries in denouncing Iran's apparent involvement in a planned attack on an air base in England.

In a joint statement, the countries say they "condemn in the strongest terms Iran's use of violent attacks." British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Monday that a suspected terror plot at a U.S.-run military air base last month was "almost certainly" directed by Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The RAF Fairford air base has been used by American bombers to strike Iran in the ongoing war.

The signatories include the United States, France, Germany and Australia, among others. They say any attempt by Iran to threaten individuals on their territory through proxies is unacceptable.

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3. Leafs' Matthews named NHL's first star of the week

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews is the NHL's first star of the week. Matthews led the league with nine points (three goals, six assists) across three games, including a pair of four-point outings.

He had a goal and three assists, scoring the overtime winner, in a 5-4 comeback win against Nashville last Tuesday — his 15th career overtime goal, good for second on the Maple Leafs all-time list. He closed the week with a two-goal, two-assist showing in a 6-3 win over Colorado on Saturday for his 19th career four-point game.

Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger went 2-0-1 on the week, allowing just one goal on 60 shots with shutout wins against San Jose and Buffalo before a 2-1 shootout loss to Pittsburgh on Saturday. New York Rangers left-winger Alexis Lafreniere paced the NHL with five goals, adding two assists.

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4. Michael Jordan jersey sells for US$14M, a basketball memorabilia record

A game-worn, autographed Michael Jordan road jersey from the 1998 NBA Finals has been privately sold for US$14 million, an auction house announced Monday, calling it the highest price ever paid for a piece of basketball memorabilia.

Pennsylvania-based Hunt Auctions announced the private treaty sale and identified the buyer as Miami real estate investor Ron Firman. The red jersey is the one Jordan wore in Game 2 on June 5, 1998, when he and the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz to even the series at a game apiece.

Jordan and the Bulls went on to win the series in six games, the sixth and final title of his Hall of Fame career. The $14 million price is the second-biggest known cost for a game-worn jersey, behind the $24.12 million paid in 2024 for Babe Ruth's jersey. It is at least the third time a Jordan jersey from that 1998 finals has fetched at least $10 million: a Game 1 jersey sold for about $10.1 million in 2022, and a Game 3 jersey auctioned last month for about $12.3 million.

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5. Grand Slam of Curling unveils new-look broadcast team

The Grand Slam of Curling will kick off Tuesday with a new-look broadcast booth after an off-season overhaul.

Longtime Sportsnet curling host Rob Faulds retired last summer, and veteran analysts Kevin Martin and Mike Harris are not returning to their previous roles. The Curling Group brought in relative curling newcomer Darren Dupont to join John Cullen for host and play-by-play duties, with Jennifer Jones returning as an analyst on a crew that also includes Joanne Courtney, Brad Gushue and Brent Laing.

Sportsnet returns as the main domestic rights-holder, with CBC now on board for some Saturday draws and select Sunday finals, while morning weekday draws and tiebreakers will stream on Rock Channel. The five-event circuit begins Tuesday morning at the Co-op Invitational in Victoria and continues through Sunday.

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6. Actor Selma Blair hospitalized, in stable condition after flight incident

Actor Selma Blair was hospitalized and is in stable condition after an alleged incident aboard a commercial flight from Los Angeles to New York City on Sunday night, according to her representative.

Police responded to a call about a physically abusive passenger aboard a Delta Air Lines flight arriving at John F. Kennedy Airport from LAX, according to Port Authority media relations. The suspect was identified as Selma Blair, who was taken into custody and later transported to the hospital for evaluation. Two flight attendants reported injuries, with one transported to the hospital. The FBI is investigating the incident.

Blair's representative said Monday that the actor "experienced a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct," adding that she received immediate medical attention and is in stable condition. Blair is living with multiple sclerosis. She is best known for 1999's "Cruel Intentions" and 2001's "Legally Blonde," and also appeared in the "Hellboy" franchise.

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7. Tom Cruise's 'Digger' bombs, leaving studio with a US$250M hole

The Tom Cruise eco-satire "Digger," a movie that was supposed to herald the action hero's return to serious acting, has bombed at the box office, with industry insiders predicting it could lose a quarter of a billion dollars.

The Alejandro Inarritu comedy, featuring Cruise as an eccentric oil baron, was panned by critics and has left audiences cold, leaving Warner Bros. with a big balance sheet hole just as a merger with Paramount Skydance closes. After two weeks in theaters, the film has grossed just US$14.4 million in North America and US$35.3 million globally, pointing to cumulative losses of around US$245 million. It cost anywhere from US$160 million to US$180 million before marketing, which can run up to US$100 million.

"Financially it has to be considered a disaster," Christopher Rosen of The Ankler told AFP. Daniel Loria of Boxoffice Pro noted the film was greenlit under outgoing Warner Bros. executives Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca, and said Inarritu's movies "aren't really too worried about their box office total."

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8. Film shot in secret in Tehran hits U.K. festival

Shot in secret in Tehran, "The Friend's House Is Here," shown at the London Film Festival, is a "love letter" to young Iranian artists caught up in the turbulence of war, its directors told AFP.

The feature film, which had to be smuggled out of Iran, explores the daily lives of best friends and roommates in Tehran — Pari, a playwright and actress, and Hana, a dancer. They belong to a community of young, underground artists who stage Pari's plays in secret because she refuses to seek authorization from the Iranian authorities. The film won a Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in January and will be released in the United States on Dec. 4.

The couple was awakened by Israeli and U.S. strikes on Tehran in June 2025 as they prepared the film. It was shot clandestinely over a few weeks between September and October last year using a small camera and sound equipment concealed in a bag. A week before Sundance, a team member drove to the Turkish border, smuggling the film on a hard drive hidden among the rushes of a religious film.

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9. Flavio Bolsonaro cleared to visit jailed father

Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro is set to visit his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest, after a judge authorized the visit on Monday.

Flavio Bolsonaro, the favorite to win the presidential runoff against incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on October 25, will visit the jailed ex-leader on Tuesday. The Supreme Court authorized the right-wing senator to resume visiting his father as long as he does not involve him in campaigning.

He was barred from visiting the former president in July after reading out a letter from his father on YouTube. Judge Alexandre de Moraes then ruled that Bolsonaro senior had violated the terms of his sentence, which he is serving for attempting to mount a coup after his electoral defeat to Lula in 2022. The 90-day suspension ended on Sunday. Flavio told reporters in Brasilia he will visit his father on Tuesday morning.

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10. Fact check: Trump posts fake Denzel Washington quote praising him

President Donald Trump has shared another fake quote on social media, this time a fabricated comment in which "Denzel Washington" supposedly heaps praise upon him.

The phony quote that Trump's Monday post wrongly attributed to the legendary actor has previously been wrongly attributed to fellow celebrities Mick Jagger and Matthew McConaughey, the fact-checking website Snopes reported. Fictitious claims about Washington declaring himself a Trump supporter have circulated online for years. Washington has generally kept a low political profile, but federal records show he donated to Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama in 2008 and Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Trump posted the fake quote on his Truth Social platform Monday morning, sharing an image of a Saturday post by a pro-Trump X account called "Red Eagle Updates." Media outlets including MeidasTouch and Mediaite noted Monday morning that the supposed quote was fake. Alan Nierob, a representative for Washington, confirmed to The Washington Post that the quote was "not real."

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