Limo in Finly, IN

The century-old kayak has spent decades locked away in the vaults of the Vatican Museums, its driftwood frame still holding together, though the fragile sealskin cover is partly tattered.

Out of sight for generations, the vessel carries the stories of Western Arctic communities, its sleek, delicate form a witness to Inuvialuit hunts of seals, walrus and whales — and now, to a long-awaited act of reconciliation between the Roman Catholic Church and Indigenous communities in Canada.

After complex negotiations, the kayak and other Indigenous artifacts are finally set to return home, a powerful symbol for communities whose children suffered in Catholic-run residential schools.

Sources tell CBC the Vatican and the Canadian Catholic Church are making good progress toward an agreement to return the cultural objects before the end of the year, in a handoff facilitated by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB).

The CCCB released a statement saying it has been “working closely with Indigenous Peoples on key issues of significance, including artifacts, many of which are currently in the care of the Vatican Museums,” and that it supports getting the artifacts back to their “originating communities.”

It said the official announcement will come directly from the Holy See, likely in the coming weeks.

'Church-to-church' donation

The items, including the rare kayak,, will first go to the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que.

There, experts will assess their condition, confirm their age and origins, and work with a committee of Indigenous representatives to determine where they should ultimately be placed.

A source told CBC the handoff is structured as a “church-to-church” donation, allowing the Vatican to avoid setting a precedent of returning cultural objects directly to nations or communities.

The same model was used when the Vatican returned fragments of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece in 2023 — a gesture officially framed as an “ecumenical donation” to the Greek Orthodox Church, rather than the Greek state.

A source not authorized to speak on the matter said the Vatican will give the artifacts to the Canadian Bishops with the explicit understanding that they will then pass them on to Indigenous communities.

The kayak and other items were originally sent to Rome in 1925 for a world exhibition organized by Pope Pius XI, who had invited Catholic missionaries across the globe to ship “examples of Indigenous life” from the regions where they worked.

Some 100,000 objects arrived in Rome, many of them taken from Indigenous communities during a time of forced conversion, cultural suppression and in Canada, the residential school system. Most became part of the Vatican’s permanent collection.

Along with the Inuvialuit kayak from the Western Arctic is a face mask from Haida Gwaii, beaded skin moccasins, etchings on birch bark and an ivory and sealskin sculpture of a dog sled.

Most of the Vatican’s Indigenous collection remains in storage in the “Animus Mundi” ethnological section of the Museums.

Return of items part of 'healing journey'

In 2023, a year after Pope Francis’s “penitential” trip to Canada where he apologized for some members of the Church’s role in residential schools, the Catholic leader acknowledged the importance of restitution of the objects.

After, then-prime minister Justin Trudeau, and later foreign minister Mélanie Joly, pressed the Vatican to bring the objects back to Canada during meetings in Rome.

For Indigenous leaders, the pending return is both symbolic and deeply personal.

“Every single one of those artifacts are sacred items, crucial for the healing journey for many residential school survivors,” said Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Chief Bobby Cameron in in May.

His organization, which represents Saskatchewan’s First Nations, has repeatedly asked the Vatican to return sacred objects, including pipes and ceremonial regalia, that were removed from communities by missionaries.

Cameron renewed that call following the election of Pope Leo XIV in May.

In 2023, the Vatican formally repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, the 15th-century papal position used to justify colonization, but Indigenous advocates say tangible acts like repatriation are key to reconciliation.

Academic researchers say the Vatican’s claim that the Indigenous

Gloria Bell, a McGill University art historian and expert on the Vatican holdings, told CBC some objects were likely seized under the federal potlatch ban that criminalized traditional ceremonies from 1885 to 1951.

Within weeks, the return of the fragile Inuvialuit kayak and other artifacts will mark not just a physical homecoming, but a tangible response to decades of cultural loss.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Megan Williams has been covering all things Italian, from politics and the Vatican, to food and culture, to the plight of migrants in the Mediterranean, for more than two decades. Based in Rome, Megan has also told stories from other parts of Europe and the world and won many international prizes for her reporting, including a James Beard Award. Her radio documentaries can be heard on Ideas and The Current. Megan is also a regular guest host on CBC national radio shows.

It has taken 11 months and 35 games.

It has come after Ruben Amorim described his team as 'maybe' the worst in Manchester United history.

It has come after he expressed public doubts over his own position and, in the past fortnight, was given public reassurance from minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe amid growing speculation the next sequence of poor results would mark the end of his tenure.

Finally, at Anfield, home of Manchester United's - historically and statistically - biggest rivals, Amorim's team delivered a statement win.

This wasn't a repeat of the smash-and-grab success at Manchester City last December. This was a game where United led for 83 minutes.

A game where they had chances to extend the lead given to them by Bryan Mbeumo in the opening moments, a game where they scrapped and defended for their lives as Liverpool roused themselves as the second half dragged on.

A game where, after they were pegged back by Cody Gakpo's 78th-minute leveller, had the resilience to go again and get a winner through Harry Maguire, created by a quite brilliant cross from Bruno Fernandes.

A game where, Amorim admitted, his side had "some luck".

It sealed a first Anfield win for nine years, when Wayne Rooney scored the only goal, and successive victories in the Premier League for the first time since Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag.

It has been a long time, far longer than anyone thought, but Amorim has got something to build on.

"The biggest win in my time at Manchester United," was how the 40-year-old described the result afterwards.

It was almost as if, for a few brief seconds, Amorim had lost himself the way 3,000 United fans had done at the final whistle, celebrating a victory few thought was likely - even if Liverpool went into the game off the back of three successive defeats.

The Portuguese had regained his composure by the time he spoke to the wider media a short time afterwards, when he was reminded of his comments in the only comparable moment of euphoria during his tenure - a 4-0 win against Everton on 1 December which extended his unbeaten start to three games and declared a "storm was coming".

Has the storm passed now, Amorim was asked at Anfield?

"I have no idea," came the considered reply.

"If we show the spirit we did today, in training and in games, we will win so many games.

"But for that we need to take action. It has been a good day. Now we must focus on Brighton. We will see after Brighton."

Amorim is right to be cautious - and United fan Frank Ilett would probably be wise not to get his hopes up that the haircut he promised himself - when the team win five games in a row - might only be three weeks away.

As highlighted by BBC Sport in the build-up to the Liverpool encounter, United have not managed a single point in two seasons from their corresponding next three fixtures; Brighton at home, Nottingham Forest away and Tottenham away.

Players past and present alike realise there have been too many promises of false dawns that have disappeared almost immediately to take anything for granted.

"The players will go back into the training ground in a better place, but they have to use this as a springboard to make sure they kick on," said former United skipper Roy Keane.

"We have not given the fans enough days like that," was Maguire's view of his first win at Anfield as a United player.

"Football is about creating special memories and today we all go home happy - but we are not in a position to get carried away."

Maguire epitomised the spirit Amorim praised beyond anything else.

Had he given up when Ten Hag decided he could do without his captain in 2023, the centre-back would no longer be a United player. Instead, the 32-year-old turned down the opportunity to join West Ham.

Even after he lost the captaincy to Fernandes, Maguire refused to give in. At the start of this season, when Matthijs de Ligt was selected for the central position in Amorim's three-man defence, he met the challenge to reclaim a starting spot head on.

With his contract deep into its final year, Maguire is wedded to United strongly enough to be willing to take a pay cut to extend his time at Old Trafford.

"This is a club with a lot of pressure," added Amorim. "It is not easy to play here and Harry is really important for us.

"When you consider everything he has gone through, he is a great example for every kid."

Amorim knows he needs a much bigger body of work for anyone to realistically believe he will remain at United for the three years Ratcliffe spoke of recently.

Another home defeat by Brighton - it would be their fourth in a row at Old Trafford next weekend - would see the vultures circling again.

He knows many of those who report and speak about the club have, in public or private, expressed a view Amorim will lose his job sooner rather than later.

It is typical he should welcome such talk and use it as motivation, while also taking solace from the knowledge he has given the supporters who have paid so much to see so little in recent times - including embarrassment at League Two Grimsby in the EFL Cup in August - yet still sing in his honour, a day to remember.

"It is not normal to find something like this. So many bad moments, and to have the fans always supporting the manager when every one of you is saying 'until Christmas', he's gone.

"I want you guys (media) to continue with the narrative you are. Don't change that. That is best for me.

"I don't have many wins in Manchester. Our fans struggled against Grimsby, they struggled against Brentford. Today they saw a different team.

"This win is for them."

Rich DeThomas never thought ordering wine from Italy would be this complicated.

In late August, he ordered a dozen bottles of red wine to be sent to his home in Huntsville, Alabama. It never showed up. Citing recent tariff changes, UPS requested more details about the shipment before saying it couldn't deliver the wine to DeThomas at all.

After receiving a replacement shipment from the vineyard, he also got a $13 bill from UPS for "abandoning" the first case.

"It's the headache of dealing with it all," DeThomas said. "What the hell? What's going on?"

DeThomas is one of the Americans finally experiencing the ramifications of President Donald Trump's April announcement of sweeping tariffs on most countries. Many customers' latest headaches are coming after the Trump Administration ended the de minimis loophole in August, which exempted shipments worth under $800 — and many consumers' most common purchases — from tariffs.

Now, customers are realizing that, in addition to paying the cost of tariffs, some are having to become amateur customs brokers to make sure their online order arrives.

The chaos has become especially apparent for UPS customers like DeThomas. The service has left customers' US-bound packages sitting at its warehouses for days or weeks, and, in some cases, said that it would dispose of their shipments because of customs issues since the demise of a loophole for small shipments under $800.

UPS has acknowledged that many packages have been unable to clear customs because of issues related to US import regulations. A spokesperson told Business Insider that "more than 90% of all imported packages" that move through UPS's network clear customs the first day that they arrive in the US.

Tariff tedium frustrates consumers

After Trump's so-called Liberation Day, business leaders and economists predicted a spike in inflation and shipping chaos. Walmart and Amazon were among the companies that said they'd be raising prices. Importers increased ordering to build up inventory before tariffs took effect.

Then, we waited. Over the summer, inflation ticked up slightly, and stories of surprise bills for online orders began trickling out.

Now, consumers say they're having to learn about wonky aspects of tariffs — what's the product's country of origin? How do I verify that I'm being charged the right fee?

In early September, after DeThomas' 12 bottles of red wine were held up for several days at UPS's Louisville facility, a customs broker for UPS told him via email that they would either be abandoned or returned to the sender at their cost. "Personal wine imports ORDERED ONLINE are NOT permitted," the broker wrote.

UPS did not respond to questions from Business Insider about DeThomas' experience, including which policy its broker was referencing when they said that online orders of wine aren't allowed.

"If this is going to happen, I'm not ordering it," DeThomas said.

Katie Golden, who resells clothes on Depop, said that she expected to pay some tariffs when she ordered $179 worth of used apparel from the UK. Still, she said, she was surprised when UPS sent her a bill for $769 when her shipment reached the US, including a $54 brokerage fee.

Golden said that she's trying to dispute the tariff and have her bill reduced. She said that she suspects that UPS didn't understand what was in her shipment and applied the wrong tariff rate.

"It shouldn't be this hard to order a package," she said.

Some UPS customers have told Business Insider that they are trying to contest their tariff bills after their shipments were hit with the 200% tariff rate for Russian aluminum — among the highest rates that the US charges on imports — though their shipments didn't contain metal from the country.

Tom Strohl, president of consulting firm Oliver Wight Americas, said that customers could look for alternatives to buying stuff abroad if they keep running into problems with tariffs. Companies that ship into the US should either factor tariffs into their purchase prices or allow customers to pay the tariffs when they place their order, he said.

"If customers are confused, it's going to affect their brand," he said. "That, to me, is the worst possible outcome for a supplier."

That's a concern for businesses that, like many in the US, are gearing up for another busy holiday shipping season. Kunal Sharma, who owns two Ontario, Canada-based businesses that sell parts for luxury cars, said that he's already watched UPS lose or return some of his US-bound shipments since the end of the de minimis loophole.

"I can't even imagine how bad it'll get on Black Friday," he said.

Economists expect tariffs to affect US consumers in other ways, such as raising prices and making it harder to get a job. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said that tariffs have prevented the central bank from cutting interest rates sooner.

But the duties' effects on shipping and ordering stuff abroad may continue to be one of the clearest examples of the duties hitting home for Americans.

George Hayes is considering cutting back on ordering from outside the US.

The North Carolina resident imports figurines, pillows, and other goods popular in the Otaku community from Japan. The products are often cheaper there than equivalents for sale in the US. With the new tariffs on small shipments and backups at services like UPS, though, Hayes said that he's planning to hold off on ordering more until there's clearer guidance on what he can and can't import and which tariffs will apply.

Hayes paid about $700 in tariffs on his last shipment. But it's not just the cost: For many items, he now has to report the country they were manufactured in to determine the correct tariff — a challenge, he says, since he buys many secondhand items.

Before the end of the de minimis loophole, he said, that was something he never had to think about.

"I wish we could have that again," Hayes said of the system before this year's tariffs. "We didn't know how good we had it."

Do you have a story to share about UPS or tariffs? Contact this reporter at or 808-854-4501.

When I received a phone call from an unknown number this week, I didn’t have to pick up the phone to find out it was a robocaller impersonating a utility company with an offer to reduce my bill. A robot spoke on my behalf and told me what the caller had said.

I was testing a call-screening tool for iPhones that is included with Apple’s iOS 26 software system, which arrived last month. Since activating the feature a few weeks ago, I’ve hardly noticed when calls from unfamiliar digits come in. The new tool does its job without ringing my handset.

Call screening should come in handy for lots of smartphone users. Like millions of people across the country, I’ve been bombarded with an uncountable number of spam calls for the last decade. Past tools I’ve tested, such as apps that filtered out calls from numbers identified as scammers, were ineffective.

Some owners of Android phones are in luck, too. Many users of Google’s Pixel phones have had access to a similar call screener for a few years, and this week, Google said it had expanded the tool’s availability to more countries, including Australia, Canada and Ireland. (Unfortunately, most other Android phones still lack this technology.)

Robocalls continue to be a problem because as soon as solutions emerge, scammers come up with new ways to harass us. Scam calls were momentarily in decline last year after phone carriers used technology to prevent them and regulators cracked down on robocaller operations. But the shady calls have been on the rise again this year, largely because new artificial intelligence made it easier to impersonate voices of people pretending to have information about student loans, credit reports and missed deliveries.

Though the call screeners from Apple and Google are imperfect solutions (more on this later), they go a long way toward offering smartphone owners a much-needed respite from those persistent scammers.

Here’s what you need to know about how to use the call-screening software on iPhones and Android devices, how the technology works and why it’s likely to be more helpful than past apps for combating spam.

Activating Call Screening on iPhones

Activating the call screener on iPhones takes a few steps:

When a call comes in from an unknown number, your phone won’t ring. Instead, Apple’s Siri will answer and, in a robotic voice, ask who is calling and the reason for the call. A transcription of the conversation will appear as a message, and you can type follow-up questions for Siri to ask or simply answer or reject the call.

Activating Call Screening on Androids

Owners of an eligible Google Pixel device can set up call screening inside the phone app.

Similar to Apple’s tool, Google’s virtual assistant will answer calls from unknown numbers and ask the caller for more information, giving the user the option to report the call as spam or ask the caller to call back.

Why This Tech Is Better, but Still Imperfect

Consumers eager to block scam calls have had to rely on third-party apps using technology that robocallers easily circumvented. Those apps relied on a database of phone numbers identified as scammers and blocked calls from those digits.

The problem? Robocallers have used internet apps to “spoof” calls, manipulating phone networks to place calls from numbers they weren’t really calling from. So when those numbers were blocked, they simply placed calls from different ones.

For the last decade, phone carriers have tried to solve the problem by using a technology known as Stir/Shaken, a method for authenticating phone numbers. When you get a phone call from a number and see a check mark next to it, the carrier’s technology is being used to verify that the call is from that number. While Stir/Shaken helped people have confidence to answer calls from unknown numbers, it didn’t put an end to robocalls from spoofed digits.

For many years, Apple and Google have offered the option to send calls from all unknown numbers to voice mail, but this has been an extreme measure, because it could make it hard for people trying to get in touch with you, like a pharmacy or a doctor.

The call-screening tool is a moderate approach that should be useful for most people. By giving callers a chance to identify themselves, you can avoid robocallers but still pick up the phone from a real person trying to reach you.

In my testing of Apple’s call-screening tool, this approach worked well the vast majority of the time. Whenever Siri interrogated a person impersonating the Internal Revenue Service, Amazon or Apple, the robocaller eventually hung up. But when I got calls from real people with unfamiliar numbers, like someone at a preschool and a dentist, the callers identified themselves and I answered the phone.

But there were hiccups and awkward situations. For example, an executive at a large tech company who was trying to reach me to discuss an article I was working on found it off-putting that a robot answered my phone and hung up. A marketing professional at another tech company expressed frustration about having to identify himself before I picked up.

Apple said it was aware that it could take time for people to adapt to call-screening technology, which is why it gave users the option to turn on the feature rather than activating it by default.

What About Text Messages?

Just as people are getting more potent tools to combat robocalls, scammers have shifted toward using text messages to impersonate job recruiters, banks, shipping companies and old friends. To address this, Apple and Google offer tools that, similar to email services, automatically detect and filter scam texts into a folder labeled spam.

Apple users can activate the text-filtering tool, which includes the option to screen messages from unknown senders, inside the settings for the Messages app — and I recommend it.

For Android users with Google Messages, the spam filter is turned on by default.

Though a spam filter for text messaging is a nice, overdue feature, it’s also a sad sign that our messaging apps are becoming as chaotic as email. But this was inevitable, because the surest way to reach someone is through the person’s cellphone, and scammers are well aware of that.