Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Outages at Rogers disrupted internet and cellular service around the country on Friday, blocking payment systems and emergency services and creating havoc for businesses and individuals alike.
Rogers Communications Inc. hadn’t disclosed as of Friday afternoon what caused the nationwide outage or how many customers have been affected.
The list of services affected is extensive and includes Interac debit systems. Friday’s outage follows a nationwide wireless network outage for Rogers customers last year.
The telecom and media giant is currently attempting to win regulatory approval of its $26-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. ahead of a July 31 deadline. Canada’s Commissioner of Competition is attempting to block the merger of the country’s two largest cable networks, saying the deal would result in higher prices and poorer service. Experts have held up Friday’s outage as another an example of why competition is key in the telecom industry.
Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former prime minister, assassinated at campaign event
Condolences and commemorations are rolling in from around the world for Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former Prime Minister who was assassinated at a campaign event in the city of Nara on Friday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the assassination “horrifically disturbing.” He remembered the 67-year-old as “a thoughtful, compassionate, strong leader who understood the importance of service, understood the importance of building a better world, better opportunities for his citizens.”
Police arrested Tetsuya Yamagami, a 41-year-old local man, in connection with the assassination. Photos from the scene showed Yamagami holding what appeared to be a homemade gun, and police said at a press conference he has confessed to the killing. Police said the motive was “hatred towards a certain group,” to which he believed Abe was connected, but gave no further detail.
Canada’s unemployment rate fell to record low in June, despite losing 43,000 jobs
Canada’s unemployment rate fell to a new record low of 4.9 per cent in June, even as the economy lost a surprising 43,000 jobs last month.
The job loses surprised analysts, who projected a gain of 22,500 positions, and undid May’s gain of 40,000 jobs. The loses are the first decline not related to tighter public health restrictions since the start of the pandemic. The job losses were concentrated among the self-employed and those 55 and up.
Hiring conditions remain challenging, which pushes up salaries. Average hourly wages rose 5.2 per cent in June compared to a year earlier.
“Forget the messy headline number,” Doug Porter, chief economist at Bank of Montreal, said in a note to investors. “The main takeaway here is that Canada has the tightest job market in generations, and now wages are starting to move with purpose.”
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Elon Musk terminating Twitter deal: Elon Musk said on Friday he was terminating his $44-billion deal to buy Twitter Inc., citing material breach of multiple provisions of the agreement. Shares of Twitter fell 6 per cent in extended trading.
Putin warns of energy ‘catastrophe’ as West seeks to unblock Ukraine’s grain exports: President Vladimir Putin warned that continued use of sanctions against Russia could cause “catastrophic” increases in energy prices. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Western allies are urging Moscow to allow Kyiv to ship grain out of the country as the months-long war threatens to bring hunger to other countries.
Who will replace Boris Johnson? A look at the top contenders: Johnson has insisted he will remain as Prime Minister until a new leader has been appointed, drawing criticism. Meanwhile hopefuls are lining up to replace him as Conservative party leader.
Biden to sign executive order on abortion, contraception access: U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Friday aiming to help support access to services to terminate pregnancies. The order is expected to have a limited impact, because U.S. states can make laws restricting abortion and access to medication abortion.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index fell on Friday, but was still up for the week, as investors weighed prospects of a global recession and domestic jobs data supported expectations for an outsized interest rate hike next week by the Bank of Canada. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended down 40.31 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 19,022.86. For the week, the index was up 0.9 per cent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 46.4 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 31,338.15, the S&P 500 lost 3.24 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 3,899.38 and the Nasdaq Composite added 13.96 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 11,635.31. For the week, the Nasdaq gained 4.5 per cent, while the S&P and Dow advanced 1.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.
The loonie advanced 0.1 per cent to 1.2955 per U.S. dollar, or 77.19 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of 1.2937 to 1.3034. For the week, it was down 0.6 per cent as investors worried about the risk of a global recession.
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TALKING POINTS
The very nature of a leadership race based on selling memberships as fast as you can is corrupting
“Something of this sort – illegal fundraising, faked memberships, or bulk purchases of memberships on others’ behalf (sometimes with illegally raised funds!) – happens in virtually every Canadian party leadership race. And it will go on happening, so long as the parties persist in using leadership elections as membership drives.” - Andrew Coyne
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we need to strengthen nuclear non-proliferation efforts
“It would be a mistake to exaggerate the harm that the invasion of Ukraine has done to the non-proliferation regime. For one thing, those who think the invasion will teach other states that they would be more secure if they had nuclear weapons are oversimplifying history. One cannot assume that nothing would have happened if Ukraine had kept its Soviet-era nuclear weapons.” - Joseph S. Nye Jr.
Canadians need to keep talking about racism
“Many organizations have made considerable investments in diversity and inclusion training to educate people and make them aware of their unconscious biases, but studies have shown this training has not had a lasting impact. This shouldn’t be surprising, as it is next to impossible to change people’s deeply held attitudes and values, at least in the short term.” - Keith Neuman and Michael Adams
LIVING BETTER
TikTok’s most popular gut-health myths, debunked
In early 2000, the microbiome (which are trillions of bacteria, fungi and other microbes that live in your gut helping your digestive and immune systems) was not a household term like it is now and very little importance was put on the gut and its impact on our overall well-being. Now, however, everyone seems to be an expert on gut health, including TikTok creators, who have collected more than 150 million views on the topic.
Vancouver dietitian Desiree Nielsen is thrilled that the gut is finally getting the attention it deserves – after all, more than 20 million of us have digestive issues, according to the Canadian Digestive Health Foundation – but she’s dismayed by the amount of misinformation that is regularly posted on Instagram and other social-media sites. “Despite what social media might have you believe, there is no overnight shortcut to better digestive health,” Nielsen says. Read more on how to improve your gut health.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Gerald Hannon’s intimate memoir is a cogent insider account of radical gay activism in Toronto
Besides an intimate view of his own life, loves and outrages, Hannon’s posthumous memoir, Immoral, Indecent & Scurrilous, is a cogent insider account of radical gay activism in Toronto beginning in the mid-1970s: the bath house raids, the launch of Gay Pride and the history of The Body Politic collective, the publication where Hannon was a staff photographer, reporter and chronicler of sexual mores.
He learned to write at TBP, but his best literary work was at magazines such as Toronto Life, where he published captivating and fearless profiles of contemporary luminaries, including architect Jack Diamond, art critic John Bentley Mays, Toronto mayor Rob Ford, society columnist Zena Cherry, and, my favourite, Tomson and the Tricksters, a 1992 profile of the Cree playwright Tomson Highway and his youngest brother, René, a dancer and performer, who died of AIDS-related meningitis at the age of 35, in 1990. I loved Hannon’s journalism, which was alluring but not show-offy, and I wish he had included more examples in Immoral, Indecent and Scurrilous Sandra Martin writes in her full book review.
Evening Update is written by Hope Mahood. If you’d like to receive this newsletter by e-mail every weekday evening, go here to sign up. If you have any feedback, send us a note.