Injured people are treated in Barcelona, Spain, on Aug. 17, 2017, after a white van jumped the sidewalk in the historic Las Ramblas district.Oriol Duran/The Associated Press
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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Barcelona attack: At least 13 killed, dozens injured after van rams into crowd
At least 13 people have been killed and 80 more have been injured after a van plowed into pedestrians in Barcelona's Las Ramblas district, an area popular with tourists. Officials have asked people in Barcelona to avoid the area around Placa Catalunya. Police have arrested two people and are treating the incident as a terrorist attack. The Islamic State's Amaq news agency said the attackers "are soldiers of the Islamic State." This claim was not immediately verified.
This is a developing story and details will continue to emerge throughout the evening. Read the latest developments here.
U.S. culture, history 'ripped apart' with monument removal: Trump
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump decried the removal of Confederate monuments, echoing white nationalists and refusing to let go of a controversy that has inflamed U.S. racial tensions. As the crisis deepened over Trump's responses to the violence last Saturday in Charlottesville, Va., the White House denied rumours that the President's economic adviser Gary Cohn might resign.
Before Trump spoke in New York on Tuesday, where he said both sides were to blame for the clashes in Charlottesville on the weekend, many of America's most prominent CEOs knew they had a problem because of the President's initial response to the events, which left one woman dead and 19 injured. Here's a look at the 48 hours of calls and calculation which ended with many CEOs rebuking the President on Wednesday.
Asylum seekers at Quebec border nearly quadrupled in July
The number of asylum seekers intercepted at the Quebec-New York border in July nearly quadrupled to 2,996 and authorities say there are no signs of the influx slowing down. The vast majority of asylum seekers are Haitians and groups working with migrants say those crossing the border are fearful of being returned to an uncertain future in Haiti as early as next year as the Trump administration considers ending a program that granted Haitians so-called "temporary protected status" following the massive earthquake that struck in 2010. However, many of those people are coming to Canada with false information about what awaits, Immigration and Citizenship Canada spokesman Louis Dumas said. "Coming to Canada, asking for asylum in Canada is not a guarantee for permanent residency in Canada," Dumas said.
Protests break out on China-North Korea border over new sanctions
Protests have broken out on the Chinese border with North Korea, as dozens of trucks carrying seafood were blocked from crossing after China imposed a new round of economic sanctions. According to a video posted to Chinese social media, trucks were unable to proceed and the crab and shrimp they carried was melting in the sun and risked being spoiled. Pyongyang has angered Beijing through its defiance of international demands that it halt its weapons-development program, and China was among the countries that signed off on a new round of United Nations economic sanctions in early August.
As condo prices surge, young Canadians struggle to buy their first homes
Buying a condo in Toronto and Vancouver has gotten even harder for millennials as prices have surged in the country's two most expensive housing markets. The average price of condos sold in Greater Vancouver in July hit a record $664,944, up 15.9 per cent from a year earlier. In the Greater Toronto Area, the average price of condos sold reached $501,750, an increase of 23.2 per cent from July, 2016. In a survey of 1,000 "peak millennials" (aged 25 to 30) across Canada, 64 per cent said they believe housing prices in their regions are unaffordable.
MARKET WATCH
Canada's main stock index ended down Thursday for the third straight day as investors were cautious over turmoil in U.S. politics and some base-metal prices fell from multiyear highs. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index unofficially closed down 0.32 per cent at 15,033.64. The S&P 500 posted its biggest daily drop in three months as investors worried about whether the Trump administration could push through its economic agenda. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.25 per cent to end at 21,750.39 and the S&P 500 lost 1.54 per cent to end at 2,430.06. Oil prices moved up on news that U.S. stockpiles in Cushing, Okla., were declining.
WHAT'S TRENDING
After three years apart, Nofa Mihlo Rafo was reunited with her 12-year-old son Emad Mishko Tamo in Winnipeg. The family, Yazidis from Iraq, had been separated after Islamic State terrorized and displaced thousands of members of the minority group in 2014. "Thank you Canada," the boy said.
TALKING POINTS
Butts, Bannon and an unexpectedly effective courtship
"It becomes harder every day to be seen as friends of this administration without some guilt by association, harder to be true to Canada's values as Mr. Trudeau's government sees them and potentially harder to pursue any international goals beyond preserving cross-border status quo." – Adam Radwanski
Look beyond Trump to explain the rise of right wing extremism
"The vitriolic political rhetoric employed by politicians in the United States, Europe and even Canada has clearly contributed to an emboldened right-wing extremist movement; in many ways they have found their safe space. Yet, we cannot explain what happened in Charlottesville solely through the lens of political rhetoric. To do so is intellectually lazy and leaves us with an incomplete understanding of the phenomenon." – John McCoy and David Jones
The U.S. has a weak NAFTA hand on autos – Canada and Mexico should stay cool
"U.S. negotiators are playing a weak hand on auto issues, and Canada and Mexico should stay cool in the face of the blustery rhetoric that is really directed at an American public untutored in the intricacies of trade policy. The real challenge for Canada and Mexico will be to find a way for the U.S. side to save face from its ill-considered approach. In the end, that may prove impossible, with politics trumping economics. Even so, the North American auto industry will have tools at its disposal to adapt, albeit at the expense of efficiency and, ultimately, at the expense of the car-buying public." – Andrei Sulzenko
LIVING BETTER
Name-calling, humiliating comments and other forms of shaming by parents can inflict lifelong scars on children, including lasting damage on a child's mood, mental health and behaviour. As Dave McGinn writes, those kids often grow up with no choice but to cut their parents off entirely.
LONG READS FOR A LONG COMMUTE
Integrated mobility is the next frontier in transportation, but are Canadian cities ready?
Imagine being in an unfamiliar city and wanting to get to a specific spot. You've downloaded a transportation app and it takes care of everything, offering options for your route and suggesting whether to go by transit, a bike-share, taxi – or perhaps a combination of all three. Upon completion of the trip, you're billed automatically. This is integrated mobility and it's emerging in select cities around the world, but as The Globe's Oliver Moore writes, Canadian cities have been slow to join the transportation evolution.
Evening Update is written by Kristene Quan, Omair Quadri, Mayaz Alam and Kiran Rana. 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.