Rights activists from Human Rights Watch say in a new report that high-level officials in Russia's Chechnya have visited detention facilities where gay people allegedly were illegally held and tortured.Nataliya Vasilyeva/The Associated Press
Good evening and happy Friday,
This is the daily Evening Update newsletter, a roundup of the important stories of the day and what everyone is talking about that will be delivered to your inbox every weekday around 5 p.m. ET. If you're reading this online, or if someone forwarded this e-mail to you, you can sign up for Evening Update and all Globe newsletters here. As we continue to expand the newsletter over the coming months, we'd love to hear your feedback. Let us know what you think.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
How Canada has been secretly giving asylum to gay people in Chechnya fleeing persecution
For three months the federal government has been secretly rescuing gay men who are fleeing persecution in Chechnya. The unique clandestine program, spearheaded by Global Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, has the potential to further impair Canada-Russia relations. Chechen security forces have been rounding up LGBT people in a pogrom, where some have been harassed and tortured, John Ibbitson reports.
Gas prices headed for major spike in wake of Harvey
When Harvey devastated the Gulf Coast, it paralyzed Houston, a major North American energy hub. Fourteen oil refineries, which are responsible for around 30 per cent of American oil-refining capacity, have closed. As a result, gas prices have climbed, with Ontario being hit the hardest among Canadian provinces. Across Canada gas prices are up an average of 9.5 cents compared with last week. Some analysts are predicting that there will be weeks of pain ahead for motorists across North America.
Court ruling to nullify Kenyan election praised as democratic breakthrough
In a 4-2 decision, Kenya's Supreme Court has decided to nullify President Uhuru Kenyatta's victory and ordered a new election within 60 days because of what the court sees as irregularities in the tallying of votes. The decision stunned observers across Africa but was praised as step forward for democracy on the continent, The Globe's Africa correspondent Geoffrey York reports.
Ottawa taking precautionary measures in case of another possible surge in asylum seekers
The federal government is looking into purchasing heated trailers to ensure that asylum seekers at the U.S.-Canada border are safe during the winter. Transport Minister Marc Garneau called it a possible "precautionary measure." Canada is also planning to reach out to members of other communities in the United States that may flee. Since June almost 8,000 people have entered Quebec illegally, the majority of whom are Haitians who fear being deported back to Haiti.
MARKET WATCH
Canada's main stock index ended slightly lower on Friday as investors pulled back on retailer fears about the threat posed to their business by Amazon's Whole Foods Market acquisition, a day after the index hit a three-week high. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index unofficially closed down 20.27 points at 15,191.60. Eight of the index's 10 main groups ended lower. The most influential gainers included Toronto-Dominion Bank, which extended gains from Thursday after reporting strong quarterly results. In the U.S., stocks rose and all three major indexes were on track to post gains for a second consecutive week. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 39.46 points to 21,987.56, the S&P 500 gained 4.9 points to 2,476.55 and the Nasdaq composite added 6.67 points to 6,435.33. U.S. crude settled 8 cents (U.S.) higher at $47.31 a barrel after trading lower for most of the day.
WHAT'S TRENDING
Thirty-seven years ago today Terry Fox ended his run across Canada after the cancer that ultimately took his life had spread to his lungs. Beginning in St. John's, Fox ran 5,373 km over 143 days. Since his heroic Marathon of Hope more than $700-million has been raised for cancer research in his name.
TALKING POINTS
Margaret Atwood is a NIMBY – and so are most of us
"The standard answer to the affordability crisis is always the same: more public housing, more rent controls, more checks on foreign buyers. A better answer is more deregulation, so that we can build more houses, not just in the city but in the hinterland. But liberals don't want to hear that. The truth is, it's always fun to laugh at rich people in the Annex. But most of us behave exactly the same way they do. Who's to blame for growing inequality? Look in the mirror." — Margaret Wente
The ECB has no easy path out of quantitative easing
"All good things must end, and so it is with QE. Its withdrawal, especially among the countries that share the euro, has to be done with delicacy and surgical precision, for fear that a cold-turkey approach will create a new crisis. But does the European Central Bank and its QE maestro-in-chief, Mario Draghi, have that option? His problem, and it's a big one, is that the ECB is running out of bonds to buy. Time is up. By all rights, QE should stop now, all the more so since euro-zone growth and core inflation are firming up. But it can't." — Eric Reguly (for subscribers)
Disaster recovery: The script never changes
"Houston's underlying problem, as with Hurricane Harvey's underlying problem, is its lack of a plan. It is an unplanned, randomly sprawling city whose oceans of asphalt have exposed it to the worst ravages of nature and the worst human responses. It needs to be built back better." — Doug Saunders
LIVING BETTER
Morning routines can be difficult to pin down. But if you get the the first 20 minutes of your day right, you can set yourself up for success the rest of the day. Step 1? Don't hit the snooze button.
LONG READS FOR A LONG WEEKEND
Two years after Brazil's Zika crisis, experts remain baffled
Two years ago Brazilian doctors began noticing the first symptoms of the Zika virus as babies were born with birth defects, including microcephaly. While a public health disaster didn't end up coming to fruition, experts still can't explain what happened in 2015. The Globe's Latin American correspondent Stephanie Nolen has reported extensively on the the impacts of the Zika virus in Brazil, ground zero for the crisis.
The Refugium: Canadian authors pay homage to some of the largest trees in the world
Some of Canada's most notable authors joined together to play Exquisite Corpse – a game in which each participant contributes a passage toward a collaborative story. The final result is a testament to Vancouver Island's old-growth forests, some of the biggest and most majestic trees in the world.
Evening Update is written by Mayaz Alam and David Read. 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.
Programming note: The Evening Update will return on Tuesday, Sept. 5. Have a great weekend!