Busy day? Here are five stories popular with Globe readers to help you catch up.
What's keeping this 30-year-old super saver from buying a home?
Daryl Marritt, now 30, paid off a $47,000 student debt in one year on a $45,000 salary; has maxxed out his tax-free savings account; put a whack of money in his registered retirement savings plan; and has about $85,000 in diverse index funds.
But he is hesitant about buying a house in Brampton, Rob Carrick writes, because he’s too good with money to trust the housing market.
“Housing just continues to run away,” Mr. Marritt says. “We’re at the point of wondering whether we will ever be able to afford anything.”
In learning more about Mr. Marritt’s financial story, young adults can learn a good lesson in how to navigate the fickle market. They should attack debt, save aggressively and keep housing options open.
West Bank on edge as Palestinian toddler killed in terrorist attack laid to rest
An 18-month-old Palestinian toddler was killed early Friday in an apparent arson attack suspected of being carried out by Jewish extremists.
As Patrick Martin reports, the attack came at about 2 a.m. and left the child’s parents and older brother severely burned. The child was found dead.
“He looked like a piece of charcoal with a face,” said an ambulance driver who searched after the attack.
Witnesses said two masked men fled the scene, running to a car parked nearby and driving off. Outside the burnt house, the single word “revenge,” in Hebrew, was spray-painted beneath a Star of David, a Jewish symbol.
Canada’s economy shrinks for fifth straight month
The Canadian economy contracted in May, the fifth consecutive monthly decrease, increasing the possibility the country slipped into a recession in the first half of the year.
Statistics Canada said Friday real gross domestic product fell 0.2 per cent in May due mostly to weakness in manufacturing, mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction.
“There is no sugar-coating this one,” said BMO chief economist Douglas Porter in a note to clients. “It’s a sour result.”
Canadian dairy stalling Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, sources say
Canadian dairy farmers are at the centre of a trade-deal logjam among 12 countries, Steven Chase reports.
The White House is pushing for a Pacific Rim trade pact, but the Canadian government is reluctant to open up its sheltered dairy market much more.
“As of right now Canada is not in a place that would allow us to close,” one official close to the discussions said.
Canadian dairy farmers say the Americans are bartering too aggressively, which will ultimately hurt the Canadian industry.
Canadian pastor detained in North Korea admits to ‘indescribable treason’
Reverend Hyeon Soo Lim made his first public appearance since he was detained by North Korean authorities early this year, confessing Thursday in Pyongyang to “indescribable treason” in a televised apology.
As Justin Giovannetti reports, the Mississauga-based pastor had visited the Hermit Kingdom about 110 times before he vanished in the country’s northeast on Jan. 31. In early March, North Korean authorities confirmed that he had been detained.
“The most serious crimes I have committed are that I severely slandered and impaired the supreme dignity and system of this country and perpetrated a scheme to overthrow the state,” the reverend read in front of local media on Thursday. “I deeply, deeply apologize from my heart, for my indescribable treason.”