Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Biden’s Summit for Democracy heightens global political divisions before it even begins
U.S. President Joe Biden will play host to leaders of what he considers to be the world’s democracies at an online summit meant to shore up a political system that has lost ground to a rising tide of authoritarianism.
But the Summit for Democracy, set for Thursday and Friday, has exacerbated geopolitical divisions even before it begins, writes The Globe’s Mark MacKinnon. China and Russia have accused Biden of Cold War thinking and of attempting to split the world once more into blocs.
And the invitation list of 111 countries – replete with governments with dubious democratic credentials – has created fresh acrimony among those who stood with Washington during the Cold War, with NATO allies Turkey and Hungary angered by their exclusion from the virtual meeting.
- Lawrence Martin: Biden’s democracy summit is a chance for Canada to show off
- Opinion: Ahead of a U.S. summit, China tries to move the goalposts on the meaning of ‘democracy’
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Canada joins allies in diplomatic boycott of Beijing Winter Olympics
Canada has joined a growing list of Western countries refusing to send diplomats to cheer on the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, a decision that amounts to a repudiation of the Chinese Communist Party’s repressive treatment of minorities in Xinjiang and its crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong.
Citing concerns about the Chinese government’s record on human rights, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday that Canada will proceed with a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games in February in Beijing. This means no government officials or diplomatic representatives will attend the event.
A diplomatic boycott doesn’t amount to a full boycott and Canadian athletes will still represent Canada at the 24th Olympic Winter Games. Canada’s flag will still be paraded around Beijing’s National Stadium at the opening ceremony.
- Editorial: Why Canada and the EU should join the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Games
- Cathal Kelly: Washington’s diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics is worse than meaningless
- U.S. Olympic board member pushes quiet diplomacy in Peng Shuai case
Britain unveils tighter restrictions as Omicron spreads
The British government has dropped its light-touch approach to COVID-19 and introduced new measures in an attempt to slow the spread of the Omicron variant, which health officials say is on course to becoming the dominant version of the virus in the country by the end of the month.
For months, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has resisted calls to impose vaccine passports or encourage people to work from home. Even mask requirements, though tightened recently, have been scant and limited mainly to public transport. Instead, he has been banking on vaccines and booster shots to get the country through the winter, in defiance of many health experts who have urged the government to go further.
Masks will now be mandatory in most indoor settings, and vaccine passports will be required for nightclubs in England and venues that hold large crowds, such as soccer stadiums. Similar rules are already in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
More COVID-19 coverage:
- BioNTech and Pfizer say three-shot course of their COVID-19 vaccine helps neutralize Omicron variant
- Robyn Urback: The anti-vaccine rants from Doug Ford’s daughter are now a matter of public interest
- Listen to The Decibel: Boosters, breakthroughs and another COVID-19 winter
Bank of Canada holds on interest rates, still sees hikes in middle quarters of 2022
Canada’s central bank left monetary policy unchanged Wednesday and reaffirmed expectations that it would start raising interest rates in the middle quarters of next year.
The statement-only decision kept the overnight rate at 0.25 per cent, where it has been since early in the pandemic. The Bank of Canada said that the “economy had considerable momentum into the fourth quarter,” but warned that the Omicron variant “has injected renewed uncertainty” into the global economy.
Wednesday’s rate decision is mostly a placeholder. Any potential changes to the bank’s guidance for rate hikes have been pushed down the road to its next decision in January, when it will publish updated economic projections.
Markets expect the bank to hike rates as much as five times next year.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Canada’s Immigration Minister predicts two-year timeline to fulfil promise to resettle 40,000 Afghans: Immigration Minister Sean Fraser says the government anticipates it could take two years to live up to its promise of bringing 40,000 Afghan refugees to Canada. Fraser says the government is facing challenges in Afghanistan and other countries where refugees have fled but is trying to get them to Canada “as quickly as humanly possible.”
CP Rail shareholders approve purchase of Kansas City Southern: Canadian Pacific Railway says shareholders are overwhelmingly in favour of its deal to buy U.S. railway Kansas City Southern. The company says stockholders voted 99.9 per cent in favour of issuing up to 278 million common shares to KCS shareholders, a key step in the agreement. They also backed changing its name to Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd., though the new moniker is subject to U.S. regulatory approval.
Suspect arrested in Khashoggi’s murder released after identity mix-up: French authorities released Khaled Aedh Al-Otaibi, the Saudi man arrested Tuesday over suspected links to the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Officials concluded that it was a case of mistaken identity, Paris prosecutors said.
Ending the Angela Merkel era, Olaf Scholz takes office as German Chancellor: Social Democrat Olaf Scholz formally took the reins as German Chancellor, ending Angela Merkel’s 16 years of conservative rule. Scholz, who has served as vice-chancellor and finance minister, has positioned himself as Merkel’s natural successor and a safe pair of hands to guide Germany through myriad challenges, including climate change and a more confrontational Russia.
Dozens of camels barred from Saudi beauty contest over Botox: In their biggest crackdown on artificially enhanced camels, Saudi authorities disqualified more than 40 camels that received Botox injections and other cosmetic alterations from an annual beauty pageant. Jurors in Saudi Arabia’s popular King Abdulaziz Camel Festival decide the winner based on the shape of the camels’ heads, necks, humps, dress and postures.
MARKET WATCH
TSX pares this week’s rally as investors mull seasonal support: Canada’s main stock index fell on Wednesday as investors took stock of strong gains since the start of the week amid optimism that a seasonal boost for the market could offset uncertainty caused by the Omicron coronavirus variant and rising inflation pressures. But Wall Street stocks closed slightly higher as investors cheered encouraging news about Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccines.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended down 85.30 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 21,077.35, after climbing 2.6 per cent in the first two days of the week. According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 14.56 points, or 0.31 per cent, to end at 4,701.31 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 99.33 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 15,786.25. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33.74 points, or 0.09 per cent, to 35,753.17.
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TALKING POINTS
The Royal Family is facing a succession crisis
“It took two decades of talking about the idea for Barbados to finally follow through with it. There hasn’t been anything like a serious movement to do the same thing in Canada. But after a few years of the reign of King Charles, who knows?” – Gary Mason
Liberals repromise to change Conservative crime policies, years later
“One has to wonder how long a Liberal government has to keep in place a Conservative policy before it becomes a de facto Liberal policy. Four years? Five? We have passed six. Perhaps the bill will pass before the eighth begins. Maybe.” – Campbell Clark
From Ossietzky to Ressa and Muratov, Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalists keep the fight for press freedom alive
“Back in 1935, the concept of independent journalism was taking root, moving away from the previous century’s model of political activism and toward a watchdog role that would be its trademark in the following decades. It survives today, even as social media enables information “bubbles” where every person can follow only the news they agree with and consider everything else to be fake.” – Javier Garza Ramos, a journalist based in Mexico and a board member of the World Editors Forum
LIVING BETTER
From investing to housing, personal finance experts share their predictions for 2022
The year 2021 was full of surprises in personal finance. Inflation took off, housing got even hotter and job-hopping became more common. What’s in store for 2022? In the latest Stress Test episode, Rob and Roma ask four personal finance experts – Robb Engen, Preet Banerjee, Erica Alini and Barry Choi – what they’ll be watching in 2022.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Activists in Ukraine scour the internet to track Putin’s military manoeuvres
A Ukrainian soldier walks at the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels near Popasna, Donetsk region, Ukraine.Andriy Dubchak/The Associated Press
The TikTok video showed a bizarre mash-up of a train carrying military hardware on a dim morning somewhere in Russia, to the added strains of Vivaldi. Kirill Mikhailov stared at it with the transfixed eyes of a cat watching its prey.
“There!” he said, pausing the clip and flashing a triumphant smile. “We got lucky.”
Mr. Mikhailov zoomed in on a serial number on the side of one of the rail cars: 43354336. With this, he searched an online directory of Russian rail cars. The train, he quickly demonstrated, originated in Russia’s northern Caucasus region, the base of the 34th Motorized Rifle Brigade, which possesses the same MT-LB infantry fighting vehicles being carried on the train in the video. (The TikTok clip appears to have been filmed by a motorist stuck at a railway crossing, waiting for the military train of flat-bed rail cars to pass.) Read Mark MacKinnon’s full story.
Evening Update is written by Beatrice Paez. 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.