Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
A Palestinian gunman opened fire outside an east Jerusalem synagogue Friday night, killing seven people and wounding three others in one of the deadliest attacks on Israelis in years, medical officials said. The gunman was shot and killed by police.
The killings took place a day after Israeli troops killed nine Palestinians in a raid in the West Bank.
The violence posed a challenge for Israel’s new far-right government ahead of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region this weekend. He is likely to discuss the underlying causes of the conflict, the agenda of Israel’s new government and the Palestinian Authority’s decision to halt security co-ordination with Israel in retaliation for the deadly raid.
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Memphis braces for release of video showing five officers police beating Tyre Nichols
Authorities are set to release police video depicting five Memphis officers beating Tyre Nichols, a Black man whose death after a confrontation with the police during a traffic stop resulted in murder charges.
The officers, all of whom are Black, were charged Thursday with murder and other crimes in the killing of Nichols, who died three days after the Jan. 7 confrontation. Nichols’ family members and their lawyers said the footage shows officers beating the 29-year-old FedEx worker for three minutes in an assault that the legal team likened to the 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King.
The incident has provoked outrage at the country’s latest instance of police brutality. Given the likelihood of protests, Memphis Police Director Cerelyn Davis told ABC that she and other local officials decided it would be best to release the video some time Friday evening, after schools are dismissed and people are home from work. As a precaution, Memphis-area schools cancelled all after-class activities and postponed an event scheduled for Saturday morning. Family members of Nichols pleaded for any protests to remain peaceful.
Mandatory minimum sentence for firing a gun at a house is unconstitutional, Supreme Court rules
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that a mandatory minimum sentence of four years for firing a gun at a house is unconstitutional on the basis it could amount to cruel and unusual punishment.
In a companion judgment Friday, the top court said two other minimum sentences, both involving armed robbery offences, do not represent excessive punishment and are therefore constitutional.
The Supreme Court also affirmed and developed the framework for weighing challenges to the constitutionality of a mandatory minimum sentence under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms provision against cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.
Canada’s building code regulations are inadequate in face of new climate reality
As extreme weather events are increasing, the way the places in which we live, work and play are designed and built becomes more important than ever. And building codes, which set minimum standards for structural protection, are a tool that, if they took climate change into account, could save lives and property.
To understand how well building codes across the country protect us, The Globe and Mail interviewed dozens of engineers, architects, builders, researchers, meteorologists, inspectors and government officials, as well as insurance and credit-rating industries stakeholders.
The Globe’s months-long examination reveals that Canada’s building code regulations are inadequate to stand up to our new climate reality and are largely based on outdated or poor-quality data that does not consider current or future climate change. The average annual total precipitation amounts referenced in the most recent edition, for instance, rely on observations from 1961 to 1990. Read the full story.
Natalie Harris in front of her ex-husband John Hunwicks' home in Barrie, Ontario. Ms. Harris survived the EF-2 tornado in Barrie in July 2021, when the roof of the home was torn off by the wind. The house has since been rebuilt.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Ukrainian volunteer unit braves minefields to bring back remains of the dead: The Globe’s Mark MacKinnon documents the dangerous work of the Black Tulips, the volunteers who collect bodies of Russian soldiers.
- Russia intensifies attacks as Ukraine seeks more weapons
- Putin discusses Russia’s claim to giant chunk of Arctic Ocean seabed
Real estate professionals keeping eye on borrowers relying on private lenders: As interest rates rise, homeowners who borrowed from alternative lenders are more likely to come under pressure, says CIBC’s Benjamin Tal. Alternative lenders account for about 8 to 10 per cent of the mortgage market in Canada.
- Canada’s lowest mortgage rates after the Bank of Canada’s rate hike
- There are fewer apartments available to rent in Canada than at any time since 2001
Where the federal deficit stands: The federal deficit stood at $3.6-billion as of November with just four months left in the 2022-23 fiscal year, suggesting federal finances are outperforming official projections.
U.S. charges three in Iran-backed effort to assassinate journalist: U.S. prosecutors have charged three members of an Eastern European criminal organization which has ties to Iran’s government with conspiring to assassinate a journalist and activist who is a U.S. citizen, Attorney-General Merrick Garland said on Friday.
Hong Kong to ban CBD, place it in same category as heroin and fentanyl: Starting Feb. 1, the possession and sale of cannabidiol, or CBD, “will be under the same strict control as other dangerous drugs,” the city’s Customs Department warned in a statement Friday.
MARKET WATCH
Wall Street gained ground on Friday, marking the end of an rocky week in which economic data and corporate earnings guidance hinted at softening demand but also economic resiliency ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 28.67 points or 0.08 per cent at 33,978.08. The S&P 500 index was up 10.13 points or 0.25 per cent at 4,070.56, while the Nasdaq composite was up 109.30 points or 0.95 per cent at 11,621.71.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 13.98 points or 0.07 per cent at 20,714.48.
The Canadian dollar traded for 75.11 cents US compared with 74.91 cents US on Thursday.
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TALKING POINTS
On the 50th anniversary of the war’s end, the wounds of Vietnam still haven’t healed
“The war was the beginning of the notion of limits in a country where opportunity, financial success, global cultural influence and geopolitical power had seemed limitless.” – David Shribman
Lebanon is on the verge of becoming a failed state after an unprecedented economic collapse
“Lebanon is a harsh lesson to the world on nation-building – or lack thereof.” – Eric Reguly
ChatGPT has convinced users that it thinks like a person. Unlike humans, it has no sense of the real world
“The recently launched chatbot has convinced users that it thinks like a person and can write original works as well as a person. But its interior is filled with an arcane statistical soup of code and complex linguistic connections. Open up its cabinet and you’ll find nobody there.” – Wayne MacPhail
Canada’s telecom Family Compact wins again
“...the federal Competition Act is a toothless international embarrassment, wholly incapable of stopping corporate concentration in sectors that are critical to productivity growth in the Canadian economy.” – Konrad Yakabuski
LIVING BETTER
Is cabernet sauvignon still king of the grapes?
Challenges facing cabernet sauvignon producers mean it’s rare to encounter a wine made exclusively from the grape. Most bottles that declare cabernet sauvignon on the label are blended wines. Cheap cabernet sauvignon can be tough work – dry, savoury wines that need to be tamed by a meal or, perhaps, rimming your wine glass with salt. Value hunters are better served by inexpensive red wines produced from grenache, malbec or gamay, which produce softer and fruity styles of wines, writes Christopher Waters.
TODAY’S LONG READ
B.C. lays first bricks for $500-million rental protection fund
A condo tower and apartment buildings are seen in downtown and the West End of Vancouver, on Jan. 19, 2023.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
The world of non-profit housing is celebrating B.C.’s new Rental Affordability Fund as a key move toward protecting renters who live in existing affordable units.
As announced this month, the fund would offer the non-profit sector $500-million to purchase purpose-built rental buildings that come onto the market, with an eye to older suites throughout the province. The fund, targeted for launch by April, would be overseen by a newly formed society made up of three experienced housing groups.
The idea isn’t to deplete the fund, but to grow it so that it becomes a key part of the sector’s ability to get into the housing market.
Evening Update is written by Prajakta Dhopade. 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.