Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Hawaii’s governor warned that scores more people could be found dead following the Maui wildfires as search crews go street by street through neighbourhoods where the flames galloped as fast as a mile a minute. Such crews had covered just 3 per cent of the search area as of Saturday, according to Maui Police Chief John Pelletier.
As cellphone service has slowly been restored, the number of people missing dropped to about 1,300 from over 2,000, Governor Josh Green said.
The blazes that consumed most of the historic town of Lahaina are already the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century, with a death toll of at least 96. Even where the fire has retreated, authorities have warned that toxic by-products may remain, including in drinking water, after the flames spewed poisonous fumes. And many people simply have no home to return to. Authorities plan to house them in hotels and vacation rentals.
The cause of the wildfires is under investigation, and Green said authorities would also examine their response.
Teed off: Why a plan to build houses on a favoured golf course has Hong Kong’s elite fighting Beijing
In 2018, a Hong Kong government task force recommended developing 32 hectares of land at the Hong Kong Golf Club – about a fifth of the site – for housing. According to officials, more than 60 per cent of Hong Kongers supported such a plan. The city’s business elite quickly lined up against the proposal, however, as did prominent officials, who argued that developing housing on the course could harm Hong Kong’s public image and compromise a prime venue for making business deals.
The golf club has rallied a surprisingly broad coalition, from bankers to conservationists, to make its case, with more than 6,000 submissions to the planning board considering the proposal. None of the submissions have convinced the planning board or Hong Kong’s environment bureau, however, which signed off on the housing plan in July. The club has filed for a judicial review of that decision, saying it was flawed.
Hong Kong’s government said it had identified sufficient land to build some 360,000 public housing units in the next 10 years, 59,000 more than the city will require. That would seem to preclude any need for developing the golf club land, but the government has shown no signs of backing down. Nor has the club, with litigation likely to drag on for years, forestalling any homes being built on the land even after it is set aside for development next month. Housing in Hong Kong is among the most expensive in the world. The average cost of a home is almost 19 times the median household income, according to research by the U.S. think tank Urban Reform Institute.
Hong Kong Golf Club is located in Fanling, a town just four kilometres from the city’s border with China. The 18-hole course was opened in 1911, on 172 hectares leased from the government. Since 1959 it has been home to the Hong Kong Open, one of Asia’s premier golfing events.PHILIP FONG/AFP/Getty Images
Military responds as wildfires close evacuation routes out of Hay River, NWT towns
Members of the Canadian Forces have been deployed to help deal with wildfires along the Alberta-Northwest Territories boundary. Hundreds of northerners are being airlifted from Hay River, Fort Smith and Jean Marie River. NWT fire information officer Mike Westwick says the territories have never seen an airlift like it.
Fires are now within 30 kilometres of the territorial capital of Yellowknife, although the city itself is still considered safe. Local officials report all long-term care residents and hospital patients have been transported to Yellowknife and no one is believed to be missing.
The military deployment is to last until Aug. 29. When the full complement arrives, it will be able to help with firefighting tasks such as mop-up and hot spot dousing, planning and logistics assistance, and providing aircraft for evacuation and moving personnel and equipment.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Russia-Ukraine: Russia launched three waves of drones and missiles against the southern Ukraine port city of Odesa, officials said Monday. The Ukrainian air force said it intercepted all the airborne weapons fired during the nighttime attacks.
Sexual assault in military: A sexual-assault trial for the military’s former head of human resources has been delayed because the judge was not able to appear in court today. Vice-admiral Haydn Edmundson has pleaded not guilty to one count of indecent acts and one count of sexual assault in an incident that allegedly happened in 1991.
Ontario Greenbelt: The province says it is creating a working group to implement recommendations made in a damning Auditor-General’s report on the government’s decision to remove land from the protected Greenbelt.
Donald Trump: A list of criminal charges against former president Donald Trump in Georgia briefly appeared on a Fulton County website Monday, but prosecutors said Trump had not been indicted in a long-running investigation of the 2020 presidential election. The website has removed the list of charges.
China: Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu is visiting Russia and Belarus. Li’s attendance at the conference further underscores the drive by China and Russia to align their foreign policies in a bid to undermine the Western-led liberal-democratic world order.
MARKET WATCH
Resource stocks drag TSX lower, breaking 3-day winning streak
Canadian stocks snapped a three-day winning streak on Monday, weighed by materials and energy shares as commodity prices slipped over concerns of a weak China economic recovery and debt-laden property market.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 117.03 points at 20,290.54.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 26.23 points at 35,307.63. The S & P 500 index was up 25.67 points at 4,489.72, while the Nasdaq composite was up 143.48 points at 13,788.33.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.29 cents US compared with 74.39 cents US on Friday.
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TALKING POINTS
Rackets and rifts: Who knew pickleball could be so divisive?
“Want to have a knock-down-drag-’em-out-friendship-ending fight with your neighbour? There are so many worthy options. And then, there is pickleball.” – Marsha Lederman
When it comes to immigration levels, temporary permits are the elephant in the room
“The bulk of people granted permanent resident status these days are already living in Canada with some sort of temporary immigration status, such as a work permit or a student visa. These are not the people driving new demand for housing or health services, because they are already here. Meanwhile, the number of people arriving as temporary residents isn’t directly managed by the federal government – there are no targets and no ceilings.” – Anne Michele Meggs
LIVING BETTER
Berberine is hyped as a weight-loss wonder and ‘nature’s Ozempic’. Here’s a reality check
Berberine is trending on TikTok and other social media platforms, touted as a “miracle weight loss pill.” Some influencers even refer to berberine as “nature’s Ozempic,” comparing it to the Type 2 diabetes medication that also causes weight loss.
But this doesn’t mean that berberine is effective for shedding excess weight. Nor does it mean that just because berberine is a natural health product it’s without side effects or risks. Leslie Beck answers the big questions about berberine here.
The major take-aways:
- There’s sparse evidence from randomized controlled trials that supplementing with berberine leads to clinically important weight loss
- A few small clinical studies have shown that taking berberine moderately lowers fasting blood glucose and hemoglobin A1c in people with Type 2 diabetes
- The suggestion that berberine is a natural form of Ozempic is misleading. Berberine and semaglutide, Ozempic’s active ingredient, work very differently in the body
- Side effects: berberine is generally well tolerated. The most common side effects include abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, gas, nausea and vomiting.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Companies seek strategies to retain new hires as they work toward goals on work force diversity
Trimel Fidely, Business Centre Manager for the Business Development Bank of Canada, poses for a portrait at the BDC offices at 81 Bay Street in Toronto, ON on August 11th, 2023.Duane Cole/The Globe and Mail
Three years since signing high-profile commitments to address anti-Black racism in the workplace, Canadian institutions are struggling to retain the diverse employees they have hired.
Black employees have become frustrated by a lack of mentorship or sponsorship, compensation gaps, racial prejudice and office microaggressions, according to experts. As long as these problems persist, they will undermine the long-term goal of diversifying the work force, especially in the upper ranks, compromising systemic change.
This is why Trimel Fidely co-founded the Black Professional Network at the Business Development Bank of Canada, where he works. The network is dedicated to, among other things, retaining Black talent and positioning them for leadership roles. Among their projects is a structured program to build deep, long-lasting relationships between talented Black employees and senior leadership. Read more here.
Evening Update is written by Anna Stafford. 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.