Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Military officials said that Israeli troops mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages today during its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The troops found the hostages and incorrectly identified them as a threat, according to the army’s chief spokesman. The deaths happened in the Gaza City area of Shijaiyah, the site of recent, fierce battles between the Israeli military and Hamas militants.
The deaths were disclosed as the U.S. said it was discussing a timeline with Israel for reducing the intense military operation in the enclave. They agreed, however, that the fight would take months.
Meanwhile, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to discuss Gaza’s postwar future. A senior U.S. official said that could include bringing back Palestinian security forces driven from their jobs in Gaza by Hamas in its 2007 takeover.
- MPs challenge university chiefs to say if calling for genocide of Jews violates their conduct codes
- Intimate images from Israel and the West Bank bring the faces of war to light
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Bank of Canada’s Macklem expects inflation to be ‘close to’ 2-per-cent target by late 2024
Inflation could be getting close to the Bank of Canada’s target by the end of next year, according to Governor Tiff Macklem. In an end-of-year speech today, he laid out conditions under which the bank might consider rate cuts in the coming months.
“The 2-per-cent inflation target is now in sight,” Macklem said. He says the bank’s governing council has not started discussing rate cuts just yet, warning that declines in inflation would be gradual.
But he added that the bank could start easing monetary policy once it’s confident that inflation is “on a sustained downward track.”
- Bank of Canada to release rate announcements 15 minutes earlier starting in 2024
Ottawa caps CBC’s share of Google funds under Online News Act at $7-million
Ottawa is capping the CBC’s share of the funds under the Online News Act at $7-million, with broadcasters receiving no more than $30-million of the $100-million in Google money.
This cap means that almost two-thirds of the funds go to written media, including newspapers. To qualify for the Google money, news groups will need to show that their content is available through Google search.
The final regulations to the Online News Act, published by the federal government on Friday, follow months of negotiations between Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge and Google.
Canada’s long, difficult road to becoming an electric-vehicle ‘superpower’
Canada is handing out billions of dollars in subsidies in an attempt to make a mark on the electric-vehicle battery industry.
The rationale for such generous incentives is that demand for EVs is growing so rapidly that, by 2030, they might account for half of new passenger cars sold worldwide. With the many investments, it might seem that Canada has already carved out an excellent position in the EV revolution and is well on the road to becoming a battery-making powerhouse.
But talk of Canada’s moves in the EV battery landscape overlooks the fact that China’s government and industry (and, to lesser extents, competitors in South Korea and Japan) did that more than a decade ago. Canada may be a late arrival on the scene, which highlights how long the road to powerhouse status might be. The Globe examines the EV battery supply chain end-to-end to reveal Canada’s obstacles – and the opportunities.
Related:
- How well do you know Canada’s critical-minerals strategy? Take The Globe’s Mission Critical quiz
- How Canada – and Bay Street – squandered the chance to finance the critical-minerals revolution
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
CPPIB takes part in deal to buy stake in commercial mortgage portfolio: Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has joined with two of Blackstone’s real estate investment arms and Rialto Capital to buy a stake in US$16.8-billion of commercial real estate loans that were orphaned after the collapse of New York-based Signature Bank earlier this year.
Toronto changes course on name change for Dundas Street: The city has backed down on plans to rename one of its most prominent streets – an effort at racial reconciliation – after fierce criticism about cost and accusations that the city was mischaracterizing its namesake’s actions.
Prince Harry awarded damages in lawsuit against tabloid publisher: The Duke of Sussex has scored a partial victory in his continuing legal battle with Britain’s tabloid press over allegations journalists hacked his cellphone. A High Court judge found that there had been phone hacking between 1996 and 2006 by journalists at the Mirror Group Newspaper Ltd., which publishes the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.
Toronto woman charged with first-degree murder: Toronto police have charged a 25-year-old woman with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of two brothers aged four and five.
Alberta’s health care system struggling with overflowing hospitals: Alberta’s health care system is being crushed by demand for its services, according to physicians across the province, with children waiting for cancer treatment, hospital wards overflowing and prenatal appointments delayed.
Matthew Perry’s cause of death: He died from the acute effects of the anesthetic ketamine, according to the results of an autopsy on the 54-year-old “Friends” actor released Friday.
MARKET WATCH
TSX slips after central bank says rates not coming down soon
Canada’s main stock index wrapped up the week closing out its worst day in two months on Friday, hit by weakness in energy stocks and central bank Governor Tiff Macklem’s comments that interest rates were not coming down any time soon.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 249.65 points at 20,529.15.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 56.81 points at 37,305.16. The S&P 500 index was down 0.36 points at 4,719.19, while the Nasdaq composite was up 52.36 points at 14,813.92.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.75 cents US compared with 74.52 cents US on Thursday.
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TALKING POINTS
Have gifts for teachers gone too far?
“But if teacher gifts are of the cold-hard-cash variety, they start to seem a bit like holiday tipping. Much like rounding up by 15 to 20 per cent on your latte, the monetary gift-giving becomes all the more important with the cost of living skyrocketing.” – Phoebe Maltz Bovy
Canada now has a free suicide-crisis hotline. But too many of us are still alone
“A phone call or text that allows a mental health responder to intervene and assist with a potential 911 emergency response is emblematic of the gaps in Canada’s mental health care approach so far.” – Vicky Mochama
At long last, we finally know the truth about the J.E.H. MacDonald sketches
“I know this is just a story about art – and that seems insignificant in light of all the world’s troubles. But it’s also about truth. And about the question of what our public institutions are up to, and what they’re doing with public funds.” – Marsha Lederman
LIVING BETTER
Clawback haters, is it even worth applying for Old Age Security?
What happens if your income is high enough that 100 per cent of any OAS payments would be clawed back? If you never bother applying to receive OAS, you’ll never have to deal with the clawback. Wouldn’t that be easier? Rob Carrick explores that question, coming to the conclusion that it may be best to apply for OAS in case of an unforeseen drop in income at some point in the future.
TODAY’S LONG READ
How a B.C. plan to fight fire with fire went awry
In July, roughly a month before the ill-fated burn to control the Adams Lake fire, The Globe went along with the Alaska Smoke Jumpers for burning operations near Vanderhoof. The goal of such burns is to remove flammable material from the forest floor before the main fire gets there.Jesse Winter/Reuters
This summer, as large areas of British Columbia were battling wildfires, firefighting crews in North Shuswap made the difficult decision to intentionally burn a 26-square-kilometre stretch of forest. They made the move hoping to slow down the raging Lower East Adams Lake wildfire long enough to limit destruction in residential areas.
Now, residents of nearby towns are questioning whether the planned fire worsened the damage to their communities, rather than reducing it. Officials are defending the move.
Video and internal wildfire service incident reports obtained by The Globe and Mail show for the first time how elements of the operation went wrong on the ground, leaving a fire crew trapped for hours by flames. Read the full story.
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.