Good evening, it’s been a busy Friday afternoon and there’s lots of news to cover today, including the Kingston terrorism arrests, the U.S. government shutdown and Roger Stone. Also in the newsletter, what to watch and read this weekend.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Kingston youth charged in alleged terrorist bomb plot
Heavily armed RCMP tactical teams surrounded two residential houses in Kingston Thursday night and arrested two men, one of whom, a youth who cannot be named by law, was charged in connection with an alleged terrorist bomb plot. The youth was charged with “counselling a person to deliver, place, discharge or detonate an explosive or other lethal device” in a public place, according to an RCMP statement today. He is also charged with “facilitating a terrorist activity.”
As Colin Freeze and Victoria Gibson report, the adult man arrested has not yet been charged, according to the RCMP’s integrated national security enforcement team. During a news conference this afternoon, Canadian counterterrorism detectives said their investigation began in December following a tip relayed from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, but details about the scheme were scant.
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Trump backs short-term spending plan to temporarily end shutdown
President Donald Trump announces a deal to temporarily reopen the government, in the Rose Garden of the White House.Evan Vucci/The Associated Press
President Donald Trump and Congressional leaders and agreed to a stop-gap spending plan that would end a partial U.S. government shutdown Friday afternoon. Mr. Trump said he’ll sign legislation to reopen government departments until Feb. 15. At that time, Mr. Trump said, he’ll either shut down the government again or exact emergency powers to build the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Mr. Trump spoke at the White House Rose Garden as intensifying delays at some of the country’s busiest airports and widespread disruptions started having an effect on everyday life. Some flights in and out of New York’s LaGuardia airport were halted, and airports reported delays in Philadelphia and Newark, N.J., due to an increase in the number of employees staying home.
Roger Stone reacts as he walks to microphones after his appearance at Federal Court in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Friday.JOE SKIPPER/Reuters
Meanwhile, the FBI stormed the home of Trump friend and supporter Roger Stone before dawn this morning. Mr. Stone appeared in court in shackles later in the morning to hear the seven-count indictment, which alleges he lied to Congress about his contacts with WikiLeaks, which published thousands of embarrassing e-mails stolen from the Democratic Party, and tried to intimidate one of his associates into obstructing both the congressional and FBI investigations. He did not enter a plea and was released on a $250,000 bond. The Globe’s Washington D.C.-based correspondent Adrian Morrow supplies five things we learned from the Stone indictment. The indictment of Mr. Stone “offers key details on how Mr. Mueller believes the campaign attempted to work with WikiLeaks, and how Mr. Stone subsequently tried to mislead investigators,” he writes.
Venezuelan leaders hold duelling press conferences
Juan Guaido, the Venezuelan opposition leader who has declared himself interim president, appeared in public this afternoon and urged thousands of supporters to hold a mass protest again next week. At the same time, President Nicolas Maduro spoke before a room of journalists and decried what he called a coup against his government. Meanwhile, the United States intensified its push to drive Mr. Maduro from power and Russia vowed to back him. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to brief the United Nations Security Council tomorrow and urge members to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido. Russia opposes the request and has accused Washington of trying to usurp power in Venezuela.
We have some good assets to catch up on what’s happening in Venezuela and who the main players are.
- Stephanie Nolen, The Globe’s Latin America correspondent, wrote an analysis piece for today’s paper outlining the broad strokes of the battle that centres on Mr. Guaido’s and Mr. Maduro’s struggle to secure backing from the military.
- Michelle Zilio in Ottawa reported last night that the Canadian government spoke with Mr. Guaido two weeks ago and had an idea of what might be coming.
- The Associated Press moved a good backgrounder this morning looking at Juan Guaido and explaining how the Venezuelan lawmaker rose from obscurity to self-declared president.
- And we have a growing What We Know So Far article that delves briefly into recent events but also explains a little deeper how Venezuela got in this mess in the first place
How Meng Wanzhou’s arrest turned the Huawei CFO into a symbol for China’s ambition – and insecurity
Asia correspondent Nathan VanderKlippe presents a new angle in the Huawei saga about how the Vancouver arrest of Ms. Meng in December elevated her to a place of singular importance to the Chinese state — she has become for Beijing an embodiment of Chinese ambition and insecurity. Ms. Meng “is no longer just a person. It seems that she has in a way become the entire country – making her interests equal to those of the nation,” says Bao Tong, a former top Communist Party official.
MARKET WATCH
The Toronto Stock Exchanged ended the week with a gain on Friday, driven higher by shares of precious metal miners as demand for gold, a safe-haven asset, rose due to concerns on global economic growth and political uncertainties. The TSX rose 85.27 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 15,366.05. In New York, stocks closed higher on Friday after a broad-based rally, with investors heartened by news that Washington would move to temporarily end the longest U.S. government shutdown in history. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 183.96 points, or 0.75 percent, to 24,737.2, the S&P 500 gained 22.43 points, or 0.85 percent, to 2,664.76, and the Nasdaq Composite added 91.40 points, or 1.29 percent, to 7,164.86.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
The flu shot is working better in Canada than it has in years, as the first official estimates of the flu vaccine’s performance, released Thursday, found the shot was 68 per cent effective at preventing all types of influenza, and 72 per cent effective at warding off H1N1, the strain of influenza A that has prevailed this season.
Netflix is arguing it already contributes to Canadian content production and shouldn’t be subject to the same rules as traditional broadcasters like Bell and Rogers.
Queen Elizabeth has sent a delicately coded message to Britain’s factious political class over Brexit, urging lawmakers to seek common ground and grasp the big picture to resolve the crisis.
Ontario’s Education Minister is defending her government’s decision to consider ending class-size caps in kindergarten and primary grades, saying no decisions have been made, but many in the field of education are worried that it is the first sign of future cuts.
WHAT TO WATCH AND READ THIS WEEKEND
Black Earth Rising. John Goodman, Michaela Coel.Des Willie/BBC/Netflix/BBC /Netflix
Black Earth Rising on Netflix: A daring, weighty, disturbing thriller
Television critic John Doyle suggests Black Earth Rising is not popcorn entertainment. You will be thrilled at times, as there is a genuine sense of menace that pervades it. “For a TV drama to enter the arena of the Rwanda massacre and question the role of Europe in enacting ICC prosecutions is daring and estimable,” he writes. The main theme of the series is an incendiary series of questions: What is justice? Is the idea of an International Court mere white European self-righteousness? Why are alleged African war criminals targeted and not others? What does it mean to be tribal? The series argues with itself and with the viewer’s assumptions. That in itself is a daring narrative manoeuvre.
First time’s not quite the charm for Rose, Soulpepper’s first musical
Rose is being billed as Soulpepper’s first original musical, and hopes for it have been running high, writes J. Kelly Nestruck, The Globe’s theatre critic. Rose is a simple story of a nine-year-old girl’s journey of self-discovery, inspired by a 1939 children’s book by Gertrude Stein called The World is Round. Developed by composer Mike Ross and Sarah Wilson, the pair imagined a vibrant, colourful world for their family musical. But they ultimately still haven’t quite figured out how to marry musical theatre to their modernist source material in an emotionally satisfying way.
Book Review: Claws of the Panda: Beijing’s Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada
Claws of the panda
As veteran journalist Jonathan Manthorpe explains in his remarkable new book, Claws of the Panda, the Chinese Communist Party has spent decades quietly infiltrating Canada in order to acquire influence over economic and political decision-making, writes Michael Byers who holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia. It succeeded in conveying an image of China as a trustworthy partner rather than a demanding superpower, an image that became all the more attractive after Donald Trump was elected as President of the United States. But now, after the arbitrary detentions of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig – and the resentencing of Robert Schellenberg with the death penalty – Canada is in a position to reassess the risks of collaboration with China.
TALKING POINTS
Social-media influencers are pretty; their meltdowns are anything but
“Alongside real-people, influencers are young celebrities casually sprinkling free goods through their designed-to-seem-intimate feeds. Some are said to be paid tens of thousands of dollars for even one Instagram post, which brings us to the meltdown of the moment, Fyre Festival.” — Denise Balkassoon
Take a scroll through January’s editorial cartoons by Brian Gable and David Parkins.
Removing caps on class sizes is a failure of both education and economics
“It’s hard not to be outraged by Ontario Education Minister Lisa Thompson’s recent announcement that her government is considering removing the caps on the class size of kindergarten and primary grades. Anyone who teaches or has children in a primary school understands the critical importance of the teacher-to-student ratio and many will contend that they are already way too high.” — Naomi Buck
Will Democrats look to Joe Biden, America’s version of Jean Chrétien?
“A deeply polarized country – exhausted and riven by a prolonged national unity crisis – turns, in its hour of need, to a folksy and familiar career politician who has been dismissed by elites as a relic and way past his prime. That describes Canada in the fall of 1993, when Jean Chrétien’s Liberals swept to victory.” — Peter Donolo
WHAT’S POPULAR WITH READERS
Melanie JolySabrina Smelko/The Globe and Mail
How do you sell Canada to Canadians?
Tourism in Canada employs one out of every 10 people, is the biggest employer of youth workers and, in 2017, boasted revenue of $97.4-billion from domestic and international visitors. As an industry, it’s bigger than mining, forestry or agriculture, but there’s significant room for growth. Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie Mélanie Joly sat down with The Globe and Mail to discuss her new role, where she sees opportunity and how to market Canada to Canadians.
LIVING BETTER
How a raccoon-infested garage became an artful home office
Patrick Banister’s original plans for converting his garage into a “studiolo” originally called for good light and a minimalist environment. architect Anya Moryoussef delivered a whitewashed Baltic birch ply space with angled and operable skylights through which Mr. Banister, an independent film producer, tracks the passage of time and enjoys the white noise of falling rain.
Château Labarrade Cahors Malbec 2016, France
Wine and spirit columnist Beppi Crosariol gives this full-bodied and very dry red an 87. He writes: Cahors is the region. Malbec is the grape, which is traditional to Cahors but these days more famous in Argentina. Fair to say, though, that French-grown malbec tends to taste like a different variety, sturdier and with drier tannins than the smoothly fruity profile of Argentina. This one’s full-bodied and very dry, with sound ripeness displaying plum-like fruit, bitter cocoa and aromatic spice. Decant it and serve with juicy or saucy red-meat dishes, or cellar it for up to six years. An authentic and offbeat French red at a fair price ($13.95). Available in Ontario.
LONG READS FOR A LONG COMMUTE
Mayo Schmidt, former CEO of Hydro OneNayan Sthankiya
The storm brewing over hydro rates had been building for years, but with an election looming, the issue had really started gathering momentum. Rumours were circulating on Bay Street and at Queen’s Park about the large salary increases Hydro One executives had been awarded by its board. On April 12, candidate Doug Ford called a news conference and took direct aim at Hydro One CEO Mayo Schmidt and the board. “My first act as Premier will be to fire Kathleen Wynne’s $6 million dollar man and the entire Board of Hydro One, and restore accountability and trust for the people of Ontario,” he tweeted.
Five weeks after his electoral victory, sure enough, the Ford government made plans to pull the newly elected MPPs into the legislature for a rare summer sitting to pass several pieces of legislation, including authorizing the removal of Schmidt and the Hydro One board. Which begs the question: How could an experienced CEO like Schmidt, who had worked in a politically delicate arena before, when he transformed the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool into a publicly traded international success story, not understand what was coming?
Report on Business Magazine’s February feature delves deeply into the epic battle between Doug Ford and Hydro One
Evening Update is written by Michael Snider. 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.