Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
After Saskatchewan stabbings, James Smith Cree Nation looks back in grief and ahead to forgiveness
It was early Sunday morning, and most people were sleeping. The doors of the houses had all the strength of paper. Even with deadbolts, Myles Sanderson kicked through them with ease. People in the community say he had a knife duct-taped to his wrist.
The first call came in to 911 at 5:40 a.m. It was about a stabbing on James Smith Cree Nation. Two officers at the Melfort RCMP detachment were dispatched three minutes later, and drove straight to James Smith. Nineteen minutes later, a second call: Two people were hurt at another home.
RCMP officers pulled up to the first house at 6:18 a.m., just as the sun was rising. The scenes they encountered were almost beyond description. The Globe’s Nancy Macdonald and Jana G. Pruden explore just what happened over the four horrific days during which 10 people were stabbed to death in Saskatchewan, and the massive investigation that followed.
The stabbing rampage left a trail of heartbreak and longing, as friends and family of the 10 people killed in the attacks must now mourn their loved ones. Here are some of the ways the victims – nine from the James Smith Cree Nation and one from nearby Weldon, Sask. – are being remembered by their communities.
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Putin praises China’s ‘balanced position’ on war in first meeting with Xi since Russia invaded Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Chinese leader Xi Jinping for his country’s “balanced position” on Ukraine as the two men met in person today for the first time since the launch of war.
In televised remarks delivered in the Uzbek city of Samarkand, Putin acknowledged that Beijing has “questions and concern” regarding the conflict and promised to explain Moscow’s position during a closed-door session with Xi.
Xi said the two countries were facing a changing world. “China is willing to make efforts with Russia to assume the role of great powers and play a guiding role to inject stability and positive energy into a chaotic world,” he said. This week marks the first time the Chinese leader has crossed his country’s borders since early 2020.
Read more:
- Zelensky courts allies as Russia strikes hometown
- EU nations seek to call out rights violations in Russia
- Opinion: Education, not hardware, is what made the Ukrainian military dangerous
MPs pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth in House of Commons
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other federal leaders praised the late Queen Elizabeth on Thursday for her commitment to service, highlighting the stability that she came to represent over her long reign.
“Many words have been used to describe the qualities that marked the legacy of Her Majesty – words like duty, service, devotion, stability,” Trudeau said in a special sitting of the House of Commons. “Throughout her reign, Canada knew extraordinary peace and prosperity.”
The House was recalled for the special sitting to allow politicians to pay tribute to the Queen, ahead of the House’s planned return on Sept. 20 – the day after her funeral in Britain. After Mr. Trudeau’s remarks, Pierre Poilievre also gave a sombre speech, marking his first comments in the House since being elected leader of the Official Opposition.
Read more:
- Queen Elizabeth lies in state at Westminster Hall after procession attended by thousands
- How Queen Elizabeth will be honoured at Ottawa’s commemorative ceremony on Sept. 19
- What the Queen’s symbolic reign meant for female empowerment and representation
- Explainer: How does a Commonwealth country break ties with the monarchy?
The ghost of former Quebec Premier René Lévesque haunts this year’s provincial election
The late sovereigntist leader is not a candidate in the coming provincial election, of course, but his name is everywhere in Quebec right now, including in the riding of René-Lévesque, where those unfortunate signs appeared. (No accent on the fourth e, for the record.)
Mr. Lévesque would have been 100 this year, and the centenary has prompted reverent commemorations from the Gaspé Peninsula to unlikely anglophone corners of Montreal.
During a bitter partisan race, memories of the Parti Québécois founder have united the province in appreciation of a statesman from a bygone era. A once-controversial and all-too-human figure – who smoked two packs of cigarettes a day, played poker deep into the night, and nearly took Quebec out of Canada – is now undergoing his own kind of canonization.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Canadian home price forecast slashed: Canada’s real estate association slashed its home price forecast for the year, as values declined for the sixth straight month in August with smaller Ontario cities shouldering the largest declines.
Air Canada goes hybrid: Air Canada says it will buy 30 electric-hybrid airplanes and invest US$5-million in the developer, Sweden’s Heart Aerospace.
Roger Federer to retire: Roger Federer is retiring from professional tennis at age 41 after a series of knee operations, closing a career in which he won 20 Grand Slam titles, finished five seasons ranked No. 1 and helped create a golden era of men’s tennis with rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
Canadian crypto companies hope to boost clientele as ethereum goes green: Crypto companies in Canada are planning a rush of new offerings and hoping to boost their clientele as the blockchain network behind the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, ethereum, switches to a different, greener operating model this week.
MARKET WATCH
Wall Street ended lower on Thursday, extending its losses in late afternoon trading as a raft of economic data failed to alter the expected course of aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve amid growing warnings of global recession.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 80.74 points, closing the trading day at 19,726.14.
The S&P 500 lost 44.66 points, or 1.13 per cent, to end at 3,901.35 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 167.32 points, or 1.43 per cent, to 11,552.36. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 173.27 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 30,961.82.
The Canadian dollar traded for 75.76 cents US compared with 75.95 cents US on Wednesday.
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TALKING POINTS
From the Great War to the pandemic, doctors and nurses have always carried a heavy burden
“How could one read of the nurses who held the hands of young Canadian soldiers whispering for their mothers as they breathed their last breath and not weep from thinking about what was happening in our COVID-19 wards – patients dying without their loved ones, usually with only nurses and doctors to bear witness?” – Tim Cook
The UN needs to address China’s abuse of Uyghurs, without further delay
“The Chinese government has sought to manipulate the inner workings of the United Nations’ human rights functions, and it has harassed and threatened human rights defenders from China, UN human rights experts and UN staff while blocking the participation of independent civil society groups.” – Tirana Hassan
Justin Trudeau, Google and Canada’s loophole-filled lobbying rules
“This comic loophole gives new meaning to the old phrase: Don’t call us, we’ll call you. It enabled the Trudeau government’s effort to keep a matter of obvious public interest hidden from the public.” – The Editorial Board
LIVING BETTER
The best running shoes to buy on a budget
Major running companies now make high-performing versions of supershoes, supertrainers and the traditional trainer, so choosing the right tier of shoe has become more important than choosing the right brand. But picking between several levels of expensive sneakers can get dizzying, especially if your running-shoe budget is less than $1,000 a season. To help you make the right decision, Alex Cyr dives deep into the three categories of running shoes, and three investment strategies to choose from, whether you’re a casual jogger or a regular racer.
TODAY’S LONG READ
TikTok is transforming how and what we eat
Snippets of TikTok videos by @emilymarikoSupplied
A woman slices cucumbers in her kitchen. She’s hunched over her cutting board, which has the added benefit of bringing the camera closer to her face. You only hear the sounds of cooking. Cucumbers sliding across a mandoline. Fork hitting plate.
A man in his 20s sits in his bedroom. He’s taste-testing MREs, the ready-to-eat meals used by the army. He raises his eyebrows, pleasantly surprised.
This is FoodTok – not to be confused with BookTok, or NewsTok, or DanceTok, or any of the other subgenres, or sub-subgenres on TikTok, the massively popular social-media platform. There’s a TikTok for everything. And one of the most popular genres of TikTok is food. Worldwide, FoodTok videos (videos with the hashtag #Food) have been viewed more than 360 billion times. Just as the past two decades of social media have had a seismic effect on our food culture – first Facebook, then Instagram – now the TikTok effect, too, is taking place.
As the TikTok effect unfolds, it’s already upending our ideas on what we eat – and how we talk and think about food, too.
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.