Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Anti-immigrant groups, separatists and others across Saxony’s political spectrum are increasingly calling to end the war on Putin’s terms. Paul Waldie speaks to Ukrainians caught in the middle, who are feeling the change in attitude.
Ukraine disputes Russia’s Soledar claims
Russia said on Friday that its forces had taken control of the town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, in what would be a rare success for Moscow after months of battlefield reverses, but Kyiv said its troops were still fighting in the town.
Reuters could not immediately verify the situation in Soledar, a small salt mining town that has been the focus of relentless Russian assault for days. Kyiv and the West have played down the town’s significance, saying Moscow sacrificed wave upon wave of soldiers and mercenaries in a pointless fight for a bombed-out wasteland, unlikely to affect the wider war except insofar as the huge losses have sapped manpower on both sides.
But the capture of the town has taken on an outsized importance as it would, if confirmed, give Moscow a trophy for one of the bloodiest campaigns of the war following major battlefield setbacks throughout the second half of 2022.
Federal committee set to launch new review of Rogers’ takeover of Shaw
Rogers and Shaw applications are pictured on a cellphone in Ottawa on May 9, 2022.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
A House of Commons industry and technology committee is preparing to call a second public hearing into Rogers Communications Inc.’s proposed $20-billion takeover of Shaw Communications Inc. before the end of the month, according to sources.
The committee, which recommended against the deal in a report published in March, 2022, plans to take another look at the takeover, as it now involves the divestiture of Shaw’s Freedom Mobile to Quebecor Inc.’s Videotron Ltd., according to four people familiar with the matter. The sources declined to be identified as they are not authorized to discuss the committee’s plans publicly.
The committee comprises MPs from the Liberal, Conservative and New Democratic parties and the Bloc Québécois. Its recommendations are non-binding but could put pressure on Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne, whose approval is required for the deal to close.
How fuel giant Parkland is adapting to a low-carbon world
Bob Espey, President and Chief Executive Office of Parkland, is photographed in the company’s On the Run store in Mississauga, Ont., on Nov 29, 2022.Fred Lum/the Globe and Mail
For years, Parkland enjoyed a winning strategy of buying up fuel station and convenience store chains in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean, and integrating them with its fuel supply and distribution network.
But with the disruption to commuter driving habits from COVID-19 and the heightened investor focus on the shift from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources – particularly the rise of electric vehicles (EVs) – Parkland’s carefully tuned operating model has come under intense pressure.
Canada’s second-largest gas station operator has a plan to capitalize on the transition to EVs, but first Bob Espey, President and Chief Executive Officer of Parkland, has to win back investors.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
CIBC exec Laura Dottori-Attanasio, seen as potential successor for CEO job, exiting lender: Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce’s head of personal and business banking is leaving the lender to take on the top job at a different firm, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Trump Organization fined $1.6-million for tax fraud: Donald Trump’s company was fined $1.6-million Friday for a scheme in which the former president’s top executives dodged personal income taxes on lavish job perks – a symbolic, hardly crippling blow for an enterprise boasting billions of dollars in assets.
Biden’s political future clouded by classified document probe: U.S. President Joe Biden’s political outlook veered into more uncertain territory on Thursday after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel to investigate the Democratic president’s handling of classified documents.
Canada sanctions more of Haiti’s political elites, bringing total to 15: Facing sanction are former MP Arnel Bélizaire and Charles Saint-Rémy, a businessman associated with former president Michel Martelly, who is among the 13 others Canada has already sanctioned.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index rose almost 150 points Friday on broad-based gains, while U.S. markets also rose.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 148.90 points at 20,360.10.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 112.64 points at 34,302.61. The S&P 500 index was up 15.92 points at 3,999.09, while the Nasdaq composite was up 78.05 points at 11,079.16.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.59 cents UScompared with 74.75 cents US on Thursday.
The February crude contract was up US$1.47 at US$79.86 per barreland the February natural gas contract was down 28 cents at US$3.42 per mmBTU.
The February gold contract was up US$22.90 at US$1,921.70 an ounceand the March copper contract was up almost two cents at US$4.22 a pound.
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TALKING POINTS
Thanks to Canada’s broken access-to-information system, we have to look abroad to understand our own history
“We have yet to hear that Canadian relations with another country have ever been harmed by the proper release of records deemed historical. On the other hand, we do believe harm is being done by a culture of censorship and secrecy that is unbecoming of a modern Western democracy. The loss is ours.” – Robert Bothwell and John English
Grocery prices are skyrocketing because we ignored their long takeoff
“Corporations charging more money (gasp) just because they can? It’s a tale as old as free-market capitalism. It’s the way things are supposed to work. Those profits could be reinvested or used to pioneer new services. When we look closer at the grocery industry, however, and begin to understand the nuances of its model, another picture develops – one that raises existential questions for grocers, consumers and capitalists alike.” – Benjamin Lorr
A trip across Iran reveals all that can’t be grasped at a distance. The real Iran lies its ambiguities
“As I follow the latest convulsions in Iran, I keep reminding myself not to draw easy conclusions or to assume that all the images in the world begin to add up to real life. I can know no more from following the place on screen than its people can know the U.S. simply by turning on their televisions.” – Pico Iyer
LIVING BETTER
Six healthy recipe ideas to try this month – and tips for better meal planning
Did you resolve to incorporate more nutrient-dense, healthy meals into your diet this year? Need tips for meal planning your way to long-term dietary success – or ideas for making the most of leftovers?
In honour of these inevitable New Year’s resolutions, The Globe and Mail collected expert tips and guidance to make healthy meals less of a chore and more of something you look forward to for snacks and at mealtime.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Tibetans in India, dwindling in numbers, struggle to see a future beyond an aging Dalai Lama
Tsering Dawa exiled from TIbet as recently as March 2020 in McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala, India as he wanted to meet the Dalai Lama and members of the Tibetan government in exile.RUHANI KAUR/The Globe and Mail
Since China’s annexation of Tibet, Dharamshala has been a home to those who fled – but in recent years, far fewer refugees have arrived to join them.
When the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959, this small city in the foothills of the Himalayas became the spiritual and political heart of the Tibetan exile community. Tens of thousands have made the difficult journey here from Chinese-controlled Tibet, risking arrest and even death to escape Beijing’s increasingly stifling controls.
In recent years however, the flow of refugees has become a trickle, as pervasive surveillance and heavier policing have made getting out of Tibet harder than ever. Now, their movement is waiting to see what the Dalai Lama’s eventual death will bring next.
Evening Update is written by Emerald Bensadoun. 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.