Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Vladimir Putin gained global attention today with televised remarks to the Russian people and a troop mobilization that raised the stakes on his invasion of Ukraine and prompted reactions from world leaders, many who have gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
In a nationwide, pre-recorded address, Putin declared support for a series of referendums planned in four Ukrainian territories Russia is claiming as its own. He warned those who would try to stop his plans to annex the land: “If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people – this is not a bluff.”
Putin also ordered a partial mobilization of his reserve soldiers, which immediately affected demand for one-way flights out of Russia.
In New York, U.S. President Joe Biden and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg each sharply criticized Putin’s speech. Biden said the Russian leader had “made overt nuclear threats against Europe” and a “reckless disregard” for the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,” he told the General Assembly.
Later in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for Russia to lose its UN Security Council veto in his own address to UN member nations.
Trump, adult children sued by New York Attorney-General for fraud
The Trump family.MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Former U.S. president Donald Trump and his adult children were sued today for what New York state’s Attorney-General called numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation. The Trump Organization is accused of misstating the values of real estate properties to obtain favourable loans and tax benefits.
Attorney-General Letitia James filed the civil lawsuit in Manhattan against Trump and his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and daughter Ivanka Trump. She also accused the elder Trump of overstating his wealth by billions of dollars to help his company obtain favourable financial terms on transactions.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Census reveals trends on housing, Indigenous population: Statistics Canada says the Indigenous population in Canada continues to grow faster than the non-Indigenous population, and that Indigenous children are overrepresented in foster care. Separately, the agency also says the rate of home ownership dropped to its lowest since 2001.
Inquests to probe Saskatchewan rampage: Two public inquests are to be held following the stabbing rampage northeast of Saskatoon this month that left 10 people dead, plus the suspect and his brother.
Afghan family stranded because of false documents: A year after an Afghan family received official-looking documents from a Canadian senator, they are still stuck in Afghanistan, and the Canadian government has at last explained why: The facilitation letters they received from the senator and her office were not authentic, and the people named on them had not been approved to come to Canada.
Real Ventures loses Janet Bannister: Janet Bannister is leaving Real Ventures, calling the future of the Canadian venture capital firm into question. She will be replaced as managing partner by Real’s last remaining founding partner, John Stokes.
MARKET WATCH
Wall Street’s main indexes plunged into negative territory immediately after the U.S. Federal Reserve announced an expected large hike in interest rates today, then see-sawed the rest of the day before slumping in the final 30 minutes of trading.
The TSX also fell immediately after the rate decision, the latest move by the U.S. central bank to tame decades-high inflation.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 184.15 points, or nearly 1 per cent, at 19,184.54, its lowest closing level since Sept. 6.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 522.45 points or 1.7 per cent to 30,183.78, the S&P 500 lost 66 points or 1.71 per cent to 3,789.93, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 204.86 points or 1.79 per cent to 11,220.19.
The value of the Canadian dollar rose. One dollar could be bought for 74.30 US cents by the end of the day.
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TALKING POINTS
As Canada mourns the Queen, Indigenous people work to repair the damage overseen by the Crown
“The first of eight planned National Gatherings on Unmarked Burials took place last week. But while these sessions are of profound national importance, they seem to have been barely noticed by non-Indigenous Canadians and media outlets. Instead, Canada was focused on the death of a monarch who silently presided over a swath of the residential school era.” – Tanya Talaga
The woman poised to be Italy’s next leader used to love Mussolini. Can we trust Giorgia Meloni?
“While Germany de-Nazified after the war, establishing a culture of penitence and shame, Italy undertook nothing as cleansing. Thankfully, Ms. Meloni repudiates the Fascist Party regime, its suppression of democracy, its antisemitic laws. Yet the far-right has a practice of obfuscation, portraying its activists as harmless pussycats when the normies are looking. Her supporters certainly include some with a fondness for the stiff-armed salute, yet most have no taste for autocracy.” – Tom Rachman
Joe Biden, thank heavens, is making yet another great comeback
“In Biden’s first year in office, his support numbers tanked so badly that the pundits, myself included, said he was on the road to a resounding defeat in this fall’s midterm elections. Hardly anyone is saying that now. Once again, Joe Biden is staging a remarkable bounce back, reversing the tide of his presidency and, in the process, stirring hope that he can reverse the tide of the United States.” – Lawrence Martin
LIVING BETTER
With rock musical Rent and world premiere of Diana play, Stratford Festival to put early days of AIDS on stage in 2023 season
The Stratford Festival will return with a 13-play lineup in 2023 under the theme “Duty vs. Desire” – and with a running thread of how the AIDS crisis has echoes in today’s pandemic.
Artistic director Antoni Cimolino said the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic – the fear and lack of understanding, the stigma that affected certain groups – brought back the events decades earlier for himself and so many others in the theatre community, who watched friends and colleagues, primarily gay men and others in the queer community, become sick and die of AIDS.
Hybrid offices make forming workplace friendships difficult. Here’s how to do it
The pandemic has turned the traditional office work model on its head. And while legions of people love some of the conveniences of hybrid/remote work, others are now struggling to make meaningful connections in their professional life. They miss the camaraderie and bonds that form when people work together in person – but it is possible to cultivate a productive and rewarding work friendship without a brick-and-mortar workplace.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Chinese police establish stations overseas in ‘worrying’ crackdown on citizens abroad
This office in Markham, Ont., home to a registered NGO, is said to be one of more than 50 police stations operated by China abroad.YADER GUZMAN/The Globe and Mail
In 2018, in a move billed as assistance for Chinese nationals abroad, China established a 911-style hotline and more than 50 police “service stations” across five continents, including at least three in Canada. But rather than focusing on helpfulness for expatriates, according to European NGO Safeguard Defenders, officers worldwide have routinely forced alleged criminals to return to China to face justice – more than 230,000 people in the 16 months between April, 2021, and July, 2022.
While it is unclear just how much of this persuasion is done remotely and how much involves the overseas police service stations, Safeguard Defenders warned that “these methods allow the Chinese Communist Party and their security organs to circumvent normal bilateral mechanisms of police and judicial co-operation, thereby severely undermining the international rule of law and territorial integrity of the third countries involved.”
Read the full story by James Griffiths and Irene Galea
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