Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
South African inquiry will probe possibility of covert arms shipment to Russia
The South African government has denied authorizing any weapons shipments to Moscow when a sanctioned Russian vessel, the Lady R, docked at Simon’s Town naval base near Cape Town last December, but it has announced an independent inquiry to probe the possibility that a covert arms transaction may have occurred. The uproar began when the U.S. ambassador to South Africa alleged that weapons had secretly been loaded onto the vessel.
The scenario raises the possibility of corruption in the South African military and its arms-production industry and highlights the widespread dysfunction in the South African government, where standard controls and protocols have often broken down in recent years.
Wildfires are impairing air quality across Western Canada, reversing decades of progress
While many Canadian cities enjoy some of the cleanest air on Earth, Western Canada is recording some of the worst air pollution levels in the country in recent years. And as the air quality in developed countries continues to improve, cities and towns in British Columbia and Alberta continue to buck the trend.
The culprit is wildfires. The most visible consequence of a wildfire is scorched landscapes. But intensifying wildfires are torching the long-standing trend toward cleaner air.
This is the daily Evening Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was sent to you as a forward, you can sign up for Evening Update and more than 20 other Globe newsletters here. If you like what you see, please share it with your friends.
Canadians in China shrug off diplomatic spat, but fear worsening business environment
It has been a tense few weeks for foreigners doing business in China. Beijing’s new anti-espionage law makes it easier to arrest foreign nationals, and a series of high-profile raids of consultancies and due diligence firms has sent a chill through the expat community.
On Sunday, Chinese state TV showed footage from raids on the offices of research firm Capvision, a New York-headquartered company that is accused of paying Chinese experts to provide state secrets. Earlier sweeps targeted consulting business Bain & Co. and Mintz Group, a due diligence outfit.
Add in the tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats and threats of further retaliation, and many worry about hardening attitudes toward China back home and the growing difficulty of doing business in the country.
- Read also: CSIS had kept tabs on expelled Chinese diplomat Zhao Wei for 3 years
- Opinion: What a 2,500-year-old story can teach Canada about how to deal with China
The true cost of chocolate
Labels that boast of sustainable cocoa on many chocolate products in Canada are hiding a darker truth. Hunger and poverty are in fact the reality for millions of cocoa farmers in Africa and Latin America.
At the heart of the sustainability concept is a pledge by the major manufacturers to help farmers gain decent income. The promise reassures consumers that a chocolate purchase is an ethical one. And chocolate manufacturers have reaped the profits of this marketing campaign. But the promise of fair pay for farmers is still unfulfilled. The Globe spoke with growers on the front lines.
Eurovision 2023 hits Liverpool with Ukraine at centre of activity
It may be cheesy and over-the-top, but there will be a serious side to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest when the final takes place tomorrow in Liverpool. Ukraine has been one of the bigger deals at Eurovision over the years, with three wins, while Ukrainian drag queen Verka Serduchka has become a Eurovision icon for her second-place 2007 performance. The contest would have been held there this year, but Russia’s invasion made that impossible.
Liverpool has proved to be an inspired choice to take over hosting duties. Organizers have put the war in Ukraine at the centre of the activity. Ukrainian flags fly proudly all over downtown, and a two-week EuroFestival with art, poetry, music and theatre productions has focused on the war. Paul Waldie reports on Liverpool’s Ukraine-centered Eurovision fever.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Ukraine says it has retaken territory near embattled eastern city of Bakhmut
Ukrainian troops have recaptured more territory from Russian forces near Bakhmut, the scene of the war’s longest and bloodiest battle, but it wasn’t clear if this marked the start of a counteroffensive.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said Ukrainian forces had stepped up attacks north of the region, but it denied speculation by Russian military bloggers that Ukraine had achieved “defence breakthroughs.”
Hollywood studios say Canada is out of step with defining what counts as a homegrown movie
A global report commissioned by Hollywood movie studios finds Canada’s system to be so inflexible that many feature films made in Canada using Canadian talent behind and in front of the camera don’t qualify as Canadian.
Minister of Heritage Pablo Rodriguez plans to issue the CRTC with a ministerial direction that will make streaming platforms such as Disney+, Netflix and Amazon Prime promote Canadian films and TV and financially support them. Productions qualifying as Canadian can also get access to additional funding.
The Motion Picture Association, a U.S. trade organization representing major studios, wants the CRTC to remove the requirement for copyright to be owned by a Canadian to qualify. There’s pushback, though. Some Canadian producers say that it’s crucial that the rights stay in Canada to qualify to be a Canadian production.
MARKET WATCH
U.S. stocks ended slightly lower today, led by weaker megacap shares following their recent rally, as data showed U.S. consumer sentiment dropped to a six-month low.
The TSX ended nearly unchanged. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended up 2.01 points, or 0.01%, at 20,419.62.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 8.89 points, or 0.03%, to 33,300.62; the S&P 500 lost 6.54 points, or 0.16%, to 4,124.08; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 43.76 points, or 0.35%, to 12,284.74.
The loonie was trading at 73.81 cents (U.S.), down 0.33 cents.
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.
TALKING POINTS
100 million Canadians by 2100 may not be federal policy, but it should be – even if it makes Quebec howl
Andrew Coyne: “One hundred million looks like a big number compared to today; in the same way, today’s 40 million would look unimaginably large to someone in 1946. But that’s the magic of compounding: any growth rate, no matter how modest, compounded over a long enough time, yields big changes.”
What happens when back home becomes a war zone?
Elamin Abdelmahmoud: “This is strongman versus warlord, a conflict with no one to root for: no ‘good guys,’ no ‘right side,’ only Sudan’s people, trapped under two warring egos.”
Launching constitutional reform in Canada would be a terrible idea
Michael Wernick: “Let’s not have amnesia about how nasty constitutional politics has been. They have been a war of all against all, creating strange alliances across political parties and fractures within them.”
LIVING BETTER
Top garden trends for 2023: Ground cover, vertical planters, allergy-friendly plants
Nurturing plants is good for our mental health. That became evident during the pandemic gardening boom. If you’re feeling anxious, try digging, weeding and planting seeds to stay connected to nature. A recent study finds that community gardening is a valuable resource that helps lower stress – and even reduces cancer risks. People are also planting to support pollinators and make the world a more tranquil place. Here are five gardening trends for 2023.
TODAY’S LONG READ
In his new Sundays cookbook, author Mark Pupo captures the joy his mother found in the kitchen
“When she was in the right mood, Mom threw herself into cooking with more zeal than a TV chef whose job it is to make dicing onions seem fun. Cooking was her creative outlet, a way for her to travel the world, even if she was restricted by the shelves of the local supermarket.”
Read more from Mark Pupo’s reflections on a time when the family kitchen became his classroom.
Evening Update is written by Andrew Saikali. 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.