Evening Update: Stormy weather updates across the country; The secret to the FTX scheme

Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:

There is stormy weather ahead. Across Canada, here’s what there is to know.

In British Columbia, a weather system of heavy snow and bitter cold paralyzed Vancouver’s airport and caused a cascade of disruptions but may lift by Christmas Eve. However, travellers will first have to endure more storms that could affect more airports.

Meanwhile, in Ontario blizzard-like conditions and possible flash freezing are expected, prompting several school boards to plan closures. The Toronto District School Board, Canada’s largest school board, boards in Ottawa and the Peterborough, Ont., area have all announced closures ahead of time.

In Quebec, Environment Canada is warning people to prepare emergency kits that can help sustain them for up to 72 hours without power, as a major storm approaches the province.

• Help from The Globe: What options are available to travellers when their flights are cancelled?

The secret to the FTX scheme

Crypto exchange FTX invented a currency, repeatedly propped up its price, then used the inflated value to orchestrate wide-scale fraud.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission painted the clearest picture yet of how exactly FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried orchestrated what the regulator alleges was “a massive, years-long fraud.”

Globe reporter Tim Kiladze offers readers a look into the tale about how the scheme worked, and how they concealed it from investors. The scheme, according to the SEC, involved “diverting billions of dollars of the trading platform’s customer funds for [Mr. Bankman-Fried’s] own personal benefit and to help grow his crypto empire.”

Bankman-Fried to be released on $250-million bond while he awaits trial.

Also, for your business interest: How well were you paying attention to the markets in 2022? Take our quiz

The UN’s Canadian chief in Ukraine faces the humanitarian challenge of a lifetime

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Denise Brown’s work has brought her to some of the most tragic hotspots from Afghanistan to Somalia. In that sense, Ukraine is no different. Yet it is completely different.

The air raid sirens sound just after 8 on the morning of Dec. 16, signalling the second Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in three days. “I do not understand this war. There is no explanation for it,” Brown says in an interview in the bunker that also functions as an emergency office.

She was born in Vancouver, where she still has an apartment, and studied at the University of British Columbia. Today, the career of the Canadian UN chief in Ukraine has brought her countries where her duty was to save lives even if it meant risking her own.

Also read: Ukraine’s wartime Christmas: Half-empty malls, few family gifts and soldiers bracing for a Dec. 25 attack

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

RCMP declines to probe forged documents: Mounties say they will not launch an investigation into the records that falsely suggest the force and the Canada Revenue Agency are paying informants within the Muslim Association of Canada to build a terrorist-funding case against the charity.

The clash of the media barons: Inside Jordan Bitove and Paul Rivett’s battle to control Torstar. This ever-present tension lingers as Bitove turns a new page at the helm of the storied publication

Jan. 6 witnesses speak at committee: A former White House aide described a wide-ranging pressure campaign from Donald Trump’s allies aimed at influencing her co-operation with Congress and stifling potentially damaging testimony about him.

Despite victories, abortion still stigmatized, regulated in India: For starters, abortion is still a criminal offence under the Indian Penal Code even though it is has been legal – with conditions – since 1971.

The tech explainer you need: Here’s how Twitter has changed since Elon Musk took over as CEO

MARKET WATCH

TSX posts broad-based losses as rate hike concern weighs

Canada’s main stock index fell on Thursday, giving back some of the previous day’s advance, in a broad sell-off as U.S. economic data triggered fresh concerns over the Federal Reserve’s campaign to raise interest rates.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended down 221.44 points at 19,349.66, after notching on Wednesday its biggest gain in nearly six weeks.

Wall Street’s main indexes also fell as U.S. data pointed to a still tight labor market that could encourage the Fed to continue to tighten aggressively.

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TALKING POINTS

For the women of Iran, history shows us there’s no turning back now

“Women’s rights in Iran have certainly come a long way, and although it has always been brutalized by the clergy and religious values, it has pushed through layers of patriarchy, sexism and violence to find a firm footing.” - Golnaz Fakhari

The only winners in a subsidy war are the battery manufacturers – on both sides of the border

“It’s just hard to see why anyone else would want to get in on this madness – except that EV batteries have been declared an industry that Canada “must be” in. Why “must” it? Because batteries are “the future.” Or because they are high-tech. Or because everyone else is.” - Andrew Coyne

My disability makes baking difficult. So all I wanted for Christmas was a stand mixer

“And when I took the finished cookies out of the oven, their sweet and familiar smell wafting through my apartment for the first time in a year, I felt overwhelmed by how easy it was – by how big of a difference the appliance had made. I gave the cookies to friends in the coming days, excited to finally be able to bake for others again.” - Gabrielle Drolet

LIVING BETTER

Five things to stream this holiday weekend:

• Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix). One of the purest pop pleasures of the season, the kind of irresistible crowd-pleaser that balances its franchise obligations with a clear sense of wit and creative purpose.
• Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount+). You have just a week or so to close out the year with a wild ride that confirms Tom Cruise as being an immortal being of pure light.
• Moonage Daydream (digital TIFF Lightbox). Quite unlike any other music documentary Brett Morgen’s David Bowie film is, like its subject, a crafty shape-shifter
• The Fabelmans (on-demand, including Apple TV, Google Play, Cineplex Store). Anyone (re: everyone) who has been captivated by at least one or two or three Spielberg movies should give it a shot.
• Bones and All (on-demand, including Apple TV and Google Play). Frightening and romantic, dreamy and dreary, Luca Guadagnino’s romantic drama/horror is delightfully weird.

Also check out: The 10 Best Canadian Films of 2022, a stress-test year for homegrown cinema

TODAY’S LONG READ

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Here’s how our traditions contribute to the magic of the holidays

Christmas is a time for family and cheerfulness. A time to look forward to, enjoy and then reminisce about. It’s also a time for rituals – lots of them. From attending midnight mass to playing Secret Santa, no other time of the year is as packed with ceremony.

Why do we find all this fanfare so enticing, and how exactly does it contribute to the magic of Christmas? To understand this, we need to take a look at the psychology of ritual. Dimitris Xygalatas is an anthropologist and cognitive scientist who runs the Experimental Anthropology Lab at the University of Connecticut, he dives in to explore the topic in depth.

Evening Update is written by Sierra Bein. 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.