Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
The search for new soldiers to fight in Ukraine is forcing politicians and citizens into unwelcome positions
It’s been nearly two years since the start of Russia’s war with Ukraine, and the Russian army is once again pressing forward along the front line in the east and south of the country. Ukraine desperately needs an influx of new soldiers. Many of those serving in the trenches have been fighting since the start of the Russian invasion. There are calls for troops to be rotated, and for other people’s relatives to take a turn in the trenches.
The ask is high. Between 450,000 and 500,000 new soldiers are needed. President Zelensky’s government has been reluctant to order a mass mobilization, as it might look like the process in Russia, where young men are routinely grabbed off the streets and sent straight to the war. Similar tactics are already being used in Ukraine, though, with reports of men being “kidnapped” off the streets and sent to the front.
Mark MacKinnon reports on the climate two years on, and on an organization, Lobby X, which helps the Ukrainian army match the skill sets and risk tolerance of 58,000 applicants with vacancies at 300 military units.
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 more Globe newsletters here. If you like what you see, please share it with your friends.
Baby boomers are adjusting to a new retirement normal: No grandchildren
As younger Canadian couples choose not to have children, many older Canadians who longed for grandchildren are slowly accepting that their hopes may not materialize. While the pandemic saw couples delaying or downsizing their childbearing plans, by 2022, the drop had only intensified. Canada reported its lowest birth rates in nearly two decades. Zosia Bielski reports on the demographic shift that is forcing a reckoning within Canadian families.
$7.1-billion in CERB and CRB overpayments still being collected, Globe analysis finds
By the end of September, Canadians had paid back $4.1-billion of the $11.2-billion the federal government was asking for in overpayments it made through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), the two largest pandemic income-support programs for individuals.
The government is seeking repayments from individuals it found to be ineligible for all or part of the pandemic aid they received.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Internal documents suggest Alberta Energy Regulator underestimated oil-well liability
Documents are suggesting that the cost of cleaning up Alberta’s 466,000 wells would be about $88-billion, nearly triple the figure released earlier in the week from Alberta’s energy regulator. For almost every region of the province, the documents suggest that the estimates of what it would cost to clean up a well are too low.
South African government seeks to block U.S. auction of Nelson Mandela’s belongings
South African authorities are trying to stop Guernsey’s – a New York-based auction house – from selling personal belongings of former president Nelson Mandela, including his walking stick, hearing aids, reading glasses, shoes, briefcase and state-issued identification book.
The planned auction has angered many South Africans and the government says the Mandela items are heritage objects that must remain in South Africa.
Mandela’s eldest daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, won a two-year battle in a South Africa court in late November to gain the right to sell items linked to her father.
Tens of thousands pack into Hamburg protest against Germany’s far right
The protests in Germany’s second-biggest city seemed to be the biggest yet in a string of protests that has grown over the past week. They follow a report that extremists recently met to discuss the deportation of millions of immigrants, including some with German citizenship. More demonstrations against the far right are planned in German cities over the weekend.
Sports Illustrated planning significant layoffs after licence to use its brand name was revoked
The publisher of Sports Illustrated has notified employees it is planning to lay off a significant portion – possibly all – of the outlet’s staff after its licence to use the iconic brand’s name in print and digital was revoked. In an e-mail to employees this morning, the Arena Group, which operates Sports Illustrated and related properties, said that Authentic Brands Group has revoked its marketing licence.
Alec Baldwin charged with manslaughter in Rust movie-set shooting
Alec Baldwin was indicted by a grand jury in New Mexico today on new charges of involuntary manslaughter arising from the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the movie set of the Western film Rust.
MARKET WATCH
Strength in financial, utilities and technology stocks helped the TSX gain almost 150 points today, while U.S. markets broadly rose on the back of technology, with the S&P 500 rallying 1.2 per cent to hit a new all-time record high.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 149.79 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 20,906.52. In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 395.19 points, or 1.1 per cent, at 37,863.80.The S&P 500 index was up 58.87 points at 4,839.81, while the Nasdaq composite was up 255.32 points, or 1.7 per cent, at 15,310.97.
The loonie was trading at 74.47 cents (U.S.), up 0.32 cents from Thursday.
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
One Trudeau family vacation, three explanations, many doubts
Editorial: “Lots of Canadian families may have spent the holidays with friends, but Mr. Trudeau is not just any Canadian. He is the Prime Minister, and his friend gave him a gift worth tens of thousands of dollars. The implied equivalence is the stuff of parody.”
Why are we making it so hard for Canadians to bring relatives here from Gaza?
Marsha Lederman: “Do we really need to ask every applicant to detail their wounds to ensure Canada is not opening the floodgates to terrorists?”
LIVING BETTER
The AI future is already here, and these books help to make sense of it
At the heart of continuing conversations about AI sit two key questions: Can AI’s gatekeepers be trusted with such a powerful tool? And how will AI alter humanity’s future? AI can already beat its human counterpart in a game of chess and read radiology images better than its human counterpart. But machine learning still has many limitations. The Globe looks at three recent books that attempt to put it all into perspective.
TODAY’S LONG READ
The Voyage of Sorcerer II traces an expedition to unlock the genetic mysteries of the ocean
In August, 2003, geneticist turned entrepreneur J. Craig Venter arrived in Halifax harbour with the captain and crew of a 95-foot sailing yacht. This floating field laboratory would go on to circumnavigate the globe while sampling the ocean waters along the way. Ivan Semeniuk reports on the planet-wide DNA test that would shed light on the ocean’s genetic diversity in a way that had never been attempted before.
Evening Update is written and compiled 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.