Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Under increasing pressure to take action to ensure the release of two Canadians imprisoned in China, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flatly rejected calls for him to intervene in the extradition of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry implied that Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who have been imprisoned in China for 563 days, and recently charged with espionage, could be released if Meng’s extradition case was dropped.
The Chinese spokesman’s comments come as several prominent figures in Canada, including the family of Michael Kovrig, have publicly made the argument that the Canadian government possesses the legal ability to intervene to drop the extradition case against Meng, which they believe will guarantee the release of Kovrig and Spavor.
Trudeau warned against sending a message of leniency to China, “The bigger question is whether or not we want China or other countries to get the message that all they have to do to get leverage over the Canadian government is randomly arrest a couple of Canadians,” he said.
For more background on Meng Wanzhou’s case, see our explainer here.
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Walking at Coronado Park in Phoenix on Wednesday, June 24, 2020, where a bench is roped off during the coronavirus pandemic. Arizona added more than 3,600 cases as of Tuesday.Adriana Zehbrauskas/The New York Times News Service
Alarming new numbers about COVID-19 case rates in the U.S. are sparking fears that the virus is spreading rapidly, even as President Donald Trump continues to assert the virus is under control.
On Thursday, health officials reported they estimate 20 million Americans have been infected with the virus since its arrival in the U.S., meaning that about 6 per cent of the nation’s population has been infected.
One of the virus’ current hot spots is the state of Arizona, where Trump held an indoor campaign rally this week, drawing thousands of unmasked young conservatives.
While Canadians may be tempted to feel their country has come out of the coronavirus pandemic in better shape than the United States, the picture in long-term care facilities is far bleaker.
Canada’s health statistics agency recently announced that 81 per cent of deaths in Canada related to COVID-19 occurred in long-term care facilities, almost double the average of other members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Toronto police officer and brother, accused of beating young Black man, Dafonte Miller, face anticipated verdict on Friday
An Ontario court is set to release its verdict in the case against Toronto Police Service Constable Michael Theriault and his brother, Christian Theriault, who are accused of aggravated assault and obstruction of justice related to a 2016 encounter that resulted in a young, Black teenager, Dafonte Miller, being beaten so badly he lost an eye.
The judge-only trial, which took place over two weeks last year, featured two competing narratives of what happened that morning in Whitby, Ont.
Against a backdrop of sustained uproar against police brutality and anti-Black racism, the verdict is anticipated to be held as a guiding example in accountability for such crimes within the Canadian jsutice system.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Missing cash: Wirecard, the German payments corporation accused of a “sophisticated global fraud” that resulted in US$4-billion going missing, filed for insolvency this morning.
Refunded: Air Canada quietly changed its policies to offer refunds to some customers who had their flights cancelled, but only if those flights originated in the European Union or Iceland.
Downgraded: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced new funding for students, and defended his government’s financial response to COVID-19, after Fitch Ratings downgraded Canada’s credit rating yesterday.
MARKET WATCH
The market closed higher Thursday, after a day of choppy trading, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 299.66 points, or 1.18%, to 25,745.6, the S&P 500 gaining 33.43 points, or 1.10%, to 3,083.76 and the Nasdaq Composite adding 107.84 points, or 1.09%, to 10,017.00.
The banking sector led the gainers on Wall Street, ahead of annual stress test results, and after regulators unveiled two rules easing restrictions covering American large banks with complex trading and investment portfolios.
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TALKING POINTS
Why is Canada dragging its feet on mandatory masks?
“The use of masks as only a “recommended” measure has not seen the uptake needed to reach the threshold to meaningfully curb the spread of disease. Only about 50 per cent of respondents to a recent Leger poll reported wearing a mask to go grocery shopping. Without a directive on mandatory masking, it is unclear how or when public health officials think that the other 50 per cent will suddenly find the impetus to do so.” - Robyn Urback
Bolton’s revelations show that Trump deserves to be impeached a second time
“Mr. Bolton’s charges are barbed. But even if voters are numbed by the sheer number of accusations, compounded by 19,000 already uttered presidential falsehoods counted by a Washington Post tally, Mr. Bolton’s indictment will remind a weary electorate not to forget. Truth and authenticity are the bedrock of leadership. Americans should expect no less of their presidents” - Robert Rotberg
LIVING BETTER
The pandemic has people taking a hard look at their finances, and many especially trying to better understand their investment portfolios. For those who have been burnt by picking their own preferred shares, Globe columnist Rob Carrick points out seven actively managed preferred share ETFs, to take the guess work out of managing that section of your portfolio.
TODAY’S LONG READ
In this undated photo downloaded from the Union County Prosecutor’s website, Caleb "Kai’ Lawrence McGillvary is shown. The homeless hitchhiker had previously gained Internet and TV celebrity status by using a hatchet to intervene in an attack in California on a utility worker on Feb. 1, 2013.The Associated Press
In the case of “Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker”, it’s hard to tell whether the truth truly is stranger than fiction.
Some may remember Kai, the hippy-like drifter who rose to quasi-celebrity status in 2013 after intervening in a random attack in Fresno, California.
Months after, he was charged for the murder of a 73-year old lawyer in New Jersey.
How the Alberta-born man rose from hitchhiker, to hero, to convicted killer is a twisting tale of fame, family, and life on the lonely road.
Evening Update is written by Claire Porter Robbins. 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.