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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Facing censure, Trump says his tweets attacking four Democratic congresswomen were not racist

U.S. President Donald Trump insists that his tweets suggesting four Democratic congresswomen of colour “go back” to their “broken and crime infested” countries were not racist. “I don’t have a Racist bone in my body!” Trump exclaimed on Twitter today.

His defiance comes amid widespread denouncements that his tweets, directed at Representatives Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, were racist and xenophobic. All are American citizens, and three of the four were born in the United States.

Yesterday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced Trump’s comments. “That’s not how we do things in Canada. A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian,” Trudeau said.

An editorial from The Globe today describes Trump as a racist and contextualizes his actions as a way to take sides and manipulate the Democratic Party: “Being public enemy No. 1 gives him the power to influence whom the party chooses as it leaders and what policies it embraces and emphasizes.”

Bank of Canada to take control of key interest rate benchmark

The Bank of Canada announced that it is taking over as the administrator of the Canadian Overnight Repo Rate Average (CORRA) – a benchmark currently pegged to more than $1-trillion in Canadian financial instruments, such as bonds and derivatives. The central bank says that, once it assumes duties for the rate next year, it will distribute it at no cost “as a public good.”

This comes amid global reforms to benchmarks, some of which have been vulnerable to manipulation, led by the Financial Stability Board. The need for major changes to benchmark rates became apparent after the 2008 financial crisis, when it was revealed that the benchmark London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) was being gamed by some of the bankers who had a hand in setting it in attempts to benefit their banks’ trading positions.

Canadian maker of military vehicles for Sudan operates beyond reach of Ottawa’s rules

Tan-coloured military vehicles are easy to spot on the streets of Khartoum, the capital of Sudan wracked by civil violence. The Globe and Mail’s exclusive report reveals that the armoured personnel carriers were built by a Canadian-owned company called Streit Group, owned by Guerman Goutorov, and have been deployed in key locations around the city in support of the regime that seized power in a military coup this year.

These vehicles underscore a growing debate over the role of foreign companies in supporting the latest military regime and, before it, the authoritarian government that ruled Sudan for 30 years.

U.S. federal prosecutors won’t bring charges against New York officer in Eric Garner’s chokehold death

Federal prosecutors said today that they won’t bring criminal charges against a white New York City police officer in the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner, a black man whose dying words – “I can’t breathe” – became a rallying cry as the nation confronted a long history of police brutality.

The decision to end a year-long civil rights investigation was made by Attorney-General William Barr and was announced the day before the five-year anniversary of the deadly encounter, just as the statute of limitations was set to expire.

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Abel makes Canadian history: Diver Jennifer Abel has set a Canadian record with her ninth career medal at the world aquatics championships. Abel and Mélissa Citrini-Beaulieu teamed up to win silver in the women’s three-metre synchronized event yesterday and qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Three dead, four missing in Labrador plane crash: A search is under way for four people missing after a float plane crashed into a Labrador lake yesterday, killing three of the other occupants.

Toronto startup Flybits raises US$35-million from global investors: A Toronto startup that uses artificial intelligence to help banks personalize offerings to their customers has landed US$35-million in venture financing from several global financial institutions, thanks in part to its early endorsement by hometown Toronto-Dominion Bank.

Canadians up for top TV trophies: Nominations for the Emmy Awards were released today, with Ontario-shot show Schitt’s Creek landing four nominations, including best comedy series. Canadians up for trophies at the Emmies include Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Sandra Oh, Luke Kirby and Lorne Michaels.

Johnny Clegg dead at 66: Johnny Clegg, a groundbreaking South African musician, has died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Clegg’s multi-racial bands during white minority rule attracted an international following. He crafted hits inspired by Zulu and township harmonies, as well as folk and other influences, in defiance of racial barriers imposed by South Africa’s apartheid system decades ago.

Flooding and landslides rack South Asia: Monsoon flooding and landslides continue to cause havoc in South Asia, with the death toll rising to 78 in Nepal and authorities in neighbouring northeastern India battling to provide relief to more than four million people in Assam state. In Bangladesh, at least a dozen people have been killed by lightning since Saturday as monsoon rains battered parts of the low-lying country.

MARKET WATCH

Canada’s main stock index inched lower Tuesday as oil prices fell on easing geopolitical risks in the Middle East. The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 8.40 points at 16,502.42.

South of the border, The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 23.53 points to 27,335.63, the S&P 500 lost 10.26 points to 3,004.04 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 35.39 points to 8,222.80.

U.S. retail sales rose 0.4 per cent in June, paring bets on coming rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve. The solid number comes on the heels of recent data showing a strong labor market and a pickup in consumer prices.

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TALKING POINTS

Conversion therapy should absolutely be prohibited, but the Liberals are politicizing the issue

“Conversion therapy, which is not therapy and converts no one, can be so harmful to LGBTQ patients that some provinces and municipalities have moved to restrict the practice. The Trudeau government is thinking of making it a criminal offence, in an effort to protect young people at risk. ... But such a law might violate Charter rights. And in any case, the Liberals may simply be seeking to discredit Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer on the eve of the federal election campaign.” John Ibbitson

When will Ottawa end its willful neglect of First Nations children?

“The federal government must end its discriminatory and inequitable funding of all public services on reserves, including education, health care, child welfare and basics such as water and sanitation.Though these inequalities have been known to the federal government for at least 112 years, it continues to take small and insufficient steps, dealing with the problem one service at a time instead of co-developing a comprehensive plan with First Nations to address all the inequalities.” Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and a professor at the school of social work at McGill University

The Anglican Church should follow Jesus’ teachings and welcome equal marriage

“For a church to live authentically, it has to listen to all voices, even if they may appear jarring. But why the continued opposition to what is essentially a call for unconditional love? The subject is hardly mentioned in the Bible, and when conservatives quote the Old Testament they often do so without a thorough understanding of its nature.”Michael Coren, author of Epiphany: A Christian’s Change of Heart and Mind Over Same-Sex Marriage

Today, Canada’s Anglican Church is considering whether to change its governance structure after a motion to recognize same-sex marriage across the Church failed by just two bishops’ votes.

LIVING BETTER

What you need to know about Ottawa’s First Time Home Buyer Incentive

If you’re a fledgling home buyer you’ve probably caught wind of Ottawa’s “free” money giveaway, the First Time Home Buyer Incentive (FTHBI), a program launching Sept. 2. Most new home buyers are lost as to whether they should sign up for this thing. Calculating its potential benefit can make you feel like a kindergartner in algebra class. You better be good at making assumptions.

In short, very few millennial buyers can take advantage of the FTHBI, given all the restrictions. The ones who could use the incentive can easily qualify for a regular mortgage without it. They don’t “require” taxpayer-subsidized payment savings because they already have lower debt ratios in the first place, compared with typical first-time buyers.

If, somehow, some way, you’re a first-timer able to buy well under your means (good luck with that in our biggest cities) and prices don’t rise much before you sell, you’re likely a winner with the FTHBI.

For more, read mortgage specialist Robert McLister’s rundown.

LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE

I was surprised when my childhood bully reached out years later

“I never realized how badly I was teased in school until the day one of my bullies contacted me 35 years later,” writes Holly Jones in today’s First Person essay. “I pictured him standing around with a group of balding middle-aged beer-bellied versions of my old classmates gleefully recounting the time I peed my chair, the ghastly out-of-date polyester bell bottoms my mom made me wear, the time they hid the pencils on me, the time they stole my new purple running shoes and how the kids on the school bus even got the bus driver taunting: ‘What’s that smell? Eeew! Gross! It’s Holly!’ Would someone really have so little in their life that they’d track me down years later in another city to remind me I’m worthless? I doubted it, but then people can be pretty ruthless when they have nothing better to do.”

Evening Update is written by Jack Denton. 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.

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