Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Protester shot by police in escalating Hong Kong clashes
As Chinese President Xi Jinping told a crowd celebrating the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China that he will “continue to strive for the complete unification of our country,” protesters in Hong Kong used sticks to beat several police officers, reports The Globe’s Nathan VanderKlippe from Hong Kong. One officer, who charged into protesters swinging what looked to be metal rods, fired a pistol and shot one protester at close range in the chest, according to two videos. It is the first time in four months of protests that a live round was fired. The protester, an 18-year-old male, is in critical condition, local media reported. Organizers said roughly 150,000 people took to the streets for an unauthorized march, which was followed by hours of hardcore protesters repeatedly clashing with police.
Earlier in the day, President Xi spoke during a military parade, which included some 15,000 troops, cutting-edge military hardware and a flyover by dozens of jets.
- In photos: Hong Kong protesters remain defiant on China’s 70th anniversary
- Opinion: How much more humiliation will China accept?
- Explainer: What’s going on in Hong Kong? A guide to the story so far
This is the daily Evening Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for Evening Update and more than 20 more Globe newsletters on our newsletter signup page.
Scheer says plans to cut foreign aid won’t affect funding for abortion abroad
Speaking to reporters in Toronto this morning, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says plans to cut foreign assistance by 25 per cent won’t affect current Canadian support for abortion abroad. He said the proposal will not affect groups currently receiving Canadian funding or future foreign-aid programming. He also said his party would not reopen the debate over whether future aid programs would fund abortion services.
Yesterday, Mr. Scheer said a Conservative government would cut Canada’s annual foreign-aid budget of about $6-billion by 25 per cent, or $1.5-billion, in an effort to fund the party’s promised domestic tax credits and spending cuts.
Catch up on the campaign trail:
- Opinion (John Ibbitson): If current polling numbers hold, we will have a minority government in for a rough time
- Editorial: The Liberal platform: Some good, some bad, all familiar
- Explainer: A guide to what the main federal parties are promising about pharmacare
Pompeo pushes back on U.S. House impeachment inquiry into Trump
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Democrats of bullying and intimidation today after House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel and two other Democratic committee chairmen issued a statement accusing Mr. Pompeo of “stonewalling” the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. Mr. Pompeo objected to a move by committee to obtain depositions from five current and former State Department officials as part of the inquiry, reports Reuters. The five have been scheduled to give depositions this week and next. Mr. Pompeo wrote that the officials “may not attend any interview or deposition” without executive branch counsel present to control disclosure of confidential information.
In a letter posted on Twitter, Mr. Pompeo told Mr. Engel, “I am concerned with aspects of your request that can be understood only as an attempt to intimidate, bully and treat improperly the distinguished professionals of the Department of State, including several career Foreign Service Officers, whom the committee is now targeting.”
- Opinion: Donald Trump’s Ukraine mess is a win for Vladimir Putin
- Opinion (Lawrence Martin): The Democrats’ impeachment play could backfire
United Auto Workers rejects GM offer
The union representing General Motors employees rejected a new offer today from the company, which they said came up short on wages, health care and temporary workers. The union made a counterproposal, but did not provide details. About 48,000 members of the United Auto Workers union went on strike two weeks ago. GM says says the strike forced it to lay off at least 2,000 Canadian workers and today GM said it has had to halt production at pickup and transmission plant in Silao, Mexico, resulting in temporary layoffs of 6,000 workers.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Canada’s economy was unexpectedly unchanged in July, following four months of growth, as the country’s mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction sectors contracted, Statistics Canada data showed. Overall, 12 of the 20 industrial sectors monitored expanded on the month, while eight declined, Statscan said.
Amber Guyger, a white former Dallas police officer who said she fatally shot her unarmed, black neighbour Botham Jean after mistaking his apartment for her own was found guilty of murder by a jury after only a few hours of deliberation.
Telus Corp. is paying $700-million in cash to acquire ADT Security Services Canada Inc., as telecommunications giants race to build out home and business security arms to expand their product bundles.
Jamaican-born actor and reggae artist Louie Rankin has died in a car crash in small-town Ontario at the age of 66. Ontario Provincial Police say Mr. Rankin’s vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer near Shelburne, Ont., on Monday morning.
Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg told employees in July that the company would “go to the mat” to defeat Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren’s expected effort to break up the world’s largest social media company if she were elected president, according to audio of two internal company meetings from July published by The Verge.
MARKET WATCH
TSX drops over 200 points as weak U.S. data stirs growth worries
Weak economic data in the United States and Europe weighed on global stock benchmarks on Tuesday, sending investors into safe-haven assets. Canadian stocks reversed course to move lower on Tuesday as weak factory readings out of the United States rekindled fears of a global slowdown. After opening up 0.2 per cent, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed down 210.97 points, or 1.27 per cent, at 16,447.66.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 343.93 points, or 1.28 per cent, to 26,572.9, the S&P 500 lost 36.56 points, or 1.23 per cent, to 2,940.18 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 90.65 points, or 1.13 per cent, to 7,908.69
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
Electric vehicles are in the driver’s seat now and the oil industry is running out of fuel
“... the drone strike in Saudi Arabia merely exposed what we already knew was there – the vulnerable underbelly of a dinosaur industry that, in the age of electric transportation, is looking increasingly like a sitting duck.” – Tyler Hamilton works with cleantech companies from across Canada as an adviser with the non-profit MaRS Discovery District in Toronto.
No, Mr. Scheer, a national energy corridor will never happen
“But there is a reason this is an idea that has been only talked about – and not acted upon – for decades. Intra-provincial obstacles have always stood in the way. Ones that become more complex by the day.” – Gary Mason
Justin Trudeau’s brand is too big to fail
“Justin Trudeau’s opponents have never quite figured him out. His fast rise, his ability to inspire legions of followers, and his gift for withstanding controversy – most recently, a blackface and brownface scandal that would have delivered a body blow to any other politician – simply defy tradition.” – Dennis Matthews is a conservative strategist and commentator who is a vice-president at the national communications firm Enterprise Canada. He served as an advertising and marketing adviser to former prime minister Stephen Harper.
LIVING BETTER
Please, no death threats
Barry Hertz reviews Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker. Here’s a taste: “I hate to deflate a good gag, but: no. No to all the frantic discourse. No to the film being put atop a pedestal of any sort. No to the energy we’re collectively wasting on it. No to an okay-but-not-especially-good-and-ultimately-nothing of a movie. No, then, to Joker.”
Ask a travel expert: What is a Nexus card and do you need one?
If you travel regularly to the United States, you’ll have an idea already because the Nexus line always seems to be shorter and faster than yours. Nexus allows pre-approved, low-risk travellers who’ve undergone an extensive background check to clear customs and immigration faster, writes Heather Greenwood Davis. After paying a US$50 application fee and completing an online application, you schedule an in-person interview and have your photograph, fingerprints and iris scanned. Your Nexus card can then be used to travel within and between Canada and the United States through dedicated “Trusted Traveler” lanes in Canada and “TSA Pre-Check” lanes in the United States. Membership is good for five years, but can be revoked if you are found to have broken the program’s requirements or lied to a customs officer (say, for exceeding the legal spending limit). Oh, and if you are using a Nexus lane at a land crossing, everyone in the vehicle must have a Nexus card.
LONG READ FOR A LONG COMMUTE
In 2017, the Mohawk Institute site was being excavated to help preserve all evidence of the abusive system that separated Indigenous children from their families.Michelle Siu/For The Globe and Mail
Canada’s residential schools were houses of pain, but survivors want these buildings to be saved
Of the dozens of residential schools built across Canada, 15 to 20 are still standing. From B.C. to Ontario, many of the Indigenous people trying to overcome the schools’ toxic history say it’s wrong to tear them down. They say wiping these schools from existence threatens to obliterate the fact of the federal government’s wrongdoings. Sierra Bein and Maria Iqbal look at five such residential schools whose communities have rallied to save the schools.
Today’s Evening Update was produced by Michael Snider. 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.