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A group of Canadian gymnasts has launched a class-action lawsuit against Gymnastics Canada and six affiliated provincial organizations, alleging the sport’s governing bodies turned a blind eye to years of physical, sexual and psychological abuse by coaches and other officials.

The proposed class action, filed Wednesday in B.C. Supreme Court, alleges that Gymnastics Canada presided over an abusive culture in which athletes were subjected to inappropriate and sexualized touching from coaches, pushed into dangerous eating disorders and regularly subjected to threats and humiliation.

Some, including minors, were forced to train while injured and pushed to perform skills beyond their capabilities, resulting in serious injuries, while parents were prevented from observing practices, the lawsuit alleges.

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Cardinal Joseph Zen, Canadian singer Denise Ho among several arrested by national-security police in Hong Kong

Police in Hong Kong have arrested five activists, including Catholic Cardinal Joseph Zen and Canadian-Hong Kong pop star Denise Ho, alleging they colluded with foreign forces to endanger China’s national security.

All five were trustees of the now-defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, set up to support people facing prosecution stemming from 2019 pro-democracy protests. The five face charges under the national-security law imposed on Hong Kong by Beijing in 2020.

Soon after, police revealed they were investigating the fund and demanded that its administrators “furnish relevant information in connection with investigation of offences endangering national security.”

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Mother/Daughter power duo Mia Williams and Nia Jones pose in a shopping park in Houston, TX, on Friday, May 6, 2022. Jones is the founder of Social Justice Solutions, also affectionately known as Hoochies of Houston, an organization centered on empowering and protecting Black women.Annie Mulligan/The Globe and Mail

Texas’s abortion law gives preview of how bans will affect racialized communities

In print, the Texas laws banning abortion are colour blind. The state’s Heartbeat Act, which has banned most abortions since last September, contains no language about race, ethnicity or social class.

But at Fund Texas Choice, one of 11 groups in the state that financially support women securing abortions, fully 73 per cent of those seeking help are Black, Indigenous and people of colour.

Those groups, along with people and residents of rural areas have been “disproportionately harmed by SB 8,” the Heartbeat Act, said Sahra Harvin, program manager with Fund Texas Choice, which helps cover the costs for women to travel for abortions.

The Texas abortion law has made the state a legislative pioneer in the United States. The act, which bans abortions once fetal cardiac activity is detected, has also made Texas into a real-life preview of what may come later this year in more than two dozen states across the U.S. if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade this summer, as a draft decision published last week suggests it intends to do.

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

Ottawa urged to increase scholarships to top science grads: Federal scholarships intended to support some of Canada’s most accomplished PhDs and graduate students in science have become so devalued by inflation that those who receive them are effectively earning below the poverty line absent any additional means of income, a coalition of senior researchers has warned.

Canadian ambassador to Ukraine defends decision to leave Kyiv: Larisa Galadza, Canada’s recently returned ambassador to Ukraine, says closing the Canadian embassy was “the right decision,” though she understands why many Ukrainians felt deserted when Western diplomats left the country as soon as Russia invaded.

At least 500 Indigenous children died at U.S. residential schools: At least 500 children died at Native American boarding schools in the United States, a new federal review has found, and that toll is just the beginning amid a new effort to assess and catalogue the historical damage to Indigenous peoples.

Companies hoping to ease e-commerce slowdown by lending money: E-commerce companies such as Shopify and Square, facing a sudden slowdown, are offering loans to retailers and small businesses in a bid to keep them tied to their service platforms.

Ontario PC candidate blasted for ‘slave auction’ in university: Ontario Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Stephen Lecce is under fire from education and anti-racism advocates after revelations that he participated in a “slave auction” and “slave day” with his fraternity at Western University more than 15 years ago.

The mysterious game that has a small New Brunswick town buzzing: Roman Dungarvan, a name borrowed from New Brunswick folklore, is the creator of the Miramichi Mystery Machine, a game in which people follow a series of cryptic, online clues to find real money hidden in secret locations around town. Almost overnight, his horror movie-themed treasure hunts have become wildly popular, drawing large numbers of people to locations across the city.


MORNING MARKETS

Global markets drop: World shares sank to a 1½-year low on Thursday and the U.S. dollar hit its highest in two decades, as fears grew that fast-rising inflation will drive a sharp rise in interest rates that brings the global economy to a standstill. Just after 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 2.33 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 were off 2.31 per cent and 2.45 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed down 1.77 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2.24 per cent. New York futures were negative. The Canadian dollar was trading at 76.69 US cents.


WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT

David Parkinson: “But if the Bank of Canada had ignored the deflationary risks that Mr. Poilievre mocks, the depression that may well have ensued would have resulted in many, many more single moms struggling to make ends meet; many more unemployed workers with empty gas tanks; many more young adults who couldn’t find jobs to pay rent. Today’s high inflation also comes with plentiful jobs, rising wages and the lowest unemployment levels in 50 years.”

Editorial: “It’s best to leave it to companies, but have governments impose a duty of care on them. Private platforms are within their rights to remove content they deem unacceptable or harmful to their business. They can even do likewise with users: see Donald Trump on Twitter – or rather, you can’t see Donald Trump on Twitter. But when governments try to get into this game, they risk overreaching. That is what the Liberals must avoid.”


TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON

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Brian Gable/The Globe and Mail


LIVING BETTER

A five-step plan for dealing with the sad fact that almost every investment is falling lately

Stocks and bonds have been bludgeoned so far this year, both gold and bitcoin are downers lately and the star sectors of last year are getting toasted. But what do you do to protect yourself? Consider following these five modest steps, and then buckle up.


MOMENT IN TIME: MAY 12, 1942

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On the night of May 12, 1942, German submarine (u-boat) U-553 sighted the Dutch freighter Leto, carrying 39 crew and four passengers in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence River.Allen Collection

Two vessels sink after U-boat attack off the Gaspé coast

During the early hours of this day in 1942, two steamers sank in the St. Lawrence River after being attacked by German naval submarine U-553. Commander Karl Thurmann first torpedoed SS Nicoya, an unescorted British freighter, before midnight on May 11, but it did not initially sink. It took 19 minutes to administer the final torpedo and 81 of the 87 people aboard survived. Several hours later, Thurmann drowned another unescorted freighter, the Dutch steamer SS Leto, in 12 minutes with one torpedo. Leto, shown above, had 43 people aboard, of whom 12 were killed; many of the survivors couldn’t access a life raft, so they were rescued from the water. Other survivors from both freighters made it to the Gaspé villages of Cloridorme and L’Anse-à-Valleau where residents took them in and fishermen searched the waters for more victims. At the nearby Fort Ramsay naval base, Lieutenant Paul Belanger launched a boat to join the rescue effort. These attacks marked the beginning of the Battle of the St. Lawrence, an extension of Germany’s efforts to disrupt shipping between North America and Britain during the Second World War. According to veterans’ archives, U-553 also attacked freighters Dutch Mass and Titus that same night but they remained afloat. Mahdis Habibinia


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