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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Trump lashes out after Mueller report, Democrats demand full release of findings
U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out at unnamed enemies today, a day after his attorney-general released a summary of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s findings clearing the president’s campaign of conspiring with Russia in the 2016 U.S. election.
“There are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad things, I would say treasonous things against our country,” he told White House reporters, without mentioning anyone by name or citing specific actions.
A fierce fight is brewing over how much of Mr. Mueller’s Russia investigation findings should be made public. Democrats are demanding a full release but a lawyer for the president said key information – such as Mr. Trump’s written responses in the inquiry – must be withheld.
For background on this story and the latest developments, check out our explainer.
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Omar Khadr’s sentence has ended, an Alberta judge rules
An Alberta judge has ruled that a war crimes sentence for former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr has expired. An eight-year sentence imposed in 2010 would have ended last October had Mr. Khadr remained in custody, but the clock stopped ticking when he was freed on bail in 2015 pending an appeal in the United States.
Chief Justice Mary Moreau says the Youth Criminal Justice Act gives judges flexibility to consider bail conditions as part of a sentence, and with that in mind, she ruled Mr. Khadr has served his time. The Supreme Court of Canada had already said the punishment handed Mr. Khadr for alleged acts committed in Afghanistan when he was 15 years old was to be a youth sentence.
Apple enters video streaming, taking aim at Netflix and Amazon
Apple attempted to reintroduce itself today as an entertainment and financial services company that also makes iPhones as it launched a television and movie streaming service, a credit card and an online gaming arcade.
The streaming service will include both Apple originals and content from other creators, in a first step to challenge streaming video leaders Netflix and Amazon. Apple has commissioned programming from Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg.
As Apple struggles with saturated markets and sales of its iPhone fall, the company is turning more of its attention to services that provide regular subscription revenue.
Apple also announced its news app will now come in a paid-subscription version, featuring articles from hundreds of magazines.
Second Calgary UCP candidate resigns, says someone is threatening to release past social media comments
Eva Kiryakos, a United Conservative Party candidate running in Calgary, has pulled out of the Alberta election, saying someone outside the party is threatening to release her past social media comments about Muslim refugees and transgender washrooms in schools.
Last week, Calgary UCP candidate Caylan Ford stepped down after publication of a private 2017 Facebook conversation in which she allegedly spoke about the replacement of white people in their homelands and the collapse of western culture.
Keep up-to-date on all the latest regarding the Alberta election campaign here.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Sorry, Canadian tax filers: The Canada Revenue Agency says its online systems have gone down, affecting both “My Account” and “My Business Account” log-in pages, and the CRA isn’t saying when they will be back.
Stormy Daniels’s former lawyer arrested: Michael Avenatti, a lawyer best known for representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in a lawsuit against U.S. President Donald Trump, has been arrested and charged with extortion and bank and wire fraud. He is accused of threatening to use his ability to get publicity to harm Nike.
Record donation to U of T: Billionaire investor Gerald Schwartz and Indigo CEO Heather Reisman announced that they will donate $100-million to the University of Toronto – the largest in its history – for the construction of a new centre for innovation and entrepreneurship as well as an institute that will study the impact of emerging technologies on society.
Family’s Nazi ties: One of Germany’s richest families, whose company owns a controlling interest in Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Panera Bread and Keurig among other businesses, plans to donate millions to charity after learning about their ancestors’ enthusiastic support of Adolf Hitler and use of forced labourers under the Nazis, a German newspaper reports.
Norwegian cruise ship probe: Norwegian officials have opened an investigation into why a cruise ship carrying more than 1,370 people, including 15 Canadians, set sail along the country’s often wild western coast despite storm warnings, forcing a major evacuation by helicopter.
MARKET WATCH
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 ended a choppy session slightly lower today as worries about a slowdown in global economic growth lingered and as Apple Inc. shares fell after the company unveiled its video streaming service. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 14.51 points to 25,516.83, the S&P 500 lost 2.35 points to close at 2,798.36 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 5.13 points to 7,637.54.
In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index dipped 23.47 points to 16,065.86, pulled lower by a drop in the energy sector.
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TALKING POINTS
Canada risks losing face globally if it cuts SNC-Lavalin a deal
“Trudeau insists that he and his officials are working to save thousands of Canadian jobs. But that is only one of many factors to consider. The political circus playing out in Ottawa has also cemented Canada’s international reputation for being lax on bribery and corruption, and that will have consequences for a slew of Canadian companies seeking growth in foreign markets.” - Rita Trichur (for subscribers)
In leaving Europe, the U.K. has lost Scotland
“With indifference from below, condescension from above and alienation all around, Scottish independence is increasingly attractive – and likely.” - Ted Fraser, Canadian journalist living in Edinburgh
After deaths at U of T and Concordia, the silence about suicide on campus has to end
“Traditionally, the response to the suicide of a student on a college or university campus has been to hush it up, to release as little information as possible and act like every death is an isolated incident. Students, to their credit, are saying loud and clear that this silence is no longer acceptable.” - André Picard (for subscribers)
Doug Ford’s repeal of the Far North Act won’t gain the respect of Indigenous communities
“Indigenous peoples should be able to exercise their inherent jurisdiction to make planning, permitting and approval decisions on their territories themselves, based on the authority that comes from knowing the land.” - Dayna Scott, York University Research Chair in Environmental Law & Justice in the Green Economy
I love my wife, but envy her successful career. How do I deal with my jealousy?
“In my view, you’re looking at it all from the wrong angle. You should be proud of her. Celebrate her career success. The best couples are a team, and if your wife brings strength to the team: awesome. Why not use her as inspiration to pull your own self up by the bootstraps?” - David Eddie
LIVING BETTER
Yet another study is calling into question just how many eggs we should – or should not – eat. A large study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found that a higher intake of eggs and dietary cholesterol significantly increased the risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death. The new findings come not long after the U.S. government removed the daily cholesterol limit of 300 mg from its dietary guidelines, stating cholesterol is no longer a “nutrient of concern for overconsumption.” The consensus among scientists: Cholesterol in food has little effect on the amount of cholesterol in the bloodstream. In the face of this contradictory information, Leslie Beck writes, here’s what you need to know about the latest research.
LONG READS FOR A LONG COMMUTE
Monique Bégin’s memoirs Ladies, Upstairs! recounts the trailblazing outsider’s life in politics and beyond
Erik Christensen/The Globe and Mail
Monique Bégin was heading into the House of Commons to take her seat for the first time when a guard tried to stop her. It was 1973, and Ms. Bégin was part of a pioneering group of women from Quebec who had just been elected to federal office. She was surging toward the House in a crush of other MPs when a security commissioner yelled at her to head up to the public galleries – the assumption being that, as a woman, she could be an observer, not a participant in Parliament. “Ladies, upstairs!” he shouted. Ms. Bégin uses the guard’s words as the title of her recently published memoirs. They serve as a reminder of the kinds of obstacles and casual sexism that faced the trailblazing women of Canadian politics.
Ms. Bégin, of course, wasn’t relegated to the spectator seats of power. She eventually took her place in the front benches of government, first as Minister of National Revenue and then Health and Welfare under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. She oversaw boosts to the seniors’ supplement, the child tax credit and passage of the Canada Health Act. Along the way, she endured the kinds of remarks – one Conservative MP called her “that disgusting woman” – that came with wielding power in a male-dominated world. “Political life can be brutal, destructive, betraying, and alienating,” she writes. “I find myself blessed to have left it unscathed and personally enriched.”
Inevitably, the book serves to take the measure of how far women have come in Canadian public life. Ms. Bégin was a woman in politics four decades before #MeToo, before gender-balanced cabinets, before the day a male prime minister would call himself a feminist. Have women made it? Not by a long shot, according to Ms. Bégin. Globe subscribers, read Ingrid Peritz’s interview with Ms. Bégin here.
With the closings of malls, bowling alleys and the like, where do we go for a nostalgic space?
Sometimes the simplest thing can quell what ails us. Ask any wellness aficionado and they’ll tell you that grounding – the act of putting your bare feet in grass – can help to “nourish your soul” by connecting you with the Earth’s energy. It’s deemed essential in today’s hectic climate because the act can make you feel calmer (or at least less irritated), kind of like applying a soothing balm to something that’s internally aching.
It might sound like New Age hooey, but the feel-good factor of immersion in a particular space is indeed real, and you don’t have to look further than the idea of nostalgia for proof. It’s likely not the Earth’s energy you’re feeling when you’re barefoot – it’s that you’re remembering a lazy summer day that brought you much joy. That cozy pang you feel upon experiencing a space, personal or public, that holds special significance in your life story is irreplaceable and unique.
Perhaps it’s where you had your first kiss, or maybe it’s where more run-of-the-mill experiences, such as after-school activities or errand-running with a beloved parent, occurred. These spots hold the key not only to memories, but what those memories conjure – sensations of safety, comfort, camaraderie and connection to those you held near and dear – and they’re feelings that are sorely needed as we navigate through the seemingly endless “Sunday scaries” scenario our daily lives have become. Read Odessa Paloma Parker’s full story here.
Empty bowling alleybukko/iStockPhoto / Getty Images
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