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Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chrystia Freeland, centre, poses for a photo with Japan's Foreign Affairs Minister, Taro Kono, left, Secretary of State of the United States, Rex Tillerson, second from right, and Korea's Foreign Affairs Minister Kang Kyung-wha, right, along with other Ministers during a meeting on the Security and Stability on the Korean Peninsula in Vancouver, B.C., Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan HaywardThe Canadian Press

Good evening,

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Tillerson calls for enforcement of UN sanctions to compel North Korea into denuclearization

The summit on North Korea in Vancouver began Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calling for rigorous enforcement of UN sanctions to compel North Korea to end its nuclear and ballistic weapons programs. "We must increase the cost of the regime's behaviour to the point that North Korea comes to the table for credible negotiations," he said. "The object of negotiations, if and when we get there, is complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea." The one-day summit, co-hosted by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, is examining how the West can stop North Korea from using money laundering and smuggling to skirt UN sanctions.

The proposal of tougher sanctions is concerning to some aid workers. Thomas Fisler, who spent four years living and working in North Korea, says sanctions aren't hurting business, but instead threaten humanitarian work.

Canadian researchers test new stem-cell therapy for diabetes

Researchers at the University of British Columbia announced that a Vancouver man is set to become the first Canadian to receive an experimental stem-cell therapy. The treatment aims to restore the human body's ability to produce insulin. The technology comes from a San Diego biotechnology company and is being tested in the U.S. and Canada. Patients who participate in the experimental therapy are implanted with stem cells and will be monitored by researchers over the next two years. (for subscribers)

Carillion's Canadian operations 'continue uninterrupted' amid British parent's liquidation

Carillion Canada, the subsidiary of a British company that filed for liquidation earlier this week, says that it will continue to operate as normal. Around 6,000 people are employed by Carillion's Canadian operations across the country in projects that range from the energy to transportation sectors. Carillion Canada has also worked on health-care projects in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Nunavut. The British government is heavily affected by the company, which held 450 state contracts, but says that it won't be bailing out the company. Carillion PLC had amassed a debt of £1.5-billion ($2.57-billion) and its liquidation has called into question the future of more than 40,000 jobs across the world.

China admits to having agents in Canada as former judge harassed in Toronto

For more than 15 years, the Chinese government has provoked anger in Canada, Australia, the United States and elsewhere for sneaking security agents abroad on tourist and business visas to strong-arm suspects. Now, Chinese authorities acknowledge they are pressing others to do that work for them, sending non-state actors to apply pressure overseas. As Nathan Vanderklippe writes, Xie Weidong, a former Chinese judge now living in Toronto, has been the target of a lengthy campaign by authorities in China who want him to return home as part of a corruption investigation.

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MARKET WATCH

Canada's main stock index fell on Tuesday as a drop in commodity prices weighed on the shares of materials and energy companies. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index fell 0.45 per cent to close at 16,928.88. Meanwhile, Wall Street paused its rally on Tuesday, weighed down by weakness in General Electric shares and as lower oil prices dragged down the energy sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.04 per cent to end at 25,792.86, the S&P 500 lost 0.35 per cent to finish at 2,776.42 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.51 per cent to close at 7,223.69.

WHAT'S TRENDING

Ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir will carry Canada's flag into the opening ceremony at next month's Winter Games in South Korea. Virtue, 28, and Moir, 30, made their Olympic debut eight years ago on home ice in Vancouver, where they captured a gold medal and became household names. The duo says they will retire after the Games in Pyeongchang.

TALKING POINTS

Pence is barely visible – and that's just the way he wants it

"Every time President Donald Trump shames the office, which is often, the whispers grow a little louder. 'Mike Pence is sitting pretty.' Who can doubt it? The chances of the ultra-religious, arch-conservative from Indiana having the presidency tumble into his lap before 2020 get better by the week. That being the case, the Vice-President deserves a lot of scrutiny. But he isn't getting it." — Lawrence Martin

Why Trump continues to dodge impeachment

"It seems that, for better or worse, Donald Trump is unimpeachable. This is not just because a Republican Congress is so unlikely to impeach a Republican President. It is also because of the constitutional stipulation that the only impeachable offences are "high crimes and misdemeanours." Admittedly, this very phrase has always puzzled us laymen. The terms seem so oddly paired." — Clifford Orwin

Leslie Lester is so much more than 'wife of' Albert Schultz

"Ms. Lester has made a huge contribution to theatre as a catalyst, fundraiser, mentor and a visionary in her own right, not just a plus-one. Now she is dealing with professional, personal and financial devastation. I have no wish to join the #MeToo backlash; I have shared my own story of workplace harassment in Maclean's four years ago. I just find it heartbreaking that a movement to support and protect women has caused so much unnecessary pain to one of us in its wake." — Marni Jackson

LIVING BETTER

Ear, nose and throat doctors are advising against trying to stifle sneezes, because such suppression can, in rare cases, lead to injuries. In one serious case detailed in a medical journal Monday, a 34-year-old man ruptured his throat after pinching his nose and clamping his mouth shut to contain a forceful sneeze. The post-sneeze trauma left the man in pain and barely able to speak or swallow. Impeding the release of air from the nose and mouth during a sneeze could rapidly increase the pressure in the lungs, forcing the air out and trapping it in the chest between the lungs.

LONG READS FOR A LONG COMMUTE

Too soon? Why we harshly judge the widowed when they find new love

A year after comedian Patton Oswalt's wife passed away, he was engaged again. None of this went over particularly well with the critical public. Mourning a spouse while simultaneously falling in love again is fraught territory. There's a sense that certain time frames qualify as "too soon" – as if an appropriate grieving period has been universally demarcated. When it's "too soon," widows and widowers are accused of erasing old partners and of performing a fraudulent grief. It is criticism the widowed are particularly attuned to: Just how long is long enough before you're allowed to look outward again?

Parents aim to force Pickering, Ont., school to accommodate skin condition

Maxwell, 6, and Malia, 4, have a rare genetic skin condition called epidermolysis bullosa that results in huge blisters and open wounds, primarily on their feet, hands, knees, elbows and shins. Heat and humidity make for more friction, which tears away at their fragile skin. Last September's extreme heat was horrible for them at school, worsening their conditions and requiring daily salt bathes to ward off infection. So the family is heading to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal next month in a bid to force the Durham District School Board to install air conditioning. As Meredith MacLeod reports, teachers and staff are terrific at treating the kids' condition, but the couple doesn't understand why their children's disability isn't being accommodated like others.

Evening Update is written by Kiran Rana, Jordan Chittley, Mayaz Alam and Kristene Quan. 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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