Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
China is lashing out at Canada once again, this time over measures taken by Ottawa last week in response to a new national-security law imposed on Hong Kong. On Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, “China condemns that and reserves the right to make further responses. All consequences shall be borne by the Canadian side.”
But as The Globe’s Nathan VanderkKlippe reports‚ the threats and insults the country’s foreign ministry has made in recent months have come with such frequency that it’s difficult to tell which are real.
The law, signed into effect last week by President Xi Jinping, gives Chinese central authorities sweeping new powers over Hong Kong. (Hong Kong today released additional details of the law’s reach, which include the power to stop people from leaving the city.)
Meanwhile, an outspoken Chinese scholar was arrested today by Beijing police, an outcome he predicted months ago. Xu Zhangrun, a legal scholar at Tsinghua University, is the author of a series of essays questioning China’s direction under President Xi Jinping – some of the most trenchant domestic criticism of his leadership in years.
Prof. Xu’s arrest less than a week after the imposition of the new law in Hong Kong has only served to elevate concern among that city’s scholars. The government’s message is clear, says Shanghai-born artist Badiucao: “No matter where you are – mainlander or Hong Konger – no matter who you are – famous academic or civilian – we will arrest you and destroy your reputation.”
Read more: Opinion: A move toward ‘one country, one system’: China’s national security law is about strengthening control over Hong Kong, writes Frank Ching.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Rideau Hall intruder threatened the Prime Minister, RCMP alleges: Newly released court documents allege that Canadian Forces member Corey Hurren was armed with two shotguns, a rifle and a revolver, and threatened Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the July 2 incident in which he rammed a truck through a gate at Rideau Hall. Aside from 21 charges related to the weapons, Hurren is accused of threatening to cause death or bodily harm to the prime minister.
Amy Cooper arrested in Central Park incident: A white woman walking her dog who called the police during a videotaped dispute with a Black man in Central Park was charged Monday with filing a false report. Cooper, who claimed that she felt threatened when the man asked her to leash her dog, will appear in court in October. The case ignited a firestorm over white privilege and the police treatment of Black people.
Ontario to end academic streaming for Grade 9 students: The province will no longer ask students to chose between the applied or academic stream when they start high school, a practice that has come under fire for being discriminatory. Ontario was one of few places in Canada that separated students into the hands-on applied stream and the postsecondary track academic stream as they start high school.
Coronavirus deaths surge past 130,000 in U.S.: A Reuters tally shows virus infections are on the rise in 39 states, with 16 states posting record daily case counts in July. The surge has prompted many local leaders to slow or roll back economic reopenings despite President Donald Trump’s insistence that the epidemic is being handled. During a speech at the White House on Saturday, Trump asserted without providing evidence that 99 per cent of U.S. coronavirus cases were “totally harmless.”
Trudeau opts out of USMCA celebration: The Prime Minister says he’s too busy with a House of Commons sitting to join U.S. President Donald Trump and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to celebrate the renegotiated NAFTA agreement. Trudeau’s move to skip the gathering comes as the United States threatens to hit Canada with tariffs on aluminum shipments – a matter casting a cloud over Canada-U.S. relations right now.
Bob Rae’s new job: Bob Rae has been tapped to become Canada’s new ambassador to the United Nations. The appointment, announced Monday, comes only weeks after Canada lost its bid for a temporary seat on the UN Security Council and adds to the growing list of roles and positions that the 71-year-old Rae has held under the Trudeau government.
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MARKET WATCH
TSX trails badly as Nasdaq zooms to record high, Dow gains 459 points
U.S. stocks rose sharply on Monday as a rebound in U.S. services industry activity in June boosted optimism, helping investors look past a surge in new coronavirus cases in the United States. While the Nasdaq rallied to a record high and the S&P 500 gained 1.59%, Canada’s TSX rose only 0.45%, driven by gains in the materials, industrial and financial sectors.
Investors also bet on an improving Chinese economy and its impact on the global growth as the yuan led commodity currencies higher against the dollar. Earlier, Chinese stocks jumped more than 5%.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended the session up 72.92 points at 15,670.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 459.47 points, or 1.78%, to 26,286.83, the S&P 500 gained 49.66 points, or 1.59%, to 3,179.67 and the Nasdaq Composite added 226.02 points, or 2.21%, to 10,433.65.
Looking for investing ideas? Check out The Globe’s weekly digest of the latest insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and what investors need to know for the week ahead. This week’s edition includes blue-chip dividend strategy, overlooked income stocks and rest of 2020 market predictions.
TALKING POINTS
Police can respond with bullets or patience - one is clearly better
André Picard: “In their training, police are taught to respond to threatening individuals by drawing their weapons and yelling commands. They are supposed to exert authority and establish control to end situations quickly. That works well in TV police dramas, but real life is a little more complicated.”
COVID-19 could change the way we feed Canadians
Lori Nikkel: “We should strive for a system in which [food] surplus is matched with unmet demand. We now have some tools in place to allow people the dignity of purchasing the food they need. We can continue to divert surplus food away from landfills and use it to feed people, as we work toward a day when there are fewer people who need help accessing food. The pandemic has shown us that alternatives to our old, wasteful ways are possible.”
How the COVID-19 pandemic may accelerate job transformation
Linda Nazareth: “There is a big difference between transforming the jobs of 40 per cent of the population and eliminating 40 per cent of jobs. As we remake the economy for the postpandemic era, the trick for workers will be to make sure that they are part of the transformation rather than victims of it.”
LIVING BETTER
This year’s travel buzzword: staycation
Eager to get away but stay safe? The pandemic has spurred a new trend in summer getaways this year, with tourism companies offering up a range of low-key excursions for the holidays. City dwellers can enjoy the five-star luxury of Fairmont Hotels, now open in Victoria, Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa. Those who want to embrace the wild can make reservations at KAO campgrounds across Canada and select services and camping at Parks Canada locations.
TODAY’S LONG READ
‘I was scared to death of him’: How red flags were raised over the Nova Scotia killer before April’s massacre
He seemed like a friendly and successful businessman to some, but Dartmouth denturist Gabriel Wortman could also be violent and vindictive – as Canadians would discover when he launched a deadly 13-hour rampage this spring. Globe reporter Greg Mercer spoke with dozens of people to paint a tragic picture of Wortman’s path to violence:
“In June of 2010, an extraordinary reunion was organized in the tiny beachside community of Portapique, N.S., where two brothers who had spent 40 years as strangers would finally meet.
Gabriel Wortman, a denturist from Dartmouth, had invited Jeff Samuelson, his younger brother who had been given up for adoption as an infant in 1970, to his Nova Scotia cottage to get to know his biological family.
The occasion was a birthday party for their father, Paul Wortman, a man Mr. Samuelson had met only a few months earlier after spending years trying to track down his birth parents.
But instead of a feel-good gathering, and the beginning of a new relationship, the Portapique reunion quickly dissolved into an ugly fight between Mr. Wortman and his elderly father over title to a property, according to a number of people at the party. Police were called after the denturist threatened to kill his parents.
“It was nasty,” said Brenda Forbes, a former neighbour.” Read the full investigation.
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