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Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:

The latest from Ukraine

The most devastating siege of Russia’s war in Ukraine appears to be an an end as more than 250 Ukrainian fighters surrendered to Russian forces at Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks. Buses were spotted leaving the steelworks, where defenders had held out in a complex of bunkers and tunnels, in a convoy escorted by Russian armoured vehicles. And seven buses carrying Ukrainian fighters from the Azovstal garrison were subsequently seen arriving at a former penal colony in the Russian-controlled town of Olenivka near Donetsk.

The full capture of Mariupol is Russia’s biggest victory since its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine and gives Moscow total control of the Sea of Azov coast and an unbroken stretch of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of the key country on NATO’s southeastern flank, reiterated yesterday that Turkey would not approve Sweden’s and Finland’s membership in NATO – a momentous enlargement triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – and told the two countries’ delegates not to visit Ankara to convince him to change his mind. But security analysts say Erdogan was almost certainly using his veto threat to seek concessions and to attract attention to Turkey’s role in NATO. “It’s a negotiation,” says Christopher Skaluba, director of the Atlantic Council’s TransAtlantic Security Initiative. “Turkey wants everyone to know that they matter a lot.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department announced the launch of a new program to capture and analyze evidence of war crimes and other atrocities allegedly perpetrated by Russia in Ukraine. The State Department said the so-called Conflict Observatory will encompass the documentation, verification and dissemination of open-source evidence of Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Reports and analyses will be made available through the Conflict Observatory’s website.

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Canadian online searches grow for far-right and white supremacy content

Online searches for “The Great Replacement” – a conspiracy theory apparently followed by the white man charged with killing 10 people in a Black neighbourhood grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y. – have surged in Canada in the past year, according to a recent report presented to the federal government’s public safety committee.

And an online survey by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies shows that over half of Canadians under age 35 come across racist or prejudiced remarks about immigrants on the internet.

Royal tour commences with stop in Newfoundland

Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, have arrived in St. John’s to begin a three-day Canadian tour that includes stops in Ottawa and the Northwest Territories. The royal couple’s itinerary includes participation in a reconciliation prayer with Indigenous leaders at the Heart Garden, which was built to honour Indigenous children who attended the province’s residential schools.

ALSO ON OUR RADAR

How to hold employers accountable to Canada’s pay equity act

Ottawa’s Pay Equity Act came into effect last summer, and requires that public and private federally regulated employers with 10 employees or more develop plans to address gender-based pay inequities by September, 2024. But unions and workers themselves may need to make sure employers keep up with deadlines and stay on top of their obligations.

Jason Kenney says Canada could boost oil export to U.S., calls for major new pipeline at U.S. Senate

Canada could add over a million barrels per day of oil export capacity to the United States over the next two years, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney told a U.S. Senate committee earlier today. He urged Senators to consider building a major new cross-border oil pipeline that would help ensure U.S. energy security.

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis was avoidable, until it wasn’t. Will its political crisis be the same?

A perfect storm of crises – bad luck combined with staggering mismanagement by the government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa – has brought Sri Lanka to the brink. The country is in the midst of an economic collapse, with billions of dollars owed to foreign lenders and shortages of everything from food to fertilizer. Fuel has all but run out, and the currency is heading into free fall.

U.S. to ease a few economic sanctions against Venezuela in bid to encourage resumed talks

Washington is moving to ease some economic sanctions on Venezuela in a gesture meant to encourage resumed negotiations between the U.S.-backed opposition and the government of President Nicolas Maduro. The changes will allow Chevron Corp. to negotiate its licence with the state-owned oil company but not to drill or export any petroleum of Venezuelan origin.

MARKET WATCH

Wall Street finished sharply higher on Tuesday, lifted by Apple, Tesla and other megacap growth stocks after strong retail sales in April eased worries about slowing economic growth. The TSX also posted strong gains.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index rose 1.4 per cent to settle at 20,491.01. The S&P 500 climbed 2.02 per cent to end the session at 4,088.85 points. The Nasdaq gained 2.76 per cent to 11,984.52 points, while Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.34 per cent to 32,654.59 points.

The Canadian dollar traded at 78 cents U.S., up from 77.59 cents yesterday.

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TALKING POINTS

The danger Pierre Poilievre’s corrosive campaign poses to Canada

Gary Mason: “Every day he seems to find a new low, accusing the Prime Minister of sinister things that the so-called ‘freedom convoy’ folks lap up like mindless fools.”

Tucker Carlson didn’t shoot anyone, but he’s monetizing white panic

John Doyle: “Carlson is only the latest in a long list of demagogues in the United States who incite hate based on fear of non-white ethnicities.”

Canada’s World Cup friendly match against Iran is an insult to the victims of PS752

Hamed Esmaeilion: “If our country is as serious as it claims about justice and holding countries to account for crimes against Canadians, the game must be called off.” Hamed Esmaeilion is the chief spokesperson for the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims.

LIVING BETTER

Want to be prepared for life after work? Consider hiring a retirement coach

Deciding how to spend your retirement can be a challenge. Many fear losing their identity, daily structure and purpose. It can be frightening and overwhelming, which is why many Canadians – those approaching retirement, or freshly retired – turn to retirement coaches for help with the lifestyle shift, guiding them as they consider their current situation and what values and activities they want to carry into this new stage of life.

TODAY’S LONG READ

Key idea of Ottawa’s Block 2 winning design is diversity

Alex Bozikovic reports on a rare victory for architecture as the winning design was announced for so-called “Block 2,” a complex of two office buildings on Ottawa’s Wellington Street.

With a structure of mass timber, the winning design, led by David Chipperfield Architects (DCA) of London and Toronto’s Zeidler Architects, will provide committee rooms, support space and 150 offices for parliamentarians. But the project also promises to deliver the most interesting and thoughtful public architecture Canada has seen in a generation.

Evening Update is written and compiled by Andrew Saikali. 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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