Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Ukrainian forces burst through Russian lines in major advance in south
Ukrainian forces achieved their biggest breakthrough yet in the south of the country earlier today, bursting through the front and advancing rapidly along the Dnipro River, threatening supply lines for thousands of Russian troops.
While Kyiv didn’t confirm the gains, Russian sources acknowledged that a Ukrainian tank offensive had advanced dozens of kilometres along the river’s west bank, recapturing a number of villages along the way.
The breakthrough mirrors Ukraine’s recent gains in the east that have turned the tide in the war against Russia, even as Moscow mobilizes, annexes territory and threatens nuclear retaliation.
The Kremlin’s partial mobilization of fresh troops has been chaotic and largely ineffective, according to a senior NATO official, with the number of men fleeing Russia said to be as great or greater than the size of the original invasion force.
NATO intelligence also puts the number of Russians killed in action in the first three months of war alone at 15,000, the same as all the losses during the Soviet Union’s invasion and occupation of Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989.
- Ukraine says it has full control of key city Lyman after Russia’s illegal annexation
- Russia smuggling Ukrainian grain to help pay for Putin’s war, investigation finds
Hockey Canada needs new leadership, treated sexual assault as an ‘insurance problem,’ says minister of sport
Federal Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge has levelled harsh criticism at Hockey Canada, saying the organization treats sexual assault like an insurance problem rather than a systemic issue that needs to be confronted within the organization.
The Minister’s comments came in response to a Globe and Mail investigation that revealed Hockey Canada created a second multimillion-dollar fund, built by player registration fees, to shield its various branches from sexual assault claims.
Revelations of the second fund, known as the Participants Legacy Trust Fund, came after The Globe first reported in July that Hockey Canada used a little-known financial reserve called the National Equity Fund, built through registration fees from players across Canada, to settle a $3.55-million lawsuit filed this year by a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by several members of the 2018 national junior team.
- Trichur: Hockey Canada risks permanently chasing away corporate sponsors with its governance mess
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Britain backs down from controversial tax cut
Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer has backtracked and dropped a controversial tax break for the wealthiest. Kwasi Kwarteng announced today that the Tory government will no longer go ahead with a proposal to drop the top tax rate to 40 per cent from 45 per cent. That measure would have benefited those earning more than £150,000, or $231,000. The tax cut was part of a mini-budget unveiled on Sept. 23, which also included further tax breaks and subsidies for energy bills. But there were few details on how the program would be financed. This raised fears that government borrowing would soar by more than £100-billion.
- Parkinson: British market turmoil signals no tolerance for experimentation right now
- Yakabuski: Liz Truss is no Margaret Thatcher, no matter how much she thinks she is
- Coyne: Liz Truss’s tax-slashing mini-budget may not be as crazy as it seems
Quebeckers head to the polls
It’s election day in Quebec, as voters head to the polls after a five-week provincial election campaign dominated by such issues as immigration, the environment and the rising cost of living. Polls suggest François Legault, Leader of the Coalition Avenir Québec, is poised to cruise to a second majority.
Legault is facing off against a crowded field including the Quebec Liberals, Québec solidaire, the Parti Québécois and the Quebec Conservative Party, all of which have been polling in the teens.
- François Legault’s CAQ makes inroads in unlikely places as Quebec heads to the polls
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Ottawa sanctions 25 Iran officials and morality police after Mahsa Amini death
Canada is sanctioning 25 senior Iranian officials and nine government entities following a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in Iran. Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said that the sanctions are a result of Iran’s “grave and ongoing breaches of international law” and its “blatant disregard for human life.” The sanctions freeze Canadian-held assets and ban the individuals from entering Canada.
Trump eyeing midterm elections to boost support for election-denier candidates
Former U.S. president Donald Trump is banking on next month’s midterms installing 2020 election deniers in positions of power over voting systems in key swing states, raising fears that his acolytes, if they win, could change electoral rules to disadvantage opponents or try to overturn the results of future elections.
Polls show, however, that several of his endorsees trail their Democratic opponents, and some have jettisoned their election fraud rhetoric.
Iran’s supreme leader breaks silence on protests, blames U.S.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned what he called “rioting” and accused the United States and Israel of planning the protests. The unrest, ignited by the death of a young woman in the custody of Iran’s morality police, is flaring up across the country for a third week despite government efforts to crack down.
MARKET WATCH
Wall Street’s three major indexes and the TSX rallied to close over 2% on Monday as U.S. Treasury yields tumbled on weaker-than-expected U.S. manufacturing data, increasing the appeal of stocks at the start of the year’s final quarter.
The S&P/TSX Composite settled at 18,881.19, up 436.97 points or 2.37 per cent, the Canadian benchmark stock index’s biggest percentage gain since April 29, 2020. The Canadian markets also benefited from a nearly US$4 a barrel jump in the price of crude oil.
Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 765.38 points, or 2.66 per cent, to 29,490.89; the S&P 500 gained 92.81 points, or 2.59 per cent, at 3,678.43; and the Nasdaq Composite added 239.82 points, or 2.27 per cent, at 10,815.44.
The Canadian dollar was trading at 73.42 (U.S.), up 1.1 cents or 1.5 per cent.
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TALKING POINTS
The U.K. tax cuts: With one foot on the brakes, it’s foolish to stomp on the gas
Mark Carney: “British spectacles show that, in a rapidly changing world, institutions matter, and partial solutions fail.” Mark Carney is the former governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England.
To the ruling elites, be they secular or religious: Just leave Muslim women alone
Sheema Khan: “Let us live our lives and contribute to society. We have so much to offer, and we want to be part of the greater whole. We are not enemies of the state.” Sheema Khan is the author of Of Hockey and Hijab: Reflections of a Canadian Muslim Woman.
Who caused Canada’s housing shortage? We’re looking at you, city hall
Editorial: “Restrictive rules around what can be built where have long prevented enough construction, particularly in those places where most Canadians want to live and where most jobs are.”
Why populists don’t concede
Jan-Werner Mueller: “Populists purport to be the uniquely authoritative voice of a completely homogeneous people that they themselves have conjured up.” Jan-Werner Mueller, professor of politics at Princeton University, is the author of Democracy Rules.
LIVING BETTER
How to reduce your grocery bill without sacrificing nutrition
Canada’s food inflation rate has soared. Dairy and restaurant meals have seen the largest price hikes, followed by baked goods and vegetables. Canadians are looking for ways to safe money. Surveys show many consumers are buying less food, buying in bulk and using more coupons and loyalty programs. Some are even skipping meals. Food writer Leslie Beck offers some strategies to navigate food inflation without sacrificing nutrition.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Female doctors in Ontario earn 34% less on average, even in fields they dominate
A Globe and Mail analysis of physician billings has shown that female doctors in Ontario made less on average than their male counterparts in 35 medical specialties tracked by the Ministry of Health. This was true even in obstetrics and gynecology, specialties where most practising doctors were women.
The most male-dominated disciplines also paid the best, with male doctors dramatically outnumbering female physicians in all 10 of the most highly remunerated areas of practice.
Meanwhile, female-dominated specialties were both rare and among the least lucrative. Overall, women outnumbered men in only six of the 35 disciplines and half of those female-dominated specialties fell among the 10 lowest paid. The constant was that women made less money.
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.