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evening update newsletter

Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland delivers a speech in the House of Commons, on June 6, 2017.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

Good evening,
 

This is the daily Evening Update newsletter, a roundup of the important stories of the day and what everyone is talking about, which will be delivered to your inbox every weekday around 5 p.m ET. If you're reading this online, or if someone forwarded this e-mail to you, you can sign up for Evening Update and all Globe newsletters here. As we continue to grow the newsletter over the coming months we'd love to hear your feedback. Let us know what you think.
 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
 

North Korea's nuclear program poses 'grave threat' to world: Freeland
 

Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says North Korea's nuclear program poses a "grave threat to the world." Freeland said Canada stands by its allies, including the United States. "When they are threatened, we are there," she said. Freeland added that she was pleased with China's recent vote in support of sanctions against North Korea. Her comments come as Donald Trump keeps up his heated rhetoric: "Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely," he tweeted today.

China mulls loyalties amid tensions
 

Besides its sanctions vote, China appears to be laying out a more specific stance should a should war break out between North Korea and the United States. Beijing won't come to North Korea's aid if it fires first, Chinese newspaper Global Times wrote in an editorial today. But if the United States and South Korea take joint action against North Korea, "China will prevent them from doing so."

'You feel like a dog': Solitary inmates get cramped exercise pens

Canada's prison ombudsman says the the use of cramped exercise pens is "outrageous." Ivan Zinger said he was surprised to see the cages, each no larger than a prison cell, during a tour of the maximum-security Edmonton Institution. "You feel like a dog," said Lawrence DaSilva, who spent time in them at the Edmonton prison in 2010. "That's why it's called a kennel cage." Zinger said the use of the pens goes against Corrections Canada's outward commitment to change its solitary policies.

Two members of B.C. polygamous sect sentenced to jail in child bride case

Two members from the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C., have been sentenced to jail terms. Brandon Blackmore will serve a year in jail, while his ex-wife Gail Blackmore was sentenced to seven months. The two were found guilty in February for taking a 13-year-old girl to the United States to marry Warren Jeffs, the since-imprisoned leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

MARKET WATCH
 

Canada's main stock index ended lower on Friday, led down by financial stocks and falling shares of Telus Corp. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index was down 0.27 per cent at 15,033.38. Oil prices rose slightly on lower U.S. crude stocks, growing global demand and unrest at a Shell oil facility in Nigeria.

Why women (especially) should delay taking CPP
 

"Despite the evidence, few people actually do it. Why is the idea so unpopular?" – Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald
 

WHAT'S TRENDING
 

Denis Shapovalov is making history at the Rogers Cup
 

He's only 18, but yesterday Canada's Denis Shapovalov beat world No. 2 Rafael Nadal at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. The win makes Shapovalov the youngest player to reach the quarter-finals in a Masters series. The Richmond Hill, Ont., teen will face off against France's Adrian Mannarino tonight – the same man who eliminated Canadian Milos Raonic earlier in the tournament.

WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT
 

The White House rock band needs some new tunes
 

"Everything about Donald Trump's administration has been less "steady hand at the tiller of a great country" and more "newly formed garage band." From the non-stop bombastic declarations of unique and immortal greatness to the ever-changing lineup, it's all very White-House-as-epic-rehearsal-space in those parts – though actual output suggests they mostly just smoke weed in there and rehearse their acceptance speeches for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame until everyone gets superparanoid that Jeff Sessions is narcing on them and then they make themselves look busy justifying voter suppression." – Tabatha Southey
 

Nerdy guy writes memo; world has nervous breakdown
 

"The [Google] memo did not argue that women aren't biologically suited for tech jobs. Instead, it argued that gender bias is not the only, or even the main reason, why men predominate. Differences in preferences and aptitudes also play a role. Broadly speaking, more women are attracted to work involving people, and more men are attracted to work with objects and systems. In the world of neuroscience and evolutionary biology, there's nothing controversial about this statement. It's like saying that men, broadly speaking, are taller than women. " – Margaret Wente
 

We have a duty to stop Venezuela's nightmare
 

"We know from past experience that no act is too depraved for a desperate regime. At a minimum, Venezuela's slow-motion coup d'état warrants commissions of inquiry in the spirit of the Russell International War Crimes Tribunal, and greater interest from the Western media – not the embarrassed silence with which the international community has responded so far." – Bernard-Henri Lévy
 

LIVING BETTER
 

There's more to your body odour than you think. A person's scent has the potential to convey everything to your age, to your emotional state, according to research by one doctor. Yes, that means there's such a thing as happy sweat. Meanwhile, another researcher is experimenting with underarm microbial transplants. The armpits of those with strong odours are cleaned thoroughly, and then bacteria is applied from donors who don't have a noticeable scent. The results, according to Dr. Chris Callewaert, appear to be promising.

LONG READS FOR THE WEEKEND
 

The Shannon: A short story about the Escuminac disaster – one of New Brunswick's worst fishing accidents
 

Thirty-five men and boys were lost the night of the Escuminac disaster, June 20, 1959. Here, award-winning author David Adams Richards tells a fictional story about that very real event: "There was no thought of the storm when they went out, from the timbered wharf, starting the Shannon's engine, an old Chevy that he and his father had refit, putting new rings and gaskets in, an engine his father had bought secondhand from the Lorrie Jane – therefore, as the older brother said, had seen much of the bay's salt water wash over it already, across the gunnels in a spray."

War hero, spy and fugitive Jewish German: A man's search for his father's past
 

Marc Stevens knew that his father, Peter, served in the Royal Air Force in the Second World War. He was also told his father was born in Germany but was adopted by an English couple. But after his father's death in 1979, Marc discovered there was much more to the story: Peter was born a German Jew, his mother sending him and his siblings to London for school when Hitler rose to power. As an adult, Peter went on to become a war hero and a spy in post-war Germany. Now, Marc is reclaiming his family's German citizenship: "This is the one thing stolen from my family that I am able to recover," he said.

Evening Update is written by Arik Ligeti and Omair Quadri. 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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