Injured people are treated in Barcelona, Spain, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017 after a white van jumped the sidewalk in the historic Las Ramblas district, crashing into a summer crowd of residents and tourists and injuring several people, police said. (AP Photo/Oriol Duran)The Associated Press
TOP STORIES
Spain mounts anti-terror operation after van drives into crowd in Barcelona
At least five terror suspects were shot and killed in an alleged terrorist attack in the town of Cambrils, south of Barcelona, early this morning. Friday's attack follows a deadly incident yesterday, in which at least 14 people were killed and more than 100 injured when a van rammed into a crowd of pedestrians in Barcelona's busy Las Ramblas district. The Islamic State's Amaq news agency made an unverified claim that the attackers were "soldiers of the Islamic State." A minute of silence will be held in Barcelona at midday today. Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau said the city is "brave and united" and terror "will never change that."
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Asylum seekers at Quebec border nearly quadrupled in July
A surge of asylum seekers crossing the border into Quebec is causing the Canadian government to scramble to accommodate the new arrivals. A new migrant shelter is opening in Ontario and police and civilian reinforcements are being pulled in from across the country to handle the accelerating numbers of asylum seekers. As makeshift camps filled with rows of army tents spring up along the border, the federal government said the situation has not grown out of control. "There is no crisis here," said Transport Minister Marc Garneau. "It is an extraordinary situation that is extremely well-managed."
U.S. NAFTA demands on auto rules of origin could backfire, experts say
U.S. representatives kicked off the NAFTA renegotiations on Wednesday with demands for a deal that would include stronger rules of origin and a minimum amount of U.S. content in North American-built vehicles. But auto-industry officials and trade experts are saying those demands could backfire. The stricter new rules could cause auto makers and parts companies to shift production to countries outside NAFTA. Auto makers and parts suppliers could decide not to comply with rules that allow them to ship duty-free within NAFTA and instead subject themselves to the 2.5-per-cent tariff the United States levies on vehicles and parts imported from non-NAFTA countries.
Yazidi boy held captive in Iraq reunited with mom in Winnipeg
After three years in captivity, a 12-year old boy was reunited with his mother on Thursday. Emad Mishko Tamo was held captive in the Iraqi city of Mosul up until a few weeks ago. His mother, Nofa Mihlo Zaghla has been living in Winnipeg as a refugee and did not know her son was alive until a relative recognized his photo on social media. Zaghla, her husband and their six children were living peacefully in Iraq until the Islamic State attacked their village in the summer of 2014. As they were forced to move from place to place, the family became separated.
MORNING MARKETS
Global stocks were set for a second day of losses on Friday after an exodus of U.S. executives from presidential business councils dealt a fresh blow to hopes of tax reform, hammering Wall Street and filtering through to Asia and Europe. Tokyo's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were both down more than 1 per cent at 5:30 a.m. ET. The Shanghai composite was flat. In Europe, the FTSE 100 was down just more than 1 per cent while Germany's Dax was down 0.80 per cent and the Paris CAC was 1.19 per cent lower. New York futures were down. The Canadian dollar was trading at 79.06 cents (U.S.). Oil prices were largely steady.
WHAT EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT
French is still doing fine in Quebec, merci beaucoup
"The French language in Quebec is not in decline. The number of Quebeckers who speak French at home – widely regarded by demographers as the key metric – rose by 0.1 per cent to 87.1 per cent in the five years ending in 2016. Yes, the percentage of mother-tongue French speakers fell slightly relative to 2011 (by 0.6 per cent). But that wasn't because of an increase in English. The so-called 'de souche' population is growing in absolute terms, but just not quickly enough to outpace a falling birth rate and increased immigration." – The Globe and Mail editorial board
Are Nazis as American as apple pie?
"America, with its vibrant democratic institutions, was the leading racist jurisdiction in the world in the early 20th century. An obvious example is the Jim Crow South, where white legislatures passed laws imposing racial segregation and reversing many of the gains of the post-Civil War Reconstruction period. But that is hardly the only example. Those on the far right in Europe also admired America's early-20th-century immigration policies, which were designed to exclude 'undesirable' races. In his manifesto Mein Kampf, Hitler singled out America as 'the one state' that was progressing toward the creation of a healthy race-based order." – James Whitman
How 'bold' will Mélanie Joly's broadcasting policy be?
"The only way to actually expand the Canadian production pie is by providing broadcasters with the freedom to invest in programs with serious export potential – programs meant to be broadcast or streamed on major foreign television networks or digital platforms, and not as filler content for obscure foreign specialty channels, as is now the case for most Canadian shows sold abroad." – Konrad Yakabuski (For subscribers)
CEOs have long avoided politics, but Donald Trump is changing the calculus
"The bar for a chief executive of a public corporation to repudiate a U.S. president is extraordinarily high. Corporate leaders aren't given their power, prestige, responsibility and nine-figure pay packages to use the corner office as their personal soapbox. With President Donald Trump's comments on white supremacists and other right-wing extremists ringing in the ears of the United States' chief executives, that high bar appears to have been passed. This week, what had been a trickle of defections from the White House business advisory councils over issues such as immigration and climate change turned into a torrent." – James B. Stewart
HEALTH PRIMER
Canadian high schools resisting calls for later class start times
A wave of international research suggesting delaying high-school start times would have health and academic benefits for students has not yet crested in Canada. Several individual boards and schools have embraced the growing number of global studies suggesting that early start times are at odds with adolescents' natural sleep patterns and can hamper both their academic progress and mental health. But Canadian authorities have yet to join their international counterparts in recommending later bell times, and researchers are only starting to look at the impact of school hours on Canadian students.
MOMENT IN TIME
Larry Bird hangs up his jersey
August 18, 1992 – Basketball great Larry Bird accomplished a lot in his 13-season career as a small forward. Over his 897 games with the Boston Celtics, Bird was a 12-time NBA all-star, the league's MVP for three consecutive seasons, won two NBA Finals MVP awards and won three championships with the Boston Celtics. But on this day in 1992, the 35-year-old star retired. Soon after, he started a new chapter in his basketball legacy. Bird went on to coach the Indiana Pacers to their best record in team history in the 1997-98 season and was awarded coach of the year. After three years as head coach, he returned to the Pacers in 2003 as president of basketball operations and was named executive of the year for the 2011-12 season, making him the only person in NBA history to win MVP, coach of the year and executive of the year. – Shelby Blackley
Morning Update is written by Eleanor Davidson.
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