Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
A shooting at a July Fourth parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park has left at least six people dead and 24 injured, and officers are searching for a suspect who likely fired on the festivities from a rooftop, police said Monday.
Highland Park Police Commander Chris O’Neill, who was dispatched to the scene, urged people to shelter in place as authorities search for the suspect.
Hours after the shooting, with bystanders and media standing nearby, about a dozen officers suddenly dashed for a small office building half a block from where the shooting occurred. It was not immediately clear why the police had entered the building.
This is the daily Evening Update newsletter. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was sent to you as a forward, you can sign up for Evening Update and more than 20 more Globe newsletters here. If you like what you see, please share it with your friends.
Bank of Canada surveys show rising inflation expectations
Canadian consumers and businesses expect inflation to remain high for several years, adding pressure on the Bank of Canada to announce another oversized rate hike next week to prevent rapid consumer price growth from becoming entrenched.
A pair of quarterly surveys published Monday by the central bank show that high inflation is increasingly becoming baked into consumer and business psychology. Short-term inflation expectations among consumers are at a record high, while businesses expect inflation to remain elevated as they grapple with labour shortages, rising wages and expensive input costs, reports The Globe’s Mark Rendell.
The surveys may provide additional impetus for the Bank of Canada to increase its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percentage points at its July 13 rate decision – which would be the biggest increase since 1998. Central bank officials have said that keeping a lid on inflation expectations is their most important near-term task, and that they are prepared to “act more forcefully” if needed.
- Canadians say they’re cutting back on spending amid high inflation. These numbers suggest otherwise
Ukrainian forces take up new positions in the east as Putin proclaims victory in Luhansk
Ukrainian forces were taking up new defensive lines in the east on Monday, preparing for a hard new phase in the war as President Vladimir Putin proclaimed Russia’s victory in the months-long battle of Luhansk.
Russia’s capture of the city of Lysychansk on Sunday brought an end to one of the biggest battles in Europe for generations, which saw Moscow bring the full might of its ground forces to bear on a small pocket of the front line for two months.
The battle completes Russia’s conquest of Luhansk province, one of two regions it has demanded Ukraine cede to separatists in the Donbas region. It is also the closest Moscow has come to achieving one of its stated objectives since its forces were defeated trying to capture Kyiv in March.
Read more:
- As Catherine the Great’s statue in Odesa sees Russian rockets explode, Ukrainians question the imperial past that put her there
- First Ukraine, then Moldova? Fears of conflict take hold in Transnistria
- Opinion: Cancelling Russian culture won’t stop Putin’s war in Ukraine
Chinese-Canadian billionaire Xiao Jianhua due to go on trial in Shanghai
Xiao Jianhua, a Chinese-Canadian billionaire, was due to go on trial on Monday after being allegedly kidnapped by Chinese agents in Hong Kong and taken to mainland China in January, 2017. He has reportedly been under house arrest there for the past five years.
The court in Shanghai did not publicize Xiao’s case, and when The Globe phoned to inquire, staff demanded to be provided with the name of the judge in charge before they would divulge any information. A reporter who visited the court could not find any evidence of the trial taking place.
It is understood that prosecutors planned to charge Xiao, worth an estimated $4.5-billion at the time of his disappearance, with illegally collecting deposits. The Wall Street Journal said this charge has previously been “levelled against individuals accused of selling real estate or raising funds for investment from regular people under false pretenses or without the proper licences.”
If charged with that offence, Xiao could face a sentence of five years or more in prison, though it is unclear whether or how his years of house arrest would be taken into account.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Pope not stepping down soon: Pope Francis has dismissed reports that he plans to resign in the near future, saying he is on track to visit Canada this month and hopes to be able to go to Moscow and Kyiv as soon as possible after that.
Motive likely not terror-related in deadly Danish mall shooting, police say: A 22-year-old gunman who killed three people when he opened fire in a crowded shopping mall acted alone and apparently selected his victims at random, Danish police said Monday, all but ruling out that it was terrorism-related attack.
Al-Jazeera journalist was likely killed by unintentional gunfire, U.S. says: Shireen Abu Akleh was likely killed by gunfire from Israeli positions, but there is “no reason to believe” her shooting was intentional, U.S. officials concluded.
Convenience stores push to sell beer in Ontario: Premier Doug Ford is facing calls from convenience stores to fulfill his shelved promise to allow them to sell beer, a pledge derailed after the government was warned the move could cost it $1-billion in penalties to renege on a deal signed with the Beer Store.
MARKET WATCH
Canada’s main stock index rose on Monday, led by energy shares, as investors returned from a long weekend to buy riskier assets that have been battered by concerns over a global economic slowdown.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 167.50 points to 19,028.86. Trading volumes were lower than usual as the United States celebrated the Fourth of July holiday.
The Canadian dollar traded for 77.72 cents US compared with 77.60 cents US on Thursday.
Got a news tip that you’d like us to look into? E-mail us at tips@globeandmail.com. Need to share documents securely? Reach out via SecureDrop.
TALKING POINTS
Cancelling Russian culture won’t stop Putin’s war in Ukraine
“Even Russians who do not fully buy the Kremlin’s Ukraine narrative are aghast at the readiness with which the West turned on all things Russian.” - Nina L. Khrushcheva
Montreal is on the road to greater livability, and other cities should follow
“But a message to other Canadian cities: Forget about Montreal’s potholes. On the road to creating a greener, more attractive place for people to live, it’s lapping the field.” - The Editorial Board
LIVING BETTER
Are vitamin supplements worth the money? Depends on what you want them to do
It’s well established that eating a diet based on vegetables and fruit, whole grains, a variety of proteins and healthy fats helps guard against chronic disease.
If your diet is less than stellar, though, you might take a daily vitamin supplement to protect your long-term health. If that’s the case, an updated review of evidence suggests you’re wasting your money, writes Leslie Beck.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Community workers pitch in to help Toronto’s most vulnerable navigate the health care system
Tracy Warne, a community health worker with UHN, outside Toronto General Hospital, June 23.Eduardo Lima/The Globe and Mail
When it became clear, early in the pandemic, that the most devastating effects of COVID-19 were being felt by racialized individuals, people living in poverty and other marginalized groups, community health leaders in Toronto rallied by bringing pop-up vaccine clinics to some of the hardest-hit areas of the city.
The clinics proved to be such a success, with lineups forming in the early morning hours, that it led Andrew Boozary, one of the physicians involved, to come up with new ways for hospitals to reach vulnerable individuals beyond the pandemic – people in circumstances that make it difficult or even impossible to schedule appointments, fill prescriptions or meet other vital health needs.
“We need to be prioritizing improved health outcomes for the most marginalized patients, period,” said Dr. Boozary, the founding executive director of the Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine at the University Health Network. Read the full story by Carly Weeks.
Evening Update is written by Beatrice Paez and Stephanie Bai. 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.