Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is alarmed by China’s move to impose a new national security law on Hong Kong that could curb pro-democracy protests and dramatically reduce the territory’s autonomy.
In a joint statement Friday, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia said Beijing’s imposition of a sweeping new security law on Hong Kong “would clearly undermine” the freedoms China had guaranteed the former British colony in the Sino-British treaty of 1984.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the national security bill, calling it a “death knell” for Hong Kong’s freedoms.
The proposed law would allow Beijing to sidestep Hong Kong’s legislative body in order to limit protests or other activities that Beijing’s authoritarian rulers consider subversive.
Read more:
- China moves to impose security laws on Hong Kong, raising fears of eroding freedom
- Opinion: In Canada, the tide of opinion is turning on China
Police officers stop members of the Democratic Party moving forwards the Chinese central government's liaison office during a protest in Hong Kong, Friday, May 22, 2020.Kin Cheung/The Associated Press
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In COVID-19 news:
Liberals, Conservatives, NDP and Greens apply for wage subsidy as donations drop with COVID-19
The federal Liberals, Conservatives, NDP and Greens have all applied for a federal wage subsidy amid a financial crunch caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The federal wage subsidy program is designed to help organizations keep employees on their payroll even if revenue has dropped.
Braeden Caley, senior director of communications for the Liberals, said his party has met the eligibility criteria for the wage subsidy in recent weeks and “received that support." Cory Hann, director of communications for the Conservative party, told The Globe and Mail the party has applied for and received the subsidy.
The NDP’s national director, Anne McGrath, said Friday that the New Democrats applied because the party has experienced a drop in donations during the pandemic. Green Party of Canada Executive Director Prateek Awasthi said the party has applied for the wage subsidy program but it has not received it yet.
The Bloc Québécois confirmed Friday that the party did not apply.
The COVID-19 pandemic could be ‘devastating’ for battles against tuberculosis, HIV and malaria
The global fight against diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis is being harmed because of coronavirus. South Africa, which has among the world’s highest rates of TB and HIV, is reporting sharp declines in public health responses to both diseases.
Testing for tuberculosis has been reduced dramatically, and thousands of patients are unable to get the life-saving medicine they need for the two diseases.
Studies have predicted that the collateral damage caused by the pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa could be 500,000 extra deaths from AIDS-related illnesses over the next two years, and a possible doubling of malaria deaths this year. Globally, it could cause an additional 1.4 million TB deaths over a five-year period.
British researchers aim to immunize more than 10,000 as studies into experimental COVID-19 vaccine advance
British researchers testing an experimental vaccine against the new coronavirus are moving into advanced studies and aim to immunize more than 10,000 people to determine whether the shot works.
Friday’s announcement was made as Chinese scientists who are developing a similar vaccine reported promising results from their first-step testing, seeing hoped-for immune reactions and no serious side effects in 108 vaccinated people.
If all goes smoothly, “it’s possible as early as the autumn or toward the end of the year, you could have results that allowed use of the vaccine on a wider scale,” predicted Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group.
Conservatives proposing motion to declare Parliament an essential service, Scheer says
Opposition Leader Andrew Scheer wants Parliament declared an essential service so a reduced number of MPs can resume their House of Commons duties amid the COVID-19 crisis.
Scheer says his Conservatives are proposing such a motion because daily briefings by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from his home are not good enough to hold the government accountable.
More: Trudeau says federal government will fund COVID-19 testing, tracing and data-sharing
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Plane crash in Pakistan: A jetliner carrying 98 people crashed in a crowded neighbourhood near the airport in Karachi after an apparent engine failure during landing. Officials said there were at least two survivors from the plane, and it was unknown how many people on the ground were hurt, with at least five houses destroyed. Video on social media appeared to show the jet flying low with flames shooting from one of its engines.
Biden allegations: The lawyer who had been working with Tara Reade, the former Joe Biden senate staffer accusing him of sexual assault, says he is no longer representing her. Douglas Wigdor said his decision to stop working with Reade was not a reflection on the veracity of her claims.
Actress Loughlin pleads guilty: Lori Loughlin and her husband pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud for their participation in a vast U.S. college admissions fraud scheme to secure spots for their daughters at the University of Southern California.
MARKET WATCH
Oil prices dropped about three per cent and global equity markets wavered on Friday as China’s move to impose a new security law on Hong Kong further strained U.S.-China relations and clouded economic recovery prospects.Canada’s main stock index capped a good week by moving slightly higher amid those concerns. The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 28.79 points at 14,913.64.In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 8.96 points at 24,465.16. The S&P 500 index was up 6.94 points at 2,955.45, while the Nasdaq composite was up 39.71 points at 9,324.59.
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TALKING POINTS
What the porn industry can teach us about dealing with viruses
Hallie Lieberman: “Having witnessed the devastation of earlier HIV/AIDS outbreaks in major U.S. cities, the L.A. porn industry took immediate, decisive action, shutting down production and choosing workers’ lives over profit. They turned to experts at top universities to determine the best tests. They conducted contact tracing to ensure that they tested everyone who was exposed. But that’s not all they did: [they also] implemented a system to prevent the spread of the virus in the future.”
The CERB is nothing like a basic income, but it might be the platform we use to build one
Andrew Coyne: “The CERB was not intended to be a long-term income-support program, where considerations such as costs and incentives come into play. As the name implies, it was designed as a short-term stop-gap, in a period when cost was no object and work was unavailable. ... An actual basic income, built to last, would be a lot more complicated – not impossible, not undesirable, but difficult.”
LIVING BETTER
Here’s what it will take for the NHL to say ‘Game On’
The NHL’s players’ union moved Thursday to poll its members on a league proposal that would see hockey return this summer. There are plenty of hurdles standing in the way of resuming play and awarding the Stanley Cup for the 2019-20 season, chief among them: How do you repatriate the 17 per cent of NHL players who reside outside either Canada or the United States?
From hub cities, to testing, to isolation, to a modified playoff format, Simon Houpt lays out all the factors that must be addressed before we can see hockey again.
Why some people are choosing country life over the city
Many of us who live in cities have daydreamed of doing it. Meet the people who actually have. These five Canadians traded city life for the mountains, seaside, towns and country roads. And of course, affordable housing.
For some, it’s a compromise. For others, the simple life is simply more fulfilling. They are rural by choice, and they explain to The Globe and Mail how they made the switch.
Emily BeachSupplied
TODAY’S LONG READ
Not normal: The outsized importance of Normal People on TV and writer Sally Rooney
Normal People (streams on CBC Gem from Wednesday, May 27) is broken up into 12 half-hour episodes and would be easy to summarize in an offhand way as frivolous and sex-obsessed. A surface description: In a small town in the west of Ireland, Marianne and Connell begin an intense, intimate, secret relationship during their last year of high school. Then, when Connell invites another young woman to the Debs dance (equivalent to the prom), Marianne is crushed. They meet later at university and over the next three years have a bewilderingly intense on/off relationship.
But that summary conceals so much. Normal People, beautifully made, is an achingly powerful story of intimacy, affection, power-dynamics, class division and money.
Read John Doyle’s full story here.
Evening Update is written by Jamie Ross. 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.
Jamie Ross