Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
U.S. and Britain announce new Iran sanctions after missile and drone strike on Israel
The United States today announced new sanctions on Iran targeting its unmanned aerial vehicle production after its attack on Israel, and U.S. President Joe Biden said G7 leaders were committed to acting together to increase economic pressure on Tehran.
Britain announced that it was also introducing sanctions on Iran in co-ordination with Washington.
Biden said the United States and its allies had helped Israel beat back the April 13 missile and drone strike and were now holding Iran accountable with the new sanctions and export controls.
- West Bank’s Palestinian farmers pushed from agricultural land as Israeli settlements expand: As tens of thousands of Palestinians have died in Israel’s shooting war with Hamas in Gaza, forcing nearly two million people from their homes, a simultaneous “silent war is happening in the West Bank,” one that is pushing people from agricultural areas and expanding the boundaries of Israeli settlement, says Abbas Milhem, the executive director of the Palestinian Farmers’ Union.
- Ontario Legislature upholds keffiyeh scarf ban
- Former head of Israel’s air defence forces says Iran ‘declared war’ with attack
- In Gaza, Palestinians with treatable injuries face amputations as medical supplies run out
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Paris Olympic organizers press ahead with ambitious opening ceremony
The organizers of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris are pressing ahead with plans to hold the opening ceremony on the River Seine despite comments from French President Emmanuel Macron that the event may have to be scaled back because of security concerns.
French officials remain determined to showcase the capital by staging the ceremony outside the main stadium for the first time. Athletes will travel along a six-kilometre section of the Seine in a flotilla of 90 boats. The route passes through the heart of Paris, starting at the Austerlitz bridge and heading west past Notre Dame cathedral to the Trocadéro, which is across the river from the Eiffel Tower.
But questions have been mounting lately about whether the ceremony will be able to go ahead as planned. Organizers have already had to cut back the number of spectators, and Macron this week said further changes could be coming if the threat of terrorism increases.
TD Bank CEO asks shareholders for patience as U.S. regulatory probe stretches into second year
Toronto-Dominion Bank chief executive officer Bharat Masrani pleaded with shareholders for patience on the probe by U.S. regulators into the lender’s anti-money-laundering practices as the investigation stretches into its second year.
Masrani fielded questions from frustrated shareholders at the company’s annual meeting Thursday, who asked about the status of a lengthy probe by U.S. regulators that derailed the bank’s takeover of Tennessee-based First Horizon Corp. last spring. He said he still cannot provide further details on the investigation as the bank is working on addressing the concerns from U.S. regulatory and law-enforcement agencies.
Last year, TD said that it expects to face fines or other penalties stemming from probes by regulators and law-enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice, related to its anti-money-laundering practices. Some analysts have estimated that the fine could range from US$500-million to US$1-billion.
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Labour leader says Poilievre is an adversary of unionized workers: The president of the Canadian Labour Congress is targeting the Conservative leader as an adversary of the labour movement and unionized workers in Canada. In a speech to union representatives on today, Bea Bruske says Poilievre is a “fraud” and called on the labour movement to expose him ahead of the next election.
Two jurors dismissed from Trump hush-money trial: Two jurors in former president Donald Trump’s hush-money trial were dismissed today, one after expressing doubt about her ability to be fair and impartial and the other over concerns that some of his answers in court may not have been accurate.
U.S. Congress moves ahead on bill to push TikTok’s Chinese owner to sell: An effort to force TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the social-media app or face a ban in the U.S. was gaining steam in Congress today.
Toronto votes to keep vacant home tax: Toronto voted to keep its vacant home tax after a botched year that caused panic among some property owners mistakenly hit with huge penalties.
Germany arrests two men for allegedly spying for Russia: Two German-Russian men have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of espionage, one of them accused of agreeing to carry out attacks on potential targets including U.S. military facilities in hopes of sabotaging aid for Ukraine, prosecutors said Thursday.
MARKET WATCH
U.S. stocks closed near the unchanged mark on Thursday, as investors sifted through the latest corporate earnings, while economic data and comments from Federal Reserve officials suggested the central bank was unlikely to cut interest rates in the near future.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 22.07 points at 37,775.38. The S&P 500 index was down 11.09 points at 5,011.12, while the Nasdaq composite was down 81.87 points at 15,601.50.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 52.39 points at 21,708.44.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.65 cents US compared with 72.50 cents US on Wednesday.
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TALKING POINTS
First Nations have lost confidence in Thunder Bay’s police force
“Thunder Bay has become ground zero for human-rights violations against Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Too many sudden and suspicious deaths of Indigenous Peoples have not been investigated properly.” – Tanya Talaga
The failure of Canada’s health care system is a disgrace – and a deadly one
“Despite our delusions, we don’t have “world-class” health care, as our Prime Minister has said; we don’t even have universal health care. What we have is health care if you’re lucky, or well connected, or if you happen to have a heart attack on a day when your closest ER is merely overcapacity as usual, and not stuffed to the point of incapacitation.” – Robyn Urback
On Haida Gwaii, an island of change for Indigenous land talks
“Today, 94 per cent of the land in B.C. is provincial Crown land, subject to Indigenous title claims. Virtually every one of those claims is complicated by overlaps with neighbouring First Nations. On this front, the Haida case is unique.” – The Editorial Board
Femicide is an epidemic at home and abroad
“While these public incidents of femicide make headlines for their scale and locations, women remain targets of murder at an alarming rate. But somehow there is a perception that “domestic violence” or “intimate partner violence” is less newsworthy, less urgent. It is extremely urgent.” – Marsha Lederman
LIVING BETTER
Seven ways to leverage a tax refund into big savings or gains
Use these seven ideas to make the most of your tax refund. Instead of spending it as soon as you get it, contribute it to your grandchild’s RESP and get money added to the plan via the Canada Education Savings Grant. Or, consider adding it to a first home savings account, which will give you a tax refund for the 2024 tax year. Read more tips here.
TODAY’S LONG READ
Sophie Grégoire Trudeau embraces uncertainty in new memoir, Closer Together
Illustration by Ashley Floréal
Sophie Grégoire Trudeau’s Closer Together: Knowing Ourselves, Loving Each Other comes out April 23, mixing spirituality-infused self-help and inspiration for the mind and body with personal memoir.
“I’m a continuous, curious, emotional adventurer and explorer of life and relationships,” she told The Globe and Mail during a recent video interview. “I’ve always been curious and interested and fascinated by human contact.”
If anyone is picking up Closer Together hoping to learn a bunch of juicy details about her separation from the Prime Minister, though, forget it.
Evening Update is written by Prajakta Dhopade. 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.