Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:
A truce between Israeli and Hamas forces in Gaza has been extended by two days, continuing a pause in seven weeks of war.
Qatar and Egypt have been facilitating indirect negotiations between the two sides. In Gaza, a humanitarian crisis has unfolded as supplies of food, fuel, drinking water and medicine run out.
Hamas said it had received a list of Palestinians to be released from Israeli jails. It said these included three female prisoners and 30 minors. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it had notified the families of hostages due to be released on Monday, without specifying a number.
The truce agreed to last week was the first halt in fighting since Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages back into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. In response to that attack, Israel has bombarded the Palestinian enclave and mounted a ground offensive in the north. More than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza’s Hamas-run government says, and hundreds of thousands displaced.
- Mediation: Qatar is the go-to mediator in the Israel-Hamas war. Its unprecedented Tel Aviv trip saved a shaky truce
- Social media: Elon Musk visits Israel after criticism for endorsing antisemitic post
- Opinion: Israel’s hostage agony is only beginning
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Nearly 20 per cent of inmates are homeless upon release from Ontario jails, data show
Close to one in five inmates leaving Ontario jails are released into homelessness, a problem that has only increased over the past five years as communities across the province grapple with the escalating crises of housing affordability, mental health and addiction.
Given the overall decrease in inmates, the proportion of those released into homelessness jumped from 8.8 per cent to 17.3 per cent.
The result, experts say, is a correctional system that often further destabilizes people who are already on the margins. Spending even a short time in jail can cause someone to lose their job, have their social assistance frozen and fall behind on rent or mortgage payments. Inmates are routinely released without even a plan to find a home, exacerbating underlying mental-health issues and leaving them more likely to reoffend.
Percentage of inmates who are released into homelessness in OntarioYANG SUN/The Globe and Mail
Prescription drugs linked to support programs sponsored by pharmaceutical companies
A new study has found that 10 per cent of prescription drugs on the market in Canada are linked to patient support programs sponsored by drug companies, raising questions about whether this allows the pharmaceutical industry to have too much influence over patient care.
- What are patient support programs? They are designed to help individuals pay certain costs associated with drugs, navigate the health care system or manage their care, and can include access to a nurse who can assist with medication administration.
- More from the research: The study, published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that expensive drugs were much more likely to have a patient support program attached to them compared with lower-cost drugs. It is also calling for greater transparency of patient support programs.
- Also read: B.C. government in court against pharma companies in bid to certify opioid class-action lawsuit
ALSO ON OUR RADAR
The Globe in Africa: Since its opening last year, the Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Leadership School has spearheaded China’s efforts to spread its ideological influence among the continent’s biggest political parties, and to ensure the perpetuation of their rule.
Fishing: Nova Scotia’s lobster fishing season opens amid tensions between Ottawa and Indigenous leaders who say maintaining limits on their access to the fishery is a violation of their treaty rights.
Retail: A recent FedEx survey shows porch thefts have risen over the past two years, with 28 per cent of respondents reporting they’ve had packages stolen by porch pirates. That compares with 24 per cent of respondents in 2022 and 20 per cent in 2021.
Climate policy: Ottawa is poised to announce new regulations and funding around methane – a greenhouse gas that’s 85 times more potent than carbon dioxide – heading into COP28 on Thursday.
Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2023: In an age of deepfakes and post-truth, as artificial intelligence rose and Elon Musk turned Twitter into X, the Merriam-Webster word of the year for 2023 is “authentic.”
Listen to The Decibel: Marcus Gee is on the show to explain why London is bringing city services to encampments, and how a compassionate approach is both a test – and potentially a new model – for other municipalities.
MARKET WATCH
Stocks lower amid Cyber Monday madness
U.S. and Canadian stocks edged lower on Monday, with investors taking a pause as the holiday shopping season kicked into high gear and retailers lured bargain hunters with Cyber Monday deals.
All three major U.S. stock indexes, as well as the S&P/TSX Composite Index, ended the session modestly lower. Industrials and energy stocks led the declines in Toronto. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 56.68 points to 35,333.47, the S&P 500 lost 8.91 points to 4,550.43 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 9.83 points to 14,241.02. The S&P/TSX composite index ended down 70.45 points at 20,032.66, led by declines in energy and base metal stocks.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.34 cents US compared with 73.41 cents US on Friday.
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TALKING POINTS
How have we grown numb to the suicide of Indigenous children?
“Flying counsellors in from elsewhere is a patchwork solution born from emergency. Children and their families need to be cared for and treated together, traditionally, out on the land and with Western medical support where needed. Our children and families need hope, a sense of belonging and pride in who they are, and our communities need to be in control of our own health care – not reliant on faraway governments and programs to kick-start healing.” - Tanya Talaga
On Bill C-18, Canada has a clear choice: flourish like Australia or flounder like Spain
“It’s been nearly four months since Meta began removing Canadian news links from Facebook and Instagram in response to Bill C-18. If Justin Trudeau’s government doesn’t change course in its dealings with Big Tech, history tells us it could be years before Canadian news returns to these platforms.” - Jonah Prousky
LIVING BETTER
A cottage stands on a lake in Muskoka, Friday May 19, 2017.Mark Blinch/The Globe and Mail
As cottage prices tumble, is now the time for buyers to pounce?
Muskoka realtor John Fincham has a piece of advice you’d never expect to hear from an agent: Now is not the time to buy a cottage.
That’s particularly surprising when you consider that cottage prices have tumbled rapidly across Ontario. In Haliburton, prices were down 26 per cent in the same period, while the highly desirable Muskoka region was down 14 per cent. Mr. Fincham says interest rates and the migration back to cities will lead to even more deterioration in the market of cottages priced under $3-million, which is seeing weakness after years of meteoric growth.
- Also read Rob Carrick: If Alberta is an economic powerhouse, why is Calgary housing cheaper than Windsor, Ont.?
TODAY’S LONG READ
Emerging research could help solve generative AI’s ‘hallucination’ problem
A boom in generative artificial intelligence advances has come at a furious pace. But at least one fundamental flaw remains: Large language models make stuff up. These errors have become known as hallucinations.
The possibility of mistakes is an obstacle for deploying LLMs, especially in settings where accuracy is crucial, such as health care, finance, law and education. These quirks are no mere bug, however; they’re an inherent feature of how these models work. Researchers are trying a range of techniques to reduce errors and improve reliability, such as by building bigger models, adding in source citations, drawing on external databases for information and prompting LLMs to fact-check themselves before providing responses. Nothing has proven to be a silver bullet.
Evening Update is written by Sierra Bein. 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.