Good morning,
After the Russian constitutional referendum, President Vladimir Putin can now stay in power until 2036.
During his reign so far, Russia has shaken the geopolitical world order through military aggression and received economic sanctions from Canada, the U.S. and the European Union in return. However, while they has led to economic hardship, the referendum shows that the sanctions have not tangibly threatened Putin’s grip on power. It also shuts down conversations about his immediate successor.
The message to opponents, at home and abroad, is that there’s no point looking ahead or guessing at potential successors. Unless something shocking happens, it will be Mr. Putin with whom the West will have to contend.
Putin, who first came into power as president in 2000, is already Russia’s longest-serving leader since Joseph Stalin. With the referendum’s result, he is now inching toward the 43-year record set by Peter the Great.
Russian President Vladimir Putin shows his passport to a member of an election commission as he arrives to take part in voting at a polling station in Moscow, July 1, 2020.Alexei Druzhinin/The Associated Press
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Hospital, ICU rates drop as severity of coronavirus cases lessens
In Canada, the rates of people with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization or machine ventilation have dropped in recent weeks. Some infectious disease experts attributed these trends to a decrease in the number of elderly individuals getting infected, as outbreaks in long-term care homes in Quebec and Ontario are increasingly brought under control. They added that more young individuals could also be contracting the coronavirus but don’t need intensive care.
But some infectious disease experts caution against developing a false sense of security, pointing to the case surge in the U.S.
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
WE Charity faces ‘potential conflict of interest’: While administering the $900-million Canada Student Service Grant, WE Charity is also participating in the program by offering 450 online volunteer placements. This situation has prompted questions about “potential conflict of interest” and how the funding will be distributed. The grant has already received criticisms from Volunteer Canada about blurring the line between volunteer and paid work because it pays $10 per hour, which is also under all provinces’ minimum wage level.
Los Angeles slashes funding for police department: Los Angeles’s city council voted yesterday to cut its police department’s budget by $150 million and divert this funding toward programs for communities of colour. This vote followed the vote by the Los Angeles’s school board to reduce funding for police in schools by 35 per cent.
California retreats on reopening plan: As COVID-19 cases surge in the U.S., California has once again shut down indoor activities across most of the state. The state has seen confirmed cases growing nearly 50 per cent over the past two weeks, and hospitalizations have gone up 43 per cent.
Meet the optimists: While the pandemic has dealt an economic blow, some businesses are still forging ahead with plans to open, move or expand. From restaurants to a cannabis dispenser to a sports rehabilitation clinic, meet five optimists who are pushing forward during COVID-19.
MORNING MARKETS
World stocks move higher ahead of U.S. jobs data: World stocks rose for a fourth straight day on Thursday as encouraging coronavirus vaccine trials kept investors’ spirits up ahead of what was expected to be a record rebound in U.S. jobs figures. Around 6 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.73 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 1.76 per cent and 1.46 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.11 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.85 per cent. New York futures were higher. The Canadian dollar was trading at 73.57 US cents.
The Globe and Mail’s personal finance columnist Rob Carrick will be on Reddit at noon today. Ask him anything.
Globe and Mail RoB columnist Rob Carrick, undated. Credit unknown.Supplied
WHAT EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT
Our justice system needs to be more than a ‘Zoom court’
Jon Khan: “With more funding and resources, Canadian courts can address one of the biggest problems in our legal system that Zoom Court won’t address: Canada’s legal data deficit. COVID-19 reminds us every day just how important data is.”
What we know – and don’t know – about masks
Hedi Zhao, Sukhdeep Jatana and Mark Loeb: “In the absence of an effective therapy against COVID-19, and with a vaccine not yet on the horizon, non-pharmaceutical interventions such as the use of masks have taken on an added importance. All this warrants a look at the research on masks and their history to see what the evidence is for wearing them in the pandemic.”
Emmanuel Macron’s party just suffered an electoral drubbing. Is he next?
Konrad Yakabuski: “Turnout was abysmally low for a French election, as fears of the coronavirus kept many voters away from the polls. But the result was nevertheless a repudiation of Mr. Macron personally, as, one by one, voters rejected his hand-picked mayoralty candidates.”
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
David ParkinsDavid Parkins/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
For those who are lucky to still be employed during the pandemic, much of the savings from nights out, commuting, travelling and kids’ activities now go toward home improvement and renovation projects that they have long pushed off.
In some ways, people see home renovation projects as reintroducing a sense of control to their lives during a time of uncertainty. But financial planners also caution about making sure the projects will still be sustainable when other expenses come back.
MOMENT IN TIME: July 2, 1940
WORLD WAR II -- The Tragedy of the SS Arandora Star -- In the early hours of 2nd July 1940 the SS Arandora Star was struck by a torpedo off the Donegal coast and sank, taking with her over 800 lives. On what would be her final mission the Arandora Star was to take internees and prisoners to St. Johns, Newfoundland to a Canadian internment camp. She set sail unescorted from Liverpool carrying 734 interned Italians, 479 interned Germans, 86 German prisoners of war, 200 military guards and 174 crew. The ship wasn’t displaying the International Red Cross symbol to signify civilians were on board, and access to lifeboats was obstructed by heavy wire mesh. On the early morning of 2nd July 1940 around 75 miles west of the Bloody Foreland, Donegal the German submarine U-47 struck the vessel with a single torpedo. Eventually the HMCS St. Laurent, a Canadian destroyer, arrived and rescued the 868 survivors. In the following weeks many bodies washed up on Irish shores. HandoutSupplied
A German U-boat sinks SS Arandora Star
On the first day of July in 1940, the SS Arandora Star set sail unescorted from Liverpool, U.K., heading to St. John’s. Canada had agreed to take Italian and German internees from Britain, and 1,673 men were piled on a ship meant for 500. The following day around 6 a.m., the Arandora Star was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the northwest coast of Ireland. The ship wasn’t displaying the International Red Cross symbol to signify that civilians were on board. The German submarine U-47 might have mistaken the ship for an armed merchant cruiser, prompting the submarine to fire its single damaged torpedo at the Arandora Star. Access to several lifeboats was obstructed by heavy wire mesh. Many below deck were killed immediately, while others were pulled underwater or killed diving overboard. About half an hour after the torpedo impact, the ship fully sank. Those who survived remained in the water for several hours until they were rescued by the Canadian destroyer HMCS St. Laurent and taken to Scotland. At the waterfront in Liverpool stands a plaque in memory of the more than 800 people aboard the ship who died 80 years ago today. Vanessa Quon
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