Evening Update: Some Ukrainians evacuated in Mariupol as Russia tightens grip on steel plant

Good evening, let’s start with today’s top stories:

Ukraine said just 50 civilians were evacuated from a bombed-out steelworks in the city of Mariupol on Friday, accusing Russia of violating a truce intended to allow all those trapped beneath the plant to depart after weeks under siege.

Mariupol has endured the most destructive bombardment of the 10-week-old war, and the sprawling Soviet-era Azovstal plant is the last part of the city – a strategic southern port on the Sea of Azov – still in the hands of Ukrainian fighters.

G7 leaders to hold talks with Zelensky

Meanwhile, the Group of Seven (G7) leaders will hold a video call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday in a show of unity the day before Russia marks its Victory Day holiday, the White House said.

Talks will focus on the latest developments in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, efforts to bolster the country and ways to demonstrate “continued G7 unity in our collective response, including by imposing severe costs for Putin’s war,” a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council said on Monday.

RCMP lay terrorism charges against teen for alleged neo-Nazi ties in Canadian first

The RCMP has charged a 19-year-old with terrorism on allegations he was participating in the activities of a neo-Nazi terrorist group – the first time, experts say, that Canada’s criminal anti-terrorism laws passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks have been directly applied to such an organization.

Seth Bertrand, 19, of Windsor, Ont., filed an online application to join a listed terrorist entity, the Atomwaffen Division (also known as National Socialist Order), and offered his skills and commitment to the group, the RCMP said in a statement released on Friday.

The Mounties also said Mr. Bertrand “committed various hate motivated offences” in the Windsor area between February and March of last year.

Mr. Bertrand faces a charge of participation in a terrorist group, which carries a possible jail sentence of up to 10 years. Bobby Russon, a Windsor lawyer who said he represents Mr. Bertrand, said he would not comment on the case.

Philippine election brings Ferdinand Marcos Jr., scion of a dictatorial dynasty, within reach of the presidency

As the voices of a choir soar to a crescendo, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. raises a fist to his chest and speaks into the camera: “Together, we will rise again.”

The son of the late Philippines dictator with whom he shares a name, the younger Marcos, known as Bongbong, is poised to become the country’s next president when Filipinos go to the polls on May 9. Should he be successful, it will cap one of the most remarkable resurrections in Southeast Asian political history, as the once loathed and humiliated Marcos clan returns to power 36 years after protesters drove Ferdinand from office in 1986.

Mr. Marcos has benefited from a campaign to reshape the narrative around the elder Marcos, casting him not as a brutal dictator and – along with his wife, Imelda – icon of kleptocracy, but instead as a patriotic hero who oversaw a period of economic stability and growth for the Philippines. Amid COVID-19 struggles and stagnation, many hope to see a return to this mythical golden era.

While Mr. Marcos’s supporters argue that he should not be judged for the sins of his father, opponents fear he will continue an authoritarian trend in the Philippines seen under current President Rodrigo Duterte, who launched a brutal war on drugs, locked up critics and attacked the free press.

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

The legal reasoning behind the Supreme Court draft overturning Roe v. Wade: A draft Supreme Court opinion would, if it becomes final, end the 50-year-old nationwide right to an abortion in the United States. Justice writer Sean Fine explains the reasoning of the leaked first take of Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion, and why it is sharply at odds with Canadian approaches to constitutional interpretation.

Extremists planned to commit violence during 2021 Canadian federal election, CSIS says: One of Canada’s spy agencies says extremists planned to commit violence during the 2021 federal election.

Canada’s job creation slows in April, work absences spike because of COVID-19: Job creation in Canada slowed substantially in April and work absences due to COVID-19 spiked to near record levels, marking a subdued start to the second quarter but one that’s unlikely to divert the Bank of Canada from its quickest pace of policy tightening in decades.

Ottawa criticized for failing to address ‘obscenely disproportionate’ incarceration of Indigenous women: The head of Canada’s most prominent advocacy group for Indigenous women chastised the federal government on Thursday for its response to a Globe and Mail story detailing the overrepresentation of Indigenous women in federal prisons.

IGM slashes valuation of Wealthsimple by 20 per cent as tech stock rout spreads to private firms: One of Canada’s most highly valued private technology startups, Wealthsimple Technologies Inc., has been devalued by 20 per cent by its largest shareholder, as the broad-based sell-off of publicly traded technology stocks spreads to private markets.

Michelin’s fine-dining restaurant bible to launch in Canada with a guide to Toronto: The Michelin guide, widely considered the authority of fine dining around the world, is launching in Canada for the first time.

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MARKET WATCH

North American stock markets ended a volatile week by losing more ground as healthy jobs reports reinforced that central banks would likely continue their sizable interest rate increases.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 62.89 points to 20,633.28.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 98.60 points at 32,899.37. The S&P 500 index was down 23.53 points at 4,123.34, while the Nasdaq composite was down 173.03 points at 12,144.66.

The Canadian dollar traded for 77.63 cents US compared with 77.99 cents US on Thursday.

The June crude contract was up US$1.51 at US$109.77 per barrel and the June natural gas contract was down 74 cents at US$8.04 per mmBTU.

The June gold contract was up US$7.10 at US$1,882.80 an ounce and the July copper contract was down 2.5 cents at US$4.27 a pound.

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TALKING POINTS

Human genetic engineering is coming. We must discuss the social and political implications now

“If you think digital surveillance tools are frightening in the hands of autocracy, consider the power to bend the human genome to one’s will. CRISPR provides that power. To use another analogy, the ability to edit genes with surgical precision is a scientific discovery on par with nuclear fission – while there may be beneficial applications, it is by nature seductive to our darkest impulses.” – Samira Kiani

Pierre Poilievre’s baseless campaign to ‘restore’ the Bank of Canada’s independence is in fact an assault on it

“Mr. Poilievre has made a practice, after all, of attacking the bank at every opportunity, suggesting its leadership is incompetent, partisan, even “financially illiterate,” the better to satisfy his followers’ appetite for taunting “elites.” What disruptive, norm-breaking shock-jock antic might he have planned? Fire the governor? Change the bank’s mandate? Break it up and sell it off for bitcoin?” – Andrew Coyne

Don’t worry, working moms: Your kids are going to be all right

“Empirical studies showed that the children of working mothers are doing fine – in fact, most are thriving. The daughters of working mothers are more likely to be employed, earn higher wages and have jobs with supervisory responsibilities, while their sons were more likely to devote time to caregiving and other domestic responsibilities than the children of stay-at-home mothers, according to a 2018 study. The study, led by Harvard Business School professor Kathleen McGinn, assessed 100,000 adult children across 24 developed countries and found that the children of working mothers were just as happy as the children of stay-at-home mothers.” – Lara Bazelon

Religious bigotry won’t solve the Canadian military’s discrimination problem

“Eliminating sexism, racism and other social evils from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is a laudable goal. But sadly, the National Defence Advisory Panel on Systemic Racism and Discrimination has recommended an approach that appears to be based in religious bigotry: a theological cleansing of the military’s chaplaincy from some faiths.” – Andrew Bennett

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LIVING BETTER

Not sure what to wear to work? Flexible investment buys are key to hybrid offices

As more of us start heading back to the office with some regularity, the question of what to wear to work is more pressing than ever. So much of our prepandemic office wardrobes are either out of style, don’t fit any more or feel like relics from another era, one where we willingly endured uncomfortable heels, hard pants and lengthy daily commutes.

To prepare for a stylish return, it may be tempting to turn to pop prints and fast fashion to add newness to your wardrobe. But with hybrid work life the new normal for many of us, it’s a better bet to invest in timeless, all-season pieces that are equally luxe, comfortable and polished.

“It’s definitely about the investment pieces at the moment, those classic pieces that can transcend trends almost and work across your wardrobe,” says Laura Yiannakou, senior womenswear strategist at the trend forecasting company WGSN. “Consumers are now looking for pieces that can perform multiple functions.”

Versatility and longevity are key for a moment like this, when there are so many uncertainties about what work itself may look like moving forward. “I want to get things that are really versatile, that I can travel with, that I can go to business meetings with, that I can also wear comfortably if it’s just going to be a day in the office,” says Zohar Levy, a commercial litigation lawyer in Toronto.

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TODAY’S LONG READ

How restaurants are hacking the food delivery system and trail-blazing new takeout tools

At Vancouver’s Pidgin restaurant, there was a time when a single sleeve of takeout containers would last for up to a year.

Making food to go just wasn’t what they did: Before the pandemic, Pidgin prided itself on sit-down service with multicourse tasting menus. Early 2020 was the first time, out of necessity, that the owners looked at the contracts for big delivery platforms such as Uber Eats, SkipTheDishes and DoorDash.

That’s when co-owner Brandon Grossutti realized “this was going to be a very tough year indeed,” if Pidgin relied on those apps. “We were seeing 30 per cent of our revenue going out the door. That was not sustainable.”

So Mr. Grossutti decided to create his own alternative. At first, they took orders by phone – both for themselves and for other local restaurants – and asked Pidgin staff to work as drivers while they had no one to serve during lockdowns.

Within weeks, two companies with experience creating logistics and e-commerce platforms approached him, and they created an online ordering and delivery service called FromTo.

The startup is just one example of how restaurant owners have been forced to adapt fast amid soaring demand for takeout and delivery. Digital orders have increased by 155 per cent in the past two years, according to data released last month by research firm the NPD Group.

Evening Update is written by Emerald Bensadoun. 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.