U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the UN General Assembly in New York on Sept. 19, 2017.TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP / Getty Images
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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Trump threatens total destruction of North Korea in UN speech
U.S. President Donald Trump used his first address to the United Nations on Tuesday to ratchet up the tension in the world's most serious nuclear weapons standoff. "Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime," he warned, using a nickname for dictator Kim Jong-un that the President coined on Twitter earlier this week. Mr. Trump said he did not want to fight a war against Pyongyang, but that if it comes to that, the United States "will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea."
Dominica pleads for help after Hurricane Maria inflicts 'mind-boggling' damage
Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit sent out an emotional call for help as Category 5 Hurricane Maria blew over the Caribbean island, causing "mind-boggling" devastation. The storm is headed for St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which was largely spared the widespread damage caused by Hurricane Irma on the chain's St. Thomas and St. John islands just two weeks ago.
Federal deficit comes in at $17.8-billion for 2016-17
The finance department announced that the final deficit figure for last year came in at $17.8-billion. While it's an improvement over the $23-billion projection in the March, 2017, budget, the size of the deficit is still at odds with the Liberal campaign promise to keep annual deficits under $10-billion. The news is prompting economists to project a smaller deficit for the current fiscal year as well. Economists at RBC now estimate this year's deficit could come in below $15-billion, nearly half the size of the $28.5-billion deficit Ottawa projected just six months ago.
Trudeau asks Canadian aerospace industry to direct pressure at Boeing
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling on Canadian companies to put pressure on Boeing Co. to drop its trade complaint against Bombardier Inc. "I encourage people who work with Boeing across the country to tell the company the extent to which its actions against the Canadian aerospace industry is not in its interest and certainly not in the interest of Canadians," Mr. Trudeau said. The comments come a day after he vowed to continue freezing out the U.S.-based company from any federal contracts.
Equifax says 100,000 Canadians possibly affected by cyberattack
Equifax Canada says approximately 100,000 Canadian consumers may have had their personal information and credit card details compromised in the massive cyberattack on the credit data company made public earlier this month. On Tuesday, the company announced that hackers accessed Equifax Inc.'s systems through a consumer website application intended for use by U.S. consumers. The hackers obtained access to files containing the personal information of some Canadian consumers through the interface.
As The Globe's Barrie McKenna writes, "Equifax is in deep trouble, and so are the many lenders who shared customer credit information with the company. Its raison d'être is to collect and store highly sensitive personal financial data, and it failed miserably."
MARKET WATCH
Canada's main stock index hit a six-week high on Tuesday helped by gains in financial and energy stocks. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index rose 0.4 per cent to finish at 15,292.97. U.S. stocks ended the day up slightly boosted by financial stocks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.18 per cent to end at 22,370.63, the S&P 500 gained 0.11 per cent to end at 2,506.64 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.1 per cent to end at 6,461.32.
WHAT'S TRENDING
For decades, the guardians of the French language in Quebec have waged a relentless battle against encroachments of English into everyday life. So it's no small matter that the watchdogs have given their blessing to the humble grilled-cheese sandwich. Under a new policy from the Office québécois de la langue française, "grilled-cheese" is now one of several English terms considered acceptable in French in Quebec. In a province where safeguarding French is regarded as a key to cultural survival, the shift has already sparked some controversy.
TALKING POINTS
Trump's UN speech a throwback to a darker world
"That steely talk of vengeful national will and angry patriotism, devoid of any scent of democracy or international co-operation, salted with praise for Saudi autocrats, coupled with a genuine threat to withdraw from the climate and nuclear-peace treaties that have kept the world safe from its worst futures, was all too familiar to many of the leaders seated in New York on Tuesday. They know this sort of language from their own 20th-century history – it was precisely the sort of language whose fearsome outcomes led to the creation of the United Nations." – Doug Saunders
Stop normalizing Trump's dangerous behaviour. We need to stay outraged
"What we are seeing, unfortunately, is a normalization of abnormal and dangerous behaviour that is quickly eroding the American system of government. In the recent past, it would have been unthinkable for a sitting president to allude to assaulting a political rival, much less a woman. Now it's not even a headline." – Jared Yates Sexton
Liberal MPs' reactions to small-business tax plan show party's pitch is falling flat
"Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Morneau insisted that the Liberals are the ones acting for the ordinary Joe, arguing Canada's tax system favours the wealthy at the expense of the middle class. But behind them, Liberal MPs stayed quiet, and looked sullen, and not just the Waynes." – Campbell Clark (for subscribers)
LIVING BETTER
If you suffer from migraines, you know they're no ordinary headache. But despite being the seventh leading cause of time spent disabled worldwide, the migraine "has received relatively little attention as a major public health issue," Dr. Andrew Charles, a California neurologist, wrote recently in The New England Journal of Medicine. He says the key to effective treatment is learning the early symptoms.
LONG READS FOR A LONG COMMUTE
Morneau vs. business: How Ottawa created its tax troubles The government's call for changes to the way private companies are taxed has sparked widespread outrage and raised questions about the perceived value of entrepreneurs to the Canadian economy. How did we get here, and where are we headed? (for subscribers)
Evening Update is written by Kiran Rana, Omair Quadri and Kristene Quan. 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.