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

One person was killed and eight were injured today in Kherson, Ukraine, where rescuers were trying to evacuate residents trapped by the rising waters caused by Tuesday’s dam explosion when Russian artillery shelled the submerged central square.

The attack came shortly after a visit by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was surveying flooded areas and calling for further support from Ukraine’s allies. The waters released by the dam breach have now surged down the Dnipro River and into another waterway, the Southern Bug River, causing flooding in Mykolaiv, some 200 kilometres away from the dam.

Ukraine, which accuses Russia of destroying the facility with undersea explosives, has called the act an intentional war crime that will have devastating effects on the region’s ecology and agricultural industry. Russia says the dam was destroyed by a Ukrainian missile strike, a version of events that most experts say there is little evidence to support.

Biden orders U.S. firefighters to be ready to deploy to Canada

With thick smoke affecting the day-to-day lives of millions of Americans, U.S. President Joe Biden offered additional firefighting resources to Canada in a call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last night. As a result, “all federal firefighting assets” are on standby to help control some of the 350 wildfires currently burning, mainly in Quebec. Trudeau said more American firefighters were enroute to join the 600 already working in the area.

As of this morning, the Canadian Air Quality Health Index had Toronto in its “high risk” category. Ottawa was downgraded to “low risk,” an improvement from yesterday. Many residents of U.S. cities such as New York, Philadelphia and Washington wore masks to filter the poor air.

What is it like to be an LGBTQ2S+ teen in Canada today? Talking to young activists on life in an increasingly hateful world

One needn’t look far for evidence that queer and trans youth are growing up in a world that’s increasingly hostile to them. There have already been more anti-LGBTQ2S+ demonstration events in Canada this year than in 2021 – such as protests at drag queen story hours at libraries – and this year is on track to outpace the number of events in 2022.

Isio Emakpor, a Grade 12 student in York region in Ontario, says that opposition to LGBTQ2S+ issues is becoming so much more heated and open because the community is making progress.

“And that’s why the pushback is so much,” she says. “The fact that they’re starting to see change that they don’t like is why they’re starting to fight back a little more and stop the progress that is being made.”

“We’re just asking for representation, inclusion and visibility,” adds her classmate, Patrick Mikkelsen. “We’re not forcing an ideology on someone,” he says.

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ALSO ON OUR RADAR

David Johnston severs ties with Navigator: Navigator, a firm known for work in crisis communications, will no longer count the office of David Johnston, Canada’s special rapporteur on foreign interference, as a client.

Children stabbed at French playground: A man with a knife stabbed four young children at a lakeside park in the French Alps today, leaving all with life-threatening knife wounds.

Pat Robertson dies: Pat Robertson, the Christian broadcaster who turned his evangelism into a useful tool for Republican party organizing, died today at age 93, his broadcasting network said.

De Ruiter facing new charges: John de Ruiter, who has control over a dedicated community of hundreds of followers worldwide, is facing new sexual assault charges along with his wife Leigh Ann.

MARKET WATCH

Stocks rose just enough for Wall Street to reach a new bull market Thursday as the S&P 500 keeps rallying off its low from last autumn. The index rose 0.6 per cent to carry it 20% above a bottom hit in October. That means Wall Street’s main measure of health has climbed out of a painful bear market.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 40.99 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 19,942.70.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 168.59 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 33,833.61. The S&P 500 index was up 26.41 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 4,293.93, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 133.63 points, or 1 per cent, at 13,238.52.

The Canadian dollar traded for 74.86 cents US compared with 74.76 cents US on Wednesday.

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TALKING POINTS

Golf’s big merger shows everything has a price – including our morals

“If there was any thought that the guardians of the game would fight back against the idea of a corrupt Saudi regime taking control of the world of professional golf, Jack Nicklaus quickly put that notion to rest. So did Rory McIlroy, who for months had effectively been the tour spokesman against LIV and everything it stood for. But in the face of the seeming inevitability of the merger, even he was resigned to its fate, saying the deal was ‘good for the game of professional golf.’” – Gary Mason

Canada is a laggard on airport screening. Can we catch up?

“Beginning on June 21, trusted travellers will soon be able to complete the pre-board screening process in less than 60 seconds, often even quicker. As Canada joins the 2010s with the introduction of these new screening procedures, airline industry observers and frequent travellers alike are left wondering when Canadians can expect to see other innovations that have become commonplace at airports worldwide.” – Duncan Dee

LIVING BETTER

Yes, you can cook delicious food while camping

Chris Nuttall-Smith, a highly accomplished journalist, food writer and resident judge on Top Chef Canada, qualifies as an ultraimaginative quartermaster, and even an easy-going one. The central premise of Cook It Wild, his new cookbook, is deceptively simple: anyone can eat fabulously in the wildest of places, as long as you prepare ahead of time, thereby reducing the work you have to do fireside after a long day of paddling/skiing/hiking/driving.

TODAY’S LONG READ

Inside the strange legal sideshow that helped fuel the Norval Morrisseau art forgery scandal

The biggest case of art fraud in Canadian history, according to police, involves thousands of forgeries credited to Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau. And while the case continues to play out in the legal system, it also includes the strange sideshow of John and Joan Goldi.

The Goldis are not among those implicated in the fraud, but their ample legal problems are directly linked to the authenticity war over Morrisseau’s work. Online and in court, the Goldis have for years declared themselves defenders of Morrisseau’s legacy, attacking anyone who dared to speak out about fake paintings. In their view, the forgery claims, which date back to the mid-nineties, were part of a grander conspiracy, cooked up by a cabal of art elitists who wanted to drive up Morrisseau prices by declaring vast swaths of the artist’s oeuvre fake.

Read the feature by Patrick White.

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