Scotiabank Curbs Mortgage Lending in Toronto and Vancouver: Here’s What We’re Reading Today

The Daily 5 is Sharp’s essential reading list for what’s happening in the world today. Make sure to follow us on Twitter or subscribe to the Sharp Insider newsletter to stay up to date.

Here’s what we’re reading:

1. As home prices soar, Scotia takes ‘foot off the gas’

“As the OECD says Canada needs to do more to rein in mortgage lending thanks to soaring housing prices, Scotiabank says it is already heeding the warning.” The country’s third-largest bank in terms of assets has slowly eased up on mortgage lending in Canada’s two biggest markets, CEO Brian Porter told Bloomberg TV.

2. Brazil’s government has sprung a leak, and the secrets are gushing out

“There’s a saying in Brazil: ‘Even the past is unpredictable.’

“It seems particularly apt in the wake of leaked audio recordings that point to ulterior motives for the recent impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff and that have already forced the resignations of two members of the new Cabinet.”

3. The genetic tool that will modify humanity

“It took millions of years for apes to evolve into humans. It may take only a century for humans to change again.

“Genetic engineering, which for decades never quite lived up to its promise, is being transformed thanks to a new tool called Crispr. Scientists can use it to manipulate the genes of any living creature with astonishing ease. Its initial applications have been to target genetic disease, modify foods, and develop new drugs. What comes next is up to us.”

4. Could evolution explain antipathy towards refugees?

“Compared with the present, life in prehistoric times was violent, short and without second chances. There were no courts or police to mediate conflict, no hospitals to treat illness or injury, and no legacy other than one’s genes. It paid dividends to always over-estimate, and never under-estimate, a potential threat.”

5. All the TV character deaths of 2015-16, in one chart

“Television has never been more prolific, sensational, or ambitious than it is right now, and for some reason, that’s also meant a dramatic spike in characters leaving their shows in body bags.”