13 Dead, 80 Injured After Van Strikes Crowd in Barcelona: Here’s What We’re Reading
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 today.
1. Islamic State claims responsibility for van attack in Barcelona
“It was the latest attack in Europe to use a vehicle, following similar atrocities in Nice, Berlin and London that have claimed more than 100 lives in total.
“Television pictures showed people lying on the ground and a crashed van that had stopped on top of a Joan Míro mosaic halfway down Las Ramblas, an area popular with tourists.”
2. Saudi Arabia defends use of Canadian-made armoured vehicles against civilians
“The House of Saud’s use of combat machines against its Shia population goes to the very heart of the controversy over whether the Trudeau government is violating Canada’s weapons export control rules by allowing arms exports to Saudi Arabia – in particular a $15-billion General Dynamics sale of weaponized armoured vehicles it just authorized last year.
“These rules call for restrictions on arms exports to countries with a ‘persistent record of serious violations of the human rights of their citizens.’ Shipments are supposed to be blocked unless there is ‘no reasonable risk’ the buyer could turn arms against its own population.”
3. Andrew Scheer says he’ll reject interviews with The Rebel until it changes editorial direction
“Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says he’ll do no further interviews with online news outlet the Rebel until it changes its editorial direction. Scheer is linking his decision to the Rebel’s coverage of last weekend’s deadly Charlottesville protests.
“The Rebel’s approach was seen by some as sympathetic to the white nationalists who organized the rally, which collapsed into violent clashes that killed one counter-protester and injured nearly 20 others.”
4. Steve Bannon’s Fantasy, Donald Trump’s Reality
“Squint at Trump and see a class warrior; open your eyes and see race.”
+1: Matt Taibbi: Fire Steve Bannon – Rolling Stone
+1: David A. Graham: Donald Trump is a lame-duck president – The Atlantic
5. RCMP says it has intercepted 3,800 asylum seekers crossing illegally into Quebec since Aug. 1
“In what the RCMP is calling an “unprecedented” boom in asylum seekers, it says more than 3,800 people crossed the border illegally into Quebec during the two weeks spanning Aug. 1 to Aug. 15.
The figures were released after RCMP held a technical briefing Thursday with the Canada Border Services Agency and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
“‘Our officers are patrolling 24 hours day, all year long and we have never seen such numbers coming in,’ said RCMP spokesperson Claude Castonguay.”
– CBC News
