World Headlines: “Why are we willing to live with this carnage?”

First Up

By Manuela Vega

Good morning. Here’s the latest on a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school, allegations of abusive behaviour by a popular radio host and the potential return of basic income to Ontario.

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Allison Dinner/AFP via Getty Images

school shooting

A gunman killed 19 children and two adults at a Texas school

Nearly a decade after Sandy Hook, a U.S. grade school was, yet again, the target of a massacre — this time, in a town with a predominantly Latino population. Officials said an 18-year-old shooter went from classroom to classroom in an Uvalde, Texas school to kill 21 people, with a teacher among the victims. It’s the latest mass shooting in a recent string of such killings in the United States. Here’s what we know.

Context: The previous 10 days had seen shooters targeting Black Americans at a supermarket in Buffalo and a Taiwanese congregation at a church in Southern California.
More: Not even three years ago, a shooting targeting Latinos in El Paso, Texas left 23 dead and dozens injured.
Watch for: Many Americans are desperately calling on Republican officials, who have long touted access to firearms as a right, to support legislation introducing more restrictions and background checks. The right-wing representatives often have ties to the National Rifle Association.
Word from Ottawa: Here’s what Justin Trudeau and Joe Biden have said about the school shooting.

Corus Entertainment

radio drama

John Derringer’s co-hosts allege abusive behaviour behind the scenes at Q107

Former co-hosts have posted to social media and spoken with the Star about the alleged belligerent, abusive behaviour of the Toronto radio morning show staple. Allegations of Derringer’s fits of rage during commercial breaks and public reprimanding of female co-hosts and colleagues at the station were an open secret. Those speaking out say station owner Corus Entertainment allowed the behaviour to go unchecked for years, adding that complaints to station managers and HR were futile. Here’s more on the allegations.

What now? On Tuesday morning, Corus Entertainment removed Derringer from his show — Derringer in the Morning — pending an “external investigation.”
No word: The Star sent Corus and Derringer detailed questions about the allegations. Derringer could not be reached, and Corus said it cannot comment due to the ongoing investigation.

Canadian Press/Frank Gunn

provincial election

Basic income may be sleeping, but it’s not dead in Ontario

Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives may have cut the province’s basic income pilot four years ago (despite promising to keep it), but if the Liberals and New Democrats have any say in the matter, it will make a comeback. Meanwhile, the Greens say they would “phase in” basic income as part of a plan to double social assistance. Here’s what we know about basic income, its supporters and opponents.

More: “It gave me hope that I could achieve that again,” said one person who spent more than a year on the pilot project before it was axed. “Because after so many years of poverty, you just kind of give up and accept that this is your life now.”
Go deeper: Support for a basic income has continued to grow in recent years, thanks in part to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit.
Interactive: Who’s poised to win the July 2 Ontario election? Here’s what polls say.

Get a front-row seat this provincial election. As the Ontario election heats up, you need This Week in Politics, featuring exclusive analysis from Queen's Park bureau chief Robert Benzie and columnist Susan Delacourt. Sign up here, and you'll start receiving their insight on what just happened, what it means — and what's coming next.

WHAT ELSE

Pierre Poilievre is inching toward the dark places where Donald Trump found votes.

Canada is urging farmers to grow more grain as the global food crisis deepens.

Ontario parties are falling short in building the vital “missing middle” in housing.

The Ontario Liberals’ call for the New Democrats’ support is “risky,” the NDP leader said.

A police misconduct database in Alberta is being touted as the first of its kind in Canada.

Scrambling to recover from one storm, experts warn Ontario is unprepared for the next one.

Airport delays are here for the long-term, airport security unions say.

Many Peterborough residents have had to toss out spoiled food from fridges and freezers.

Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard denied rape allegations in court.

This Toronto comedian made $205,000 investing in crypto – then lost it all.

Here’s why indie internet providers are disappearing.

Ticks that cause an allergy to red meat are in Canada.

ICYMI

Toronto Star Photo Illustration

Inside the absurd legal strategy favoured by COVID deniers and conspiracy theorists.

CLOSE-UP

Dario Lopez-Mills/AP Photo

UVALDE, TEXAS: The archbishop of San Antonio, Gustavo Garcia-Siller, comforts families outside the town civic centre following the deadly school shooting at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday.

Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at firstup@thestar.ca. I’ll see you back here tomorrow.

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