Scandal at the Olympics

Plus, real estate unmoved by the latest interest rate cuts and a deadly “gun battle” in Scarborough. [The Star] First Up [By Kevin Jiang] By Kevin Jiang Good morning. Here’s the latest on a spying scandal rocking Canada’s Olympic soccer team, real estate unmoved by the latest interest rate cuts and a deadly “gun battle” in Scarborough. DON’T MISS Canadasoccer.com Olympics [Canada Soccer staffer sent home with a suspended prison sentence after allegedly drone spying on New Zealand’s practice]( Joseph Lombardi, an unaccredited analyst with Canada Soccer, was arrested earlier this week at the Paris Olympics after New Zealand women’s soccer players spotted a drone zooming over and filming their practice, Mark Colley reports. “Winning the right way is the only way for us,” David Shoemaker, CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee, told reporters. [“This is not how Team Canada planned to start these Games.”]( - The consequences: After accepting his eight-month suspended prison sentence, Lombardi and assistant coach Jasmine Mander, who acts in a “supervisory capacity” to Lombardi, were sent home immediately. Head coach Bev Priestman, who maintains she knew nothing of the incident, [will sit out Canada’s opening match against New Zealand Thursday](. - Bruce Arthur’s take: Canada got caught cheating at the Olympics, and decided to take as little responsibility as possible. It’s hard to imagine the detail-oriented Priestman was entirely ignorant of the spying going on inside her own team. [She has to be fired](. - Word from New Zealand: Players on New Zealand’s team say the off-field scandal “lit a fire in our bellies” [ahead of their opening match with Canada Thursday](. R.J. Johnston/Toronto Star Hhousing [The Bank of Canada cut interest rates again — but it’ll have little effect on the real estate market, experts say]( While a welcome reprieve for homeowners and potential buyers, the Bank of Canada’s second consecutive key interest rate cut yesterday morning won’t impact the real estate market in any “significant way,” experts predict. At least a full percentage point drop is needed to stimulate the market, Clarrie Feinstein reports, and the quarter percentage point decrease just doesn’t cut it. “Rates are still comparatively high and many potential buyers are waiting for further rate decreases to increase their buying power before they make a move,” one expert says. [Yet, slowly but surely, analysts believe the market will make its comeback](. - Wait, what? Royal LePage is still holding to its forecast of a 10 per cent price jump by the end of this year compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, [an increase that could soon see Toronto home prices overtaking Vancouver’s](. - Bad news for: Sellers caught between a rock and a hard place. People like Jeff Steinman, who has dropped his condo’s price by $50,000 but is still getting no bites — despite its prime location and three months on the market. [“I’m frustrated and confused about why it hasn’t sold.”]( - Meanwhile: Housing starts were down drastically in June, with reports showing a 60 per cent decline over the same period last year, reflecting the [high interest rates and the “macroeconomic environment” catching up with developers](. R.J. Johnston/Toronto Star Crime [“A war zone.” Two dead, two seriously injured after what police call a “gun battle” in Scarborough]( A man wearing a bright red shirt and shorts burst through the yellow police tape encircling the scene of a grisly gunfight yesterday. “Where is he? Where is he?” he shouted, running through the Scarborough plaza littered with blood and bullet casings. The grieving man later identified himself as Darryl McCann, father of Braydon McCann, one of two people killed in what police are calling a “gun battle.” Braydon had just turned 22 on Monday; “this kid’s heart is a heart of gold,” Darryl told the Star’s Calvi Leon, Ilyas Hussein and Nathan Bawaan. [Take a look inside the deadly incident](. - Background: Gunfire erupted early Wednesday morning in the parking lot of a plaza at Ellesmere and Birkdale Roads. On arrival, police found four people with gunshot wounds; a man died at the scene and a women died in hospital. Two men were rushed to a trauma centre with serious injuries. - Word from witnesses: Nichole Gonsalves, who lived in the apartment building next door, was up watching TV when he heard gunfire that sounded like a “war zone.” He came out to a chaotic scene swarmed with emergency vehicles and first responders: “As a parent, I was pretty terrified,” he said. [Medal Alerts] Find out fast whenever Canada makes it to the podium. The Star has you covered as athletes go for gold in Paris. Get up-to-the minute email alerts whenever Canada medals, plus other news from the games, with the Star's free Medal Alerts, [brought to you by Havelock Metal Co](. If you're interested, please [sign up here today](. WHAT ELSE “The defense of democracy is more important than any title.” [President Joe Biden addresses why he’s no longer seeking re-election](. [Multiple structures are ablaze in Jasper, Alberta]( as wildfire roars into the townsite. Inside Toronto’s tow-truck turf wars: [Murder, arson — and unanswered questions](. “This rape has tainted my life.” Peter Nygard’s victims describe lasting pain as [Crown prosecutors call for 15-year sentence](. [Federal documents reveal what happened behind the scenes]( with Toronto’s request to decriminalize drugs. Traffic-clogging construction on the Gardiner could end a year early — [but on one condition](. Save the Science Centre? City council votes to ask the province to [keep the building open and accept donations to fix it](. [Your Ontario pharmacist could soon prescribe drugs for strep throat]( and more amid the provincial doctor shortage. Customer complaints over Loblaws’s PC Optimum program [spark a new privacy commissioner investigation](. This homeowner ended his natural gas service. [Months later, Enbridge charged him hundreds of dollars in surprise fees](. [Traffic can shave years off your life as a pedestrian]( in ways you might not have considered. The worst seat in the house? From the Rogers Centre to the TTC, [here’s how to get the best value at Toronto venues](. POV Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press [The University of Windsor did something different to end its encampment: It actually negotiated a deal.]( CLOSE-UP T. Müller (MPIA/HdA) via AP EPSILON INDI A SYSTEM: NASA telescopes have discovered a new, colossal gas giant with six times the mass of Jupiter, as depicted in this illustration from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. [It’s believed to take as many as 250 years to orbit its star, located 12 light years away from Earth](. Thank you for reading. 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