A round-up of news stories from Canada and around the world.
Laurin Liu, David Koch, Brodie MacRae, Gretchen King, and the Wednesday Morning After Crew
Transcript
CLIMATE CHANGE WILL DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECT ABORIGINALS, OTHER GROUPS, SAYS REPORT
Last Thursday, the Canadian Minister of Health announced the release of a new report on the health effects of climate change.
The report is called Human Health in a Changing Climate, A Canadian Assessment of Vulnerabilities and Adaptive Capacity.
The report predicts that the young, low-income, elderly and aboriginals will be among those Canadians hardest hit by climate change.
The report also predicts outbreaks of E. coli, typHoid and other water-borne pathogens, as drinking and recreational water is contaminated by run-off, from heavy rainfall.
SIKH COMMUNITY LEADERS REJECT HARPER'S APOLOGY
In Surrey, BC, on Sunday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a public apology for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident.
The Komagata Maru was a boat carrying hundreds of mainly Punjabi migrants from then-British India. They were attempting to enter a Vancouver port, but Canada turned them away.
Under the racist "Continuous Journey" provision, which was meant to restrict non-white migration to Canada, the passengers were forced to return to British-controlled India.
Upon their return, many were slaughtered in a one-sided skirmish with British imperial troops.
Sikh community leaders announced that those in attendance had rejected Harper's apology, following his speech.
This is the third apology Harper has made concerning discriminatory policies that the Canadian government adopted towards specific ethnic groups.
IRAQ WAR RESISTER IMPRISONED IN COLORADO
Iraq war resister Robin Long is being held at the El Paso County jail in Colorado, after being deported from Canada last month.
Robin Long is a soldier in the US Army, who fled to Canada to avoid combat in Iraq in 2005.
He is now being charged with desertion in the United States.
Lee Zaslofsky, the National Coordinator of the War Resisters Support Campaign, told CKUT about the sentence that Long will likely receive.
Zaslofsky- "It looks likely that he'll get a jail term, plus a bad discharge."
CKUT- "What kind of jail term are we talking about?"
Zaslofsky- "Over a year. And then the discharge, if he gets a bad discharge, a dishonorable discharge, that's the equivalent of a felony conviction."
Last Friday, a motion was filed by Palestinian professor and activist Sami Al-Arian's lawyer, arguing that Dr. Al-Arian is being illegally detained by the U.S. government.
Al-Arian has been imprisoned since 2003, after then-Attorney General John Ashcroft accused him of being a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Dr. Al-Arian's case has been one of the most controversial post-9/11 prosecutions in the US. He has been jailed despite a jury's failure to return a single guilty verdict.
The prosecution has conceded that there is no evidence directly tying Dr. Al-Arian to a single terrorist act. Still, he may be facing decades in federal prison.
DOCUMENTS SAY DISNEY TO ENTER IN MAJOR MEDIA DEAL WITH SHANGHAI
The Walt Disney Company may gain "unrivalled access" to audiences in Shanghai, China, in a deal between the media giant and the Chinese regime.
According to documents obtained by Reuters, the deal would involve the construction of a Disneyland in Shanghai.
It would also involve the production of Disney films, TV shows and a magazine for the Shanghai market.
However, the content and distribution of these media would have to be approved by the Chinese government on a case-by-case basis, according to the documents.
A Disney spokesperson told CKUT that no deal has been reached.
WEB CENSORSHIP RELAXED DURING OLYMPICS -- BUT NOT ENOUGH, SAY MEDIA WATCHDOGS
The Reuter's report comes just days before Friday's opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics.
Under pressure from foreign journalists, China lifted a ban on foreign media sites including Amnesty International last week and Reporters Without Borders.
Reporters Without Borders said in a statement Friday, "This is good news, of course, but it continues to be unacceptable that the Chinese government can decide, according to its mood, which websites are censored and which are accessible."
Those are some of the headlines from the past week from CKUT's Community News Collective.
You can find more information-including contact information to send letters of support to Robin Long-at www.resisters.ca.
Aug. 6 2008 Headlines (CKUT Community News Collective)
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