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Shoal Lake First Nation to rally legislature for better conditions
Activists are expected to gather at the Manitoba legislature Monday urging the province to build an all-weather road to Shoal Lake First Nation, an Ontario community that became an island after it became a Winnipeg municipal water source, according the CBC Manitoba. The first nation, the place where, once again, Winnipeg gets its drinking water, is routinely on under boil-water advisory. Leaders of the community say the economic condition have been poor since this Winnipeg put in the pipes. “It doesn’t seem fair and it doesn’t seem right,” rally organizer Moses Falco told the CBC. “It seems like we should have dealt with this a long time ago. 100 years have passed, and it still isn’t fixed. I was shocked to see that there are people living on the other end of this pipe from which we get our water that don’t get the privileges we do,” said Falco. “It’s at the expense of this community that we get all our water.” First Nation leaders are expected to meet with Winnipeg’s newly elected mayor Brian Bowman, and jobs and economy minister Kevin Chief later today. [Source: CBC]
Russia’s independent media facing closures
Rain TV, the alternative to state-run media in Russia, has been forced to leave its studios in Moscow for the second time in two months. The move is a suspected death knell for Rain TV, which was a platform for news the state-run would not air. Its broadcast today was from a flat in Russia. TV2, a similarly independent media outlet, is facing closure by the end of this year. The Kremlin has long pushed for Rain TV’s demise since it became known as a station that challenges position of power, a reputation it earned itself after coverage of the mass, anti-government protests of 2011. Natalya Sindeyeva, managing director of the station, said the channel will run out of the flat temporarily. [Source: BBC]
Protests intensify along West Coast following chokehold ruling
Police fired gas and there were social media reports of officers using rubber bullets in the second-straight night of protests in Berkley, California following the chokehold death of New York City’s Eric Garner. More than 500 protesters swarmed two overpasses and looted stores in Berkley, reported police. A number of people were arrested overnight. New York was reportedly quieter of the weekend, with much of the racial-tension fuelled activism now taking place along the West Coast. There were also clashes in Seattle, Washington, Miami, and Chicago over the weekend. [Source: Reuters]
International community needs to take in more Syrian refugees: Amnesty
The international community has failed refugees trying to flee the crisis in Syria, according to an appeal launched by a group of humanitarian organizations. Since fighting in Syria began about three years ago, more than 3.2 million refugees have fled to neighbouring countries. And that number is expected to rise to 3.6 million by the end of 2o15. Amnesty International is chastising Russia and China for not taking in a soul. “The shortfall in the number of resettlement places for refugees offered by the international community is truly shocking. Nearly 380,000 people have been identified as in need of resettlement by the U.N. refugee agency, yet just a tiny fraction of these people have been offered sanctuary abroad,” Amnesty International’s Sherif Elsayed-Ali told AFP. This must change, urged Elsayed-Ali. [Source: Time Magazine]
One body identified in Mexico’s mass-abduction case
Forensic experts have identified bone fragments as belonging to one of the 43 missing students in Mexico. The government release did not name the student, but a comment left on the Facebook page of the school the students attended said she’s Alexander Mora Venancio. The students were handed to municipal authorities for allegedly protesting local government. The municipal authorities allegedly handed them over to a local gang to be killed. More than 70 people are currently being detained in connected with the missing students. And as experts attempt to locate the bodies, more than 50 unrelated and secret grave sites have been unearthed, leading to suspicion of further, more widespread corruption among police and government officials. Moves have been made to merge the country’s 1,800 police forces into 32 state forces. [Source: Wall Street Journal]
Honourable mention: “The father of video games,” Ralph Baer, has passed away 92. He earned the paternal title for his pioneering work on the video game console. Watch the 2012 profile of him below:
[su_vimeo url=” http://vimeo.com/37870722″ width=”620″ height=”420″]
And, you don’t nee to know this, but it may come up: Coldplay has announced its final album. [Source: Death and Taxes]
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