Canadian politicians call on feds and Quebec to help free Saudi blogger

Ensaf Haidar, wife of blogger Raif Badawi, takes part in a rally for his freedom, Tuesday, January 13, 2015 in Montreal. Badawi was sentenced last year to 10 years in prison, 1,000 lashes and a fine of one million Saudi Arabian riyals (about $315,000 Cdn) for offences including creating an online forum for public debate and insulting Islam.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

Peter Rakobowchuk The Canadian PressThe wife of a Saudi blogger who was flogged 50 times last week after being convicted of insulting Islam has accused the Arab country of regressing hundreds of years with the way it is treating Raif Badawi.

“My husband was imprisoned for simply expressing his liberal opinions in a country that has gone back to acting like the courts of the Middle Ages,” Ensaf Haidar said through an interpreter Tuesday.

“The Islamic inquisition tribunals that were established in Saudi Arabia are back…and putting an end to the dialogue of religions. Saudi Arabia wants to present an image of openness and tolerance to the West while, at the moment, it imprisons hundreds of people for expressing their opinions.”

Badawi was sentenced last May to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes after he criticized Saudi Arabia’s powerful clerics on a liberal blog he founded.

Toronto rally planned to honour victims of French attacks

Hundreds gathered on the steps of Vancouver Art Gallery on Wednesday evening to show solidarity for the victims of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack.

Torstar News Service
A downtown Toronto rally is planned for Sunday afternoon in support of the victims in the French terrorist attacks.

Hundreds are expected to gather at Nathan Phillips Square at 2 p.m. in a demonstration of support for free speech after 17 people were killed and several others were injured in the massacre at the offices of French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo and the events that followed.

Two minutes of silence will be observed for those killed, according to the event page on Facebook.

Photos! Charlie Hebdo Victims Honoured By World Leaders #Je Suis Charlie

World leaders including David Cameron of United Kingdom, Angela Merkel of Germany, Isreal's Benjamin Netanyahu and others joined French president and thousands of France nationals in a solidarity march on the streets of Paris this afternoon to protest the killing of 12 Charlie Hebdo cartoonists. The march began in Place de la République and will end at Place de la Nation. More pics after the cut...

New Year's Update: POLICE PROTEST IN US

Amid the celebration, some U.S. cities saw New Year’s Eve protests related to recent police killings of unarmed black men.

Activists in Boston staged a peaceful “die-in” during First Night, Boston’s popular New Year’s Eve celebration. Dozens of people participated in the brief protest in front of the Boston Public Library Wednesday evening while others held signs saying “black lives matter” and “a young black man is two times more likely to be shot dead by police than a white young man.”

Police reported no arrests or disruptions to nearby festivities.

In New York, where the police department is still mourning two officers shot to death in a patrol car, protesters marched late Wednesday night. They came as close to Times Square as possible, but did not interrupt the New Year’s celebration.

Friends rally behind Montreal woman whose legs were severed by a train

Sarah Stott lost both of her legs after she was struck by a train in Montreal on Dec. 8, 2014.

A fundraising campaign has been set up for a Montreal woman who lost both of her legs after she was hit by a train in early December.

Friends set up the campaign for Sarah Stott, to help her pay her medical bills and buy a set of prosthetic legs. The campaign has raised more than $28,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.

Sarah, 22, was coming home from a shift at the Irish Embassy Pub in downtown Montreal on Dec. 8 when she was hit by a Canadian National Railway train at about 3 a.m.

Thousands protest election results in Poland

Thousands of supporters of the main opposition party, the conservative Law and Justice, gather at the Three Crosses square in Warsaw, Poland, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2014. Alik Keplicz/AP 

Vanessa GeraThe Associated Press
Thousands of supporters of a conservative opposition party in Poland marched on Saturday to protest the results of recent local elections, which party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski says were falsified.

The November elections were marred by problems, with a computer glitch delaying results and many ballots declared invalid because voters apparently were confused and marked them incorrectly.

However, there is no indication they were falsified. Kaczynski’s critics accuse him of making false claims about the election outcome to motivate his base ahead of national elections next year.

His supporters marched in Warsaw under the slogan “in the support of democracy,” chanting “repeat the elections.”

Thousands March On NYPD HQ To Protest Police Killings

Matt Sledge and Braden Goyette | Huff
Tens of thousands of protesters streamed out of New York City's Washington Square Park on Saturday to protest the killings of unarmed black people by police officers, as part of the "Millions March NYC."

The crowd began to wind its way through Manhattan. A large labor union contingent was present, including members of the Communications Workers of America wearing red shirts and AFL-CIO supporters waving blue signs.

Dozens Of Capitol Hill's Staff Walk Out On Congress To Protest Grand Jury Decisions

Dozens of congressional staffers walked out in protest of the recent grand jury decisions failing to indict the two officers who killed Eric Garner and Michael Brown. The result was an incredible display of solidarity, with staffers raising their hands in the air to invoke Brown's "hands up, don't shoot"

Three Hong Kong protest leaders to surrender

The three original founders of Hong Kong’s “Occupy Central” protest movement have announced that they will “surrender” to police while some other protesters started a hunger strike and called for a new wave of protests, Al Jazeera reports.

Occupy Central leaders have urged protesters in the Chinese-controlled city to retreat a day after activists clashed with police and forced the temporary closure of a government headquarters.

“As we prepare to surrender, we three urge the students to retreat, to put down deep roots in the community and transform the movement,” said Occupy Central leader Benny Tai at a press conference on Tuesday.

He said the trio would surrender to police on Wednesday in a commitment to the rule of law and “the principle of peace and love”.

Manitoba Liquor Mart employees unanimously vote to strike

 

Colin Fast MetroThe holidays could be filled with less spirits this year, after liquor store workers and distribution staff across Manitoba voted 97 per cent in favour of possible strike action.

The vote gives the Manitoba Government Employees Union the authority to set a strike date, which could happen during the busy lead-up to Christmas if an agreement isn’t reached soon.

“We stand in solidarity: the liquor workers want the employer to come back to the bargaining table prepared to bargain in earnest, without the concessions and with a reasonable wage offer,” said Manitoba Government Employees Union President Michelle Gawronsky in a statement.

The MGEU said voter turnout among the 868 workers was “historically high” and included staff from retail stores, head office and the distribution centre.

Union members rejected a contract offer last month from Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries over  concerns about changes to benefits plans and other employment conditions. The offer did include a modest salary increase.

Negotiations resumed today

Non black protesters asked to limit visibility at Ferguson rally in Toronto

Abdul LatheefThe Canadian Press
Thousands braved freezing temperatures in Toronto on Tuesday night to hold a vigil for Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager slain by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., in August.

They gathered across the street from the U.S. Consulate, a day after a grand jury in Missouri decided not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Brown, who was 18.

Protest leader Lena Peters said the immediate issue was that the grand jury made the decision not to take the “murder” of a black man to trial.

“Those folks who are here tonight don’t believe that’s OK,” she said.

“We believe that it is part of a larger system that doesn’t value black life.”

Violence Rocks US Cities After Jury Decides To Free Police Who Killed Michael Brown in Ferguson

Violent protests in US after grand jury decides not to indict police man who killed unarmed teen. Thousands of people flooded the streets from L.A. to New York late Monday night after a grand jury decided they were not going to indict officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of unarmed 18 year old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, saying that officer Wilson acted 'lawful'.

The jury was of course composed of 12 people; six white men, three white women, two black women and one black man. They met on 25 separate days and heard more than 70 hours of testimony from about 60 witnesses, including three medical examiners and other experts on blood, toxicology and firearms. And decided officer Wilson did nothing wrong by killing a black unarmed teen, shot 6 times

Rwandan Government Condemns BBC’s Controversial Documentary

Rwanda MPs Want BBC Transmission Suspended

The Rwandan parliament has called for the British Broadcasting Corporation to be banned from the country’s airwaves in retaliation for a controversial documentary that questioned official accounts of the 1994 genocide, The UK Guardian reports.

Rwanda’s Untold Story, broadcast earlier this month, highlighted growing criticism of President Paul Kagame and claims that his Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) was responsible for war crimes and more deaths than previously acknowledged.

Kagame responded by telling parliament that the BBC had chosen to “tarnish Rwandans, dehumanise them” and accused it of “genocide denial”. The corporation has emphatically rejected the claims.

On Wednesday angry Members of Parliament (MPs) approved a resolution calling on the government to charge the documentary-makers with genocide denial and revoke the BBC’s licence to broadcast in the country.

Senate president Bernard Makuza was quoted by the New Times newspaper as saying: “We must stand and fight against these deniers. Among the decisions we should consider is taking a legal action against the deniers, be it internally or externally.

“We should as well consider revising the agreements Rwanda has with BBC. This is an open struggle that cannot be taken lightly and should be taken on by everyone collectively.”

Photo | Another US Police Tragedy As Protesters Line-Up Streets Of St. Louis

Protester move through the streets of St. Louis, MO. More than 1,000 gathered Saturday in downtown St. Louis for a second day of organized rallies to protest Michael Brown's death and other fatal police shootings in the area and elsewhere. USA Today

Ottawa | New Petition To Make Discrimination On Tattoos, Piercings and Hair Colour Illegal

An Edmonton woman is advocating for Ottawa and Canadian employers to make it illegal to discriminate against potential employees because of body modifications like piercings, tattoos and hair colour.

Kendra Behringer has collected nearly 1,200 signatures for her online petition posted on Change.org, but hopes to amass at least 3,000.

"Discrimination laws officially protect those of a certain race, religion, age, gender, marital status, family relation, and more recently sexuality has been added to that list. Let's add physical appearance to that list, including piercings, tattoos, and hair choice with the exception of threat to health and safety," reads the closing paragraph of the petition.

Behringer, 24, has several visible piercings, including two eyebrow rings, two nose rings and three lip rings and a tongue ring. She currently works at a novelty store which she said has no policy against piercings and tattoos provided they aren't profane.

Pro-democracy Hong Kong protesters regroup at main protest site

Pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong appear to be withdrawing from some protest sites and regrouping at the main site outside government buildings.

But student protesters denied blocking entrances to government HQ and insisted civil servants could return to work.

They said they would agree to the government’s offer of talks if attacks on them were investigated and protest sites were not forcefully cleared.
Hong Kong’s leader says public offices and schools will open on Monday.

The protesters are angry at China’s plans to vet election candidates in 2017.

They are demanding that the central government in Beijing allow Hong Kong to hold fully free elections in the next vote for the territory’s leader.

Serbian church blasts gays, West over parade plan

The Serbian Orthodox Church on Tuesday blasted what they called ‘shameless’ plans in Belgrade for a gay Pride Parade, which the church says was imposed on Serbia from the West.

“Organisers of such parading and their mentors from Europe refuse to draw conclusions from what previous parades caused,”the SPC said in a statement signed by its head, Patriarch Irinej.

The Serbian LGBT community has launched a Pride Week, planning a Pride Parade on Sunday in central Belgrade as its climax.

The parade was, however, routinely banned as a security threat since massive violence accompanied the only one ever held, in 2010.

With the police decision on Sunday’s parade still pending, the SPC accused the organisers of causing unrest and aggression, awakening destructive instincts among the young.

“That absurd parading forces the authorities to activate almost the entire security apparatus to protect this insignificant group,” it said.

The church said that Serbia should not waste money on securing homosexuals after suffering the immense costs of disastrous floods earlier this year.

The SPC accused the parade organisers of greed and violating God’s moral structure built into the human nature.

It also made parallels between homosexuality and pedophilia.

The church, which is profoundly influential in Serbia, has also in the past, led in condemnations of homosexuality, branding it a disease and sin.

Vancouver | Hundreds Rally For Climate Change Summit

Hundreds marched through downtown Vancouver on Sunday in support of a United Nations meeting that hopes to stifle climate change.

The demonstration was intended to coincide with worldwide rallies scheduled two days before the start of the United Nations Climate Summit in New York.

The United Nations says the goal of the summit is to promote a global agreement that would limit worldwide temperature increases to less than 2 C.

The organization says no negotiating will be taking place during the conference on Sept. 23, though the gathering intends to show leaders of all types are taking action.

Traffic was snarled in Vancouver as protesters walked through the streets, and many in the crowd were waving placards protesting the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project.

If built, the pipeline would ship 525,000 barrels of oilsands crude per day from the Edmonton area to Kitimat, B.C., where the material would then be shipped to Asia.

Canadian Press
 

Queen Comments on Scottish Referendum

The Queen made a rare intervention on the political stage when she expressed the hope that voters will "think very carefully about the future" before the Scottish independence referendum on Thursday.

As David Cameron prepares to issue a warning in Scotland that a vote for independence will lead to a permanent split from the UK, campaigners for the union welcomed the Queen's remarks as a reminder of the monumental decision facing voters in Scotland.

The comments by the Queen came as she left Crathie Kirk near her Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire after the Sunday morning service. The Queen told a well-wisher: "Well, I hope people will think very carefully about the future."

The Queen's remarks were interpreted by no campaigners as helpful to their cause. They were seen to tally with a warning the prime minister will deliver in Scotland on Monday, on his final visit north of the border before Thursday's vote, that a vote for independence would lead to an irrevocable break with the UK.

Quebec Look to Scotland for Independence Hope

 

 

Quebec sovereigntists are watching closely as Scotland heads to the polls for its historic September 18 vote on independence.

 

A number of Quebec sovereigntists, including representatives of the Parti Québécois, are heading to Scotland this week to observe the vote and bring back ideas for breathing new life into their flagging movement back home.

Andréanne Villeneuve is one of those making the trip.

“It will maybe prove the shot in the arm for independence in Quebec that we’ve been waiting for,” she told CBC News.

One idea the PQ is already promoting is a Scottish-influenced approach to questions of immigration and cultural diversity in Quebec.

That means putting to rest the ghosts of the controversial secular values charter promoted by the recent PQ government under Pauline Marois, which wanted to ban the wearing of overt religious symbols by members of Quebec’s public service, as well as former PQ leader Jacques Parizeau’s blaming the “ethnic vote” for the 1995 referendum loss.