A selection of 'Canadian' and International News

Rafah rebuilding will cost $45 million...

Posted by-Mohammad Basirul Haq Sinha

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4F441323-4836-4A5F-9F0D-6E1269400BDF.htm

Thursday 24 June 2004, 16:56 Makka Time, 13:56 GMT

Nearly $45 million will be needed to re-house Palestinians made homeless by the Israeli army incursions in the Rafah area of southern Gaza, the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said Thursday.

Abortion Rights: A Timeline of Development

Abortion rights: A timeline of developments

CBC News Online | June 4, 2004

1892: Parliament passes Canada's first Criminal Code. It prohibits abortion as well as the sale, distribution and advertising of contraceptives. A significant number of women continue to seek abortions, according to news reports.

Update on Vancouver Pig Department

STORY 1: The Pigs are raiding all sorts of shops and bars in the Downtown Eastside as part of their ongoing war for gentrification.

STORY 2: The Pigs who beat the innocent bystanders up at the Guns'N'Roses Riot are let off the hook.

Norwegian Labour Strike Threatens World Oil Production

Norwegian labour strike threatens world oil production

Written by CBC News Online staff

Last Updated Wed, 23 Jun 2004 20:38:26

OSLO - A widening six-day strike by Norwegian oil workers threatens to cut the output of the world's third-biggest oil exporter by a quarter and could push up oil prices.

Does Israel Really Have No "Partner for Peace?"

(T)ese revelations show that the secret assessment of the highest professional echelons of the Army Intelligence Department and Shabak (Israeli Security Service) were practically identical with the assessments published at the time by (radical Israeli Peace Group) Gush Shalom, which were met with total disbelief by the media and the public, including a large part of the "peace camp". To wit, that the Palestinian leadership, headed by Arafat, has never wavered from its readiness to make peace with Israel based on the creation of a Palestinian state on 97% of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip (which together make 22% of historic Palestine), with territorial compensation for the remaining 3% and sovereignty over East Jerusalem and the Haram-al-Sharif ("Temple Mount"). The refugee problem would be solved by agreement with Israel (meaning: Israel will have a veto on any solution).

Non-Status Algerians on Trial -- Fighting Criminalization of their struggle

BACKGROUND INFO:

-- A brief history of the Action Committee for Non-Status Algerians'struggle

-- The story of the arrest on May 29th

Almost one year to the day after the police attacked the unarmed protesters peacefully waiting in the immigration minister's waiting room, the people they brutalized will are being tried summarily in the Ottawa court.

They said, "this is America . . . if a soldier orders you to take off your clothes, you must obey"

Posted by-Mohammad Basirul Haq Sinha

http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,1284,1245055,00.html

We know about Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib but until now Bagram and America's secret network of Afghan jails have come under little scrutiny. In a major investigation, Duncan Campbell and Suzanne Goldenberg discovered a familiar pattern of violent abuse and sexual humiliation............

Women Workers Take on Wal-Mart

Women Workers Take on Wal-Mart

David Cavets, CP

June 22, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO -- A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday approved class-action status for a sex-discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that has become the largest private civil rights case in U.S. history.

Natives Thwart Capture of Orca

Scott Sutherland, CP

Wednesday, June 23, 2004

GOLD RIVER, B.C. (CP) - Luna, a rambunctious and dangerously friendly orca, again swam toward aboriginal paddlers Tuesday night, turning his tail on government scientists hoping to capture him.

Iraq's 'sovereign' government to have little control over oil money

Posted by-Mohammad Basirul Haq Sinha

http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=592

by Chris Shumway (bio)

Jun 22 - A last minute spending spree by the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and language in the UN Security Council resolution setting the conditions for Iraqi sovereignty appear likely to limit the interim government’s ability to exercise meaningful control over the country’s oil revenues.

According to documents posted on its own web site, the CPA’s little-known Program Review Board (PRB) has quietly committed billions of dollars in Iraq’s oil revenues to new contracts that critics say will enrich US and British corporations while limiting the amount of revenue Iraq’s new interim government will have at its disposal when it assumes authority from the CPA on June 30.

BC Seniors Set Out to Save Public Health Care

SOURCE: http://www.columbiajournal.ca/04-05/seniors.html

by Marco Procaccini

In the wake of a mass strike against health care cuts, rollbacks and
layoffs, a recent report claiming BC's current health policies are failing
senior citizens, the death of a Kootenay man from his local hospital's lack
of resources and the proposed sell-off of the Medical Services Plan, BC
Seniors are setting out to enlist the support of community and public
interest organizations to officially endorse the preservation of the
universal public health care in Canada.

Groups fight to stop medical records from going south

CBC, Jun 21 2004

VANCOUVER - A coalition of privacy and health advocates has launched a
campaign urging the provincial government not to contract out administration
of the Medical Services Plan to an American firm.

The Campbell government is considering turning administration of MSP to
Maximus - a U.S. corporation that manages government services.

See www.righttoprivacycampaign.com for more info

Health-Cut Revolts Flare Across B.C.

Citizens fighting hospital hits are targeting politicians, the public and, as a last resort, the courts.

SOURCE: www.TheTyee.ca

Mon, Jun. 21, 2004

By Janet French

You may have seen them in your neighbourhood. Lawn signs reading "We're
watching you" and "How many surgeries were cancelled today?" are creeping
across B.C.

Signs that reflect anger over cuts to health services are just one tactic
adopted by groups formed across the province in the past two years. Groups
in the Interior, on Vancouver Island, and in the Lower Mainland are taking
creative approaches to their advocacy because, they say, negotiating with
the government and its agencies alone is a waste of time.

Postie suspended for expressing political view in Liberal office

PRESS RELEASE - Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)

2004-06-17

http://www.cupw.ca/pages/document_eng.php?Doc_ID=687

Letter carrier Rick Letendre landed a week's suspension without pay
following a complaint from British Columbia Member of the Legislative
Assembly (MLA) Lorne Mayencourt.

No Charges Laid in Frank Paul's Murder

WebPosted Jun 18 2004 02:46 PM PDT

vancouver.cbc.ca

sent to !RESIST! by Ishaq

The Crown has decided not to lay charges in the death of Frank Paul, the aboriginal man dumped in an alley by Vancouver Police officers in December 1998.