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January 10, 2012
Read by: Aisha Samu
Stories by: Aisha Samu, Niki Mohrdar, Jordie Yeager, Nikita Smith and Tara Brockwell
Produced by: Carlo Spiridigliozzi
Nigerian fuel prices spark protests
Nigeria is plagued with protests after a government decision to end fuel subsidies.
According to Al Jazeera protesters set the secretary of state’s office ablaze. Tear gas and ammunition were deployed by state officials to clear the streets. Two deaths and twenty eight injuries were reported by the Red Cross so far.
Fuel prices have doubled in Nigeria since the government repealed subsidies in a bid to divert funds to improving state infrastructure. Proponents believe the government is corrupt and see low fuel prices as their only benefit from the nation's oil wealth.
The average Nigerian citizen lives on a less than two dollars a day.
White House gets new Chief of Staff
According to BBC News, Budget Director Jack Lew will be the White House's new Chief of Staff.
Bill Daley, who has held the position since January 2011, resigned due to a need to spend more more time with his fmaily back in Chicago.
President Obama made the announcement with both men at his side.
As Chief of Staff, some of Lew's roles will include dealing with crises, managing access to President Obama, and serving as a contact to Congress.
Accused Rwandan man fights deportation
The lawyer for a Rwandan man facing deportation has made a final legal plea to keep him in Canada. According to CBC, Léon Mugesera is facing deportation to Rwanda to face charges of inciting genocide.
His sixteen-year legal battle was brought all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2005. The Court upheld the decision to deport him.
Mugesera’s lawyer claims that his client’s life would be in danger if sent back to his native country.
The Rwandan academic is accused of helping incite the Rwandan genocide with his 1992 speech promoting the killing of ethnic Tutsis. He fled to Quebec after an arrest warrant was issued and obtained permanent residency status, later revoked.
Mugesera’s deportation is scheduled for Thursday.
American ex-marine sentenced to death in Iran
An American ex-marine has been accused of spying and sentenced to death by a court in Iran. According to CNN, Amir Mirzaei Hekmati was convicted of being involved with the CIA.
CNN quotes Fars news agency, saying the ex-marine was also convicted of “working for an enemy country” and trying to accuse Iran of being involved in terrorism.
Hekmati was arrested five months ago, furthering tension between the U.S. and Iran. His family and the U.S. government deny the accusations.
The U.S. State Department is looking into the situation to confirm that reports of the sentence are accurate.
More federal cuts to be made
According to CBC, the federal government is cutting back their spending by 10 percent in order to eliminate the deficit problem. Currently, there are slow growth projections and a weak job market.
Despite this, many major government companies are being asked to create a plan to cut spending. These cuts are to be made over the next two fiscal years.
These cuts have doubled since last year. The companies that will take part in the cuts include Public Works, National Defense, Foreign Affairs and CSIS.
Treasury Board President, Tony Clement told deputy ministers to start making the cuts faster.
However, President John Gordon says that the original plan of cutting back by five percent would have badly harmed services and therefore a cut of 10 percent would be disastrous.
Rah Rah
Rah Rah, A seven-piece indie band from Regina, Saskatchewan, released their sophomore album Breaking Hearts in June of 2010. The band first gained notice in 2008 with their debut album, Going Steady, a combination of quirky indie rock guitar driven duets reminiscent of Immaculate Machine and The New Pornographers. Produced by Plants and Animals' Kees Dekker, Breaking Hearts delivers a mix of catchy upbeat numbers and melodic ballads that establish the band as a prominent player on the Canadian indie music scene.
“Arrow” kicks of Breaking Hearts with catchy guitar driven riffs and chanting choruses, drawing the listener in from the first track. It's buzzing guitar driven tracks like this, “Henry” and “Hurt You Bad” that seem like a progressive continuation of Going Steady. Yet what marks Rah Rah’s departure from their debut is the album’s ballads in which clean guitar, piano and synth are accompanied by vocal clarity to achieve an emotional crescendo. Themes of love, loss and change ring clear on tracks like “Ghosts” with lyrics such as “I once held you close in that bedroom full of ghosts - Pressing sobbing shuttered eyes, trembling legs and loosened thighs”.
Despite the album’s newfound sophistication, Rah Rah’s quirky nature still shines through on tracks such as “Communist Man”, a ditty about a love affair with a commie, or “Joey,” a ballad about a fictional narrative surrounding Joey Ramone. While nothing may scream as loud as tracks such as “Fuck Nafta”, Breaking Hearts seems less a cry for attention and more a selection of carefully crafted intertwined melodies and harmonies.
Around the last third of the album, the songs begin to drag. “What About Love” is sung in a vulnerable, almost whiny voice and the moaning choruses begin to sound grating. “Lightning” and “Waltz” are pleasant to the ear but lack the lustre and catchiness of the earlier tracks on the album. Yet the album manages to bring it back with the title track, a rock anthem sung by numerous band members with soaring choruses that claim “I’m still in love with you.” With an album that infuses old soul with modern themes, gripping ballads with upbeat numbers, and the familiarity of Going Steady with progressive new material, Breaking Hearts ensures we are still, most definitely, in love with Rah Rah.
-Emma Wolno
January 9th 2012
Produced By Melissa Mulligan
Read By Sarah Deshaies
Articles By Gregory Wilson, Sofia Gay, Audrey Folliot and Daniel J. Rowe
Salvation From Sin pays homage to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
This coming Friday January 13th at 11:59pm, SALVATION FROM SIN pays homage to the late, great DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING Jr, on what would have been the Nobel Peace Prize winner's 83rd birthday, had he not been assassinated on April 4th, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee.
SFS will showcase several of his most poignant speeches including those from his March on Washington, his stance on the Vietnam War, and of course his I Have A Dream speech. Without bastardizing his heavy words of peace, love and brotherhood, we will also showcase a plethora of inspirational & tasteful House music that best exemplifies the late Reverend's outlook on what the World should have been and should still be.
SALVATION FROM SIN
Friday nights
Midnight - 3am CJLO 1690 AM (in Montreal)
or online CJLO.com/cjlo.m3u
LOS ANGELES/SAN FRANCISCO/VANCOUVER: 9pm-12am (Friday night)
BERLIN/PARIS/PRAGUE/ROME/MADRID/AMSTERDAM: 6am-9am (Saturday)
ATHENS/BUCHAREST/HELSINKI: 7am-10am (Saturday)
YEREVAN: 9am-12pm (Saturday)
SHANGHAI/HONG KONG/KUALA LUMPUR/SINGAPORE: 12pm-3pm (Saturday)
TOKYO/OSAKA: 1pm-4pm (Saturday)
SYDNEY: 2pm-5pm (Saturday)
New uranium enrichment site in Iran
A leading hardline newspaper reported Sunday that Iran had opened a new site for uranium enrichment.
According to The Associated Press, this new underground site would be well protected from possible airstrikes.
Uranium can serve for the production of fossil fuels and fissile warhead material, which scares the international community. Iran is currently under United Nations sanctions because they refuse to stop uranium enrichment.
The country’s leadership says the reactors will only be used for energy and research.
Around 8,000 centrifuges are operating in Natanz, central Iran.
According to an Iranian daily, Revolutionary Guard deputy commander Ali Ashraf Nouri said that if Iran’s exports were to be blocked, the Strait of Hormuz would be closed.
The Strait of Hormuz is at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and is the place where one sixth of the world’s oil reaches the market.
In response to Tehran’s nuclear program, the United States recently directed new sanctions to Iran’s central bank and its ability to sell petroleum internationally.
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