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Marina Abramović

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For four-and-a-half decades, Marina Abramović has been drawing audiences to participate in her own, very public, agonies and ecstasies. Now the performance art superstar is set to teach Toronto how to savour a little bit of suffering.

At next month's Luminato Festival, she will turn a huge city park into the Marina Abramović Institute - Prototype. She promises to teach her students how to condition themselves for performances like hers. She also promises to train audiences to enjoy them.

We reached Marina Abramović in New York City.

Friday: Rob Ford Allegations, Arctic Research Lab Reopens, Marina Abramovic and more

Highlights Include:

Part One:
* Ford allegations. Toronto Star reporter Robyn Doolittle describes a video where the Toronto Mayor is allegedly smoking crack.
* Bra Bar. A Milwaukee bar celebrates after it's allowed to re-hang the brassieres of its patrons.

Part Two:
* Arctic Research Lab Reopens. The Harper Government restores funding to PEARL, the research station on Ellesmere Island.
* Venezuela Troops. Thousands of soldiers flood Venezuela's streets to try to control the country's crime wave.


Part Three:
* Riopelles Found. A former lover of the famous painter reveals a series of never-before-seen works.
* Marina Abramovic. A feature interview with the world's hottest performance artist - who will soon be in Canada.

Read More »

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Apostrophe

Apostrophe

All the residents of the Adirondack town of Thurman want to do is put their mountain on a map. But it turns out the town has inadvertently picked a fight with the a little known government department called the 'Domestic Names Committee of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.' Carol spoke with the town supervisor in Thurman, New York.

And then, back in March, we told you about district in the U.K. which had reversed a decision to drop the apostrophe from its street signs. Carol spoke to John Richards, who is founder of the Apostrophe Protection Society.

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Senate: Ditchburn, Apostrophe Place Names, Cambodia Collapse and more.

Highlights Include:

Part One:

*Senate Latest. Journalist Jennifer Ditchburn on how it seems Senator Mike Duffy was double dipping on his expenses.
*Apostrophe Place Names. A small town in New York goes up against the feds to defend the lowly apostrophe.
 
Part Two:

*Cambodia Collapse. A shoe factory making sneakers for Western consumers collapses, killing two workers.  
*Twitter Hate Map. A professor and her students create a map of where bigoted and hateful tweets originate in the US.

Part Three:

*Mukesh Kapila. In a new book, the UN's former head in Sudan recounts how the world failed to stop the 21st century's first genocide.

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Mukesh Kapila

Mukesh Kapila

This century is young, but already it has been stained with the blood of mass murder.

The world has stood by, unable -- or unwilling -- to stop the killing in Syria. Meanwhile, the genocidal legacy of Darfur continues unchecked in parts of Sudan. And still, the world remains silent.

Few people understand this better than Mukesh Kapila.

In March, 2003, he arrived in Khartoum as the new head of the United Nations in Sudan. At forty-eight, he was one of the youngest-ever to lead a prominent UN mission. And by all indications, his two-year tenure would preside over a historic and peaceful chapter in the country's history. The government was then close to signing a peace deal with rebels in Sudan's south that would finally end a decades-old civil war.

For some reading material, Mr. Kapila packed two reports into his luggage: one on the UN's failure in Rwanda, the other on Srebrenica. He was determined not to repeat the mistakes he witnessed in the past.

There was no way he could have known that in the coming year, he would be given a front-row seat to the first genocide of the twenty-first century. And that as head of the UN in Sudan, he would be powerless to stop it.

Mukesh Kapila's new book, Against a Tide of Evil, is published in Canada by Pegasus.

He joined us in our Calgary studio.

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Calgary Council Jargon

Calgary Council Jargon

A Calgary City council committee today approved a new policy mandating clear and simple communication. Alderwoman Druh Farrell brought forward the plain language policy because she's sick of bureaucratic and jargon-y language, for example, referring to "fenestration" instead of "windows" and calling swimming pools "a flat water amenity."

She thinks that politicians fall into this bad habit and fail as public servants if they can't communicate clearly with the public. We reached her in Calgary.

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Wednesday: Libs win in BC, Senate Ethics, AP Phone Records and more

Highlights Include:

Part One:
* BC Liberal Win. Former Langley mayor and new MLA Peter Fassbender talks about the surprise majority win.
* Calgary Council Jargon. Alderwoman Druh Farrell introduces a "plain language policy" to eradicate bureaucratic language.

Part Two:
* Lobster Company. An executive with the world's largest lobster buyer explains his offer price to fishermen this year.
* Keene Robin Hoods. A group of self-described Robin Hooders who feed parking meters in the nick of time are sued.

Part Three:
* AP Phone Records.  First Amendment lawyer James Goodale says Obama is as bad as Nixon when it comes to press freedom.
* Syria: Rebel Video. A gruesome act caught on video has become a shocking and questionable symbol of the civil war.  

Read More »

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Lobster Company (Extended version)

Lobster Company (Extended version)

This season, lobster fishermen in the Maritimes are having a tough go of it. The price being offered by processors and buyers for their catch has sometimes not been enough to allow them to break even.

For almost a week, thousands of them tied their boats up in protest. And fishermen we've talked to have put much of the blame on a small group of very big global companies that have come to dominate the lobster market.

One of the biggest of those is East Coast Seafood. Spiros Tourkakis is the company's Executive Vice President. We reached him in Lynn, Massachusetts.

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Tim Bosma Body Found: Journalist

Tim Bosma Body Found: Journalist

The family and friends of Tim Bosma are in shock today after police confirmed they found Mr. Bosma's body. Tim Bosma went missing eight days ago after going on a drive with two men who responded to an ad he had placed on Kijiji to sell his Dodge Ram pick up truck.

Hamilton police have also confirmed that when they found Mr. Bosma's body, it was burned beyond recognition.

They say they will charge one man, 27-year-old Dellen Millard with first degree murder and say they are looking for up to two more suspects.

Molly Hayes is a reporter with the Hamilton Spectator.

She tells us some of the details of the case including more about Dellen Millard, his background and his family's aviation business. She also tells Carol how the Bosma family is coping with this latest news.

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Tuesday: Bosma Body Found, Keystone Ads, Lobstermen Return and more

Highlights Include:

Part One:
* Bosma Body Found. Police confirm that Tim Bosma was killed after he went on a test drive with two men in his truck.
* Noisy Frogs. A Wisconsin noise complaint is croaked in mystery -- until police see the owner's garden pond. 

Part Two:
* Keystone Ads. Prime Minister Stephen Harper heads to NYC as part of a global push to promote the oilsands.
* Guatemala Genocide Verdict. Former military ruler Efrain Rios Montt is found guilty of crimes against humanity.

Part Three:
* Lobstermen Return. Fishermen defy their protesting colleagues and head back out, despite record low prices.
* Moth Hearing Study. Scientists discover that the Greater Wax Moth has the keenest hearing of any creature in the world.

Read More »

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Police respond to noise complaint, find amorous amphibians

Police respond to noise complaint, find amorous amphibians
Police in Baraboo, Wisconsin have twice knocked at Debbie Alsip's door in response to noise complaint.
   
But Debbie Alsip is innocent. The racket is coming from a crew of courting frogs in the pond behind her house.

Debbie Alsip explains just how loud these perky peepers are, here (and we'll hear some of your responses tonight on As It Happens):

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