Monday, July 18, 2011

There have already been several reports on the death of Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky. But a new report released today by Physicians for Human Rights may be the most important for Mr. Magnitsky's friends and family in their quest for justice.

Mr. Magnitsky died in a Russian prison nearly two years ago under suspicious circumstances. He was thirty-seven.

Bill Browder is the founder and C.E.O. of Hermitage Capital Management -- the company Mr. Magnitsky was working for when he went to prison. Mr. Browder is also the man who called on Physicians for Human Rights to investigate Mr. Magnitsky's death.

We reached Mr. Browder in France -- but he's asked we not reveal his exact whereabouts, out of concern he may face reprisals from Russian officials.

Senior police officials are the latest casualties of the UK's phone hacking scandal.

This morning, Britain's Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner, John Yates, resigned over his handling of the crisis. It was his decision not to re-open an inquiry into phone hacking back in 2009.

Mr. Yates' resignation comes less than a day after Britain's most senior policeman, the head of Scotland Yard, Sir Paul Stephenson, announced he will be stepping down over police links to the scandal.

These latest resignations are pushing British Prime Minister David Cameron firmly under the spotlight - as his own connections with Rupert Murdoch's media empire come under ever-closer scrutiny.

Alistair Campbell was the Director of Communications for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. We reached him in London, England earlier today.

No one wants a concert ticket to include a detour to the local hospital, but that's what happened last night at the Ottawa Bluesfest.

As you've heard on the news, a storm blew in and the stage collapsed. Paramedics were quick to arrive and they took three people to hospital with injuries. Today, all three were released.

Dave Frey was there when it all went down. He's the manager for the band that was on stage, Cheap Trick. We reached Mr. Frey in Ottawa.

He believed himself to be the inspiration for George Lucas' famous action hero, Indiana Jones.

But apparently Egyptians cast Zahi Hawass in the role of the bad guy. Mr. Hawass, who had been appointed Minister of Antiquities under Hosni Mubarak, was sacked this weekend by Egypt's current prime minister.

Critics accused Mr. Hawass of stealing the spotlight from more deserving archaeologists. Darker rumours suggested he had used his connection with Mr. Mubarak to profit from the illegal antiquities trade. Despite the rumours, one thing was true: Mr. Hawass was untouchable under his former sponsor.

His fate under Egypt's new regime may not come as too much of a surprise -- he had, after all, spent his life studying the perils of power in ancient Egypt.

From Our Archives, here is Zahi Hawass, in conversation with Carol in June 2007, after his announcement that he had identified the mummy of pharaoh, Queen Hatshepsut.

Hasn't Romeo been through enough? For centuries, he's been expiring, over and over again, on what he believes to be the corpse of his beloved. So, given the emotional and physical agony he's suffered -- and the fact that he's fictional -- you might think he could be forgiven for his hotheadedness elsewhere in "Romeo and Juliet".

But no: tonight, prominent British lawyers are putting the Shakespeare hero on trial for the murder of Tybalt, Juliet's cousin, whom he kills in Act Three, Scene One. Romeo's cousin Benvolio is also facing charges.

Anthony Arlidge QC is leading the prosecution. And Ron Thwaites QC is heading the defense.

This morning the two eminent lawyers outlined their respective cases to the BBC's John Humphries and the rather aptly named Sarah Montague. Here is an excerpt from that interview, for the record.

Drought is an act of nature. But when the people affected by drought aren't getting enough help -- that's a human problem.

Mark Bowden is the person charged by the United Nations with sorting out that problem for the hundreds of thousands of Somalis hit by the drought. And within that problem are a lot of other problems.

The UN is now working with the Islamist rebel group al-Shabab inside Somalia to get to those in need. Meanwhile, Somali refugees continue to stream over the border into massively overcrowded refugee camps in Kenya.

We reached Mark Bowden in Nairobi.

It's become a running joke. Or a lack of running joke.

When the clock struck noon in Tar Heel, North Carolina, this past Friday, the deadline for filing one's candidacy for the upcoming town election was up. And not a single candidate had filed papers. So when the people of Tar Heel head to the polls later this year, they'll be looking at blank ballots.

Richard Martin is the current mayor of Tar Heel. We reached him at his office.

Right now, the air outside this building is like hot broth. Everyone is shuffling around like sad, wet zombies. Everyone, that is, except for a group of people in Winnipeg -- who are actually hoping it stays face-meltingly hot.

That's because anyone who bought and paid for a pool or hot tub from Winnipeg's North West Wholesale Pools and Spas in the last few months could be looking at a full refund -- if the temperature rises above thirty-four-point-five degrees Celsius today.

Nelson Barrett is the owner of North West Wholesale Pools and Spas. We reached him at Winnipeg's Richardson International Airport.

There's living large and then there's living like Violet Large. And the two couldn't be any further apart.

Violet Large lived a modest life in Lower Truro, Nova Scotia. She surrounded herself with people she loved -- most importantly, her husband Allen -- and she was involved in her community.

Last summer -- a year ago this week, in fact -- Ms. Large's community involvement grew to epic proportions. She and her husband won eleven-million dollars in the Atlantic lottery. After deciding that amount of money was "a big headache" they decided to give it away. All of it. Some to friends and family, some to local fire departments, churches and cemeteries, and some to the hospitals where Ms. Large was being treated for ovarian cancer, which she had been fighting for some time.

This past Saturday, Violet Large lost that fight. She was 78.

Last summer, after the Larges' largesse made headlines around the world. They were also interviewed by Tom Murphy, host of CBC News Nova Scotia at Six. Here, for the record, is part of that conversation.

Today, I got an email from a Mr. Raman Usman, of a bank in Burkina Faso. He's offering to go halfsies on ten million dollars he's found. All I have to do is pay for the administrative expenses. "The transfer is risk-free," Mr. Usman says, "hence you are going to follow my instruction till the fund transfer to your account."

Well, no offense, Mr. Usman, but I'm considering not following your instruction. You lost me at "ten million dollars". It's just too much. You should have aimed lower. You should have offered me a chance, say, to eat a croissant.

It allegedly worked for the people who scammed a man named Chu, in Taiwan. According to a report in Taiwan's "Apple Daily", Mr. Chu received an email offering "French bread so delicious it will make you cry".

And there was a photo of a croissant. If Mr. Chu jsut sent ninety-nine Taiwanese dollars -- about three dollars -- to a bakery, it would send Mr. Chu the croissant in the photo.

Here's a quick profile of Mr. Chu. Likes: croissants, taking advantage of unlikely Internet offers. Dislikes: thinking about things.

He wired the ninety-nine Taiwanese dollars toute de suite. But no croissant. Instead, the company handling the transaction called him to say his money hadn't arrived. He sent it again. Then a bank manager called, saying the money was still not there. Mr. Chu duly resubmitted his payment. Then someone from the not-at-all-suspiciously-named "Monetary Supervision Commission" called and told Mr. Chu that his croissant was still there, and still delicious, but that he would have to re-send the money yet again.

According to the "Apple Daily", Mr. Chu somehow sent the scammers a total of twelve million Taiwanese dollars -- which is three-hundred-and-ninety-eight thousand dollars Canadian. At that point, naturally, he started to become suspicious.

Now, I'll admit that part of this story doesn't ring true. The part about all of it. Who comes up with a croissant scam? How could a ninety-nine dollar croissant end up costing someone twelve million dollars? Just how gullible is this Mr. Chu supposed to be? Is this story of an email scam a scam itself?

On the off-chance that this story is true, I feel bad for Mr. Chu. Because if it is, it means he's the first person to be double-crossed over a single croissant.

And now, from their album "The Double Cross", here's Sloan, with "Follow The Leader".