Tonight:

A major miner problem. South Africans are outraged when two-hundred-and-seventy miners are charged for murders committed by police -- and the Ministry of Justice wants answers.

Return to the inferno. Forty years after arsonists burned down a Montreal nightclub, killing thirty-seven people, the city officially remembers the victims.

Syrup-titious. Instead of pouring it over pancakes, police are poring over clues in the mysterious theft of millions of dollars worth of maple syrup.

The mercy seats. An Anglican parish in Victoria, B.C., was facing serious financial problems -- before the minister discovered the solution was right under his behind.

Where you think you're enrolling, baby? This year, the University of Chicago is issuing letters of admission that no one will understand a year from now -- because they quote from "Call Me Maybe".

And...live free or diet. Scientists were sure a long-term study would prove the "starvation diet" could stretch the human lifespan -- but their gut feeling may have been wrong.

As It Happens, the Friday edition. Radio that believes, in the future, everyone will be famished for fifteen minutes.

South Africans have screamed "Injustice."

And today, the country's Minister of Justice is demanding an explanation for why two-hundred-and-seventy miners were charged yesterday with murdering thirty-four of their colleagues. The miners were in fact killed after police opened fire on a crowd protesting for higher wages.

Mthunzi Mhaga is the spokesperson for South Africa's Ministry of Justice. We reached him in Pretoria.

Ricky Gilligan has never forgotten the night in 1972 when he almost died -- and when thirty-seven other people did.

He was playing in the house band at the Wagon Wheel bar in downtown Montreal, over top of the Blue Bird cafe. A bouncer turned away three drunk men at the door. They returned and set the stairwell to the second-floor nightspot on fire.

Today, almost forty years to the day after the Blue Bird tragedy, as it's come to be known, the arson attack will be officially marked.

We reached Mr. Gilligan in Montreal, earlier today, between memorial events.

Dateline: Burma -- also known as Myanmar.

It was meant to raise cheers, but mostly, it's just raised eyebrows.

In an attempt to further demonstrate that the government of Burma is changing its ways, officials released a number of names of people who are now allowed to visit the country. The blacklist of a thousand-plus people contained mostly politicians, activists and journalists. What's not on the list is clarity.

What I mean is, in many cases you can infer why people were on the blacklist. Like, for example, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. But some cases are confusing. For example, one "Sonny Bono" appears on the list. Presumably, that refers to singer turned-politician Sonny Bono. Who died fourteen years ago. And he's not the only dead person to make the list: a late former Philippines president is also now allowed to visit the country. Although it's unlikely that he will.

Along with the dead, some of the living names caused confusion as well. There's a Japanese citizen listed only as "Mr. Keijikato." As the Wall Street Journal pointed out, "it's unclear what he did to offend the regime, or why he is now in favour."

Also unblacklisted is "Brian". Just "Brian". All we know is that "Brian" is Australian -- and that he may have infuriated the junta by having no surname.

Actually, now that I think about it, if the Burmese powers-that-be fears those without last names, that might explain the inclusion of Sonny Bono. Maybe he was being punished for consorting with Cher.

When Reverend Bob Arril first arrived at St. Matthias Anglican Church in Victoria, he found the church population decimated and the church itself in dire financial straits.

And things were looking grim -- until one day a parishioner made a discovery that could lift the church out of deep financial trouble and have it sitting pretty.

We reached Reverend Arril in his office in Victoria.

On the Handsome Furs' latest album, "Sound Kapital", there's a song called "What About Us". And in the months since the album release, that song title has become a loaded question.

"Sound Kapital" is one of ten albums to make the shortlist for the Polaris Music Prize -- for the best Canadian recording of the year. But if Dan Boeckner and Alexei Perry -- the members of the Handsome Furs -- show up at the award ceremony, they won't be performing. In May, a short note on the band's website announced that they were splitting up. Which didn't just mean the end of the band: because Mr. Boeckner and Ms. Perry were husband and wife, it presumably also meant the end of the marriage.

If there's a silver lining, it's that the band leaves behind three great albums, including one that just might win the Polaris Prize. From "Sound Kapital", here are the Handsome Furs, with "Serve The People".

It is, perhaps, the most Canadian crime ever.

Last night it was revealed that millions of dollars worth of maple syrup has been stolen from a storage warehouse in Quebec. The total value of the syrup in the warehouse was thirty million bucks -- and it housed ten million pounds of syrup. To give you some perspective, a fully-fuelled Space Shuttle weighs half that amount.

That's a lot of pancakes.

The reserve of maple syrup was being stored by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, which is responsible for bulk syrup sales in Quebec. Anne-Marie Granger Godbout is the Executive Director of the Federation. We reached her in Longueil, Quebec.

The hot, dry summer may be coming to an end, but its scorching affect is still clearly apparent.

In Twillingate, Newfoundland, a water shortage has caused havoc for dozens of workers at the community's fish processing plant. Twillingate is a small town on the northeast coast, and local officials have forced the plant to conserve water. That means layoffs for at least two-thirds of the workforce.

The Notre Dame Seafoods plant has been working around the clock processing shrimp, but that came to an end with reduced staff today.

John Hynes works at the plant, and he described the situation to the CBC's Roger Samson.

STARVATION DIET STUDYAGAUG. 30/12

JD: What happens when you give monkeys twenty-five percent less food for twenty-five years?

Well, you might expect all sorts of health problems. You might even expect accusations of animal cruelty. But scientists were expecting all kinds of health benefits, based on something called the calorie restriction diet. It's a diet they'd hoped might one day help us live longer.

But according to a study published in the journal Nature yesterday, after twenty-five years, the jury is still out.

Julie Mattison is a staff scientist at the National Institute of Aging, and one of the authors of the new study. We reached her in Baltimore.

When I think of Carly Rae Jepsen, I think of an earworm. Not the kind you need to have removed by an otolaryngologist -- the musical kind. Especially, Ms. Jepsen's work of pure pop genius, the hit song "Call Me Maybe". And I think of teenagers hollering it out of the open windows of their parents' cars on a hot summer night, on their way to the malt shop. Or wherever kids go nowadays.

When I think of The University of Chicago, I think of academics wearing elbow patches. I think of rigourous study and beleaguered Masters students drinking espressos while poring over Noam Chomsky. I do not think of Carly Rae Jepsen.

Not until today, anyway -- when we came across an admission letter that's being sent out by the University of Chicago. Here's an excerpt. Quote:

"We're just thrilled to hear that you've shown an interest in the University of Chicago. I know that we just met you -- and this is crazy -- but here are our numbers...so call us, maybe?

"Heart, The Office of College Admissions."

Unquote.

The numbers they're talking about tout the school's crazy four-day scavenger hunt; the seven Nobel Prize winners on faculty; the T-shirt enclosed, described as featuring "two arms, one neck, and one waist opening"; and the four-year undergraduate experience the university promises to deliver.

The letter stops short of saying, "Before you came into our lives, we missed you so bad. We missed you so bad. We missed you so, so bad."

With the diminishing number of people who attend church every week, leaders in Christian communities are forced to find new and innovative ways to engage their congregations. They're finding that people aren't always enticed by the notion of sitting rigidly in a church pew while a minister uses the sermon to carefully analyze the day's Gospel reading.

Which is partly why Mark Wessner is invoking his God-given ability to tweet.

Mr. Wessner is the pastor at the Westwood Mennonite Brethren Church in Prince George, British Columbia, where every week he uses Twitter to get his congregation engaged. He spoke with CBC's Radio West host Rebecca Zandbergen -- and here he is explaining his twitter technique, for the record.

Yeserday, we received this email from Betty Walton in Toronto. It was about a story we did involving squid cells that dance to the music of hip hop artists Cypress Hill. Apparently, this was scientific research. The results of which were surprisingly fascinating.

But Ms. Walton was horrified. She writes:

"Last week you interviewed a Mr. Gage about experiments with squid. I was horrified. I thought we were getting beyond torturing animals. He was so cavalier about distressing an animal. I wished you had addressed that more.

"At least give the squid Yo Yo Ma."

Nicely put, Ms. Walton. So, for all the squids out there, this suite's for you.