As It Happens

As It Happens: Monday Edition

Jan. 4, 2021

Episode Transcript

Part One

Assange court win
A U.K. court rules that the founder of Wikileaks can't be extradited to the U.S. — meaning Julian Assange may finally be free of legal trouble, and free to go. 

Quebec vaccine doses
The Quebec government tells early recipients of the Pfizer vaccine that they won't be getting their second dose as scheduled — and a Montreal doctor tells us that's not what she and her patients signed up for.

Rare bunting bird
A rare and dazzling bird shows up in Maryland, far from its usual flapping grounds. We reach the Swiss ambassador to the U.S. who gives a colourful account of being among the first to spot it

Part Two

Republican infighting
Over the weekend, Donald Trump phoned Georgia's Secretary of State and pressured him to find new votes in his favour — and some Republicans fear that won't help their efforts to win an imminent pair of runoff elections. 

Public domain titles
What's old is about to be new again. 2021 sees the copyright expire on a bumper crop of books, films and music that came out in 1925 — making them fair game for American creators.
 
Part Three

Northern Ontario vaccines
Vaccines are beginning to arrive in First Nations communities across the country, bringing with them a huge set of challenges too. 

San Jose hospital
Officials say an inflatable Christmas costume could be to blame for a virus outbreak in California.

North Korea propaganda balloons 
Activists in South Korea who float anti-North Korean leaflets across the border will soon face jail time or a huge fine, something a former North Korean diplomat and current South Korean lawmaker tells us will only make it easier for Pyongyang to continue "enslaving" its people.