As It Happens: Thursday Edition
Part One
Imprisoned academic
His PhD supervisor tells us British academic Matthew Hedges was in the U.A.E. doing research — but yesterday, a court there sentenced him to life for spying.
Proud Boys founder leaves
After documents show that the FBI has classified the Proud Boys an "extremist group," Gavin McInnes abruptly drops out of the organization he founded.
Blue Bomber fan
When a Winnipeg man swore not to wear long pants until the Blue Bombers won the Grey Cup, it was 2001 — and for the 18th season running, he finds himself out on two bare limbs.
Part Two
Brazil drug lord
A Brazilian druglord murders a young woman in his cell to stay in a VIP facility in Paraguay — but his cold-blooded plan backfires when he's sent back to Brazil.
'Midget' term sports
Their toddler is a budding athlete with dwarfism — and when one family asked a basketball league in Ontario to stop using the term "midget" as an age category, it agreed.
Part Three
Media funding
The Trudeau government says it's ponying up more than half a billion dollars to save the struggling news industry. The Conservatives' deputy leader worries that might make media outlets hesitate before biting the hand that so generously feeds.
B.C. child advocate
British Columbia has a new child advocate, and she's done a deep dive on youth drug use. Now, she's proposing that youth-specific supervised consumption sites could help save young people's lives.