How China has rewritten the history of Tiananmen Square

Across Canada and around the world this week, there will be commemorations, vigils and demonstrations to mark the 25th anniversary of the massacre at Tiananmen Square; but not in China.

The Chinese government has successfully re-written this recent chapter of the nation's history, casting the peaceful protesters who stood for democracy as counter-revolutionaries and lionizing the courageous soldiers who risked their lives to control a riot.

The government has a record of success in promoting revisionist history to mask the truth, according to Rowena Xiaoqing He, a China scholar and lecturer at Harvard University. She is also the author of Tiananmen Exiles: Voices of the Struggle for Democracy in China.

Rowena Xiaoqing He, a China scholar and lecturer at Harvard University, pores over photos and records of the Tiananmen Square massacre with her students. (Courtesy Rowena Xiaoqing He)

"Even in the Great Famine that happened between 1958 and '62, there were 36 million people who starved to death and they have summarized this as a three-year natural disaster," she said in an interview with Michael Enright, host of The Sunday Edition. "And that was twice the death toll of World War One."

No one has been able to confirm the death toll in the Tiananmen Square massacre. The figure ranges from hundreds to thousands. At one point, the Chinese Red Cross estimated 2,600 then retracted that number.

Death of a reformer

The spark that ignited the uprising at Tiananmen Square was the death of Hu Yaobang, a liberal reformer. He had been deposed as the General Secretary of the Communist Party after taking a stand in favour of political and economic change, and against corruption in the party elite.

The Sunday Edition

On CBC radio's The Sunday Edition on June 1 starting at 9 a.m. eastern: 

• Michael Enright: The almost celebratory atmosphere around the D-Day anniversary that commemorates the deaths of thousands is a public-relations ploy that dishonours their memory.
• Do What You Love: In this season of inspirational commencement addresses, the mantra "Do What You Love" is everywhere. Writer Miya Tokumitsu thinks it's a dangerous message.
• How we view animals: David Fraser of UBC's Animal Welfare Program discusses the changes he has observed over his 40-year career in the way humans consider animals.
• Passion for Canada: Award-winning American writer Richard Ford's latest novel is called simply "Canada." He discusses why.

At first the students gathered to mourn, but their grief soon turned into grievance. They called for democratic reform, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press and government accountability.

The citizens of Beijing rallied to support what came to be known as the Democracy Movement. As weeks passed and news of a student hunger strike spread across the country, there were sympathetic protests in about 400 cities.

One of them was Guangzhou, where Rowena Xiaoqing He was a 17-year-old student. She lived close enough to Hong Kong to pick up images and stories about Tiananmen that were being broadcast by Hong Kong television.

"When I first told my father I wanted to join the demonstrations, he just said yes without hesitation," Rowena recalled. "The movement was a nationwide movement that happened all over China."

Bloody crackdown

Ultimately, the government decided the protests must be stopped with force. Authorities declared martial law on May 20 and leader Deng Xiaoping mobilized between 200,000 and 300,000 troops in the nation's capital, including tanks and helicopters.

Soldiers first opened fire on unarmed protesters on the evening of June 3 and the massacre continued into the early hours of June 4. There were reports that tanks mowed down tents with students inside; soldiers opened fire not just on the streets, but killed bystanders on balconies surrounding the Square.

In the morning, troops shot parents who were walking the streets in search of their children. Infuriated citizens tried to fight back with sticks, rocks and Molotov cocktails, and there were reports of casualties among the soldiers. The Chinese government later used these incidents to argue that the troops were justified in using force and were acting in self-defence.

Crowds of jubilant students surge through a police cordon before pouring into Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989. (Reuters)

In the aftermath of the massacre there were mass arrests of protesters and sympathizers, some of whom were executed and others imprisoned. The government ordered media to stop broadcasts and shut down satellite transmissions. They arrested many Chinese journalists and expelled foreign reporters from the country.

When Rowena returned to school after the military crackdown, she wore the traditional sign of mourning, a black armband. "My teacher came over to me and said, 'If you do not take that off, no one can protect you from now on.'"

She removed the armband.

"I was a coward. I didn't want to be expelled from school and I didn't want to go to prison," she says.

Revising history

The government acted quickly to suppress further protests and to reframe its own role.

In an iconic photo from the 1989 crackdown on protesters by the Chinese government, an unidentified man stands alone to block a line of tanks heading toward student-led popular demonstrations at Tiananmen Square. (Jeff Widener/AP)

"On the one hand, the government wanted to make sure those who participated in it, those who experienced it, that they would remember what the consequences would be if they did this again," Rowena said. "And for those who had never experienced it, they wanted to make sure that they did not know or, if they did know, they only knew the official version."

The government version of events was promoted through an elaborate "Patriotic Education Campaign," which included a revision of all school books. In essence, Rowena said, the government convinced the populace that the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese people and the Chinese nation were one.

"The army soldiers became the guardians of the public, and the military crackdown was justified as one that was necessary for stability and prosperity. It was also against a Western conspiracy to divide and weaken China," Rowena said.

"That's why before the Olympics of 2008, we saw the global emergence of China defendants, raising red flags and cursing the Dalai Lama. Whenever you criticize the regime they feel you're criticizing the nation and the people … and at the same time, there is a sense that China is being victimized by the West."

The bodies of dead civilians lie among mangled bicycles near Beijing's Tiananmen Square early June 4, 1989. (Associated Press)

It is not permitted to speak publicly or to write about Tiananmen in China, and material with the date of June 4 meets instantly with the country's internet firewall. Rowena says that for some time the Democracy Movement used "May 35" as a way to bypass Chinese censors, however that date is now also banned.

Outside the country, the government has spread its information campaign through Confucius Institutes. In exchange for funding and free teachers and teaching tools, the Chinese government has established hundreds of these centres around the world, including eight in Canadian universities. The Toronto District School Board also recently announced it has agreed to open a Confucius Institute. There are ongoing concerns about their impact on academic freedom.

Rowena said the Tiananmen Square Massacre remains an open wound that will not heal until the people of China are allowed to mourn.

"We have never been given the opportunity to even light a candle for the deaths. We were not able to express our anger and fear. Any kind of suppression of history and memory is followed by distortions of all kinds – psychological, political and social – in a society."

[Listen to the full interview with Rowena Xiaoqing He on The Sunday Edition on CBC radio starting at 9 a.m. June 1, or in the link at the top-left of this page.]

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Boy held captive tells police rescuers he wants normal food, school

Police say a 10-year old boy they rescued from horrific living conditions in London, Ontario, told them there were two things he really wanted — some regular food, and to go school.

The boy, who police say had been locked in a squalid bedroom for at least 18-months and was wearing urine soaked pyjamas when they found him yesterday, is now with the Children's Aid Society.

They say he was malnourished after living on fast food in the garbage-strewn home. 

London police update public on the 10-year-old child locked in a room for 18-24 months. (Michelle Cheung/CBC)

The boy's aunt and uncle are now charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life and forcible confinement.

The two also have a nine-year-old daughter who`s now in the care of the Children's Aid Society as well.

Their names are being withheld to protect the identity of the children.

Police say the boy had lived with his aunt an uncle since coming to Canada in 2010.

They say his parents live outside the country and they`ve been unable to contact them.

The boy was discovered after an anonymous tip to Children's Aid. An aid worker visited the house, but no one was home. She saw the silhouette of the boy through the curtain and called police.

Police said the boy has never been to school and speaks minimal English. He was not born in Canada, they believe. His

Police in London, Ontario say the boy, found locked in a bedroom in his aunt and uncle's home, was living in squalid conditions. (CBC News)

biological parents are not in Canada at the moment. Police are not releasing the boy's country of origin because it might identify him.

The couple facing charges have a biological child, a nine-year-old girl, who was also living in the house at the time. That child is also now in the care of Children's Aid. Police said there is no evidence that the couple's biological child was confined inside the house.

Police said the boy had access to a toilet and shower, but that the entire house was "filthy."

"In the bedroom there was feces, urine. The bed was soaked in urine, as was the child's pyjamas when he was found," said London Police Det. Insp. Kevin Heslop.

The boy was fed fast food twice a day, but not usually permitted to leave the room. Police suspect the boy may have been let out of the room briefly in 2013.

In a news release, police said they've had no previous dealings with the occupants of the house. However, in 2007 the Children's Aid Society of London and Middlesex had "brief contact" with the family regarding another child who no longer lives in the home.

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5 ways air travel in Canada has changed, and 5 ways it could

The federal government recently announced two new rules that are set to change the way Canadians experience the evolving world of air travel.

Even for frequent flyers, there often seems to be something new at the airport on every trip — from check-in machines to baggage charges.

Here are five recent changes that have affected the airline industry, and five more that are on the horizon.

Change is in the air

1. Bigger, better jets

Here's a look inside the flight deck of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Air Canada has purchased 37 of the planes. (Aaron Harris/Reuters)

Air Canada recently showed off the first of the 37 Boeing 787 Dreamliners it purchased to great fanfare. The state-of-the-art jet is said to be quieter, lighter and 20 per cent more fuel efficient than its predecessors, while still carrying more cargo and providing a smoother ride for the some 300 passengers on board.

Porter Airlines, meanwhile, is hoping to fly the Bombardier CS100 (dubbed the whisper jet) in and out of the Toronto Island airport. 

Add the gigantic Airbus A380 — currently only flying between Toronto and Dubai — and a host of smaller, sleeker jets and turboprops and you have a Canadian market served by some expensive new machines.

2. Fuller flights

If you think your odds of sitting next to an empty seat have gotten worse, you're right. Rick Seaney, CEO of the Texas-based air travel site farecompare.com, says that in the last decade most airlines have gone from passenger load averages of 70 per cent to over 90 per cent.

What goes up but not down? Likely your airfare

Airfare in Canada isn't likely to get cheaper, says McGill professor and aviation expert Karl Moore.

"The airline industry doesn't make a lot of money … they're always scratching for profitability," Moore said.

The only things that could make airfare cheaper, Moore said, are more carriers on a select route (unlikely for many flights within Canada), cheaper aviation fuel (also unlikely) or if booming economies like Alberta, which demand a lot of air travel, begin to cool. 

Airlines once had a "grow or die" mentality, Seaney says, which led them to add as many routes and flights as possible, regardless of load. Today airlines are trying to maximize profits by squeezing passengers onto fewer flights. The partially full plane? "They're done with that."

3. Service goes slack

Bruce Cran, the president of the Consumers' Association of Canada (CAC) and a frequent flyer himself, says the service on airplanes is getting "less and less acceptable," for many Canadians.

"Airlines seem to be going for the absolute bare bones of what they can offer passengers," Cran says.

The consumers' group fields a steady stream of complaints from flyers about everything from access to meals and drinks, to the abundance of passenger announcements. Cran says the group has even received complaints from people who fly business class.

4. Credit cards on flights

It might seem obvious, but the ability to pay with plastic while in the sky has changed the culture in the cabin.

"The role of the flight attendant has changed," says Karl Moore, an aviation expert and professor at the Desautels faculty of management at McGill University.

As airlines try everything they can to make money, Moore says, flight attendants are increasingly tasked with selling both meals and duty free goods.

The ability to pay anywhere has also opened up what Seaney calls the "sushi menu" of flight amenities — like the ability to pay for an emergency aisle seat. 

5. Paperless world

Mobile phones are driving change in the aviation world. Most airlines now email flight itineraries with embedded QR codes that can be scanned at the gate.

Meanwhile, a range of apps can provide instant updates on your flight status.

Even the customs areas have turned to self-serve terminals in some airports, forcing travellers to enter their passport and other data before ever stepping foot in front of an actual border security agent.

Changes on the horizon

Under new Transport Canada rules, passengers will be able to use their electronic devices throughout takeoff and landing (while keeping them in flight mode). (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

1. Fewer flight attendants

Transport Canada plans to change its rules governing how many flight attendants must be on each flight from one flight attendant for every 40 passengers to one for every 50.

Flight attendants say the move puts passengers at risk in the event of an emergency, but federal officials say the change matches U.S. and European requirements. WestJet and Sunwing have already been granted exemptions to use the 1:50 ratio by Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt.

2. Electronic devices OK'd

Transport Canada also wants to eliminate that brief period of time you're asked to stow electronic devices for takeoff and landing.

The transport minister called it "good news for air passengers and it's good news for the federal aviation industry."

Passengers will still have to switch their phones to flight mode, which turns off transmitting functions, but could theoretically type throughout takeoff if they like. It's now up to airlines to change their cabin rules, something WestJet said it hopes to do by early summer.

3. Wi-Fi-enabled flights?

'You don't want to be offering an antiquated service, because people won't want to fly with you.'—Matt Nicholls, Editor of Wings magazine

The technology ruling likely foreshadows the addition of in-cabin Wi-Fi, something that's already commonplace on major U.S. airlines. Matt Nicholls, the editor of Canadian aviation magazine Wings, says it's about time this country's airliners caught up.

"You don't want to be offering an antiquated service, because people won't want to fly with you," Nicholls says. 

"I think this is a good thing for the Canadian airline industry." 

4. Onboard rules

Though Nicholls says the new rules surrounding technology will likely be well-received by Canadians, he cautioned they could be a "double-edged sword" for flight crews, who will have to change their procedures to deal with passengers more focused on their phones than important safety details.

The work of flight crews, he says, is "way more complicated than the general public even knows."

Nicholls adds that Canadian airlines will have to be more proactive with their public relations if passengers are able to post on social media platforms mid-flight 

5. Airports of the future

Many people dread airports. They're expensive, full of lines and can be a nightmare to navigate. But some of the world's most advanced airports might leave you pleasantly surprised.

Copenhagen Airport lets you plan your route through the airport using an online map featuring 360-degree views, and is hoping to use Google Glass to guide passengers to their gates in the future.

At major airports in Japan and South Korea they're aiming to automate the flow of passengers to the point where there's no longer a need for airport staff at all. 

And in London's Gatwick Airport, you can use a virtual grocery store run by Tesco supermarket to have food delivered to your home when you return. 

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Should the media stop naming rampage killers?

Many have watched the heart-wrenching interview with Richard Martinez, the father of one of the victims of the California shooting, who pleaded with politicians to do something about U.S. gun laws.

But in a recent interview with CBC's As it Happens, Martinez, whose son, Christopher Michaels-Martinez, was one of six people slain last Friday, also pointed fingers at the media.

Martinez said the media need to take some responsibility, and should not publish the gunman's name, image or any related videos because it gives the killer the attention he craves.

"These kids who do these things know they're going to die, because they want the attention they know the tragedy will generate," Martinez said. "And when we name them, show their picture and put it out there, you've just completed the plan.

"And worse than that … there's some kid out there, right now, after my son was killed … and that's looking at all the coverage that the shooter is getting and is getting ideas."

The idea of media self-censorship when it comes to identifying these types of killers has been advocated by some psychologists, who believe the media coverage spurs copycat killers.

"One after another, mass murderers to whom I've spoken have said so," forensic psychologist Park Dietz told Salon.com in a 2012 interview. "They can trace which mass murders in the news got them going. Or they make comments on this in their diaries or journals, or in their writings."

Dietz said the media should reduce or eliminate biographical information about the shooters.

'We cast the lead role'

Martinez said he had spoken with Dave Cullen, journalist and author of Columbine, a book about the Columbine High School shootings, who has also said that the media need to take a look at their role in covering these types of rampage killings.

"Performances require an audience and demand a star. The media provides the audience and we cast the lead role," Cullen wrote in a 2013 column for BuzzFeed.

"The killing will get covered, but we can and should deprive the shooter of name recognition."

Cullen has said the media should try to use the gunman's name sparingly in the first several hours after a shooting and then drop it altogether, and instead refer to him as the gunman or killer. That, he said, takes away the stage and attention the killer seeks.

He also said that the media should drastically scale back the use of the gunman's image on television.

"I think it really sucks a lot of the joy and the goal out of it [for the killers]," Cullen told CBC News in a phone interview.

 "What they are after, which is to be heard and to feel a sense of power, is never going to happen if there's nothing in place to give them that," Cullen said. "So it would never make sense for them to do it in the first place."

"Of course there were murders before Columbine, but when it turned into made-for-television events, that's when we get these huge body counts," Cullen said. "I have no proposal to end murder, I have a proposal to end mass murder."

Cullen said that the YouTube video produced by Elliot Rodger does provide some value and offer an insight into the killer. But he suggested the video should be relegated to the internet and not given the television stage.

David Studer, CBC's director of journalistic standards, said that in these situations the network should just report facts and details, with no artificial drama or emotion. As for the video, he said the CBC decided in this case that it should not run more than a small portion.

But he disagreed with Cullen about the role the media plays in encouraging these types of killings.

"There's always a lot of talk about how the media feed these things and inspire copycats. But as with the idea that violent movies, video games and cartoons engender violent behaviours, there seems to be little hard evidence," he said.

'Would probably be on the same path'

Christopher Ferguson, associate professor and chair of the department of psychology at Stetson University, also questioned how much of an effect censoring the names of rampage killers would have.

"My suspicion is that these individuals would probably be on the same path even if you were somehow able to magically wave the wand and remove all of the news coverage," he said.

"I don't think it created the motivation to kill. I don't think there are any of them who would say, 'Well, I would kill if I were going to get news headlines, but I'm not going to get news headlines so I'm not going to hurt a fly."

Ferguson said that censoring the gunman's name might not change the number of raw shootings, but it's possible it could decrease the number of those killed, because the killer might put less effort into making it a sensational killing. 

"The question would be, would they target less flashy groups? So maybe the argument you could make is that someone like [Adam] Lanza targeted a school because he knew that would get national headlines as opposed to targeting his extended family."

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Facebook will appeal Vancouver woman's class action lawsuit

Social-media giant Facebook says it will appeal a court ruling that will allow a Vancouver woman to launch a class action lawsuit against the company.

B.C. Supreme Court Judge Susan Griffin ruled yesterday that there is enough evidence to support allegations made by Debbie Douez that a Facebook advertising product used the names and images of members without their consent.

Griffin says the product, called "Sponsored Stories," included the names and images of members, an advertising logo and product information, which were sent to other Facebook members.

Griffin also says there's enough evidence to support allegations the company breached the province's Privacy Act.

The judge has suggested the parties arrange another hearing to address how class members will be notified, as well as any changes to the litigation plan.

Facebook says "Sponsored Stories" are no longer available to advertisers and the lawsuit has no merit.

Through the program, companies pay Facebook a fee so when their business is "liked" by users, that information is published to the users' friends as proof of their endorsement.

Read more:

Rhone argues no one should be able to use your likeness and name to endorse a product without your permission, claiming it violates B.C.'s Privacy Act.

"When their names and portraits are being taken, and put into advertisements for the gain of the company,  that's just wrong," Rhone said.

Debbie Douez says she wound up endorsing Ocean Village Resort in Tofino and Tough Mudders fitness company to all her friends despite her strict privacy settings. (Facebook)

Douez, a Vancouver videographer, says that's exactly what happened to her. Two years ago she logged on to the Facebook site "Tough Mudders" and clicked on the "like" button because it was the only way to get more information on the fitness company's programs. She also "liked" Ocean Village Resort in Tofino.

The next thing she knew, her name and photo were popping up on her friends' Facebook pages endorsing the companies she knew little about.

Douez, who does some marketing work herself, says Facebook is going too far.

"I think there's a very fine line to providing a service and manipulating the public. And I think this is a situation where people are being manipulated and in particular, manipulated for commercial gain," she said.

Facebook argues users automatically give their consent when they sign up, or when they click "like" or take so-called "social actions" on web pages. 

Facebook says consent is automatic under its terms of use. (CBC)

Some media reports have suggested you can "opt out" of endorsing sites, but Douez doubts that. 

"I did change my privacy settings. In fact, I had the tightest privacy settings that you could have in a profile," she said.

"Yet, in this particular case, you are not allowed to opt out."

In its ruling authorizing the lawsuit, Griffin says one of the key questions to be decided is whether B.C. users of social media websites run by a foreign corporation have the protection of the B.C Privacy Act.

"Given the almost infinite life and scope of internet images and corresponding scale of harm caused by privacy breaches, BC residents have a significant interest in maintaining some means of policing privacy violations by multi-national internet or social media service providers," Griffin writes in her 74-page decision.

Griffin says the central issue in the lawsuit is whether Facebook's terms of use and the online tools it provides its users constitute consent to use the person's name or portrait for advertising purposes.

Douez said other B.C. Facebook users are welcome to join the class action suit. 

On mobile? Click here to read the B.C. Supreme Court decision

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Quebec climber saved from mountain spent night on edge of death

A Quebec man is lucky to be alive and be on his way home after a dramatic rescue from the side of a Colorado mountain.

Samuel Frappier, 19, was rescued Wednesday from Broadway Ledge on Longs Peak, the highest mountain in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park.

Frappier was on a climb Tuesday with a friend when they got separated during their descent.

Samuel Frappier says it was "terrible" waiting on the ledge of a Colorado mountain, and he wasn't certain he would make it out alive before rescuers saved him. (Courtesy of CBS)

That's when Frappier tried a shortcut and ended up stranded on a small ledge — with a steep 4,000-metre drop.

"I spent all night shivering on a small rock," Frappier said. "If I slipped just one foot more, then I would have fallen to my death."

He called park rangers with his cellphone on Tuesday night and directed them to his location, about 120 kilometres northwest of Denver.

However, the 28 rescue workers it took to save Frappier were only able to reach him on Wednesday, and so he spent the night in a T-shirt and tennis shoes, with just a few granola bars to eat.

Park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson said the spot where Frappier was is exceptionally dangerous.

"It's quite amazing that he was able to come down in that terrain because it's sheer rock wall," Patterson said.

Frappier said he knew a helicopter was on its way to rescue him, but there were moments when he lost hope.

"It was terrible because at first I thought that it was just turning around and around and never coming back," he said.

Frappier's father, Denis Frappier, said he was taken aback when he saw a photo of his son clinging to the ledge.

"First I didn't realize how bad the situation was until I saw the picture of the mountain where he was, when i saw how steep the mountain," the father said. "It was quite difficult."

Denis Frappier said his son called their home several times from the side of the mountain, until he told him to stop calling to preserve his cellphone battery.

He said he never believed those would be the last times he spoke to his son.

"I have a lot of faith in him, and trust, because he's so strong mentally that I thought he would get through [it]," he said.

Frappier said his son in good enough condition to make the 30-hour drive back home from Colorado.

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2.1 billion people worldwide now obese, overweight

Modernization has not been good for health, global obesity experts say. (Shutterstock)

Almost a third of the world is now fat, and no country has been able to curb obesity rates in the last three decades, according to a new global analysis.
 
Researchers found more than 2 billion people worldwide are now overweight or obese. The highest rates were in the Middle East and North Africa, where nearly 60 per cent of men and 65 per cent of women are heavy. The U.S. has about 13 per cent of the world's fat population, a greater percentage than any other country.  China and India combined have about 15 per cent.
 
"It's pretty grim," said Christopher Murray of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, who led the study. He and colleagues reviewed more than 1,700 studies covering 188 countries from 1980 to 2013. "When we realized that not a single country has had a significant decline in obesity, that tells you how hard a challenge this is."
 
Murray said there was a strong link between income and obesity; as people get richer, their waistlines also tend to start bulging. He said scientists have noticed accompanying spikes in diabetes and that rates of cancers linked to weight, like pancreatic cancer, are also rising.
 
The new report was paid for by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and published online Thursday in the journal, Lancet.
 
Last week, the World Health Organization established a high-level commission tasked with ending childhood obesity.
 
"Our children are getting fatter," Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO's director-general, said bluntly during a speech at the agency's annual meeting in Geneva. "Parts of the world are quite literally eating themselves to death." Earlier this year, WHO said that no more than 5 percent of your daily calories should come from sugar.
 
"Modernization has not been good for health," said Syed Shah, an obesity expert at United Arab Emirates University, who found obesity rates  have jumped five times in the last 20 years even in a handful of remote Himalayan villages in Pakistan. His research was presented this week at a conference in Bulgaria. "Years ago, people had to walk for hours if they wanted to make a phone call," he said. "Now everyone has a cellphone."
 
Shah also said the villagers no longer have to rely on their own farms for food.
 
"There are roads for [companies] to bring in their processed foods and the people don't have to slaughter their own animals for meat and oil," he said. "No one knew about Coke and Pepsi 20 years ago. Now it's everywhere."
 
In Britain, the independent health watchdog issued new advice Wednesday recommending that heavy people be sent to free weight-loss classes to drop about 3 per cent of their weight. It reasoned that losing just a few pounds improves health and is more realistic. About two in three adults in the U.K. are overweight, making it the fattest country in Western Europe.  
 
"This is not something where you can just wake up one morning and say, 'I am going to lose 10 pounds,"' said Mike Kelly, the agency's public health director, in a statement. "It takes resolve and it takes encouragement."

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Vanity, sunscreen fatigue behind the rise in skin cancer

An ominous rise in melanoma cases in recent years shows that many people aren't treating the risk of sun exposure seriously, say medical professionals.

These days "people are really applying a lot less sunscreen," says Dr. Beatrice Wang, director of the melanoma clinic at the McGill University Health Centre. "I'm seeing a lot more sunburns, sun allergies in the office."

Dr. Wang says that a combination of consumer fatigue, concerns about fashion and a generally blasé attitude about the potential of contracting melanoma are behind this lax attitude to sun safety.

A report released Wednesday by the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) says that skin cancer rates have increased in the past two decades, especially among those over the age of 50.

The report, which was produced in partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada, Statistics Canada and provincial and territorial cancer registries, said melanoma is on the rise, and that the main culprit is increased sun exposure.

The sun's dangerous ultraviolet (UV) radiation is responsible for 90 per cent of melanoma cases, the cancer society says. And according to Prithwish De, an epidemiologist with the CCS, Canadians are "protecting themselves less than they used to."

Dr. Michael Dickinson, a pediatrician in Miramichi, N.B., says that based on what he's seen in his practice, "parents and children probably don't protect themselves as much as they could or as much as they should."

But he admits he's "surprised" at the CCS's findings that Canadians are less vigilant than they used to be.

"I think that people are aware that [melanoma] is an issue, although I'm not sure that people fully appreciate how big an issue it is," he says.

More sunburns

The findings of the Canadian Cancer Society are similar to conclusions drawn by the National Cancer Institute in the U.S.

A 2012 report also found that the percentage of adults who reported being sunburned has increased since 2005.

Plus, it said that between 1975 and 2009, the number of new cases of melanoma increased.

Annette Cyr, founder and director of the Melanoma Network of Canada, says that in the 1930s, the chance of getting melanoma was one in 1,500; now, it's one in 50.

She says the reason for the change is our evolving attitude to sun exposure. In short, we bare more skin than previous generations.

But despite greater public awareness of melanoma risk, "there's a lot of resistance to applying sunscreens and re-applying sunscreens," she says.

"People don't like it, because it's greasy and gets all over" your clothes.

Dr. Dickinson says another problem is that many people don't know how to properly apply sunscreen. In order for it to work effectively, he recommends people use an SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 30, and apply it every two hours.

But whether it's using sunscreen or other sun-protection measures such as wearing long sleeves, or donning a hat, many people see these safeguards as "unfashionable," and thus don't do it, says Cyr, who is a melanoma survivor herself.

She says that images in popular culture have conditioned us to believe that bronzed bodies are more attractive, which is why people will risk more exposure to the sun's rays.

The vanity aspect also explains the popularity of tanning salons, although associated health risks have prompted provinces such as Ontario and Quebec to ban access for those under the age of 18.

"We've passed legislation that restricts access for youth, but we still have the adult population at risk, and we need to promote some common-sense sun safety avenues with them as well," says Cyr.

From what she has seen, Dr. Wang says parents are actually "quite vigilant" when it comes to applying sunscreen to their young children. But she says these good habits can fall off once the kids are able to apply their own protection.

"It's just when the kids start getting older and rebelling and seeing that their parents aren't using sunscreen that they don't use it, either," she says.

GPs not trained

Another reason for the poor literacy on sun safety is doctors who do little to promote sunscreen to their patients.

According to a 2013 study of U.S. doctors between 1989 and 2010, and involving more than 18 billion patient visits, sunscreen was mentioned less than one per cent of the time.

Even more telling, perhaps, was a finding that dermatologists mentioned sunscreen in fewer than two per cent of visits.

Cyr says a similar situation exists in Canada. General practitioners are "not really trained in their school to do detection of melanoma," she says.

"When you look at the time frames they have now to do a full physical [exam], they do not, for the most part, do a full check of what you would need to check for skin cancer.

"And many of them wouldn't even know what it was they were even looking at if they saw it."

Dr. Wang has found that when informing patients about the perils of sun exposure, warning them about the risk of melanoma is not nearly as effective as appealing to their fear of aging.

"If I tell them the sun is giving them wrinkles, it seems to be a little more effective in getting them to put on the sunscreen than to say, 'You're going to get skin cancer,' because no one believes they're going to be the one to get skin cancer."

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'It was a total mistake': Lodge owner sorry for First Nations alcohol comment

The owner of a Manitoba fishing lodge said he's devastated by a section printed in his visitors guide that says aboriginals cannot handle alcohol, and has issued an apology.

"It was a total mistake and should not have been in there. It's an old trip planning guide that I've used for like 15 years and I had no idea that that was even in there," Brent Fleck of Laurie River Lodge said via phone from the facility near Lynn Lake, calling the offending section "stupid."

"I've issued an apology to the chief down in Pukatawagan and to the natives that work for me and ... it's certainly not our opinion and not something that we want to forward in any way shape or form."

The lodge's Facebook page was filled with angry comments over a section of the 37-page brochure for people planning a trip to the lodge. A paragraph on Page 10 warns guests not to give alcohol to aboriginal guides.

"We take great care when hiring our staff, however the subject of native guides must be touched upon," reads the section.

"We use Cree Indian guides from the town of Pukatawagon (sic) in northern Manitoba. They are wonderful people and fun to fish with however, like all native North Americans, they have a basic intolerance for alcohol. Please do not give my guides alcohol under any circumstances."

Although Fleck said it was written 15 years ago, that section of the guide was noticed recently by someone and spread rapidly on social media.

Fleck said he has removed the offending guide from the lodge's website and offered an explanation as to why it was there in the first place.

"You might be interested to hear that the paragraph in question was written years ago in an attempt to remove the pressure that a guide feels when his guest asks him if he would like a drink at shore lunch," he told CBC News.

"We run a very high repeat business here at Laurie River and many of our guides have guided the same guests for 20 years or more. Friendships are cemented with great memories of days on the water. That same friendship puts a guide in an awkward position if a guest offers him an alcoholic beverage.

"He is a professional and he is responsible for the health and welfare of his guests while on the water. If he accepts the drink, his ability to ensure that safety is diminished. If he does not accept it he may feel that he runs the risk of offending the guest. The best solution is to let the guest know well beforehand that he should not offer," Fleck added.

"The sentence was poorly worded and for that I feel horrible. When this whole thing first came to light I'm like, 'Holy cow, how could I be so stupid. I had no intention of offending anyone and I feel horrible that I did.

"We take great pride in the professionalism of our entire staff here at Laurie River Lodge and I am always bragging about the quality of my guides. In my mind they are the best guides in Manitoba, maybe even all of Canada and I had absolutely no intention of insulting anyone." 

Chiefs demand apology

Once the story about the controversial brochure hit social media and the mainstream media on Wednesday, Manitoba First Nations chiefs called for an apology from the lodge.

Arlen Dumas, chief of the Mathias Colomb First Nation, which includes Pukatawagan, wrote a letter to Fleck on Wednesday and demanded he apologize for his "racist, discriminatory incitement of hatred."

David Harper, grand chief of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents First Nations across northern Manitoba, was also outraged.

"It's totally derogatory, totally treating us like an animal. Basically, you're saying, 'Do not feed the bears,' right? 'Don't give alcohol to these First Nations.'

"Nobody in their right mind would say such comments."

Fleck said he told Dumas he would comply with the chief's requests to make things better.

"My only concern is that I've hurt some of the people who work for me and who have worked for me for over 20 years and that wasn't my intention," he said.

Backlash on Facebook page

The wording was denounced by people posting on the lodge's Facebook page.

"Disgusting ... it speaks volumes of your own intolerance to basic intelligence," read one comment.

"An incredible display of racism," read another.

Harper said the Manitoba government should look into the matter to see whether it could crack down on the lodge through licensing or some other mechanism.

"In order for licences to be approved, these kind of comments should also be a factor."

Deputy Premier Eric Robinson, who is aboriginal and a former tourism minister, said an apology was necessary, but he was also giving the lodge owners the benefit of the doubt.

"I think it's an oversight on their part and perhaps they didn't proofread what was written."

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Girls with bra straps exposed among 30 sent home from N.L. school

About 30 students at Menihek High School in Labrador City, N.L., were sent home because of attire deemed to have violated the school's dress code — including wearing sleeveless shirts and having bra straps exposed.

The students — a couple of males and the rest females — were told by school officials that their clothing had violated the dress code. The boys were in sleeveless shirts, and the girls were wearing tanks that could reveal their bra straps.

Emily Connors, one of the students who was sent home, said she didn't plan to be a distraction to anyone — she just wanted to be comfortable during an unseasonably warm day at school..

"This is the first time I've ever been sent home from school," Connors said. 

She said the school told girls who were sent home that it was "because of our bra straps, and that it was inappropriate because some of the male teachers, and male students found it distracting for them." 

Gary Connors, Emily's father, said his daughter was not the problem, and called the school's reasoning "outrageous."

"I mean, as far as I'm concerned, what a woman wears doesn't give a guy a right to do anything to them, [or] say anything to them. If they can't control themselves, then there's something wrong with them, you know? It's just — it's just pathetic," he told CBC.

Amber Michelin-Jones, left, and Rebecca Lynn Kelly were dressed in tops that Menihek High School deemed inappropriate for class. Thirty students were sent home. (Chris Ensing/CBC)

In a statement issued to CBC News, the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District said it was not the school's intent to infringe on the rights of students.

"The latest version of the code was implemented in May 2012 and was approved by the school council and the Labrador School District. A summary of this dress code is available on the school's website and the full version is available from the school, " the statement said.

Emily Connors was also sent home from Menihek High on Wednesday. She calls the school's reasoning "outrageous." (Chris Ensing/CBC)

​"In essence, the dress code strives to provide an appropriate learning environment for students. As educators we want our students to dress for the occasion. Every person in the school must feel safe and comfortable and attire does play a role. The issue of student dress must always be approached with a balanced concern for the health, safety and well being of the entire learning community and the rights and privileges of individuals and groups as outlined by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms."

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N.S. woman 'tortured' for years by her family speaks out

Two Nova Scotia registered nurses who run a human rights advocacy group are speaking out about domestic "torture" cases with the help of a woman victim who first sparked the issue for them more than 20 years ago. 

"We tried to find people to help her and no one really wanted to. About three sessions into her work, we realized she was a torture survivor because her story went way beyond abuse, so we stayed with her and we helped her heal," said Linda MacDonald. 

MacDonald and fellow registered nurse Jeanne Sarson are the founders of Persons Against NST (Non-State Torture).

They say their first foray into looking at domestic torture began in 1993 when Sarson took a call from a woman in her late 20s who goes by the name Sara. 

"That night, I said, 'I know I can't live with this anymore.' I had it all planned out for suicide, and I said I'll call this number in the pamphlet and if nobody answers, I know it's right," Sara told CBC News. 

Sara, who is now 50 years old and uses a pseudonym to protect her identity, alleges she was starved, drugged, confined, beaten and raped by her own parents from the time she was a young child.  

'I'm working as hard as I can to rise above these damn people to be the best person I can be ....'- Sara

"I remember so often being rented out and I remember the statement, 'Bring her back when you're done.' And I remember feeling like a thing," Sara says.

"But also the whole time is so confusing, because you don't understand. I was so young and ... you think it's normal."

Sara says the violence went on for years, even while she was working and living in her own apartment.

She never went to police because she says she was afraid her family would hurt her more.

"They would torture you over, and over and over again. They wouldn't just tell you — they'd do it. And they could come up with torture you can't even think of," said Sara.

Sarson and MacDonald say the violence suffered by Sara amounts to torture. They say being unable to find "torture-informed support" for Sara led them to start Persons Against NST. 

Over the years, Sarson and MacDonald say they've helped more than 3,000 victims of NST around the globe, including about a dozen or so cases in Nova Scotia.  

MacDonald says counselling can continue for two to three years. In some cases, they work with victims for over a decade. 

Canada does not recognize "torture" under the law, unlike Michigan, California, France and Queensland, Australia, which do.

Finding help

Sarson recalls Sara's call to a Truro help line late at night in 1993. 

"I picked it up and the voice on the other end was a woman who I did not know. I had no way to contact her," Sarson says. 

Sara talked that night, and called again. Some days, she called dozens of times. Her story spilled out over the next decade. Sarson and MacDonald, helped Sara on the phone and in person. 

Though she never went to police, Sara eventually was able to break away from her family and the abuse she alleges took place for much of her young life. She said the violence troubles her to this day and memories often leave her exhausted. 

"I have so much grief, and so much loss and so much just taken from me," she says. 

"I'm working as hard as I can to rise above these damn people to be the best person I can be, and hopefully, if I can't bring an end to it, I can slow it down big time."

'I'm lucky to be alive'

Because she was too afraid of the potential repercussions of reporting the alleged abuse, Sara's parents were never investigated by police. 

The RCMP don't track "torture" against children, so can't say how many people suffer Sara's fate. 

Sara says she owes her life to Sarson and MacDonald.

"I want to live on most days. I still have trouble, but most days I want to live. It's challenging and difficult, but I know I'm lucky to be alive. And I'm only alive because Jeanne answered the phone."

'There are brutal people all over the world. It isn't just in the past. It's present day.'- Linda MacDonald

Sarson and MacDonald say their goal is to have NST recognized as a "specific and distinct human rights violation."

"I just had to start believing that's another reality of violence that I'd never really known about, and I just went back to my knowledge about the Holocaust and knowing how brutal people can be," said MacDonald. 

"There are brutal people all over the world. It isn't just in the past, it's present day. So I just had to reframe my worldview of what human beings are capable of."

She says torture goes far beyond assault.

"Torture is daily. You're tortured so much, with so many techniques — verbally, physically, sexually, methodically and it becomes part of your skin. After a while it ... well it hurts, but you think it doesn't hurt."

Sarson and MacDonald say they won't give up until police and politicians recognize that more resources are needed to help victims of torture.

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Recovery of baby Victoria shows social media reach of Amber Alerts

The parents of a day-old baby who was kidnapped from a hospital in Trois-Rivières on Monday night are praising a group of Facebook users for helping recover the child and apprehend the abductor.

This resolution to a story that is every parent's nightmare shows how the widespread adoption of modern technology has "absolutely" improved the Amber Alert system, according to experts in the field.

"Radio and the television were the best means in the early days, but as technology evolves, and with social media, everybody is connected to their cellphones," says Bob Hoever, director of the missing children division of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the U.S.

The center played a key role in implementing the Amber Alert system in the U.S., and is now pressing ahead with some key innovations.

For one, while Hoever praises the power of social media connections to help find missing children, he says that one of the most effective tools at the moment is the wireless emergency alert (WEA), which was introduced in 2013 and uses geo-location data.

Under this system, which is not available in Canada, any time an Amber Alert is issued in a given state, the emergency broadcasting network uses cellphone towers to send the alert directly to the phones of anyone within the geographical region at that time.

That means not just people who live in that state, but those passing through it, he says.

The alert sets off a loud, distinctive tone on the phone, accompanied by a text message with information about the abduction.

"So if the state of Virginia had an Amber Alert, we would activate all the cell towers in the state of Virginia," Hoever says. "And whoever drives within range of those cell towers receives that Amber Alert."

'The worst time of our lives'

Baby Victoria was returned to her family late Monday night thanks in large part to three women and a man who went looking for her after seeing a Facebook alert about her abduction from the maternity ward of a hospital in Trois-Rivières, Que.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Victoria's mother, Mélissa McMahon, expressed her gratitude to the Facebook users who brought a happy ending to "the worst time of our lives."

Victoria's mother, Mélissa McMahon, praised the Facebook users who helped her day-old baby hours after the abduction. (Facebook)

Officials say Victoria was abducted around 7 p.m. on Monday. Shortly thereafter, Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police force, issued an Amber Alert looking for a red Toyota Yaris hatchback with a "Bébé à bord" ("Baby on Board") sticker.

The police also posted a photo on social networks of the woman they were seeking.

"We saw [the alert] on Facebook, and decided to go looking for red cars, and we saw the woman. We recognized her," said 20-year-old Mélisane Bergeron. They alerted police, who recovered the baby three hours after issuing the Amber Alert.

This auspicious series of events demonstrates the positive role modern technology has had in widening the scope of Amber alerts, says Hoever.

"The whole purpose of an Amber Alert is to rapidly notify the public by any means, any technology, that the public is paying attention to at any given moment," says Hoever.

Four criteria

The Amber Alert system is named after Amber Hagerman, a nine-year old from Arlington, Tex., who was abducted and murdered in January 1996.

In the aftermath, activists and politicians in the U.S. looked to introduce an alert system for missing children like the one used to warn people about extreme weather. By September 2002, 26 states had established Amber Alert systems.

In December 2002, Alberta became the first province to adopt the Amber Alert system, and now all Canadian provinces and territories have one.

In Canada and the U.S., the Amber Alert system is managed on a provincial or state basis. While there is some nuance between the different jurisdictions, there are some basic guidelines.

According to Sgt. Claude Denis, a spokesperson for Sûreté ​du Québec, an Amber Alert can only be issued when four criteria are met. They are:

• The missing person must be a child under 18
• The police must have reason to believe that the missing child has been abducted
• The police must have reason to believe that the physical safety of the missing child is at great risk
• Police must have enough information to locate the kidnapping suspect and their vehicle.

Although abduction may have taken place in a specific locale, authorities will broadcast it to a wider audience.

In these cases, "we're trying to blanket the province to generate tips on the location of the child," says Sgt. Steve Montpetit, the Amber Alert coordinator for the Ontario Provincial Police.

Four young adults say they saw the Amber Alert on Facebook, and later recognized a woman fitting the suspect's description. (Mathieu Papillon/Radio-Canada)

"The statistics tell us that if it's the abductor's intent to do harm to that child, you've got a three- to five-hour window" to find them before the child is likely to be harmed, he says.

Amber alerts are typically distributed through commercial, internet and satellite radio channels and over-the-air and cable television stations through the emergency broadcasting system.

In recent years, however, law enforcement agencies have been able to expand the net even further in order to notify the public about an abduction in progress.

For example, in 2009, the OPP introduced WirelessAmber.ca, a program where Ontarians could get Amber alerts via SMS texts on their phones. Citizens interested in receiving these alerts by texts, however, must sign up for the program. In 2010, Ontario added Facebook to its alert list.

The OPP's Amber Alert program has been active on social media, amassing about 185,000 fans on Facebook. Last week, the group launched the Twitter account Amber Alert Ontario (@OPP_Coordinator), which already has over 7,700 followers.

Sgt. Montpetit says he likes Facebook because it has an unlimited character count for descriptions of the alert and gives the OPP the ability to attach multiple photos, both of which increase the chances of finding an abductor.

He says anytime the OPP issues an Amber Alert through social media channels, the number of people who follow that channel increases "dramatically," which only broadens the net the next time a child goes missing.

Google's role

With its vast social media network, Google has also become a key player in the search for missing children.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has been working with Google in the U.S. to integrate alerts into the search engine and Google Maps.  

It is also trying to embed a system where, for a critical period after an alert has been issued, the alert takes the place of paid advertisements on Google.

Google Canada is "currently working to integrate Amber Alerts into Google Canada's public alerts system," a spokesman said.

Both Sgt. Denis and Sgt. Montpetit say that the integration of social media and other new technologies into the Amber Alert program has been extremely valuable.

Sgt. Denis reports that since 2003, his organization has issued 10 Amber alerts using a similar network of outlets. All 10 children were found.

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Melanoma cases on the rise in Canada

Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is on the rise among Canadian men and women, but it is also one of the most preventable forms, according to a new report.

The Canadian Cancer Society's annual statistics report shows skin cancer rates in the past two decades have increased, especially among those over 50. Yet it's the risky trends among younger people that the society is worried about.

"More Canadians are spending time out in the sun and protecting themselves less than they used to," said Prithwish De, an epidemiologist with the Canadian Cancer Society in Toronto.

"It's the younger Canadians under the age of 30, specifically between the ages of 16 and 24, that tend to spend the most time out in the sun without protecting themselves very much and also that's the same age group that tends to use indoor tanning the most."

A single, blistering sunburn before the age of 20 can double a person's chance of developing melanoma. Research also suggests that people who first start using indoor tanning beds before the age of 65 are also at higher risk.

British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I. have tanning bed legislation to help protect young people.

The society expects over 80,000 skin cancer cases in Canada this year — nearly the same number of cases of the top four cancers combined, namely lung, breast, prostate and colorectal.

Dr. Asif Pirani is a reconstructive plastic surgeon in Toronto who treats patients with skin cancer.

"Skin cancer can be very serious and yet it can be very easily prevented with sun-smart prevention techniques," Pirani said.

If you are going to be out in the sun for more than 30 minutes, apply sunscreen over exposed skin at least 20 minutes before heading out, he advised.

Other sun safe strategies include:

• Wear a wide-brimmed hat.
• Wear sunglasses and lip balm.
• Plan outdoor activities before 11 a.m. and after 4 p.m. when the sun is not at its strongest or at times of the day when the UV Index is 3 or less.
• Seek shade.
• Don't use indoor tanning beds.

Overall, an estimated 191,300 new cases of cancer and 76,600 deaths from cancer are expected to occur in Canada this year. Rates of the disease are generally stabilizing for new cases and declining for deaths, the society said.

Four types of cancer — lung, breast, colorectal and prostate — account for 52 per cent of newly diagnosed cancers.

The annual report was prepared in partnership between the Canadian Cancer Society, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Statistics Canada and provincial and territorial cancer registries.

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Is 'copycat' behaviour why young males go on killing rampages?

Alienated and disturbed young men like Elliot Rodger who go on shooting sprees are often modelling their behaviour on other male violence, experts say, and choose mass killing "as the mark with which they can be men."

Dr. Michael Welner, a New York based forensic psychiatrist whose cases have included mass killers who survive their rampages, says the fact that perpetrators of mass killing are male underscores it as a social phenomenon.

"Maleness in contemporary culture is increasingly defined by icons whose destructiveness is their masculinity," Welner said in an email. "There is nothing in feminine role modelling that underlines large-scale destructiveness, and so women don't model this behaviour."

Friday night's rampage near the University of California, Santa Barbara, left six victims dead and 13 injured. Rodger, who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot, had left a trail of YouTube videos and a 140-page manifesto ranting against women and couples and lamenting his lack of a sex life.

A note addressed to George Chen, 20, of San Jose, Calif., one of three men found stabbed to death in the apartment of Elliott Rodger, is seen outside the apartment where he lived in the Isla Vista neighborhood of Goleta, California. (AP Photo/Christopher Weber) (Christopher Weber/The Associated Press)

​

Welner said that young people can tap into "destructive fantasy" at a time when they are learning to be men, formulating their identity and how they express themselves as men.

"Some of those who are alienated and with high expectations of themselves, and entitlement, and propensity to blame others in broader society, degenerate to the end that they choose mass killing as the mark with which they can be men."

James Garbarino, a psychology professor at Loyola University Chicago, said that when people do "crazy" things, they always do it in a particular cultural framework and context. Dramatic violence has not been part of the cultural landscape for girls the way it is for boys, he said, although there has been some shift.

"When a boy is in this state, he has all of these scenarios to play out," Garbarino said.

Garbarino, who has written the forthcoming book I Listen to Killers: Lessons Learned from 20 Years as a Psychological Expert Witness in Murder Cases, said he interviewed an 18-year-old who showed up at school with two guns and a bagful of bombs. The boy, who was intercepted before he could cause any harm, said he had studied the Columbine school massacre as if it were a primer.

"So there is that element and it sort of builds momentum. Boys do it and other boys see it and it's a boys' thing to do."

While there's an element of "copycat" behaviour, culture plays a role in how one acts out violently, he said.

"You might do something different if you were in the same mental state as [Rodger] if you lived in Pakistan or if you lived in Nairobi or if you lived in Sweden. There's always that element of cultural script or scenario that's important and why one crazy 22-year-old does this and why another does something else."

Another common cultural factor in these types of rampage or school shootings is that the gunman is usually white, Garbarino said. 

"These are very highly, highly vulnerable individual kids. When they live in middle-class, upper middle class educated families, families have the resources and the capacity to sort of buffer them from the world. And provide them a high level of support," Garbarino said.

"If a kid like this was born in a poor black or Hispanic gang-ridden neighbourhood, he wouldn't get this far before his vulnerability translated into violence," he said. "You would see it in first grade or second grade because the mismatch between their vulnerability and the level of stress and oppression and lack of resources would bring it out."

Garbarino said disturbed youth also have access to social media to validate their beliefs.

"Back before all this, if you were a weird kid, you mostly got back social feedback that said you were weird. Today there's virtually no weird thought that you can't find validation for when you get on the web. All killers feel they're justified in what they do. The fact that you can post stuff and other people will say 'Yeah, I know what you mean '—  this comes as a validation from the media."

Rodger, like Norway's mass-shooter Anders Breivik and former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner who killed four people, all used social media to move around the traditional press and to directly communicate their packaged propaganda, Welner added.

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Maya Angelou, author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, dies at 86

Celebrated American poet, author and activist Maya Angelou, the literary force known for her autobiographical book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, has died at the age of 86.

Wake Forest University, where she had served as Reynolds Professor of American Studies since 1982, and Angelou's literary agent, Helen Brann, confirmed her passing Wednesday.

No cause of death was immediately announced, but Brann noted that Angelou had been in frail health for some time.

Rising from a poor upbringing in rural Arkansas to become an American icon widely considered a national treasure, Angelou was a poet, author, performer, educator and civil rights activist.

Published in 1969, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings vaulted her into fame and made her one of the first African-American women to pen a bestselling book.

Widely considered a literary treasure, Maya Angelou received dozens of honorary degress and, in 2011, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honour possible for American civilians. (Canadian Press)

She was also the poet chosen for former U.S. president Bill Clinton's first inauguration in 1993 and her original composition for the day, On the Pulse of Morning, also become a bestseller.

Over her lifetime, she was honoured with more than 30 honorary degrees.

On Friday, Major League Baseball announced that Angelou, who was to be honoured at this week's 2014 MLB Beacon Awards Luncheon in Houston, had withdrawn due to undisclosed "health reasons."

The event is typically held before the league's annual Civil Rights Game.

She had also cancelled attending an event in Arkansas, citing her recovery from an "unexpected ailment" that had sent her to hospital.

More to come

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Ontario man charged in slaying of B.C. hockey mom

A 27-year-old Ontario man has been charged with second-degree murder in the December 2013 attack that killed 53-year-old Surrey hockey mom Julie Paskall.

Supt. Kevin Hackett, speaking on behalf of the Lower Mainland's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), said Yosef Jomo Gopaul was arrested in Surrey at 3:15 p.m. PT Friday afternoon.

"I personally met with and spoke with Julie's husband, Al, yesterday and let him know of this development," Hackett said, addressing a press conference Saturday afternoon. "We must now prepare for the court process."

Hockey mom Julie Paskall, 53, was brutally beaten in Surrey's Newton Arena parking lot while waiting for her son. She died of her injuries just days later on New Year's Eve 2013. (Family photo)

Paskall was brutally assaulted in the parking lot of the Newton Arena while waiting to pick up her teenage son, Cailean, who was refereeing a hockey game the night of Dec. 29 last year.

She was taken to hospital where she was put on life support but she died days later, on New Year's Eve.

At the time, police described the attack as a robbery gone wrong.

Hackett confirmed that Gopaul has a previous criminal record outside British Columbia, and that he moved to Surrey from Ontario approximately eight weeks before Paskall's death.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team's Supt. Kevin Hackett said Yosef Gopaul was identified as a potential suspect approximately one month after Julie Paskall's death. (CBC)

IHIT identified Gopaul as a potential suspect approximately one month after the attack, Hackett said.

Gopaul is scheduled to make his first court appearance Monday in Surrey.

Al Paskall expressed gratitude for the assistance everyone in the community has provided to the investigation, and to the family, but said the family is still deeply hurting.

"We do truly appreciate that an individual has been charged with Julie's death," he said. "While this is very important, it does not bring her back. She is deeply missed, and this has been an extremely difficult time for our family."

Google Map: Newton Arena

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Ukraine election: Journalist killed, voters blocked in volatile east

Ukraine's critical presidential election got underway Sunday under the wary scrutiny of a world eager for stability in a country rocked by a deadly uprising in the east. While there were no immediate reports of fighting, pro-Russia insurgents were trying to block voting by snatching ballot boxes and patrolling polling stations.

The vote was taking place three months after the ouster of the country's pro-Russia leader, who was chased from power by months of protests triggered by his decision to reject a pact with the European Union and forge closer ties with Moscow.

There were no immediate signs of clashes on Sunday after weeks of intense battles. But it also appeared little voting was taking place in the east: The regional administration in Donetsk said that only 426 out of 2,430 polling stations in the region were open Sunday, and none in the city of Donetsk, which has 1 million people.

There was no voting in Luhansk, the centre of the neighbouring province, but some stations appeared to be open across the region, according to local officials. 

Pro-Russian armed men, wearing black and orange ribbons of St. George, a symbol widely associated with pro-Russian insurgents, pose for a picture at a checkpoint in Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine. (Maxim Zmeyev/Reuters)

Polls have shown the 48-year old billionaire candy-maker Petro Poroshenko far ahead of the other 20 candidates, but short of the absolute majority needed to win in the first round, so a runoff set for June 15 is expected. Poroshenko's nearest challenger is Yulia Tymoshenko, the charismatic and divisive former prime minister.

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Friday to "respect the choice of the Ukrainian people" and said he would be ready to work with the winner, in an apparent bid to ease the worst crisis in relations with the West since the Cold War and avoid a new round of Western sanctions.

Front-runner backs EU ties 

Many voters appreciate Poroshenko's pragmatism and his apparent knack for compromise, making him stand out in the nation's political environment long dominated by intransigent figures. Poroshenko strongly backs closer ties with the EU, but also speaks about the need to normalize ties with Russia. 

'Today I voted for a European Ukraine, which can change the lives of every Ukrainian.'- Presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko

"He is a very smart man who can work hard compared to others, and he is also a businessman and knows that compromises are necessary even if unpleasant," said 55-year old Kiev teacher Larisa Kirichenko, who voiced hope that Poroshenko will negotiate a peaceful solution in the east.

Tymoshenko, the 53-year-old blond-braided heroine of the 2004 Orange Revolution, spent two-and-a half years in prison on abuse of office charges denounced as political by the West. She is still admired by many for her energy and will, but detested by others over her role in the political infighting that has weakened the country in the past.

Tymoshenko said after casting her ballot that Ukraine must join the European Union and NATO.

"Today I voted for a European Ukraine, which can change the lives of every Ukrainian," she said. "I am convinced that Ukraine can be strong, happy and prosperous if it becomes a member of the European Union." 

"It is time to conduct a referendum on NATO membership in order to return peace to the country ... so that nobody could never again encroach on our territory," she said, adding that her first step if she's elected would be to apply for the membership in the alliance. 

Former prime minister and presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko (C), accompanied by her daughter Yevgenia (L) and husband Oleksander (R), casts her vote at a polling station in Dnipropetrovsk. (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

Vladislav Golub, a 31-year old lawyer, said he voted for Tymoshenko because "Ukraine must stop being an oligarchic state and be part of Europe, instead of serving the interests of the Russian Federation."

Sunday's ballot is taking place despite deadly violence in the sprawling eastern regions that form Ukraine's industrial heartland, where pro-Russia insurgents have seized government buildings and fought government forces in intense battles that have raged for a month-and-a half and killed scores.

The interim Kiev government and the West are accusing Russia of backing the uprising after it annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in March. Moscow has denied the accusations.

Rebels block election offices

The rebels, who have declared two sprawling regions of Donetsk and Luhansk independent, have pledged not to allow the vote, which they described as an election in "a neighbouring country." They have seized or blocked election offices and intimidated election officials and voters in the regions that have a combined population of 6.6 million.

Ukrainian election officials said they have received as little as 26 per cent of the election registers for the Donetsk region and 16 percent for the Luhansk region. Ukraine's deputy interior minister, Serhiy Yarovyi, said Saturday that police are ready to ensure order and security at polling stations in just nine of the 34 electoral districts in the east. 

Election workers in Kyiv receive printed ballots in preparation for Sunday's presidential vote. There are some 32,000 polling stations set up for the vote. (Nahlah Ayed/CBC News)

In the center of Donetsk, a team of insurgents was seen visiting polling stations to make sure they were closed. At one station in a school, Vyacheslav Kucher, 36, tested the front door and turned to his comrades to give the thumbs-up sign after finding it locked.

"I am checking to see everything is normal, to see that there is no nonsense, so this junta doesn't come to power," Kucher said. "We want to make sure nothing is working, because these are illegal authorities and we don't want this outrage."

Outside the Donetsk regional administration building, which has been occupied by government opponents since early April, a group of masked men drove up carrying confiscated ballot boxes and made a show of smashing them in front of a journalist's camera.

One polling station in the city opened in the morning, but minutes later a group of gunmen arrived and forced the election commission out, its chief, Nadia Melnyk, said on Ukraine's Channel 5.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said that in the village of Artemivka, in the Donetsk region, gunmen stormed the building of a village council hosting a polling station and set it ablaze.

Photojournalist killed 

In the city of Slovyansk in the Donetsk region, which has been one of the main epicenters of fighting in the past weeks, artillery shelling — apparently from government forces — badly damaged a psychiatric hospital late Saturday, shattering its roof and damaging its walls.

An Italian photojournalist, 30-year old Andrea Rocchelli, was killed Saturday near Slovyansk, the Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Insurgents said Rocchelli died in a mortar shelling by government forces and that his Russian translator also was killed.

Some parts of the Donetsk region remain under greater government control and voting has been taking place in those locations.

In the Azov Sea port of Mariupol, 202 out of 216 polling stations were working, indicating that the situation has been brought under some degree of government control there. Just over a week ago, Rinat Akhmetov, the billionaire metals tycoon who is Ukraine's richest man, had workers from his factories in Mariupol join police to patrol the city and evict pro-Russia insurgents from the government buildings they seized.

"I want order in this country, we can't continue without a president, we need order,"Gennadiy Menshykov said after casting his ballot in Mariupol.

In the town of Krasnoarmeisk, in the west of the Donetsk region, a trickle of people came out to cast their ballots at a polling station in a local school.

Ivan Sukhostatov, 37, said he had voted for peace in the region.

"We came to show that this whole situation is contrived," he said. "One side are called terrorists, the others get called fascists. But we have no differences between us. We have one faith, we speak one language. We just want there to be peace, for us to finally have a legitimate president and for all this to come to an end."

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Knowlton Nash, longtime anchor of CBC's The National, dead at 86

Knowlton Nash, a decorated Canadian journalist who went from selling newspapers as a boy in Toronto to serving a decade as anchor of CBC's The National, has died at age 86.

Born Cyril Knowlton Nash in Toronto in 1927, it didn't take him long to find his calling. At eight years old, he put together his own newspaper. At 10, he operated his own newsstand. Later, during his first big journalism job as night editor with the British United Press, a Toronto-based wire service, he wrote an estimated 4,000 articles.

"Journalism has been the love of my life," Nash told The Canadian Press in 2006.

Journalism loved him back.

Shortly after taking a job in Washington with the International Federation of Agricultural Producers — during which he moonlighted as a freelance writer filing stories for a range of Canadian publications — Nash landed a job as Washington correspondent for CBC's Newsmagazine. The high-profile role and his legendary work ethic thrust him into the spotlight.

During the post, he tracked down Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara for an exclusive interview. He was one of the last reporters to interview Robert F. Kennedy before the New York senator's assassination in 1968. Nash also dodged gunfire in the Dominican Republic as U.S. forces fought with rebels, something he later had some fun with on the program Front Page Challenge.   

"I don't put myself first. I put work first," Nash said, during a CBC Life and Times documentary released in 2001.

Move to management

In Washington, Nash went on to cover the Cuban missile crisis, space launches at Cape Canaveral and the riots surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. But in 1969, he took a management role at the CBC, a career move that surprised many of his colleagues.

It didn't go well. In 1970, just one year after Nash had begun his new role, then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau blasted the CBC for its coverage of the October Crisis, calling it a propaganda vehicle for the FLQ. Nash reacted by sending a directive to limit coverage of the crisis.

Nash later owned up to the error, saying: "It was my fault. We went too far — farther than we should have."

Nash's management work did, however, give him a rare understanding of the CBC's history and culture, something he would write about in several well-received books, including The Microphone Wars: A History of Triumph and Betrayal at the CBC and Cue The Elephant!  Backstage Tales at the CBC.

Birth of an anchor

In 1978, Nash returned to the screen as chief correspondent and anchor at The National.

His return upset some, but Nash's steady presence won over. While critics said he had an unemotional delivery, he was beloved by Canadian audiences.

Queen Elizabeth smiles as Knowlton Nash looks on from right at the CBC in Toronto in 2002. (Aaron Harris/Canadian Press)

As the face of The National, Nash covered all the major stories, from the collapse of Joe Clark's government to the 1980 Quebec referendum on the sovereignty question, and Trudeau's 1984 "walk in the snow" resignation.

Nash's look also left an impression on TV viewers — wearing thick-rimmed glasses and in bold attire such as a pink shirt under a suit jacket — although management eventually forced him to give up the colour, according to CBC archives.

On screen, Nash's voice was engaging and amiable, but he believed in a straight-faced style of news presentation so as to not distort a story.

"It's inconceivable to him to actually contaminate a report with his own view. I think he'd probably blow up if he tried," said longtime CBC producer Mark Starowicz.

Nash officially retired from CBC News after hosting The National on Nov. 28, 1992, handing over the reins to Peter Mansbridge, with whom he had been sharing hosting duties since 1988.

Defender of the CBC

Nash hosted several more programs at the CBC after his retirement, and continued to have a close connection to the public broadcaster.

After dramatic cuts to the CBC's budget in 1996, Nash spoke out in an interview with TVO.

"These cuts are really into the bone … it's fundamentally hurting the whole concept of public broadcasting," he told host Steve Paikin.

"People are thinking about money and jobs and the future rather than what they should be doing: thinking creatively about how we can create a better program."

In 2006, Nash criticized the CBC for choosing to push back The National so it could air a popular ABC reality show in the 10 p.m. ET slot.

Awards and accolades

Nash was named an officer of the Order of Canada in 1989, became a member of the Order of Ontario in 1998, and was given honorary degrees from several Canadian universities, including the University of Toronto.

He is a member of the Canadian News Hall of Fame, and was given the President's Award of the Radio and Television News Directors' Association in 1990.

Along with his books on the CBC, Nash also wrote his memoir, History on the Run, about his time as a foreign correspondent, as well as history books like Kennedy and Diefenbaker: The Feud that Helped Topple a Government.

In 2002, Nash was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. "There are a lot worse things that could be happening to you … with Parkinson's, you just have to cope with it and get on with it," Nash told the Hill Times in 2010.

Nash spent his final years in Florida, alongside his wife of four decades, Lorraine Thomson, who also worked as a host with the CBC.

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Gunman in California drive-by killing rampage blames women's snubs

In YouTube videos and a long written manifesto, Elliot Rodger aired his contempt for everyone from his roommates to the whole human race, reserving special hate for two groups: the women he says kept him a virgin for all of his 22 years, and the men they chose instead.

Authorities said he put that bitterness into action in a stabbing and shooting rampage Friday night across the seaside California college town of Isla Vista that killed two young women and four men, at least half of them students at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Thirteen people were injured.

Rodger then apparently shot and killed himself inside the black BMW he used in the violence, authorities said Saturday.

The rampage played out largely as he laid it out in the public postings, including a YouTube video where he sits in the BMW in sunset light and appears to be acting out scripted lines and planned laughs.

Hollywood director's son

"I'll take great pleasure in slaughtering all of you," Rodger, the son of a Hollywood director who worked on "The Hunger Games," says in the video posted Friday and taken down by YouTube Saturday with a message saying it violated the site's terms of service.

"I don't know why you girls are so repulsed by me," he says in the video, describing his loneliness and frustration at never having had sex with or even kissed a girl. "I am polite. I am the ultimate gentleman. And yet, you girls never give me a chance. I don't know why."

Of the men he sees as rivals, he said: "I deserve girls much more than all those slobs," and that after his rampage "you will finally see that I am, in truth, the superior one, the true alpha male."

The first three killed Friday were male stabbing victims in Rodger's own apartment whose names have not been released, Sheriff Bill Brown said Saturday. 

Sheriff's officials say Elliot Rodger, shown here in his confessional video posted on YouTube, was the gunman who went on a shooting rampage. (YouTube)

Then, at about 9:30 p.m., the citywide shooting and vehicle-ramming rampage began.

His first stop was the Alpha Phi sorority, which he had called "the hottest sorority of UCSB."

"I know exactly where their house is and I've sat outside it in my car to stalk them many times," Rodger wrote in his extensive manifesto titled "My Twisted World."

No one answered the door after one to two minutes of aggressive pounding, but he soon shot three women who were standing nearby, killing two of them, 19-year-old Veronika Weiss and 22-year-old Katherine Cooper.

He then drove to a deli where he walked inside and shot and killed another UC Santa Barbara student, 20-year-old Christopher Michaels-Martinez, the sheriff said.

"Chris was a really great kid," Michaels-Martinez's father said at a news conference where he choked back tears and eventually collapsed to his knees in agony. "Ask anyone who knew him. His death has left our family lost and broken."

Michaels-Martinez was the last one killed, but rampage would continue as Rodger drove across Isla Vista, shooting at some and running down others with his car, twice exchanging gunfire with deputies. He was shot in the hip, but the gunshot to the head that killed him was thought to be self-inflicted, Brown said. 

'Chris was a really great kid. Ask anyone who knew him. His death has left our family lost and broken.'- Richard Martinez, victim's father

Thirteen people were injured, eight from gunshot wounds, four from the vehicle and one whose origin wasn't clear. Just four of the injuries were considered serious.

Deputies found three semi-automatic handguns with 400 unspent rounds in his black BMW. All were purchased legally.

Rodgers had been a student at various times in recent years at nearby Santa Barbara City College, but was no longer in any classes, the school said in a statement.

Authorities had had three contacts with Rodger in the past year, including one case in which he claimed to be beaten but deputies suspected he was the aggressor. 

A man looks through a window with bullet holes at a deli that was one of nine crime scenes. (Jonathan Alcorn/Reuters)

On April 30, officials went to his Isla Vista apartment to check on him at the request of his family. But deputies reported back that he was shy, polite and having a difficult social life but did not need to be taken in for mental health reasons, Brown said. Rodger says in his manifesto: "If they had demanded to search my room... That would have ended everything. For a few horrible seconds I thought it was all over."

Family had called police before 

Attorney Alan Shifman said the Rodger family had called police after being alarmed by YouTube videos "regarding suicide and the killing of people" that Elliot Rodger had been posting.

Brown called the tragedy "the work of a madman" and said the videotape posted by Rodger the night of the killings is a "particularly chilling one, in which he looks at the camera and talks about what he is about to do."

Earlier Saturday, Shifman issued a statement saying Peter Rodger believed his son was the shooter. The family is staunchly against guns, he added.

"The Rodger family offers their deepest compassion and sympathy to the families involved in this terrible tragedy. We are experiencing the most inconceivable pain, and our hearts go out to everybody involved," Shifman said.

Isla Vista, a half-square-mile town centred on university life with outdoor cafes, bike shops, burger joints, sororities and fraternities, was shrouded in fog and unusually quiet Saturday. 

A wrecked black BMW sedan is pictured on the street after a series of drive -by shootings that left 6 people dead in the Isla Vista section of Santa Barbara, Calif. (Phil Klein/Reuters)

Police tape crisscrossed Isla Vista streets, while blood was still visible on the asphalt. Bullet holes pierced windows of a parked car and the IV Deli Mart. A small shrine of flowers was growing outside the business, whose floors inside were stained with blood. For much of the day, the wrecked BMW driven by the shooter remained on the street, its windshield smashed in and its driver's door wide open.

UC Santa Barbara senior Kyley Scarlet said she heard the BMW smash to a halt outside a house she was in. Scarlet, who is a former sorority president, said two women from a sorority next door were killed on the lawn, where a pile of flowers grew on Saturday.

Crying students wandered up to the spot, shook their heads and hugged each other.

Scarlet said she was very disturbed by the video describing his anger at sorority girls.

"It's hard thinking my actions, being part of a sorority, led him to do this," she said.

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