News Roundup

Romanow ‘mired in the past,’ B.C. Premier says

Alberta has already accepted the recommendations of the controversial Mazankowski report which includes the possibility of delisting some services from public coverage and putting more private money into health care.

Many of the other provinces have already taken it upon themselves to make changes to the way they deliver health care, Mr. Campbell said.

“We’ve made a significant shift. We’ve taken responsibility for changing the structural components of health care.”

(from the Globe & Mail)

Egypt jails civil rights activist

Less than a month after the UN and the Cairo-based Arab League jointly decried the lack of political freedoms in the Arab world, Egypt’s autocratic regime has emphasised the point by jailing the country’s best-known civil rights activist.

Saad Eddin Ibrahim was sentenced to seven years in prison by the state security court in Cairo this week for allegedly defaming Egypt. Professor Ibrahim’s “crimes” included accepting EU funds to find ways of ensuring parliamentary elections are free and fair; and drawing attention to civil rights abuses, particularly affecting Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority.

(from The Manchester Guardian)

Congo and Rwanda sign peace deal

Under the terms of the deal, the Congolese have promised to disarm and arrest thousands of Hutu rebels.

In return, Rwanda will pull back tens of thousands of troops who are stationed in the eastern Congo.

But our correspondent Barnaby Phillips says that the logistical challenges of the Congo will make it extremely difficult for the peace deal commitments to be met within a tight time frame.

(from the BBC)

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