A video showing the shooter at Parliament Hill is released. 

The RCMP released all but 18 seconds of Michael Zehaf-Bibeau's explanatory video. (Image courtesy of RCMP/CBC.)

The RCMP released all but 18 seconds of Michael Zehaf-Bibeau’s explanatory video. (Image courtesy of RCMP/CBC.)

Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, the perpetrator of the shooting on Parliament Hill in October 2014, had recorded a video moments before he reached Parliament. This video was released by the RCMP last Friday and featured Zehaf-Bibeau reasoning his actions as revenge for Canada’s military involvement in Pakistan and Iraq. He also confirms his extremist ideals and that there were no accomplices involved in the shooting. However, the video was edited by the RCMP to be 54 seconds long and gives no clues whether the attack was independently planned or organized by a group.

The video came out in time to justify the new C-15 bill, serving as an example of terrorist motivations manifesting into a tragedy. Before the October killing of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, such heavy anti-terrorism was not on the government’s agenda.

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UN celebrates International Women’s Day with a week of events and the upcoming Commission on the Status of Women. 

UN's Women's Day march in NYC emphasized the use of rape as a weapon in Iraq and Syria. (Image courtesy of AP Photo/Mark Lennihan.)

UN’s Women’s Day march in NYC emphasized the use of rape as a weapon in Iraq and Syria. (Image courtesy of AP Photo/Mark Lennihan.)

On International Women’s Day, the UN highlighted the progress member nations have made towards gender equality. Starting with the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action signed 20 years ago, standards of healthcare, education, and jobs have significantly improved for women. To celebrate the occasion, the UN organized several major events last week, including an International Women’s Day march in New York City.

On 9 March, the annual Commission on the Status of Women will open session for two weeks and have representatives from member nations and civil society groups. The UN stresses that despite the recent progress in women’s rights, there is still a long way to go. UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, said “We must acknowledge that the gains have been too slow and uneven.”

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Oil exports dropped further in January from the recent decrease in oil prices. 

The Bank of Canada lowers interest to 'mitigate' the loss from the drop in oil prices. (Image courtesy of Patrick Doyle/Bloomberg.)

The Bank of Canada lowers interest to ‘mitigate’ the loss from the drop in oil prices. (Image courtesy of Patrick Doyle/Bloomberg.)

The drop in oil prices caused the value of receipts for Canadian crude oil producers to lower by a quarter. The January crude exports plunged to match those drop rates of October 2010. The decrease in oil exports also caused Canada’s merchandise deficit to rise to C$2.45 billion, the second-largest value for Canada. This has caused the Bank of Canada’s move to borrow money for the first time since the recession. Nick Exarhos, an economist at CIBC World Markets, said to investors, “January’s trade report isn’t an encouraging first data point on the economy for 2015.”

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U.S.A.’s biggest terrorism trial of the last twenty years begins. 

Survivors of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing (Image courtesy of AP).

Survivors of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing (Image courtesy of AP).

The trial of Dzokhar Tsarnaev, the 21-year-old accused of committing the Boston Marathon bombing on 15 April, 2013, where three people were killed and over 260 injured when two shrapnel-packed pressure-cooker bombs exploded near the finish line, began on a shocking start. Tsarnaev’s own lawyer, Judy Clarke, one of the foremost American death penalty specialists, began by stating that he is guilty of perpetrating the crime. The defence’s strategy, however, is not to free Tsarnaev, but to save him from a death sentence, a ruling they aim to achieve through arguing that he was influenced by his older brother, Tamerlan, who had been killed in a shootout a few days after the bombing.

Called the nation’s greatest terrorism trial since 9/11, the trial began with testimonies from victims and video footage of that day that painted a vivid picture of the horror that occurred, portraying the image of Tsarnaev as a heartless killer. Despite the unlikelihood of escaping conviction for committing the crime, Tsarnaev’s lawyers will continue to attempt to save his live by shifting the blame onto the older brother.

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Ferguson, Missouri, called out as “racially bias” in reference to city officials and the police force.  

Protests in 2014 over the death of Michael Brown (Image courtesy of Jim Young/Reuters).

Protests in 2014 over the death of Michael Brown (Image courtesy of Jim Young/Reuters).

In a 102-page report recently released, the Department of Justice provides a detailed view of the systemic culture of racial bias that exists in Ferguson, MO, a city that was initially brought to the forefront in the summer of 2014 when white police officer Darren Wilson killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown. The report reveals the excessive use of force against mostly the black population, not for protecting public safety but to generate revenue for the city.

The investigation also uncovered racism among several city officials through e-mails that were sent from city accounts. To combat the culture of racism in the police force, the Department of Justice’s report includes recommendations for improvement, such as greater civilian participation in local policing, a more comprehensive inspection of arrest and other policing statistics, as well as reforms to the municipal court and ticketing systems.

Source and more information can be found here.