News for October 1st, 2015

LOCAL 
By Saturn De Los Angeles

The City of Montreal has decided to temporarily put off its plan to dump 8 million litres of untreated waste water into the Saint-Lawrence river. 

According to the Montreal Gazette, the decision comes after gaining widespread attention from the local media and concern from opposition councillors. 

In particular, Projet Montréal's Sylvain Ouellet questioned why the city didn't consider alternative options to prevent the river from being contaminated.     

The city's committee executive for water, Chantal Rouleau, reveals that the plan will be re-evaluated with due diligence in the interest of Montrealers. 
 
The dump would have started on October 18th and lasted for one week, as part of the Bonaventure expressway's reconstruction project. 
 

NATIONAL
By Julia Bryant

A man who swam from North Dakota to Manitoba has been granted permission to stay in Canada as a "protected person". 

According to CBC, Yahya Samatar is from Somalia where he says he was threatened by the militant group al-Shabaab, who are linked to al-Qaeda. 

Samatar left Somalia in 2014 when he paid smugglers to get him to the U.S.

After spending six months in a detention centre, Samatar swam across the Red River this August and was greeted with hospitality in Canada.

After his court hearing that took place Wednesday, Samatar should receive permanent citizenship status in the next 12 to 14 months.

INTERNATIONAL 
By Emeline Vidal

The World Health Organization is encouraging that all people with HIV be offered antiretroviral drugs after diagnosis.

According to BBC, this new policy would make 9 million more people around the world eligible for treatment.

The WHO previously recommended waiting until the disease had progressed to begin antiretroviral therapy.

The decision was widely praised, since private studies show that a quick jump to therapy prevents HIV-related deaths and complications by up to 50%.