Canada’s Federal Court ruled Wednesday that payment of CAN$40,000 each to around 50,000 Indigenous children is not out of line, leaving the government with a bill that totals billions of dollars. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government filed for a judicial review of the compensation, ordered by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in 2019, which would see children in the on-reserve child welfare system receive the funds because they were discriminated against due to the system being underfunded.

The Liberal government had argued that the tribunal-ordered $40,000 payment was unreasonable. Opposition political parties had hammered Trudeau for taking compensation for Indigenous children to court while on the other hand acknowledging the tribes were historically mistreated dating back to the arrival of Europeans.

"For six years, Justin Trudeau spent millions fighting the rights of Indigenous children and trying to overturn a ruling that found his government guilty of 'willful and reckless' discrimination against vulnerable Indigenous kids," New Democratic Party Member of Parliament Charlie Angus told the Canadian Broadcasting Company. "The court has thrown his case out."

Angus urged Trudeau not to appeal Wednesday's court decision.

He should "immediately end his legal battle against First Nation children."

The dismissal comes the day before the first annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Sept. 30 is a day set aside by the Trudeau government as a day of reflection on the mistreatment of Indigenous tribes for the past two centuries.

The court case had also been criticized by First Nations leaders and Amnesty International.

Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations, took the compensation case to the rights tribunal. Like Angus, Blackstock hoped the government would abide by the court finding.

"If they are going to actively litigate against First Nations children and their families from getting justice...then it's time for the public to put the federal government on the right course-correct," Blackstock told the CBC.

The parents, grandparents, or guardians of the children would also be eligible for the compensation as long as the children were not taken into the child welfare system because of abuse./agencies

Ukraine's Cabinet on Wednesday adopted an action plan to implement the "Strategy for the Liberation and Reintegration of Crimea," according to media reports.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a government meeting that the document will be a comprehensive roadmap for the return of Crimea, reported Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.

Shmigal said that the Crimean Platform Summit was not a one-time event and participants accepted comprehensive documents containing detailed steps for the liberation of Crimea.

He added that the government is working with international organizations and institutions so that the issue of Crimea is on the world agenda.

'Strategy for the Recovery and Reintegration of Crimea'

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced on March 11 that the government had accepted the "Strategy for the Liberation and Reintegration of Crimea."

Kuleba said the government will prepare a comprehensive action plan that will be divided into domestic and foreign policies in this context, and the Crimean Platform will be the most important initiative as part of the foreign policy.

The Crimean Platform Summit was held in Kiev on Aug. 23 with the participation of 46 foreign delegations to bring the issue of illegally annexed Crimea by Russia to the international agenda.

Turkey was among the first nations to voice support for the Crimean Platform./aa

All major European markets closed midweek with positive figures.

Investors follow the 10-year bond yields of the US, which reached the highest level in three months with increasing inflation concerns, and the statements of central bank governors of the US, Europe, Japan, and the UK at the European Central Bank's Forum on Central Banking.

The STOXX Europe 600, which includes around 90% of the market capitalization of the European market in 17 countries, rose 2.68 points, or 0.59%, to 455.03.

The UK FTSE 100 index climbed 1.14%, or 80.06 points, to 7,108.

Germany's DAX 30 also saw gains – up 0.77% or 116.71 points – to close at 15,365 points.

The French CAC 40 increased 0.83%, or 54.30 points, to 6,560 points.

Italy's FTSE MIB went up by 163.60 points, or 0.64%, to 25,736, while Spain's IBEX 35 gained 110 points, or 1.25%, to hit 8,879.

Asia's major stock markets, however, closed in red amid Chinese developer Evergrande's ongoing debt crisis and a worsening power shortage in China.

As natural gas prices break records in Europe, the situation continues to fan inflation concerns in the markets./agencies

A majestic black-and-white striped woodpecker with a long beak and a high plume of red feathers on its head has been declared extinct in the US, the government said Wednesday.

The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, a favorite of bird watchers that was seen mostly in the southeast, swampy region of the US, was the most notable of the species declared extinct, along with 22 other birds, fish and other species.

Others, like the flat pigtoe, a freshwater mussel, also found in the southeast, were rarely seen and were considered headed for extinction, even as they were put on the endangered species list years ago.

It is rare for the US Fish and Wildlife Service to declare a species extinct, and somewhat controversial, since reported sightings of the woodpecker over the years gave bird watchers hope.

The agency announced on its website that it stands ready to implement a recovery plan if the bird is ever sighted again. But if no sightings are reported in the next three months, the "extinct" label becomes permanent. It is also thought the bird, or a close relative, might still exist in Cuba.

The factors behind the 23 extinctions all point to one thing: man. Water pollution, development, logging, competition from invasive species brought by human travel, birds killed for feathers or animals captured by private collectors were all factors.

A study in 2019 and reported in the journal Science, found that the bird count in the US and Canada, estimated around 10 billion in 1970, had fallen 29% to about 7.2 billion and there, too, loss of habitat was blamed.

Wednesday's declaration would mark the highest number of species ever declared extinct at one time.

Since the Endangered Species Act was signed into US law in the 1960s, only 11 species have been declared officially "extinct."/agencies

An unreleased cassette tape recording of John Lennon and Yoko Ono has been sold for $58,300 at an auction in Copenhagen.

The 33-minute audio track was recorded by four Danish teenagers as part of a report for their school magazine on Jan. 5, 1970 in Skyum Bjerge, Denmark, just months before the Beatles announced their break-up.

The tape has been sold along with photographs which document the event, and a copy of a school magazine with parts of the interview.

"Finally, all the excitement surrounding tonight’s Live Auction of a small John Lennon tape recording from 1969 was released. And the hammer landed at DKK 370,000 - more than DKK 100,000 over the estimate," Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers, an auction house of art, design, antiques and collectibles, said in a statement on Wednesday.

The recording took place at a time when Lennon and Ono were calling for an end to the war in Vietnam. They had come to the Scandinavian country for private reasons.

In the interview, Lennon speaks of the reason for being in Skyum Bjerge, how their art and music champions world peace and how everybody can contribute to world peace.

At one point the couple joined in a Danish tradition and danced around a Christmas tree, played guitar and sang Give Peace a Chance./agencies

Germany played no role in YouTube's decision to shut down Russian broadcaster's German-language channels, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a routine weekly news conference in Berlin, Steffen Seibert said: "Firstly, for the federal (German) government, freedom of the press is a valuable asset and we defend it at home and abroad."

He added: "Second, we have taken note of the decision and because there are different stories on Russian channels, I want to say very clearly that it is a decision by YouTube, and the federal (German) government and its representatives have nothing to do with this decision."

YouTube has shut down the German channels of Russian state broadcaster RT amid allegations of coronavirus misinformation.

Writing on the messaging app Telegram, RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan called the move "a true media war" by Germany on Russia.

She also urged the Russian government to react by outlawing German public service broadcasters like ARD and ZDF.

In a statement, Russia's Foreign Ministry called the termination of RT's channels as an "unprecedented information aggression".

German authorities have repeatedly said they view RT's German service as merely a propaganda arm of the Russian state.

In August, Luxembourg rejected RT German's application for a broadcast license. The network wanted to broadcast from Luxembourg via satellite and sidestep German broadcasting rules./agencies

Manny Pacquiao Wednesday announced ending his boxing career at the age of 42.

“To the greatest fans and the greatest sport in the world, thank you! Thank you for all the wonderful memories. This is the hardest decision I’ve ever made, but I’m at peace with it,” he said on Twitter.

"Chase your dreams, work hard, and watch what happens. Goodbye boxing."

Pacquiao sealed 62 wins, eight losses and two draws during his 26-year career, becoming the only boxer to gain titles in eight different weight classes.

Pacquiao's retirement decision came shortly after he announced his candidacy for the country’s president. The Philippines is set to hold elections in May 2022.

He has been serving as a senator since 2016./agencies