Harold Nelson, long-time fixture at CBC's The National, dies at 82

Harold Nelson, a behind-the scenes figure at The Natinal during the n1960s and 1970s, has died at age 82.

Harold was known for his encyclopedic memory of film footage and could retrieve needed shots from archives in a hurry. It was an invaluable skill in the days before computers. He retired from CBC several years ago.

The Morley Bedford funeral home says that the Church service will take place at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, 227 Bloor Street East on Tuesday, 7 February 2012 at 2:00 p.m. A private interment will be held from Port Crewe late in the week.

Rogers, BCE vying for a bite of Apple’s iTV

Rogers Communications Inc.and BCE Inc. are in talks with Apple Inc. to become Canadian launch partners for its much-hyped Apple iTV, a product that has the potential to revolutionize TV viewing by turning conventional televisions into gigantic iPads, the Globe and Mail repoirts..

 While the iTV product remains cloaked in secrecy, sources say Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple has approached Rogers and Bell as it actively pursues partnerships with Canadian carriers.

Google bows to censors in India

In the latest case of a government tightening the reins on the online flow of ideas and information, Google  India has agreed to take down Web pages considered offensive by Indian political and religious leaders, stoking censorship fears in the world's largest democracy.

The removal order announced Monday resulted from a court case and follows weeks of aggressive government pressure on 22 Internet giants to remove photographs, videos or text considered "anti-religious" or "anti-social."

Warning that their sites might be blocked "like in China,'' a New Delhi judge gave Facebook, Google and the other sites two weeks to present further plans for policing their networks, according to Indian press reports.

A Google spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Monday that while the company recently declined a request by a government minister to pre-screen content considered politically or religiously offensive,

Google now faced a court order and had no choice but to follow it. Google would not release details about what content it had taken down or explain how it planned to respond to the government's demand for a self-policing action plan.

Gunmen force 2 newspapers to publish Yemen president’s photo on the front page

A state-run Yemeni newspaper’s office is being occupied by armed men who kicked out the paper’s editors and journalists in order to reinstate the outgoing president’s picture on the front page, the AP reports.

Al-Thawra newspaper board member Mohamed Shabita says President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s loyalists took over the newspaper’s offices in the capital of Sanaa and brought in their own journalists. They published his picture on Sunday.

Hundreds of armed men loyal to Saleh also surrounded another state-run newspaper’s offices in the southern city Taiz last week, demanding the president’s picture be restored. The editors of the el-Gomhoreya paper gave in.

After months of street protests demanding his ouster, Saleh is set to transfer powers to his deputy later this month. Saleh is in New York for medical treatment.

When do cameras belong in court? Globe situationer

The Globe and Mail's Sunny Dhillon notes that more than a decade ago, some court cases in British Columbia were broadcast on television. He writes:

"The new era that appeared to be on the brink in July of 2000 has been delayed – and then some. Broadcast proceedings remain few and far between in this province. But that could soon change, courtesy of what opposition politicians call Premier Christy Clark’s Riot TV. The Crown will next week make the first of its applications to a judge hearing a riot case for the proceedings to be broadcast publicly, following through on a pledge in the government’s Throne Speech.

"The decision could propel the B.C. courts into that new era.

"The Attorney-General has said the application is part of the government’s plan to make the courts more accessible to the public, but hasn’t said whether it would do the same with future crimes. Media that have long argued for cameras are wondering if the Crown will take over that role.

"Ms. Clark has been lambasted from all sides over the broadcast order – the Criminal Justice Branch dissented until prosecutors were bluntly told to forge ahead. Defence lawyers and political rivals have derided the order as a populist stunt.. . ."

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