Another mass kidnapping and the woman who tried to stop it

Still waiting in line? Again? That's time you'll never get back. Save time and money with Stamps.com. Over 4 million businesses have skipped the line with Stamps.com. Join them to save up to 90% off carrier rates from your computer or phone right now. Print postage for certified mail, registered mail, and packages in seconds. Then schedule a pickup right from your home or office. For a limited time, go to Stamps.com and use code podcast for a free welcome gift. Taxes and fees apply. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Neil Kirksal. Good evening. I'm Chris Howden. This is As It Happens.

In Nigeria, two dozen girls are missing after an attack on their school. A woman who helped draft the rules that are supposed to protect the country's youngest tells us the nightmare playing out again and again will not end until the government steps up. The dissent as they descend. A nonprofit director in Charlotte, North Carolina tells us what an onslaught of federal agents is doing to his city as the Trump administration's immigration crackdown continues. A rough passage after that tense vote on the federal budget interim NDP leader Don Davis tells us this contentious parliament needs to focus on helping Canadians and not on party politics. Worth a gander, the excavation of a 12,000-year-old clay sculpture of a goose attempting to mate with a woman suggests Paleolithic hunter-gatherers had a more complex belief system than we knew. Taking the bait, a wolf in British Columbia is caught on camera reeling in crab traps in order to eat the bait. And scientists say that could be the first evidence of wolves using tools. And consuming masked quantities. Science says that unlike their rural cousins, urban raccoons are adapting to become less wild and more chill because they've developed a taste for our garbage. As it happens, the Tuesday edition, Radio the Guesses the Raccoon has become the pest of all possible worlds.

The town of Maga in northwestern Nigeria has been shaken to the core. In the early hours of yesterday morning, armed men abducted 25 girls from a secondary school and killed a teacher and a staff member who tried to protect them. One of the students managed to escape and is now receiving medical care. The kidnappers are still on the run. Bukishonibare is an activist and one of the founders of Nigeria's Bring Back Our Girls Movement, which brought international attention to the kidnapping of over 200 girls from the town of Chibok by the terrorist group Boko Haram in 2014. We reached her in Abuja, Nigeria. Buki, our listeners heard about the girls that were able to escape, but in terms of the others who were abducted most recently, is there any sense that officials, authorities are closer to finding where they are and getting them back safely? There's currently no sense that the Nigerian government is close to getting the girls back. And we know that the first 24 to 48 hours is quite critical in abductions like this. It's critical to the eventual outcome. The parents are agitated. The parents are asking for where their children are. And intel from the community suggests that they are not close to getting their children back until we... hear from the government. The military, as we understand it, had sent people to protect the school before this attack. Why do you think that that did not do what it was intended to do, that it did not stop these abductions from taking place? There was intel ahead of time. Some, you know, security officials were dispersed to the school, about five or six. But by the time the insurgents came, they were unable, you know, to stop them from abducting the girls and committing the atrocities that they did. But he put on the table one key issue. It's one thing to get early warning signals. It's another thing for there to be rapid response. but rapid response in such a way that response to the threats, you know, that we are getting. And following the abduction of the Chibok girls, we've had several other abductions since then. Large-scale abductions, you know, in 2018, there was abduction of 110 school girls. In 2020, there was abduction of 34 schoolboys. In 2021, there was another abduction of 279 girls in Zamfara State, not West Nigeria. And am I lighting this particular one because...

What happens in that region is that there are so many vast, ungoverned spaces. And so it gives bandits, you know, terrorists, violent extremists, it gives them the opportunity to penetrate those places. And until we begin to make sure that spaces are governed, then we'll... keep having repeat cases of these kind of abductions and other security threats. And just to let our listeners know, you know well, the Nigerian government has a national policy. It lays out clear guidelines that are supposed to keep children and their schools safe. That includes safety protocols for schools right across the country, wherever they are. Clearly, you don't feel that that's helped at all. Why isn't that working? So I was actually involved in the development of that policy, but it is one thing to have policies. It is another thing for you to have budget reallocations to drive the implementation of that policy. We've seen a wide gap. between policies and this is just one out of many policies that came out you know following the abduction of the chibald girls that if they are implemented the way they are you know codified or the way they are written we will not be having situations like this And finally is the importance of political will. You know, abductions of school children is not yet a national priority in Nigeria. And until it is a national priority, it will not be backed by real investments, real actions, you know, and real accountability. How can that be, you know, people listening? might be wondering that as well. I'm sure people, whether they're parents of these young girls or not, there's a strong reaction across the country from what I'm reading to this latest case. So how can it be that there is not political will to protect children? When we keep having abductions of school children, it tells you that something is absent. We've been able to track more than 20 incidents of school abductions where over 1,700 school children have been abducted. And so when you keep having the same issue. attacks on educational institutions. And you know that under international humanitarian law, schools, market, religious institutions, you know, cultural places, they are all classified as civilian objects that should not be attacked.

or occupied under any circumstance. We don't know the difference. No group has claimed the abductions of the Margar girls, for example. And until they do so, we will not, you know, know whether this is ideology or this is for ransom. And so it is so because we keep seeing the result of the failure. If the people are not secured, if their welfare is not adequately taken care of, then the government is failing in its responsibilities. And, you know, and I ask how can that be the lack of political will? It's certainly a question that is not asked only in Nigeria. We can think of the United States, the issue of gun violence. It's asked elsewhere as well. But when we're talking about these girls, the investigation, the rescue operation efforts that are underway, are you getting a sense that the search and rescue that's underway right now is strong enough to bring these young women home to their families safely? Until we see the result, we can't determine whether it is strong enough or not. Let's not forget that when the Chibok girls were abducted, it took more than three weeks for the Nigerian government to even acknowledge, accept that there has been abduction. Right now, out of the 276 Chibok school girls that were abducted, 185 of them... have either been brought back through negotiations or they escaped in one way or the other. It means that 91 of those girls are still missing more than 11 years on. And so bringing it back to this abduction in Kirby State, it tells you one thing. Unless there is swift rescue of the girls, Until we see that, we cannot say that the effort of the Nigerian government or the Nigerian military is actually strong enough. Buki, I appreciate this. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Buki Shoni Barre is an advocate for women and girls in Nigeria. We reached her in Abuja.

to govern and that it requires parties to work together. And this is what Jack Layton, you know, always told us. It's our first job to make Parliament work. And that's particularly the case. I think that Mr. Carney did not understand that scenario soon enough. And I think that contributed to a liberal budget that did not do a good job in reaching out to other parties to secure agreement. And the result of that was, I think, a very, very narrow result last night that... keeps parliament in a precarious situation. And that's exactly what I don't think the country needs right now. The budget does include funding for a new Filipino cultural and community center that may ultimately end up in your writing, that election threat aside. What was your calculation there? I mean, were you worried about potentially disappointing your constituents who've long wanted something like that by voting, no? Look, I think this is my 17th budget, and there are always things in budgets that are good and things that are unacceptable, and this one was no different. I was the person, I think, responsible for getting the Filipino Cultural Center in the budget last year and this year as well. So those are things that make the calculus a bit hard, but we have to analyze the budget as a whole and whether it's good, broadly speaking, for the majority of working Canadians, and it was our judgment that it failed that test and failed to meet the moment. It did survive the vote, though. So how are you planning to hold the government accountable from here on in? Well, that's a great question. I mean, we survived last night, but again, a 170 to 168 margin is very close for comfort. You know, even accidentally, as we saw in 1979, you know, governments can fall. All takes us one or two people to get sick or have a problem voting, and that's very tight. So, you know, we're going to continue to hold the government to account. We're going to continue to offer positive, constructive... solutions and proposals to the government, and we're prepared to work across party lines to tackle the problems that Canadians are facing. And, Neil, that was really the main issue for us is six months after an election. Right now, we knew Canadians want us to be in Parliament addressing those issues. They don't want an election right now, and it's not good for our country at this moment. And so new Democrats are committed to that. And so we remain open to... to trying to influence this government to bring in policies that I think are good for the millions of Canadians who voted for us and frankly for all parties. When you were on our show back in September, you were optimistic about collaboration in this parliament. You talked about a willingness from all parties to work together. It sounds like you still want that to be the reality, but is it? I think so. I mean, you know, over the last few weeks, we did engage in conversations with the government about improvements that could strengthen the budget and potentially in our support. We did make progress, but unfortunately not enough to turn our support at this time. But we're going to continue to do that. I think that's what Canadians expect of us at this point in the election cycle. So, you know, new Democrats are optimists. We want to make Parliament work.

We understand the very real issues facing millions of Canadians, and frankly, the fragile position our country is in, and we want to contribute. You know, I'm hoping that the Carney government pays attention to that close vote, doesn't take it for granted, and will display a greater willingness to reach cross-party lines and shape a budget that works for, not just for them, but for all parties. Instead of playing political games, like I would suggest the conservatives did, you know, they held back four votes to abstain, and then two of the conservatives ran in at the last minute to change their votes when they saw that the government wouldn't fall. Well, I don't think Canadians want that kind of political partisan game playing at this point. You know, we have Elizabeth May who said she was going to vote against the budget and then supported it. So I think really this is not about the political parties. This is about us focusing on the very real issues facing Canadians and coming up with real policies that will work. You know, I'm very excited about where Canada is right now. We have a lot of opportunity in front of us. We can become more self-sufficient. We can build more things here. You know, we can get more value from our raw resources. diversify our trade relationships, things that New Democrats have been saying for decades, by the way. And I think we can flourish as a country, but that requires us all to recognize that no party has a majority in the House of Commons. We all have to work together. There are solutions out there, and Canadians expect us to get to work. Don Davis, I appreciate this. Thank you. Thank you so much, Neil. Don Davis is the interim leader of the New Democratic Party. We reached him in Ottawa.

It was unclear who or what was behind the thievery. For months, something had been stealing the bait out of traps meant to catch invasive European green crabs in the waters off Helsuk First Nation near Bella Bella, BC. The most obvious suspect was some kind of marine animal, a fish burglar. So researchers were surprised last May when one of their cameras caught a wolf, swimming out, grabbing a buoy, swimming back to shore with it, and then reeling in the trap like it was fishing. In a new study, the researchers say it could be, the first evidence of that animal using tools. Kyle Artel is part of the research team. He's with the State University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry. We reached him on the road in Hill Island, Ontario. Kyle, when you were trying to come up with an answer as to who or what could be behind all of this, what was stealing these crab traps, was a wolf even on the list? No. So when we looked at the traps, I mean, the damage looked like it could have been wolves or bears, sort of teeth marks looked about, right? And some of the traps that were being damaged were pretty high at the beach, so on a low tide they were exposed, and a bear wolf could walk up and damage them. But some of the traps were set in pretty deep water that is never exposed on a low tide. And so it never crossed our mind that it could be anything but a marine mammal at that point. We didn't assume that the bears or wolves are going to dive down to grab them. So no, we were thinking, you know, maybe we'd see an otter, a mink, a seal. We really didn't know, but the sort of main candidates at that time were marine mammals, not a wolf. And so when you press play on this video and you see what is actually happening, what did you think? I mean, our minds were blown in a lot of ways. It was just the last thing we expected to see. You know, when we set the cameras up, we were hoping to get maybe a hint of who was doing it. We thought, well, maybe we'll see, you know, a seal go by or something like that. But to just see this full sequence, and it was one of the first videos to you on the camera was just, it was pretty amazing. And how often was this happening? So the traps were being damaged, I mean intermittently, so there would be no damage for a while. And then all of a sudden, the haystroke guardians who were leading the screen crab work would arrive, and suddenly there'd be, you know, 10 beaches, or sorry, 10 traps on a beach that were damaged. It would be intermittently, but when it happened, it would be quite a few traps at a time. We're getting damaged. And can you just tell us a little bit about what you saw unfold in the video? Yeah, so the video starts with a wolf swimming to shore with a buoy or a float in her mouth. And then she brings that buoy up the beach, drops it down, goes back down the beach to pick up the line. She then pulls the line up the beach. And then you start to see this crab trap emerge from the water. She pulls it by the line into shallow enough water that she can then pick it up with her mouth. And then she proceeds to open the bait cup within it and eat the bait, which is herring, inside that bait cup. And she does the whole thing in the space of about three minutes. And she just, she has this focus to her. Every motion she's doing is sort of perfectly efficient.

It really gives the impression that this isn't her first sort of rodeo, so to speak. She knows what she's doing. No, and if there are crabs, they're not interested in the crabs at all, just the herring. That's what it appears to be. We don't know if maybe they're grabbing some crabs too, but in every case where the traps were getting damaged, and certainly in this one on the video, she's sort of laser focused towards the bake cup that has the herring inside it. I think it's fair to say a lot of us take for granted that wild animals are very resourceful, do what they need to do. But why is what you've seen these wolves do is so surprising? Well, on the one hand, it's not surprising that they're able to do really crafty, clever things. You know, folks who are lucky enough to spend time with wolves and know wolves are well aware that they're highly intelligent. But this kind of behavior, you know, this isn't something that is historically been in their environment. This is something very new. And so for her to be able to, her or one of her packmates, we don't know who learned this behavior first, but. For a wolf to figure all of this out, to see this brand new thing in the environment, and to figure out all the steps required from a float on the top of the water with nothing else visible, that floats attached to a line, that line is attached to a trap, the trap has a baked up. For her to figure all that out and be able to do this sort of sequence of events in order to get that herring at the bottom of the ocean is really, really remarkable. And, you know, She solved the problem the same way that a human would. That's how we pull crab traps up. And how do you think this wolf acquired that knowledge? What's your thinking? We don't know. The couple of ways that we think it could have happened, one of them would be that her or another wolf was just watching guardians. So they used out guardians. When they check the traps, they pull the traps out of the water onto a boat. They lift it vertically out of the water onto a boat. In this case, of course, she was pulling it horizontally onto the shore. But it could have been that they were sort of just in the tree line watching the guardians and said, hey, we could access that bait the same way. That would be one mechanism. Another one would be that maybe they were encountering traps that were exposed on a low tide. So they just walked up to the traps quite easily could pull the bait cup out. And then maybe gradually they started accessing some traps that were in shallow water. Maybe they saw a trap in shallow water and just pulled on the line to get it a little more accessible. And then finally moved on to understanding that full connection between the float and the trap. You know, it could have been either of those mechanisms. We also don't know. The wolf in the video, we don't know if she figured that out herself or if she learned from a packmate. Because, you know, wolves are very cultural. They do teach each other things. And so it could very well be that she was not the first to figure this out and was simply taught it. So we don't know. It's sort of this observation raises more questions than it answers, really. Kyle, I'm glad we could speak. Thank you. Thank you.

Kyle Artel is an associate professor at the University of New York's College of Environmental Science and Forestry. We reached on Hill Island, Ontario. Raccoons, tiny-handed roly-poly friends or garbage-eating roly-poly enemies. The debate rages. Dividing to duh. Yikes. Pardon? No, I'm not talking. I'm talking about you. I'm not talking to you. That's okay. See you later. That was just one of the raccoons that lives in the studio ceiling. They're okay. But, you know, when they first moved in, honestly, they were, they were mean. They hissed and they bared their teeth and they treated this studio like a toilet. But now the raccoons seem different. They just seemed. Ah! Why are you? No. Why are you right there? I'm still not calling you. No, I can't calm you. I'm working. As I was saying, the raccoons have changed. They're nicer. They still defecate all over the studio, but now they look apologetic when they do it. And according to science, this is because they are self-domesticating. For a new study, this requires throat clearing. Scientists examined thousands of images of raccoons. So they discovered that the snouts of urban raccoons are now smaller than the snouts of their rural kinfolk. 3.56% smaller if you're keeping a raccoon snout graph at home. And that apparently is one clear sign of domestication syndrome. When animals become more domesticated, their snouts shrink. So to their teeth and their brains, plus they become less aggressive. And usually they do all this because humans are forcing them to, but raccoons are just doing it themselves. They're self-domesticating because the urban ones live so close to us humans and they've grown to love and respect us. I'm just kidding. They've grown to love and respect our garbage. Anyway, nature is certainly full of a... Ah, God! Why are you on my shoulder? No, I don't want half a timet that you washed. Go in the ceiling! Eesh! That raccoon is obviously self-domesticating. It's as short as the nose on her face.

We are going to be back in just a second to find out what a 12,000-year-old sculpture featuring a woman and a goose in an intimate pose reveals about a Paleolithic hunter-gatherer community. But first, I would like someone to reveal, is our cake here? Has it arrived? It is the show's birthday today, you know that? This show's birthday. Yeah, and Jim Murray of New Westminster, BC remembered. He sent us this email. Hello, Neil Cuxel and Chris Howden and the entire team. Happy birthday. I believe this is the day back in 1968 that as it happens began. And as it happened, I was listening to that broadcast on CBK in Saskatchewan. I could be off slightly on the precise date, but I do recall the early hosts, William Ronald and Philip Forsyth and all those who followed. It's always been great radio. And while I can't say I've listened to every show, I have listened to a great many. And I love what the two of you do. It's been 57 years of great radio. I hope to be listening to another 57 best. Jim. Jim, you're a wonderful person, clearly, and you are exactly right. As it happens, did debut on November 18th, 1968. Thank you for remembering. I think it means more than any cake, really, but I will be looking for cake out there, as I often do. Stay tuned. I'm Neil Kirksal. And I'm Chris Howden.

Shipping, billing, admin, payroll, marketing. You're managing all the things. So why waste time sending important documents the old-fashioned way? Mail and ship when you want, how you want, with Stamps.com. Print postage on-demand 24-7 and schedule pickups from your office or home. Save up to 90% with automated rate shopping. That's why over 1 million small businesses trust Stamps.com. Go to Stamps.com and use code podcast to try Stamps.com risk-free for 60 days. This week, on two blocks from the White House, a sudden escalation in the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada. Donald Trump is imposing 50% tariffs on many Canadian exports. We're asking, what's up with these new tariffs, and what does it mean for the Canada-U.S. relationship? Join me, Willie Lowry, and my fellow Washington correspondence, Mike Crawley, and Katie Simpson as we break down U.S. politics from a Canadian perspective. Find and follow two blocks from the White House wherever you get your podcasts. We've already seen similar chaos in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago, and now Donald Trump's immigration crackdown has arrived in North Carolina. On Saturday in Charlotte, the state's largest city, the Department of Homeland Security, launched what it dubbed Operation Charlotte's Web. It has said that federal agents arrested 130 people over the weekend. Today in a statement, the mayor of Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, said customs and border protection is on its way there. Greg Ashuto is the executive director of a community development nonprofit called Charlotte East. We reached him in Charlotte, North Carolina. Greg, what does it look and feel like in Charlotte right now? Specifically on our side of the city, which is East Charlotte, which is where our nonprofit focuses. It's hard to really put into words what the impact has been. We're on day, I believe, four of Border Patrol being in our city. been preparing since last Tuesday, so it's been about a week. But what I will say today is we're really starting to see and feel the economic impact. In our geography, which has roughly 400, mom and pop small businesses, 50% have clothes for at least a day, but many are continuing to remain closed indefinitely until this specific operation is over. So what is it like on the street? You use the phrase ghost town, if I'm not mistaken. Yes. So, you know, we in many of our commercial districts within our footprint, it is akin to a ghost town, and that is not a reflection of the citizenship status of our community, but more so a response to some of the... indiscriminate targeting that we have seen from Border Patrol agents who have been the term that I like to use as fishing for citizenship status. We have seen citizens be detained. We have seen citizens that are... Responding and doing alerts about Border Patrol awareness, be arrested and detained as well today. We have seen the one thing that has not been a ghost town has been the community presence of community allies out and support, doing watches around schools and churches, creating allyship networks and support networks to support our vulnerable families during this time.

So you're trying to do the work while trying to, you know, as people try to keep themselves safe. They're worried about what might happen. I know your organization sent out surveys to hundreds of local businesses. What were you trying to find out? So we sent out surveys yesterday morning, actually yesterday midday, to assess what the economic impact. has been. These survey responses are trickling in. I think right now we're around 50, but we're trying to figure out how long or if our businesses have been forced to close and what the daily loss of revenue is because of these closures. So we're using that raw data, in addition to the anecdotal data of being in the community and getting reports to make the assessment that, you know, 50% of our businesses have had at least a day of closure, but 100% have been impacted regardless of who is owning, white-owned, Asian-owned, black-owned, or Latino-owned, have been impacted by lack of foot traffic, lack of labor force. And again, these are individuals with... full American citizenship, both business owners and employees, but because of some of the things that we have seen with indiscriminate targeting, pretty much of any individual who is brown, there have been safety precautions put in place, and one of those has been business closures. That has been the primary reason talking with business owners is why they have decided to kind of slow down operations for a few days is to keep their staff. in customer base as safe as possible. What is it like having those conversations? I mean, we're talking about something really extraordinary here. It is. I mean, you know, our community, the one beautiful thing about our community is that we are already very organically connected. We are a working-class community, so we are used to pulling up our bootstraps and getting things done ourselves. So we do have networks already existing in place. These networks didn't have to be crafted. They had to be sharpened a little bit, but they didn't have to be created from scratch. So I will say that the strength of our community is propelling us through this time. You know, it's very difficult. We're going to get through it without question. But it has just been, it's been a unique experience. The one way that I can... explain it to people who are not in our community from an impact on business standpoint is it is very akin to what we saw the first week of the COVID-19 pandemic, where you had businesses in different stages of not knowing if they were going to shut down, reduced hours, people scared to leave the house.

But instead of it affecting everyone, it's specifically affecting our community, which has been a very strong internationally led community for 30 years. So we're really in second generation immigrants now who are leaders in this space that are being impacted directly. As you likely know, the Democratic governor of North Carolina, Josh Stein has said, you know, quote, stop targeting people simply going about their lives because of the color of their skin as you were doing in Charlotte, unquote. The Department of Homeland Security, DHS, has said this is all about targeting criminals. It's about public safety, people who are in the country illegally. If you were face-to-face with someone from the department or from some of these. officials, the Border Patrol who's in your town, what would you say to them when that's the line that they're pushing? So, and to be very, you know, explicit as our nonprofit status is simply dedicated really to providing the supports and response to the crisis, but I will tell you explicitly what we have seen. We have not seen it just being criminals, violent criminals who are being targeted. I've personally witnessed landscapers on private residential property. I've personally witnessed a man selling flowers on the side of the road. And this is something that I think everyone can agree upon is that we do want criminals, violent criminals, not on our streets, but that is not what is appearing to be the impact of this specific operation. It is very indiscriminate. targeting, and I will say that I do not believe that we feel our community is safer because of this specific operation. Greg, I appreciate this. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Greg, Aschudo, is the executive director of the nonprofit Charlotte East. We reached him in Charlotte, North Carolina.

When you hear about the art of prehistoric hunter-gatherers, you probably picture cave paintings. Those are astonishing achievements for the time, but they're pretty rudimentary. I mean, you wouldn't put them in your house. Well, a team of researchers has discovered a work of prehistoric sculpture in what's now northern Israel. It's clay, it's tiny, it's about 12,000 years old, and it's remarkably sophisticated. But you still might not display it in your house. Or every visitor you ever had would ask, what, um, what's the, uh, what's the goose doing to the woman? The artifact is believed to be the earliest representation of a woman in Southwest Asia and a sign that human animal spiritual beliefs emerged earlier than anticipated. Laurent Avin is the lead author of a study on the figurine that's published in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He's in Paris. Lauren, I've had a chance to look at a picture, but for our listeners who have not, can you describe this extraordinary artifact? What does it look like? So it's a small figurine. It's less than four centimeters tall. And it's kind of dark gray because the clay it was made from was burnt to harden it and make it permanent. So when you look at it, it's a human, bent forward. And we know that it's a woman because she has like two impressions and sessions on the chest to represent a breast. And a bit lower down, we have a triangular area. which is ensued in the clay to represent a female pubis. So we have like this bent forward female and on our back there is a goose enveloping her with its wings and the head of the goose is coming back on top of the human head with the beak and head of the goose resting on the right cheek of the woman. And what you're describing has so much detail. Was that a surprise to you too, the level of detail? Yeah, exactly, because when I took at this small lump of clay out of the bag, I saw right away the human shape. And when I started to look at it with the light and everything, and I saw all these tiny, really tiny details of the modeling. It was really amazing to see it because it's a small artifact. And I think the manufacturer made it probably took time and there was a lot of knowledge invested and now invested in this. So it was clearly different than everything else you'd be sorting through. What can you tell us about who might have made it? So we know, thanks to the fingerprint left on the clay, probably from the manufacturer, we know that it was a young adult or an adult female. And it was probably a skilled manufacturer using really precise and fine tools to shape this tiny block of clay. And we know that probably this woman manufactured this tiny block of clay using light because we see that there's a play of light and shadows.

to show perfectly the perspective between the two individuals, so the woman and the goose. So probably the manufacturer did it while she was next to a fireplace at night or something like that. What do you think the way the woman and the goose are portrayed suggests? So at first we felt maybe it's a female hunter transporting back dead carcass of a goose to the village to eat it. But when we looked at the goose remains on the site, we understood that each time that the hunters brought back the goose, they cut the head and the neck. So given that we saw on the figurine that the goose was fully represented, we started wondering, is it really a dead goose represented? And then we thought also the band forward position of the woman doesn't relate to the weight of the goose, which is less than three kilos. And the fact also that the goose looks like a live animal supporting its own weight, we understood that the goose is depicted alive on the figurine. And given a wild goose will not adopt such posture on a human, it probably relates to imaginary reality and to imagination, something more symbolic than from a real life scenario. Something symbolic or spiritual. What could it be trying to say? Is that something you've thought of and discussed? Yeah, yeah. And then we looked at the posture of the goose. And in fact, it's a perfect representation of the gander, so the male goose while mating. So we understood that probably the manufacturer wanted to represent this particular posture. And then we wonder, why will the goose, will be a gander, will be mating with a woman? And in the ethnographic record, we know that in many societies across the world that have an animistic belief system, this kind of imaginary mating between an animal spirit and the human is very common. The people, as you said, who created this also eight birds, eight geese. You've seen bones there. They use bones for decoration as well. Could it have been... this figurine a toy for a child? Is that something you've considered? It's not published yet, but we found many of our clay figurines with fingerprints of child. So we know that child also produced figurines, but probably this one, given that it's very small, very fragile, and it was made to be positioned probably in a particular space inside the habitat. For the light, to light it perfectly and everything, we don't think it's a toy, but probably something that was somewhere in the village and people came to look at it. Maybe also something related to storytelling. Well, you look at it, somebody's storytelling.

about the scene that is depicted or it relates to a myth that somebody is speaking about or something like that. It's quite a powerful thing you're describing that scene of the storytelling and the symbolism and spirituality. Do you imagine in your mind what was happening in that community? Yeah, and in fact, when you look at the studies about myth, there's more and more research showing that. Such myth associating women and geese or swans at least relate to very ancient periods and even prehistory. And maybe this is a representation of that type of myth. Laurent, I appreciate this. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Laurent de Vain is the co-author of a paper on a figurine that depicts a woman and a goose, apparently in flagrante. We reached him in Paris. In New York, the U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for a future international stabilization force in Gaza. and potentially a pathway to peace. But in Gaza, the present situation is the problem. Over the weekend, a winter storm hammered the strip. It's cold and wet. The UN estimates that more than 80% of the buildings in Gaza were destroyed in the war, and the tents, the vast majority of Gazans currently call home, offer little to no protection. Israel says it has worked to get tents into Gaza, but aid groups say those efforts aren't close to enough. Shane Olo is a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Amman. where we reached her. Shana, what do these tent camps where people are trying to live look like now after the storm? People are living in incredibly difficult conditions. Many people lost what little belongings they remained due to flooding. Tents collapsed under the weight of the rain. Many people... don't even have tents or makeshift shelters, people are really in desperate need of assistance. They're not only in terms of having tents that provide protection from the elements, but in terms of the heavy equipment and tools needed to clear sewage lines and have proper drainage to prevent and mitigate flooding. And when we say tents, some folks, don't even have what would what would really live up to the definition of a tent. Just blankets and sheets against the rain is what they're dealing with, right? Absolutely. People are living in makeshift shelters composed of whatever materials they can find. We are still facing... incredible obstacles to getting in the aid that's needed, both in terms of the types of materials we can bring in. We still are unable to bring in timber and framing kits to create improved makeshift shelters for people, and many organizations, including the Norwegian Refugee Council, continue to be blocked from bringing in any aid.

whatsoever by Israeli authorities. And so what's entering is not nearly enough to meet the tremendous needs. An estimated 1.45 million people are in need of shelter assistance. And what's entered since the ceasefire is just a fraction to cover those needs. What kinds of specific things have you been able to get in since that ceasefire took effect on October 10th? The Norwegian Refugee Council, where I work, has not been able to get in a single piece of aid since before Israel imposed a total siege on Gaza on March 2nd of this year. We are just one of dozens of organizations facing these obstacles. We still are providing to communities in need as much as we can. We've received tarpaulins in the last couple of weeks from a partner and have been working steadfastly to distribute those last week in. Daryl Bella expanding those efforts this week in Khan Yunus. But we and many of the other international NGOs who have operated on the ground in Gaza for years, some of us decades, are being blocked from bringing in life-saving assistance, including shelter materials. The Israeli defense body that controls the border crossings has said in preparation for winter, they've been coordinating with the international community to get close to. 140,000 tarpaulins directly to the residents of the Gaza Strip. They say that hundreds of trucks are getting into Gaza daily with food, shelter, and medical supplies, and quote, we call on international organizations to coordinate more tents and tarpaulins and other winter humanitarian responses, unquote. Two very different realities are being put forward here. Absolutely. While there are a handful of partners, I believe only four organizations out of dozens of shelter cluster partners have been authorized and approved to bring in aid, which means that while we are trying our best and continuing to apply every week. to bring in shelter materials, we continue to face those rejections. And while, of course, we've seen improvement when no shelter materials were able to enter from March until late August. So, of course, some is better than none, but it's nowhere near enough to meet the needs after 90% of Gaza's housing has been damaged or destroyed. 1.9 million people were displaced, many of them multiple times. So the needs are just incredibly high. And what we're seeing is that we aren't getting enough access. All of the crossings into Gaza need to be opened. All NGOs operating in Gaza need to have their materials approved so that we can go in and protect people as winter has already begun. And we saw the first heavy rains last week and all of the flooding. Specifically, again, Shana, what are they saying when your applications are rejected? reasoning they're giving? The reason that we are given when we receive our rejections is this organization is not authorized to deliver aid at this time. Therefore, the request is denied. Despite us having...

valid registrations with Israeli authorities, despite us having track records of working for years in the case of NRC more than 15 years in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory. There are dozens of organizations that are facing the same rejections, including at least seven other organizations that are trying to provide shelter support in advance and during the beginning of the winter. It was back in March that Israel introduced a new process of registration for aid groups working in Gaza, and they've cited security reasons requiring that you and other NGOs give lists of their local Palestinian staff. Is that part of the problem here? Have you been providing those details? It hasn't been explicitly stated, but it appears linked to Israel's new registration process. Very few organizations have received approvals for the new registration process, and what we were told is that... the grace period would be extended through the end of the year for organizations that had pre-existing registrations. But what we've seen is that the benefits or the privileges that coming with being registered are not being extended to us, that we're being blocked from having aid workers present inside of Jerusalem or the West Bank, and that we're unable to bring in aid into Gaza. And your colleagues on the ground, I mean, what are they telling you, Shana, about how much longer people can survive in these kinds of conditions, given the storm, but also the winter that is coming? You know, people, I think, are just desperate at this point. I think we've witnessed over the last two years, people push to the brink of survival. People are exhausted. They are desperate for more aid to enter. Even our colleagues who may be in better off situations than many of the people we're serving are still facing the same acute needs. And it's not about how long they can wait. I think we've seen that Palestinians have a resilience. That is simply remarkable to see, you know, my own colleagues face such devastation and loss and continue to serve. But it's not about how long. It's about how fast can we get materials into Gaza. How fast can we serve people and alleviate two years of suffering and allow people to begin recovery process and hopefully reconstruction. Shana, I appreciate this. Thank you. Thank you, Neil. Shane Lowe is a spokesperson for the Norwegian Refugee Council. She's in Iman Jim Jordan.

The Gray Cup is back in Saskatchewan. On Sunday, the Rough Riders won their fifth CFL championship against the Montreal Alouettes in Winnipeg. Today, the team took the cup and the party home. The parade made its way down a street dubbed the Green Mile, actually Albert Street, before stopping at the legislative building for a ceremony. And perhaps... Perhaps the most excited member of Ryder Nation, and the thick of it all is Rhonda Kerr White. She plays trumpet with the Ryder Pepp Band, which was formed 32 years ago. She's the only original member. We reached her during the parade outside the legislature in Regina. Rhonda, how long until you and the band go on? About, well, probably as soon as we're done here, we'll start playing. And we're going to play until about 3 o'clock once the players are here from the parade. What are you seeing around you? Paint the scene for us since we can't be there with you and the fun. Well, we can see Albert Street where they're going to turn the corner to the ledge building. And we can see that corner is absolutely packed. We're standing in front of the ledge building right now. And we are, there's probably at least. 300 people here already waiting patiently for our team to arrive. And what's on the set list for the band? For the set list? Well, we're going to do the rider songs, of course, on rough riders. Green is the color and paint for green. I'm still standing because we are the last team standing because we won the Grey Cup. We'll do a few other ones like celebration and country roads, a few things like that just to pipe up the crowd. All the hits. You have been, to let our listeners know, part of the pep band for more than three decades since it was first formed in 1993. I mean, are days like this the best day to be in Regina? Absolutely. You know what? It's fun all around. We just love entertaining and especially when they win the cup. This will be our third. In the 33 years we've been in existence, so it is extra special for us. And what is it about this team that you could have stopped playing years ago, right? No, no. Riders, once you're a rider fan, you just bleed green for your life. And rider fans, you can find across our country and throughout the world. And it's just amazing. The family atmosphere, just camaraderie, everything. We bleed green for our province. And how many people are in the band now? Today we have about 20. As you ought to remember, it's a work day. We've got about 20 of our members, about half the group is here. Was it hard to get the day off, though, or was it just a given that people? Well, we just got back from Grey Cup. 26 of us were in Winnipeg since Thursday. We just got home Monday morning, so, yeah. They'll be okay without you for a few days. They will be fine. They have to understand. What was it like to be there in Winnipeg? It's fantastic. Winnipeg put on an amazing, amazing festival, but seeing all the green there was awesome. And then seeing all the other fans across the country that were saying, we're cheering riders, we're cheering riders, awesome, great.

So, yeah, it's just a wonderful atmosphere. Oh, I can hear the excitement still in your voice, Rhonda. So you're not there alone, obviously. We can pass the phone. You've got some other bandmates we could talk to? Absolutely. I'm going to pass you over to Adam or snare drummer. Okay. Hi there. Hi, snare drummer, Adam. How are you? I'm great. This is Neil Linder, as it happens, studio. How are you feeling? You know, you were there at the game with Rhonda as well? We were there at the game, just, you know, running off adrenaline, you know, tired, but having a great time. And obviously they won, so feeling exuberant. It's great. How long have you been a member of the band? 18 years. I'm from Ottawa originally. So, yeah, I've been a member of the pet band for about 18 years now. And how does it feel this many years in? It's great. Yeah, we have fun every year. The band keeps changing and getting new music. And, you know, we're just really proud to represent Saskatchewan and the writers. We're getting close to actually the team coming in. Do you get nervous at all, or is it just fun on a day like this? Oh, no, it's all just fun. Oh, just fun, you know? If you could pass me, you have one more bandmate there. Maureen, I think, is also there. Can I talk to me? Yeah, Maureen, right. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks, Adam. You too. Hello? Hi, Maureen. Yes, it's Maureen, yep. This is Neil in the As It Happens studio. What do you play in the pet band? I play a piccolo in the crew. It's so much fun. The Piccolo, where you're breaking up a little bit because I know more people, throngs of people are filling the area. How long have you been part of the team, part of the band? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I played Piccolo in the band for, this is my third year. Oh, so you're the newest of the three people we've been speaking with. What made you want to join? Mostly my love of music. And, you know, it helped now that I've learned more about football and I'm a bad. of this wonderful team we have, but yeah. So you weren't into the CFL before this? I wasn't like with, I wasn't a season ticket member or anything. Right. Okay, but now you, you bleed green like everybody else? Oh, I sure do. Absolutely. And what is it like to be as part of this band once, you know, they're Great Cup winners again? Oh, we're such an awesome group. Like, we're. questions are banned and it was so great to go to Grey Cup. I mean, I've been now the three Grey Cups, but it's so awesome to have our Saskatchewan Rough Riders in the Cup. Winning. Well, Maureen, have fun today on this momentous third year. Can you pass it back to Rhonda for me? Yes, I can. Just one moment, please. We might get a little close to the music here. That's okay.

Hi again, Rhonda. Listen, I know you're coming up. Hello, it's Neil again. Hi. I just wanted to say thank you. I really need to go. The team is here. Thank you. Thank you, Rhonda. Bye. Rhonda Kerwight is one of the original members of the writer PEP band, which formed in 1993. We reached her and Maureen and Adam earlier today in Regina. You've been listening to the As It Happens podcast. Our show can be heard Monday to Friday on CBC Radio 1 after your world tonight. And you can, of course, also listen to our show online at cbc.ca.a slash AIH or on the CBC Listen app or, of course, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Neil Keogsel. And I'm Chris Howden. For more CBC Podcasts, go to cBC.ca slash podcasts.