As It Happens: Thursday Edition

Part One

Russian nerve-agent attack suspects
The two men accused of a nerve agent attack say they were just visiting England to enjoy a church's towering spire — but a Moscow journalist says that's a tall tale. 

Florence: family
He survived Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, so when he heard Hurricane Florence was heading for his new home in North Carolina, Juan Rojas made a quick exit. 

Lost mail ships
A collection of letters taken from ships between 1650 and 1815 by the British Navy is about to go online — including some written by sailors to their soul mateys. 

Part Two

San Juan mayor
Today, U.S. President Donald Trump said the Democrats inflated the death toll in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. That was a lie. And no one knows that better than Carmen Yulin Cruz — the mayor of San Juan. 

LeBlanc mayor
A Newfoundland mayor calls on the Prime Minister to force Dominic Leblanc from cabinet — because the former Fisheries Minister gave a clam license to a company with ties to his wife's cousin. 

Part Three

AIH50: École Polytechnique
The last time As it Happens spoke with Nathalie Provost was in 1989, days after she was shot during the massacre at École Polytechnique in Montreal. Tonight, she revisits that interview — and that terrible day. 

Algeria-France torture
Six decades after his death, France's President acknowledges his country's responsibility for the torture of an independence activist in Algeria. Historian Raphaëlle Branche asks what that will mean for the thousands who suffered similar fates.