Past Articles:
These "Articles" are dated from May 1st, 2007 - May 31st, 2007.
 Family of Dudley George awaits Ipperwash report
31/05/07
 Woman on oxygen dies after power cut to her home
30/05/07
 Report finds big holes in Tory climate plan
29/05/07
 Two suspects in teen shooting to appear in court
28/05/07
 Bobblehead bomb blunder forces major evacuation
27/05/07
 'Monster Pig' shot in U.S. outweighs 'Hogzilla'
26/05/07
 Mother searches for details on son's shooting
25/05/07
 Counsellors at school as police hunt for shooter
24/05/07
 Anti-poverty protesters storm B.C. cabinet offices
23/05/07
 Harper in Afghanistan on unannounced visit
22/05/07
 Popular diabetes drug linked to heart risks
21/05/07
 New land claims policies coming soon: Prentice
20/05/07
 Snowbird pilot dies in crash at Montana air show
19/05/07
 Study finds 25 countries block websites
18/05/07
 Ottawa to give more power to land-claims panel
17/05/07
 CPR track maintenance crews walk off job
16/05/07
 'Most Wanted' fugitive held in Canadian jail
15/05/07
 Indian actress files appeal in Gere obscenity case
14/05/07
 U.S. 'Top 10' fugitive arrested in Montreal
13/05/07
 How celebrities play the 'get-out-of-jail' card
12/05/07
 Canadian citizen arrested in Afghanistan: report
11/05/07
 Radler to face 2nd day of grilling in Black trial
10/05/07
 U.S. air strike kills 21 civilians in Afghanistan
09/05/07
 Liberal MP calls for inquiry into RCMP contracts
08/05/07
 Canadian poppy quarter triggered U.S. spy alert
07/05/07
 Canadian peacekeeper among nine dead in Sinai crash
06/05/07
 Tornado levels Kansas town, leaves seven dead
05/05/07
 Reputed head of Montreal mob pleads guilty
04/05/07
 Canada signs new prisoner transfer agreement
03/05/07
 Dad convicted on pathologist evidence granted bail
02/05/07
 RCMP DNA testing is seriously backlogged: Fraser
01/05/07
=======================
 
Family of Dudley George awaits Ipperwash report
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. May 31 2007  07:22  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 31st, 2007
The final report of the Ipperwash Inquiry, which was set up to examine the shooting death of native protestor Anthony Dudley George, will be released today.

The 38-year-old was killed during a police raid to remove native protesters from Ipperwash Provincial Park on Sept. 6, 1995.

"I'm quite confident that we are going to get a good report today," George's brother, Sam George, said from Forest, Ont. Thursday.

The inquiry was established by the Ontario government on Nov. 12, 2003 and headed by Commissioner Sidney Linden. He has been preparing the document since hearings concluded in August 2006.

"It's been frustrating right from the beginning when we first started to ask questions about why did he died that night and for what reason did he die," Sam told Canada AM.

The family's lawyer, Murray Klippenstein, told CTV.ca that the family wanted the inquiry because they were concerned that George had been falsely portrayed as having weapons and aiming them at police.
Dudley George was shot when police moved on protesters occupying the Ipperwash Provincial Park in southwestern Ontario.
Sam George, brother of Dudley George, speaks with Canada AM from Forest, Ont. on Thursday, May 31, 2007.
"They think they're partly to their goal of hoping that the memory of Dudley will be as a real person rather than some kind of a strange protester," said Klippenstein.

The protesters wanted nearby Camp Ipperwash, formerly the Stony Point reserve, to be returned to Stony Point descendants. The land had been taken by the government in 1942 and converted into a military training camp known as Camp Ipperwash.

Perhaps the inquiry's most stunning allegation, former Ontario attorney general Charles Harnick told the probe, is that he heard then-premier Mike Harris say: "I want the fucking Indians out of the park" during a meeting with senior government officials at the height of the standoff.

Harris, who was one of the last to testify at the inquiry, denied accusations that he directed the police action that led to George's death.

The report, which is expected to make recommendations about how to avoid violence in future circumstances, comes at a critical time as Aboriginal leaders have warned of similar protests this summer.

Some native leaders have pushed for railway blockades during a national "day of action" on June 29.

"The country will be able to profit from this advice given the heightened tensions between an impatient aboriginal community which is seeking to have settlement of over 800 outstanding land claims,'' Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty told The Canadian Press.

"I expect that the advice will be very helpful.''

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with from  The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Woman on oxygen dies after power cut to her home
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. May 30 2007  07:25  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 30th, 2007
WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- A 44-year-old woman who needed an electric oxygen pump to breathe died after an energy company cut the power to her home because of a $122 unpaid bill, her family claimed Wednesday.

Police said they had launched an investigation into Folole Muliaga's death, which happened within two hours of state-owned company Mercury Energy cutting power to her house Tuesday.

Mercury Energy's general manager, James Moulder, said the company was devastated by the woman's death and was conducting its own investigation to determine what happened. Muliaga, a schoolteacher with four children between the ages of 5 and 20, had been off work since February with an illness.
Undated family photo of Folole Muliaga, who died when New Zealand power company, Mercury Energy cut power to her house in Mangere, south Auckland, New Zealand Tuesday, May 29, 2007. (AP / NZPA)

A Mercury Energy representative arrived on Tuesday at her home in the northern city of Auckland to disconnect the electricity, said Brenden Sheehan, Muliaga's nephew-in-law.

Sheehan said both Muliaga and her son told the technician she was dependent on the oxygen machine to stay alive and invited him into the house to see it. "Then he cut the power off," Sheehan told The Associated Press.

Muliaga began having difficulty breathing, became faint and then collapsed, he said. Paramedics were unable to revive her, and she was pronounced dead within two hours of the power being cut.

Moulder expressed his "deep condolences" to the family, and said the company was checking reports that it had been warned Muliaga needed power for the oxygen machine. The company restored electricity to the house on Wednesday after learning of her death.

Sheehan said the family's bills would prove Muliaga was trying to pay the account, and received no warning the power would be shut off.

State Owned Enterprises Minister Trevor Mallard said there were reports the family had been warned about the overdue account.

"The correct authority to investigate this and sort out the facts is the police," Mallard said, adding the government would expect "full accountability" if the company was found to be culpable.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with from  The Associated Press
=======================
 
Report finds big holes in Tory climate plan
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. May 28 2007  19:09  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 29th, 2007
An analysis by an environmental think tank has found what it says are significant holes in the Conservative government's greenhouse gas reduction plan for heavy industry.

"We've already said the overall targets fall short of Kyoto," Matthew Bramley, director of climate change for the Pembina Institute, told CTV.ca on Monday.

"There are also a whole host of questions about whether even these weak targets can be achieved."

He wasn't prepared to talk about motives on the government's part for why that might be so.

The institute's report, supported by other major environmental groups, starts by claiming the government's shifting of the baseline year to 2006 from the international standard of 1990 gives a "misleading impression of their adequacy."

Environment Minister John Baird announced on April 26 that Canada would seek to stabilize emissions by 2012 at the latest and then achieve a 20 per cent cut by 2020 -- from 2006 levels.

Canada emitted 747 megatonnes of GHGs in 2005. The 1990 level is 599 Mt.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, Canada is to cut its emissions by six per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.

The Tories' target for 2020 would be two per cent above 1990 levels and eight per cent above the Kyoto target. The government has said the Kyoto reduction wouldn't be achieved until 2025.

The European Union has promised a 20 per cent cut below 1990 levels by 2020 and is willing to commit to a 30 per cent cut if other nations follow suit.

Science shows that developed countries must cut their emissions by 25 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020 to stave off catastrophic climate change, the report said.

"When the government of Canada tells the world it intends to fall short of these requirements, it is sending one of three possible messages:
"We do not accept the science of climate change,
"We consider the severe impacts associated with more than 2 degrees Celsius of warming to be acceptable, or
"Other countries will have to do more to make up for Canada doing less."

The government's plan for reaching even its 2020 target is dubious, Bramley said.

There are serious doubts the plan will result in emissions cuts by heavy industry, the government doesn't explain why it thinks other measures will work, and there is a chance for accounting errors in emissions reporting that would lead to cuts being overestimated, the report said.
Federal Environment Minister John Baird (right) addresses a news conference while New Brunswick Environment Minister Roland Haché looks on after Baird and provincial environment ministers met in Toronto, Monday, May 28, 2007.(CP PHOTO/Nathan Denette)
Liberal leader Stephane Dion answers reporters questions at a news conference in Ottawa, on May 28, 2007. (CP / Tom Hanson)
Prime Minister Stephen Harper responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons in Ottawa Monday, May 28, 2007. (CP PHOTO/Tom Hanson)
'We need to see a national plan with national absolute caps ... in greenhouse gas emissions,' said Ontario Environment Minister Laurel Broten.
"Some of the compliance options that companies can use to meet targets will not result in immediate emission reductions, and some may not result in any real emission reductions at all," it said.

One of the fastest-growing sources of emissions are the Alberta oilsands.

The report lists five ways in which the regulations treat the oil and gas sector more leniently than other industrial sectors.

The targets are intensity-based, meaning emissions are to be cut based on the unit production, and not a hard cap. As a result, there may be no actual reductions.

The oilsands plants are expected to cut their emissions intensity by 23 per cent between now and 2020.

But output is expected to quadruple. "The net result will be an approximate tripling of actual emissions in the sector," it said.

The report said the Liberals' Project Green plan, heavily criticized at the time and cancelled by the Conservatives after the 2006 election, would have provided 180 Mt in cuts by 2012 from heavy industry. The Tory plan would only lead to a 27 Mt cut by that time, in part because it doesn't start until 2010.

The institute believes GHG emissions could be regulated in a way that is fair to industry and helps Canada meet its Kyoto obligations.

Bramley also noted that heavy industry accounts for 45 per cent of emissions. While the Tories have programs in other areas that are supposed to reduce emissions, he noted there are no targets associated with them.

Other developments

Baird met Monday with provincial environment ministers, and Liberal Leader Stephane Dion and Prime Minister Stephen Harper jousted in the House of Commons over the upcoming G8 summit.

In Parliament's question period, Dion attacked the Tories over the looming climate fight.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Dion "never produced a plan that would meet the Kyoto target and when he was in government, never put one in place."
The Liberal plan tabled in April 2005 was a $10-billion effort designed to bring Canada into compliance with Kyoto between 2008 and 2012.

The Conservatives killed the overall program after taking office, but have revived parts of it under different program names.

"The leader of the opposition did ask a valuable question about the G8 communique," Harper said.

"In order to have post-2012 an effective international protocol, we need to have all major emitters -- including the U.S. and China -- as part of that effort. Canada will be working to have that consensus."

Baird told the Commons that Canada will support targets which the U.S. government has shunned.

The U.S. has balked at a communique that frames global warming as an urgent problem that requires steep cuts in GHG emissions.

Baird told Newsnet's Mike Duffy Live that Canada will be acting for the first time on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"I think the other G8 leaders will be excited to learn that Canada wants to lead all of them over the next 13 years," he said.
Bramley said that statement was simply wrong. Europe is far ahead of Canada.

Baird said there is no consensus among provincial environment ministers at their meeting earlier on Monday.

The federal government believes absolute reductions are the way to go, but it has to act in absence of that consensus, he said.

A number of ministers emerged from a closed-door meeting with Baird saying they were disappointed with the government for failing to set a hard cap on industries that produce greenhouse gas emissions.

"We need to see a national plan with national absolute caps ... in greenhouse gas emissions," said Ontario Environment Minister Laurel Broten.

"We also think we need to be in line with other jurisdictions and measure our program from a 1990 standard, which is the year of all international measurements."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with from  The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Two suspects in teen shooting to appear in court
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. May 28 2007  06:59  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 28th, 2007
Two teens are expected to appear in court today after being charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of 15-year-old Jordan Manners.

"There are reports that they actually knew Jordan Manners and might have been friends with him and were at the barbeque this weekend -- it was a fundraiser for the funeral," CTV Toronto's Roger Petersen reported Monday.

Manners was gunned down on the second floor of C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute on Wednesday afternoon. The shooting prompted a four-hour school lockdown.

Toronto police apprehended a 17-year-old boy on Sunday after emergency task force officers swept down on a number of residences in the city's west end.

Police had been seeking a second suspect who had been considered armed and dangerous. The 17-year-old youth turned himself into police late Sunday night.
Toronto Police officers take two unidentified teens into custody after a series of raids.
Jordan Manners, as seen in this undated grade 8 photo.
"He has turned himself in," said lawyer Alana Barnes. "That's all we have to say at this time; no other comment. He's in custody and he's safe."

Neither youth can be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Both are from Manners' neighbourhood.

Police took the unusual step of getting a court order allowing them to temporarily publicize the identity of the second suspect arrested.

Manners' mother, Lorraine Small, initially reacted to the first arrest saying police had the wrong person.

"Since then they have said nothing and they said they will talk after police hold a news conference, which they are expected to do later today," said Petersen.

Police had warned residents in the victim's Jane-Finch neighbourhood not to hide the suspect, and called for anyone with information to contact police.

On Friday night, police brought in a teenager for questioning. That teen was believed to have been an accomplice in the shooting.

Police have not yet commented on a possible motive for the slaying.

Manners funeral is planned for Thursday with visitation on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Classes at C.W. Jefferys are set to resume on Monday.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with from  toronto.ctv.ca
=======================
 
Bobblehead bomb blunder forces major evacuation
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. May 27 2007  08:32  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 27th, 2007
TUMWATER. Wash. -- Talk about a blunder. A bomb technician discovered that a suspicious package that forced more than 300 workers to evacuate a state building contained a bobblehead doll awarded to public officials for perceived errors.

The package, sent by an intern at KOMO-TV in Seattle, was addressed to Department of Corrections Secretary Harold Clarke at the department's headquarters in this town near Olympia.

It didn't have a return address and the mailing label was handwritten. It also had stains on the outside, which could have indicated that the item inside had leaked, said Washington State Patrol Sgt. Ted DeHart.

"It had the classic indicators of a suspicious package," DeHart said.

The building's 350 employees were evacuated for about 45 minutes Friday after the package was found in the mailroom.

A bomb technician from the State Patrol who opened the box found a "Schrammie," which television commentator Ken Schram hands out to public officials he thinks have done wrong.

"To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that the bomb squad was called in when we sent a `Schrammie,'" said Jimm Brown, a KOMO spokesman.

Brown said Schram sent the doll to Clarke because he was upset about the announcement earlier this year that the state had released 83 felons from jails early.

"I'm going to have to wind up giving myself a `Schrammie,' for crying out loud," Schram said.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with from The Associated Press
=======================
 
'Monster Pig' shot in U.S. outweighs 'Hogzilla'
Web Posted | Last Updated Sat. May 26 2007  09:47  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 26th, 2007
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Hogzilla is being made into a horror movie. But the sequel may be even bigger: Meet Monster Pig. An 11-year-old boy used a pistol to kill a wild hog his father says weighed a staggering 475 kilograms and measured almost three metres.

If the claims are accurate, Jamison Stone's trophy boar would be bigger than Hogzilla, the famed wild hog that grew to seemingly mythical proportions after being killed in south Georgia in 2004.
In this photo released by Melynne Stone, Jamison Stone, 11, poses with a wild pig he killed near Delta, Ala., May 3, 2007.(AP Photo/Melynne Stone)
Hogzilla originally was thought to weigh 451 kilograms and measure 3.6 metres long. National Geographic experts who unearthed its remains believe the animal actually weighed about 362 kilograms and was 2.4 metres long.

Regardless of the comparison, Jamison is reveling in the attention over his pig.

"It feels really good," Jamison said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It's a good accomplishment. I probably won't ever kill anything else that big."

Jamison, who killed his first deer at age 5, was hunting with father Mike Stone and two guides in east Alabama on May 3 when he bagged Monster Pig. He said he shot the huge animal eight times with a .50-caliber revolver and chased it for three hours through hilly woods before finishing it off with a point-blank shot.

Through it all, there was the fear that the animal would turn and charge them, as wild boars have a reputation for doing.

"I was a little bit scared, a little bit excited," said Jamison, who lives in Pickensville on the Mississippi border. He just finished the sixth grade on the honor roll at Christian Heritage Academy, a small, private school.

His father said that, just to be extra safe, he and the guides had high-powered rifles aimed and ready to fire in case the beast, with 12.5-centimetre tusks, decided to charge.

With the animal finally dead in a creek bed on the 2,500-acre Lost Creek Plantation, a commercial hunting preserve in Delta, trees had to be cut down and a backhoe brought in to bring Jamison's prize out of the woods.

It was hauled on a truck to the Clay County Farmers Exchange in Lineville, where Jeff Kinder said they used his scale, recently calibrated, to weigh the hog.

Kinder's scale measures only to the nearest 10, but Mike Stone said it balanced one notch past the 476 kilogram mark.

"It probably weighed 1,060 pounds (480 kilograms). We were just afraid to change it once the story was out," he said.

The hog's head is being mounted by Jerry Cunningham of Jerry's Taxidermy. Cunningham said the animal measured 137 centimetres around the head, 187 centimetres around the shoulders and 27 centimetres from the eyes to the end of its snout.

"It's huge," he said. "It's just the biggest thing I've ever seen."

Mike Stone is having sausage made from the rest of the animal. "We'll probably get 500 to 700 pounds (226 to 317 kilograms)," he said.

Jamison, meanwhile, has been offered a small part in "The Legend of Hogzilla," a small-time horror flick based on the tale of the Georgia boar. The movie is holding casting calls with plans to begin filming in Georgia.

Jamison is enjoying the newfound celebrity generated by the hog hunt, but he said he prefers hunting pheasants to monster pigs: "They are a little less dangerous."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with from The Associated Press
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Mother searches for details on son's shooting
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. May 24  2007  22:08  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 25th, 2007
The mother of a boy fatally shot in a Toronto school is searching for details on how her son died, as mourners gathered Thursday night for a candlelight vigil.

"We don't know anything, the police haven't told us anything," Loreen Small told CTV News.
"I haven't even seen my son's body. I haven't seen my son's body."

Jordan Manners, a Grade 9 student at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute, was killed Wednesday afternoon. Police have made no arrests and have released few details about the investigation.

The boy's best friend, Shane Walters, said he found his friend in the hallway and knelt by his side as he lay dying.

"I was trying to talk to him," he said. "I said, 'Jordan, don't die, you stay awake. Don't worry, help is coming.'"

Friends and family comforted Small on Thursday as she remembered her 15-year-old boy.

"Jordan was everything that I lived for. I love all of my kids, but Jordan had something," she said. "I'm very angry."

Classes at C.W. Jefferys were cancelled on Thursday, but 14 grief counsellors were on-hand at the northern Toronto school to help students and staff.

About one-quarter of the student body sought their help. Many are shocked and feel their school is no longer safe.

"I don't really know what to expect anymore......our school is supposed to be safe," said one student. "And now this happened so easily without any notice."

David Johnston with the Toronto District School Board said that insecure feeling may not go away.

"Initially there is the shock, the disbelief, the I-cant-believe-it-happened-it-can't-be-true. After that normally comes the emotions, the feelings of sadness in mourning the loss of a friend," Johnston explained.

"This is something that I don't think any student at this school will ever forget,"

Many who knew Manners described him as someone who dreamed of becoming an actor.

He had made contact with the Canadian film industry, and was one of three young men slated to be featured in a documentary by Toronto filmmakers Mark Simms and Paul Nguyen. Manners was eventually cut from the film called "Lost in the Struggle," about young men growing up in the Jane and Finch neighbourhood.

Groups have sprung up on social networking sites such as Facebook.com to remember Manners and offer his family condolences.
Jordan Manners is seen in this grade 8 graduation photo.
Friends and family comforted the 15-year-old's mom, Loreen Small, on Thursday as she remembered her special boy.
David Johnston with the Toronto District School Board said that insecure feeling may not go away.
'I don't really know what to expect anymore....our school is supposed to be safe,' said one student.
Mark Mendelson, a former Toronto homicide detective, told CTV News the killer probably wasn't a stranger to the halls of C.W. Jefferys.
"It's sad to see someone so young go so soon," wrote Ravuth Kim on the group 'In Loving Memory of Jordan Manners RIP.'

"The last time I saw him, he was shooting fireworks on Sunday in front of my house. My deepest sympathies go out to the Manners family."

Kim's message was just one of a long list of similar sympathetic greetings.

As students cope with their grief, police work to find the killer. The homicide, guns and gangs and the intelligent squads are all under pressure to get this crime solved quickly.

Mark Mendelson, a former Toronto homicide detective, told CTV News the killer probably wasn't a stranger to the halls of C.W. Jefferys.

"A professional gangbanger would never walk into a school to do that kind of murder, that's just too dangerous," Mendelson explained.

"Schools are pretty stringent now as to who walks in and who walks out of there. Would I be surprised if it was another student in the school? Not for a minute."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with a report from CTV's Lisa LaFlamme in Toronto
=======================
 
Counsellors at school as police hunt for shooter
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. May 24  2007  08:05  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 24th, 2007
The Toronto high school that was the scene of a fatal shooting incident has reopened its doors Thursday for counsellors to meet with grief-stricken students, though classes have been cancelled.

Police have yet to make an arrest in the shooting death of 15-year-old Jordan Manners, a ninth grade student at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute in Toronto's north end.

Manners has been described as popular and trustworthy by people who knew him.

He was found at about 2:30 p.m. in a school hallway, and later died at Sunnybrook Hospital from a gunshot wound to the chest.

The school was locked down for about four hours Wednesday while police went classroom to classroom, searching for the shooter and the weapon.

Buses took students to another location before being released to their families who had gathered in an anxious group, awaiting news about their children.

The shooting has prompted calls from Mayor David Miller for a ban on hand guns. He said the weapons "have one purpose and that is to kill," and laws need to be tightened to ensure handguns are taken off the streets.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair called for witnesses to come forward and help with the investigation.

"The event that took place today is a very serious matter," Blair said on Wednesday. "A young student lost his life in this school, and it should be a safe environment for everyone."

There are reports that there was a confrontation at a nearby strip mall prior to the shooting. The fight then carried into the hallways of the school, where one person managed to acquire a weapon.

Manners was hit once in the chest on the second floor of the school.

Police received a call about a possible drowning, but arrived at the school to find the teenage boy in a corridor suffering from a gunshot wound.

The Grade 9 student was taken to Sunnybrook Hospital with serious injuries, but doctors were unable to save him.
Jordan Manners, the 15-year-old student fatally shot in a Toronto high school Wednesday, is seen here in a picture taken from the popular social networking site Facebook.
Police patrol outside C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute in Toronto on May 23, 2007. (CP / Frank Gunn)
Two women believed to be family members enter Sunnybrook Hospital, Wednesday, May 23, 2007.
Police cruisers in front of C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute in Toronto, May 23, 2007.
Manners' mother arrived at the hospital a short while later and collapsed in tears after learning of her son's death.

No arrests have been made and police have not released any information about possible suspects.

Police and heavily armed tactical officers guarded the school Wednesday afternoon, but the area was not closed to traffic.

Parents arrived at the scene with little knowledge of the shooting, desperate for information. Many used cellphones to contact their children still inside -- many hiding under desks out of fears that a shooter was still roaming the halls.

Friends and neighbours of Manners described him as a "sweet little boy" who turned 15 last Friday.

"I just feel sorry for the kid and his family," a neighbourhood friend who had known Manners since he was in kindergarten told the Canadian Press. "He just didn't deserve that."

The school has about 850 students and is located near the Jane and Finch corridor, a poor area of Toronto noted for years for its high crime rate.

The Toronto District School Board released a statement Wednesday evening, expressing its condolences to the family of Manners.

"We all feel a need to search for answers as to how and why this tragedy occurred, and there will be time to do that in the days and weeks ahead. But today we need to direct our collective compassion and support to the student's family, friends and the C.W. Jefferys C.I. school community," the statement said.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with files from  toronto.ctv.ca
=======================
 
Anti-poverty protesters storm B.C. cabinet offices
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. May 22  2007  21:11  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 23rd, 2007
VANCOUVER -- Anti-Olympic protesters stormed into the provincial cabinet offices Tuesday, overturning chairs, tossing around plants and pouring water into a fax machine.

No one was hurt and the two men and a woman waited to be arrested after causing the damage.

The Anti-Poverty Committee has threatened to "evict" Olympic officials to protest what they claim are poor people losing their homes to Olympic-related developments.

Anti-poverty activist David Cunningham said Tuesday's action was taken in response to his arrest on the weekend.

He said the target was Ken Dobell, who is on the board of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee.

Cunningham was arrested and issued a peace bond after he arrived at a public location in the city's Downtown Eastside for what he believed was an interview with a reporter.
Anti-Olympic protesters prepared to be arrested in the provincial cabinet offices on May 21, 2007, after overturning chairs, tossing around plants and pouring water into a fax machine.
Anti-poverty activist David Cunningham said Tuesday's action was taken in response to his arrest on the weekend.
But it was a Vancouver police officer posing as a reporter.

Cunningham said the Anti-Povery Committee called a news conference but didn't tell the media what was to occur.

"We just called the media together, didn't notify them of the eviction, otherwise the police would have been notified,'' he said.
"It was us resorting to police tactics if you will, and fooling the media, using and abusing the media for our own objectives."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Harper in Afghanistan on unannounced visit
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. May 22  2007  07:57  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 22nd, 2007
Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai Tuesday at the start of an unannounced visit to the war-ravaged country.

The surprise two-day trip follows on the heels of weeks of opposition attacks on the Harper government's handling of the Afghan detainee controversy.

"The two leaders discussed the situation in terms of the military situation in Afghanistan, but also a lot of the aid work that Canada has been doing," said CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife, who is travelling with the prime minister in Afghanistan.

Harper arrived in the Afghan capital on a military flight.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper presents Afghan president Hamid Karzai with a baby jumper, featuring the logo of the NHL team Ottawa Senators who recently made it to the Stanley Cup final series, for his new son in Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday, May 22, 2007. (CP / Tom Hanson)
His visit to Afghanistan, his second so far, appears designed to stress Canada's non-military role in rebuilding the country.
"Clearly the prime minister was here to demonstrate to Canadians that this mission is more than just about the military, it is also about aid," said Fife.

In one of his stops in Kabul, the prime minister met with students at a local school for underprivileged children and dropped in on their painting, acting, woodworking and music classes.

The Aschiana School, located in a tightly guarded compound in the capital's downtown core, received $39,500 in annual funding from the Canadian government. More than 10,000 Afghan children attend the school.

"The prime minister is making the point and certainly president Karzai made the point today -- that they need Canadian and NATO troops in here to stabilize this country," Fife told CTV Newsnet.

"They all point out that although some of the military situation has not been good there has been a lot of significant progress made throughout Afghanistan in terms of trying to make the lives of the people better."

Harper also visited diplomats at the Canadian Embassy for a briefing on progress since the Taliban was ousted in 2001.

This is Harper's second trip to Afghanistan. He made the war-torn country his destination for his first foreign trip as prime minister, barely one month after taking office last year.

On that three-day trip, most of Harper's time was dedicated to visiting military installations and soldiers.

This one, however, comes after weeks of opposition attacks targeting the Harper government's handling of the Afghan detainee controversy.

There have been concerns that suspected militants arrested by Canadians and handed over to local authorities have suffered torture at the hands of Afghan police.

A recent poll conducted by The Strategic Counsel found about one-third of Canadians are outraged by the Afghan detainee controversy and feel that Canada's reputation has been hurt.

The pollster also found that 56 per cent said Canada shouldn't be held responsible for what happens to prisoners held in Afghan-controlled detention centres.

Harper's trip to Afghanistan was kept a tightly guarded secret.

His office made a call to journalists on Friday afternoon, telling them to pack for a warm climate, and to show up at a military hangar on Sunday if they wanted to accompany the prime minister to an unspecified foreign location.

Media were also warned they could be arrested if they leaked details of Harper's travel plans.

CTV's South Asia Bureau Chief Steve Chao, who is in Kandahar, reported that only the military's upper chain of command were informed of the prime minister's visit.

"Most troops on the ground right now still don't even know their prime minister is in the country," Chao told Newsnet.
"So it is another example once again of how closely guarded his visit is. The main reason, of course, is security."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Popular diabetes drug linked to heart risks
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. May 21  2007  14:06  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 21st, 2007
A new analysis published Monday suggests the widely-prescribed diabetes drug Avandia might significantly increase the risk of heart attacks and death.
Published online in the New England Journal of Medicine, the analysis pooled the results of dozens of studies and found the drug increased the risk of heart attacks by 43 per cent and increased the risk of heart death by 64 per cent.

More than 6 million diabetic patients have used the drug Avandia worldwide for Type 2 diabetes since it was first released on the market eight years ago.

The drug, known generically as rosiglitazone, is sold by London-based GlaxoSmithKline PLC.

"Unfortunately, rosiglitazone appears to increase, rather than decrease, the most serious complication of diabetes, heart disease," Dr. Steven Nissen, chairman of cardiovascular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, said in a statement.

Nissen and colleagues at the Cleveland Clinic analyzed 42 clinical trials involving close to 28,000 patients.

Avandia is Glaxo's second-biggest product with worldwide sales estimated at $US3.2 billion last year.

The company's stock was down 7 per cent in morning trading after the medical journal's report was published online.

Glaxo's chief of diabetes drug development, Dr. Lawson McCartney, said the analysis is not definitive scientific proof.

The company is not seeing "anything like" the risks reported in the medical journal, he said during a conference call on Monday to The Associated Press.

"We remain very confident in the safety and of course in the efficacy of Avandia as an important diabetic medicine," McCartney said.

The report on the risks of the diabetes drug comes on the heels of a $US2.5 million settlement paid by Glaxo.

Former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed a lawsuit against the company over the release of data on the safety and effectiveness of its drugs.

Spitzer, now New York governor, accused Glaxo of fraudulently withholding some results of studies that had examined the safety of prescribing the antidepressant Paxil to children.

GlaxoSmithKline argued it didn't attempt to mislead anyone, and said it has always been in favor of widespread disclosure of clinical trial results.

The new analysis has raised questions about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's drug approval and monitoring system.

Dr. Robert J. Meyer, a spokesperson for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, told AP the government will take no immediate action on a label change or other measures regarding the drug.

Avandia helps sensitize the body to insulin and was considered a breakthrough medication for blood-sugar control.

Doctors recommend worried patients should not stop using Avandia on their own, but should first consult a physician.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
New land claims policies coming soon: Prentice
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. May 20  2007  12:36  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 20th, 2007
Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice says he has a plan that will put a significant dent in the massive backlog of unresolved aboriginal land claims, beginning as early as this spring.

Prentice' comments come amid warnings from some First Nations activists of a summer that will be filled with protests that are sure to include rail and road blockades.

Prentice, speaking on CTV's Question Period, said he plans to announce a policy within the next few weeks -- likely after the inquiry into Ipperwash comes forward on June 1st -- that will set out new policies for dealing with the claims. He said there is a current backlog of 800 unresolved land claims on the government's books.

"The frustration has been gradually building about those land claims, and I have said the situation is unacceptable and I intend to deal with it," Prentice said.
Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice appears on CTV's Question Period.
National Grand Chief Guillaume Carle on CTV's Question Period.
The Globe and Mail this week cited sources that said Prentice' plan will give the Indian Affairs Commission independent power to rule on land claims.

Under the current system, the ICC can investigate allegations of treaty violations and make recommendations about resolving disputes, but the government makes the final decision on whether it is at fault and whether disputes should be resolved.

Prentice was the co-commissioner of the ICC in 2001, and at that time he advocated for reforms that would give the body full independent powers to resolve grievances with binding decisions.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as opposition leader, also outlined a similar plan.

The argument isn't new, and such a change has been demanded for more than a decade.

A recent Senate report cited by The Globe suggested the historic change could dramatically speed up dispute resolution and provide financial benefits to native communities.

Prentice suggested such reforms are a realistic possibility.

"No decision has been made yet. It still requires discussion. It's one of the things that is on the table," he told Question Period co-host Jane Taber.

Prentice said the government currently resolves only about eight land claims disputes per year. At that rate it would take a century to resolve all the claims currently on the government's books.

He said that is an unacceptable timeline and the system requires a serious overhaul in order to speed up the process.

But he said it is also important to come up with a system that has legitimacy both in the eyes of native and non-native people.

"There's been a complaint for 60 years that the government of Canada serves as the defendant and jury and research body, and it's too much -- that the Canadian government is in conflicting roles. We're trying to get to the heart of that as well," Prentice said.

Few options left

He warned, however, that native threats of summer blockades and protests are the type of actions that erode goodwill among non-natives, and are unacceptable methods for negotiating.

However, National Grand Chief Guillaume Carle, who represents natives not living on reservations, said his people are desperate and have few options left for making their voices heard.

"Well, hopefully the Canadian population doesn't think that this is confrontational, because it's the only point that's left or the only way now that's left for people to be able to show how they feel."

He said Canadians need to look beyond the protests and try to understand the deep frustration that is driving the native people to take such action -- most of which he said is non-violent and not intended to engage police.

"I think what we're trying to say to the Canadian population is please help us," Guillaume said.

"Our kids are dying, they're uneducated, they're unhealthy and they have no future to look at. I mean, we are part of the people that depend the most on welfare and at the end of the day, that has to stop because there's no (pride) there."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
=======================
 
Snowbird pilot dies in crash at Montana air show
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. May 18  2007  23:21  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 19th, 2007
A Canadian Forces Snowbird pilot has died after his plane slammed into the ground in Malmstrom, Montana, during a rehearsal for two air shows this weekend.

The pilot has been identified as Capt. Shawn McCaughey, 31, from Candiac, Quebec.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the death in a statement Friday evening. It marks the sixth Snowbird pilot killed in an air crash since 1972.

FAA spokesperson Allen Kenitzer said McCaughey's plane was flying in formation and "for some reason shortly thereafter pitched down and crashed."

McCaughey had more than 1,400 hour of military flying time prior to performing with the 2007 Snowbirds team, according to the Snowbirds' website.

He also held a civilian commercial pilot's license, and was a flying instructor at the Snowbirds' base in Moose Jaw, Sask. He taught pilots how to fly the CT-156 Harvard II, the NATO Flying Training in Canada Program's new training aircraft.

He was the first Snowbird pilot to have no previous experience on the CT-114 Tutor jet, an aircraft designed in Canada and used by the team since 1971.

Lieut. Jeff Noel, a spokesman for 15 Wing Moose Jaw, said all the members flying on Friday were team veterans.

"They did recently accept three new pilots into the program but those pilots won't be flying with the program until next year," he said.

The jet was flying in formation with five other planes from Canada's renowned aerobatics team.

According to witness Gregg Dart, whose 11-year-old son also saw the crash, the plane went straight into the ground at about 4 p.m. at the south-end of the base.

"There were a number of planes flying in formation, and had they just completed a heart-shaped figure in the sky," he told CTV Newsnet.

"It looked like they were getting ready to disassemble. We saw three planes do a little loop and it almost looked like they were coming right at us. The two lead planes split, and the third plane looked like it reared up a little bit and then just plummeted straight into the ground."

Dart said he could feel the force of the impact.

The team was preparing to perform Saturday and Sunday in Great Falls, Mont. at Malmstrom's Open House and Sport Auto-Rama.

The last Snowbird plane crash happened on Aug. 24, 2005 when Capt. Andrew Mackay lost control of his jet in a rural area west of Thunder Bay, Ont.
United States Air Force personnel and others look over the wreckage at the crash site of a Canadian Forces Snowbird plane, May 18, 2007, at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont. (AP / Great Falls Tribune, Robin Loznak)
Canadian Forces Snowbird pilot Capt. Shawn McCaughey is seen in this undated photo.
United States Air Force personnel walk in a field on Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., as they prepare to comb the crash site of a Canadian Forces Snowbird plane which crashed, May 18, 2007. (AP /Great Falls Tribune, Robin Loznak)
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds rehearse for weekend performances over Malmstrom Air Force Base, Mont., May 18, 2007. (AP / Great Falls Tribune, Rion Sanders)
Mackay ejected from the jet before the crash and wasn't hurt.

The jets have a top speed of 750 kilometres per hour with their signature smoke tanks attached, and weigh 7,170 pounds.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Study finds 25 countries block websites
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. May 18  2007  07:25  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 18th, 2007
NEW YORK -- At least 25 countries around the world block websites for political, social or other reasons as governments seek to assert authority over a network meant to be borderless, according to a study out Friday.
The actual number may be higher, but the OpenNet Initiative had the time and capabilities to study only 40 countries and the Palestinian territories. Even so, researchers said they found more censorship than they had initially expected, a sign that the Internet has matured to the point that governments are taking notice.

"This is very much the revenge of geography," said Rafal Rohozinski, a research fellow at the University of Cambridge in England.

China, Iran, Myanmar, Syria, Tunisia and Vietnam had the most extensive filters for political sites. Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen had the strictest social-filtering practices, blocking pornography, gambling and gay and lesbian sites.

In some countries, censorship was narrow. South Korea, for instance, tends to block only information about its neighboring rival, North Korea.

Yet researchers found no filtering at all in Russia, Israel or the Palestinian territories despite political conflicts there.

Governments generally had no mechanism for citizens to complain about any erroneous blocking, with Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates being among the exceptions.

The OpenNet Initiative, a collaboration between researchers at Cambridge, the University of Oxford, Harvard University and the University of Toronto, has previously published reports detailing censorship in specific countries. The latest study was its attempt to compare filtering worldwide.

The study did not attempt to chronicle the effectiveness of the efforts. Some technical approaches are better than others in blocking sites, but all can be bypassed with enough technical know-how to use "proxy" techniques or special software.

The organization said the regions chosen for review should not be considered comprehensive. It didn't include any countries in North America or Western Europe on grounds that filtering practices there have been better known than elsewhere. It also excluded North Korea and Cuba for fear of risks to collaborators it would need in those countries.

The group supplied software to volunteers in each of the countries tested. Websites checked include those for gambling, pornography and human-rights abuses.

Jonathan Zittrain, professor of Internet governance and regulation at Oxford, said filtering appeared to occur most widely in countries where Internet penetration is higher, possibly explaining the lack of any censorship efforts in Russia and Egypt.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Ottawa to give more power to land-claims panel
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. May 17  2007  07:40  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 17th, 2007
Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice is reportedly putting the finishing touches on a plan that would give a federal commission the power to speed up the process for resolving aboriginal land claims.

Sources have confirmed to The Globe and Mail that the plan would give the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) independent power to make legal rulings on historic treaty violations.

Currently, the ICC has the right to investigate land claim issues but can only make recommendations to government about how to resolve disputes.

The government then decides whether it agrees with the suggestions and then whether negotiations should take place.
Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice appears on 'Mike Duffy Live,' Wednesday, May 16, 2007.
The shift in power would mark a significant change in policy as many have called for the final say to be taken away from Ottawa.

A recent Senate report indicates that the change could dramatically speed up settlement claims that have become severely backlogged.

Prentice, who served as ICC co-commissioner in 2001, recommended at that time that the ICC be given independence to make the binding decisions, reports The Globe.

"It is ... time for the government of Canada to initiate full institutional reform, and create a fully independent land claims tribunal, empowered to adjudicate these difficult historic grievances in a binding way," he told the standing committee on aboriginal affairs. "All Canadians, whether aboriginal or non-aboriginal, deserve as much."

On Tuesday, Assembly of First Nations Chief Phil Fontaine warned Ottawa that progress must be made quickly on hundreds of land claim issues in order to prevent a summer of protests.

The warning came as Chief Terry Nelson, of Roseau River First Nation in Manitoba, issued a threat to CN Rail that he will attempt to blockade the rail line connecting Eastern and Western Canada next month during a national day of action on June 29.

Fontaine, who does not support the rail line protest, urged non-Aboriginals to join natives for a day of peaceful protests instead.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
CPR track maintenance crews walk off job
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. May 16  2007  07:45  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 16th, 2007
About 1,200 Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) maintenance workers set up picket lines across the country Wednesday after a strike deadline passed without an agreement in place.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, representing the workers who maintain tracks and bridges for CPR, could not reach an agreement with the company after mediation came to a halt on Saturday and 72-hour strike notice was given.
A CPR Potash train snakes its way through Alberta enroute to Vancouver is seen this undated file photo. (Rick Robinson / Canadian Pacific Railway)
Union leader William Brehl said an end to the strike action did not appear to be close.

"We're willing to talk to the company if they're willing to talk to us productively, but they've basically said to us, 'No, we're deadlocked. We're not going back to the table,"' Brehl told The Canadian Press.

"At the end of the day there will be a contract. Whether it comes easy or hard is up to them at this point."

The strike affects about 1,200 of the 3,200 CPR employees in the union.

It is not expected to have a major impact on business, said Canadian Pacific spokesperson Mark Seland.

Seland said 1,300 management employees will be sent to replace the 1,200 striking workers.

"We don't expect it to affect our business at all," said Seland. "We expect our railway to run normally."

But Brehl said that CPR's plan didn't add up.

"What reasonable company in the world has 1,200 managers whose jobs are so inconsequential that they can just pick up and jump out to the track when there's a strike?" he said.

"There's only 150 supervisory staff in our department. They're getting the rest out of the offices. They're pulling them off desks."

The Teamsters want a 13 per cent wage increase for members over three years but CPR has repeatedly rejected the demand.

In February, Montreal-based Canadian National Railway went on a two-week strike that disrupted business. In April, rotating walkouts began but workers returned to their jobs after Ottawa issued a back-to-work bill. A federally appointed mediator has been assigned to handle the dispute.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
'Most Wanted' fugitive held in Canadian jail
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. May 15  2007  20:06  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 15th, 2007
An American on the FBI's Most Wanted List for alleged sex crimes against children has been deemed a flight risk and will stay in a Canadian jail for now.

An immigration board hearing found Monday that Richard Goldberg is a threat to the public and also poses a flight risk.

Lucie Cliche, a government representative, said authorities are "highly concerned that Mr. Goldberg would represent a grave threat to the Canadian public, specifically ... children."

Goldberg fled to Canada in July 2001 and was arrested Saturday in his suburban Montreal apartment.

Before his arrest, Goldberg sent a package to CTV News, containing a 26-page letter detailing his version of events and ending with an apology. It has now been turned over to police.

U.S. authorities said Goldberg also told a counselor about his past in recent weeks. That person then told a friend, who turned the fugitive over to police.
Richard Goldberg enters an immigration board hearing Monday.
Officials say he kept rabbits and ducks and children's toys to make his Long Beach, Calif. home a magnet for neighbourhood kids.
Prosecutors allege Goldberg, 61, fled the U.S. while on bail and entered Canada as a visitor with his own passport.

"The warrant (for his arrest) came out only days after he entered Canada," said Canadian Border Services spokesperson Erik Paradis.

He lived in a Montreal apartment and used the alias Terry Wayne Kearns, a retired Bombardier engineer.

Neighbours said Goldberg acted suspiciously.

"He was strange. He used to be outside with a pellet gun shooting squirrels, killing birds, banging the door," said Kevin Grey.

Police found a computer in Goldberg's residence, but have said there is no evidence he committed any crimes in Canada.

On Monday, the immigration board heard chilling details about Goldberg's alleged crimes. Officials say he kept rabbits and ducks and children's toys to make his Long Beach, Calif. home a magnet for neighbourhood kids.

U.S. officials accuse Goldberg of alleged attacks on girls under the age of 10, dating back to 2001.

There are also allegations that he captured these activities on videotape and that images were found on his computer.

"One of our government's key priorities is to fight crime in order to keep our families, our children and our communities safe," said Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day in a statement.

"Canada will not be a safe haven for pedophiles. This is something our government will not compromise on."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with a report from CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin in Montreal
=======================
 
Indian actress files appeal in Gere obscenity case
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. May 14  2007  7:46  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 14th, 2007
NEW DELHI -- Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty asked the Supreme Court on Monday to shift an obscenity case against her and Hollywood star Richard Gere to a nearby court so she can fight the allegations, her lawyer said.

Shetty asked the court to transfer jurisdiction over the case to Mumbai, where she lives, lawyer Anand Grover said.

A judge in the northwestern Indian city of Jaipur issued an arrest warrant last month for Gere
Richard Gere hugs and kisses Shilpa Shetty during and event in New Delhi, India on Sunday, March 15, 2007. (AP / Gurinder Osan)
and summoned Shetty to his court, saying that Gere's kissing of the actress at a public AIDS awareness event in New Delhi contravened India's strict public obscenity laws.

The judge has since been transferred from his post, and official charges have not yet been lodged.

The Supreme Court will rule on the issue Tuesday, Grover said. Both defendants would be affected by any shift of venue.

"In the meantime, the court should stay proceedings against Shetty," he said, adding that he was not representing Gere in the case.

It was not immediately clear if Gere would be represented by an Indian attorney.

Public displays of affection are largely taboo in India, and the kiss drew an outcry among Hindu hard-liners, with rallies against the actors held in several cities. But the judge's arrest order also drew harsh criticism in India, with some lawyers saying it had no legal merit and made the country look ridiculous.

Gere, 57, apologized for any offense he may have caused. But he also said the whole controversy was manufactured by a small hard-line political party.

Gere, who left shortly after the kiss, is a frequent visitor to India, promoting health issues and the cause of Tibetan exiles. The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has his headquarters in the northern Indian town of Dharmsala.

Shetty, a well-known actress in India, became an international star after her appearance on the British reality show "Celebrity Big Brother."

A fellow contestant, Jade Goody, sparked international headlines by allegedly making racist comments to Shetty, 31. The comments sparked public outrage in Britain and India and Shetty went on to win the competition.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
U.S. 'Top 10' fugitive arrested in Montreal
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. May 13  2007  3:11  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 13th, 2007
A. U.S. fugitive on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list has been captured in Montreal.

Richard Steve Goldberg, 62, is wanted in connection with various crimes against children, the FBI said in a news release issued Saturday.
He had been using the name Terry Wayne Kearns when Canadian authorities arrested him.

The FBI said an "individual residing in Canada" had identified Goldberg and then notified them.

The U.S. law enforcement agency made a request for assistance on Friday to their Canadian counterparts.

RCMP and Montreal Police Service officers apprehended Goldberg without incident. They charged him with violating Canadian immigration laws.

He will appear in court on Monday and will face extradition back to the United States.

Local authorities in Long Beach, Calif. want Goldberg in connection with allegations that he engaged in sexual activities with female children under the age of 10.

There are also allegations that he captured these activities on videotape and that images were found on his computer.

The exact charges are:
Sexual exploitation of children (production of child pornography)
Unlawful flight to avoid prosecution
Lewd acts upon a child (six counts), and
Possession of child pornography (two counts)

The FBI said that as of March 31, there have been 486 fugitives on the most wanted list, and that 456 have been found.
Goldberg is the 149th "Top Ten Fugitive located as a direct result of citizen co-operation," it said.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  
=======================
 
How celebrities play the 'get-out-of-jail' card
Web Posted | Last Updated Sat. May 12  2007  7:08  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 12th, 2007
Armed with well-crafted public statements, high-priced legal teams, and calculated courtroom attire, celebrities often know how to work the legal system.

But when stars like Paris Hilton run afoul of the law, can their celebrity status help their cases and are they willing to use it?

"I don't think the average person who gets arrested on a DUI can even try to mount a campaign seeking clemency from the governor rather than just serving the time," Tara Ariano, author and co-founder of Television Without Pity and Fametracker http://www.fametracker.com/, told CTV.ca from Toronto.

"Celebrities think they can get away with it because a lot of times they do," Ariano said.

How big is the star power? The get-out-of-jail-free card hinges on a few factors.

"I think it depends on the celebrity and it depends on the crime," U.S. entertainment journalist and author Liane Bonin told CTV.ca.

"They may let you have a lighter sentence because you are working on a film if it's a major motion picture and there are millions of dollars at stake.

"They'll say well, we'll give you probation, it will be longer, but you won't be in jail," Bonin said.

Sometimes it's just a question of space. Former "Lost" star Michelle Rodriguez was supposed to serve a 60-day sentence for a DUI, but authorities released her after a few hours because of overcrowding. Paris Hilton may end up with a similar benefit.
This frame from video provided by KCBS-TV in Los Angeles shows the door of a typical jail cell that would be the home of Paris Hilton if she is incarcerated at the Century Regional Detention Facility. (AP Photo/Pool, KCBS-TV)
Paris Hilton leaves the Los Angeles Municipal Court Metropolitan branch Friday, May 4, 2007, in Los Angeles. (AP / Damian Dovarganes)
Bonin contends even if the justice system is willing to flex its legal muscles at the glitterati, it may not be enough to ensure they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

"If someone is really liked as a public figure, you want to try to find the 12 people who are going to be star-struck. It's going to be a challenge," Bonin said referring to the jury selection process.

Having a recognizable mug can also help ensure the fabulously famous aren't incarcerated while they await their sentencing.

Actor Daniel Baldwin, brother of the recently-embattle Alec Baldwin, was arrested in Santa Monica for allegedly stealing an SUV last November. He was later released without bail after a judge deemed less of a flight risk because of his "high profile."

Deep pockets help the process

Celebrities are not above pulling out all the stops to stay out of the slammer.

"If you're charged, I think you have to use every weapon that you have and trying to dazzle a jury with how important and glamorous you are is probably the best way," Ariano said.

A slap on the wrist is often granted because celebrities have enough wealth and power behind them to make it happen.

Paris Hilton recently enlisted the services of DUI-specialist, Richard Hutton from the Southern California based firm Hutton & Wilson to represent her at her probation-violation hearing.

According to MSNBC.com, Hutton is reportedly the past President of the California DUI Lawyers Association and a founding member of the National College of DUI Defense.

For the average citizen, being caught with drugs or in a lascivious embrace with a minor would be devastating. But for increasingly savvy celebrities, a run-in with the law can actually help their career rather than hinder it.

"I think it works really well. After rehab, it seems to be one of the better things you can do," Bonin said. "If you're rapper, it's great for your career. It gives you authenticity,"
Time and time again...

The lives of the rich and famous will continue to provide fodder for the gossip papers, and nothing sells more copies than celebrity transgressions. At one point this week, half of the entertainment headlines were straight from the police blotter.

Here is a chronology of some of the most notorious celebrity cases:
Comedian and actor turned silent film star Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle, was accused of the rape and murder of starlet Virginia Rappe in 1921. He was tried three times before he was acquitted in 1923.
Legendary director Roman Polanski, the auteur behind such classics as Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby, pleaded guilty in 1977 to having sex with a minor. To avoid incarceration, Polanski fled to Paris where he remains in exile.
Famed football player O.J. Simpson was found not guilty in 1995 for the murder of his former wife and another man. In 1997, a jury found Simpson liable in a civil suit for their deaths.
Robert Downey Jr. had numerous run-ins with the law for drug and weapons possession from 1996-2001, which resulted in jail time and several stints in rehabilitation centres.
Oscar-nominated actress Winona Ryder was arrested in 2001 at an upscale boutique in Beverly Hills with $5,500 worth of stolen goods. She was sentenced to three years probation and 480 hours of community service. Her arrest prompted the "Free Winona" T-shirt campaign.
Actor Martin Sheen has been arrested over 70 times for his political protests. In 2001, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years probation for trespassing at an Air Force base during a protest against the United States building a missile defense system.
Supermodel Naomi Campbell pleaded guilty in 2007 for hitting her maid in the head with a cell phone. Campbell was ordered to pay Scolavino's medical expenses, do five days of community service and attend a two-day anger-management program.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff  with files drom Ashleigh Patterson
=======================
 
Canadian citizen arrested in Afghanistan: report
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. May 11  2007  8:10  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 11th, 2007
A Canadian citizen has been detained by Afghan police on suspicion that he attended a militant training camp, reports The Globe and Mail.

The 24-year-old, who previously lived in Calgary, was picked up at a Kabul bus station over the last few days, sources told the paper.

"They say that he was acting suspiciously when he got off the bus," CTV's Steve Chao reported from Kandahar.
A Canadian Forces commander stands in front of the Registan Desert, also known as the Red Desert, in Spin Boldak, Afghanistan on Thursday, May 10, 2007. (CP / James McCarten)
An unidentified source told The Globe that the man seemed to speak a little bit of Urdu.

Afghan authorities are holding him at a compound belonging to the Ministry of the Interior.

While his name has not been released, he has been identified as a man of Pakistani descent.

At the time of his arrest, he was carrying a Canadian passport, says The Globe.

The Foreign Affairs Department in Ottawa has confirmed the arrest and that staff at Canada's embassy have been granted access.

No charges have been formally laid. However, police allege he attended a militant camp in Waziristan -- a mountainous region used as a hideout by Taliban and al Qaeda fighters.

"How the Afghan police know that he was attending a militant camp in Pakistan is unclear at this point, these are simply allegations," said Chao.

Chao said the militant camps have been an issue of contention between Afghanistan and Pakistan for a long time.

Pakistan has frequently promised to crack down on the camps but blames Afghanistan, saying all the fighters are coming from that country.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
=======================
 
Radler to face 2nd day of grilling in Black trial
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. May 10  2007  7:51  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 10th, 2007
Conrad Black's former right-hand David Radler will face a second day of tough cross-examination on the witness stand Thursday, as defence lawyers try to portray him as a liar who is out to save his own skin.

Radler has struck a deal with U.S. prosecutors, pleading guilty to one fraud charge in exchange for a fine, a 29-month sentence and his testimony against Black.
David Radler leaves the Chiacgo court on Wednesday, May 9, 2007.
Black's lawyer Edward Greenspan took Radler to task on Wednesday, attacking his credibility as a witness and claiming he is providing the testimony he believes prosecutors want to hear, in order to avoid a lengthy prison sentence.

Radler has testified that he and Black -- his former business partner -- hatched a plan to funnel millions away from Hollinger International and its shareholders.

Greenspan has accused Radler of sticking to a "script" the prosecutors gave him in order to avoid a long prison sentence.
He said on Wednesday that Radler "must perform here or lose (his) deal."

Black, one of four defendants, allowed himself a smile when the cross-examination began.

Radler has already pleaded guilty to one count of fraud. He will be sentenced to 29 months in prison and fined US$250,000 if the prosecutors find him to be a helpful witness. If not, he could face more time when sentenced in June.

In wrapping up his testimony for the prosecution, Radler said he didn't tell Hollinger International's board about taking unauthorized fees from newspaper buyers because he knew it was "wrong."

Radler said he and Black decided to pay themselves non-compete fees from the sale of newspapers although the buyers never asked for them.

The fees were paid to Black and the other Hollinger executives in exchange for a promise not to compete with the buyers in those markets and to avoid paying tax.

Non-compete fees are legitimate, but prosecutors claim the defendants accepted such payments without the company's board approving them, effectively defrauding shareholders of US$84 million.

Black, 62, and co-accused John Boultbee, Peter Atkinson and Mark Kipnis maintain they didn't break the law and disclosed the payments.

Radler, Black's former executive, began testifying Monday under the terms of a plea agreement that effectively ended nearly 40 years of close partnership.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from CTV's Joy Malbon and The Canadian Press in Chicago
=======================
 
U.S. air strike kills 21 civilians in Afghanistan
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. May 09  2007  7:30  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 9th, 2007
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Air strikes called in by U.S. Special Forces soldiers fighting with insurgents in southern Afghanistan killed at least 21 civilians, officials said Wednesday. One coalition soldier was also killed.

Helmand provincial Gov. Assadullah Wafa said Taliban fighters sought shelter in villagers' homes during the fighting in the Sangin district Tuesday evening, and that subsequent airstrikes killed 21 civilians, including several women and children.
Two disabled friends Shanawaz Shahsawar, 40, right, and Zahar, 42, left, chat in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, May 7, 2007. (AP / Farzana Wahidy)
The U.S.-led coalition said militants fired guns, rocket propelled grenades and mortars at U.S. Special Forces and Afghan soldiers on patrol 15 miles north of Sangin.

Maj. William Mitchell, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition, said troops killed a "significant" number of militants.

"We don't have any report of civilian casualties. There are enemy casualties -- I think the number is significant," Mitchell said without releasing an exact figure.

A resident of the area, Mohammad Asif, said five homes in the village of Soro were bombed during the battle, killing 38 people and wounding more than 20. He said Western troops and Afghan forces had blocked people from entering the area.

Death tolls in remote battle sites in Afghanistan are impossible to verify. Taliban fighters often seek shelter in Afghan homes, leading to civilian casualties, and it is often difficult to determine if people killed in such airstrikes were militants or civilians.

The battle left one coalition soldier dead, the U.S. military said. The military did not release the soldier's nationality, but it was likely an American Special Forces soldier.

Sangin, a militant hotbed in the heart of Afghanistan's biggest opium poppy region, has been the site of heavy fighting in recent weeks.

The soldier's death brings to 48 the number of NATO or coalition soldiers who have died in Afghanistan this year.

The report of civilian casualties comes less than a week after Afghan officials said that 51 civilians were killed in the western province of Herat.

It also comes one day after the U.S. military apologized and paid compensation to the families of 19 people killed and 50 wounded by U.S. Marines Special Forces who fired indiscriminately on civilians after being hit by a suicide attack in eastern Afghanistan in March.

Afghanistan's upper house of parliament on Tuesday passed a bill calling for a halt to all international military operations unless coordinated with the Afghan government, action seen as a rebuke of the international mission here.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with a report from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Liberal MP calls for inquiry into RCMP contracts
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. May 08  2007  7:46  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 8th, 2007
Calls for a full public inquiry continued Tuesday after CTV News reported that an Ottawa computer consulting company received lucrative contracts from the RCMP for work on its pension plan -- despite serious concerns over their procurement.

Documents obtained by CTV News show that Casey Computing obtained six contracts worth more than $3.2 million. The work was meant to help the RCMP outsource the administration of their pensions.
Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj speaks with Canada AM from CTV studios in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 8, 2007.
On one, Casey Computing was the sole source, meaning it procured the contracts without competing with other potential suppliers.

Company owner Kim Casey added her husband to the contract at a cost of $675 per day -- a move that drove the contract's cost to the RCMP up by 25 per cent. Casey didn't have proper approval to add her husband.

Despite the problems, Casey was awarded another contract in 2005, which was worth $500,000.

It was cancelled in January after $383,000 was paid out, but that cancellation came years after several investigations had exposed serious problems.

"We identified serious concerns on the manner in which these contracts were procured," said Greg McEvoy, a KPMG auditor.

KPMG's audit suggested that Casey Computers and several other companies were considered preferred suppliers, making it easier for lucrative contracts to be steered their way.

They got that status by knowing employees on the inside, namely Dominic Crupi and Frank Brazeau.

Crupi had been director of the National Compensation Policy Centre (NCPC). He left in 2003. Brazeau served with Consulting and Audit Canada, a federal agency that arranges outside contracts.

Testimony before the House of Commons public accounts committee last month alleged that the two men worked together to direct contracts.

The deputy minister of public works said that being a preferred bidder gives a business a leg-up.

"Next thing you know the person's name is put into the database and he's fished out and then he's given the contract. That's rigged in my terms," said David Marshall.

Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj, a member of the House of Commons public accounts committee that is examining the RCMP pension and insurance scandal, is seeking a full inquiry.

"The public accounts committee is limited in its resources and what we can do is shine a light on what was going on," Wrzesnewskyj told Canada AM on Tuesday. "But we really need is a full public inquiry."

"This is not just any other government department, this is the RCMP. They are legislatively empowered as no other department is -- they in fact are the guarantors of our national security and our law and order."

Kim Casey did not return phone calls from CTV News. She may be called to testify before the public accounts committee.

The RCMP said her contract was terminated because it isn't clear what direction the force's pension plan is going.

In November 2006, the office of the Auditor General released a report on the administration of the RCMP's pension and insurance plans.

That report found the NCPC director ignored normal staffing processes, sometimes hiring friends and relatives to work on the pension database.

The NCPC director was found to have over-ridden various controls when he was awarded about $20 million in consulting contracts.

"These contracts resulted in some work of questionable value being performed, and excessive fees for administrative services of little or no value being charged to the pension plan," the report said.

A criminal investigation of the irregularities ended without charges being laid.

An investigator appointed by Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day has the power to decide if a full public inquiry into the problems at the RCMP is warranted.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with a report from CTV's Graham Richardson
=======================
 
Canadian poppy quarter triggered U.S. spy alert
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. May 07  2007  8:15  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 7th, 2007
Canada's harmless poppy quarter has given some suspicious U.S. army contractors red faces after it was revealed they filed espionage accounts on the world's first coloured coin.
The contractors came across the 25-cent coin, which features the red inlaid image of a poppy over a maple leaf, while travelling in Canada.

The contractors described the suspicious coins as "anomalous'' and "filled with something man-made that looked like nano-technology,'' some once-secret U.S. government reports and emails said.

"It did not appear to be electronic (analog) in nature or have a power source,'' one U.S. contractor wrote after he found the coin in the cup holder of a rental car.

"Under high-power microscope, it appeared to be complex consisting of several layers of clear but different material, with a wire like mesh suspended on top.''

The technology they referred to was actually a protective coating the Royal Canadian Mint applied to the coins to ensure the poppy's red colour couldn't be removed.

Nearly 30 million poppy coins were produced by the mint in 2004 to commemorate Canada's 117,000 fallen soldiers.

The classified accounts lead to warnings from the U.S. Defence Security Service, an agency of the Defence Department, that the quarters contained radio frequency transmitters and were strategically planted on U.S. contractors.

One contractor was so suspicious of the red coins that he believed someone has planted two quarters in his coat pocket after he had emptied the contents of his coat hours earlier.

"Coat pockets were empty that morning and I was keeping all of my coins in a plastic bag in my inner coat pocket,'' the contractor wrote.

Canada's senior intelligence officers were annoyed with the U.S. espionage warnings.

"That story about Canadians planting coins in the pockets of defence contractors will not go away,'' Luc Portelance, now deputy director for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, wrote in an email.

"Could someone tell me more? Where do we stand and what's the story on this?''

Intelligence experts believed the warnings, which stated the quarters could be used to follow the whereabouts of contractors with high-level clearance, were ridiculous when the information was first released.

"I thought the whole thing was preposterous, to think you could tag an individual with a coin and think they wouldn't give it away or spend it,'' H. Keith Melton, a leading U.S. intelligence historian, said.

However, Melton said the army contractors were only doing their jobs when they reported their suspicious findings.

"You want contractors or any government personnel to report anything suspicious,'' he said.
"You can't have the potential target evaluating whether this was an organized attack or a fluke.''

The Defence Security Service has since renounced its warning about spy coins but this is the first time that details of the embarrassing accounts have been made public.

The U.S. government said it performed an internal review to determine why the false information was included in a 29-page published report detailing espionage concerns.

The coins were never actually examined by the Defence Security Service.

"We know where we made the mistake,'' Cindy McGovern, a Defence Security Service spokesperson, said.

"The information wasn't properly vetted. While these coins aroused suspicion, there ultimately was nothing there.''

Some of the U.S. documents obtained by the Associated Press were deemed "Secret/Noforn,'' meaning the documents were never supposed to be seen by foreigners.

Many passages in the report were censored, citing national security reasons, before it was turned over under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

Next to one blacked-out section of the report was the cautionary sentence, "This has not been confirmed as of yet.''

The Canadian intelligence documents, which also were censored, were released under the Access to Information Act citing protection against subversive activities.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Canadian peacekeeper among nine dead in Sinai crash
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. May 06  2007  18:06  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 6th, 2007
A Canadian is among nine foreign peacekeepers killed Sunday when the plane they were travelling in crashed in a remote, rugged corner of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

The Canadian has been identified as Cpl. Benoit Chevalier from Three Wing Bagotville in Quebec.

Canada's Department of National Defence says Chevalier was an air traffic controller assigned to Task Force El Gorah (TFEG).

"He was one of a team of six air traffic controllers deployed to provide flight following services for the MFO" -- the Multinational Forces and Observers -- says DND's release.

"He was on board to familiarize himself with the Twin Otter aircraft operations and to liaise with air traffic controllers at St. Catherine's airport in Sinai, Egypt."

Chevalier's age and hometown were not immediately available, nor were the identities of the other victims.

The crash killed Chevalier and eight of the 15-member French peacekeeping contingent, and destroyed the mission's sole fixed-wing aircraft, said MFO spokesperson Normand St. Pierre.

A "higher than normal" load of passengers and crew were aboard the aircraft at the time of the crash during a training mission, St. Pierre said.

The plane was attached to the multinational peacekeeping force that monitors a border agreement signed in 1979.

The plane, a Canadian-built DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, went down in the middle of the Sinai Peninsula near the village of el-Thamad, about 80 kilometres southeast of a town called Nakhl.

The MFO says the plane was trying to make an emergency landing on a highway when it clipped a truck and crashed nearby.
Cpl. Benoit Chevalier
Pieces of metal and a tyre, appearing to be wreckage, lie at the scene of the plane crash which killed nine foreign peacekeepers near the village of El-Thamad in the Sinai region of Egypt Sunday, May 6, 2007. (AP / Ben Curtis)
Egyptian firemen put out remaining fires on a truck believed to have clipped the wings of a plane trying to make an emergency landing on the highway, which then crashed nearby killing nine foreign peacekeepers near the village of El-Thamad in the Sinai region of Egypt Sunday, May 6, 2007. (AP / Ben Curtis)
"Witnesses say they saw the plane flying quite low. They saw smoke, they saw flames," said CTV's Middle East Bureau Chief Janis Mackey Frayer. "A wing of the plane actually hit the top of a truck on the highway, suggesting that the plane possibly had mechanical problems and was trying to make an emergency landing on that highway."

The weather was sunny and clear when the plane took off at 7:46 a.m. local time from El Gorah base -- the northern headquarters of the peacekeeping mission -- on its way to St. Catherine's airport in the southern Sinai Peninsula.

The airport lost radio contact with the plane at about 9:15 a.m., then received a distress signal indicating possible mechanical failure, before the plane crashed into a mountain, Capt. Ihab Moheildin, the air control officer at Cairo airport told The Associated Press.

Ahmad Attallah, a truck driver who was in the area told AP he saw the plane on its way down.
"I looked up and saw a small plane with a trail of flame and smoke flying at a low altitude and then it disappeared and I heard an explosion," he said.

Twenty-eight Canadian Forces personnel are part of the multi-national force -- an independent international organization created by Egypt and Israel to monitor their border in the Sinai after a 1979 peace deal.

The MFO is also comprised of soldiers from the U.S., France, Australia, Columbia, Fiji, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand, Uruguay, and Norway.

Cdn. played 'key role'

Colonel Peter Abbott, Commander of Task Force El Gorah, said Chevalier was a "highly appreciated and skilled member" of the Canadian team assigned to the MFO.

"He was playing a key role in maintaining the cohesiveness of the Canadian contingent and his comrades regarded him as an extremely personable, thoughtful and professional airman."

The Governor General and Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered their condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of Chevalier on Sunday, as well as to those of the eight French military personnel.

Michaelle Jean said she is deeply saddened by the news of the terrible accident and joins Canadians in offering her most sincere condolences.

The prime minister said in a statement: "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Corporal Benoit Chevalier."

In France, President Jacques Chirac expressed similar sentiments in a release.

The Department of National Defence says MFO recovery personnel have been dispatched to the scene and are attempting to complete the identification of the deceased.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Tornado levels Kansas town, leaves seven dead
Web Posted | Last Updated Sat. May 05  2007  13:48  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 5th, 2007
A powerful tornado has virtually wiped out a small town in southwest Kansas, leaving in its wake seven people dead and at least 50 injured.

About 90 per cent of Greensburg, a town of about 1,600 people about 170 kilometres west of Wichita, has been damaged by the twister.

On Saturday afternoon, rescuers from around the southwest part of the state were using search dogs and going door-to-door looking for survivors.

Six people were killed in Kiowa County, where Greensburg is located, and one person was killed in neighbouring Stafford County, Sharon Watson, a spokesperson for the state's Adjutant General's Department told The Associated Press.

One of the dead was a sheriff's deputy in nearby Stafford County who was driving to Greensburg to help.

Andrea Anglin, of the American Red Cross, described a horrific scene to CTV Newsnet.

"What we have been seeing is really just complete devastation," she said in a telephone interview.

"The buildings are levelled, there's very little left. It's estimated that we have about 90 per cent of the town that is destroyed," Anglin said.
Melissa Hillhouse smiles after finding her camera salvageable among the remains of her home that were found across the street on Saturday May 5, 2007, after a tornado hit Greensburg, Kan. on Friday May 4, 2007. (AP / The Wichita Eagle, G. Marc Benavidez)
A damaged Kwik Check convenience store is seen in downtown Greensburg, Kan. early Saturday morning, May 5, 2007 after a tornado ripped through this southwest Kansas community and killed at least one person. (AP / Andrew Mahoney)
The Red Cross has set up three shelters in the area and is providing food and beverages in a nearby town to displaced Greensburg residents -- at least 300 were being cared for in shelters, and another 300 were expected to arrive throughout the day.

The Red Cross was also registering residents in an online database so family members can locate their loved ones.

"We also have mental health workers who are in the shelters talking to people. This is an incredibly traumatic experience. Another thing that we've just started doing since daybreak is going out and doing disaster assessment and really seeing what is the extent of this disaster, and what are the families going to need in the future," Anglin said.

Some residents wandered through the streets of Greensburg Saturday, searching for loved ones and trying to get a grasp on the extensive damage that included wrecked buildings and crushed cars.

The city hall, high school and junior high school were all destroyed, along with much of the downtown, said City Administrator Steve Hewitt.

Hazardous material teams were dispatched to the area because railway cars were overturned, and the National Guard was sending 40 troops to provide security, AP reports.

"I don't think we have a business left downtown," he told The Associated Press, adding that a mandatory evacuation had been ordered.

Watson said the danger hasn't passed, and search and rescue operations were still underway.

"There is still a possibility we do not have all of the people accounted for in that town," she told AP. "That is something we will be working feverishly to do over the next several hours."

At least 50 people were taken to hospital, including 30 that were pulled from the basement of a partially collapsed building early Saturday, though most of those had minor injuries, Watson said.

Sixteen of those taken to hospital were in critical condition.

The Greensburg tornado was one of a number spawned by a storm front stretching from northeast Greensburg through central Kansas.

Three smaller tornadoes touched down in southwestern Illinois, though there were no reports of damage or injury, and two struck in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma twisters damaged some structures but injured no one, according to reports.

The tornado that hit Greensburg was described as a "wedge," a twister that is taller and broader than usual.

Some eyewitnesses estimated that it was up to a kilometre wide on the ground.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Reputed head of Montreal mob pleads guilty
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. May 04  2007  13:36  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 4th, 2007
Reputed Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto has pleaded guilty to racketeering as part of a plea deal that will see him serve 10 years in prison.

Vito Rizzuto, reputed to be a former godfather of the Montreal Mafia, entered his plea today at a U.S. federal court in Brooklyn on Friday.
Vito Rizzuto leaves court after a 2004 hearing in Montreal. (CP / Ryan Remiorz)
The plea was entered one day before the 26th anniversary of the May 5, 1981 murders.

Prosecutors say Rizzuto went to New York at the behest of the Bonanno crime family to help kill Alphonse (Sonny Red) Indelicato, Dominick (Trin) Trinchera and Philip (Lucky) Giaconne. The three men were suspected of plotting a coup.

The murdered men -- who were allegedly plotting to take control of the Bonanno family -- were shot in a Brooklyn social club. Affidavits allege Rizzuto was the gunman.

The plea bargain required Rizzuto, 61, to admit his guilt and describe his role in the slayings.

Rizzuto, who moved to Canada from Sicily as a child in the 1950s, was arrested in January 2004 on the racketeering charges.

He was nabbed along with almost 30 other suspected mobsters connected with the Bonannos, though Rizzuto was the only suspect arrested in Canada.

Rizzuto challenged the U.S. extradition request through the courts until he ran out of legal avenues when the Supreme Court of Canada turned down his appeal to stay in the country.

In October 2006, he was flown to New York, where he reportedly began negotiating a plea bargain with prosecutors.

Rizzuto's criminal record dates back to 1972, when he was sentenced to two years for conspiring to commit arson.

He was later charged in two drug investigations in the 1980s, but acquitted both times.

Montreal police with the organized crime unit suspect Bonanno has been involved in everything from loan sharking at a local casino to laundering money in Switzerland, to ordering a hit on a Venezuelan lawyer.

Court documents show Rizzuto lived in a Montreal mansion and owned several luxury cars -- despite claims he led a humble life with an annual income of about $34,000.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Canada signs new prisoner transfer agreement
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. May 03  2007  10:48  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 3rd, 2007
Canadian officials have signed a new prisoner-transfer agreement with Afghanistan, government lawyers confirmed Thursday.

The Conservative government has been on the defensive after allegations surfaced that detainees were tortured after being released from Canadian care.
An detainee is watched by Canadian troops in Afghanistan.
Thursday's developments have delayed a court proceeding by Amnesty International and the B.C. Civil Liberties Union.

The human rights groups had planned to ask a federal judge to grant an injunction that would halt the transfer of Afghan detainees from Canadian custody to local authorities until proper monitoring measures were in place.

However, government lawyers filed an affidavit this morning before proceedings began, assuring the court that the new deal does just that.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier signed the original prisoner handover agreement back in 2005.

However, the deal was criticized because it had no clause to allow Canada to follow up on the treatment of detainees handed over.

CTV's Lisa LaFlamme, reporting from Kandahar, said Hillier told her Thursday that he had no details about the new agreement.

"He says he hasn't had a look at it yet but that he indeed did not sign this one," said LaFlamme.

Hillier told LaFlamme that Foreign Affairs has taken the lead on the new agreement.

LaFlamme said it was possible that it was signed in Kabul by Canada's new ambassador to Afghanistan Arif Lalani.

Last week, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor said officials had an agreement in place to allow access to the detainees. But then, a day later, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the deal had not been formalized.

The new deal comes despite Harper's assurances to the House of Commons that the old deal was working well.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Dad convicted on pathologist evidence granted bail
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. May 02  2007  12:43  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 2nd, 2007
A father who was convicted of killing his baby boy, partially on the strength of expert testimony that may be proven faulty, has been granted bail and is set to be released on Wednesday.

Marco Trotta has spent more than nine years in jail, serving his second-degree murder conviction. The 38-year-old was found guilty in 1998 for the death of his eight-month-old son Paulo.

The Trotta family always claimed that Paulo died of natural causes, likely sudden infant death syndrome.

News of his release thrilled Trotta's wife Anisa.

"I have champagne waiting," she said laughing. "(This is the) first step in a long journey"

Trotta's conviction was based in part on evidence from Dr. Charles Smith. His work as a forensic pathologist is now being scrutinized by a public inquiry. Smith's findings in 20 of 45 child autopsies he conducted since 1991 are being questioned.
Marco Trotta is seen outside a courthouse during 1998 proceedings.
Anisa Trotta, wife of Marco Trotta, speaks with reporters outside Osgoode Hall in Toronto on Wednesday, May 2, 2007.
Twelve of the 20 autopsies resulted in criminal convictions and one in a finding of not criminally responsible.

Choking back tears outside court Wednesday, Anisa said the past nine years have "been torture."

She added that friends helped her through the ordeal.

"I've been blessed with a lot of strong friends who have helped us through this. They have been few and far between but I do have some true friends who have been there for us."

Trotta's lawyer said it is "difficult to say" how important the bail decision is for his client.

"This is a big day. Right now my client wants more than anything else just to go home and be with his wife," Michael Lomar said.

Trotta has been released on $100,000 bail. It is expected that he will walk out of prison as early as Wednesday afternoon.

An appeal of his conviction is scheduled to take place at the Supreme Court of Canada in October. Trotta will be free until that time.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from toronto.ctv.ca with a report from CTV's John Musselman and files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
RCMP DNA testing is seriously backlogged: Fraser
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. May 01  2007  14:17  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: May 1st, 2007
The RCMP's DNA testing is seriously backlogged despite the claims of senior RCMP management, says Auditor General Sheila Fraser.

"It was certainly a concern that was raised when we interviewed the RCMP lab's clients," she told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday after releasing her latest report.

The auditor general said the delay is hurting the investigation of many violent crimes, including murders.
Auditor General Sheila Fraser speaks to reporters after releasing her report in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 1, 2007.
While the RCMP's forensic service can meet a 15-day turnaround on an urgent basis, Fraser's report said those cases only account for one per cent of all requests.

For the other 99 percent, which includes violent offences, the service is "unable for the most part to meet the 30-day target it has set for them," it said.

The average time for DNA analysis has worsened, going from 91 days in 2003-04 to 114 days in 2005-06 despite increased resources for the service, the report said.

"The backlog of DNA requests is a major contributor to the long turnaround times.''

RCMP officials told a parliamentary committee in 2004 that there was no backlog.

Fraser's report documented a backlog of 2,017 analysis requests as of March 2006.

"Our audit shows there was incorrect information that was given (to Parliament). We do not know the rationale or the motivation behind that," she said told reporters.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Canadian Press