Articles!
These "Articles" are dated from July 1st, 2009 - July 31st, 2009.
 U.S. student told to pay US$675K over downloading
31/07/09
 Company belonging to Earl Jones declared bankrupt
30/07/09
 Agents search Jackson doc's property in probe
29/07/09
 Boat with Haitians capsizes, 113 saved, 85 missing
28/07/09
 European Union gives final OK to seal product ban
27/07/09
 NATO tests laser device to detect roadside bombs
26/07/09
 Frequently Asked Questions about the swine flu vaccine
25/07/09
 Parents, brother charged in Kingston canal deaths
24/07/09
 Police to offer update on Rideau Canal deaths
23/07/09
 Solar eclipse shrouds Asia in daytime darkness
22/07/09
 Police to confirm whether remains belong to Tori
21/07/09
 OPP find remains near Tori Stafford search site
20/07/09
 Thousands flee raging wildfires in West Kelowna
19/07/09
 Astronauts begin spacewalk, work on outdoor lab
18/07/09
 Payette, Thirsk set for historic rendezvous in space
17/07/09
 Summer campers being screened for H1N1 flu
16/07/09
 Ontario to offer cash incentives for electric cars
15/07/09
 Czech gov't reacts to new visa requirements
14/07/09
 Man dragged through west-end Toronto by train
13/07/09
 Cheney under fire for mysterious CIA program
12/07/09
 Hackers ordered to attack S. Korean networks: report
11/07/09
 Unemployment rate jumps to 8.6 per cent in June
10/07/09
 Virus may have compromised Alberta health records
09/07/09
 Gay Pride cash may have led to demotion of MP
08/07/09
 Los Angeles braces for Michael Jackson's final act
07/07/09
 Bankruptcy judge OKs General Motors sale plan
06/07/09
 Police probe relationship between McNair, waitress
05/07/09
 North Korea defies UN, fires 7 missiles
04/07/09
 Police name 4 family members found dead in car
03/07/09
 Air France Flight 447 fell intact into sea
02/07/09
 The Giant Dwarf website celebrates its 10th anniversary
01/07/09
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U.S. student told to pay US$675K over downloading
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. July 31  2009  07:12  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 31st, 2009
BOSTON -- A Boston University student has been ordered to pay $675,000 to four record labels for illegally downloading and sharing music.

Joel Tenenbaum, of Providence, R.I., admitted he downloaded and distributed 30 songs. The only issue for the jury to decide was how much in damages to award the record labels.

Under federal law, the recording companies were entitled to $750 to $30,000 per infringement. But the law allows as much as $150,000 per track if the jury finds the infringements were wilful. The maximum jurors could have awarded in Tenenbaum's case was $4.5 million.

The case is only the second music downloading case against an individual to go to trial in the United States.
Joel Tenenbaum, a graduate student from Providence, R.I., poses outside U.S. federal court after taking the stand in his defence in his copyright-infringement trial on Thursday, July 30, 2009, in Boston. (AP Photo/Bizuayehu Tesfaye)
Last month, a federal jury in Minneapolis ruled a Minnesota woman must pay nearly $2 million for copyright infringement.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
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Company belonging to Earl Jones declared bankrupt
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. July 29  2009  22:02  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 30th, 2009
A company belonging to unlicensed financial adviser Earl Jones, who is accused of bilking investors out of as much as $50 million, was declared bankrupt Wednesday in a Montreal courtroom.

Earl Jones Consultant and Administration Corp. was declared bankrupt at the same time that about 50 of Jones' alleged victims demonstrated outside the courthouse, demanding stronger rules for financial planners and tougher sentences for white-collar crimes.

Bankruptcy trustee Gilles Robillard will now try to figure out exactly how much money -- if any -- is left in the business.

"Time will tell once we go through (the documents)," said Robillard on Wednesday.

"There's a lot of work. You don't go through 20 years of accounting or transactions in three weeks."

According to records, Jones and his wife were paying themselves between $60,000 and $70,000 each month, Robillard said. That cash had been used for things like plane tickets, hotels and expensive dining, records show.

Robillard added that about $40,000 of that money was going to Jones' wife Maxine, who was listed as an employee of the company. However, there isn't evidence that she was actually involved in the business.

Maxine issued a statement earlier this month that said the family "was in the dark" about Jones' business dealings.

"It's outrageous, it's devastating, it's truly devastating," said former investor Ginny Nelles. "The story gets worse and worse."

Records show that other large sums of money were paid to charities, but Robillard declined to get into specifics about which organizations had received funds and the amounts involved.
Escorted by police, financial adviser Earl Jones, right, accompanied by his lawyer Jeffrey Boro, left, leaves an office tower in Montreal, Monday, July 27, 2009. (Graham Hughes / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Marlene Pinck, left, an alleged victim of financial adviser Earl Jones, and her friend Josie Griffin, attend a rally outside the Montreal courthouse, in Montreal, Wednesday, July 27, 2009. (Graham Hughes / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Robillard also alleged that Jones likely saw the end coming as early as January because there is evidence he began liquidating his personal assets, including his RRSP and his life insurance policy.

Bankruptcy lawyer Neil Stein said a meeting will take place to update creditors within the next three weeks.

Jones, 67, is free on bail after a Tuesday court appearance, during which he was charged with four counts each of fraud and theft.

Alleged Ponzi scheme

Quebec's securities regulator has alleged that Jones operated a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of between $30 million and $50 million.

Jones had been in hiding for a number of weeks after clients began complaining that they were unable to access funds they had entrusted to his company.

Cherie Beluse, the daughter of one of Jones' alleged victims, said her mother wakes up each night feeling like "she got punched in the gut."

"It's emotional because I watched her work her entire life to have this independence and this retirement that she felt secure in, that she could feel happy and at peace," Beluse told CTV Montreal outside the courthouse on Wednesday.

"She didn't live large, she didn't spend a lot of money, she lived on very little per month, but she had the knowledge that she had this security and now that is gone."

There may be more than 200 victims, and more charges are possible as the investigation into Jones' actions continues.

So far, authorities have been unable to determine what happened to Jones' liquidated assets or to the money in his corporate account.

Robillard has located about 60 corporate bank accounts, but they contain less than a total of $50,000.

"There's two things that could have happened -- either the money was stolen and it's sitting somewhere or it's been lost or spent," said Robillard.

"He was paying a return of 10 to 12 per cent so if he wasn't investing the money, getting nothing, he was draining on capital all the time."
However, investigators are looking into the possibility that Jones has offshore bank accounts in Bermuda and Ireland.

"We know there have been some dealings with offshore accounts, and we've signified we haven't pinpointed when the money disappeared," said Robillard.

According to Stein, Jones' property and bank accounts are in the process of being seized.

Jones did not enter a plea at his Tuesday court appearance, though his lawyer said he intends to plead not guilty.

Jones was released on $30,000 bail and must abide by a number of conditions. He must surrender his passport and is barred from leaving Quebec, and he can't speak to former clients or oversee anyone else's money.

His next court appearance has been scheduled for Sept. 28.

On Aug. 19, a court will hear a petition to have Jones declared personally bankrupt.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from CTV's Rosemary Thompson and The Canadian Press
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Agents search Jackson doc's property in probe
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. July 29  2009  06:37  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 29th, 2009
LAS VEGAS -- For the second time in less than a week, authorities have searched the property of Michael Jackson's personal doctor as they investigate whether he committed manslaughter by administering a powerful anesthetic to help the pop singer sleep.

Federal agents on Tuesday searched Dr. Conrad Murray's home and office in Las Vegas. Last week, authorities searched his clinic and rented storage unit in Houston.

Court records show they were seeking evidence of whether the physician committed manslaughter. Such charges against a doctor for the death of a patient are extremely rare and require authorities to show there was a reckless action.

Murray told investigators he administered the drug propofol to Jackson as a sleep aid after midnight on the night Jackson died, according to a law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The official said Murray left the bedroom where Jackson was sedated and returned to find the star not breathing. It's unclear how long Murray was out of the room.

The official said investigators are working under the theory that propofol caused Jackson's heart to stop. Toxicology reports that should show what killed Jackson are expected as early as this week.

Authorities have characterized Murray as the target of the investigation but have stopped short of calling him a suspect.

Propofol typically is used to render patients unconscious for surgery. It can depress breathing and lower heart rates and blood pressure.
U.S. federal agents arrive to search the home of Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's personal doctor, at Red Rock Country Club in Las Vegas on Tuesday, July 28, 2009. (Las Vegas Review-Journal / Jeff Scheid)
A bottle of the drug Propofol is seen at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles on Tuesday, July 28,2009. (AP / Richard Vogel)
Home use of propofol is virtually unheard of, and if Murray left Jackson's side, he would have violated guidelines for the safe use of the drug drawn up by the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

Murray's attorney, Edward Chernoff, has said the doctor "didn't prescribe or administer anything that should have killed Michael Jackson."

On Tuesday, Los Angeles police and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents carried away five or six plastic storage containers and several thick manila envelopes after a three hour-search of Murray's sprawling home in a gated Las Vegas community.

Across town, authorities searched his medical offices, Global Cardiovascular Associates Inc., for nine hours seeking documents. Investigators removed several boxes but declined to describe what they had seized.

Chernoff declined interview requests Tuesday but issued a statement saying the sealed search warrant "authorized investigators to look for medical records relating to Michael Jackson and all of his reported aliases."

Chernoff said Murray was present during the search of his home and assisted the officers, who seized cell phones and a computer hard drive.

Last week, federal drug agents and Los Angeles police searched Murray's Houston clinic and a storage locker he rented nearby. They collected an array of items, including 27 tablets of the weight loss drug phentermine, a tablet of the muscle relaxant clonazepam, business cards, notices from the Internal Revenue Service and computer hard drives.

Murray, 56, who is licensed in California, Nevada and Texas, became Jackson's personal physician in May and was to accompany him to London for a series of concerts starting in July.

He was staying with Jackson in the entertainer's rented Los Angeles mansion and, according to Chernoff, "happened to find" Jackson unconscious in his bedroom the morning of June 25. Murray tried to revive him by compressing his chest with one hand while supporting Jackson's back with the other.

It took up to a half hour before paramedics were called, Murray's lawyers have said. The paramedics arrived about three minutes later and tried to revive the pop star for another 42 minutes before taking him to nearby UCLA Medical Center, where Jackson was pronounced dead.

Jackson is believed to have been using propofol for about two years, and investigators are trying to determine how many other doctors administered it. Murray told investigators he had given Jackson the drug several times before, the law enforcement official told AP.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
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Boat with Haitians capsizes, 113 saved, 85 missing
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. July 28  2009  07:19  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 28th, 2009
Two people are dead and 85 are missing after a boat carrying Haitian migrants overturned and sank off the coast of the Turks and Caicos Islands, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The boat reportedly struck a reef at around 2 p.m. Monday, as it tried to elude police, survivor Alces Julien told The Associated Press.
A CTV map details the location of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
About 113 survivors were rescued after they were found stranded on two reefs, Lt. Cmdr. Matt Moorlag, a Coast Guard spokesperson, said from Miami. About 40 of them were found on a reef that is three kilometres southeast of West Caicos Island.

"Our main goal right now is just to get everybody out of the water and get medical attention for those who need it," said Petty Officer Third Class Sabrina Elgammal, another Coast Guard spokesperson.

Turks and Caicos authorities sent a number of small boats to the scene to help with the rescue efforts. A Coast Guard cutter searched the waters overnight for survivors. A helicopter and jet was expected to join the search at the break of dawn.

The cause of the crash is under investigation, Elgammal said.

However, Julien said that the boat, which was carrying about 200 Haitians, had been at sea for three days when passengers spotted a police vessel. In an effort to hide, the boat was accidentally steered onto a reef and capsized, he said from a hospital where many survivors were being treated.

Haitians have tried to escape by sea in the past, hoping for a new life after leaving behind their impoverished homeland. Often the means of escape is a rickety, overcrowded boat.

This past May, a pregnant woman and eight others were killed when a boat carrying about 30 Haitian migrants overturned near the Florida coastline.

In May 2007, a small vessel carrying more than 160 migrants capsized as they sailed past the Turks and Caicos Islands. Authorities said 78 people survived that shipwreck and that some of the survivors were attacked by sharks.

The survivors later accused a patrol boat of ramming their boat.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
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European Union gives final OK to seal product ban
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. July 27  2009  08:10  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 27th, 2009
BRUSSELS -- European Union nations have given their final approval to a ban on imports of seal products in an effort to force Canada to end its annual seal hunt.

A majority of the EU's 27 member states see the way Canada conducts its hunt, the world's largest, as inhumane.

The ban was approved without debate at a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday, although Denmark and Romania abstained from backing the measure, which Ottawa is protesting as an unfair trade restriction. Austria also abstained because it wanted an even stricter ban.
A hunter heads towards a harp seal during the annual seal hunt in the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence on Wednesday, March 25, 2009. (Andrew Vaughan / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
The EU ban will exempt products derived from traditional hunts carried out by Inuit in Canada's Arctic, as well as those from Greenland, Alaska and Russia. They can export products to the EU but only "on a not-for-profit basis."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
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NATO tests laser device to detect roadside bombs
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. July 26  2009  09:01  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 26th, 2009
As July turns into the deadliest month ever for coalition soldiers in Afghanistan, NATO has revealed it's testing a new device to help detect roadside bombs -- those so called "improvised explosive devices" that have caused such carnage for Canadian and other foreign troops.

Clearly feeling the heat as the death toll mounts, NATO is turning to technology to save lives.
Some IEDs just have a simple trip-wire.
"We at NATO have just started testing what, in essence, is a laser that can detect explosives ahead of a vehicle so that we can try to be better at protecting against that (violence)", NATO spokesperson James Appathurai told CTV News Channel in an interview from Brussels.

No further details were divulged, but it appears this is part of an effort by NATO to better explain why so many soldiers are dying, and what it is doing about it.

The death of Canadian Pte. Sebastien Courcy on July 15 pushed the number of coalition fatalities to a new record of 47 in one month, the highest since the war began and surpassing the previous high of 46 recorded in June and August 2008.

Since then it has grown to at least 56 troops, which include 5 Canadians, 30 Americans, 17 Britons, 2 Turks, an Italian and one soldier whose nationality was not disclosed.

The vast majority of the dead were killed by IEDs, which NATO said are becoming more sophisticated, and more powerful.

"They're getting bigger, they're hiding them in different places," explained Appathurai, "they are being hidden in the walls of houses."

NATO said Afghanistan's rudimentary road system is also part of the problem.

"It doesn't have much in the way of paved roads. So it's very easy to dig a little dirt, put a bomb down and cover it up, and it's impossible to tell. So it's a very difficult environment to discover these things," Appathurai said.

He also pointed out that another reason for July's sharply higher fatalities is the huge buildup of U.S. forces, many now involved in a big offensive in Helmand province, trying to take control of areas long dominated by the Taliban and its sympathizers.

"We have launched some operations in areas we never were before, and we are launching them very hard, very fast in basically bad guy territory, and they have had a long time to prepare." Appathurai said.

"They've had a lot of time to dig in. so this is going to be tough going as we clear them," he said.

"The difference is that once we clear we now have the forces necessary to hold, and that is something we haven't had in the past so there's a big push now. It will be over relatively soon, but it has been very difficult."

And, there are still six days left in July.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
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Frequently Asked Questions about the swine flu vaccine
Web Posted | Last Updated Sat. July 25  2009  14:49  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 25th, 2009
Angela Mulholland and Dr. Neil Rau
CTV.ca, with the help of infectious disease expert Dr. Neil Rau, answers your questions about the coming swine flu vaccine.

Should I get vaccinated against H1N1 swine flu?

All Canadians will have the choice of whether or not to get the H1N1 flu shot; it will not be mandatory. Some groups, such as those with underlying conditions, obesity, asthma or who are pregnant, are thought to be more vulnerable to the virus and may want to get the vaccine first.
Keep in mind that the virus causes only mild flu in most people and not everyone will need or want vaccination. In fact, some Canadians may have already been immunized against H1N1 thorough natural exposure to infection over the past few months. Others may choose to wait, to allow vaccine manufacturers to gather more safety and effectiveness data before everyone else is targeted. After all, the vaccine should be safer than the disease itself.

If I've already had swine flu, will I need the vaccine?

If you're certain you've had swine flu, you won't need the vaccine, at least for this coming season. The problem is that only a small number of people can be so certain. They are those who underwent lab testing, or who got ill as part of an outbreak, such as at a school or day camp where cases were confirmed through lab testing. Those people can presume that they also had the virus. However, most people will not know if they have had H1N1 unless an accurate blood test becomes available for this purpose.

In future years, swine-origin H1N1 may "drift," and prior infection may not offer immunity against any new version of the virus. By that point, we will have a much clearer idea of the seriousness of H1N1 and the safety of the vaccine to decide on the need for ongoing wide-scale vaccination.

Haven't there been delays in manufacturing the vaccine?

As the World Health Organization and other manufacturers announced in mid-June, the first "seed strains" of the virus they provided to manufacturers produced low yields in the manufacturing process - less than half of what they get with seasonal vaccine strains. The WHO says its laboratory network is generating further strains that may provide higher yields.

Flu vaccine production is inherently slow, because it begins with growing viruses in fertilized chicken eggs. For every shot, one egg has to be infected with the virus, where it then replicates before being extracted and purified into a vaccine. But if yields continue to remain low, multiple eggs need to be used, which slows down production and may result in a limited vaccine supply.

What are some strategies to use if the vaccine yield remains low?

One way to work around the problem would be to use adjuvants, which are chemical additives added to some vaccines to ramp up the response the immune system generates to a vaccine. With adjuvants, less pure vaccine antigens are needed.

But the problem is that flu vaccines don't normally use adjuvants. That means manufacturers couldn't use the fast-track vaccine approval system that allows seasonal flu vaccines to be tweaked every year with small adjustments to the strains. Adding an adjuvant would make the pandemic vaccine fundamentally different from seasonal flu vaccine, and would require a new licence. It would also slow down the approval process since it would likely mean more clinical trials to assess safety.

While the U.S. may choose not to use adjuvants to speed the approval process, Dr. David Butler-Jones, head of the Public Health Agency of Canada, has said that Canada would likely use an adjuvanted pandemic flu vaccine, given the problems with production and the WHO's request that manufacturers use "antigen sparing strategies."

Another approach is to give the vaccine "intradermally," that is, under the skin, rather than intramuscularly. This would allow doctors to use a lot less vaccine to produce a stronger immune response. In this way, more people could still get the vaccine if yields remain low.

The third approach would be to offer the vaccine selectively, to only those who need it most.
When is the vaccine likely to be ready?

The hope had been that the vaccine would be ready for October, but that's changed with the production delays. Because the total production and testing time is about 19 weeks, an H1N1 vaccine may be available in November in a best case scenario, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada says on its website.

Other countries - perhaps those that decide not to use adjuvants - may have a vaccine available sooner, depending how their manufacturers fare with production.

Who is making the swine flu vaccine for Canadians?

GlaxoSmithKline is the vaccine manufacturer under contract by the government of Canada to supply the country with a pandemic influenza vaccine. GSK already supplies the majority of the government's seasonal flu vaccines.

The Government of Canada purchases flu vaccines on behalf of the provinces and territories. The vaccine is then made available at public health clinics and doctors' offices according to provincial immunization programs.

How safe is the vaccine expected to be?

The companies making H1N1 flu vaccine have been making seasonal flu vaccines for years and have good track records of safety. But they are unlikely to undertake the necessary, complicated safety studies themselves, and will likely work alongside government bodies that will fund the work.

Vaccine experts will test various doses of the H1N1 vaccine to see how large a dose is needed for protection and how many doses. They will also test whether people with egg allergies can be offered the pandemic flu vaccine. They might also test whether an adjuvant affects the vaccine's effectiveness and safety, and how the vaccine affects someone who has already had H1N1 infection.

The adult testing process has already started in some parts of the world and is due to start in the U.S. in mid-August. The process would likely take about six weeks. If early information from those trials suggests the vaccines are safe, similar trials in healthy children aged six months to 17 years would begin next.

Large-scale, long-term tests of safety won't be feasible if the vaccine is to be administered promptly. Therefore, Health Canada has said it will work with other world health agencies to monitor the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine in post-market surveillance, and "to ensure the timely communication of any potential adverse events following immunization."

Many remember the rare neurological events that followed the hastily prepared, swine-derived flu vaccine in 1976. The World Health Organization's flu chief, Keiji Fukuda, has said there must be no doubt over the safety of swine flu vaccines before they are given to the public.
How effective will the vaccine be?

It's expected the pandemic flu vaccine will be as effective as seasonal flu vaccine, which is to say not 100 per cent.

In years when the strains of the flu virus in the seasonal vaccine have been a good match for the dominant strains circulating in the community, the vaccine has been shown to reduce chances of infection by 70 to 90 per cent in healthy adults. The vaccine may be somewhat less effective in elderly persons and very young children. Fortunately, the elderly are not targeted to receive the vaccine because of their pre-existing immunity.

It should be noted that it takes about two weeks after vaccination for antibodies to develop in the body and provide protection, so a recipient is still at risk for infection in the two weeks after a shot.

It remains to be seen whether "booster" flu shots will be needed with this pandemic flu strain. This H1N1 strain may also begin to drift over time, such that a slightly different version of vaccine will be needed in the future. Or, H1N1 may "die out" as the main cause of flu after a few more seasons, and future years may not justify the need for an H1N1 vaccine.

Will seasonal flu vaccine protect against the new H1N1 strain?

No. The CDC's Dr. Nancy Cox has said tests have confirmed that people who have received seasonal flu vaccines in the past have little or no immunity to the new H1N1 virus.

Seasonal flu shots protect against one strain of influenza B and two of influenza A -- including a human subtype of H1N1. But the new swine flu is a swine-derived H1N1. So, despite the similarity in names, the regular flu shot won't offer protection against the new H1N1 virus.

But since the usual seasonal influenza viruses are still expected to cause illness this winter, Canadians are still encouraged to get their seasonal flu shot this fall. Health care workers should particularly heed this advice.

Can the seasonal vaccine and the novel H1N1 vaccine be given at the same time?

We're not yet sure, but probably yes. Clinical trial results will be needed to ensure that the immune response to H1N1 is not blunted by giving the seasonal flu vaccine at the same time. In any event, the seasonal vaccine is expected to be available earlier than the H1N1 vaccine - perhaps much earlier.

Who will be able to get the H1N1 vaccine?

The current expectation is that there will be enough vaccine for all Canadians who want it. But if supplies are low, the WHO recommends that health-care workers be given first priority to receive the shot, to ensure they will be able to keep health-care systems functioning should there be a surge of communities illnesses that stress the health care system. Thus far, significant and severe community illness has not been seen with H1N1.

A panel of experts who advise the WHO on vaccine issues suggests countries should also prioritize pregnant women, children and healthy young adults as well. Those groups seem to be among those hardest hit so far by the pandemic virus, while older adults have been less likely to fall ill.

It will be interesting to see how many Canadians opt for the pandemic flu vaccine. In Ontario, which introduced a free flu vaccine program nine years ago, the participation rate is about 42 per cent, the highest in the country, according to Statistics Canada.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with a report from Angela Mulholland and Dr. Neil Rau
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Parents, brother charged in Kingston canal deaths
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. July 23  2009  21:57  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 24th, 2009
A Montreal family has been charged in the deaths of their three teenage daughters and a 52-year-old caregiver, more than three weeks after police pulled four bodies from a car submerged near Kingston, Ont.

According to Kingston police Chief Stephen Tanner, the deaths are a "needless and senseless loss of innocent human lives," and could be an extreme case of domestic violence.

The girls' father, mother and brother all face four counts of first-degree murder each. The four bodies were discovered on June 30 in the Rideau Canal.

The victims are 19-year-old Zainab Shafia and her sisters Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13. The fourth victim is Rona Amir Mohammad , who was revealed to be Shafia's first wife. She was previously described as a cousin.

Police allege that the parents and their son all operated the car which was dumped in the canal, and that the father lied when he told police the deaths occurred by accident during a family vacation.

Three weeks ago, the girls' father Mohammed Shafia told police that the family was driving home from a vacation in Niagara Falls in two cars.

But after the family had stopped in Kingston for a night, the car carrying the girls went missing, Shafia said at the time.

Shafia reported the car missing to police and said that the eldest girl had been known to take the car out without permission.
Autopsy results haven't been released.

The family is originally from Afghanistan but moved to Canada after spending 15 years in Dubai. Police say the family's culture may have contributed to the deaths.
Kingston Police Chief Stephen Tanner speaks at a press conference in Kingston, Thursday, July 23, 2009. (Peter Redman / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
The brother of the three teens killed in Kingston, Ont., Hamed Mohammad-Shafia, is escorted to a Kingston court by police on Thursday, July 23, 2009.
The parents of the three teens killed in Kingston, Ont., Mohammed Shafi and Tobba Yahya, speak with reporters at their home in St. Leonard, Que. on Friday, July 3, 2009.
"All shared the rights within our great country to live without fear, to enjoy safety and freedom ... and yet had their lives cut short by members of their own family," said Tanner.

He also asked for a moment of silence for the victims.

Mohammad Shafia, wife Tooba, Yahya Shafia and their son Hamed Mohammad-Shafia, 18, all face four counts each of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Early on, the deaths appeared to puzzle investigators as they pieced together how the Nissan had plunged into the water. There was speculation that the deaths were the result of careless driving or had occurred after the car's driver lost control.

However, there were several barriers between the roadway and the water, and police couldn't find significant tire marks which would have been consistent with a case of reckless driving.

After the car was discovered, the remaining family members shared their grief with the media and openly discussed their loss.

Meanwhile, officers continue to investigate an email sent to police which suggests the deaths were the result of a so-called "honour killing."

Tanner said the email may have come from a family member. However, that has not been confirmed, and the allegations contained in the email have not been proven in court.

"That person is far removed from Canadian soil and from direct knowledge so we have to, and will, investigate that fully in coming weeks," he said.

News organizations also received an email, purportedly from a relative, that alleges Rona -- Shafia's first wife -- feared for her life and was regularly threatened by her husband.

The email also states that Shafia thought Western culture was negatively influencing his family, and alleges that "the daughters were beaten regularly, either by him or his son Hamed, because their behaviour was a disgrace to him in his eyes," The Canadian Press reported.

The accused appeared in a Kingston court Thursday, but did not enter a plea. A bail hearing is pending.

Defence lawyer Lucie Joncas, who is representing the mother, said her client is deeply saddened by the deaths.

"It's obvious my client is very emotionally distraught by the whole tragedy,"

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with a report from CTV's Rosemary Thompson
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Police to offer update on Rideau Canal deaths
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. July 23  2009  07:10  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 23rd, 2009
Police in Kingston, Ont., are expected to release more information today on the mysterious deaths of four Montreal women found in a car submerged in the Rideau Canal.

Sources tell CTV News that Kingston police made three arrests Wednesday morning, though Kingston police would not acknowledge nor deny the arrests.

Reports say two men and a woman were taken into custody on their way to Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport. Police would not confirm reports that the three suspects are Shafi family members.

Investigators would also say they will update the public with "a change in the status" in the case at a news conference Thursday afternoon.

Zainab Shafi, 19, and her two sisters, 17-year-old Sahar and 13-year-old Geeti, were found inside a black Nissan Sentra submerged in water, near a Rideau Canal lock northeast of Kingston. Another 50-year-old family member, Rona Amir Mohammed, was also found lifeless inside the car.

The car was spotted by a Parks Canada employee the day before Canada Day. The car was submerged in about three metres of water, about 10 metres north of a canal lock.

It was not clear how the car ended up in the canal, as police could not find any obvious tire tracks to follow, and the vehicle would had to have passed through several barriers to make it into the water.

Police later sought out surveillance tapes from two nearby gas bars, though investigators remained tight-lipped about what they were looking for.
Four bodies were found in a car submerged in water at these locks near Kingston, Ont.
The parents of the three teens killed in Kingston, Ont., Mohammed Shafi and Tobba Yahya, speak with reporters at their home in St. Leonard, Que. on Friday, July 3, 2009.
The Shafi family is seen in this undated family handout photo.
The car was impounded and inspected for mechanical problems and the victims' bodies underwent autopsies the day after they were found. Results of those autopsies were not released.

The victims were last seen alive at a Kingston-area motel, where they were staying with other family members the night they disappeared. The family had just visited Niagara Falls and was staying over in Kingston, expecting to return home to the Montreal borough of St-Leonard the next day.

The teenagers' father, Mohammed Shafi, later told reporters that he believed his eldest daughter, Zainab, had taken the car out on a joyride or to practise her driving skills. He said he believed his daughters and their relative likely died as the result of an accident, because none of them knew how to swim.

Shafi and his wife Tobba Yahya told CTV News that Zainab was rebellious and had a habit of taking one of the family's cars without permission, despite not having a driver's licence.

They also said they left Afghanistan in hopes of finding a better life in Canada.

They also said the family moved to Canada two years ago so their seven children could gain citizenship, go to school, and hopefully, start businesses and buy homes.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Solar eclipse shrouds Asia in daytime darkness
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. July 22  2009  06:07  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 22nd, 2009
TOKYO, Japan -- Millions of Asians turned their eyes skyward Wednesday as dawn suddenly turned to darkness across the continent in the longest total solar eclipse of this century. Millions of others, seeing the rare event as a bad omen, shuttered themselves indoors.

Chinese launched fireworks and danced in Shanghai. On a remote Japanese island, bewildered cattle went to their feeding troughs thinking night had fallen. And in India, a woman was crushed as thousands of viewers crowded the banks of the Ganges for a glimpse.

Starting off in India just after dawn, the eclipse was visible across a wide swath of Asia before moving over southern Japan and then off into the Pacific Ocean.

The eclipse is the longest since July 11, 1991, when a total eclipse lasting 6 minutes, 53 seconds was visible from Hawaii to South America. There will not be a longer eclipse than Wednesday's until 2132.

The celestial event was met by a mixture of awe, excitement and fear.

Cloudy skies and rain damped the show in many areas, but villagers in the town of Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges in India, got one of the best views.
A total solar eclipse is seen in Baihata, about 35 kilometres west of Gauhati, India, Wednesday, July 22, 2009. (AP / Anupam Nath)
A Sadhu, or Hindu holy man, watches the solar eclipse through specially-designed viewing glasses in Allahabad, India, Wednesday, July 22, 2009. (AP / Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Thousands of Hindus took to the waters to cleanse their sins. The eclipse was seen there for 3 minutes and 48 seconds.

The gathering was marred when a 65-year-old woman was killed and six people injured in a stampede at one of the river's banks where about 2,500 people had gathered, said police spokesman Surendra Srivastava. He said it is not clear how the stampede started.

Others in India, though, were gripped by fear and refused to come outdoors. In Hindu mythology, an eclipse is caused when a dragon-demon swallows the sun, while another myth is that sun rays during an eclipse can harm unborn children.

"My mother and aunts have called and told me stay in a darkened room with the curtains closed, lie in bed and chant prayers," Krati Jain, 24, who is expecting her first child, said in New Delhi.

Clouds obscured the sun when the eclipse began. But they parted in several Indian cities minutes before the total eclipse took place at 6:24 a.m. (0054 GMT; 8:54 p.m. EDT).

On the tiny Japanese island of Akuseki, where the total eclipse lasted 6 minutes and 25 seconds, more than 200 tourists had to take shelter inside a school gymnasium due to a tornado warning.

But when the sky started to darken, everyone rushed out to the schoolyard, cheering and applauding, said island official Seiichiro Fukumitsu.

"The sky turned dark like in the dead of the night. The air turned cooler and cicadas stopped singing. Everything was so exciting and moving," Fukumitsu said.

Some villagers reported that their cows gathered at a feeding station, apparently mistaking the eclipse as a signal that it was dinner time, he said.

"It was rather mysterious," he said. "It must have been a frightening experience for people hundreds of years ago."

Jubilant eclipse watchers in China set off fireworks near the banks of the Qiantang River in coastal Zheijiang province as skies darkened overhead for about six minutes. Visitors from countries including Britain, Germany and Australia joined curious Chinese onlookers. Heavy clouds blocked the full eclipse but watchers saw a partial one.

The river bank in Yanguan village drew an exceptional number of watchers because it was also the site of the world's largest tidal bore, a phenomenon triggered by the eclipse where a giant tidal wave runs against the river's currents.

In Beijing, a thick blanket of grayish smog blotted out the sky.
In coastal Shanghai, eclipse watchers were disappointed by a light drizzle in the morning. As the sky darkened fully for about five minutes, however, watchers became excited.

Holding a big green umbrella and wearing special glasses, Song Chunyun was prepared to celebrate the occasion in a new white dress.

"Although the rain came, I don't want to screw up the mood. I want to enjoy the special day," she said before dancing and singing in the rain with her two sisters.

At a Buddhist temple in the Thai capital Bangkok, dozens of monks led a mass prayer at a Buddhist temple to ward off evil.

"The eclipse is bad omen for the country," said Pinyo Pongjaroen, a prominent astrologer. "We are praying to boost the fortune of the country."

In Myanmar, Buddhists went to Yangon's famed Shwedagon pagoda to offer flowers, fruits and water to ward off misfortune. Some warned their friends and family not to sleep through the eclipse for fear of getting bad luck.

"We all got up early this morning and prayed at home because our abbot told us that the solar eclipse is a bad omen," said a 43-year old school teacher Aye Aye Thein.

Bangladeshis also came out in droves.

"It's a rare moment, I never thought I would see this in my life," said Abdullah Sayeed, a college student who traveled to Panchagarh town from the capital, Dhaka.

He said cars in the town needed to use headlights as "night darkness has fallen suddenly." People hugged each other and some blew whistles when the eclipse began.

Total eclipses are caused when the moon moves directly between the sun and the earth, covering it completely to cast a shadow on earth.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Police to confirm whether remains belong to Tori
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. July 21  2009  08:01  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 21st, 2009
Police are expected to confirm Tuesday that the remains of a young child found on the weekend are those of Victoria Stafford, an eight-year-old girl who went missing several months ago.

The remains were found Sunday in a rural, wooded area near the town of Mount Forest, Ont.

They were transported to a Toronto forensics centre on Monday for identification.

Police have indicated they believe the remains belong to Tori, but have not yet made an official confirmation.

Elliot Ferguson, of the Woodstock Sentinel-Review, said Stafford's family is feeling conflicted about the latest developments in the investigation.

"I think it's sort of a mixed bag for the family. On one hand if these remains turn out to be those of Tori they will finally get the closure they are looking for," Ferguson told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday.

"But at the same time the family was holding out that little sliver of hope that she would be found alive."

Tori disappeared three months ago.

Although a body was never found, Michael Rafferty, 28, and Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, have both been charged with first-degree murder and abduction. They remain in police custody.

On Monday, Tori's father Rodney Stafford said although it is not the ending his family was hoping for, their thoughts can now be put to rest.
Eight-year-old Victoria Stafford was last seen leaving her Woodstock, Ont. school on Wednesday afternoon, April 8, 2009.
Victoria Stafford's father Rodney Stafford speaks to the media with Victoria's Aunt Rebecca Nichols and grandmother Doreen Graichen, in Victoria Park in Woodstock, Ontario on Monday, July 20, 2009. (Dave Chidley / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
"No one wants to believe their child has been murdered," he said.

"If it is her, at least I don't have to continue being out and about looking. Up until last night I was still doing it," he said. "You can't help but think, 'is that her just up ahead? Is that her voice in the background?' You can't help it."

The body was found beside a large rock pile in a wooded, isolated rural area on Sunday afternoon by an investigator who is part of a team looking into the child's murder.

Interim Oxford Community Police Chief Rod said the remains have been exposed to the environment for "quite some time."

Tori was last seen alive on April 8 in Woodstock, Ont. A surveillance camera close to her school captured the girl walking with a woman.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
=======================
 
OPP find remains near Tori Stafford search site
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. July 20  2009  07:42  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 20th, 2009
Police in London, Ont. are investigating what may be human remains in Arthur Township.

Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Dave Rektor said the area around 6th Line just south of Highway 89 in the Mount Forest Area has been sealed off and authorities are investigating the findings.

The remains were discovered Sunday afternoon. Mount Forest is located west of Orangeville and just north of the Wellington and Guelph regions.

Police have been searching the area since late May for the remains of Victoria Stafford, an 8-year-old girl from Woodstock, Ont.

Victoria, known as "Tori" by family and friends, was last seen alive on April 8. A surveillance camera close to her school captured the girl walking with stranger.

On May 20, police arrested two suspects.

Investigators began searching the area around Guelph for Victoria's body after receiving a tip from the female suspect, but police never found her remains.
Police detectives continue their search as they investigate the the disappearance of eight year-old Victoria 'Tori' Stafford near Fergus, Ont., on Thursday, May 21, 2009. (Nathan Denette / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Eight-year-old Victoria Stafford was last seen leaving her Woodstock, Ont. school on Wednesday afternoon, April 8, 2009.
Michael Rafferty, 28, and Terri-Lynne McClintic, 18, have both been charged with first-degree murder and abduction.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from ctvtoronto.ca
=======================
 
Thousands flee raging wildfires in West Kelowna
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. July 19  2009  13:50  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 19th, 2009
About 17,000 people have been told they must leave their homes as wildfires rage in B.C.'s West Kelowna area.

A fire in the Glenrosa neighbourhood began around 2:40 p.m. local time Saturday and now covers about 300 hectares.

A second fire in the Rose Valley Reservoir began around 9:30 p.m. local time Saturday and has since expected to cover 75 hectares.

The BC Forest Service said Sunday it has dedicated 45 firefighters, seven helicopters and a number of water bombers to battle the Glenrosa blaze.

According to a news release, the Forest Service also plans to send another 80 firefighters to the scene.

"The (Forest Service) is going to be throwing a lot of resources at it today, so hopefully we can get the upper hand," West Kelowna Fire Chief Rene Blanleil said Sunday on CTV News Channel.

Forty firefighters are battling a third blaze, a 100 hectare fire near Terrace Mountain. However, that fire is not a threat to any structures.
Westbank resident Dorwin Curtis watches the Glenrosa fire spread near Kelowna, B.C., on Saturday, July 18, 2009. (Daniel Hayduk / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Officials gather at Rose Valley Elementary School in Kelowna, B.C., to discuss their morning plans before heading out on a helicopter on Sunday morning, July 19, 2009. (Jennifer Peachey / MyNews.CTV.ca)
Tom Wilson of Kelowna's emergency operations centre said investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the fires.

"There's been really no indication one way or the other about how they started," Wilson told CTV News Channel early Sunday morning. "One of the theories that is being put forward is that the Rose Valley fire might have been started by embers from the original Glenrosa fire."

The Glenrosa fire has destroyed nine structures, at least three of them houses, according to officials. Blanleil said that damage assessment teams hope to inspect the structures at some point Sunday to determine the extent of the destruction.

At one point the blaze threatened the Gorman Brothers sawmill. However, fire officials said early Sunday morning that the mill had been saved.

International Trade Minister Stockwell Day, who represents the riding of Okanagan-Coquihalla, said he could see the blazes escalate near his home.

"Our home is, as the crow flies, about 2 kilometres from the last evacuation point," he told CTV News Channel. "Right from our backyard we have full visibility of the fires. We literally saw it at its start, when it was just a wisp of smoke. And then the wind came up incredibly, and pushed these fires to inferno levels."

Meanwhile, more than 3,000 residents in Peachland and Summerland are without power.

BC Hydro said some of the outages were forced outages to ensure the safety of residents as fire crews battle the flames.

"Our crews will go out first thing (Sunday) morning as soon as they can gain safe access to the affected areas to inspect the lines," BC Hydro spokesperson Jeanette Hoft told reporters. "But we would like to ask residents in these areas to prepare for an outage for at least a day."

According to Wilson, many residents are leaving their homes and staying with friends and family. However, Royal LePage Place -- a local hockey arena -- is housing those who have no place to go.

Wilson said RCMP and fire officials are having few problems evacuating residents, who remember the devastation caused by forest fires in 2003, which destroyed more than 250 homes and caused more than 30,000 people to flee their homes.

"That's still pretty fresh in people's minds and in a way I think it's helped with this, people getting prepared to evacuate and not taking matters lightly," Wilson said. "They've seen what damage can be done and they're reacting accordingly."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
=======================
 
Astronauts begin spacewalk, work on outdoor lab
Web Posted | Last Updated Sat. July 18  2009  14:42  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 18th, 2009
Two astronauts left the International Space Station on Saturday for a six-hour space walk to begin installing the third and final section of Japan's $1 billion laboratory, the largest on the station.

Astronauts David Wolf and Timothy Kopra bobbed out of the space station's hatch at 12:19 p.m. ET to begin their work 354 kilometres away from Earth.

The duo will install a large veranda to the lab, which is designed to conduct outdoor experiments.

Communication between the astronauts was impaired early on in the spacewalk, as microphones in their helmets caused considerable static.

"Dave, you're unreadable," astronaut Christopher Cassidy said from inside the space station. Cassidy apologized to mission control for the "ratty comm," and said Wolf and Kopra were working on the problem.

Attaching the veranda will involve a lot of work with robotic arms belonging to both the shuttle and the space station, as well as hands-on work by the two astronauts.

"It's going to be something," Wolf said Saturday morning. "It's a heck of a day of teamwork between robots and people in space and all over the world."

The spacewalk is the first of five scheduled to take place while the crew from the space shuttle Endeavour is on board the space station.

The shuttle, carrying seven astronauts, including Canadian Julie Payette, arrived at the space station on Friday. It will remain there for one-and-a-half weeks.
With the Earth in the background, Mission Specialist David Wolf works outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk on Saturday, July 18, 2009.
An astronaut is seen departing the hatch for a spacewalk on Saturday, July 18, 2009.
An astronaut gets suited up for a space walk, at the International Space Station on Saturday, July 18, 2009.
When Payette arrived she joined fellow Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk, who is on a six-month mission to the space station.

It is the first time that two Canadian astronauts have been in space at the same time.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Payette, Thirsk set for historic rendezvous in space
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. July 17  2009  07:52  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 17th, 2009
There will be a historic Canadian reunion in space today.

If everything goes according to plan, astronaut Julie Payette will arrive at the International Space Station where she will meet up with her Canadian colleague Robert Thirsk.

When Endeavour docks at the ISS, it will mark the first time that two Canadian astronauts have been there at the same time, said Steve MacLean, president of the Canadian Space Agency.

"When Bob welcomes Julie later today after (Endeavour) docks, it just doesn't get any better for Canada and it's really exciting to see that happen," MacLean told CTV's Canada AM on Friday.

Payette and the rest of the shuttle Endeavour crew took off Wednesday from Florida after five consecutive launch delays due to hydrogen gas leaks and unfavourable weather. She will spend 16 days at the ISS, while Thirsk is there for a marathon six-month stint.

Endeavour was originally scheduled to launch in June.

MacLean said Friday will mark the first time that representatives from all partner nations have had astronauts at the ISS at the same time.

"When Bob launched on May 27th he was launching into a situation where for the first time on the ISS we have all five partners up there and there is a representative astronaut from each of the five major partners -- Canada, Russia, Japan, the United States and Europe," Thirsk said.

Launch troubles

During the launch on Wednesday, cameras captured pieces of foam insulation falling away from the shuttle's external tank.

It won't be clear how severe the damage is until data from the launch and the crew's inspection are fully processed.

"The bottom line is we saw some stuff," said Mike Moses, chairman of the mission management team.

"Some of it doesn't concern us. Some of it you just can't really speculate on right now. But we have the tools in front of us and the processes in front of us to go clear this vehicle for entry."

The shuttle was hit at least two or three times by pieces of foam.

According to the NASA website, the Endeavour's seven-person crew used the shuttle's robotic arm and its related sensor system for the inspection.
Canadian Space Agency astronaut Julie Payette, STS-127 mission specialist, attired in her shuttle launch and entry suit, takes a moment for a photo on the flight deck of space shuttle Endeavour during post launch activities, Wednesday, July 15, 2009. (AP / NASA)
Astronaut Robert Thirsk wears his convocation hood after being granted an honorary degree, seen in Calgary via video link from the International Space Station, Wednesday, July 8, 2009. (Jeff McIntosh / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Space shuttle Endeavour lifts off from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Wednesday, July 15, 2009. (AP / John Raoux)
Ever since the Columbia disaster six years ago, NASA has been vigilant about monitoring the foam on the exterior of the external fuel tank during take-off.

During the Columbia launch, a piece of foam broke off and hit the wing of the spacecraft, creating a small hole.

Upon re-entry, the shuttle broke apart and all seven crew members were killed. The tragedy has been blamed primarily on the hole, which allowed hot gases to penetrate the wing upon re-entry, virtually melting it away.

While at the ISS, Endeavour astronauts will determine whether it is safe to attempt the trip home. If not, NASA will send another shuttle to retrieve the astronauts.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
=======================
 
Summer campers being screened for H1N1 flu
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. July 16  2009  08:13  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 16th, 2009
Officials at summer camps in areas across Canada are screening new campers for signs of swine flu, after three Ontario camps reported that kids there had become sick with the worrisome flu.

Health officials say more than 200 children at camps across Ontario have developed symptoms of H1N1. But they stress that such numbers are not surprising, given what's happening in the broader community, and that they had expected to see many illnesses this summer.
The outbreaks have occurred at three summer camps in Ontario's Muskoka's region, about a two-hour drive north of Toronto.
All the cases in Ontario cottage country so far have been mild and there has been no need to hospitalize any of them or close any camps, says Dr. Colin Lee of the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.

"A lot of them have gone home to rest up. It's more comfortable for them to be at home," Lee told Canada AM Thursday. "For those who are staying who are ill, they're being isolated from the other campers until they are feeling better."

The Olympia sports camp, just outside of Huntsville, has a number of cases and is now screening all children at bus pickups. Kids who are ill are being sent home.

Camp Ramah, near Bracebridge, says several campers came down with mild cases of the virus but recovered in a matter of days. The third camp has not been publicly identified.

In the U.S., the American Lung Association has advised its affiliated camps to close, after four campers were hospitalized when they became sick at an affiliated camp in Julian, Calif.

Dr. Marla Shapiro says kids with asthma or other respiratory diseases are at greater risk from H1N1.

"Not necessarily because the flu might be worse in them - although it might - but their asthma might flare and their underlying health conditions may get worse," she explained to Canada AM.

Flu concerns have prompted at least 50 summer camps across the United States to cancel sessions or send campers home early.

Dr. Shapiro says she's not surprised that flu clusters are being identified at some camps.

"We talk about handwashing, but it's hard to get kids to do that. And in the cabins, they have bunk beds that are close together -- none of that six-foot social distancing that doctors talk about for when somebody is sick."

Dr. Lee says he still thinks it's safe for parents to send kids to camp.

"When they arrive, they are screened for illness. And during their stay, the camps are being vigilant to identify campers who may be ill," he said.
Dr. Charles Gardner, the Simcoe Muskoka District's chief medical officer of health, told ctvtoronto.ca that all camps in his district informed parents in writing that "this is an unusual year" because of the H1N1 outbreak, which the World Health Organization has declared a pandemic.

"They need to be aware of H1N1 influenza, that we've had three outbreaks to date and there's the possibility we could have others," he said.

Shapiro says she got a letter from the camp she sends her kids to earlier this summer that advised that they were preparing for the flu but also warning that if her children become ill with a fever, they would be sending that child home.

"In all my years that I've been sending my children to camp - and it's many, many years now - I've never seen a letter like this before", Shapiro said.

Gardner says parents can help by watching their children for flu symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throats or sudden fatigue. "Do not send your children to camp if they have any influenza-like illness," he said.

Shapiro adds: "Visitors' Day is this weekend for many camps. And if you as a parent are unwell with fever or influenza-like illness, much as you might want to see your child, it's not a good idea to go and bring illness along with you."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
=======================
 
Ontario to offer cash incentives for electric cars
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. July 15  2009  08:00  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 15th, 2009
The Ontario government plans to rev up Ontario drivers' interest in electric cars today by announcing new cash incentives for drivers. According to reports, the province is expected to offer up to $10,000 to drivers thinking about shelling out for the higher cost of the cars.

The incentives will come into effect next year, just as the new hybrid-electric Chevrolet Volt is expected to hit the roads.

General Motors is planning to price the Volt at about $40,000, and has said that despite its bankruptcy filing, it's committed to keeping the Volt release on schedule.

Premier Dalton McGuinty will make the cash incentive announcement today at a Chevrolet dealership in Toronto, along with Transportation Minister Jim Bradley.
General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner, Vice Chairman, Bob Lutz, and President and COO Fritz Henderson stand with the Chevrolet Volt as it is unveiled at a General Motors centennial celebration in Detroit, on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008. (AP / Paul Sancya)
McGuinty is expected to make a number of other announcements to throw his government's support behind electric vehicles, including a plan to build battery recharging stations across the province. As well, he's expected to promise that his government plans to have electric cars make up 20 per cent of the government's vehicle fleet by 2020.

McGuinty said in January the province was looking at ways to pave the way for the arrival of electric cars on its roads, as Ontario's ailing auto industry struggles to transform itself. He said Ontario wanted to take advantage of what's expected to be massive consumer demand for greener vehicles.

But the government hasn't yet discussed how much money it may be willing to commit to help build the necessary infrastructure for electric cars or encourage automakers to produce electric cars -- a price tag some analysts predict may be steep.

McGuinty has also, so far, refused to allow low-speed electric cars on Ontario roads, citing safety concerns, even though both Quebec and British Columbia have approved the use of the cars on roads with speed limits under 40 or 50 kilometres per hour.

The Volt will be different from previous electirc cars and from gas-electric hybrids currently on the road. Its battery pack will be charged by plugging the car into a typical residential electrical outlet using it specially designed charging cord. No external charging station will be required.

When full charged, the batteries will be able to power the car for about 65 km. After that, a four-cylinder gas engine can drive a generator to extend the Volt's range to about 1,000 kilometres on a single tank of gas.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Czech gov't reacts to new visa requirements
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. July 14  2009  07:52  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 14th, 2009
The Czech government is protesting Ottawa's decision to require visas for Czech nationals, by threatening to impose the same restrictions on Canadians and recalling its ambassador to Canada.

Czech Premier Jan Fischer said he would ask the European Union to pressure Canada to drop the visa requirement for visiting Czech citizens. He also said the decision was wrong and one-sided.
Mexican and Czech nationals make up the two top sources of refugee claims to Canada.
Czech nationals were previously required to have visas when visiting Canada prior to 2007.

But Ottawa says too many Czech citizens are seeking asylum when arriving in Canada and the government believes many such claims are unwarranted.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced the visa changes on Monday, which also apply to Mexican nationals. The new rules came into effect today.

"In addition to creating significant delays and spiraling new costs in our refugee program the sheer volume of these claims is undermining our ability to help people fleeing real persecution," Kenney said in a news release on Monday.

"All too often, people who really need Canada's protection find themselves in a long line, waiting for months and sometimes years to have their claims heard. This is unacceptable."

As an example, Czech nationals filed about 3,000 refugee claims last year, compared to only five in all of 2005 when the visa rule was still in effect. Many of the Czech people seeking asylum in Canada are of Roma descent, a group that has long faced discrimination and persecution in Europe.

In the case of Mexico, refugee claims have tripled since 2005, topping more than 9,400 such claims in 2008.

The Mexican government has said it "regrets the decision by the government of Canada."

Critics say the government is going too far by requiring visas for both countries.

Immigration lawyer Ravi Jain said a visa is a "blunt instrument" that can strain relations between co-operative nations, like the Czech Republic and NAFTA-member Mexico.

"I think a visa is something that you impose on a country as a measure of last resort," Jain told CTV's Canada AM on Monday morning.

He said that if the government truly wanted to help out legitimate claimants - and weed out the illegitimate ones -- it should provide more support for them, rather than making it harder for them to enter the country.

"If that was a genuine concern by the government, why didn't they appoint refugee board members and refugee judges when they could have?" Jain asked.

The government could also have targeted immigration consultants who often encourage immigrants to claim refugee status illegitimately, he said.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Man dragged through west-end Toronto by train
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. July 13  2009  07:38  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 13th, 2009
Toronto police were called to a downtown train yard early Monday morning, after getting a 911 call from a man whose leg was being dragged along the tracks.

Staff Sgt. Ralph Brooks told ctvtoronto.ca that police initially received a radio call at about 1 a.m. regarding a problem near Bathurst and Dupont Streets.

At the scene, a 28-year-old man was found inside a "flat-top" train car and it turned out that his leg had dragged along the ground for about six kilometers, Brooks said.
Toronto EMS transport the 28-year-old man after he was dragged by a train about six kilometres through west-end Toronto, early Monday, July 13, 2009.
The man was initially drinking beer with a group of two or three friends when the train was parked in the city's west-end.

When the train started to move away unexpectedly, the man's friends jumped out of the train car.

The victim, however, was too intoxicated to do the same and he ended up falling partway through the bottom of the train car as it began to move forward.

"The victim apparently slipped into this hole -- so his leg in essence is dangling through this hole and bumping the ground as the train is making its way from the far west end of the city."

At some point on the train ride the victim used his cellphone to call 911.

He suffered severe injuries to his lower leg as a result of the incident, and an initial police report suggested that it would likely be amputated mid-shin.

"Trains are not docile things, they are very dangerous things and they can inflict terrible injuries," Brooks said. "This young man has suffered a terrible injury and likely will suffer from this disfigurement for the rest of his life as a result of this."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
=======================
 
Cheney under fire for mysterious CIA program
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. July 12  2009  14:22  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 12th, 2009
The Bush administration may have acted illegally when former vice-president Dick Cheney kept Congress in the dark about a CIA counter-terrorism program, according to two senators.

Cheney's decision was "something that should never, ever happen again," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the chairperson of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, told Fox News on Sunday.

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told ABC's This Week that Congress should investigate the matter.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney speaks at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, Thursday, May 21, 2009 (AP Photo / Luis M. Alvarez)
"It could be illegal," he said.

The unidentified program began shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. It remains steeped in mystery, although the program reportedly did not involve domestic activities.

Cheney ordered the CIA to conceal the program from Congress, according to The New York Times. It remained secret for eight years, until current CIA director Leon Panetta learned of its existence last month.

Panetta's subordinates told him about the program on June 23, and he briefed two intelligence committees the following day, the Times reported.

Under the National Security Act of 1947, the U.S. president must ensure the intelligence committees are informed about "intelligence activities in the United States, including any significant anticipated intelligence activity."

However, the Act also stipulates briefings should be held "to the extent consistent with due regard for the protection from unauthorized disclosure of classified information relating to sensitive intelligence sources and methods or other exceptionally sensitive matters."

Feinstein said the law shows Congress should have been told about the program, and the Bush administration's failure to do so "is a big problem."

It's unclear how U.S. President Barack Obama will address the issue. Since taking office, he has been reluctant to uncover any alleged wrongdoing by the Bush administration.

When some Democrats pressed for a "truth commission" to examine such allegations, Obama said the U.S. should be "looking forward and not backwards."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Hackers ordered to attack S. Korean networks: report
Web Posted | Last Updated Sat. July 11  2009  09:14  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 11th, 2009
SEOUL, South Korea -- A North Korean army lab of hackers was ordered to "destroy" South Korean communications networks -- evidence the isolated regime was behind cyberattacks that paralyzed South Korean and American Web sites -- news reports said Saturday, citing an intelligence briefing.

Members of the parliamentary intelligence committee have said in recent days that the National Intelligence Service has also pointed to a North Korean boast last month that it was "fully ready for any form of high-tech war."

The spy agency told lawmakers Friday that a research institute affiliated with the North's Ministry of People's Armed Forces received an order to "destroy the South Korean puppet
Kim Jae-pil, a police officer with the Cyber Terror Response Center under the National Police Agency, shows seized hard disks which were used for hacking at the agency's headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, July 9, 2009. (AP / Ahn Young-joon)
communications networks in an instant," the mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported.

The paper, citing unidentified members of parliament's intelligence committee, said the institute, known as Lab 110, specializes in hacking and spreading malicious programs.

The Ministry of People's Armed Forces is the secretive nation's defence ministry.

The NIS -- South Korea's main spy agency -- said it couldn't confirm the report. Calls to several key intelligence committee members went unanswered Saturday.

The agency, however, issued a statement late Saturday saying it has "various evidence" of North Korean involvement, though has yet to reach a conclusion.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency carried a similar report, saying the NIS obtained a North Korean document issuing the June 7 order. The report, quoting an unidentified senior ruling party official, said the North Korean institute is affiliated with the North Korean People's Army.

The state-run Korea Communications Commission said Friday that it had identified and blocked five Internet Protocol, or IP, addresses in five countries used to distribute computer viruses that caused the wave of Web site outages, which began in the U.S. on July 4.

The addresses point to the computers that distributed the virus that triggered so-called denial of service attacks in which floods of computers try to connect to a single site at the same time, overwhelming the server.

They were in Austria, Georgia, Germany, South Korea and the U.S., a commission official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media on the record.

Speculation over who was responsible for the attacks that targeted high-profile Web sites, including those of the White House and South Korea's presidential Blue House, has centred on North Korea.

And though such finger-pointing has been trickling out since the attacks began, the identity of the IP addresses themselves provides little in the way of clarity.

That's because it is likely the hackers, whoever they are, used the addresses to disguise themselves -- for instance, by accessing the computers from a remote location. IP addresses can also be faked or masked, hiding their true location.
South Korean media reported in May that North Korea was running an Internet warfare unit that tries to hack into American and South Korean military networks to gather confidential information and disrupt service. The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported Friday that the North has between 500-1,000 hacking specialists.

The fact that some of the attacked sites -- such as the ruling party and the office of President Lee Myung-bak -- have links to the South Korean government's hard-line policies toward the North was cited as further reason why Pyongyang might attack them.

The North has drawn repeated international rebuke in recent months for threats and actions seen as provocative by the international community. Those include a nuclear test in May and short-range ballistic missile launches on July 4.

North Korea has not responded to the allegations of its involvement in the Web site outages.

The assaults appear to be on the wane. No new similar cyberattacks have been reported in South Korea since Friday evening, according to the state-run Korea Information Security Agency.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Unemployment rate jumps to 8.6 per cent in June
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. July 10  2009  08:08  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 10th, 2009
Canada's unemployment rate edged up 0.2 percentage points to 8.6 per cent in June but the economy only shed 7,400 jobs.

Economists had predicted that Canada would lose about 35,000 jobs in June.

"While employment remains well below its October 2008 peak, there was a notable shift in the pace of the downward trend in employment in the last three months," the Statistics Canada report said.

"Total net losses were 13,000 for the last three months, much less than the 273,000 decline in the first three months of this year."

Although the overall job losses were less than expected, economist Daniel Schwanen said it's still only a tentative sign that things are stabilizing in the Canadian labour market.

"It's not a great sign on the more traditional full-time job creation front," he told CTV's Canada AM on Friday.
Job seekers line up for a career fair in Oak Brook, IL, Thursday, July 2, 2009. (AP / M. Spencer Green)
Economist Daniel Schwanen appears on Canada AM on Friday, July 10, 2009.
According to the Statistics Canada report, full-time employment continued its downward trend in June, offsetting gains in part-time work.

In total, 47,500 full-time jobs disappeared in June, raising the total losses in the category to 454,000.

The full-time job category is seen as the most reliable indicator of labour market strength.

Meanwhile, self-employment rose in June by 1.5 per cent. Comparatively, the number of employees has declined by 3.3 per cent in the private sector and 1.4 per cent in the public sector.

Schwanen said the spending stimulus hasn't had much of an impact yet because the projects are still rolling out.

"The real impact is going to be in the months ahead simply because of the time lag necessary to put the projects in place," he said.

The report said the summer job market was also in a slump as there were 43,000 fewer students aged 20 to 24 working in June than during the same month last year.

"This pushed their unemployment rate up 4.8 percentage points to 14.0 per cent, the highest June unemployment rate for these students since 1997," the report said.

Provincially, Newfoundland and Labrador was the only province with employment gains, up 2,500, in June. Still, the province's unemployment rate edged up to 15.6 per cent since more people were looking for work.

In Ontario, full-time losses (-56,000) were offset by part-time gains (+57,000), leaving total employment unchanged. The unemployment rate edged up to 9.6 per cent in the province last month.

Saskatchewan was the only province with an upward trend in employment since October (+1.0 per cent). At 4.6 per cent in June, the unemployment rate in Saskatchewan was the lowest of all provinces.

Earlier this month, the U.S. reported its jobless rate hit a 26-year high after the economy shed 467,000 jobs in June. And despite Washington's billions in stimulus spending, unemployment now sits at a dismal 9.5 per cent.

In a research note Friday, BMO Nesbitt Burns said Canada's job report compares favourably to the situation south of the border.

"Still, even if the job losses are gradually easing, it's obvious that recession has yet to let go its steely grip on the Canadian economy, with the squeeze remaining particularly intense in manufacturing.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Virus may have compromised Alberta health records
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. July 9  2009  07:02  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 9th, 2009
EDMONTON -- The Alberta government is warning about a computer virus that may have compromised the private health information of more than 11,000 people.

The virus is a new variant of a Trojan horse program that appears friendly, but steals data and sends it to a computer controlled by a hacker.
Alberta Health Services says it is sending letters to 11,582 people whose information may have been captured during a two-week period in May.

The province says it is unlikely the information will be used for unauthorized purposes.

Frank Work, Alberta's privacy commissioner, is urging the government and people to be vigilant about such viruses.

Work says people who use computers should ensure that they are using up-to-date anti-virus sotware.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Gay Pride cash may have led to demotion of MP
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. July 7  2009  22:22  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 8th, 2009
A Conservative MP says federal funding for Toronto's Gay Pride parade may be responsible for junior cabinet minister Diane Ablonczy losing a key part of her portfolio.

Brad Trost, the MP for Saskatoon-Humboldt, said Ablonczy's decision to use $400,000 for the popular parade that celebrates homosexual, bisexual, and transgendered culture was not supported by most of the Tory caucus.

Trost told the anti-abortion website LifeSiteNews.com that the decision surprised the Conservative cabinet and the Prime Minister's Office.
Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism) Diane Ablonczy responds to a question during in the House of Commons in Ottawa, on Tuesday, Feb.3, 2009. (Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
He said that responsibility for the Marquee Tourism Events Program, a $100 million initiative, has been given to another cabinet minister. The two-year program helps fund major tourism events such as the Calgary Stampede, which received nearly $2 million or Ottawa's Bluesfest, which took about $1.5 million from the program.

Industry Minister Tony Clement has taken over the program, his office confirmed.

Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett demanded that Prime Minister Stephen Harper explain the reasoning behind the demotion.

"If this indeed has happened . . . the prime minister needs to tell Canadians, did he indeed punish a minister for doing her job?" she told CTV News Channel Tuesday.

Bennett added that if Trost's allegation is true, the decision is "atrocious" as the Pride parade clearly meets the criteria for the funding program.

Bennett slammed Trost for his "boasting . . . one of his colleagues has had a file removed from her because she had the audacity to support a celebration of human rights."

She said Ablonczy was one of the most talented ministers in the Tory caucus. Ablonczy, the MP for Calgary-Nose Hill, was first elected to the House of Commons in 1993.

But social conservatives have hailed the move.

"I think it clears the air a little bit . . . the federal government doesn't support the pride event," Jeff Gunnerson of the Campaign Life Coalition told CTV News.

City Councillor Kyle Rae told CTV News Channel he was "worried that the federal government is failing to be sensitive to the diversity here in Toronto."

"For someone to be shocked by Pride being funded by the federal government, they are in another time."

Not all Conservatives agree with the decision. One emailed CTV News and called the move narrow-minded, saying it might hurt the party's chances in the next election in places like Toronto.

The city's Gay Pride Parade is one of the biggest in the world and of its top tourism events. This year's parade attracted more than one million people. It has been an annual event since 1981.

The controversy represents yet another black eye in the relationship between Toronto and the federal Conservatives.

Transport Minister John Baird and the City of Toronto have been at each other's throats for months. Baird apologized to Mayor David Miller in June for telling the city to "f--- off," which was overheard by a reporter.

Baird then denied the city's application for stimulus cash to fund improvements to the TTC, saying the request did not meet federal requirements.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with a report by CTV's Graham Richardson in Ottawa
=======================
 
Los Angeles braces for Michael Jackson's final act
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. July 7  2009  08:09  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 7th, 2009
Throngs of Michael Jackson fans have poured into Los Angeles for what is expected to be the biggest celebrity memorial of all time.

The public memorial, to be held at the downtown Staples Center, starts at 9 a.m. ET and is expected to be attended by Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher, Lionel Richie, Kobe Bryant, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Martin Luther King III.
Watch the memorial LIVE at MJ.CTV.ca at noon ET / 9 a.m. PT

Some members of Jackson's family are expected to attend the public memorial, CTV's Tom Walters reported Tuesday from outside the Staples Center.
A placard and rose are seen following a commemorative gathering for late U.S. singer Michael Jackson, in front of a church in Frankfurt, central Germany, Tuesday, July 7, 2009. (AP / Michael Probst)
Jackson died last month after suffering cardiac arrest at his Los Angeles home.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, a friend of the Jackson family, said Tuesday he wished that Michael Jackson could have seen the current outpouring of emotion from his fans.

"He aimed to please, he sought to be appreciated, he sought to be embraced," Jackson told Walters.

"That happened in some measure in life but in greater measure now in death as we reflect upon the phenomenon of Michael Jackson."

Addressing the controversy surrounding the superstar's death, Jackson said ultimately he was a winner.

"Ultimately you judge a baseball game by the box score," Jackson said. "There are homeruns and there are errors but at the end of the game are you a winner or a loser? He was a winner."

More than 1.6 million fans registered for free tickets to the public memorial but only 8,750 actually received a pair of tickets.
Walters said crowds are yet to gather but police are out in full force.

"They are everywhere with barricades... (we drove) down a whole street lined with nothing but police cars," he said.

Police have asked the public not to come down to the Staples Center if they do not have tickets.

On Monday, the Jackson family held a viewing at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in L.A.

The cemetery is expected to be where the relatives hold a private funeral after the public memorial.

Walters said there are reports that Michael Jackson's body may be brought to the Staples Center for the public ceremony.

Meanwhile, across the U.S., about 50 theatres were planning to broadcast the memorial live for free.

King Errisson, a Motown musician who worked with a young Michael Jackson, said the "King of Pop" was a giant in the entertainment world.

"If you look at the way he danced and the way he dressed there was only one Michael and there never will be another one like him," Errisson said. "There was nobody before him and there won't be one after him because he was not ashamed to try things -- that's what I loved about him."

Prior to his death, Jackson was preparing for a massive comeback with a series of 50 shows scheduled for London's O2 Arena -- which would have ended years of seclusion.

The 13-time Grammy-winner, who has sold more than 750 million albums over his career, had not embarked on a major tour since 1997.

CTV News Channel will begin television coverage starting at 9 a.m. ET and Ben Mulroney and Tanya Kim will host main network coverage on CTV at 12:55 p.m. ET. Watch both live (News Channel at noon, main network at 1) at MJ.CTV.ca

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Bankruptcy judge OKs General Motors sale plan
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. July 6  2009  06:28  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 6th, 2009
NEW YORK -- A bankruptcy judge has ruled that General Motors Corp. can sell the bulk of its assets to a new company, potentially clearing the way for the automaker to quickly emerge from bankruptcy protection.

U.S. Judge Robert Gerber said in his 95-page ruling late Sunday that the sale was in the best interests of both GM and its creditors, whom he said would otherwise get nothing.

"As nobody can seriously dispute, the only alternative to an immediate sale is liquidation -- a disastrous result for GM's creditors, its employees, the suppliers who depend on GM for their own existence, and the communities in which GM operates," Gerber wrote in his ruling.

The ruling comes after a three-day hearing that wrapped up Thursday, during which GM and government officials urged a quick approval of the sale, saying it was needed to keep the automaker from selling itself off piece by piece.

"This has been an especially challenging period, and we've had to make very difficult decisions to address some of the issues that have plagued our business for decades," GM President and CEO Fritz Henderson said in a statement early Monday. "Now it's our responsibility to fix this business and place the company on a clear path to success without delay."
A visitor walks by a General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac DTS displayed at a showroom of Yanase and Co., a Japanese chain that sells imported autos, in Tokyo, Japan, Monday, June 1, 2009. (AP / Shizuo Kambayashi)
Fritz Henderson, CEO of General Motors, talks at a news conference in New York, Monday, June 1, 2009. (AP / Mark Lennihan)
But attorneys for some of GM's bondholders, unions, consumer groups and individuals with lawsuits against the company argued for its rejection, saying that their needs were being pushed aside in favor of the interests of GM and the government.

It was unclear early Monday if any of those groups planed to appeal Gerber's decision. The deadline to appeal is noon Thursday, after which point Gerber's order takes effect and the sale is free to close.

Last month, a group of bondholders and others took their objections to Chrysler LLC's sale plan all the way to the Supreme Court, delaying the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based automaker's exit from bankruptcy protection.

Several consumer groups have objected to provisions in the sale that free the new company from liability for consumer claims related to incidents that occurred before GM went into bankruptcy protection.

That means that people injured by a defective GM product in connection with an incident that occurred before June 1 would have to seek compensation from the "old GM," the collection of assets leftover from the sale, where they would be less likely to receive compensation.

Joanne Doroshow of the Center for Justice & Democracy said in a statement the issue "is far from over."

"It is morally reprehensible that GM will pay for injuries and deaths that occur after the bankruptcy process, but not for the hundreds of victims who have already been hurt by defective GM cars," Doroshow said.

GM's government-backed plan for a quick exit from Chapter 11 hinges on the sale, which will allow the automaker to leave behind many of its costs and liabilities. The Treasury Department has vowed to cut off funding to GM if the sale doesn't go through by July 10.

The Detroit car maker's Chapter 11 filing on June 1 was the fourth-largest in U.S. history.

GM will leave bankruptcy court with significantly reduced debt and labor costs, as well as fewer dealerships and brands. But it's still operating in an environment where fewer American are buying cars. At the current pace, automakers will sell around 9.7 million vehicles this year. That's a reduction from sales of more than 16 million vehicles as recently as 2007.

In June, the automaker captured 20.3 per cent of the U.S. market. GM has estimated that it can maintain a market share between 15 and 17 per cent, reflecting its plan to sell off three brands and end its Pontiac line.

GM has several new cars coming to market next year, including the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid electric car. The Volt might be a promising vehicle, but with an expected $40,000 price tag it might only be a niche player, said James E.
Schrager, clinical professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Upcoming small-car models such as the Chevy Cruze and Spark may fare well, but will face heavy competition from foreign automakers already in that segment of the market and from Ford Motor Co.'s new Fiesta, which the company has already started advertising.

Overall, GM's major challenge will be winning back customers who have migrated to foreign competitors. Some newer GM models have received good reviews for quality and performance, but that hasn't persuaded enough consumers to buy GM cars.

"The problem is the status of General Motors' brands," Schrager said. "They have to have some really breakthrough products that work and resonate with consumers. And they may have to slowly, over time, turn the image around."

The company has received $50 billion in taxpayer funds. In exchange for those funds, the government will own about 61 percent of the "new GM." The Obama administration has said it does not plan to interfere with the day-to-day running of the company, though government has been involved in the selection of the new company's 13-member board of directors and change of control transactions.

The company, in consultation with the government, named former AT&T Inc. CEO Ed Whitacre to chair the board. Whitacre is in the process of choosing four new directors.

The United Auto Workers union, which gets a 17.5 per cent stake through its health care trust for retirees, has selected Stephen Girsky, a former GM adviser and Morgan Stanley analyst, to serve on the board. The Canadian government, which will control an 11.7 per cent share, also will pick one member.

Henderson, who succeeded former CEO Rick Wagoner in March when the Obama administration forced Wagoner to resign, has said he expects to remain at the helm of the automaker as it comes out of bankruptcy.

Henderson has already said he would cut about 34 per cent of GM's executive ranks by the end of the year.

Assets that GM does not sell to the new company will become part of the separate "old GM," which the company said Monday will be known as Motors Liquidation Co., and will be sold to the highest bidder under court supervision.

The old GM will include a smattering of properties, several of which are facilities already slated to be closed.

Other assets to be filed under the old GM include brands like Hummer, Saturn and Saab, for which GM has lined up buyers. They also include all current GM common stock, which -- despite its active trading on over-the-counter markets -- will soon be worthless.

The old GM will remain an entity until all of the facilities are sold off, a process that could take months or years to complete.
The government has said it plans to provide about $1.18 billion to fund the wind-down process.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
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Police probe relationship between McNair, waitress
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. July 5  2009  11:52  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 5th, 2009
Nashville police will spend Sunday piecing together the nature of the relationship between ex-NFL quarterback Steve McNair and a female friend who were found dead Saturday in his downtown Nashville condominium.

Autopsies on the two victim's bodies are also scheduled for Sunday.

McNair was found on a sofa with multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head, by his friend Wayne Neeley, with whom he rents the condo. Twenty-year-old Sahel Kazemi, described as a friend of McNair's, was found near the former NFL MVP with a single gunshot wound.

A gun was found near Kazemi's body.

Nashville police have not said who they believe committed the slayings, but also said Saturday they are not actively looking for suspects.

McNair, 36, was with Kazemi Thursday evening when she was pulled over and arrested on DUI charges. She was driving a 2007 Cadillac Escalade registered to both her and McNair.

McNair was not charged in the incident and was allowed to leave the scene in a taxi.

The former football star, who famously led the Tennessee Titans to within a yard of forcing overtime in the 2000 Super Bowl, was married with four children.
This combo photo shows Steve McNair, left, in a 2003 season file photo and Sahel Kazemi is shown in this undated booking photo from the Davidson County Sheriff. McNair and Kazemi were found dead Saturday July 4, 2009, from gunshot wounds. (AP Photo)
Former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair rolls out of the pocket during the second quarter against the St. Louis Rams in this Jan. 30, 2000 file photo. (AP / Ed Reinke)
Authorities said they do not believe McNair's wife, Mechelle, was involved in the slayings.

McNair's oldest brother, Fred, told the Associated Press that family members will likely travel to Nashville to be with Mechelle.

"It's still kind of hard to believe," Fred McNair said. "He was the greatest person in the world. He gave back to the community. He loved kids and he wanted to be a role model to kids."

Fred McNair said he did not know anything about the nature of the relationship his brother had with Kazemi.

Employees of Dave & Buster's, where Kazemi worked as a waitress, told the Associated Press that McNair and his wife frequented the restaurant.

Kazemi's ex-boyfriend, Keith Norfleet, told The Tennessean newspaper that McNair and Kazemi met at the restaurant.

An unnamed employee of the restaurant told WSMV reporter Deanna Lambert that McNair and Kazemi "met there months ago and he is under the impression that the two had been in a relationship for about six to eight months," Lambert told CTV News Channel on Sunday morning.

McNair played 13 seasons in the NFL, 11 with the Titans and two with the Baltimore Ravens. He retired after the 2007 season with 31,304 passing yards and 174 touchdowns.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
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North Korea defies UN, fires 7 missiles
Web Posted | Last Updated Sat. July 4  2009  11:10  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 4th, 2009
North Korea's secretive military regime has fired seven missiles off its eastern coast, in an act seemingly timed to coincide with Independence Day in the United States.

The missiles appear to be a type of Scud ballistic missile, which typically have a range of up to 500 kilometres.

South Korean military officials said Saturday the seven missiles flew more than 400 km. Ballistic missiles are guided during their ascent but then fall freely, as opposed to cruise missiles, which fly straight towards their target.

United Nations resolutions prevent North Korea from firing ballistic missiles, Scuds, and medium-range missiles or long-range missiles.

Just two days ago, the country fired what were believed to be four short-range cruise missiles, which are exempted under the resolutions.

On Saturday, South Korea said it was ready to act against future illegal missile launches.

"Our military is fully ready to counter any North Korean threats and provocations based on strong South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture," the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
South Koreans watch a television broadcasting undated image of a North Korea launch missile at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, July 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A North Korean mock Scud-B missile, center, and other South Korean mock missiles are displayed at the Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, July 4, 2009. (AP / Ahn Young-joon)
U.S. President Barack Obama is trying to get support from the UN Security Council to crack down on North Korea, for defying the UN resolutions.

During the 2004 U.S. Independence Day, North Korea fired several missiles, including the failed launch of a long-range Taepodong-2.

The latest round of launches had been expected by the West. The chief of U.S. Naval operations, Adm. Gary Rougheadhad, had said he would be carefully monitoring the situation.

"Our ships and forces here are prepared for the tracking of the missiles and observing the activities that are going on," he told reporters, after meeting Japanese military officials in Tokyo earlier in the day.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Police name 4 family members found dead in car
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. July 3  2009  06:57  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 3rd, 2009
Police have released the names of the four Montreal family members who were found dead in their car, which apparently plunged into the Rideau Canal, earlier this week.

Nineteen-year-old Zainab Shafia, 19, along with her sisters Sahar, 17, and Geeti, 13, were inside the 2004 Nissan Sentra found about 10 metres north from the doors of a canal lock northeast of Kingston, Ont., on Tuesday morning.
Police pulled four bodies from this black 2004 Nissan Sentra.
Their aunt, 50-year-old Rona Amir Mohammed was also inside the car.

A Parks Canada discovered their car, which was submerged in about three metres of water.

Police are not clear as to how the car ended up in the canal, as there are no obvious tire tracks to follow, and the car would had to have passed through several barriers to make it into the water.

At present, police believe the car ended up in the canal sometime Tuesday morning, between midnight and the mid-morning.
The car is now in police custody and will be examined by mechanics to see if it suffered a breakdown, or if there are any forensic clues as to what happened.

Police say the family members were from the north-end Montreal borough of St-Leonard, and they were heading home from a vacation in southern Ontario. They were supposed to be staying the night in Kingston.

Autopsies were performed on the victims' bodies in Ottawa on Thursday, though it was expected to take some time to determine if drowning was the cause of death.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with a report from CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin and files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Air France Flight 447 fell intact into sea
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. July 2  2009  11:11  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 2nd, 2009
Officials say the Air France jet that crashed one month ago did not break up in the air but rather plunged vertically at a very high speed into the Atlantic Ocean.

Alain Bouillard, with the French accident investigation agency BEA, said the plane "seems to have hit the surface of the water on its flight trajectory with a strong vertical acceleration."

He added that investigators have found "neither traces of fire nor traces of explosives."
In this photo released by Brazil's Air Force, Brazil's Navy sailors recover debris from the missing Air France jet at the Atlantic Ocean, Monday, June 8, 2009.
Bouillard also said life vests found among the wreckage were not inflated. He said that suggests that the passengers were not prepared for a crash landing in the water.

"Today we are very far from establishing the causes of the accident," Bouillard told reporters at a press conference in Paris Thursday.

The Airbus A330-200 plane was on its way from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Paris when it vanished over the ocean with 228 people on board.

In total, Bouillard said 51 bodies have been recovered, along with 600 elements of the plane.

However, search teams have been unable to locate the plane's black boxes, which would help investigators better understand what happened.

Bouillard said the search for the boxes will continue for another 10 days, even though the signals they emit are likely to have already faded out.

Bouillard did say speed sensors, called Pitot tubes, were a factor in the crash but were not the cause.

One of the automatic messages sent out by the plane indicates it was receiving incorrect speed information from its external monitoring instruments.

Experts say those external instruments may have iced over and the wrong information could have destabilized the plane's control systems.

All of the passengers on the plane were killed in the crash.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
The Giant Dwarf website celebrates its 10th anniversary
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. Jan. 1 2009  8:00  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: January 1st, 2009
Giant Dwarf web site was established 10 years ago - yes on Canada Day.

I hope to be able to do another 10 years and plan on bringing more/new categories in the near future.  I would like to personally thank all my loyal members who have joined me on this time capsuled journey.

Once again, THANK YOU and Rock'On . . . !