Past Articles:
These "Articles" are dated from July 1st, 2006 - July 31st, 2006.
 Saskatchewan RCMP issue Amber Alert for boy
31/07/06
 Mel Gibson apologizes for "despicable" remarks during arrest
30/07/06
 Hundreds of Canadians board last boats out of Lebanon
29/07/06
 Mad cow disease halts U.S. plans to boost Canadian beef imports
28/07/06
 Canadian UN observer remembered as dedicated soldier
27/07/06
 Stranded Canadians shuttled to waiting ship in Lebanon
26/07/06
 PM unveils new aid for tainted blood victims
25/07/06
 Bottled nicotine may be option for Canadian smokers
24/07/06
 Beirut bombings violate humanitarian law: UN
23/07/06
 Israeli forces move into southern Lebanon
22/07/06
 Canadians begin to arrive home on flights from Lebanon
21/07/06
 First boatload of Canadians arrives in Cyprus
20/07/06
 Exhausted Canadians spend hours waiting for passage out of Beirut
19/07/06
 Violent storms take their toll in Ont. and Que.
18/07/06
 Canada scrambles to get citizens out of Lebanon
17/07/06
 Israeli air strike kills 8 Canadians in Lebanon
16/07/06
 Police bomb-plot informant provokes mixed reaction
15/07/06
 'Devout Muslim' informer helped in Toronto terrorism-related arrests
14/07/06
 3 dead in military chopper crash off Nova Scotia
13/07/06
 Kashmiri extremists deny role in Mumbai bombings
12/07/06
 First Nations set to elect national chief
11/07/06
 Italy wins World Cup
10/07/06
 Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan
09/07/06
 Canadian connection in alleged N.Y. bomb plot
08/07/06
 Toronto future home of terror funding watchdog
07/07/06
 Trade, security issues will top agenda when Harper meets Bush
06/07/06
 North Korea launches seventh missile
05/07/06
 NASA aims at shuttle launch Tuesday
04/07/06
 N.S. police investigate Sunday store openings
03/07/06
 Israel hints at more Gaza strikes
02/07/06
 Canada Day festivities underway
01/07/06
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Saskatchewan RCMP issue Amber Alert for boy
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon, 31 July 2006  08:04:00 EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 31st, 2006
RCMP have put out an Amber Alert for a missing Saskatchewan boy who is believed to have been taken by a convicted Ontario pedophile.

RCMP say the victim is 10-year-old Zachary Miller.

Miller is white, 4'5" tall, and weighs about 70 pounds with red hair and brown eyes.
Zachary Miller is seen in this undated photo released by Saskatchewan RCMP 'F' Division.
He was last seen wearing black track pants with a red and white stripe and running shoes. He's from the Whitewood area in southeastern Saskatchewan.
Police are also looking for Peter Robert Joseph Whitmore, a 35-year-old repeat sex offender who now lives in Morinville, Alta.

"The suspect has been seen in the Whitewood area over the last few days. The suspect has also been in contact with the victim's family in the last few days as well," said Sgt. Tammy Patterson.

Whitmore is white, about six feet tall with a heavy build. He may be driving a 1988 blue Dodge Caravan with wood panelling and Alberta plate CUS 532.
Peter Robert Joseph Whitmore is seen in this undated photo released by Saskatchewan RCMP 'F' Division.
He is well known in Ontario for a string of high-profile sex assault convictions against children. He was first convicted in 1993 of abduction and five sexual offences involving four young boys and spent 16 months in custody.

Nine days after his release, he took an eight-year-old girl from Guelph, Ont. to Toronto, and was sentenced to 56 months in prison.

Less than a month after his November 2000 release, he was found in a downtown Toronto motel with a 13-year-old boy. He was sentenced to one year in jail.

Whitmore also has a record in British Columbia, where he has been fighting to be moved in order to avoid the media spotlight in Ontario.

He fled there in 2002 after being found in the company of a five-year-old boy.

Whitmore pleaded guilty to the parole violations because a "rape kit" had been found on him while in British Columbia.

A search of Whitmore's backpack turned up latex gloves, pictures of young children, tubes of jelly lubricant, duct tape, a sleeping bag and plastic zipper ties that can be used as handcuffs.

In 2002, Whitmore told CTV's Canada AM that he was not going to re-offend. "I can't change the past, but I can change the future. I won't do it again," he said.

People with information are asked to call 1-877-SO-AMBER or 1-877-762-6237.

Or email fdiv_amber_alert@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

The official police service contact for this Amber Alert is Sgt. Tammy Patterson (306)780-6178

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with a report by The Canadian Press
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Mel Gibson apologizes for "despicable" remarks during arrest
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun, 30 July 2006  11:48:06 EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 30th, 2006
Movie director Mel Gibson has issued a statement apologizing for his "out of control" behaviour and remarks made while being arrested in California under suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Gibson admitted on Saturday that he "acted like a person completely out of control" when he was arrested early Friday on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu and "said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable."

"After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed. I drove a car when I should not have, and was stopped by the L.A. County sheriffs … I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry. I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly
Director/Actor Mel Gibson says he's sorry for his behaviour and "despicable" remarks made while he was arrested. CP Photo
regret my horrific relapse." The 50-year-old actor, a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, went on to say he was taking "necessary steps to ensure my return to health."

Gibson was once arrested for drunken driving in 1984 in Toronto. He also told ABC News in 1991 that he had been so addicted at one point that he considered jumping out a window.

Sheriff's deputies stopped Gibson for speeding at about 2:30 a.m. local time Friday in California as he was driving his Lexus LS 430. Police said Gibson was going 87 mph (140 km/h) in a 45 mph (72 km/h) zone.

A breath test showed the actor's blood-alcohol level at 0.12 per cent. The legal limit in the state is 0.08. The actor posted $5,000 US bail and was let go at 9:45 a.m. local time.

The actor's statement did not divulge details of the "despicable" remarks he confesses to have made and his publicist, Alan Nierob, has also refused to make comment. Some reports in U.S. media on Sunday suggested the remarks were anti-Semitic in nature.

"The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person," said Gibson in his statement.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's department said detectives would begin their investigation Monday.

As well, the sheriff's civilian oversight section will examine whether authorities gave the director preferential treatment and whether they tried to cover up his behaviour.

"There is no cover-up. Our job is not to [focus] on what he said. It's to establish his blood-alcohol level when he was driving," said Sheriff Lee Baca.

Gibson's star rose with the Australian movie Mad Max and arrived on the Hollywood scene by scoring big hits with the Lethal Weapon movies. In 1995, he acted and directed Braveheart, which earned him a best directing Oscar and best picture of the year.

His 2004 blockbuster The Passion of the Christ went on to gross more than $600 million US worldwide.

Gibson began developing a four-hour miniseries on the Holocaust for ABC late last year, but there's no word yet the status of the series.

His latest directorial effort, the Mayan epic adventure Apocalypto, is expected to be released in December.

Written by CBC News Staff
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Hundreds of Canadians board last boats out of Lebanon
Web Posted | Last Updated Sat, 29 July 2006  12:37:16 EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 29th, 2006
Hundreds of Canadians gathered in the port of Beirut on Saturday, preparing to board the last of Ottawa's scheduled daily sea evacuations from the strife-torn region.

"Hundreds of Canadians are at a holding facility, waiting patiently to get on the last of the two
boats leaving Beirut today" for Cyprus, the CBC's Susan Ormiston said from Beirut.

"The [Canadian] embassy has told people in the last couple of days that this will be the last scheduled evacuation out of Beirut," she said.

"People are feeling extremely sad about leaving. This group is the group that hung on, hoping for perhaps a ceasefire, waiting for some sort of resolution to this conflict. Now they, too, have given up." About 100 Canadians left the port on Friday on a ship bound for Larnaca, Cyprus.

As of Thursday, 27 ships carrying 11,712 Canadians had left Beirut or the southern Lebanese port of Tyre. They were bound for Cyprus or Mersin, Turkey.

The number of evacuees has steadily declined this past week, with the exception of Thursday, when four ships picked up 1,700 Canadians from the Beirut port.

Officials said the large influx that day may have been a reaction to the upcoming end of daily ship service, or because of the failure to declare a ceasefire following the international Mideast summit in Rome this week.

About 40,000 Canadians have registered with the Canadian Embassy in Lebanon.

Scaling back operations

Embassy officials recently put a call out to groups of Canadians believed to be in Lebanon's mountainous Bekaa Valley, near the Syrian border, said Ormiston.

The Canadians there have been told they should try to make their way south to the port of Beirut if they want to leave.

Yves Brodeur, Canada's ambassador to Turkey, said on Friday that Canadian officials in Mersin are in the process of scaling back operations because of steadily decreasing numbers of evacuees.

"We don't have the numbers of people to justify a large-scale operation," said Brodeur, who said the situation could still change.

"I cannot predict what is going to happen over the next couple of days," he said.

If there is a new rush of evacuees, Brodeur says, officials will "take appropriate measures and respond."

Written by CBC News Staff
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Mad cow disease halts U.S. plans to boost Canadian beef imports
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri, 28 July 2006  11:36:26 EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 28th, 2006
The U.S. Agriculture Department says recent cases of mad cow disease in Canada have halted American plans for a major increase in Canadian beef and cattle imports.

Canada has found seven cows infected with mad cow disease, four of them this year.

Some were born after Canada took safety precautions related to cattle feed that should have prevented the animals from being infected.

The administration was poised to resume imports of older cattle, and beef from older animals.

But the department says today it's halted those plans, which were under final consideration by the White House.

They'll wait until an investigation into Canada's recent cases has been completed.

Written by CBC News Staff with files from the Canadian Press
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Canadian UN observer remembered as dedicated soldier
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu, 27 July 2006  10:42:24 EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 27th, 2006
The Canadian UN observer killed in Lebanon this week was a dedicated peacekeeper who taught other soldiers his skills, say military officials from his Canadian Forces Base in Kingston, Ont.

Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedener was one of four observers killed on Tuesday in southern Lebanon. The Canadian and three others, from Austria, China and Finland, had taken cover in a bomb shelter under a building marked as a UN post.

Hess-von Kruedener, known as Wolf to his friends and colleagues, was an eager soldier with many friends, said Capt. Bernard Dionne, a public affairs officer on the Kingston base.
Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedener poses for a photo with a villager in Bourhoz in southern Lebanon in March. (CTV News/CP)
"He was actually an instructor here not too long ago, so we've known him well," Dionne said. "We're certainly close as well to his family, through this difficult time."

Over his career, the Canadian soldier served as a UN observer in Cyprus, the democratic republic of Congo and Bosnia.

A soldier who guided others

In recent years, Hess-von Kruedener taught soldiers the skills needed to be a UN military observer at the Peace Support Training Centre in Kingston.

Last October, he joined the UN truce and supervision organization. His latest mission was slated to end in three months.

Hess-von Kruedener, believed to be in his forties, lived in the west end of Kingston with his wife Cynthia. He also leaves behind two grown children, a stepson and a daughter from his first marriage.

Maj.-Gen. Stuart Beare, who visited family members Wednesday, said they were under emotional strain but were responding stoically.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has suggested that Israel deliberately targeted the UN post, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper dismissed the accusation.

Harper has said his government intends to investigate the circumstances that led to the incident.

Written by CBC News Staff
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Stranded Canadians shuttled to waiting ship in Lebanon
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed, 26 July 2006  10:33:34 EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 26th, 2006
Canadians eager to escape 15 days of violence are making their way to the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on Wednesday to board a Canadian-chartered ship waiting offshore.

Uniformed Canadian soldiers and embassy officials are at the city's main port as waves of
The Princesa Marissa waits offshore as Canadians leave Tyre. (CBC)
people arrive by car and bus, said CBC foreign correspondent Nahlah Ayed.

With passports in hand, people are being registered and taken directly to smaller boats, which are ferrying them to the Princesa Marissa. Capable of carrying 1,000 people, the same Cypriot ship rescued hundreds of foreign nationals from Tyre on Tuesday.

Along with Canadians, Wednesday's evacuation mission will bring Germans, British, Australians and Americans to Larnaca, Cyprus.

600 expected

Foreign Affairs official Richard Belliveau, who is running the Canadian evacuation effort in Cyprus, told CBC News he expects about 600 people will arrive at the port of Larnaca by about 2 a.m. local time Thursday.

"This will include foreign nationals, it's not all Canadians we're taking," explained Bellliveau, who said the ship will leave Tyre before 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Cypriot immigration officials will quickly process the passengers before they are loaded on to buses and taken to three staging areas: a basketball stadium with cots, a school gymnasium and a community centre.

While the evacuees are waiting for the planes that will take them to Montreal, Canadian officials must grant visas to non-Canadian family members of evacuees and develop flight manifests for the planes, said Belliveau.

"It's a tricky operation, especially because we have no Canadian high commission in Cyprus. We've set up our own team and gone from scratch."

Since July 20, Canadian officials in Cyprus have processed 6,400 people, said Belliveau.

Along with the Princesa Marissa, a ship from the port of Beirut is expected in Larnaca on Wednesday night, but it's not known how many people will be on board.
Harrowing trip

Many of those arriving in Tyre have been through a harrowing journey to get to the port, with nearby villages, roads and bridges pulverized by Israeli air strikes.

The city has largely been spared from air strikes for the past two days as the evacuations take place, but blasts can be heard in the surrounding countryside, Ayed said. Planes are flying over the port area but not striking the city.
Evacuees leave the port of Tyre on smaller boats for the Princesa Marissa. (CBC)
"It's probably a window of opportunity for the ship to get filled up and leave," said Ayed.

Israel's air campaign started 15 days ago after Lebanese-based Hezbollah militants attacked an Israeli army post, killing eight soldiers and capturing two.

Israel has targeted southern Lebanon and Beirut, while Hezbollah militants have fired rockets at northern Israeli communities and the city of Haifa.

Lebanon's government reports 418 deaths, while Israel reports 42 Israelis have been killed. As many as 800,000 people have been displaced or affected by the violence, the United Nations reports.

As of Tuesday, 8,739 Canadians have been removed from Lebanon, the Foreign Affairs Department says.

Most were taken by ship from the port of Beirut over the past seven days, to either Cyprus or Mersin, Turkey. From those locations, they were to be flown to Toronto or Montreal.

On Monday, a small team of Canadian soldiers ventured into Hezbollah territory as part of a German-led mission to remove about 300 people, including 15 Canadians, from Tyre.

Written by CBC News Staff
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PM unveils new aid for tainted blood victims
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue, 25 July 2006  09:19:47 EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 25th, 2006
Thousands of Canadians who contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood but were excluded from earlier compensation will now be covered under a new $1.1-billion plan, Prime Minister Harper announced Tuesday.
"These men and women have waited long enough," Harper said as he made the announcement in Cambridge, Ont.

Harper and Health Minister Tony Clement outlined details of the new package, which will cover 5,500 Canadians who developed hepatitis C from tainted blood transfusions before 1986 or after 1990, but who were not eligible for a package offered by the federal and provincial governments in 1998.
The amount of money paid out to each will depend on the severity of their illness and how much income they've lost to the health problems.

As well, Harper said, "compensation will be provided to the estates of those who have already died."

The self-described "forgotten victims" have been lobbying for compensation for more than a decade, launching class-action suits in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec.

Under the 1998 package, only Canadians who contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood between 1986 to 1990 were eligible for compensation. During that period, the federal government knew there was a test that would have screened donated blood for diseases, but it did not adopt it.

The screening test was adopted after 1990.
Renée Daurio contracted hepatitis C from a blood transfusion in 1979. (CBC)
In a report from a public inquiry into the tainted blood scandal, Justice Horace Krever said all of the victims of bad blood should be treated equally.

Renée Daurio, a resident of St. Nicholas, a suburb of Quebec City, said earlier on Tuesday that the money will be welcome but it cannot erase years of suffering.

Daurio contracted hepatitis C from a blood transfusion she received at a Toronto hospital in 1979, when she was 15. Since then, she has had numerous operations and takes handfuls of pills daily to help her to cope with the disease.

"No amount of money can bring back your health. No amount of money will bring those lost years back," she said.

"Let's hope we can put this behind us. Bills and bills and bills, they don't stop coming in."

Written by CBC News Staff
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Bottled nicotine may be option for Canadian smokers
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon, 24 July 2006  10:23:25 EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 24th, 2006
Canadian smokers may soon have a new alternative to lighting up a cigarette to soothe their need for nicotine — and it comes in a bottle.

Nic Lite, a lemon-flavoured, water-based nicotine drink that contains four milligrams of organic nicotine — equivalent to the amount of the drug found in two cigarettes — may soon be landing on store shelves on this side of the border.

In a statement released in June, the makers of Nic Lite said they plan to roll out the product in more than 50 U.S. airports, targeting nicotine-addicted airline passengers facing the agony of smoke-free flights.

"We attempted to find other products that might have the same biological effect on people to help them when they can't smoke, or in our case, when they can't smoke and shouldn't smoke," said Joseph Knight, CEO of the California-based Nico Worldwide Inc., the makers of Nic Lite.

"We tried a lot of different product combinations and herbs and things, and the only thing that really works is the nicotine molecule itself."

Knight said his company has filed an application to Health Canada to bring the product to Canada.

"We're hoping that in the next two to three months, we would have our clearances in place," Knight said in a phone interview from Oxnard, Calif.

Not approved for sale

The product is being touted as a way to cope with smoking bans, which proves timely for Ontario and Quebec where enclosed workplaces and public places went smoke-free on May 31.

Health Canada spokesman Paul Duchesne said the product would be labelled as a natural health product but isn't approved for sale in Canada.

"Health Canada will only authorize for sale those products which it deems of high quality and safe and effective for over-the-counter use," Duchesne wrote in an email to The Canadian Press.
Nico Worldwide Inc. may have been dealt a blow in distributing the product in the United States. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration told the company in June that its product doesn't meet the definition of a dietary supplement.

The company had cited a 1993 New England of Journal of Medicine article which stated that nicotine is a naturally occurring compound in many vegetables including cauliflower, eggplant and tomatoes, to support its dietary supplement claim.

"The mere presence of nicotine in foods … without any evidence that these foods were promoted for their nicotine content does not constitute 'marketing' nicotine as a food or dietary supplement," wrote Vasilios Frankos of the FDA's dietary supplements programs division.

Knight said the FDA originally approved Nic Lite in 2004 and that his company's lawyers plan to meet with the government agency in Washington.

Nicotine delivery

Some experts are questioning how effective Nic Lite is in its delivery of nicotine.

Even nicotine replacement therapies such as the patch and gum don't transmit nicotine to the brain as quickly as a cigarette, said Joanna Cohen, director of research and training for the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit.

"Nicotine water you have to ingest, it has to go into your stomach, you have to absorb whatever there is in there, and it's probably quite dilute, and then eventually it's going to have to get your brain."

Cohen said she doubts nicotine water is the ideal way for a quick nicotine hit.

"That wouldn't be your method of choice if you want to help to curb a craving," she said. "You'd want something a bit faster."

Written by CBC News Staff with files from the Canadian Press
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Beirut bombings violate humanitarian law: UN
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun, 23 July 2006  12:00:26 EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 23rd, 2006
UN emergency relief chief Jan Egeland has condemned Israeli air strikes that have devastated much of Beirut, saying the massive bombings violate humanitarian law.

Egeland, who was on a relief mission to Lebanon, visited the city on Sunday and called for
an end to the violence on the twelfth day of Israeli strikes on Lebanon and Hezbollah rocket attacks on Israel.

"It's terrible. I see a lot of children wounded, homeless, suffering. This is a war where civilians pay a disproportionate price in Lebanon and northern Israel. I hadn't believed it would be block by block leveled to the ground," Egeland told reporters.

"A disproportionate response by Israel is a violation of international humanitarian law."
The crisis started when Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants entered northern Israel on July 12 and attacked an army post, killing eight soldiers and capturing two others. Israel retaliated with days of air strikes and on Saturday, sent troops, tanks and bulldozers across the border.

Hezbollah militants are estimated to have fired more than 1,000 rockets into northern Israel during the conflict — many of them recently acquired missiles that have a much longer range.

At least 375 people have been killed in Lebanon, including at least eight Canadians who died when Israel bombed a village in southern Lebanon. Israel's death toll stood at 36 on Sunday, with 17 people killed by Hezbollah rockets and 19 soldiers killed in combat.

"If it continues like this, there will be more and more civilian casualties," Egeland warned.
A Lebanese woman who fled her home in fear of Israeli attacks describes her experiences to UN emergency relief chief Jan Egeland as he tours southern Beirut on Sunday. (Ben Curtis/Associated Press)
More than $100M in aid needed: Egeland

He estimated it would cost more than $100 million to aid the hundreds of thousands of people who have had to flee their homes to escape the violence.

Egeland called upon the international community for aid.

The number of displaced people has grown to 600,000, according the World Health Organization.

Israel to ease naval blockade

Israel has announced it will ease its naval blockade, allowing aid supply ships to dock in Beirut. Officials also defined a route of safe passage from the capital to the northern city of Tripoli.

But in southern Lebanon, where the Israeli bombardment has been heaviest, officials said supplies of fuel, food and medicine were quickly diminishing.

"There are no supplies reaching us, not from other nations, nor from the Lebanese government," said Abdul-Rahman al-Bizri, the mayor of the port city of Sidon.

The first International Red Cross relief convoy on Friday made a six-hour journey over damaged road from Beirut to the southern city of Tyre. It included 24 tonnes of food and other emergency items, to be distributed to 4,000 civilians in and around the city.

UN warns of 'major humanitarian disaster'

About 200,000 Lebanese have fled to neighbouring Syria — which has also been one of the key backers of Hezbollah over the years, along with Iran.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Saturday warned that delivering aid to the refugees in Syria could be difficult and had the potential to turn into a "major humanitarian disaster"

The Red Crescent aid agency in Syria said it had only been able to help about 10 per cent of the refugees who have arrived in the country.

Written by CBC News Staff with files from the Canadian Press
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Israeli forces move into southern Lebanon
Web Posted | Last Updated Sat, 22 July 2006  10:01:46 EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 22nd, 2006
Israeli tanks, bulldozers and personnel carriers knocked down a border fence as part of the country's limited ground campaign on Saturday and entered southern Lebanon. Vehicles carrying 25 soldiers raced past a UN outpost towards a village where other Israeli soldiers had already taken control. Israeli fighter planes also fired missiles at
communications and television transmission towers in the central and northern Lebanese mountains, police said. Within seconds, the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp., the nation's leading private network, and two other TV stations went off the air.

Police also reported a separate airstrike crippled a transmission tower at Terbol in northern Lebanon, and phone links in the region were severed.

The Israeli air campaign, now in its 11th day, has mostly targeted Shiite Muslim regions in southern and eastern Lebanon as well as Beirut's southern suburbs. Saturday's raids were the first major airstrikes in the Christian heartland of Lebanon.

Israel has twice before invaded and occupied Lebanese territory, in 1978 and 1982.

Israel calls up 3,000 reservists

Senior Israeli military officials said the offensive will not end until Israel can force Hezbollah to retreat beyond the Litani River, which runs about 30 kilometres north of the Israeli-Lebanese border. Israel on Friday called up approximately 3,000 reservists.

The fighting has killed at least 348 people in Lebanon — including at least eight Canadian civilians — and 34 people in Israel, including 19 soldiers. The attacks have displaced an estimated half a million people.

Israeli forces continued Saturday to pound Hezbollah targets in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and south Lebanon, areas which are believed to be the group's strongholds, while Hezbollah continued to launch rocket attacks at northern Israel.

Hezbollah launched at least 42 rockets on Karmiel, Israel in the latest violence, injuring two people. Officials also reported that rockets fell on Kiriyat Shemona, Nahariya and smaller communities such as Bet Hilel, Mayan Baruch and Mashov Am. Air raid sirens blared in Haifa, Israel's third largest city, but no rocket strikes were reported. Hezbollah said it has fired about 900 rockets into Israel since the start of the fighting. The offensive has prompted a massive evacuation of foreign nationals and a massive movement of Lebanese from the south into the north. Lebanese people have been streaming into Beirut.

Written by CBC News Staff with files from the Canadian Press
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Canadians begin to arrive home on flights from Lebanon
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri, 21 July 2006  07:33:01 EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 21st, 2006
About 100 Canadians arrived in Ottawa early Friday aboard Prime Minister Stephen Harper's plane, having fled strife-torn Lebanon. They were followed a short time later by another plane that landed in Montreal.
The prime minister's military Airbus landed at 4 a.m. ET at Ottawa airport. It had flown the evacuees from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where they landed after enduring what they described as a gruelling journey by sea from Beirut.
Harper, his wife Laureen and Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay stood in a receiving line on the tarmac as the passengers disembarked.

Harper described the trip as a typical flight across the Atlantic Ocean, and the evacuees seemed be in good spirits given their hastily arranged exodus and uncomfortable ship journey.

"It was very quiet," Harper said. "Mostly people were very tired. They were actually in very good spirits, considering. The kids, of course, went to sleep like babies the whole way, but most people rested and it's kind of like a normal, long transcontinental voyage."

Harper said the evacuees had "a long and difficult journey" and he is "glad to have them back home."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, his wife Laureen, and Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay greet about 100 evacuees from Lebanon at Ottawa airport Friday morning. (CBC)
Harper told reporters at the airport that he believed the trip gave the evacuees a measure of satisfaction and the government a measure of comfort. "A lot of people were very grateful," he said.

Harper diverted his aircraft from Paris to Cyprus on Wednesday to help in the evacuation. His government has been sharply criticized for reacting slowly to the crisis and being disorganized in its efforts to get Canadians out of Lebanon.

Meanwhile, another planeload of Canadians fleeing Lebanon arrived in Montreal from Turkey Friday morning. Another flight from Turkey is expected in Toronto Friday afternoon. The flights have been chartered by the federal government.

Two ships carrying Canadians who fled Lebanon arrived in Mersin, Turkey late Thursday. Canadian officials said they boarded planes from the nearby Turkish city of Adana. Two more ships carrying Canadians left the port of Beirut on Friday.

Canadian officials said close to 1,400 Canadians who were in Lebanon have left the country, which is being battered by fighting between Israel and the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah.

Written by CBC News Staff with files from the Canadian Press
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First boatload of Canadians arrives in Cyprus
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu, 20 July 2006  07:33:00  EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 20th, 2006
A ship carrying 261 Canadians fleeing war in Lebanon arrived at the island of Cyprus early Thursday.

The Blue Dawn, with the first boatload of Canadians fleeing Lebanon, left the port of Beirut on
Wednesday after a chaotic scene at the port, where hundreds of Canadians waited for hours for their turn to board.

Four ships have arrived in Beirut to ferry more stranded Canadians out of the embattled country on Thursday. Some Canadians already began to board. Two more ships are expected to arrive some time Thursday.

The Blue Dawn was delayed entering port in Larnaca, Cyprus, because a number of ships were waiting to dock at the port on Thursday.

There was last-minute scrambling by Canadian officials in Cyprus to receive the first boatload of Canadians and officials said they were not entirely sure who was on board because of confusion at the port of Beirut.

Ships carrying foreign nationals from other countries were arriving at Cyprus on Thursday as well and CBC reporter Susan Ormiston said the island was overwhelmed with people.

"It's a massive evacuation. It's not just Canadians. Nationalities from all across the world [are] coming into the port," she said.

After disembarking from the Blue Dawn, the Canadians will be flown back to Canada. About 100 of them will fly on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's plane, while the rest will travel on planes chartered by the federal government.

Harper, who has been in Europe on a week-long diplomatic tour, flew to Cyprus on Wednesday after announcing that he was changing his plans to help out Canadians trying to get out of strife-torn Lebanon.

"It's more than a symbolic trip," he said Wednesday. "There's a need for air support in Cyprus. Freeing up seats, we will have a significant number of seats to help the situation."

About 1,800 Canadians had hoped to leave Beirut on Wednesday but were forced to stay for another night when only the Blue Dawn arrived.

An estimated 50,000 Canadians are in Lebanon. Many are desperate to escape the Israeli military strikes that began after Hezbollah militants crossed the border into Israel on July 12 and attacked an army outpost. Israel pounded Hezbollah targets in Lebanon on Thursday for the ninth straight day.

Many Canadians are in Lebanon to visit relatives for the summer holidays. Some hold dual citizenship and are permanent residents of Lebanon.

Written by CBC News Staff
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Exhausted Canadians spend hours waiting for passage out of Beirut
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed, 19 July 2006  08:17:08  EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 19th, 2006
Hundreds of Canadians gathered Wednesday at the port of Beirut to board ships chartered by the federal government for a way out of war-torn Lebanon.

Ottawa has arranged for seven ships, six of which are expected to take evacuees to Turkey and one of which is expected to go to Cyprus. None of the ships had left Lebanon as of Wednesday morning, but one ship was reported to be in port.
CBC's Nahlah Ayed, reporting from the port of Beirut, said the Canadians have been waiting for hours for their turn to board the ships but they have not yet been told by the Canadian embassy in the capital as to when the ships will leave.

"Nobody quite knows how many people will get on the boats. There is no information. People are a little bit confused," she said.

"People are trying to find shade and wait it out for their turn to come. There are people with their children. Everybody is extremely exhausted. Some are dehydrated."
Canadians waiting to leave expressed anger Wednesday morning at the lack of information and many are frustrated at the length of time it has taken for the federal government to pull together an evacuation plan, Ayed said.

"It's very, very hot today and humid. People have been standing for hours," she said. "Lots of people are crying."

It's not clear which ships at the port have been chartered by Ottawa, Ayed said.

Once the Canadians arrive in Cyprus and Turkey, they have been told they will be flown home, at Ottawa's expense.
Canadians have been waiting for hours for their turn to board the ships out of Beirut. (CBC)
Federal officials say the evacuation could take two weeks. An estimated 50,000 Canadians are in Lebanon, but only 30,000 have registered with the Canadian embassy.

Many are there to visit relatives for the summer holidays. Some hold dual citizenship and are permanent residents of the country. All are caught in the crossfire between Israeli military forces and the radical Islamic group Hezbollah.

Israeli ambassador warns of possible attacks

Meanwhile, Alan Baker, Israel's ambassador to Canada, said Tuesday there are no assurances that the Canadians will not be targets for Hezbollah guerrillas.

Baker told the Canadian Press on Tuesday that Israeli officials are working with Canadian officials to make certain that Canadians are able to leave the country safely. But he said Hezbollah could target the fleeing Canadians if it wanted to create an international incident.

Baker said Hezbollah cannot be trusted. "We don't want the Hezbollah to try and provoke some type of event which could jeopardize those arrangements," he told the Canadian Press.

Asked by a reporter in Ottawa if he thinks Hezbollah has considered the possibility of targeting foreigners trying to get out of Lebanon, Baker said: "Absolutely. Look, why do they put their artillery launching things in the back gardens of private homes? In order to provoke a response by Israel which would kill innocent people, including, as happened, eight Canadians."

Seven Canadians were killed on the weekend during an air strike in a Lebanese town near the Israeli border. Another has since died of injuries sustained in the bombardment by Israel on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

Baker said Hezbollah does not have a specific reason to hurt Canadians. Baker told the Canadian Press, however, that the federal government should ensure that Lebanon will promise to allow the Canadians to leave Lebanon safely.

Canadian officials say the ships will be able to transport 2,000 people a day.

Kim Girtel, a spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs, said Tuesday that the evacuation will take some time and the embassy does not yet know how many of the 30,000 Canadians registered with the embassy want to leave the country.

"It would be nice if we could Star Trek them out but it's going to take time. Priority goes to people in greatest need," she told the Canadian Press.

Written by CBC News Staff with files from the Canadian Press
=======================
 
Violent storms take their toll in Ont. and Que.
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue, 18 July 2006  11:31:00  EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 18th, 2006
Residents in the Greater Toronto Area awoke Tuesday morning to find shingles ripped from the roofs of their homes, patio furniture strewn across their lawns and massive trees uprooted after violent thunderstorms lashed the region.

The storm system is being blamed for two deaths elsewhere.
Lightening can be seen over the Toronto skyline Monday night.
In the GTA, residents reported damage to the exterior of their homes, such as shattered windows and torn roofs, while glass from patio sets was also sprinkled along roads. Some small planes were overturned as well.

Downtown Toronto and the city's west end were hit hard. Some homeowners estimated the damage to be between $10,000 and $20,000.

Toronto fire crews were investigating whether a lightning strike caused a two-alarm fire in Etobicoke.

City officials, who received hundreds of calls, said full restoration and cleanup could take three to five days.

The hardest hit in the immediate area appeared to be Newmarket, north of Toronto.
One person who lives near Newmarket described her frightening ordeal.

"I ran around and ran into my son's room, heard this smashing against the window, and water was pouring down the middle of his room," Kimberly told CTV Toronto.

"And I grabbed him and ran him to the back side of the house, and came back to look at the front and this tree was bent right over."

Ontario communities struck hard

Outside the GTA, other parts of Ontario suffered power outages as wind, rain and intense lightning smashed windows, peeled off roofs, snapped trees and downed scores of hydro poles.

North Bay and regions in northern and eastern Ontario reported heavy damage from Monday night's severe weather.

Around 170,000 Ontario residents lost electricity after strong winds pulled down hydro poles. Repair crews spent the entire day trying to restore service. By Tuesday evening about 90,000 people were still waiting for the lights to come back on.

Hydro One spokesperson Daffyd Roderick said power probably wouldn't be restored to the hardest-hit areas such as Newmarket, Peterborough, Sudbury and North Bay until Thursday.

"We really got hammered by that storm. High winds and lightning caused widespread damage on our system," Roderick said.

"We're working hard to get a grip on it, but it's massive damage."

Officials in North Bay said Monday night's storm was one of the most ferocious in recent times. There were also reports of a possible tornado in the region.
A resident surveys some of the damage around his home following a severe storm which swept through the area last night in Callander, Ont., approximately 10km south of North Bay on Tuesday. (CP / Adrian Wyld)
Dany Hendry walks past a damaged vehicle as he helps clean up in Callander, Ont. approximately 10km south of North Bay on Tuesday. (CP / Adrian Wyld)
The mayors for West Nipissing, Callander and Mattawa - communities about five hours north of Toronto - all declared states of emergency is the wake of the storm.

Highway 50 in Caledon, west of Toronto, will be closed for as long as three days to repair four hydro poles between Old Church Road and Castlederg Sideroad, police said.

Frightening experiences

Environment Canada investigators were dispatched to four locations in Ontario to look into "possible tornadic events."

One woman in Peterborough hung onto her car as wind sucked her into a horizontal position.

"It was a funnel right beside me," Jessica Kuhlmorgen-Hille said.

"Garbage and pieces of cars were flying by my head ... I was screaming and shaking, I thought I was going to die," the 24-year-old said.

In Sudbury, an aluminum shed flew 50 metres and smashed to pieces in the high winds. A 14-metre yacht flipped over in the North Channel near Sault Ste. Marie.

Denis Beaudry was driving from Sudbury to West Nipissing when the storm hit.

"We were avoiding all the debris on the highway and branches flying all over and my wife gave me a call to tell me she heard a rumble and the barn was down," Beaudry said.

Fatal incidents in parks

Two deaths are being blamed on the storms, including a 42-year-old Guelph mother of three who died after her trailer was hit by a falling tree, Ontario Provincial Police said.

Louise Cristine Clayton was in her trailer while camping near Warsaw Caves, east of Peterborough, when she was struck.
As the storm approached the area, Clayton, 42, whisked her three children from a tent into the family's soft-top tent trailer.

"Some time around 11 o'clock, the husband said he was awakened by a loud bang and the canvas collapsed around him," Ontario Provincial Police Const. Iain McEwan said.

"He called for his wife (and) he was unable to get a response."

Unable to find her, John Clayton rushed with the children to a nearby home to alert emergency officials, who found his wife crushed under an uprooted poplar tree.

The OPP also say the storm is responsible for the death of a Michigan man who was camping in Algonquin Provincial Park, south of Kiosk, Ont.

Jeff Grey was killed when a tree fell on his tent. The 26-year-old was director of an adventure camp for young people who were visiting the park for a canoe trip.

A second person in the tent was also injured. Michigan resident Aaron Lebovick, 19, was airlifted to North Bay District Hospital with serious injuries. He was later transferred to St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

Similar incidents happened in western Quebec as the storm passed through that area.

Five people camping near Notre-Dame-du-Laus suffered minor injuries. They reportedly spent the night in an emergency ward.

Mayor Ken Menard said "hundreds and hundreds of trees were uprooted" and homes were damaged by the storm.

The storms hit after extremely high temperatures blanketed a large swath of Ontario and Quebec all day Monday.

Many parts of southern Canada and the United States are enduring a heat wave.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Canada scrambles to get citizens out of Lebanon
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon, 17 July 2006  07:03:43  EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 17th, 2006
Canada is preparing to send two commercial ships to collect Canadians who want out of Lebanon, but some say the federal government is not doing enough.
Nancy Kendle, a photographer from Winnipeg in Lebanon on vacation, told CBC News on Sunday that the federal government is still scrambling to get organized to help Canadians who want to go home.

"You can't get through to the embassy. It's busy, or when you do, you get a person that knows nothing and has heard nothing from the Canadian government," she said.

"Their website is ridiculous. They're still talking about Canada Day. It's ridiculous."

As many as 40,000 Canadians are believed to be in Lebanon. Seven Canadians, at least six members of the same family from Montreal, were killed by an Israeli air strike on Sunday.

Israel has been pounding Lebanon for six days following the capture of two of its soldiers last week by Lebanon-based guerrillas. Israel has been hitting Hezbollah targets, while Hezbollah has been firing missiles into northern Israel.

On Sunday, a missile attack on a rail repair plant killed eight people in the Israeli city of Haifa. Israel has said it will retaliate. The Israeli government is also accusing Iran and Syria of supplying Hezbollah with weapons.

More than 200 people have been killed since the latest outbreak of cross-border violence.

Kendle said the bombardment is frightening.

"When the bombs come, you feel a lot of tension and there's a lot of fear."

Family worries back home
Her parents, John and Judy Kendle, residents of Winnipeg, are concerned for their daughter and would like her to come home. "As a father, one is naturally concerned that she is in danger," John Kendle said.

Judy Kendle agreed: "You're not there, you feel helpless, you're concerned for your daughter's welfare. She's an adult, so she makes her own decisions. As a parent, you want her out of there."

Meanwhile, in Beirut, people were gathering at the Canadian embassy on Monday. Many Canadians in the country are there to visit relatives, something they do every summer, the CBC's Nahlah Ayed reported from Beirut.

"What was upsetting to them yesterday is they said they were not getting the information they needed. But today, they seem extremely happy because there is a plan to get them out," Ayed said.

People stockpiling supplies during 'relentless' bombardment

People are flocking to Beirut because they think it will be safe there and people are stockpiling food and gas in the wake of the bombardment, Ayed reported.

The Israeli military said Monday in a news conference that it hit 60 Hezbollah targets on Sunday alone. "It is relentless," Ayed said.

The targets include gas stations, fuel storage tanks and Hezbollah operations. People are being advised to stay indoors.
The Foreign Affairs Department said it is in contact with Canadians in Lebanon and is working on getting them out of the country.

Other countries were trying to get their citizens out of the country, but news reports say it will be a challenge because roads have been bombed and the airport is out of service.

Written by CBC News Staff
=======================
 
Israeli air strike kills 8 Canadians in Lebanon
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun, 16 July 2006  15:00:15  EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 16th, 2006
Eight Canadians were killed and six others seriously wounded in an Israeli air raid that hit a Lebanese town on the border with Israel on Sunday, Ottawa says.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay said the wounded Canadians were in critical condition after the town of Aitaroun was hit in the fifth day of fighting between the Israeli military and the Lebanese-based militant organization Hezbollah.

The victims were not immediately identified.

Lebanese TV reports said some of the victims were from the same family and had come from Canada to spend the summer holidays in Aitaroun.

Ottawa sends vessels to help evacuation

Ottawa is sending in commercial vessels to help any Canadian citizen who wishes to leave Lebanon, MacKay said.

"We are securing these vessels. They will be in the region as soon as humanly possible," he told CBC Newsworld.

The Foreign Affairs Department says 16,000 Canadians have registered with the government to say they're in Lebanon, while estimating that there are likely two to three times that many in the country.

On Sunday, for the first time since fighting began, Israeli warplanes unleashed bombs on central Beirut, as well as pounding its suburbs and striking a major power station nearby.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah — which spurred the outbreak of violence with a cross-border raid on the Israeli military — carried out a deadly rocket attack on the northern Israeli port of Haifa.

About 130 Lebanese, most of them civilians have died since the violence erupted on Wednesday. At least 24 Israelis, including 12 civilians, have died from Hezbollah rockets.

Written by CBC News Staff
=======================
 
Police bomb-plot informant provokes mixed reaction
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri, 14 July 2006  21:38:49  EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 15th, 2006
The news that a prominent member of Toronto's Muslim community was a police informant in a bomb-plot conspiracy case has provoked surprise and some debate among activists and community figures.

In an exclusive interview with Linden McIntyre of CBC's The Fifth Estate, 29-year-old Mubin Shaikh said he had approached the authorities and offered to become an informer. He said he had infiltrated the group of 17 suspects arrested last month and accused of plotting bomb attacks across southern Ontario.
Mubin Shaikh spoke exclusively to Linden McIntyre of CBC's The Fifth Estate. (CBC)
At Friday prayers in Toronto mosques and at the offices of Islamic organizations, there were mixed opinions about Shaikh's actions.

Zain Khan of the Islamic Foundation of Toronto spoke approvingly to CBC News about Shaikh becoming an informant for CSIS and for the RCMP.

"We would always support the government of Canada and work with the government of Canada. We're not talking about for money, but voluntarily in terms of apprehending, reporting issues that would be against the safety of any Canadian," Khan said.

But Tarek Fatah of the Canadian Muslim Congress expressed some unease with Shaikh's position on religious issues within the community. Shaikh describes himself as a very observant Muslim and until now he was best known as a proponent of the now-failed proposal to make Islamic Sharia law part of the family code in Ontario.

"He [Shaikh] could have been trying to put a stop to the plot," Fatah said. "But the idea that gave rise to the plot are still there and they came from him. So even today if he's against those people doing anything physically, he still believes in the destruction of the modern nation state as an institution."

Controversial cleric Aly Hindy of the Salahuddin Islamic Centre said Shaikh had done his own community a disservice by his work as an informant.

"Those young people, they need guidance and instead of guiding them, he is actually inciting them. After that, [he is] causing them to be arrested," Hindy said.

Lawyers defending the 12 men and five youths charged in connection with the alleged conspiracy have also been discussing Shaikh's revelations about how he came to be an informant, and the impact of the news on their clients' cases.

Lawyer Rocco Galati, who represents suspect Ahmed Ghany, says the presence of informants in the prosecution's case shows that police didn't have any evidence against the alleged plotters, so they relied on an informant "to set everything up."

Talks about his past

Meanwhile, more details have emerged about Shaikh's background and how he became a very devout Muslim after a period of drug use and dissolute behaviour in his youth.

Speaking to McIntyre, he said his parents raised him to be a Muslim but he found there wasn't time to pray at the mosque with so many distractions, "girls...clubs...drugs I've done it all."

Then he became interested in comparing the world's religions and came back to Islam in the end.

"It was Islam that stood out," he said, "that met the criteria and could not be dislodged as the others could."

He said he went to India and Pakistan for religious studies, and when he returned he found himself as a community leader for Muslim youth in Toronto. Previously, his drug use and permissive behaviour had led the devout to shun him.

"The instruction to the youth of the community regarding me was...'Don't hang around with that guy.' And they were right. But after I got religious, and they saw the change, then they said, 'See that guy...make sure you hang around with him more.'"

Written by CBC News Staff with files from the Canadian Press
=======================
 
'Devout Muslim' informer helped in Toronto terrorism-related arrests
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu, 13 July 2006  23:56:25  EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 14th, 2006
A paid police informant who calls himself "an observant Muslim" infiltrated a group of men and youths arrested last month and charged with plotting to carry out bomb attacks and kidnappings around southern Ontario, CBC News has learned.

The informant, who spoke to Linden McIntyre of CBC's The Fifth Estate, is 29-year-old Mubin Shaikh, a prominent member of Toronto's Indo-Canadian Muslim community. He was born in Canada to immigrant parents.

Press reports say Shaikh will testify at the trials of the 12 men and five youths who have been charged in the case. They were arrested in early June.
Mubin Shaikh spoke exclusively to Linden McIntyre of CBC's The Fifth Estate. (CBC)
Bail hearings for the accused have been taking place in a court in Brampton, Ont., just west of Toronto. Police say members of the group bought large quantities of fertilizer to make explosives and planned a series of attacks in Ontario because they were angry about the plight of Muslims in other countries.

Shaikh told CBC News that he had worked undercover for the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service and the police for more than two years, much of that time with the suspects in the alleged bomb plots.

Shaikh, a former army cadet and Canadian Armed Forces reservist, describes the suspects as "fruitcakes...with the capacity to do some real damage."

He said what he heard about the plans by the group was similar to what police and prosecutors have alleged, that there were plans to kidnap prominent Canadians and bomb such targets as the Toronto Stock Exchange and the CBC building in Toronto.

He said he was moved to become an informer by concerns about the impact of the plot on all Canadians and particularly on the country's Muslim community.

"My interests were about Islam and Muslims, even and above Canada," he said.

Shaikh said he consulted the Qur'an and senior Muslim religious leaders before going undercover and becoming an informer.
"God says in the Qur'an that we must value one life," he said, "I was guided, I had my licence."

Shaikh has declined formal protection as a court witness after consulting a lawyer, saying he was working for the safety of Canadians and Muslims, not for the police.

Defence lawyers for the 17 accused say the government's case has many flaws and questions are already being raised about the role of informers.

"It's going to depend on the disclosure and what role the operative played," defence lawyer and legal activist Paul Copeland told the Toronto Star.

Written by CBC News Staff
=======================
 
3 dead in military chopper crash off Nova Scotia
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu, 13 July 2006  08:09:00  EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 13th, 2006
Three military personnel were killed and four injured early Thursday morning when a search and rescue helicopter crashed during a training exercise off Canso, N.S.

"It suddenly ditched" at about 12:30 a.m. AT. while doing a hoist exercise with a coast guard vessel, Capt. John Pulchny told CBC News.

The CH-149 Cormorant helicopter from 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron was based in Greenwood, N.S.
The crash happened off Canso early Thursday.
Three of the injured are in Greenwood, while the fourth has been airlifted to hospital in Halifax.

Names of the victims and the injured have not been released.

"This all happened quite fast … We're trying to piece together what happened," he said.

The helicopter radioed the ship, saying it was going to ditch.

"Three were found dead in the helicopter," while rescuers reached the others, Pulchny said.

The helicopter is floating and is being recovered.

Military aircraft and Canadian Coast Guard vessels are on the scene.

RCMP from Canso were also assisting.

Written by CBC News Staff
=======================
 
Kashmiri extremists deny role in Mumbai bombings
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed, 12 July 2006  08:07:01  EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 12th, 2006
Two Kashmiri militant groups issued statements Wednesday denying responsibility for the bombings on Mumbai's commuter system that killed 183 people on Tuesday.

Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen both condemned the bombings in India in separate statements released Wednesday, insisting they were not involved.

"These dastardly acts were perpetrated by the enemies of humanity," said Lashkar spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi in a statement.

"Indian security forces blame Lashkar in an attempt to defame the Kashmir freedom struggle," he said, repeating a charge the militants regularly make when they are accused of carrying out attacks against Indian civilians.

"We do not believe in killing innocent civilians," Ghaznavi said.

The Hezb-ul-Mujahedeen group also condemned the blasts and said in a statement that "Mujahedeen cannot be involved in such heinous crimes."

Commuters return to train platforms
School children walk past the site of an explosion before catching an early morning train to school in Mumbai on Wednesday. (Gurinder Osan/Associated Press)
Soldiers patrol the railway station in Gauhati, in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, on Wednesday. (Anupam Nath/AP)
CBC correspondent Michael McAuliffe said commuters on subway platforms were "defiant" in their attitude to not be intimidated and carry on with their lives. More than 6 million people depend on Mumbai's commuter system.

A series of eight bombs hit the western rail line in the city after between 6 and 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday, ripping train carriages apart.

Indian authorities said Wednesday they were aware Mumbai could be targeted by terrorists.

"We had an idea since some months that Mumbai was a target," said P.S. Pasricha, the director general of police for Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is located. "Since it is the financial capital, there are many vulnerable areas in the city. Targets are well-known."

Pasricha also revised earlier death toll figures, saying that 183 people had been killed by the blasts and 714 injured.

The Times of India reported Wednesday that Indian intelligence officials believe Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and the banned Students Islamic Movement of India, were responsible for the blasts. Both groups were blamed for a series of Mumbai bombings in 2003.

Written by CBC News Staff
=======================
 
First Nations set to elect national chief
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue, 11 July 2006  07:35:08  EDT
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 11th, 2006
The collapse of the Kelowna accord looms large as the Assembly of First Nations gathers in Vancouver to elect a national chief this week.

The AFN begin their 27th annual general assembly on Tuesday, and on Wednesday more than 600 chiefs will cast ballots for either two-term incumbent Phil Fontaine or Bill Wilson, the former co-chair of B.C.'s First Nations Summit who is also a former vice-chief of the AFN.

Last November, the Liberal government agreed in Kelowna to a five-year, $5 billion plan to improve the lives of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, but the agreement has fallen by the wayside under the Conservative government.

The Tories have allocated $150 million in 2006 and $300 million in 2007 to improve education programs, provide clean water, upgrade mostly off-reserve housing and close the socio-
Phil Fontaine is running for a third term as national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. (CBC)
economic gap between aboriginal Canadians and the rest of the population.

"The Kelowna accord was based on our plan," said Fontaine. "[It's a] a plan we worked long and hard. We just can't walk away from Kelowna."

Wilson said the fact the deal died with a change in government is a sign that new aboriginal leadership is needed.

"I'm not going to wait for any Conservative government or Liberal government," said Wilson. "I'm not a member of any political party. I've worked with all levels of government, of all political stripes successfully."

Fontaine, who is considered a favourite to be re-elected, helped negotiate a $2 billion deal for compensation for Aboriginal victims of abuse at residential schools.

Wilson said he has the support of former national chiefs Ovide Mercredi, and Matthew Coon Come, both of whom have battled Fontaine in previous races.

The assembly is a mix of politics and a celebration of Canadian native culture. Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Jim Prentice and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell are among those scheduled to appear at the assembly.

Written by CBC News Staff
=======================
 
Italy wins World Cup
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun, 09 July 2006  18:26:10  EST
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 10th, 2006
Three tension-filled hours, two great teams, one world champion: Italy.

Fabio Grosso scored the winning goal in a penalty shootout as Italy defeated France in Sunday's World Cup final from Berlin to claim its fourth world title.

The teams battled to a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time. David Trezeguet was the only player who missed in the shootout, his effort on goal smacking across the crossbar.
Italian players celebrate as Fabio Cannavaro lifts the World Cup trophy aloft following Italy's victory over France on Sunday. (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
With Italy sitting on a 4-3 lead, Grosso sealed the victory with his second goal of the tournament.

"It's incredibly emotional, words cannot hardly describe it," Grosso said. "Maybe we still don't realize what we have achieved. We really wanted to win and in the end we made it."

France played the final 10 minutes of extra time a man short after Zinedine Zidane, who is retiring after the World Cup, drew a red card for head-butting Italian defender Marco Materazzi.

"It's regrettable. We regret it, he regrets it," French coach Raymond Domenech said. "Zidane being sent off changed everything. Even in extra time, the Italian team was waiting for only one thing, and that was penalties."

Sunday's game was only the second in World Cup history decided by a shootout. Brazil beat Italy 3-2 on penalties in 1994 in the United States.

"The strength of this squad is that we have always been very sincere with each other and all worked together for this one objective," midfielder Mauro Camoranesi said. "Maybe we have not been the prettiest, but we were 11 men on the field."

Milan's La Scala and the Palais Garnier in Paris, two of the most famous theatres in the world, could not have staged a more lavish drama than the one produced at Berlin's Olympic Stadium.

Sunday's final was pure theatre, an enthralling and entertaining play featuring a rich and colourful tapestry of song and dance (from the 70,000 fans jammed inside the stadium) and art and spectacle (from the players).

Both sides played stylish and cultured soccer with equal parts defensive acumen and attacking panache and put on a fantastic display for the live spectators and the more than one billion television viewers tuned in around the world.
"I've won many championships," coach Italian Marcello Lippi said, "but a joy so big I have never felt."

The cast of characters were many — Thierry Henry, Francesco Totti, Patrick Vieira, Gianluigi Buffon — but in the end, the spotlight shone brightly on just one man: Fabio Grosso.

Rising above scandal

That the Italians even advanced to the finals speaks to the quality of their character, especially in light of what's going on back home.

A tribunal in Rome is currently investigating allegations of a match-fixing scheme in Serie A (Italy's first division) for the past two seasons and is expected to hand down a decision sometime this week.

The pall of the match-fixing scandal has been hanging over the Italy for two months now, with four of the most storied Italian clubs — Juventus, Fiorentina, Lazio and AC Milan — facing relegation to Italy's lower leagues. Many of the Italians players' pro careers are teetering in the balance.

At the same time Gianluca Pessotto, a former national team member, lies on his deathbed in an Italian hospital. Pessotto jumped (some say he fell) from the roof of the Juventus headquarters in Turin with a rosary clutched in one hand, leading many to believe that his fall from the roof was a suicide attempt.

"If the scandal hadn't happened I think we wouldn't have won the World Cup," midfielder Gennaro Gattuso said. "It has given us more strength."
But neither the scandal nor the thought of a former colleague desperately fighting for his life could distract the Azzurri on Sunday.

"I have to say thanks to the players," Lippi said. "This is the most satisfying moment of my life.

"The players have unlimited heart, character and personality," he added. "We are very happy."

There was early concern for France when Henry crumbled to the ground after running into Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro. The star striker looked groggy and came off the field to receive medical treatment for several minutes before returning.

France takes early lead

France took the lead in the seventh minute from a penalty spot after Florent Malouda went down inside the Italian penalty area. The call was somewhat controversial as replays showed Italy's Marco Materazzi barely made contact with the Frenchman.

No matter, though, as Zidane stepped up to the spot and clipped his effort off the crossbar and just over the goal line.

The Italians were staggered and looked shaky after trailing for the first time in the tournament. They slowly gained control of the match and netted the equalizer in the 19th minute.

Andrea Pirlo delivered an exquisite corner kick into the middle of the penalty area and Materazzi majestically rose through the air to drive a powerful header past sprawling French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.

Revitalized, the Italians took charge by pouring down the wings in search of another goal. Italy enjoyed the majority of possession and dictated the pace for the rest of the first half. The French mounted an attack, led by Henry and Zidane, but were continually snuffed out by Cannavaro and a sea of Italian defenders.
Italy continued to press and nearly took a 2-1 lead in the 35th minute when Luca Toni's header off a Pirlo corner kick cannoned off the crossbar.

France came to life at the start of the second half and wrestled control of the game away from Italy. The vaunted Italian defence looked uncertain as Henry, Malouda and Franck Ribery probed, prodded and plundered its way into Italy's penalty area. Only a lack of finishing prevented the French from regaining the lead.

Malouda was getting the better of the Italian defenders and appeared to have earned another penalty when he was brought down by Gianluca Zambrotta, but the Argentine referee waived play on.

Shortly after making a double-substitution (Vincenzo Iaquinta and Daniele De Rossi coming replacing Simone Perrotta and Totti), the Italians appeared to have scored on a Toni header but it was negated on an offside call by the assistant referee.

Italian defence holds firm

France marched right back down the field and forced a brilliant save out of Gianluigi Buffon who palmed away Henry's stinging shot. The French continued to pour on the pressure in the final 15 minutes and swarmed the Italian goal in numbers, but couldn't find a way past the steely and resolute Italian defence.

The French picked up where they left off and pinned the Italians back in their end of the field at the start of extra time. While France valiantly pressed forward in attack, Italy sat back in defence and soaked up the pressure.

Ribery nearly scored when his low, driving shot glided past a diving Buffon and whispered past the far post. Minutes later, Buffon made a fantastic one-handed save off a Zidane header, tipping the ball over the crossbar to deny the Frenchman.
France lost its cool in the second extra-time period when Zidane inexplicably head-butted Materazzi in the chest after exchanging words with the Italian.

After much debate and protests from the Italians, the Argentine referee showed Zidane a red card, a disgraceful end to the Frenchman's career (the midfielder previously announced he planned to retire at the end of the World Cup) and France was reduced to 10 men.

Neither team showed much attacking invention in the final 10 minutes, as they seemed content to decide the matter via penalty shootout.

"We had fear of the penalties," Gattuso said, aware that Italy lost the only other final decided in a shootout, to Brazil in 1994. "Our history was not great, so that was the fear."

Aside from Grosso, Pirlo, Materazzi, De Rossi and Alessandro Del Piero scored for Italy. Sylvain Wiltord, Eric Abidal and Willy Sagnol scored for France.

IMPACT PLAYERS
Italy: Fabio Cannavaro — Another stellar performance by the Italian defender who was, without question, the best player in the tournament.

France: Florent Malouda — The French winger asked serious questions of the Italian defence with his speed and insightful play.

Written by CBC News Staff
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Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun, 09 July 2006  09:00:39  EST
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 9th, 2006
A young reservist from Thunder Bay, Ont., has been killed in battle in Afghanistan, a day after Taliban militants wounded two other Canadians in the same area west of Kandahar City.

The international and Afghan forces have been battling since Friday night in the southern area, considered to be a hotbed of Taliban activity over the past few months.

Cpl. Anthony Joseph Boneca, a 21-year-old reservist from the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment based in Thunder Bay, died on Sunday morning, military officials said.

Top general vows to push on

Brig.-Gen. David Fraser, Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan, called Boneca's death a tragic loss.

But Fraser said it wouldn't deter Canada's 2,300 soldiers from continuing their mission. They're part of the U.S.-led international forces that have been trying to stabilize Afghanistan since the Taliban government was ousted after the al-Qaeda attacks on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

"We're going to carry on operations as they are going on right now," Fraser said. "We're not going to pull back. We're going to push through for as long as it takes."
Cpl. Anthony Joseph Boneca, a 21-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ont., was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan and serving with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. (DND)
Boneca on 2nd tour, uncle says

Boneca's uncle, William Babe, said his nephew was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan and serving with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

"He spent his last tour in Kabul, and this year, when the war escalated, he went to Kandahar with the Princess Pats," Babe told CBC News from Thunder Bay.

"He was due home at the end of this month."

A solemn military ceremony for the soldier was expected to be held on the Kandahar airfield on Monday, but there has been no word yet on when his body will be returned to Canada.

Boneca was 17th Canadian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan since the first battle group was sent to the country in February 2002. A Canadian diplomat was also killed.

Written by CBC News Staff
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Canadian connection in alleged N.Y. bomb plot
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri, 07 July 2006  10:04:58  EST
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 8th, 2006
A suspect was questioned in Canada in connection with an alleged plot to bomb tunnels between Manhattan and New Jersey and flood New York's financial district, CBC News has learned.

An FBI official in Washington told CBC News that one suspect in the plot was questioned in Canada. But the Canadian Press reported that the suspect was released because there wasn't enough evidence to hold him beyond the period of interrogation.

Another suspect, a 31-year-old Lebanese man who was arrested in Lebanon, may have spent time in Canada.
Lebanese police released this photo of Lebanese suspect Assem Hammoud, who was arrested on April 28, 2006. (Associated Press)
Lebanese police confirmed Friday that Assem Hammoud confessed to being the mastermind of the alleged plot and claimed allegiance to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Radio-Canada, the CBC's French-language network, reports that he told police about several other people in Quebec.

In Beirut, the mother of Hammoud said he has a Canadian girlfriend, whom he has visited in Canada.

But she said her son had no political connections, and certainly not with al-Qaeda.

Police also say several other suspects are in custody in six countries, but won't say more because they haven't been charged.

FBI spokesman Mark Mershon would only say six foreign governments on three continents were assisting in the investigation.

"We're not prepared to discuss the levels of co-operation," he said.

Another Canadian connection in the plot involved Canadian intelligence, who, according to ABC News, helped track suspects through internet chat rooms.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said that any comment on a Canadian connection made now might jeopardize an ongoing investigation.

Security officials confirmed the investigation Friday after a New York newspaper reported earlier that morning that FBI agents had disrupted a plot in its early stages to blow up the Holland Tunnel, one of several tunnels connecting New Jersey and Manhattan. The goal was to cause havoc and flood New York's financial district.

But officials said the group had specifically mentioned only the PATH train tunnels that commuters travel through on their way to New York and New Jersey.

Mershon wouldn't confirm the Holland Tunnel was the alleged target.

"This is a plot that would have involved martyrdom, explosives and certain of the tubes [tunnels] that connect New Jersey with Lower Manhattan," said Mershon. "We have, what we believe, is the real deal."

Mershon said the FBI believes five other people are "principal players" in the alleged plot, but none are in the United States.

Year-long probe

FBI agents and intelligence agencies from around the world had been monitoring the group for a year, Mershon said.

The FBI said it believes the suspects were about to move into a new phase of their plan, including the survey of targets and acquisition of materials needed to carry out the attack, which was to take place in October or November 2006.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg reassured city residents that they should go about their daily lives.

"There is not one shred of evidence this has gone beyond the planning stage," said Bloomberg.

Mershon criticized the "unknown individual" who leaked the story to the Daily News, saying it "greatly complicated" what had been smooth relationships with foreign intelligence services.

"This was not the date we planned to unfold this investigation," he said.

An anonymous counterterrorism source told the Daily News that Jordanian associates of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, recently killed in a U.S. air strike in Iraq, had pledged financial and tactical support for the plot.

Written by CBC News Staff with files from Associated Press and Canadian Press
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Toronto future home of terror funding watchdog
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri, 07 July 2006  12:29:23  EST
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 7th, 2006
Toronto will become the permanent home to a global organization aiming to combat international money laundering and terrorist financing, the federal government announced Friday.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day helped make the announcement on the city's waterfront.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.
The federal government will kick in $5 million over the next five years to establish the centre for the Egmont Group, a body that since 1995 has grown to encompass 101 world financial intelligence units, including the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) in Ottawa.

It was also announced that Canada has this week joined the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering and that a Canadian, Frank Swedlove, will serve a one-year term as president of the G8 Financial Action Task Force, an international body that targets criminal and terrorist financing.

"This government has announced significant new measures to help increase Canada’s capability to detect and respond to a potential terrorist attack," said Day. "Whether it is strengthening our own laws, enhancing transportation and border security, working with international allies or combating the crime of terrorist financing, we are taking action to protect Canadians."

Flaherty said the initiatives were necessary to help better track not only traditional laundering but also wire transfers, non-profit organization donations and hawalas, the unregulated money transfers that lack paper trails.

The finance minister, who stressed that Canadians who conduct overseas banking are subject to foreign government scrutiny, said the issue involves balancing the needs of privacy and law enforcement.

Canada's privacy commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart, recently called an inquiry into whether Canadian transactions were probed as part of a U.S. financial monitoring program.

The Conservative budget in May earmarked $64 million to fight money laundering and terrorist financing. The Tories are expected to table legislation in the fall to tighten existing domestic law regarding money laundering.

Written by CBC News Staff
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Trade, security issues will top agenda when Harper meets Bush
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu, 06 July 2006  07:55:36  EST
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 6th, 2006
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is visiting the White House on Thursday to talk to U.S. President George W. Bush about some key issues affecting their countries, including softwood lumber, border security and Ottawa's pledge to boost military spending.
Harper is holding his first real one-on-one meeting with the U.S. president, a week after announcing billions of dollars in new military spending.

The prime minister arrived in Washington on Wednesday and dined at the Canadian Embassy, where he met several high-ranking U.S. officials, including Vice-President Dick Cheney.

Border identification

Harper wants to get details from the U.S. about its plan to require travellers crossing the Canada-U.S. border to carry a passport or some other secure document.

The U.S. plans to start demanding the documents from anyone entering the country by air or sea, starting Jan. 1, 2007. The requirement will extend to land borders in 2008. Harper may press for a delay in the timetable.

Harper and Bush were also expected to talk about finalizing an agreement on softwood lumber at a time the Opposition and some forestry groups in Canada have begun attacking the framework deal the government has negotiated with the U.S.

On another security issue, the two leaders were to discuss North Korea, which test-fired at least seven missiles this week and says it plans more launches.

Japan circulated a resolution at the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday, calling for sanctions against North Korea. The U.S. and Britain support the resolution, but Russia and China — who have veto power on the council — are opposed.

Written by CBC News Staff
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North Korea launches seventh missile
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed, 05 July 2006  07:16:02  EST
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 5th, 2006
North Korea launched a seventh missile Wednesday, hours after a flurry of missile tests incited condemnation from around the world.

A South Korean military official confirmed that North Korea had tested a seventh missile, but provided few details.

The South Korean Yonhap news agency said the seventh missile was medium-range, and Japan's Kyodo News agency reported that it flew for six minutes after launching at 5:22 p.m. local time.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters in Tokyo his government couldn't be sure more launches weren't in the offing. He said dialogue was needed to solve the situation.
South Korean protesters carry a mock North Korean missile Taepodong-2 during an anti-North Korea rally in Seoul, Wednesday, July 5, 2006. North Korea test-launched six missiles including a long-range Taepodong in an early morning barrage Wednesday, defying stern international warnings of retaliation and prompting concerns that it could follow with more tests. (Lee Jin-man/Associated Press)
Japan has asked the UN Security Council to hold an emergency session Wednesday during which Tokyo is expected to present a resolution protesting the missile tests.

Earlier, North Korea test-fired at least six missiles. The long-range Taepodong-2, believed to be able to reach continental North America, fizzled shortly after takeoff.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had been expected to start talks with China, Japan, South Korea and Russia on Tuesday night, the State Department said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said the possibility that Japan will impose sanctions on the Communist country "is high." Later, a Foreign Ministry official said Japan will ban visits by a North Korean ferry for six months.

The missiles were fired over four hours, and five short-range models all crashed into the Sea of Japan.

Written by CBC News Staff with files from Associated Press
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NASA aims at shuttle launch Tuesday
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon, 03 July 2006  14:51:13  EST
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 4th, 2006
NASA has decided to launch the space shuttle Discovery on Tuesday, which would make it the first ever launch on the U.S. Fourth of July holiday.

Bad weather over the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida had already forced officials to scrap launches scheduled for Saturday and then Sunday.

But the forecast for 2:38 p.m. ET Tuesday is better than on the days when the launch was cancelled.

Officials from NASA were thinking about postponing the launch again because engineers were worried about a seven-centimetre piece of foam that appears to have come from a 13-centimetre crack in the foam insulation on the shuttle's external fuel tank.
The Discovery's crew boards the shuttle on July 1, just before their mission was scrubbed for the first time. (Chris O'Meara / Associated Press)
NASA managers said they were confident there was enough foam left to prevent ice from forming, and that they don't believe the area will be exposed to extreme heat during ascent.

"They fully have shown that the foam is acceptable and ready to fly," said Bill Gerstenmaier, a NASA associate administrator. "There were no dissenters when we went around the room ... no concerns raised."

Foam caused Columbia disaster

During launch of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003, bits of foam broke off from the fuel tank and caused damage that made the vessel disintegrate during re-entry. All seven astronauts on board were killed.

The shuttle program was suspended for more than two years while engineers addressed safety issues.

The return to space by Discovery in July 2005 was marred when chunks of foam fell off the fuel tank. Concerns about possible damage from that incident led to delays in the shuttle's return while astronauts conducted external inspections while it was in orbit.

Critics of the shuttle program have called for it to be abandoned altogether because of cost and safety issues.

NASA says shuttle flights enable crucial research in zero gravity conditions and maintenance of the International Space Station.

While NASA examined the foam question, crews prepared the shuttle for takeoff, including fuelling up.

Written by CBC News Staff with files from Associated Press
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N.S. police investigate Sunday store openings
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun, 02 July 2006  20:24:47  EST
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 3rd, 2006
Six large grocery stores were open in Nova Scotia on Sunday despite new government rules designed to stop national chains from doing business seven days a week.

The stores, operated by Loblaw Inc. under the Superstore banner, didn't break any rules, said spokesman Dick Romyn.

"We still believe we are in full compliance with the previous legislation, and the new regulations as well."

But Halifax Regional Police visited five of the stores, while Cape Breton police checked the sixth, in Sydney River.
N.S. Premier Rodney MacDonald says the new rules should force the chains to shut down. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)
Following a complaint, "we have initiated an investigation and later this week will consult with the Crown attorney's office and make a determination at that time what, if any, charges should be laid," said Sgt. Sean Auld.

The chains, Superstore and Sobeys, found a way around the rules banning stores over 4,000 square feet from opening on Sundays. Starting last month, they divided the supermarkets they opened on Sundays into smaller, separate businesses.

The government then changed the rules in late June, allowing grocers to open on Sunday only if they had divided the stores before June 1.

By having cabinet change the rules, N.S. Premier Rodney MacDonald said the chains will be forced to shut down.

"We would expect all businesses to comply. If they are outside the law, it's up to law enforcement to decide," he said Thursday.

It is not clear how Superstore fits the new rules, but there may be a legal challenge in the offing.

Sobeys kept its stores closed on Sunday.

Claim rules are unfair

Nova Scotians voted in a 2004 plebiscite to continue the ban on Sunday shopping, and "we respect that," the premier said.

However, a two-store Halifax business, Pete's Frootique, started subdividing its stores some years ago, and won a 1999 court ruling that the openings were legal. With the new rules exempting stores that opened before June 1, Pete's appears to be within the law.

The chains have complained that the rules are unfair because some stores, such as Pete's and drugstores with grocery sections, can open and others can't.

There is a maximum fine of $15,000 for violating the Sunday shopping ban.

Written by CBC News Staff
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Israel hints at more Gaza strikes
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun, 02 July 2006  12:56:11  EST
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 2nd, 2006
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his cabinet on Sunday that his government will do "everything it can" to secure the release of a captured Israeli soldier.

His comments came hours after Israeli helicopters sent missiles tearing through the empty office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.

A bystander suffered minor injuries, hospital officials said. No other casualties were reported. Palestinian sources said the air strike set the building ablaze.

Olmert and his interior minister later said Israel would intensify the pressure on the Hamas-led Palestinian government to release Cpl. Gilad Shalit, believed held by three militant groups in Gaza.

Shalit, 19, was seized June 30 in a cross-border raid that left two other Israeli soldiers dead. Earlier in the week, Israel bombed Gaza's main power plant, saying it wanted "to disrupt the activities of the terror infrastructure involved directly and indirectly in the abduction of Cpl. Shalit."
Palestinian police officers inspect a truck as it crosses into the Gaza Strip through the Karni crossing on Sunday. (Petros Karadjias / Associated Press)
Crossing re-opens

In another development on Sunday, Israel reopened its main commercial crossing into Gaza to allow fuel, food, medical supplies and other key supplies into Gaza.

The Karni crossing, closed after Shalit's capture, will be open six hours a day for four days this week, an Israeli official told the Associated Press.

Written by CBC News Staff
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Canada Day festivities underway
Web Posted | Last Updated Sat, 01 July 2006  15:57:02  EST
Giant Dwarf Posted: July 1st, 2006
The city of Ottawa is awash in red and white for celebrations marking Canada's 139th birthday.

About 12,000 people — including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, his wife and their two children —gathered outside the Parliament buildings for the Canada Day festivities. The party officially got underway at noon ET, under sunny skies. "This, from coast to coast, this is our Canada — strong, united, independent and free," Harper told the crowd. "Our country, our way of life, did not happen by accident."

"We are a product of our values, a country that cherishes freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law … a country first inhabited by our aboriginal people, founded on historical compromises between the English and the French and populated by waves and waves of immigration from around the world."

Earlier, officials handed out Maple Leaf flags at the city's airport as people arrived in the capital for the festivities.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper stops to pose for a photo as he leaves Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)
Musicians Colin James and Annie Villeneuve will perform in front of the Peace Tower. Other performers will include Jesse Cook and the Samba Squad.

Fireworks will wrap up the show.

PM begins day with solemn ceremony

The prime minister began the day by taking part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the National War Memorial, along with Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean.

The event marked the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel in the First World War. The fierce battle in northern France left hundreds of Newfoundlanders dead or wounded in a matter of minutes.

Harper later paid special tribute to the sacrifices being made by the 2,200 Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

Written by CBC News Staff