Dec 06

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08"><U><B>Sep/08</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id1083.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Aug 08"><U><B>Aug/08</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33 WIDTH="50"><div> <A HREF="id1078.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Jul 08"><U><B>Jul/08</B></U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id1077.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Jun 08"><U><B>Jun/08</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id1072.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May 08"><U><B>May/08</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33 WIDTH="50"><div> <A HREF="id1071.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Apr 08"><U><B>Apr/08</B></U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id1060.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mar 08"><U><B>Mar/08</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id1044.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Feb 08"><U><B>Feb/08</B></U></A></div> 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VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id1015.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Jun 07"><U><B>Jun/07</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id1009.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May 07"><U><B>May/07</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33 WIDTH="50"><div> <A HREF="id1007.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Apr 07"><U><B>Apr/07</B></U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id986.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mar 07"><U><B>Mar/07</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id979.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Feb 07"><U><B>Feb/07</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id978.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Jan 07"><U><B>Jan/07</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFFCC HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id973.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B>Dec/06</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id968.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Nov 06"><U><B>Nov/06</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33 WIDTH="50"><div> <A HREF="id963.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Oct 06"><U><B>Oct/06</B></U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id957.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sep 06"><U><B>Sep/06</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id951.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Aug 06"><U><B>Aug/06</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33 WIDTH="50"><div> <A HREF="id945.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Jul 06"><U><B>Jul/06</B></U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id940.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Jun 06"><U><B>Jun/06</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id934.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="May 06"><U><B>May/06</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33 WIDTH="50"><div> <A HREF="id929.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Apr 06"><U><B>Apr/06</B></U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id924.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mar 06"><U><B>Mar/06</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id910.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Feb 06"><U><B>Feb/06</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFCC33><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id908.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Jan 06"><U><B>Jan/06</B></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <B>These "Articles" are dated from December 1st, 2006 - December 31st, 2006.</B></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="383" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#video_shows_saddam_defiant_before_execution" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Video shows Saddam defiant before execution</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 31/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#lawyers_still_concerned_over_saddam_execution" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Lawyers still concerned over Saddam execution</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 30/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="335"><div> <A HREF="#saddam_could_be_hanged_this_weekend" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Saddam could be hanged this weekend</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 29/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#nearly_850_convicts_on_the_run_report_says" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Nearly 850 convicts on the run, report says</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 28/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#canadians_break_records_with_debit_card_use" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Canadians break records with debit card use</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 27/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#alleged_russian_spy_deported_government_says" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Alleged Russian spy deported, government says</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 26/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#_godfather_of_soul__james_brown_dead_at_73" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  'Godfather of Soul' James Brown dead at 73</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 25/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#shuttle_s_landing_ends_big_year_for_nasa" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Shuttle's landing ends big year for NASA</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 24/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#myriam_bedard_arrested_in_maryland_quebec_police" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Myriam Bedard arrested in Maryland: Quebec police</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 23/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#junior_que__hockey_players_arrested_over_sex_tape" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Junior Que. hockey players arrested over sex tape</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 22/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#vancouver_island_bears_brunt_of_another_storm" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Vancouver Island bears brunt of another storm</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 21/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#bush_weighs_more_troops_for_iraq_larger_military" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Bush weighs more troops for Iraq, larger military</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 20/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#second_arrest_in_british_prostitute_slayings" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Second arrest in British prostitute slayings</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 19/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#man_held_in_murders_of_five_british_prostitutes" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Man held in murders of five British prostitutes</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 18/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#rescuers_resume_mt__hood_search_as_weather_clears" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Rescuers resume Mt. Hood search as weather clears</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 17/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#opp_arrest_mchale_caledonia_protest_organizer" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  OPP arrest McHale, Caledonia protest organizer</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 16/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#canadian_scientists_reverse_diabetes_in_mice" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Canadian scientists reverse diabetes in mice</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 15/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#warrant_issued_for_ex_olympic_champion_bedard" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Warrant issued for ex-Olympic champion Bedard</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 14/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#afghan_accidentally_killed_by_canadian_troops" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Afghan accidentally killed by Canadian troops</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 13/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#engineered_cells_could_cure_rare_heart_disease" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Engineered cells could cure rare heart disease</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 12/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#elderly_gay_catholic_couple_denied_communion" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Elderly gay Catholic couple denied communion</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 11/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#arar_witnesses__too_busy__for_questioning_mp" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Arar witnesses 'too busy' for questioning: MP</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 10/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#family_of_murder_victim_say_system_failed_them" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Family of murder victim say system failed them</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 09/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#harper_declares_same_sex_marriage_issue_closed" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Harper declares same-sex marriage issue closed</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 08/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#mps_expected_to_vote_down_same_sex_motion" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  MPs expected to vote down same-sex motion</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 07/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#rcmp_s_zaccardelli_appears_to_be_on_thin_ice" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  RCMP's Zaccardelli appears to be on thin ice</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 06/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#n_y_c__moves_to_ban_trans_fats_in_restaurants" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  N.Y.C. moves to ban trans fats in restaurants</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 05/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#iraq_situation__much_worse__than_civil_war_annan" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Iraq situation 'much worse' than civil war: Annan</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 04/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#dion_pledges_to_build_unity_win_seats_in_quebec" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Dion pledges to build unity, win seats in Quebec</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 03/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#liberal_leadership_field_narrows_to_3_candidates" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  Liberal leadership field narrows to 3 candidates</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 02/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="#first_electric_sports_car_makes_debut_in_l_a_" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><B><IMG SRC="f1f0b0d0.png" border=0 width="11" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>  </B><B>First electric sports car makes debut in L.A.</B></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> 01/12/06</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> =======================</div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="705" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="707"><div>  <A NAME="video_shows_saddam_defiant_before_execution"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 210 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Video shows Saddam defiant before execution</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. Dec. 31  2006  18:24 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December 31st, 2006</div> <div> <B>A grainy video of Saddam Hussein's execution shows the former dictator exchanging taunts with spectators, moments before a trapdoor opens and he is hanged to death.</B></div> <bR> <div> The video appears to have been recorded using a cellphone camera and is shot from the floor of the gallows.</div> <bR> <div> Witnesses shout up to Saddam "Go to hell" and yell the name of Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric. Saddam replies, "Do you call this bravery?"</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="afd1a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Iraqis grieve beside the grave of the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Ouja, 130 kilometers north of Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2006.(AP Photo/Bassim Daham)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 376 WIDTH="707"><div> He then begins to recite phrases from the Qur'an before the trapdoor opens.</div> <bR> <div> Hundreds of Iraqis travelled to pay their respects to Saddam, who was buried early Sunday in his hometown, 24 hours after his execution, The Associated Press reports.</div> <bR> <div> The former Iraqi dictator was buried in a religious compound in the village of Ouja, near Tikrit, close to his sons Qusay and Uday, who were killed during a gun battle with U.S. forces in 2003.</div> <bR> <div> Scores of relatives and other mourners attended the burial ceremony shortly before dawn. Many of them wept and moaned, while others knelt before his flag-draped grave. A large photograph of Saddam was propped up on a nearby chair.</div> <bR> <div> "I condemn the way he was executed and I consider it a crime," said 45-year-old Salam Hassan al-Nasseri, one of Saddam's clansmen who attended the interment.</div> <bR> <div> Mohammed Natiq, a 24-year-old college student, said "the path of Arab nationalism must inevitably be paved with blood."</div> <bR> <div> "God has decided that Saddam Hussein should have such an end, but his march and the course which he followed will not end."</div> <bR> <div> After Saddam's execution, police blocked off the entrances to Tikrit, a Sunni Arab stronghold, and said no one would be permitted to enter or leave the city for four days.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 224 WIDTH="540"><div> Despite the decree, armed men took to the streets, marching and firing in the air and calling for vengeance for Saddam's death.</div> <bR> <div> It wasn't clear whether police had lifted the Tikrit travel ban to allow people to pay their respects to Saddam.</div> <bR> <div> While many celebrated in the wake of Saddam's death, others despaired that the event changes nothing in the chaotic, violent country.</div> <bR> <div> However, there was no sign of a Sunni Arab uprising as some feared, and the usual death toll from murders and car-bombings totaled 92 -- not far off the daily average for the Middle Eastern country simmering in a civil war.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="afd0a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Video still released by the Biladi TV stations in Iraq. It appears to show the body of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein wrapped in a white shroud following his execution Dec. 30. 2006. Warning graphic content. (AP / BILADI TV)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 584 WIDTH="707"><div> In addition, six U.S. soldiers were killed, bringing the total to 2,998 since the March 2003 invasion.</div> <bR> <div> "He's gone, but our problems continue," Baghdad candy store owner Haider Hamed told AP.</div> <bR> <div> "We brought problems on ourselves after Saddam because we began fighting Shiite on Sunni and Sunni on Shiite," said the Shiite Muslim, who lost relatives to Saddam's brutal repression.</div> <bR> <div> "Nothing really changes," said Capt. Dave Eastburn. "The militias run everything now, not Saddam."</div> <bR> <div> Saddam was hanged before dawn in Baghdad for his role in the 1982 killings of 148 Shiite Muslims.</div> <bR> <div> He was dressed in a white shirt and dark overcoat when he was led to the platform by a group of men wearing ski masks to hide their identity.</div> <bR> <div> A piece of dark material was placed around his neck, followed by the noose.</div> <bR> <div> He refused to have a hood placed over his head.</div> <bR> <div> A video aired on Iraqi television showed the former Iraqi dictator being led to the gallows in handcuffs but stopped short of showing his actual execution.</div> <bR> <div> Millions of Iraqis are believed to have stayed up all night to watch news related to Saddam's execution on TV.</div> <bR> <div> Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the execution closed a dark chapter in Iraq's history.</div> <bR> <div> In Tikrit, teacher and Sunni Muslim Um Abdullah said: "Saddam will be a hero in our eyes. I have five kids and I will teach them to take revenge on Americans."</div> <bR> <div> An Iraqi court sentenced Saddam, 69, to death on Nov. 5. He had been tried for his role in the 1982 killings of 148 people. The victims were killed after an attempt to assassinate him in Dujail, northern Iraq.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff<I> with a report by CTV's Tom Kennedy and files from The Associated Press</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="lawyers_still_concerned_over_saddam_execution"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 210 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Lawyers still concerned over Saddam execution</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Sat. Dec. 30  2006  13:56 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December 30th, 2006</div> <div> <B>With the execution of Saddam Hussein Saturday morning a chapter in Iraq's history has been closed, but uncertainty abounds over what will happen next.</B></div> <bR> <div> Saddam was hanged before dawn in Baghdad for his role in the killings of 148 Shiite Muslims, according to Iraqi state television.</div> <bR> <div> Video showed the former Iraqi dictator being led to the gallows in handcuffs where a noose was put around his neck. However, the footage stopped short of showing his actual execution.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="afcea0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> An Iraqi police officer celebrates after hearing news of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein being executed in Basra, 550 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, Iraq Dec. 30, 2006. (AP / Nabil al-Jurani)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 356 WIDTH="707"><div> Post-execution video captured by a cell phone showed a man identified as Saddam lying on a stretcher covered in a white shroud. His eyes are closed and there appeared to be bloodstains on his neck and part of the shroud.</div> <bR> <div> Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie told CNN on Saturday morning that Saddam, 69, would be buried somewhere in Iraq "in the next few hours," although no decision has yet been made on exactly where he would be interred, al-Rubaie said.</div> <bR> <div> "We will wash him, wrap him, put him in an Islamic coffin, someone from the Islamic community will read a death prayer over him and he will be buried with old Islamic rituals," he said.</div> <bR> <div> Saddam's daughters Raghad and Rana had earlier asked that their father be buried temporarily in Yemen.</div> <bR> <div> Curtis Doebbler, a member of Saddam's defence team, said the trial and final ruling were orchestrated by the Americans, and he intends to look into prosecuting those who were involved.</div> <bR> <div> However, he told CTV Newsnet his first priority is to ensure the family gains possession of the body.</div> <bR> <div> "A more immediate concern is the simple moral concern of the family, particularly an Islamic family, where we have asked for the body of the president. They have not replied to our request. The Yemenese government has asked, they have refused to provide them the body," he told CTV Newsnet.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 463 WIDTH="540"><div> "We just want to get the body and the remains back for the family. You can imagine any family anywhere in the world would deserve that and morally a government would provide that."</div> <bR> <div> Millions of Iraqis are believed to have stayed up all night to watch news related to Saddam's execution on TV.</div> <bR> <div> State television aired national songs after the first announcement, and had a crawl on the screen that read: "Saddam's execution marks the end of a dark period of Iraq's history."</div> <bR> <div> A witness said Saddam was handcuffed before he was brought into an execution chamber and did not resist. He also said there was visible fear on his face before he was hanged.</div> <bR> <div> Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie told the BBC that Saddam went to the gallows quietly: "We took him to the gallows and he was saying some few slogans. He was very, very, very, broken."</div> <bR> <div> Saddam was dressed in a white shirt and dark overcoat when he was led to the platform by a group of men wearing ski masks to hide their identity.</div> <bR> <div> A piece of dark clothe was placed around his neck, followed by the noose.</div> <bR> <div> He refused to have a hood placed over his head.</div> <bR> <div> After Saddam's death, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in a statement that Saddam was frightened at the time of his death.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="afcfa0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> An Iraqi family watches television in their home in Basra, 550 kilometers southeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2006, as Iraqi state TV transmits a video of the execution of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. (AP Photo, Nabil al-Jurani)</div> <div> <IMG SRC="afd0a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Video still released by the Biladi TV stations in Iraq. It appears to show the body of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein wrapped in a white shroud following his execution Dec. 30. 2006. Warning graphic content. (AP / BILADI TV)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 610 WIDTH="707"><div> "Justice, in the name of the people, has carried out the death sentence against the criminal Saddam, who faced his fate like all tyrants, frightened and terrified during a hard day which he did not expect."</div> <bR> <div> Saddam, 69, was convicted for his role in the 1982 killings of 148 people in a primarily Shiite town north of Baghdad. The victims had been detained after an attempt to assassinate him in Dujail, northern Iraq.</div> <bR> <div> Edward Peck, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said the execution could actually do more harm than good for the country. </div> <div> "I don't think this is going to advance America's interests in Iraq at all," said Peck, arguing it could spark further sectarian violence.</div> <bR> <div> Late Friday, a U.S. judge dismissed a last-minute court challenge by Saddam's lawyers, who had argued the execution should be stayed because Saddam also faced a civil lawsuit in Washington.</div> <bR> <div> The judge said the U.S. courts could not interfere with another country's judicial system, according to AP.</div> <bR> <div> Saddam had been formally in Iraqi custody since his capture three years ago, but physically held by U.S. military guards at Camp Cropper, a military prison near the Baghdad airport.</div> <bR> <div> Saddam's half-brother Barzan Ibrahim and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, were also reportedly hanged, although their deaths have not been confirmed.</div> <bR> <div> U.S. forces in Iraq are preparing for any attacks following the execution, U.S. Defence Department officials say.</div> <bR> <div> In other developments in Iraq: </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">U.S troops and Iraqi security forces were put on high alert and security was increased at U.S. embassies around the world after the execution; </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Three car bombs exploded in quick succession in a mainly Shiite district of Baghdad, leaving at least 37 people dead and 76 injured; </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A bomb exploded in a market in the mainly Shiite city of Kufa, in southern Iraq, killing at least 31 people and injuring 58; </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The U.S. military says that a U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad on Friday and three marines died from wounds suffered in combat in Iraq's western Anbar province. </div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff<I> with files from The Associated Press</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="saddam_could_be_hanged_this_weekend"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 200 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Saddam could be hanged this weekend</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. Dec. 29  2006  14:43 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  29th, 2006</div> <div> <B>Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein could be executed this weekend -- perhaps as early as Saturday -- say Iraqi authorities. But it remains unclear whether the former president has been transferred from U.S. to Iraqi custody.</B></div> <bR> <div> U.S. and Iraqi officials are to hold a meeting around 10 p.m. Baghdad time, (2 p.m. ET) to set a time for the execution.</div> <bR> <div> Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has already signed Saddam's death sentence, a government </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="afc6a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein stands to leave the court at the end of the day's session on Thursday Dec. 21, 2006 in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP / Nikola Solic)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 178 WIDTH="707"><div> official told the Associated Press. And Munir Haddad, a judge on the appeals court that upheld Saddam's sentence, said the former Iraqi dictator would be hanged no later than Saturday.</div> <bR> <div> "Saddam will be executed today or tomorrow,'' he said. "All the measures have been done.''</div> <bR> <div> However, the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha begins on Saturday, raising the possibility of a delay until after the holiday ends on Jan. 7.</div> <bR> <div> U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey meanwhile is denying a report by Saddam's chief defence lawyer, Khalil al-Dulaimi,, that Saddam has already left U.S. custody and been handed over to Iraqi officials.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 211 WIDTH="540"><div> "My understanding is that there's been no change in his status," Casey said.</div> <bR> <div> On Tuesday, the Iraqi appeal court rejected Saddam's appeal against his November conviction and death sentence. The court said the former president should be hanged within 30 days.</div> <bR> <div> Under international law, governments have the power to stay any executions. But Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said there will be "no review or delay" in Saddam's sentence following his failed appeal.</div> <bR> <div> Saddam, 69, was convicted of crimes against humanity for his role in the 1982 killings of 148 people in a primarily Shiite town north of Baghdad. The victims had been detained after an attempt to assassinate him in Dujail, northern Iraq.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="afc7a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> An Iraqi reads a newspaper with the front page dedicated to news of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's death sentence appeal rejection in Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 27, 2006. (AP / Samir Mizban)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 521 WIDTH="707"><div> He has been formally in Iraqi custody since his capture three years ago, but physically held by U.S. military guards at Camp Cropper, a military prison near the Baghdad airport.</div> <bR> <div> The administration of U.S. President George Bush would not comment on the expected timing of the execution, saying the execution is a matter for the sovereign Iraqi government.</div> <bR> <div> "That is a matter for the Iraqi people; we are observers to that process. They are a sovereign government and they will make their own decisions regarding carrying out justice," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said in Crawford, Texas.</div> <bR> <div> Saddam himself appeared to be preparing for this next step. AP reports Saddam's half-brothers visited him in his jail cell and he gave them his will.</div> <bR> <div> In a final farewell letter posted Wednesday on Saddam's former Baath Party website, he urged Iraqis not to retaliate against American citizens.</div> <bR> <div> "I call on you not to hate because hate does not leave space for a person to be fair and it makes you blind and closes all doors of thinking," he wrote in Arabic. The Associated Press translated the letter.</div> <bR> <div> Hussein added: "I also call on you not to hate the people of the other countries that attacked us."</div> <bR> <div> U.S. forces in Iraq are preparing for any attacks following the execution, U.S. Defence Department officials say.</div> <bR> <div> Saddam is also in the middle of another trial, in which he is charged with genocide and other crimes during a 1987-88 military crackdown on Kurds in northern Iraq.</div> <bR> <div> That trial was adjourned until Jan. 8, but experts have said the trial of Saddam's co-defendants is likely to continue even if he is executed.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff<I> with files from The Associated Press</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="nearly_850_convicts_on_the_run_report_says"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 130 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Nearly 850 convicts on the run, report says</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. Dec. 28  2006  09:49 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  28th, 2006</div> <div> <B>Nearly 850 convicts are on the lam in Canada, according to figures quoted in a newspaper report.</B></div> <bR> <div> <I>The Globe and Mail</I> reports that about 850 convicted criminals are unlawfully at large in </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="afbca0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 381 WIDTH="707"><div> Canada, according to figures obtained from Correctional Service Canada through access to information requests.</div> <bR> <div> The fugitives include a suspected biker-gang affiliate who shot 15 times at police officers and a man who killed a gun salesman execution-style, the newspaper reports.</div> <bR> <div> The data shows 145 inmates escaped from federal penitentiaries between June 1966 and October 2006 and are still at large.</div> <div> The other 704 are on the lam after having failed to report to a parole officer, again during the same time period.</div> <bR> <div> <I>The Globe</I> reports that the records take into accounts only those convicted criminals who are at large from a federal institution where they were serving a sentence of two years or more.</div> <bR> <div> The numbers show one in four commit a crime within an average of 50 days after they go on the lam.</div> <bR> <div> The most common felonies among fugitives are robbery and break-ins but murder and sex offences were also on the list.</div> <div> Corrections Canada did not reveal the number of escapes from minimum-security penitentiaries prior to 1997.</div> <bR> <div> The report comes less than two weeks after the release of a study that found adult offenders who spend their sentences under community supervision are far less likely to re-offend within a year of their release compared to those who spend the time in an institution.</div> <bR> <div> <U>The Statistics Canada study examined two groups of offenders</U>:</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 484 WIDTH="707"><div> Those on community supervision and who returned to correctional supervision -- that is, they became re-involved with correctional authorities after their release.</div> <bR> <div> Those who were re-involved after they were released from custody.</div> <bR> <div> In four provinces, 11 per cent of people under community supervision became re-involved with correctional authorities within 12 months of their release in 2003-2004.</div> <bR> <div> Among those who were incarcerated, that number jumped to 30 per cent.</div> <bR> <div> The study covered five provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan. In Alberta, only community supervision data was available.</div> <bR> <div> The study also found that a history of breaching conditions was a significant factor in adult rates of re-involvement.</div> <bR> <div> The number of adults who returned to the correctional system within 12 months of their release from community supervision was twice as high for those with a history of breaching conditions, compared to those with no history of breaching.</div> <bR> <div> When it comes to conditional sentences, data from N.S., New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan show that 42 per cent of adult offenders with a history of breaching conditions returned within a year -- twice the rate of 21 per cent among those without any history.</div> <bR> <div> In the case of probation, 36 per cent of offenders who had a history of breaching returned with in a year -- also twice the rate of 18 per cent among those with no history (that figure is based on four provinces with complete data, including Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan).</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff<I> </I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="canadians_break_records_with_debit_card_use"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 130 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Canadians break records with debit card use</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. Dec. 27  2006  14:34 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  27th, 2006</div> <div> <B>Canadian shoppers set new records for debit card use in the days leading up to Christmas.</B></div> <bR> <div> Interac Association says it processed 31.2 million transactions on December 22 and 23 -- </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="afb9a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 594 WIDTH="707"><div> passing last year's figures by one million.</div> <bR> <div> The transactions mark the largest two-day total in the company's history.</div> <bR> <div> "The holiday season is when we typically see our largest transaction volumes, but this year was unique with the busiest day of the year coming two days before Christmas, on Friday, December 22," Interac Assocation's Tina Romano said in a written statement.</div> <bR> <div> "Traditionally, the last full shopping day before Christmas has yielded the greatest number of transactions. The busiest date may have changed, but the favourite way to pay hasn't. Canadians love using their debit cards."</div> <bR> <div> There are more than 35 million debit cards in circulation in Canada and more than three billion transactions were made in 2005.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Boxing Day Blitz</B></div> <div> Showing no signs of letting up, bargain hunters across Canada hit the stores again on Boxing Day.</div> <bR> <div> Visa Canada said Canadians spent nearly $2 billion, averaging about $328 per shopper, on Tuesday.</div> <bR> <div> Across the country, shoppers lined up for hours before stores opened to take advantage of door crashers and limited quantity sales.</div> <bR> <div> However, most stores in Nova Scotia remained closed on Boxing Day, despite having the legal right to open for the first time in years.</div> <bR> <div> The province now permits Sunday shopping and has lifted bans on retail openings for several statutory holidays, including Boxing Day.</div> <bR> <div> While major retailers initially said they would be open Boxing Day, employees pushed back. Earlier this month, the retailers -- including giants like Wal-Mart, Future Shop and Canadian Tire -- said they would start their Boxing Day sales on Wednesday.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff<I> </I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="alleged_russian_spy_deported_government_says"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 184 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Alleged Russian spy deported, government says</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. Dec. 26  2006  13:29 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  26th, 2006</div> <div> <B>Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day says the man alleging to be Paul William Hampel, a suspected spy, has been removed from Canada and returned to Russia.</B></div> <bR> <div> The man known as Hampel admitted in Federal Court earlier this month that he was a Russian citizen in Canada illegally.</div> <bR> <div> Justice Pierre Blais ordered the deportation on Dec. 4. He also ruled in favour of another </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="afa5a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Alleged spy Paul William Hampel is seen in Federal Court in Montreal on earlier this month. (CP / Atalante)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 124 WIDTH="707"><div> request to keep the name of the man secret for the safety of the suspect and his family.</div> <bR> <div> "I want to commend the work of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Canada Border Services Agency and Correctional Services Canada on this successful operation," Day said in a news release Tuesday.</div> <bR> <div> On Nov. 14, 2006, the man named Hampel was arrested in Montreal after a security certificate under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) was issued against him.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 169 WIDTH="540"><div> In court documents, Canada's federal spy agency alleges that Hampel is a member of the Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki, the successor of the feared Soviet KGB.</div> <bR> <div> At the time of his arrest in November at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal, he was carrying a fraudulent Ontario birth certificate, a Canadian passport and the equivalent of $7,800 in five different currencies.</div> <bR> <div> CSIS called the man, who apparently lived in Canada for more than a decade, a threat to national security.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="afa6a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> A Canadian passport belonging to Paul William Hampel is shown in this handout photo. (CP Photo)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 275 WIDTH="707"><div> Hampel had been issued three Canadian passports since 1995, the last in 2002. He has claimed to be a lifeguard in Toronto and a travel consultant in Montreal.</div> <bR> <div> <U>Some of the items Hampel possessed at the time of his arrest include</U>: </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A fraudulent Ontario birth certificate in a travel pouch under his shirt </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A Canadian passport </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">$7,800 in five different currencies </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Several bank and credit cards </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Index cards with detailed notes about Canadian history </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Three cellphones </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Five SIM cards, used for when a cellphone user changes countries; several were password-protected </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Two digital cameras </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A shortwave radio</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff<I> with files from The Associated Press</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="_godfather_of_soul__james_brown_dead_at_73"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 210 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>'Godfather of Soul' James Brown dead at 73</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. Dec. 25  2006  13:30 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  25th, 2006</div> <div> <B>James Brown, musical innovator, inimitable entertainer and self-prescribed "Godfather of Soul," died early Christmas Day at the age of 73.</B></div> <bR> <div> Brown's agent Frank Copsidas said the singer was hospitalized with severe pneumonia on Sunday, and died around 1:45 a.m. ET on Monday, reports the Associated Press.</div> <bR> <div> Copsidas said longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by Brown's side when he died at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta, Ga.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="afa1a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> In a file photo 'Godfather of Soul' James Brown performs during a Java Jazz Festival concert in Jakarta, Indonesia, Friday, March 4, 2005. (AP Photo, Dita Alangkara)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 178 WIDTH="707"><div> James Joseph Brown, Jr. is widely considered one of the most seminal, influential figures in 20th century music.</div> <bR> <div> He had a raspy, gospel-style voiced that, combined with a horn-section that punctuated his funky, frenetic rhythms, evolved into a distinct, revolutionary style of music.</div> <bR> <div> He recorded more than 50 albums and had well over 100 songs that hit the charts, including "I Got You (I Feel Good)," "(Get Up I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "Out of Sight."</div> <bR> <div> His classic "Say It Out Loud -- I'm Black and I'm Proud" became a landmark statement of racial pride when it came out in 1968.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 434 WIDTH="540"><div> "I clearly remember we were calling ourselves coloured, and after the song, we were calling ourselves black," Brown told the Associated Press in an interview in 2003.</div> <bR> <div> "The song showed even people to that day that lyrics and music and a song can change society."</div> <bR> <div> Brown was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 and won a Grammy lifetime achievement award in 1992.</div> <bR> <div> Not only was he a prolific singer and songwriter, he was also a record producer, businessman and bandleader who is credited with influencing a new generation of African American music that reaches all the way to rap and hip-hop today.</div> <bR> <div> "James presented obviously the best grooves," rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy once told The Associated Press.</div> <bR> <div> "To this day, there has been no one near as funky. No one's coming even close."</div> <bR> <div> Brown also left his mark on numerous other musical genres, including rock, jazz, reggae, disco, dance and electronic music.</div> <bR> <div> And the pompadoured, flamboyant Brown also influenced many artists with his dancing. His often copied, never quite equalled, rapid-fire footwork inspired such artists as Michael Jackson, Prince and Mick Jagger.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="afa2a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Michael Jackson performs with James Brown during the 3rd annual BET Awards Tuesday, June 24, 2003, in Los Angeles. Jackson later presented Brown with a lifetime achievement award. (AP Photo, Kevork Djansezian)</div> <div> <IMG SRC="afa3a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> American Singer James Brown performs during the Jazz festival Montreux, Switzerland, in this July 8, 1981, file picture. (AP Photo, Keystone)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 339 WIDTH="707"><div> Brown rose to success despite being born in abject poverty in Barnwell, South Carolina, in 1933. He was abandoned as a four-year-old to the care of relatives and friends and grew up on the streets of Augusta, Ga., in an "ill-repute area," as he once called it.</div> <bR> <div> "I wanted to be somebody," Brown told AP.</div> <bR> <div> He shot to stardom after Cincinnati's King Records signed his group, the Gospel Starlighters, to a record deal in 1956 and four months later their hit "Please, Please, Please" was in the R&B top ten.</div> <bR> <div> But later on in his career, Brown ran into troubles with the law. He was arrested several times in the 1980s and 1990s and was charged with drug and weapons possession.</div> <bR> <div> His wife, Adrienne Brown, died in 1996 in Los Angeles at age 47 after she took the drug PCP and several prescription drugs while suffering from a bad heart.</div> <bR> <div> More recently, Brown married his fourth wife, Tomi Raye Hynie, who was one of his backup singers. The couple had a son, James Jr.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff<I> with files from The Associated Press</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="shuttle_s_landing_ends_big_year_for_nasa"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 183 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Shuttle's landing ends big year for NASA</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. Dec. 24  2006  12:08 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  24th, 2006</div> <div> <B>CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA began 2006 having flown only a single space shuttle mission since the Columbia disaster three years earlier. After Friday's landing of space shuttle Discovery and its seven astronauts, the U.S. space agency will end the year with three successful shuttle missions under its belt and the resumption of construction on the international space station.</B></div> <bR> <div> "Yes, this was a big year," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said after Discovery touched</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af9ea0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> A view of the nose and part of the crew cabin of space shuttle Discovery is shown during operations in Earth orbit. (NASA)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 513 WIDTH="707"><div> down. "Each and every time we do this, it is a minor miracle. It is the hardest thing that human being have yet learned how to do."</div> <bR> <div> Discovery safely returned to Earth after some last-minute suspense over which landing site to use, ending a smooth, 13-day mission during which the astronauts rewired the space station and delivered U.S. astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams to the orbiting outpost for a six-month stay.</div> <bR> <div> It was not until about an hour before the landing that NASA decided where to bring the shuttle home. There were showers over Florida, which forced NASA to bypass the first opportunity to land, and crosswinds at the usual back-up landing site, Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert.</div> <bR> <div> NASA was not thrilled about the next-best landing site, White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, where the weather looked good. Only once has a shuttle landed there, in 1982.</div> <bR> <div> Ultimately, NASA gave the go-ahead for a Florida landing when it appeared the rain would not reach Cape Canaveral. The shuttle came in through scattered clouds and touched down on a floodlit runway in the early evening darkness.</div> <bR> <div> "It's a thrill to have you in Florida," Mission Control said.</div> <bR> <div> After the shuttle rolled to a stop, ending its 5.3 million-mile journey, Discovery commander Mark Polansky said: "You have seven thrilled people right here. ... I think it's going to be a great holiday."</div> <bR> <div> Less than two hours after touching down, Polansky and four other crew members -- pilot William Oefelein, and mission specialists Robert Curbeam, Joan Higginbotham and Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang of the European Space Agency -- walked around the shuttle and inspected it under a light drizzle and blustery wind.</div> <bR> <div> Missing from the walk-around inspection were U.S. astronaut Nicholas Patrick and German astronaut Thomas Reiter of the European Space Agency, who came back from a six-month stay at the space station and felt the pull of gravity Friday for the first time since July.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 414 WIDTH="707"><div> "Nick was feeling slightly, just a bit woozy as well," Griffin said. "He's doing just fine."</div> <bR> <div> Discovery's crew made four spacewalks, installing a two-ton addition to the space station and switching the orbiting outpost from a temporary power source to a permanent one. The fourth spacewalk was an impromptu affair, added when NASA was unable to get an accordion-like solar array on the space station to fold up.</div> <bR> <div> Two spacewalkers tightened wires and nudged the panels, finally getting the 115-foot-long array to collapse into its compartment like a jack-in-the-box.</div> <bR> <div> "In a tough situation like this, they figured out what the problem was ... and continued with the rest of the construction," said former shuttle commander Eileen Collins, who now serves on a NASA advisory panel. "I'm really proud of the guys."</div> <bR> <div> Other than that, the mission was practically flawless.</div> <bR> <div> Curbeam took part in all four spacewalks, setting a record for the most in a single shuttle mission. Fuglesang, the first Swede in space, took three spacewalks.</div> <bR> <div> The rewiring job set the stage for two new major additions to the space station from Europe and Japan that will be installed over the next two years. Five shuttle flights to continue space station construction are scheduled for next year.</div> <bR> <div> "We've had a fantastic year," said Kirk Shireman, space station program deputy manager. "Next year is going to be bigger."</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff<I> with the Associated Press </I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="myriam_bedard_arrested_in_maryland_quebec_police"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 183 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Myriam Bedard arrested in Maryland: Quebec police</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Sat. Dec. 23  2006  02:20 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  23rd, 2006</div> <div> <B>Olympic biathlon champion Myriam Bedard, who was being sought for allegedly violating a child custody agreement with her ex-husband, has been arrested in Columbia, Maryland, Quebec City police said late Friday.</B></div> <bR> <div> U.S. Marshalls detained Bedard under an arrest warrant issued by Quebec City police on Dec. 8 after her former husband, Jean Pacquet, alleged she had taken their daughter out of the province without his permission.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af51a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Former Olympic champion Myriam Bedard is shown during an interview in Montreal, Tuesday, April 27, 2004. (CP/ Francois Roy)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 416 WIDTH="707"><div> Quebec City police spokeswoman Sandra Dion said Bedard's 12-year-old daughter, Maude, is in the custody of American social service authorities and is doing well. Extradition procedures are now underway.</div> <bR> <div> Bedard and her husband Nima Mazhari went to the United States in October.</div> <bR> <div> At the time they wrote letters to various public figures and officials, including the president of the International Olympic Committee, UN secretary general Kofi Annan and U.S. ambassador to Canada David Wilkins.</div> <bR> <div> The missives were part of their continuing battle against accusations that Mazhari, a painter and sculptor born in Iran, allegedly stole paintings from a Montreal artist.</div> <bR> <div> Mazhari, who is scheduled to stand trial next spring, has denied the accusations.</div> <bR> <div> Arguing they have been unjustly treated by the Canadian justice system, the couple wrote to Wilkins that they had decided to go to the United States in order to "continue our fight against Canadian bureaucratic terrorism."</div> <bR> <div> The warrant for Bedard's arrest was issued Dec. 8 after Pacquet filed a complaint. It alleges Bedard has refused to give Paquet access to their daughter since Oct. 3, the day after she left for the United States.</div> <bR> <div> Pacquet had been away coaching biathalon in Austria, but he said Maude had phoned and left a very short message. </div> <div> "She said she was still in Washington and she was doing fine."</div> <bR> <div> Police have not divulged any details regarding their investigation but have stressed there is no allegation of kidnapping.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 439 WIDTH="707"><div> The arrest warrant said Bedard's departure allegedly violates the terms of the shared-custody agreement of their daughter.</div> <bR> <div> It said Bedard is wanted on one count of abduction in contravention of a custody order.</div> <bR> <div> Earlier this year, Bedard said her life was turned upside down by her testimony into the sponsorship scandal.</div> <bR> <div> "I have a whole government machine against me,'' she said in an interview.</div> <bR> <div> "They made me pay because I spoke out.''</div> <bR> <div> Bedard's husband first came to public attention when she told a parliamentary committee that former prime minister Jean Chretien had decided not to send Canadian troops to Iraq based on Mazhari's advice.</div> <bR> <div> The committee was actually looking into the sponsorship scandal.</div> <bR> <div> Chretien's former chief of staff, Jean Pelletier, was fired as Via Rail chairman by former prime minister Paul Martin after Pelletier made belittling remarks about Bedard.</div> <bR> <div> The sporting hero and former railway staffer had levelled a series of damaging allegations about the operations of the rail company.</div> <bR> <div> A Federal Court judge later overturned the dismissal.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff<I> with files from The Canadian Press </I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="junior_que__hockey_players_arrested_over_sex_tape"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 130 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Junior Que. hockey players arrested over sex tape</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. Dec. 21  2006  23:06 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  22nd, 2006</div> <div> <B>Four junior hockey players from Quebec have been arrested after the disclosure of a videotape showing one of them having sex with his girlfriend.</B></div> <bR> <div> The woman, 18, confronted her boyfriend and demanded he give her the tape.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="af92a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 182 WIDTH="707"><div> "I was totally ashamed that friends would do that," she told CTV Montreal.</div> <bR> <div> Her father then took the tape to the Joliette police, and they discovered it included footage of a sordid, sex-and-booze initiation party in the team's locker room with other women.</div> <bR> <div> The players, aged 17 to 20, are members of the junior AAA L'Action of Joliette, northeast of Montreal.</div> <bR> <div> "They were drinking heavily and committing lewd sexual acts," alleged the girlfriend's father.</div> <bR> <div> Her lawyer, Alain Manseau, said the initiation scenes depicted highly degrading sexual acts and the use of feces.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 310 WIDTH="540"><div> "What you saw on that video is totally unacceptable," he said.</div> <bR> <div> Quebec provincial police spokeswoman Isabelle Gendron told The Canadian Press no complaint has been filed about the initiation.</div> <bR> <div> But Gendron added the investigation has also led to another young girl, 17, claiming that she was raped.</div> <bR> <div> "The cases are separate,'' Gendron told CP. "So the link between all those people is that they are members of the same organization (the hockey team)."</div> <bR> <div> Three of the arrested hockey players will return to court next March -- two will face charges of voyeurism and the third will face sexual assault charges.</div> <bR> <div> The Crown has yet to decide if the fourth person will be charged with producing juvenile pornography.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af93a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Alain Manseau says the initiation scenes depicted highly degrading sexual acts and the use of feces.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="af94a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Sociologist Jamie Bryshun</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 306 WIDTH="707"><div> In a further twist, the hockey team's initial reaction was to threaten the girlfriend's father with a lawsuit, complaining he had no permission to use the tape.</div> <bR> <div> Now, some players are just trying to downplay the incident.</div> <bR> <div> "It was just a regular initiation party. There was nothing illegal," said one player.</div> <bR> <div> But sociologist Jamie Bryshun said that even if initiation or hazing rituals don't break the law, they can still negatively affect the behaviour of players behind locker room doors.</div> <bR> <div> "They're mimicking a belief system that was used earlier in a type of hazing event," he said. "They're just taking it one step further."</div> <bR> <div> The team's president said he won't suspend any players until he reviews the tape, which is currently in the hands of the Quebec police.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff<I> with reports from CTV's Jed Kahane and Stephane Giroux and files from The Canadian Press</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="vancouver_island_bears_brunt_of_another_storm"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 157 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Vancouver Island bears brunt of another storm</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. Dec. 21  2006  09:43 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  21st, 2006</div> <div> <B>The latest windstorm to blow across the British Columbia coast has struck the hardest on Vancouver Island.</B></div> <bR> <div> From Victoria to Campbell River and on the Sechelt Peninsula, almost 20,000 homes were without power Thursday.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="af8aa0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Clean up continues</div> <div> in Stanley Park.</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 145 WIDTH="707"><div> Winds of 90 kilometres an hour were recorded in Victoria and eastern Vancouver Island while the island's west side had gusts of 120 km/h.</div> <bR> <div> BC Hydro is hoping to restore the power to residents by Thursday afternoon.</div> <bR> <div> The windstorm is the fourth of its kind in recent weeks to hammer the West Coast with near-hurricane force winds.</div> <bR> <div> On Wednesday, Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan surveyed the wreckage in Stanley Park caused by the last storm.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 183 WIDTH="540"><div> Sullivan looked visibly saddened by the devastation as work crews sawed through damaged trees and carted them away.</div> <bR> <div> "I think it's the equivalent of loading the stones from St. Peter's Basilica into a dump truck," he said.</div> <bR> <div> Elisha Moreno, a spokesperson for BC Hydro, said Wednesday that customers need to be prepared for further power outages.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af8ba0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Sam Sullivan says 'I think it's the equivalent of loading the stones from St. Peter's Basilica into a dump truck.'</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 484 WIDTH="707"><div> "Get your emergency kit ready," she told CTV Vancovuer.</div> <bR> <div> "One of the things we've noticed from the last few storms is that a lot of customers, even in urban areas, do not have an emergency kit."</div> <bR> <div> She said every resident should have 72-hours worth of food and water, a battery-powered radio, a non-cordless phone for emergency calls, and plenty of blankets, clothing and medication.</div> <bR> <div> BC Hydro crews are still working to restore power to the thousands of customers who remain in the dark on Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland, and the Northern Interior, after a monster storm knocked out electricity last Friday.</div> <bR> <div> That storm blacked out about 250,000 homes at its peak and brought down more than 1,000 trees in Vancouver's landmark Stanley Park.</div> <bR> <div> The park clean-up is expected to take months, as crews cut down damaged trees, haul away fallen branches and clear roads.</div> <bR> <div> Vancouver's Board of Parks and Recreation may consider using commercial logging trucks to help remove the trees and speed up the process.</div> <bR> <div> Stanley Park measures about 400 hectares and first opened to the public on Oct. 29, 1889. Perhaps its most unique feature is the 8.8-kilometre long Seawall, but the barrier was also damaged by the wind.</div> <bR> <div> Wind warnings continue Thursday for most of southwest B.C. but Environment Canada expects speeds to slow down by Friday. </div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff<I> with reports from CTV Vancouver and files from The Canadian Press</I> </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="bush_weighs_more_troops_for_iraq_larger_military"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 196 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Bush weighs more troops for Iraq, larger military</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. Dec. 20  2006  11:15 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  20th, 2006</div> <div> <B>U.S. President George Bush admitted Wednesday that insurgents have thwarted American efforts to establish security and stability in Iraq and that he planned to bolster an overstretched Army and Marines corps.</B></div> <bR> <div> At an end-of-the-year White House news conference, Bush told reporters he has asked Robert Gates, his new defence secretary, to report back to him as quickly as possible on plans to boost U.S. troop presence in Iraq.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af82a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> U.S. President Bush speaks from the Indian Treaty Room at the Eisenhower building in Washington on Wednesday. (AP / Ron Edmonds)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 302 WIDTH="707"><div> Bush began the question-and-answer session with reporters by conceding that things haven't gone well in Iraq, where more than 2,900 American soldiers have died in almost four years of war without quelling the insurgency.</div> <bR> <div> "The enemies of liberty ... carried out a deliberate strategy to foment sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shia," he said. "And over the course of the year they had success.</div> <bR> <div> "Their success hurt our efforts to help the Iraqis rebuild their country. They set back reconciliation and kept Iraq's unity government and our coalition from establishing security and stability throughout the country."</div> <bR> <div> A recently released bipartisan commission report described conditions in Iraq as grave and called for a change of strategy.</div> <bR> <div> The commission, named after former U.S. secretary of states James Baker and former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton, called for a phase out of the U.S. combat role by 2008, and rejected the idea of a short-term increase in the number of combat troops in Iraq.</div> <bR> <div> Bush sidestepped a question on whether he would order a so-called "surge" of troops in Iraq as a first step toward gaining control of the chaotic situation there.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 183 WIDTH="540"><div> "Nice try," he told a reporter who asked about his plans.</div> <bR> <div> Bush also said the U.S. supports the creation of a unity government in Iraq; and he will "ask more of our Iraqi partners'' in 2007.</div> <bR> <div> The president also explained today a striking shift in position -- his statement Tuesday that the U.S. is neither winning nor losing in Iraq -- which contrasted with his insistence at a news conference recently that the U.S. was "absolutely winning" the war.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af83a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> U.S. Gen. John Abizaid welcomes new U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates as he arrives in Baghdad, Iraq on Wednesday.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 531 WIDTH="707"><div> Bush said his earlier comments were meant to say: "I believe that we're going to win, I believe that ... My comments yesterday reflected the fact that we're not succeeding nearly as fast as I had wanted.''</div> <bR> <div> <B>Gates in Iraq</B></div> <div> Earlier today, Bush's new defence secretary made an unannounced trip to Baghdad, armed with a mandate from the president to help forge a new war strategy in Iraq.</div> <bR> <div> The visit by Gates, a 63-year-old former CIA director, comes just two days after he formally succeeded Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. Gates met American troops and received a first-hand assessment of the war from U.S. commanders.</div> <bR> <div> "We discussed the obvious things," Gates told reporters after meeting with top U.S. generals, including army Gen. John Abizaid, commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East; Gen. George Casey, the top commander in Iraq; and army Lt.-Gen. Ray Odierno, in charge of day-to-day operations in Iraq.</div> <bR> <div> "We discussed the possibility of a surge and the potential for what it might accomplish," Gates said, without elaborating further.</div> <bR> <div> Several top American generals, including Abizaid and Casey, have raised questions about the value of sending thousands of extra troops into Iraq. They have expressed concern that even a short-term troop increase might only serve to bring a temporary respite to the violence.</div> <bR> <div> Gates' trip, so soon after taking office, underscored the Bush administration's effort to be seen as seeking a new path in the increasingly unpopular, costly and chaotic war.</div> <bR> <div> "The whole purpose is to go out, listen to the commanders, talk to the Iraqis, and see what I can learn," Gates told reporters as he boarded his aircraft in Washington on Tuesday.</div> <bR> <div> Bush told The Washington Post on Tuesday that he agrees with recent complaints by top generals that the forces have been stretched too thin by the worldwide campaign against terrorists. Bush used no figures, but said he was asking Gates to produce a plan for the expansion.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 587 WIDTH="707"><div> There are about 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, more than a third of who have combat duties.</div> <bR> <div> ABC's Terry McCarthy in Baghdad said the soldiers, even at the lower levels, are saying increasing their numbers isn't the answer to winning the war.</div> <bR> <div> "They want to see a change in their missions; they want to see more training of Iraqi troops," McCarthy told CTV Newsnet on Wednesday.</div> <bR> <div> "There's a great deal of frustration throughout the U.S. military about the slow pace of Iraqi troops taking over from American troops, which they put down to bad training and corruption."</div> <bR> <div> Gates' trip to Iraq comes as the Bush administration is under intense pressure from the U.S. Congress and the American public to sort through options for a war that has caused the deaths of more than 2,940 U.S. troops and cost more than US$300 billion.</div> <bR> <div> More than 3.5 years after the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, the conflict now involves insurgents and bloodshed between Sunnis and Shiites that seems on the brink of civil war.</div> <bR> <div> Shortly before Gates' arrival, the U.S. military in Iraq announced that a senior al Qaeda leader had been arrested in Mosul on Dec. 14 and that security responsibilities in Iraq's northern Najaf province were handed over to Iraqi forces earlier Wednesday. It wasn't clear whether the announcements were timed to coincide with Gates' visit.</div> <bR> <div> Gates was in Iraq earlier this year as a member of the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan commission that spent nine months assessing the situation in the country. The group produced recommendations that include phasing out most U.S. combat troops by early 2008, increasing military training for Iraqis and including Iran and Syria in regional efforts to end the violence.</div> <bR> <div> "Failure in Iraq at this juncture would be a calamity that would haunt our nation, impair our credibility, and endanger Americans for decades to come,'' said Gates when he was sworn in Monday.</div> <bR> <div> During the ceremony at the Pentagon, Bush said Gates will bring a "fresh perspective'' to the Defence Department, and will help the country forge a new way forward in Iraq.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff<I> with files from The Associated Press</I> </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="second_arrest_in_british_prostitute_slayings"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 200 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Second arrest in British prostitute slayings</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. Dec. 19  2006  06:57 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  19th, 2006</div> <div> <B>British police arrested a second man Tuesday in their ongoing investigation into the murders of five prostitutes in eastern England.</B></div> <bR> <div> A 48-year-old man was arrested at his home in Ipswich, located about 110 kilometres northeast of London, at around 5 a.m., Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull said Tuesday.</div> <bR> <div> Police searched the home, located in Ipswich's red-light district, and carried away a dark blue Ford Mondeo.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af79a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> A police car is parked at dawn outside the home of an arrested 37-year-old man in Trimley St Martin, east of Ipswich on Tuesday. (AP / Max Nash)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 107 WIDTH="707"><div> Neither suspect has been charged or officially identified by police.</div> <bR> <div> However, the 37-year-old man arrested Monday has been identified by the media as Tom Stephens.</div> <bR> <div> Stephens was arrested at his home in Trimley, about 13 kilometres southeast of Ipswich, where the victims were known to work.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 523 WIDTH="540"><div> "We have two suspects, maybe one of them is innocent, maybe they're both innocent or maybe they're working together," said CTV's London Bureau Chief Tom Kennedy.</div> <bR> <div> "Police said exactly the same thing about this (second) suspect as they said about Tom Stephens... that this was a suspect in the murder of all five women."</div> <bR> <div> Since Stephens has not been charged, the next step police take should give insight into the direction of the investigation.</div> <bR> <div> "They can only hold him until about 7 o'clock this evening British time," said Kennedy. "Then they either have to charge him, release him, or go before a judge and ask for permission to hold him for a longer period of time -- I expect it's going to be the latter."</div> <bR> <div> Over a 10-day span beginning Dec. 2, the naked bodies of the five victims were found in rural areas in and around Ipswich.</div> <bR> <div> Stephens spoke to a tabloid paper prior to his arrest and said that he could understand why he was a suspect.</div> <bR> <div> "From the police profiling it does look like me -- white male between 25 and 40, knows the area, works strange hours. The bodies have got close to my house,'' he told the Sunday Mirror newspaper.</div> <bR> <div> "If new information, coincidental information, crops up, I could get arrested,'' he said, adding that he was confident he would not be charged.</div> <bR> <div> Stephens told the newspaper that he turned to prostitutes after his eight-year marriage ended 18 months ago.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af7aa0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> A hooded forensics expert lifts a bag in London Road, Ipswich, England on Tuesday. (AP / Max Nash)</div> <div> <IMG SRC="af7ba0fa0.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Watched by a policeman, a hooded forensics expert supervises the loading of a car into a truck in London Road, Ipswich on Tuesday. (AP / Max Nash)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 306 WIDTH="707"><div> "He admitted (to the paper) that he knew all five women that had been murdered, he was friends with them," Kennedy said Monday.</div> <bR> <div> Earlier Monday, police postponed the coroner's inquests into the deaths of Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls.</div> <bR> <div> Clennell, 24, died of compression to her neck and Alderton, 24, was strangled, according to a senior pathologist. Post-mortem examinations of Nicol and Nicholls could not determine the cause of death.</div> <bR> <div> An inquest into the fifth victim, Gemma Adams, 25, also reached no conclusion about the cause of her death.</div> <bR> <div> To help solve the case, around 340 specialist investigators were brought in from across Britain to assist the 160 Suffolk officers.</div> <bR> <div> Police received more than 10,000 calls and from the public prior to Monday's arrest.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff<I> with files from The Associated Press</I> </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="man_held_in_murders_of_five_british_prostitutes"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 200 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Man held in murders of five British prostitutes</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. Dec. 18  2006  09:33 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  18th, 2006</div> <div> <B>British police have arrested a 37-year-old man on suspicion of murdering five prostitutes in eastern England, officials announced Monday.</B></div> <bR> <div> "He has been arrested on the suspicion of murdering all five women," Detective Chief Superintendent Stewart Gull said Monday.</div> <bR> <div> "The man is currently in custody at a police station in Suffolk where he will be questioned about the deaths later today."</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af6aa0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> A police forensic officer enters a house in Jubilee Close in Trimley, England where a 37-year-old man was arrested on Monday. (AP / Chris Radburn)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 691 WIDTH="540"><div> The suspect was arrested around 7:20 a.m. local time at his home in Trimley, about 13 kilometres southeast of Ipswich, where the victims were known to work.</div> <bR> <div> Over a 10-day span beginning Dec. 2, the naked bodies of the five victims were found in rural areas in and around Ipswich, located about 110 kilometres northeast of London.</div> <bR> <div> News reports have identified the man as Tom Stephens, who told a tabloid paper over the weekend that he could understand why he was a suspect.</div> <bR> <div> "From the police profiling it does look like me -- white male between 25 and 40, knows the area, works strange hours. The bodies have got close to my house,'' Stephens told the Sunday Mirror newspaper.</div> <bR> <div> "If new information, coincidental information, crops up, I could get arrested,'' he said, adding that he was confident he would not be charged.</div> <bR> <div> Stevens told the newspaper that he turned to prostitutes after his eight-year marriage ended 18 months ago.</div> <bR> <div> "He admitted (to the paper) that he knew all five women that had been murdered, he was friends with them," said CTV's London Bureau Chief Tom Kennedy on Monday.</div> <bR> <div> Kennedy said police were now conducting an exhaustive search of Stephens' home and car.</div> <bR> <div> "We do know they began looking at him even before the first body showed up," said Kennedy. "What led them to look at this person we don't know."</div> <bR> <div> Earlier Monday, police postponed the coroner's inquests into the deaths of Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell and Annette Nicholls.</div> <bR> <div> Clennell, 24, died of compression to her neck and Alderton, 24, was strangled, according to a senior pathologist. Post-mortem examinations of Nicol and Nicholls could not determined the cause of death.</div> <bR> <div> An inquest into the fifth victim, Gemma Adams, 25, also reached no conclusion about the cause of her death.</div> <bR> <div> <B>More details</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af6ba0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Police cordon off Jubilee Close in Trimley, England where a 37-year-old man was arrested at his home on Monday. (AP / Chris Radburn)</div> <div> <IMG SRC="af6ca0fa0.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Police cordon off Jubilee Close in Trimley, England on Monday. (AP / Chris Radburn)</div> <div> <IMG SRC="af6da0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Crime officers investigating the deaths of five women gather evidence from a caravan in woodland in Suffolk, England on Dec. 16, 2006. (AP / Andrew Parsons)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 397 WIDTH="707"><div> According to the U.K.'s Press Association, Stephens posted a variety of bizarre pictures on Internet blog site, MySpace. Stephens, using the nickname 'The Bishop', is seen posing with a can of custard powder and in front of a wall of stars.</div> <bR> <div> On the website, he lists that he enjoys "keeping fit", music "especially from the 80s" and the cartoon character, Hong Kong Phooey.</div> <bR> <div> He also confirms that he works as a "team leader" for Tesco, a supermarket chain.</div> <bR> <div> The killer has been nicknamed the "Suffolk Strangler" by the media, following an infamous history in Britain of killers that targeted prostitutes.</div> <bR> <div> The 19th century murderer "Jack the Ripper" was blamed for killing five prostitutes in east London in 1888 but was never apprehended.</div> <bR> <div> Peter Sutcliffe, known as the "Yorkshire Ripper", admitted in 1981 to killing 13 women, mostly prostitutes, in the 1970s.</div> <bR> <div> To help solve the case, around 340 specialist investigators were brought in from across Britain to assist the 160 Suffolk officers.</div> <bR> <div> Police received more than 10,000 calls and from the public prior to Monday's arrest.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="rescuers_resume_mt__hood_search_as_weather_clears"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 217 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Rescuers resume Mt. Hood search as weather clears</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. Dec. 17  2006  12:55 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  17th, 2006</div> <div> <B>Rescue crews comprised of experienced mountaineers expect to summit Mount Hood Sunday as they search for three climbers missing since last Sunday.</B></div> <bR> <div> Fierce weather conditions have seriously hindered the search for Kelly James, Brian Hall and Jerry "Nikko" Cooke over the past week.</div> <bR> <div> On Saturday a brief window of clear weather opened up and crews resumed searching the mountain, but were forced to call off the search when winds reaching 80 kilmetres per hour began kicking up fresh snow, limiting visibility.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af66a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Mount Hood is shown Saturday, Dec. 16, 2006, from Hood River, Ore. The weather broke Saturday which helped improved rescue possibilities for the three missing climbers. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 199 WIDTH="707"><div> However, during a news conference on Sunday morning, a rescue official told reporters the weather had finally turned, and the search was resuming at full strength.</div> <bR> <div> "This is what we want, this is it. It doesn't get much better than this," the official said.</div> <bR> <div> Avalanche conditions on the 3,625-metre mountain were considered to be extreme.</div> <bR> <div> Blackhawk helicopters were involved in the search, along with a C-130 aircraft carrying thermal imaging equipment, trying to find the climbers by detecting their body heat.</div> <bR> <div> The three men, all experienced climbers, set up the mountain on Dec. 7 on what was to be a two-day trip.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 210 WIDTH="540"><div> On Dec. 10, James called family members using his cell phone to say they were in trouble. He said that he had built a snow cave Hall, 37, and Cooke 36, headed back down for help. Rescuers now believe he may have stayed behind due to injury.</div> <bR> <div> Dwight Hall, father of Brian Hall, told reporters he had confidence in the climbers' abilities to come off the mountain alive. He described himself as an adoptive father to the two other climbers.</div> <bR> <div> "These men are fully capable both mentally and physically to cope with the situation, if you can call it that, that they find themselves in and to continue to cope with it and adjust as the situation evolves."</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af68a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Family members of the missing climbers hug and pray at the Hood River Airport before search helicopters take off Saturday morning. (AP / The Oregonian, Steven Nehl)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 219 WIDTH="707"><div> He said the rescue crews' efforts were "unparallel."</div> <bR> <div> "There's no reason to have anything less than high optimism for a successful outcome."</div> <bR> <div> James and Hall live in Dallas. Cooke lives in New York.</div> <bR> <div> Rescue officials said the men's' chances of surviving would be boosted if they took their "bivvy sack," cold weather sleeping bags with them when they attempted the descent.</div> <bR> <div> So far, rescuers have found no gear stashed on the mountain.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="opp_arrest_mchale_caledonia_protest_organizer"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 217 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>OPP arrest McHale, Caledonia protest organizer</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Sat. Dec. 16  2006  13:56 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  16th, 2006</div> <div> <B>Kevin McHale, the Richmond Hill, Ont. man who organized a demonstration at the site of an ongoing aboriginal occupation, was arrested Saturday as he made his way to the disputed property.</B></div> <bR> <div> McHale was arrested, along with Mark Vandermaas of London, by the Ontario Provincial Police as they approached the property waving Canadian flags.</div> <bR> <div> CTV's Joel Bowey said the men intended to post the Canadian flag across the street from where aboriginal flags are currently flying.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af61a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Gary McHale leads the way as several hundred demonstrators march on a housing development site in October. The site was occupied by First Nations earlier in 2006. (CP / Nathan Denette)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 741 WIDTH="707"><div> "The OPP set up a line just about a hundred yards away from that site and several people were able to cross that line. They got through a farmer's field on far left side of where I'm standing here," Bowey told CTV Newsnet.</div> <bR> <div> "Mr. McHale got in the middle of the street and put a flag down there, and that's when he and the other man from London, Ont. were arrested. So far all we know is that those two men have been arrested and no other arrests at this point."</div> <bR> <div> Vandermaas was reportedly forced to the ground by police, and the flag was ripped out of his hands when he crossed the police line.</div> <bR> <div> The OPP said the men were arrested on charges of breaking the peace.</div> <bR> <div> Bowey said the site was relatively peaceful, beyond some yelling and shoving that took place.</div> <bR> <div> The rally was condemned by many who said it had the potential to reignite tensions between the native protesters, non-native community residents and police.</div> <bR> <div> The natives have occupied the housing development for 10 months, and have been negotiating with the province to end the dispute.</div> <bR> <div> McHale held an earlier rally in October that turned into a two-hour standoff after protesters tried to storm the disputed property.</div> <bR> <div> He appeared on CTV Newsnet Saturday morning before the planned Saturday demonstration.</div> <bR> <div> He alleged that police are discriminating by turning a blind eye to aboriginals who break the law at the site, but not to non-native protesters.</div> <bR> <div> "When a native commits a serious crime or any crime, they stand by and watch the crime take place and will not do anything to stop the crime. When a resident does the simplest thing, even putting up a Canadian flag or drinking a coffee in a lawn chair across some magic line, they will send in scores of officers to arrest the person," he said.</div> <bR> <div> "We have to take a stand and say to police forces that there is one set of laws for all citizens."</div> <bR> <div> He told Newsnet he intends to continue drawing attention to the perceived inequity.</div> <bR> <div> When asked why he, a resident of Richmond Hill, had involved himself in the Caledonia dispute, he said people in the area are living in fear of intimidation and are not in a position to speak out.</div> <bR> <div> However, many in the area, including the mayor of Caledonia, have said his actions are counter-productive.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="canadian_scientists_reverse_diabetes_in_mice"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 130 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Canadian scientists reverse diabetes in mice</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. Dec. 15  2006  08:04 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  15th, 2006</div> <div> <B>Researchers working on a "breakthrough" discovery that identifies the role of pain nerves in the cells that produce insulin have prevented and reversed diabetes in mice.</B></div> <bR> <div> The work "led us to fundamentally new insights into the mechanisms of this disease," Dr. </div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="af5a9f780.jpg" border=0 width="159" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 194 WIDTH="707"><div> Michael Salter, co-principal investigator, said in a release Thursday that characterized the findings as a breakthrough.</div> <bR> <div> Researchers concluded that the pain receptors don't secrete enough neuropeptides — chemical elements found in the brain — to keep the pancreatic islets, which produce insulin, working normally. Without insulin, humans die, and even the current replacement therapies cannot prevent side effects, such as heart attack, blindness, stroke, loss of limbs and kidney failure.</div> <bR> <div> But by supplying neuropeptides to diabetes-prone mice, "the research group learned how to treat the abnormality … and even reversed established diabetes," without bad side effects, the release said.</div> <bR> <div> "The major discovery was that removal of sensory neurons expressing the receptor TRPV1 neurons in NOD (non-obese diabetic) mice prevented islet cell inflammation and diabetes in most animals," Salter said.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 297 WIDTH="707"><div> <B>Reduced insulin resistance</B></div> <bR> <div> The islet inflammation cleared up in a day in NOD mice injected with neuropeptide substance P, and reduced the elevated insulin resistance normally associated with diabetes. "The two effects synergized to reverse diabetes without severely toxic immunosuppression," the release said.</div> <bR> <div> Researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children had been tracking the links between diabetes and the nervous system, when they found an unsuspected control circuit between the islets that produce insulin and the associated pain nerves. The circuit keeps the islets operating normally.</div> <bR> <div> "We started to look at nervous system elements that seemed to play a role in Type 1 diabetes and found that specific sensory neurons are critical for islet immune attack in the pancreas," said Dr. Hans Michael Disc, the principal investigator. "These nerves secrete insufficient neuropeptides which sustain normal islet function, creating a vicious circle of progressive islet stress."</div> <bR> <div> Both Salter and Dosch are senior scientists at the Hospital for Sick Children and professors at the University of Toronto. Other researchers on the project came from the University of Calgary and the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 376 WIDTH="707"><div> <B>Study extended to Type 2 diabetes</B></div> <bR> <div> The researchers had been studying Type 1 diabetes, where the islets stop producing insulin. But they have extended their studies to the much more common Type 2 (obesity-associated) diabetes, where they believe there is strong evidence that treating the islet-sensory nerve circuits can normalize insulin resistance.</div> <bR> <div> "This discovery opens up an entirely new field of investigations in Type 1 and possibly Type 2 diabetes, as well as tissue selective autoimmunity in general," said Dr. Pere Santamaria, study collaborator and a professor at the University of Calgary.</div> <bR> <div> "We have created a better understanding of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, with new therapeutic targets and approaches derived for both diseases."</div> <bR> <div> The researchers are now working to extend the studies to humans.</div> <bR> <div> Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder that affects more than 200,000 Canadians. Type 1 usually means the body produces no insulin, a hormone necessary to use sugars in the body. It is treated with insulin injections.</div> <bR> <div> Type 2, affecting more than 1.8 million Canadians, occurs when the body either does not make enough insulin or makes it but cannot use it properly. It can often be controlled through diet. About 60,000 new cases are diagnosed each year.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CBC News Staff </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="warrant_issued_for_ex_olympic_champion_bedard"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 184 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Warrant issued for ex-Olympic champion Bedard</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. Dec. 14  2006  08:19 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  14th, 2006</div> <div> <B>An arrest warrant has been issued for former Olympic biathlon champion Myriam Bedard, who is wanted by police for alleged parental abduction.</B></div> <bR> <div> Quebec City police spokeswoman Sandra Dion has confirmed that the 11-year-old's father, Jean Paquet, formally filed a complaint with police Dec. 5.</div> <bR> <div> The warrant alleges Bedard has refused to give Paquet any access to their daughter since</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af51a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Former Olympic champion Myriam Bedard is shown during an interview in Montreal, Tuesday, April 27, 2004. (CP/ Francois Roy)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 145 WIDTH="707"><div> Oct. 3, the day after the couple left for the United States.</div> <bR> <div> The document says her departure allegedly violates the terms of their shared custody of their 11-year-old daughter.</div> <bR> <div> It says Bedard is wanted on one count of abduction in contravention of a custody order.</div> <bR> <div> It's not confirmed where Bedard, her daughter, and current husband Nima Mazhari are living, but it's believed they may be in the U.S.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 339 WIDTH="540"><div> Last month, police confirmed that an investigation was underway but stressed there was no allegation of kidnapping.</div> <bR> <div> Bedard, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, and Mazhari went to the United States last fall.</div> <bR> <div> They wrote letters to various public figures and officials, including the president of the International Olympic Committee, UN secretary general Kofi Annan and U.S. ambassador to Canada David Wilkins.</div> <bR> <div> The missives were part of their continuing battle against accusations that Mazhari, a painter and sculptor born in Iran, allegedly stole paintings from a Montreal artist.</div> <bR> <div> Mazhari, who is scheduled to stand trial next spring, has denied the accusation.</div> <bR> <div> Mazhari and Bedard have argued they were unjustly treated in the Canadian justice system.</div> <bR> <div> "In order to continue our fight against Canadian bureaucratic terrorism and in the meantime defending and protecting ourselves we have decided to go to the United States," they wrote to Wilkins.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af52a0fa0.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="250" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Myriam Bedard and her daughter, Maude walk to the finish line in Valcartier, north of Quebec city, in this March 5, 1999 file photo. (CP / Clement Allard)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 344 WIDTH="707"><div> Earlier this year, Bedard said her life was turned upside down by her testimony into the sponsorship scandal.</div> <bR> <div> "I have a whole a government machine against me,'' she said in an interview.</div> <bR> <div> "They made me pay because I spoke out.''</div> <bR> <div> Bedard's husband first came to public attention when she told a parliamentary committee looking into the sponsorship scandal that former prime minister Jean Chretien had decided not to send Canadian troops to Iraq based on Mazhari's advice.</div> <bR> <div> Chretien's former chief of staff, Jean Pelletier, was fired as Via Rail chairman by former prime minister Paul Martin after Pelletier made belittling remarks about Bedard.</div> <bR> <div> The sporting hero and former railway staffer had levelled a series of damaging allegations about the operations of the rail company.</div> <bR> <div> A Federal Court judge later overturned the dismissal.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff <I>with files from The Canadian Press</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="afghan_accidentally_killed_by_canadian_troops"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 130 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Afghan accidentally killed by Canadian troops</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. Dec. 13  2006  09:10 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  13th, 2006</div> <div> <B>Canadian troops in Kandahar city accidentally killed an Afghan civilian who refused to stop when approaching a security cordon, NATO said Tuesday.</B></div> <bR> <div> There are reports that the man who was killed was distinguished religious figure in Kandahar.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="af45a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 554 WIDTH="707"><div> "What is known for sure is that he had at, one point at least, been a member of a religious consultative body that was advising the Afghanistan government on how to deal with the insurgency and the Taliban in this region," CTV's Murray Oliver reported from Kandahar.</div> <bR> <div> NATO said the motorcyclist was travelling at high speed when he approached a security cordon near where Afghan President Hamid Karzai was meeting with senior Canadian officials, including Canadian ambassador David Sproule.</div> <bR> <div> Speculation is that the man was well known enough by Afghan officials that he was passed through, Oliver said.</div> <bR> <div> But it was when he reached the inner security cordon that he was warned to keep away.</div> <bR> <div> Despite verbal warnings, the motorcyclist refused to stop.</div> <bR> <div> "A Canadian soldier challenged him to stop, he apparently didn't understand the order -- at least this is the way the story goes. The Canadian soldier, according to the Canadian army, filed a single warning shot into the ground, that shot ricocheted and then hit the man on the motorcycle," Oliver said.</div> <bR> <div> Afghan National Police officers were on the scene to immediately transport the casualty to the local hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.</div> <bR> <div> A statement from NATO's International Security Assistance Force says the loss of life was regrettable and it was unclear why the motorcyclist refused to heed the warning.</div> <bR> <div> "It is not known why the motorcyclist failed to stop when clear signals were given, and a full and thorough investigation has commenced," says the statement from the ISAF.</div> <bR> <div> The Canadian military has said it believes the soldier who fired the shot followed all the reasonable rules of engagement, Oliver reported.</div> <bR> <div> NATO spokesman Mark Laity told The Associated Press on Wednesday that troops take extra measures to minimize the risk to civilians.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 488 WIDTH="707"><div> "When something does happen -- and it does I'm afraid -- we are not only upset, we do not only apologize, we investigate to see what steps we can take to minimize the risk in the future,'' he said.</div> <bR> <div> The death came as Karzai met Western diplomats to discuss how to prevent civilian casualties in military operations.</div> <bR> <div> The presence of Karzai put the troops on heightened alert, Oliver said.</div> <bR> <div> "Kandahar was of course once the centre of Taliban resistance and remains a Taliban hotbed ...so for sure there was a lot of tension at this gathering," he said.</div> <bR> <div> Afghan anger has been fuelled by a series of civilian deaths during NATO fighting with the Taliban and in the aftermath of suicide bombings.</div> <bR> <div> "We are rightly angered by it and worried by it,'' Karzai said Tuesday.</div> <bR> <div> "NATO is also worried by it, and is working with us to reduce such casualties.''</div> <bR> <div> NATO on Tuesday said four militants and a teenage girl were killed during an early morning raid by Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces in the eastern province of Khost.</div> <bR> <div> But a police official on Wednesday disputed that account, saying only civilians in the home were targeted. The official asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.</div> <bR> <div> Forty-four Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed since the Afghan mission began in 2002, the majority of those casualties this year.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="engineered_cells_could_cure_rare_heart_disease"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 125 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Engineered cells could cure rare heart disease</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. Dec. 11  2006  23:03 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  12th, 2006</div> <div> <B>Toronto researchers say they have developed a promising new experimental gene and cell therapy for a rare, devastating cardiovascular disease that predominantly affects young women.</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="af3ba0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 178 WIDTH="707"><div> It's the first therapy of this kind in the world for a disease called pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) -- a condition in which the arteries that carry blood from the heart to the lungs become progressively blocked, weakening the heart until the patient eventually suffers severe cardiac arrest.</div> <bR> <div> There are about 500 new cases each year in Canada, and no cure.</div> <bR> <div> Although there are drug treatments available, the vast majority of patients will die within five years of diagnosis.</div> <bR> <div> "In a nutshell, (the patients) don't have enough blood vessels in the lungs," lead researcher Dr. Duncan Stewart told CTV News.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 506 WIDTH="540"><div> "What has happened for reasons we don't fully understand is they've lost, particularly, the small, most fragile blood vessels."</div> <bR> <div> Stewart and his team of researchers at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital developed a way to inject genetically engineered, stem-like cells -- called endothelial progenitor cells (or EPCs) -- into the lungs.</div> <bR> <div> EPCs are essentially adult stem cells which are created in the bone marrow and that circulate in our blood. Doctors then add a gene called eNOS, which produces nitric oxide (NO), a powerful vasodilator that plays a key role in the growth and repair of blood vessels.</div> <bR> <div> Then, the genetically engineered EPC cells are injected through a vein in the neck and into the patient's heart, where they filter into the lungs. There, researchers believe they will trigger blood vessels to repair and regrow.</div> <div> Animal studies suggest these souped-up cells boost the regenerative power by 10 to 100 times normal.</div> <bR> <div> Since the cells come from the patient, they won't be rejected, which is why some consider it as potentially the ultimate form of self-healing.</div> <bR> <div> "It's the first time that there's been any such therapy for this disease," said Stewart.</div> <bR> <div> "This is a very difficult disease to manage, it belongs to what we call orphan diseases because it's not a very common disease -- therefore there hasn't been as much interest in terms of the private sector developing treatments."</div> <bR> <div> Stewart says even a modest effect in a patient with pulmonary hypertension could have a dramatic impact on the blood pressure in the lungs.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af3ca0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Lead researcher Dr. Duncan Stewart.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="af3da0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Page is the first patient with pulmonary hypertension in the world to test what could become a revolutionary treatment.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="af3ea0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Dr. John Granton, head of the critical care medicine program at the University of Toronto.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 652 WIDTH="707"><div> His team calculates that about 75 to 80 per cent of the lung vessels are lost by the time someone develops symptoms of pulmonary hypertension.</div> <bR> <div> "If we can even open up five per cent of the circulation that would have a huge effect on the lungs," said Stewart.</div> <bR> <div> <B>The first patient</B></div> <div> Junne Page is the first patient with pulmonary hypertension in the world to test what could become a revolutionary treatment. A month ago, doctors gave her an injection of her own blood cells.</div> <bR> <div> There's no sign yet if it is working, but Page said she is honoured to be part of this trial.</div> <bR> <div> "I hope they will achieve something through this research that will help others if not me," she said.</div> <bR> <div> "Someone's got to be the first and in a way I feel sort of privileged to be into this research because it is very exciting."</div> <bR> <div> Early tests on animals have shown promising results, with evidence that Stewart's cell therapy stopped and actually reversed the progression of the disease.</div> <bR> <div> Stewart's efforts have caught the attention of physicians around the world.</div> <bR> <div> Dr. Robert Levy, head of the division of Respirology at St. Paul's Hospital in British Columbia, called Stewart's work "exciting and highly innovative."</div> <bR> <div> It's a "great example of 'translational research' -- applying basic science discoveries in the clinical arena. And this for a devastating disease we have very few (and largely unsatisfactory) treatment options for," he told CTV News in an email.</div> <bR> <div> Stewart's experiment is triggering excitement that his technique could be used to treat other forms of heart disease -- even cancer.</div> <bR> <div> "The imagination begins to explode, which is I think the real exciting aspect of this," Dr. John Granton, head of the critical care medicine program at the University of Toronto, told CTV News.</div> <bR> <div> Doctors plan to test the therapy on 18 patients over the next year-and-a-half, hoping that cells don't migrate to other parts of the body or that they don't trigger any unwanted side effects.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff <I>with a report Avis Favaro and Elizabeth St. Philip, CTV News Medical</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="elderly_gay_catholic_couple_denied_communion"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 163 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Elderly gay Catholic couple denied communion</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. Dec. 10  2006  23:32 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  11th, 2006</div> <div> <B>As MPs voted against a motion to restore the traditional definition of marriage in Ottawa this week, a religious gay rights battle was shaping up in Nova Scotia.</B></div> <bR> <div> After life-long Roman Catholics Daniel Poirier and Jack Murphy announced their nuptials in a newspaper, they said they were told that they can't receive communion unless they agree to remain celibate.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="af34a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Daniel Poirier (left)</div> <div> and Jack Murphy.</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 161 WIDTH="707"><div> The men, both 69 and parishioners of Stella Maris church in Meteghan Centre, say they're being forced to choose between their religion and their marriage.</div> <bR> <div> Communion wafers are considered the body and blood of Christ. To Catholics, receiving communion is one of the faith's most sacred rituals.</div> <bR> <div> "Jesus reached out to the marginalized. He never would have denied communion to us," Poirier told CTV on Sunday.</div> <bR> <div> But their church has told them their marriage amounted to a public scandal.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 255 WIDTH="540"><div> "We can't receive communion," said Murphy. Nor can they act in any leadership roles at all, even perform readings, in the church.</div> <bR> <div> Their trouble started when their wedding announcement caught the eye of Archbishop Terrence Prendergast. He is head of the Halifax archdiocese and administrator of the Yarmouth diocese, which includes Meteghan.</div> <bR> <div> As long as their marriage was kept quiet, Poirier said, they may have continued to receive communion.</div> <bR> <div> "I don't think he would have denied us communion if we had not gone public with a picture, as every heterosexual couple can do when they put their marriage picture in the paper," said Poirier.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af35a0dc0.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="220" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Poirier and Murphy announced their nuptials in the newspaper.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 381 WIDTH="707"><div> The announcement, according to the church, went too far. A spokesperson for the archdiocese of Halifax issued a statement that said: "Those who make public announcements that they are living in a manner completely contrary to the teaching of the Church cannot expect to receive Holy Communion."</div> <bR> <div> After meeting with Prendergast to argue their case, the couple received a letter telling them they could receive communion only if they remained celibate.</div> <bR> <div> "The curse of the Catholic church is that they feel so infallible," said Poirier.</div> <bR> <div> Although the teachings of the church on sexual matters are clear and unequivocal, some parishioners are having doubts.</div> <bR> <div> "Maybe they should reconsider," said one sympathetic parishioner. "I think they should be receiving communion."</div> <bR> <div> Earlier this year, 19 priests in Quebec signed an open letter condemning the church's position on homosexuality.</div> <bR> <div> "Gays and lesbians are welcome because they belong to Jesus Christ no less, no more than I do," said Father John Walsh.</div> <bR> <div> Although they still consider themselves to be Roman Catholic, the couple have joined the Deacon United Church in Yarmouth for now. But they said they hope their church will some day welcome them back.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff <I>with a report from CTV's John Vennavally-Rao</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="arar_witnesses__too_busy__for_questioning_mp"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 163 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Arar witnesses 'too busy' for questioning: MP</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. Dec. 10  2006  14:24 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  10th, 2006</div> <div> <B>Liberal MP Mark Holland, co-chair of the all-party public safety committee that has delved into the case of Maher Arar, says two people who had key public safety roles have declined to appear for questioning.</B></div> <bR> <div> Margaret Bloodworth, the former deputy minister of public safety, and the Associate Deputy Minister of Public Safety William Elliott, who was also Paul Martin's national security adviser,</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af2ea0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Mark Holland, co-chair of the all-party public safety committee.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 302 WIDTH="707"><div> were asked to appear before the parliamentary committee this week. Holland said they declined, saying they were too busy.</div> <bR> <div> "We had called for the national security advisor to the prime minister and Minister Day's deputy minister ... so we could question them about what they knew and when they knew it, and suddenly we've just learned they're too busy, they're too busy to go before our committee," Holland said during an interview that appeared Sunday on CTV's <I>Question Period.</I></div> <bR> <div> "Now we have deputy officials and the security advisor who despite this file being as large and important as it is are saying they're simply too busy to talk to our committee."</div> <bR> <div> Holland wouldn't go so far as to say they were told by the government not to show up, but said the decision is suspicious and questionable.</div> <bR> <div> "There are important questions that have to be answered and the fact they're not making themselves available is simply unacceptable."</div> <bR> <div> Holland has been demanding tough answers from Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day about how Maher Arar's case was handled by the RCMP, prompting Day to describe him as a "Perry Mason on steroids."</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 179 WIDTH="540"><div> RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli stepped down from his position this week after contradicting himself on what he knew -- and when he knew it -- about Arar's deportation to Syria by U.S. authorities, who reportedly acted partly on the basis of false information provided by the RCMP.</div> <bR> <div> In Syria, Arar was detained and tortured into falsely confessing he had links to al Qaeda.</div> <bR> <div> When asked in the House of Commons, Day said he needed time to think about whether Zaccardelli still had the confidence of the government.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="af2fa0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Public Safety Minister</div> <div> Stockwell Day.</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 575 WIDTH="707"><div> Shortly afterwards, Zaccardelli resigned from his post.</div> <bR> <div> Holland said he is afraid misdeeds within the RCMP will be forgotten now that Zaccardelli has resigned, and said he will be pushing for witnesses to appear before the committee, which he co-chairs, in early January.</div> <bR> <div> The House will likely break for the holidays on Wednesday, and is not scheduled to return until Jan. 29.</div> <bR> <div> "My biggest fear is that we say ok, the commissioner is gone, this thing is done. It most certainly is not done."</div> <bR> <div> Stockwell Day also appeared on <I>Question Period</I> on Sunday, though he didn't address Holland's allegations that the government put pressure on the witnesses not to show up at the hearing.</div> <bR> <div> Day said he didn't pressure Zaccardelli to resign -- one of the questions Holland put to him when he appeared before the committee.</div> <bR> <div> "When the commissioner wanted to address what he said were some inconsistencies, that was a point of interest for sure. And then when we saw the nature of those contradictions, that gave considerable pause, and that's why I said, and the prime minister said, that we wanted some time to look at those contradictions," Day said.</div> <bR> <div> "And it was in those ensuing days of last week that the commissioner made his decision to resign."</div> <bR> <div> Day said Zaccardelli's replacement will be chosen carefully. He said he has told members of the standing committee on public safety that he is open to their suggestions, and will give weight to the soon-to-be-released second half of Justice Dennis O'Connor's report on the Arar affair, and his recommendations on implementing oversight measures for the RCMP.</div> <bR> <div> "We are going to do this carefully," Day said.</div> <bR> <div> "It won't be a long time but we want to do it the right way, one that continues the confidence that Canadians have -- and Canadians still do have great confidence and it's well-founded in the RCMP because those men and women are doing a great job."</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="family_of_murder_victim_say_system_failed_them"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 200 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Family of murder victim say system failed them</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Sat. Dec. 09  2006  12:44 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  9th, 2006</div> <div> <B>An Alberta man has been set free after the court ruled police mishandled his arrest on murder charges.</B></div> <bR> <div> Stanley Willier, 50, was arrested after Brenda Moreside's body was found on Feb. 25, 2005, 12 days after she was stabbed to death in her own home.</div> <bR> <div> Moreside had called the RCMP on the night she was stabbed, complaining that her common-law husband was drunk and was attempting to break into their home in High Prairie, Alberta.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af21a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Brenda Moreside's body was found on Feb. 25, 12 days after she was stabbed to death in her own home.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 70 WIDTH="707"><div> But according to a leaked RCMP memo, police didn't respond to the call, telling her Willier couldn't be arrested for breaking into his own home.</div> <bR> <div> Police eventually admitted to making a mistake.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 337 WIDTH="540"><div> Now a second error means Moreside's accused killer is a free man.</div> <bR> <div> After he was arrested, Willier told police "...I don't know how I ended up with the knife..." adding, "I didn't even know that...I used the knife until the next morning when I went and checked her out."</div> <bR> <div> However, a judge threw out that statement -- which was key to the prosecution's case -- ruling that police didn't respect his Charter rights.</div> <bR> <div> Willier was arrested in Edmonton, then brought to the Sherwood Park RCMP detachment, where he asked to speak to Peter Royal, a prominent Edmonton lawyer.</div> <bR> <div> However, it was early on a Sunday morning, and police were unable to reach Royal. Instead, they gave him the toll-free number for Legal Aid. Willier made the call, and had about a one-minute conversation with someone on the other end.</div> <bR> <div> Willier's lawyer Lauren Garcia argued police didn't go far enough to ensure he was entitled to his rights and was allowed to speak to a lawyer before he made the statement to police.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af22a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 'The system, it seems, is failing us one step after another,' Craig Flaata told CTV Edmonton.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="af23a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> 'I blame everybody, really in my mom's case I blame everybody,' Cythia Flaata said.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 327 WIDTH="707"><div> "Particularly when you are in the custody of the state and in their control, you have rights and those rights are guaranteed by the charter," she said.</div> <bR> <div> The judge agreed, ruling that the statement couldn't be used in court. Without it, the Crown didn't feel it had enough for a conviction.</div> <bR> <div> The RCMP says it won't speak to the specifics of the decision until the appeal process is complete.</div> <bR> <div> "Because there's two aspects to that. One is the interference with the administration of justice. The other is the appearance in interference and we want to avoid both counts," Cpl. Wayne Oakes told CTV Edmonton.</div> <bR> <div> Moreside's children, Craig and Cythia Flaata, are upset.</div> <bR> <div> "The system, it seems, is failing us one step after another," Craig told CTV Edmonton.</div> <bR> <div> His sister agreed: "I blame everybody, really in my mom's case I blame everybody," she said.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="harper_declares_same_sex_marriage_issue_closed"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 217 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Harper declares same-sex marriage issue closed</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. Dec. 07  2006  23:21 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  8th, 2006</div> <div> <B>Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he will respect today's vote against revisiting debate on same-sex marriage, and considers the matter closed.</B></div> <bR> <div> MPs voted 175-123 on Thursday against a Conservative motion calling for the government to introduce legislation restoring the traditional definition of marriage.</div> <bR> <div> "We made a promise to have a free vote on this issue, we kept that promise, and obviously the vote was decisive and obviously we'll accept the democratic result of the people's representatives," said Harper. "I don't see reopening this question in the future."</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af15a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Members of Carleton University Students' Association rally against reopening the equal marriage debate on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006. (CP / Jonathan Hayward)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 178 WIDTH="707"><div> Conservative House Leader Rob Nicholson said he was disappointed with the result of the vote, but that it was still a healthy exercise in democracy.</div> <bR> <div> "I support the traditional definition of marriage and I always have," he said.</div> <bR> <div> He also said the government has "no plans" to introduce a defence of religions act, to protect religious institutions from being forced to marry same-sex couples.</div> <bR> <div> Critics say such an act would be redundant since those rights are already protected under the Charter of Rights of Freedoms.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 406 WIDTH="540"><div> CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife said Harper knew Thursday's motion wouldn't pass.</div> <bR> <div> "In fact, the resolution -- even if it did pass -- would have had no force of law," he said.</div> <bR> <div> "If Mr. Harper was serious about outlawing same-sex marriage, he would have put in a resolution to invoke the notwithstanding clause to override the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and he wasn't willing to pay that political price."</div> <bR> <div> New Democratic MP Bill Siksay told CTV's <I>Mike Duffy Live</I> he's glad the debate is finally over.</div> <bR> <div> "As a gay man, I'm getting tired of constantly having to debate whether or not I'm an equal participant in Canadian society," he said.</div> <bR> <div> "This debate has lasted 32 years, when you consider the first time a gay couple tried to get a marriage license in Canada. That's a long time to be working on this."</div> <bR> <div> Most Tories voted in favour of Thursday's motion, along with 13 Liberals. Another 13 Conservatives voted against it, joining all present NDP and Bloc Quebecois MPs, and the majority of Liberals.</div> <bR> <div> Conservatives who opposed the motion included Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice and James Moore.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af16a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Prime Minister Stephen Harper is silhouetted against a window in the House of Commons in Ottawa Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006. (CP / Tom Hanson)</div> <div> <IMG SRC="af17a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Opposition leader Stephane Dion votes in the House of Commons in Ottawa Thursday Dec. 7, 2006 against the government motion to reopen same sex marriage legislation. (CP / Tom Hanson)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 638 WIDTH="707"><div> Liberals who voted in favour of the motion included Dan McTeague and John McKay, who had urged Liberal Leader Stephane Dion to allow a free vote.</div> <bR> <div> The Conservative government motion called on the government ''to introduce legislation to restore the traditional definition of marriage without affecting civil unions and while respecting existing same-sex marriages.''</div> <bR> <div> Canada was the fourth country, after the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, to legalize homosexual marriage.</div> <bR> <div> In 2005, MPs passed a law legalizing same-sex unions in the wake of court rulings that said barring gay couples from marriage was unconstitutional.</div> <bR> <div> More than 12,000 gay couples across Canada have already wed.</div> <bR> <div> The vote was held one day after MPs debated the divisive motion late into the night.</div> <bR> <div> Nicholson launched Wednesday's debate in defence of his government's position.</div> <bR> <div> "This is completely consistent with what we told the Canadian people we would do," he said. "We're fulfilling that promise."</div> <bR> <div> Former Liberal cabinet minister Bill Graham dismissed the motion as a shoddy ''smoke screen" meant to sow political division.</div> <bR> <div> ''It's a manoeuvre designed to divide the House and the nation on an issue that's been decided.''</div> <bR> <div> Graham said the only way for the government to restore the traditional definition is to use the Constitution's notwithstanding clause, which allows governments to override the Charter. Harper has said he would not do that.</div> <bR> <div> Both Harper and Dion had said they would allow their MPs to vote their conscience.</div> <bR> <div> Dion didn't support reopening the divisive debate, but he was concerned that imposing party discipline would hand the Conservatives more leverage on the issue.</div> <bR> <div> Last year, 32 Liberal MPs voted against the same-sex marriage law.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="mps_expected_to_vote_down_same_sex_motion"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 200 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>MPs expected to vote down same-sex motion</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. Dec. 07  2006  09:02 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  7th, 2006</div> <div> <B>After debating late into the night, MPs will vote Thursday on a controversial motion to revisit debate on same-sex marriage.</B></div> <bR> <div> However, it appears to have little chance of passing when it goes to the vote.</div> <bR> <div> More than 170 MPs, including six Conservative cabinet ministers, are reportedly ready to vote against the government motion to revisit same-sex marriage, according to a survey by <I>The Globe and Mail</I>.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af11a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Rob Nicholson, the government's house leader and democratic reform minister.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 306 WIDTH="707"><div> These numbers are well above the 154 votes needed to defeat the Conservative motion asking the government to restore the traditional definition of marriage.</div> <bR> <div> The newspaper's numbers are taken from surveys by advocates of homosexual unions and supported by interviews with individual MPs.</div> <bR> <div> The motion calls on the government ''to introduce legislation to restore the traditional definition of marriage without affecting civil unions and while respecting existing same-sex marriages.''</div> <bR> <div> More than 12,000 gay couples across Canada have already wed.</div> <bR> <div> Conservative House Leader Rob Nicholson launched Wednesday's debate in defence of his government's position.</div> <bR> <div> "This is completely consistent with what we told the Canadian people we would do," he said. "We're fulfilling that promise."</div> <bR> <div> The cabinet ministers who are expected to vote against the motion include Treasury Board President John Baird, Trade Minister David Emerson, Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice and International Co-operation Minister Josée Verner.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 196 WIDTH="540"><div> Former Liberal cabinet minister Bill Graham dismissed the motion as a shoddy ''smoke screen" meant to sow political division.</div> <bR> <div> ''It's a manoeuvre designed to divide the House and the nation on an issue that's been decided.''</div> <bR> <div> Graham said the only way for the government to restore the traditional definition is to use the Constitution's notwithstanding clause, which allows governments to override the Charter. Harper has said he would not do that.</div> <bR> <div> Both Harper and new Liberal Leader Stephane Dion have said they will allow their MPs to vote their conscience.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af12a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Stephane Dion decided Wednesday to allow Liberal MPs to vote freely on a motion to reopen the same-sex marriage debate.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 629 WIDTH="707"><div> But the Bloc Quebecois and NDP are expected to require their MPs to reject the motion, meaning there is virtually no way it will pass.</div> <bR> <div> Dion doesn't support reopening the divisive debate, but he worried that imposing party discipline would hand the Conservatives more leverage on the issue.</div> <bR> <div> A handful of Liberal MPs support revisiting the same-sex issue, and would have to be disciplined if they acted out of step with a whipped vote.</div> <bR> <div> But Dion made it clear that if the motion had gone directly to strike down same-sex marriage, he would have whipped the caucus because the unions are protected by the Charter of Rights.</div> <bR> <div> Last year, 32 Liberal MPs voted against the same-sex marriage law.</div> <bR> <div> Laurie Arron, national co-ordinator of Canadians for Equal Marriage, argues that it is time to move on.</div> <bR> <div> "I think it's quite clear that Parliament is poised to defeat this divisive motion and this will be the third vote in three years in three different parliaments under three different prime ministers," Arron said, appearing on CTV's Canada Am on Thursday.</div> <bR> <div> "And it's quite clear that Canadians are quite opposed to reopening this measure, that there's a growing consensus, that the issue is settled," he said.</div> <bR> <div> But even if the motion is denied, it is unlikely the issue will be put to rest, said Canada Family Action Coalition President Charles McVety.</div> <bR> <div> McVety is calling for a study that will impact the definition of marriage on all people, including heterosexual couples and clergy.</div> <bR> <div> "We still need to do that study and this is just measuring the temperature of this Parliament. This Parliament's not going to last very long," he said.</div> <bR> <div> "There's going to be an election soon. There will be another Parliament, and this issue will come up once again in the next Parliament."</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff </div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="rcmp_s_zaccardelli_appears_to_be_on_thin_ice"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 254 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>RCMP's Zaccardelli appears to be on thin ice</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. Dec. 05  2006  23:37 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  6th, 2006</div> <div> <B>RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli appeared to have few friends on Parliament Hill as MPs both grilled him and called for his dismissal.</B></div> <bR> <div> His public safety committee appearance started Tuesday with MPs making him swear to tell the truth. They wanted to know what he knew about the Maher Arar affair and when.</div> <bR> <div> In late September, Zaccardelli told the committee that he found out in 2002 that the RCMP had branded Arar an Islamic extremist.</div> <bR> <div> They passed that information on to the U.S. authorities, who used it to deport Arar to his native Syria. Authorities there interrogated and tortured Arar.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af05a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli walks away from the media following his appearance before the Commons public safety committee on Parliament Hill in Ottawa Tuesday Dec 5, 2006. (CP / Tom Hanson)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 269 WIDTH="707"><div> Now Zaccardelli said he couldn't have known that in 2002. He claims he only found out two months ago, when the report of an inquiry into the scandal got released.</div> <bR> <div> "I did not learn about the mislabelling or the mistakes until after the conclusion of Justice O'Connor's report. Therefore I could not have known that when he was detained in the U.S. or when he was detained in Syria."</div> <bR> <div> If Zaccardelli's first version is correct, then he didn't intervene when Arar was detained in New York and sent to Syria.</div> <bR> <div> If the second story is true, then the commissioner is pleading ignorance.</div> <bR> <div> "To be honest with you, you either misled or did not tell the truth to this committee. And really, the question is no longer whether you should be fired, Mr. Zaccardelli. It's not. That much has been made clear today," Liberal MP Mark Holland told him.</div> <bR> <div> Zaccardelli later told reporters, "I will not resign."</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 521 WIDTH="540"><div> In question period, NDP Leader jack Layton said, "The prime minister should fire the RCMP commissioner immediately."</div> <bR> <div> Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the government will follow due process.</div> <bR> <div> "We do not fire people without due process. We will proceed appropriately and ensure there is accountability for actions," he replied.</div> <bR> <div> He promised an "objective, professional and dispassionate" investigation into Zaccardelli.</div> <bR> <div> Harper expressed "surprise and concern" at the new development. Harper has previously expressed full confidence in Zaccardelli.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Zaccardelli's September testimony</B></div> <bR> <div> Here is some of what Zaccardelli told the committee in September.</div> <bR> <div> "I personally became involved in the file after Mr. Arar was detained and sent to Syria," he said then. "I asked for the file and I asked for specific documents relating to what happened."</div> <bR> <div> Zaccardelli also said he learned the Mounties had "tried to correct what was labelled as false or inaccurate information with respect to Mr. Arar."</div> <bR> <div> While he didn't give an exact timeframe, MPs from all parties took the comments to mean that Zaccardelli knew about the mistake shortly after the Arar saga began.</div> <bR> <div> MPs unsuccessfully pressed Zaccardelli to reveal why he didn't go public at the time to fix the record. And since the testimony, they have heard from various witnesses who said Zaccardelli never told them about the error.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="af06a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Harper responds to a question in the House of Commons on Tuesday.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="af07a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Stephane Dion asks a question in the House of Commons on Tuesdsay.</div> <div> <IMG SRC="af08a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Lorne Waldman, lawyer for Maher Arar, speaks with Canada AM on Tuesday.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 874 WIDTH="707"><div> Former Liberal cabinet ministers Wayne Easter and Anne McLellan, both of whom held political responsibility for the RCMP, were among those left in the dark about the incorrect information.</div> <bR> <div> In a Monday speech, Zaccardelli acknowledged the failure.</div> <bR> <div> "When ministers were briefed about the circumstances of the Arar case, their briefings did not include the fact that some inaccurate information had been provided to the Americans by the RCMP," he said...</div> <bR> <div> However, he said the force didn't recognize the importance of the error at the time and that he personally didn't know about it at all.</div> <bR> <div> On Tuesday, Conservative MP Gord Brown called the Arar case a "tragic episode in the storied history of the RCMP." he wondered how Zaccardelli could have stayed unaware of the key facts for four years.</div> <bR> <div> "Doesn't this suggest you really failed in your duties as commissioner of the RCMP?" Brown asked.</div> <bR> <div> "That's a good question," Zaccardelli said, adding he can't keep track of every investigation conducted by his officers.</div> <bR> <div> Laurie Hahn, another Conservative MP, told the commissioner, "I'm just a little bit incredulous that a police officer of your experience would make that kind of a mistake."</div> <bR> <div> <B>Pressure inside government</B></div> <bR> <div> The Canadian Press cited Conservative sources as saying that a number of the party's backbenchers and at least three cabinet ministers say Zaccardelli should go.</div> <bR> <div> Harper gets to make the final call, and he has so far insisted on retaining him.</div> <bR> <div> During last year's federal election campaign, Zaccardelli took the unusual step of announcing the RCMP were investigating allegations of insider stock trading in connection with the income trust announcement by the then-Liberal government.</div> <bR> <div> Liberal support tanked and the Tories went on to form a minority government.</div> <bR> <div> That matter is still under investigation.</div> <bR> <div> Several other controversies have occurred on Zaccardelli's watch:</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">A 2004 operation in Mayerthorpe, Alta. that left four Mounties shot to death, </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The shooting death of Ian Bush while in RCMP custody, </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Allegations of abuse of young boys by a Mountie at a New Brunswick reform school. That officer was never charged. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The RCMP pension fund paid $1.3 million for consulting work that provided little or no value. No criminal charges were laid, and internal disciplinary procedures halted after a legal deadline expired.</div> <bR> <div> In the Arar case, the force never disciplined anyone, and several officers involved were promoted.</div> <bR> <div> The government has yet to work out a compensation deal with Arar.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff <I>with reports from CTV's Graham Richardson and Rosemary Thompson, and files from The Canadian Press</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="n_y_c__moves_to_ban_trans_fats_in_restaurants"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 125 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>N.Y.C. moves to ban trans fats in restaurants</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. Dec. 05  2006  08:33 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December  5th, 2006</div> <div> <B>NEW YORK -- From the corner pizzeria to high-end bakeries, New York City's world famous eateries are preparing for kitchen scrutiny as the board of health moves to ban trans fats.</B></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="aeffa0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 426 WIDTH="707"><div> The board was poised Tuesday to make New York the nation's first city to outlaw the unhealthy oils, though it's expected to give restaurants a slight break by relaxing what had been considered a tight deadline for compliance.</div> <bR> <div> The restaurant industry argued that it was unrealistic to give eateries six months to replace cooking oils and shortening and 18 months to phase out the ingredients altogether.</div> <bR> <div> "We hope that the board of health will have significantly changed the original proposal, taking into consideration the concerns raised by 24,000 restaurateurs in New York City," said Sue Hensley, spokeswoman for the National Restaurant Association.</div> <bR> <div> Trans fats are believed to be harmful because they contribute to heart disease by raising bad cholesterol and lowering good cholesterol at the same time. Some experts say that makes trans fats worse than saturated fats.</div> <bR> <div> A common form of trans fats is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, which is used for frying and baking and turns up in processed foods like cookies, pizza dough and crackers. Trans fats, which are favored because of their long shelf life, are also found in pre-made blends like pancake and hot chocolate mix.</div> <bR> <div> The FDA estimates the average American eats 4.7 pounds of trans fats each year.</div> <bR> <div> Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who banned smoking in bars and restaurants during his first term, has dismissed cries that New York is crossing a line by trying to legislate diets.</div> <bR> <div> "Nobody wants to take away your french fries and hamburgers -- I love those things, too," he said recently. "But if you can make them with something that is less damaging to your health, we should do that."</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 475 WIDTH="707"><div> Many food makers have stopped using trans fats on their own, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began requiring companies to list trans fat content on labels.</div> <bR> <div> Fast-food restaurants and other major chains are particularly interested in the board's decision because a trans-fat ban wouldn't just involve substituting one ingredient for another. In addition to overhauling recipes, they would have to disrupt nationwide supply operations and try to convince customers that the new french fries and doughnuts will taste just as good as the originals.</div> <bR> <div> McDonald's Corp. has been quietly experimenting with more than a dozen healthier oil blends in some of its U.S. restaurants, but still has not committed to a full switch. At an investor conference last month, CEO Jim Skinner said the company is making "very good progress," at developing an alternative, and vowed to be ready for a New York City ban.</div> <bR> <div> Wendy's International Inc. introduced a zero-trans fat oil in August and Yum Brands Inc.'s KFC and Taco Bell also said they will cut the trans fats from their kitchens.</div> <bR> <div> Taco Bell worked for more than two years to find a substitute, conducting blind consumer taste tests and extensive research, the company said.</div> <bR> <div> Chicago is also considering its own trans fat law, which wouldn't ban them outright but would severely restrict the amount that kitchens can use. The measure would apply only to large restaurants, defined as those that make more than $20 million in sales per year.</div> <bR> <div> New York's move to ban trans fats has mostly been applauded by health and medical groups, although the American Heart Association warns that if restaurants aren't given ample time to make the switch, they could end up reverting to ingredients high in saturated fat, like palm oil.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff <I>& The Associated Press</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="iraq_situation__much_worse__than_civil_war_annan"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 233 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Iraq situation 'much worse' than civil war: Annan</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. Dec. 04  2006  07:56 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December 4th, 2006</div> <div> <B>The sectarian violence in Iraq has deteriorated to become "much worse" than a civil war, outgoing United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan asserted Monday.</B></div> <bR> <div> Branding the situation an "extremely dangerous" one during an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp., Annan called on the international community to help rebuild the country.</div> <bR> <div> "Given the level of violence, the level of killing and bitterness and the way that forces are arranged against each other, a few years ago, when we had the strife in Lebanon and other places, we called that a civil war; this is much worse,'' said Annan, whose second five-year term as secretary general ends Dec. 31.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="aef8a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> UN Secretary General Kofi Annan gestures during a press conference at the UN European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on Nov. 21, 2006. (AP / Nicholas Ratzenboeck)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 468 WIDTH="707"><div> Annan agreed when it was suggested the average Iraq is worse off now than under deposed dictator Saddam Hussein.</div> <bR> <div> "I think they are right in the sense of the average Iraqi's life,'' Annan said. "If I were an average Iraqi obviously I would make the same comparison, that they had a dictator who was brutal but they had their streets, they could go out, their kids could go to school and come back home without a mother or father worrying, `Am I going to see my child again?'"</div> <bR> <div> The Iraqi government has been unable to bring violence under control and the war-torn nation will be unable to move forward on reconstruction efforts without security, Annan said.</div> <bR> <div> Annan conceded that the failure to prevent the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a blow to the UN, one from which the world body was only beginning to mend wounds.</div> <bR> <div> "It's healing but we are not there yet, it hasn't healed yet, and we feel the tension still in this organization as a result of that."</div> <bR> <div> Annan's position on the state of civil war in Iraq has seen a marked change since last week. He told reporters then that he believed Iraq was on the brink of civil war.</div> <bR> <div> "I think given the developments on the ground, unless something is done drastically and urgently to arrest the deteriorating situation, we could be there. In fact we are almost there," he said at the time.</div> <bR> <div> ABC's Dan Harris told CTV Newsnet from Baghdad that the average Iraqi would agree with Annan's latest assessment of the situation.</div> <bR> <div> Harris, who is in Baghdad on his sixth visit over the course of four years, says the mood has significantly shifted.</div> <bR> <div> On his first visit to Baghdad while Hussein was in power, the regime assigned an Iraqi to monitor Harris.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 613 WIDTH="707"><div> "In secret, this man would whisper to me that he hated Hussein," Harris recounted.</div> <bR> <div> After Hussein's regime was toppled, the man was buoyed by news of the American presence and ABC News hired him as a translator.</div> <bR> <div> "I've been able to track his mood as the years go on. He'd been relentlessly upbeat for so long," Harris said.</div> <bR> <div> But on Harris' latest visit to Baghdad, the translator told him that he is not only moving to Syria "but he wishes Saddam Hussein -- on whose picture he once spat ... would be back in power."</div> <bR> <div> Annan's new position comes amid an explosive debate on the terminology to describe the situation in Iraq.</div> <bR> <div> Sectarian violence in Iraq is at its worst level in the roughly three-and-a-half years since a U.S.-led coalition invaded the country and toppled Saddam Hussein.</div> <bR> <div> A growing number of scholars and policy analysts are branding the escalating carnage in Iraq to be civil war, but the Bush administration persists in its claims that the bloodshed is nothing but "sectarian violence."</div> <bR> <div> Last week, U.S. President George Bush rejected suggestions that Iraq had sunk into a state of civil war, arguing instead that a recent escalation in violence was the extension of sectarian unrest that started nine months ago.</div> <bR> <div> "We have been in this phase for a while," Bush insisted during a stop-over in Estonia on his way to the Latvian capital Riga for a NATO summit. "The bombing that took place recently was a part of a pattern that has been going on for about nine months," he said.</div> <bR> <div> The president preferred to portray the violence as a struggle against insurgents aimed at provoking conflict.</div> <bR> <div> "There's a lot of sectarian violence taking place, fomented in my opinion because of the attacks by al Qaeda, causing people to seek reprisal," he said at a news conference in Tallinn, Estonia.</div> <bR> <div> Observers say the White House is rejecting efforts to admit the violence had sunk into a civil war because it would ratchet up the pressure to withdraw American troops from Iraq.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="dion_pledges_to_build_unity_win_seats_in_quebec"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 155 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Dion pledges to build unity, win seats in Quebec</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. Dec. 03  2006  12:15 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December 3rd, 2006</div> <div> <B>During his first news conference as leader of the Liberal Party, Stephane Dion pledged the party will move forward in unity and will win seats in Quebec.</B></div> <bR> <div> "We know there was another candidate who was the choice of many Quebecers, that was Mr. Ignatieff, but now the race is over and we will all work together," he said in Montreal.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="aef3a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Stephane Dion speaks to reporters Sunday morning.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 393 WIDTH="707"><div> Dion's tough stance on national unity, and the fact he designed the Clarity Act, have made him unpopular in some circles in Quebec.</div> <bR> <div> Dion said he will win seats in his home province by "inviting Quebecers to share the same vision, the same dreams, the same action plan as all Canadians, and through that seeing how we can succeed through working with the others instead of staying within ourselves."</div> <bR> <div> He said Canada needs Quebec and Quebec needs Canada.</div> <bR> <div> Many of the reporters' questions, however, focused on how exactly he planned to make up ground in Quebec, since key Liberals MPs such as Denis Coderre and Pablo Rodriguez were staunch Ignatieff supporters.</div> <bR> <div> "All these people you mentioned are Liberals," Dion responded to one reporter.</div> <bR> <div> "They made legitimate choices. All the choices made within this campaign which is now over were legitimate because they all supported Liberals. And now we are a united family working for the same goals, and these goals are to win the next election and to win in Quebec."</div> <bR> <div> When a reporter suggested that some in the province believe he is anti-Quebec, Dion replied, "I think an awful lot would say he is a proud Quebecer.''</div> <bR> <div> Dion also said he has the support of his colleagues and that he is confident of winning the next election.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 959 WIDTH="540"><div> Throughout the leadership campaign, many underestimated Dion's chances of winning. He said people have done so throughout his entire career -- a feature that has been both a strength and a weakness.</div> <bR> <div> Dion said social justice and building a sustainable environment and economy will be key goals of his mandate as party leader.</div> <bR> <div> Dion won the leadership Saturday night on the fourth ballot, coming from behind to overtake frontrunner Michael Ignatieff. He became the party's 11th leader, succeeding Paul Martin, who stepped down after losing the 2006 federal election.</div> <bR> <div> After the victory he told his party to think ahead to an election face-off with the Conservative party.</div> <bR> <div> "The most exciting race in the history of our party is over,'' he told cheering Liberal leadership convention delegates in Montreal on Saturday after his come-from-behind victory to win on the fourth ballot.</div> <bR> <div> "Let's get ready for the election.''</div> <bR> <div> In speaking about the challenges to come, particularly with respect to the environment, Dion asked delegates to cast their minds back to 1993 when Canada was close to "bankruptcy."</div> <bR> <div> He said the Conservatives at that time told Canadians to expect the same for the next decade. But it was the Liberals who turned the economy around.</div> <bR> <div> The former environment minister, who made the environment a centrepiece of his campaign, indicated he would continue to do the same on the environment.</div> <bR> <div> "Tonight in Montreal, I invite each of us to commit to tackle with the same determination the issue of sustainable development. We have a lot to do but a lot has been done."</div> <bR> <div> In the next campaign, Liberals will offer Canadians a plan for a "just Canada, a prosperous Canada, a sustainable Canada," Dion said.</div> <bR> <div> Robert Fife, CTV's Ottawa bureau chief, said the environment and social policy are two weak areas for the Conservatives.</div> <bR> <div> Besides being careful to reach out to his former rivals, Dion spoke directly to Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper: "Stephen, if you're listening, we are counting the days until the next election."</div> <bR> <div> Harper leads a minority government. Some speculate the government could fall as early as this spring, when Parliament votes on the 2007 federal budget.</div> <bR> <div> "We have chosen a great leader," said Michael Ignatieff, who led on the first two ballots only to falter. "He will have my entire support."</div> <bR> <div> The fourth-ballot results were 57.4 per cent support for Dion (2,541 votes). Ignatieff, the long-time expatriate academic and rookie MP who led through the first two ballots, captured 2,084 votes.</div> <bR> <div> Ignatieff had been the front-runner throughout the campaign, which officially kicked off in early April.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="aef4a0550.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="341" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Stephane Dion waves following his speech after winning the Liberal leadership Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006 in Montreal. (CP / Adrian Wyld)</div> <div> <IMG SRC="aef5a0bd0.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="189" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Leadership candidates Michael Ignatieff, left, and Bob Rae wave to delegates from the convention floor at the Liberal Leadership Convention Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006 in Montreal. (CP / Ryan Remiorz)</div> <div> <IMG SRC="aef6a0900.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="144" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Leadership candidate Stephane Dion, left, raises his arm with supporters Gerard Kennedy and Martha Hall Findlay at the Liberal Leadership Convention Saturday, Dec. 2, 2006 in Montreal. (CP / Tom Hanson)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 755 WIDTH="707"><div> However, his first sign of trouble materialized when his first-ballot support was about the same as it was during the Liberal delegate selection meetings in October. Pundits thought Ignatieff could get up to 35 per cent on the first ballot with the support of unelected delegates like MPs. Instead, he got 29.3 per cent.</div> <bR> <div> Former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae finished second in that round, while Dion and former Ontario cabinet minister Gerard Kennedy essentially tied for third, only two ballots separating them.</div> <bR> <div> Dion vaulted into the lead on the third ballot. He had 37 per cent support, compared to 34.5 per cent for Ignatieff, the leader on the first two ballots.</div> <bR> <div> Rae dropped out of the race after securing only 28.5 per cent on the third ballot.</div> <bR> <div> Here are the third-round results, with the first- and second-ballot numbers in parentheses: </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Stephane Dion: 1,782 votes, 37 per cent (17.8; 20.8) </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Michael Ignatieff: 1,660 votes, 34.5 per cent (29.3; 31.6) </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Bob Rae: 1,375 votes, 28.5 per cent (20.3; 24.1) </div> <bR> <div> <B>The breakthrough</B></div> <div> Dion saw his first jump in support after he received the backing of Gerard Kennedy, who placed fourth in the second ballot. </div> <div> Kennedy appeared to take his supporters with him. Dion's vote total jumped by 908 in the next round.</div> <bR> <div> Ignatieff never recovered. Rae declined to endorse a candidate, and CTV News analyst Brian Tobin, a former Liberal cabinet minister, said it appeared that Rae's supporters predominantly went to Dion.</div> <bR> <div> Polling conducted by The Strategic Counsel for CTV indicated that Ignatieff and Rae were the most polarizing candidates in the election. Twenty-six per cent of those polled last week said they would never vote for Ignatieff, while 21 per cent said that about Rae. For Dion, that figure was only four per cent.</div> <bR> <div> "It's clear there were a lot of forces at play. (People) were challenged by the courage of Michael's ideas," said Paul Zed, a New Brunswick MP and Ignatieff supporter.</div> <bR> <div> He attacked Kennedy, saying, "To preach party renewal and to preach openness and then sign tthis separate backroom deal I think is kind of a little bit of jarring with the things he said he represented."</div> <bR> <div> In an exclusive interview with CTV News' Lloyd Robertson, Dion said he had been speaking with Kennedy for months. "I thought it was likely that if Gerard had a choice to make between me, Michael and Bob, I had the best chance to be chosen."</div> <bR> <div> Rae, who released his delegates after being eliminated, wasn't in the mood to second-guess. "Who knows. I'll let the historians figure it out. I'm quite happy," he said.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff <I>with files from CTV News and The Canadian Press</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="liberal_leadership_field_narrows_to_3_candidates"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 200 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>Liberal leadership field narrows to 3 candidates</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Sat. Dec. 02  2006  13:41 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December 2nd, 2006</div> <div> <B>It's down to three candidates on the third ballot, with a stalled Michael Ignatieff trying to boost his numbers, as Stephane Dion and Bob Rae pull former rivals into their camps.</B></div> <bR> <div> After Saturday's second ballot, Gerard Kennedy threw his support behind Dion and Dryden backed Bob Rae.</div> <bR> <div> Ignatieff, still a frontrunner, maintained his lead after second-round vote results on Saturday.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="aee9a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Leadership candidates Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae wave to delegates from the convention floor on Saturday in Montreal. (CP / Ryan Remiorz)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 302 WIDTH="707"><div> But his campaign stalled when he failed to pick up support from any of the candidates who dropped out of the race. And he picked up only 69 votes between the first and second ballots.</div> <bR> <div> "I could have stayed on, there might have been sparks for me but frankly I am in this for a reason," Kennedy told reporters after walking over to Dion's camp.</div> <bR> <div> "And my reason is for the Liberal Party to be the kind of party that it can be, and Stephane has this capacity and he is in a better position to do it than me," said Kennedy, who finished in fourth place in the second ballot voting at the party's national convention in Montreal.</div> <bR> <div> Dryden, who was knocked out on the second ballot, told CTV News he is backing Rae because he "has the best chance of winning the country."</div> <bR> <div> Momentum appears to be building for Rae as several of Dryden's delegates are following him to the former Ontario NDP premier's section of the convention floor. </div> <bR> <div> Rae has 24.1 per cent support after the second ballot, a boost of four percentage points.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 575 WIDTH="540"><div> Dion has 20.8 per cent support and it's unclear how much of Kennedy's 18.8 per cent will end up in Dion's camp.</div> <bR> <div> But Ignatieff, who holds 31.6 per cent support, now faces the prospect of losing his lead going into the third round of voting.</div> <bR> <div> Senior organizers in Rae's camp have told CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife that they expect the next ballot to be a squeaker between themselves and Dion.</div> <bR> <div> But if Dion comes out on top, some of those organizers have told Fife that they will not throw their support to Ignatieff.</div> <bR> <div> Ignatieff insisted he was not discouraged by his failure to shore up support from withdrawing rivals.</div> <bR> <div> "I feel fine,'' he told The Canadian Press in an interview.</div> <bR> <div> "Gerard can go to Stephane but I've just shaken hands one minute ago .. . with three Gerard delegates.''</div> <bR> <div> While waiting in line to vote for the third round, former Liberal deputy prime minister Anne McLellan said she ran into some Ignatieff supporters who are feeling the heat.</div> <bR> <div> "We ran into people in line, Ignatieff supporters, who are feeling they are in a situation of grave danger at this point if the final ballot is Dion and Ignatieff," McLellan told CTV News.</div> <bR> <div> Strategic Counsel pollster Allan Gregg says the Kennedy-Dion alliance provides an opening for Rae to be knocked off the next ballot if each of the player's supporters stick with their original candidates.</div> <bR> <div> If that's the case, Dion and Kennedy could see the combined support of 1,858 delegates while Rae and Dryden would see the backing of 1,451.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="aeeaa0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Gerard Kennedy sides with Stephane Dion after second ballot results at the Liberal leadership convention on Saturday in Montreal. (CP / Tom Hanson)</div> <div> <IMG SRC="aeeba0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Leadership candidate Scott Brison crosses the floor to join Bob Rae at the Liberal leadership convention on Saturday in Montreal. (CP / Tom Hanson)</div> <div> <IMG SRC="aeeca0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Martha Hall Findlay walks into the convention centre after moving to support Stephane Dion on Saturday. (CP / Ryan Remiorz)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 776 WIDTH="707"><div> Here are the complete second-round results, with the first-ballot numbers in parentheses:</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Michael Ignatieff: 1,481 votes, 31.6 per cent (29.3 per cent) </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Bob Rae: 1132 votes, 24.1 per cent (20.3 per cent) </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Stephane Dion: 974 votes, 20.8 per cent (17.8 per cent) </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Gerard Kennedy: 884 votes, 18.8 per cent (17.7 per cent) </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c8ffffff00.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Ken Dryden: 219 votes, 4.7 per cent (4.9 per cent) </div> <bR> <div> This has been a dramatic convention, since the speeches wrapped up Friday night.</div> <bR> <div> The first brokered deal of the convention was between Rae and Joe Volpe, who dropped out to pledge his support for the former Ontario premier just after Ignatieff finished his speech on Friday night.</div> <bR> <div> On Saturday morning, Dion got off to a good start, when Martha Hall Findlay threw her support to the former Liberal cabinet minister.</div> <bR> <div> "In my speech last night I said we needed brains, hearts and guts. Stephane has all three," said Hall Findlay, who finished last in the first-round voting.</div> <bR> <div> Just a few minutes after Hall Findlay announced her move on Saturday morning, Scott Brison moved over to the Rae camp.</div> <bR> <div> Brison's endorsement of Rae is significant, because the former Tory was considered the most likely of the four lower-tier candidates to back Ignatieff.</div> <bR> <div> "Bob has a tremendous understanding of Canada and its institutions, and I believe he will make an exceptional prime minister and I think he contrasts very well with Stephen Harper who holds Canada's guiding institutions in contempt," Brison, who finished ahead of Hall Findlay and Joe Volpe in first ballot voting, told reporters.</div> <bR> <div> Brison added that he had released his delegates to vote for whomever they chose.</div> <bR> <div> Ignatieff's camp released a press release claiming it received a tremendous boost from new supporters Saturday morning, including Joe Volpe's National Campaign Director Nick Discepola; former Agriculture Minister Bob Speller, Key Volpe Alberta organizers Hazim Naboulsi and Hamedi Naboulsi; and 50 more Volpe delegates.</div> <bR> <div> Former Prime Minister Paul Martin speculated Saturday afternoon that the Liberals could pick a new leader before long but he refrained from guessing who would take the party crown.</div> <bR> <div> "What I've learned from previous leadership conventions is not to try to guess, that's up to you and that's up to the pundits who are up in the booth," he told CTV News.</div> <bR> <div> A poll conducted for CTV by The Strategic Counsel indicates almost 60 per cent of delegates will make up their own minds rather than following the lead of their defeated candidate in deciding who to support next.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff <I>with files from The Canadian Press</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 32 WIDTH="707"><div> =======================</div> <div>  <A NAME="first_electric_sports_car_makes_debut_in_l_a_"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A><A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 169 WIDTH="540"><div> <B>First electric sports car makes debut in L.A.</B></div> <div> Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. Dec. 01  2006  08:34 ET</div> <div> Giant Dwarf Posted: December 1st, 2006</div> <div> <B>LOS ANGELES -- The air quality in downtown Los Angeles is surprisingly good for the opening of the L.A. Auto Show. It is a perfect day to slide into a sexy convertible without worrying about emissions.</B></div> <bR> <div> And if you make a date with Tesla, you won't ever have to worry again.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="adfea0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> The Tesla Roadster is seen at the L.A. Auto Show. (Susan Treen / CTV.ca)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 103 WIDTH="707"><div> The Tesla Roadster is going to get a lot of attention at the L.A. Auto show because it is the world's first electric sports car. It was unveiled in Santa Monica over the summer, but now the Tesla -- previously test-driven by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger -- is on display for the masses.</div> <bR> <div> It is a gorgeous low slung roadster that can go zero-to-60 in under four seconds. That's more torque than an Aston Martin Vantage Roadster equipped with a hefty V8.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 397 WIDTH="540"><div> The Tesla has an advantage over gasoline powered engines, because it doesn't have to "rev." Drivers can command maximum power almost instantly. The Tesla is equipped with its own electric charger that is somewhat less sexy looking, but the stand-up unit will power the battery pack and the 248-hp electric motor.</div> <bR> <div> The Tesla will set you back six figures, and that's if you can get one. All of the inaugural 2007 models are spoken for, but the company is taking orders for 2008. Sadly, no Canadian distributors have stepped up yet, so it might be awhile before you see a Tesla silently speeding through our frozen city streets.</div> <bR> <div> But the Tesla is one of many alternatively powered vehicles on display at this year's L.A. Auto Show. Automakers are pushing hydrogen-powered prototypes like never before.</div> <bR> <div> One of the best is Honda's FCX--a slick concept car that should be ready to roll-off the assembly line in 2008. It is a four door family sedan outfitted with a hydrogen fuel cell and an ion battery. It looks a little like Toyota's Prius, but much cooler.</div> <bR> <div> Another "green" option is BWM's Hydrogen 7. This luxury German car is a hydrogen-powered version of the BMW 760 iL. It will drive 200 km on liquid hydrogen before tapping into a reserve gas tank. The German company is offering the car to a select few, and there is a rumor that Madonna is getting one. But there is one big problem with the Hydrogen concept cars: I have never seen a hydrogen gas station.</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="165"><div> <IMG SRC="adffa0b40.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="180" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Spyker D12 is seen at the L.A. Auto Show. (Susan Treen / CTV.ca)</div> <div> <IMG SRC="ae00a0780.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="120" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Spyker D12 is seen at the L.A. Auto Show. (Susan Treen / CTV.ca)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 HEIGHT= 157 WIDTH="707"><div> If you can't part with your giant gas guzzler, then you will fall in love with the Spyker D12 Peking to Paris. The Dutch automaker calls the D12 a "super sports utility vehicle." It is a luxury monolith covered in chrome, with an interior that looks like an exclusive Hollywood nightclub. Although it is massive, the SUV can go 295 km/h, but this machine costs more than $300,000.</div> <bR> <div> Canada is not considered one of the manufacturer's target markets. The high-priced D12 is expected to sell well in the Middle East, China and, of course... the USA.</div> <bR> <div> Written by CTV.ca News Staff <I>with Susan Treen</I></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <A HREF="#top" TITLE="Dec 06"><U><IMG SRC="16243f0d0.png" border=0 width="63" height="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>