Past Articles:
These "Articles" are dated from February 1st, 2007 - February 28th, 2007.
 Asian markets volatile after China selloff
28/02/07
 Ontario may wait weeks for gas shortage relief
27/02/07
 Canadian claims to have found Jesus' lost tomb
26/02/07
 Budget to bring provincial payouts, lower taxes
25/02/07
 35 cars collide in Colorado whiteout
24/02/07
 Justin Trudeau to run in Papineau for Liberals
23/02/07
 Prenatal multivitamins lower risk of kids' cancers
22/02/07
 Pregnancy hormone may reverse some MS damage
21/02/07
 Most premature baby ever born to leave hospital
20/02/07
 2 new genetic links predispose people to autism, large study shows
19/02/07
 Inuit climate change activist committed to cause
18/02/07
 Police find body of missing Quebec City teen
17/02/07
 Al Qaeda releases video of purported Afghan attack
16/02/07
 Zundel sentenced to five years in German prison
15/02/07
 Automaker Chrysler chopping 13,000 jobs
14/02/07
 North Korea agrees to nuclear disarmament
13/02/07
 Dixie Chicks take home five Grammy awards
12/02/07
 U.S. accuses Iran of sending bombs to Iraq
11/02/07
 Job gains surprise economists, boost dollar
10/02/07
 Anna Nicole Smith's mother blames drugs
09/02/07
 Chrysler to slash 2,000 jobs in Canada: report
08/02/07
 Canadians investigated in global child porn ring
07/02/07
 Military probes allegations of detainee abuse
06/02/07
 Indonesia flood displaces 340,000 in Jakarta
05/02/07
 Window of higher quake risk closes for B.C.
04/02/07
 B.C. enters window of increased quake risk
03/02/07
 Global warming 'very likely' man-made: report
02/02/07
 Russians probe allegations of 'gagged' babies
01/02/07
=======================
 
Asian markets volatile after China selloff
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. Feb. 28  2007  12:06  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 28th, 2007
China's main stock market opened lower Wednesday but then climbed into positive territory after seeing its steepest drop in a decade the day before.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell down 1.34 per cent, but quickly moved 1.18 per cent into the black.

Stock markets in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea were down about three per cent Wednesday morning. Australia's S&P ASX200 was down about three per cent by 11 a.m. local time on Wednesday.
Chinese investors watch data shown on the board of a stock trading house in Shanghai, China on Wed., Feb. 28, 2007. (AP / EyePress)
On Tuesday, the Shanghai index lost 8.84 per cent of its value, closing at 2.771.79.

The previous day it had closed over the psychologically important benchmark of 3,000.

Chinese officials say rumours that drove the sell-off, including talk of a stock capital gains tax and rumours that the head of securities regulation might resign, were untrue.

Some analysts thought the worst was over, and that the index should stay in a range of 2,500 to 3,000 for the near future.
In any event, Tuesday's plunge reverberated in stock markets around the world, including here in Canada.

Toronto's S&P/TSX composite index joined a global market plunge sparked by a drop in the Shanghai Composite Index on Tuesday, tumbling 364 points to close at 13,040.11.

That loss of 2.7 per cent made it the worst day for the TSX in about three years.

The Canadian dollar slipped 0.43 of a cent to 85.73 cents.
One market-watcher was philosophical. "We were needing a correction and the Chinese gave it to us," said Michael Smedley of Morgan Meighen and Associates. "At 38 times earnings, the market was atrociously overpriced."

Canadian mining companies bore much of the brunt, as investors worried that the plunge in the Chinese exchange would mean a sharp drop in demand for metals. Commodity stocks comprise about 45 per cent of the Canadian stock market.

"And China is the biggest market," Gavin Graham, vice-president and director of investments at Guardian Group of Funds, told CTV Newsnet.

"So if the Chinese economy is slowing, which is what people are afraid of... then people are going, 'Oh my gosh, is the Chinese economic miracle coming to an end?'"

However, other analysts said Chinese demand for Canadian commodities should remain strong.

Scotiabank senior international economist Erik Nilsson told The Canadian Press there is a significant difference between Chinese capital markets and the country's real economy.

"There is, in my view, very little reason to assume that the downturn that we've seen, even if extended, will have a profound adverse impact on economic growth in China,'' he said.

Despite the drop, the Shanghai market is still up three per cent on the year, Nilsson said.

Chinese economic growth is expected to be 9.8 per cent this year, down slightly from 2006's blistering 10.6 per cent.

New York hit

Markets in New York also were hit hard. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by as much as 500 points during the day, though it closed down 416 points. The benchmark S&P 500 index had its biggest one-day slide in more than 3½ years, losing just over 50 points to close at 1,399.14.
A trader reacts at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Hong Kong Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2007. (AP / Vincent Yu)
A Chinese woman picks up a local newspaper with the headline reading, 'Stock Price Dropped the Worst in 10 Years,' at a newspaper stand Wednesday Feb. 28, 2007 in Shanghai, China's commercial hub. (AP / Eugene Hoshiko)
The sell-off wiped out all the gains by the Dow and the S&P 500 indexes for the year.

That performance made it the worst day for the U.S. markets since the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Some analysts said computerized trading, including a glitch driven by a record number of trades, worsened the decline.

"If not for them, you might have had a decline maybe it would have been 150 points. It would not have been three, four hundred or five hundred points as we saw at one point during the day," said Hugh Johnson of Johnson Illington Advisors.

U.S. equities were not helped by a government report released Tuesday that showed manufactured durable goods orders fell by a larger-than-expected 7.8 per cent in January.

The U.S. economy has been expected to grow by between 2.4 and three per cent this year, compared to 3.4 per cent in 2006.

Some economists put the possibility of a U.S. recession at one in five. They worry about the combined impact of an economic shock plus the erosion in U.S. home values following a five-year boom.

In Britain, the FTSE 100 fell 2.3 per cent, while the DAX in Germany lost three per cent.

CTV's Business Editor Linda Sims said Chinese authorities were discussing ways to rein in growth to control inflation, "and just even talking about that, really sent a sell-off on the Shanghai exchange."

Chinese stocks have soared for more than 20 months, surging 174 per cent since mid-2005. That led many to believe the market was vastly overvalued and becoming an investment bubble.

With concerns that the Chinese government would crack down on the market speculation, many worried investors decided to pull back their holdings.

ScotiaBank's Fred Ketchen said he didn't think the plunge would be a one-day affair, but neither did he see it as the start of a downward trend.

"I see this as a normal market reaction," told CTV Newsnet Tuesday afternoon. "I think that every once in a while a market needs to be corrected, needs to take a look at this."

"I think if might last a week or two and then we'll get back into a growth pattern - albeit a little more calm growth pattern than what we've seen over the first little while this year."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with a report from CTV's Lisa LaFlamme and files from The Canadian Press and the Associated Press
=======================
 
Ontario may wait weeks for gas shortage relief
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. Feb. 27  2007  08:51  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 27th, 2007
A gasoline shortage that started with Imperial Oil's Esso stations in southern Ontario is spreading to competing companies as efforts to restablish fuel supplies are hampered by weather.

A winter storm on Monday delayed repairs to Imperial Oil's Nanticoke refinery, which was hit by a fire two weeks ago. That incident cut production at the plant in half.

The problem, which was made worse by the recent CN Rail strike and a December fire at
More gas stations in the Greater Toronto Area are drying up as Ontario's fuel shortage continues following a fire at an Esso refinery earlier this month.
another Imperial Oil refinery in Sarnia, Ont., has started to force other companies to ration gasoline at the pumps. In some instances, pumps are being shut off because they have no fuel to sell.

Now Canadian Tire, Petro-Canada and Shell Canada stations are feeling the squeeze, which is in addition to closures by Imperial Oil.
Shell Canada spokesman John Peck says about four or five of its 200 service stations in the Toronto area are out of gas at any one time.

As many as 30 Petro-Canada stations are encountering temporary shortages.

In Toronto about 60 retail outlets operated by all the big companies are temporarily without fuel.
Province-wide, about 100 Esso stations, or one quarter of Imperial Oil's 400 stations, have been shut by supply problems.

Exactly when the shortage will end, and rising prices will return to normal, has become increasingly difficult to pin down.

A spokesman for Ontario's Energy Minister Dwight Duncan said the shortage is expected to continue into next week. But the industry seems less optimistic.

"It takes time. It's a very unusual situation," John Peck, spokesperson for Shell Canada told the Toronto Star.

"A number of things have come together at the same time to produce a very tight supply in Ontario and Quebec," he added.

But the Canadian Independent Petroleum Marketing Association says Ontario does not have enough refining capacity to meet market demand. Association president and CEO Jane Savage told the Star that the province normally imports extra fuel.

"If everything runs smoothly, that all works," Savage said. She added that recent events have meant the system is not running smoothly.

Gasoline retailers are seeking solutions as the system struggles with the shortage.

Petro-Canada is bringing in 500,000 additional litres of gasoline and diesel every day. The company is also looking for fuel sources in border cities such as Detroit and Buffalo.

While Imperial's Nanticoke refinery is expected to be up and running this week, it will not reach full production until mid-March, meaning supply issues and high pump prices could be around for many weeks to come.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Canadian Press & from toronto.ctv.ca
=======================
 
Canadian claims to have found Jesus' lost tomb
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. Feb. 25  2007  20:11  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 26th, 2007
A Canadian filmmaker and author claims to have new scientific evidence that could have profound implications for Christianity.

Simcha Jacobovici, from Toronto, is expected to reveal at a news conference in New York on Monday that a tomb he explored under a Jerusalem apartment building once contained the bones of Jesus of Nazareth and his family.

Further, he suggested that the tomb, stored in a warehouse belonging to the Israel Antiquity Authority outside Jerusalem, may contain microscopic remains of the Christian saviour's DNA.
A page of a book by Israeli archeologist Amos Kloner shows images of ossuaries found in a cave in southern Jerusalem in 1980, Sunday Feb. 25, 2007. (AP / Oded Balilty)
If so, this would be the first archaeological evidence of the existence of Jesus -- and his family.

"It's mind boggling. It's an altered reality," Jacobovici told the Toronto Star newspaper ahead of the release of his feature documentary film and book, both titled "The Lost Tomb of Jesus."

"You have to kind of pinch yourself," he said. "Are we really saying what we are saying?"

Jacobovici is presenting all of his evidence in his film and book, which focus on six ossuaries discovered in March 1980. They were found in a 2,000-year-old cave that was discovered when workers were excavating land for a housing development south of Jerusalem.
The boxes were inscribed with the names: Jesus son of Joseph, Judah son of Jesus, Maria, Mariamne, Joseph and Matthew. Another inscription, written in Aramaic, translates to "Judah Son of Jesus."

The inscriptions did not raise many alarms when they were discovered, as they were common names at the time of Jesus.

But Jacobovici asks in his film and book what the likelihood is that this particular group of names, contained in the same family tomb, would appear together?

"There are really only two possibilities," Jacobovici told The Globe and Mail. "Either this cluster of names represents the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth and his family. Or some other family, with this very same constellation of names, existed at precisely the same time in history in Jerusalem."

University of Toronto mathematician Dr. Andrey Feuerverger calculated the odds at one in 600; while Dr. James Tabor, chair of the department of religion at the University of North Carolina, placed the odds at one in 42 million.
A page of a book by Israeli archeologist Amos Kloner shows images of ossuaries found in a cave in southern Jerusalem in 1980, Sunday Feb. 25, 2007. (AP / Oded Balilty)
"If you took the entire population of Jerusalem at the time and put it in a stadium, and asked everyone named Jesus to stand up, you'd have about 2,700 men," Tabor said. "Then you'd ask only those with a father named Joseph and a mother named Mary to remain standing. And then those with a brother named Yose and a brother named James. Statistically, you end up with one person."

Jacobovici assures devout Christians that there is nothing in his documentary or book that should offend them, since he doesn't argue against Jesus' ascension to heaven.

But his claims could be an issue for those who believe Jesus ascended, both physically and spiritually, to heaven 40 days after his resurrection.

Further, it would question the doctrine of the Virgin Birth if DNA testing were to link Jesus and Joseph with Mary.

According to Jewish custom, the bones have long since been reburied in unmarked graves in Israel. But tests conducted at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., on DNA obtained from the Jesus and Mary tomb and show that the two individuals were not maternally related.

Dr. Carney Matheson, the university lab's head, said this likely means they were related by marriage.

Jacobovici's $4-million documentary was executive-produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron.

"It doesn't get bigger than this. We've done our homework; we've made the case; and now it's time for the debate to begin," Cameron said in a news release.

The film will air March 6 on Canada's Vision TV, and later next month on Discovery U.S. and Britain's Channel 4.

The Jesus Family Tomb, a companion book by Jacobovici and Dr. Charles Pellegrino, has just been released.

Jacobovici and Cameron are expected to hold a press conference Monday morning at the New York Public Library, with the Jesus and Mary ossuaries which were flown in from Israel on display.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star
=======================
 
Budget to bring provincial payouts, lower taxes
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. Feb. 25  2007  11:31  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 25th, 2007
The federal government has announced it will deliver the budget on March 19 -- a document that Finance Minister Jim Flaherty signalled will include more money for the provinces and lower taxes.
In November, Flaherty projected $3.5 billion in new spending for the budget; a figure that economists said meant the government could afford little in terms of real tax relief for Canadians. A number of spending promises would have to wait.

But Flaherty said last week that the government's financial picture is rosier than originally projected because the strong economy is pumping unexpectedly high revenue into federal coffers.

In fact, Flaherty boasted the government will be able to afford to fix the fiscal imbalance with the provinces -- a Tory election promise -- and go further than the $2.5 billion in tax cuts already stated to be included in the 2007 budget.

"We're in a sufficient financial situation in Canada to move from fiscal imbalance to fiscal balance and also to reduce taxes," Flaherty said.

The announcement came as speculation about a possible spring election continues to gain strength.

The Tories have already outlined plans for the following:
a $1-billion plan to let couples split pension income for tax purposes;
a $725-million corporate income levy cut;
and $800-million in personal tax relief using interest savings from retired federal debt.

And Flaherty has repeatedly hinted that a Working Income Tax Benefit will be part of the budget. The policy would provide financial incentives to reward people for working, rather than going on social assistance.
That measure, economists say, could cost between $500 million and $1 billion.

Within the $3.5 billion first predicted in November, economists suggested the government would be able to afford key promises such as the Working Income Tax Benefit and measures to correct the fiscal imbalance.

With climate change and the environment at the top of Canadians' priority list according to recent polls, and the Tories striving to improve their green image, there is also a high probability that the budget will include environmental tax incentives.

Impact on the Budget
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty responds during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday, Jan. 29, 2007. (CP / Tom Hanson)
But extra measures, including broad-based tax reductions such as the promise to reduce the GST by another percentage point, are unlikely to happen, said Frances Woolley, a professor of economics at Carleton University in Ottawa.

In short, Canadians shouldn't expect major personal savings as a result of this budget.

"Perhaps the simplest observation to make is this: $3.5 billion divided by the Canadian population of 30-some million is just over $100 per person," said Woolley.

"So you're not going to see anything that will save the average person a huge amount of taxes or provide a typical Canadian with big benefits - that's just too expensive."

She predicted the budget will include measures that pay high political dividends, such as the Working Income Tax Benefit.
She says such a system would cost much less than a GST cut, would have real benefits to some of Canada's most needy, would be welcomed by the provinces that pay out social assistance and would fuel the job market -- all features the New Democratic Party is likely to support.

"Say you're giving a 1 per cent tax break to someone who's earning $200,000 a year. That costs you a lot of money, but someone who is on welfare might be getting $500 a month, if that -- it doesn't cost you much to make those people better off," Woolley said.

There will also be some creative environmental policies that will have to go beyond Liberal efforts such as subsidizing environmentally-friendly light bulbs, providing tax breaks for people who improve home efficiency, or subsidizing windmills, Woolley predicted.

She said the Tories will have to set themselves apart from the Liberals on environmental issues by doing something different, but she wouldn't predict what that might include.
Finally, Woolley said, the Tory budget can be expected to include at least one major surprise.

"There will also be something we aren't expecting. There always is."

The 1% solution

What the budget almost undoubtedly won't include, she said, is another cut to the GST.

The Tories' election platform included a promise to slash the GST to 6 per cent, then to 5 per cent. It cost roughly $6 billion to carry out the first half of the promise, and there simply isn't room in this budget, nor the will, to complete the promise in the next fiscal plan, Woolley said.

"If you look at the political mileage they got last time from cutting the GST -- in a sense it was a promise so they had to go through with it -- but for the amount of money it cost I don't think they actually got that much mileage from it."

Doug Porter, Deputy Chief Economist at BMO Capital Markets, agreed the GST cut didn't generate the kind of political traction the Tories were hoping for in return to the cost.

He agreed the budget is unlikely to include another GST cut, but pointed out that many of the Tories' election promises were goals meant to be accomplished within a four-year term.

He acknowledged that the Conservatives like to spring surprises, but suggested they will hold off the remaining GST cut as a carrot for down the road.

"They don't necessarily have to do everything in the first year. Ottawa wasn't built in a day," Porter told CTV.ca.

"They can stretch out a lot of these over time and it's quite possible this year's budget will act as an election platform, so they're likely to pledge a number of things more as goals over the next few years. That's not uncommon and it's not unreasonable."
Porter had a slightly more positive outlook on the upcoming budget than Woolley, saying it might not be as slim as it appears at first glance.

He pointed out that budget numbers have almost consistently topped expectations in terms of revenue, and "provided the economy stays on track I think there's a lot more room than the $3.5 billion in the first year."

He also noted that employment numbers and the Canadian equity market are at record high levels, adding to the likelihood that federal revenues will be higher than projected in the fall.

However, extra revenue won't necessarily translate to more programs, since tax cuts and the fiscal imbalance are deep pools that could easily swallow more money, Porter said.

Like Woolley, he said there's little doubt the environment will play a major role in the budget.

"It seems fairly obvious the environment will be another major focus, now whether there will be concrete measures in this budget that actually involve a whole lot of new spending or potential tax relief is debatable, but I think that will certainly be another key focus."

The budget is expected to have funding measures for training and education, infrastructure and science and technology.

The political fallout

This will be the minority government's second budget since winning the Jan. 23, 2006 federal election, and its future could depend on it.

Votes on budget items are considered matters of confidence. That means if the opposition parties vote against the budget, the government could fall and an election would result.

"I believe it will be a good budget, I believe Parliament should support the budget," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told CTV Newsnet's Mike Duffy Live.

The Liberals have indicated they are likely to vote against the budget, but the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP would have to join them for the budget to be defeated.

Harper has so far refused to be baited on when an election might be, maintaining that he wants to continue to govern, and if an election is forced it will be at the behest of the opposition.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from Andy Johnson
=======================
 
35 cars collide in Colorado whiteout
Web Posted | Last Updated Sat. Feb. 24  2007  14:06  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 24th, 2007
DENVER -- A large, fast-moving snowstorm closed sections of major highways in the Plains on Saturday and threatened to dump more than a foot of snow on the Upper Midwest.

Interstate 70, a major cross-country route, was closed for about 200 miles in both directions from just east of Denver to Colby, Kan., because of blowing snow and slippery pavement, according to Colorado and Kansas highway officials.

Between Denver and the beginning of the highway closure, about 35 cars collided in a pileup in whiteout conditions Saturday morning on an icy section of I-70. No major injuries were reported.
A Minnesota Department of Transportation snow plow treats a highway into St. Paul, Minn., in preparation for a foot or more of snow predicted as a storm moves in Saturday, Feb. 24, 2007. (AP / Jim Mone)
The weather service reported wind gusts of 68 mph in the Denver area.

A number of other highways also were closed in the two states.

"Basically there's zero visibility at this time," Kansas Department of Transportation spokeswoman Barb Blue said just before noon. "Travel is not recommended unless absolutely necessary."

A stretch of about 125 miles of I-80 was closed in both directions in western Nebraska, from Ogallala to the Wyoming line. Wind gusting to 52 mph drove wet snow. "It's nasty," said Carol McKain of the Nebraska State Patrol.

Farther east, a 30-mile stretch of U.S. 275 was closed in Nebraska because of flooding.

There was no power in parts of North Platte, Neb., where "the snow is so wet it's sticking to power poles and power lines," said Bill Taylor of the National Weather Service office in North Platte.

Flights continued operating Saturday at Denver International Airport, where thousands of travelers were stalled by a 45-hour shutdown during a pre-Christmas blizzard. The airport was on the western edge of the area of heavy snow and had only about an inch by late morning, spokesman Chuck Cannon said.

In addition to the snow on the western Plains, the vast storm system spread rain and thunderstorms across parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri, with locally heavy snow across Iowa and southern Minnesota.

The weather service posted blizzard and winter storm warnings for parts of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Up to 16 inches of snow was possible by late Sunday in Minnesota, which would be the biggest snowfall so far in an unusually dry winter for that state, the weather service said.

Officials advised against unnecessary travel in southwestern Minnesota, where roads already were slippery from heavy sleet and freezing rain that fell during the night.

One traffic death had been blamed on the storm in Wisconsin.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Justin Trudeau to run in Papineau for Liberals
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. Feb. 22  2007  23:23  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 23rd, 2007
Justin Trudeau has confirmed that he will try to take on the Bloc Québécois, by seeking the Liberal nomination in the Montreal-area riding of Papineau.

"They will soon discover I am not my father, for better or worse," Trudeau told CTV News, referring to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau.

He was originally expected to run in the Montreal-area Outremont riding, recently vacated by Jean Lapierre, a former Liberal cabinet minister.
Justin Trudeau smiles while speaking to reporters upon arriving at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C. Feb. 22, 2007. (CP / Richard Lam)
Instead, he will seek nomination in the tougher Papineau seat, currently held by Bloc MP Vivian Barbot. She defeated former Liberal cabinet minister Pierre Pettigrew in the 2006 election.

"I don't want to be handed anything, I don't need to be handed anything, I'm more than capable of bringing the fight and it will be a chance for me to demonstrate my own political abilities," said Trudeau.

"It's an absolute bonus that I'll be able to take back this riding for the Liberals."
The riding has large Haitian, Greek and Italian communities. Many of them are recent immigrants who know little of Trudeau's famous father.

"He's not taking the easy way into politics and that's great from him," said Liberal Leader Stephen Dion.

But Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe said that Trudeau has done little in politics and faces a tough fight in the riding.

"He would be a federalist candidate and we never choose our opponents, we beat them," he said.

Trudeau said that being attached to the legacy of his father works both ways.

"My father's name obviously comes into it on the positive and the negative," said Trudeau.

"Expectations for me will be so amazingly high by some people and so incredibly low by others that I'm sure to disappoint everyone equally."
He said if he makes it to Ottawa he'll promote government responsibility, youth involvement and the environment.

Earlier this month, Trudeau confirmed that he had been talking "on and off" with Dion since the leadership convention in December.

He was a vocal supporter of Gerard Kennedy during the leadership race but threw his support behind Dion after Kennedy bowed out.

Trudeau, a former high-school teacher, said that throughout his life, his father's advice has always stuck with him.

"His advice to me was always 'Make sure you're doing everything you can to make the world a better place' and today I start a new chapter."

Dion said Thursday in Montreal that he's impressed by Trudeau's courage to fight for the nomination.

"It shows how much our party will convince a lot of great personalities to run for us. Justin is a very, very compelling young Canadian," Dion said, appearing on CTV Newsnet's Mike Duffy Live.

"I wish him a lot of good luck."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with a report by CTV's Roger Smith in Ottawa
=======================
 
Prenatal multivitamins lower risk of kids' cancers
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. Feb. 21  2007  22:34  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 22nd, 2007
Expectant mothers who take multivitamins fortified with folic acid not only guard against birth defects, but also reduce the risk of three common childhood cancers, according to new research.
"I knew they were important, and this study just reinforces that," mother-to-be Summer MacDonald told CTV News.
Researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children say multivitamins are associated with:
a 47 per cent protective effect against neuroblastoma,
a 39 per cent cut in rates of leukemia
and a 27 per cent drop in rates of brain tumours.

This research was published online in the journal Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics.

"Here is a relatively non-expensive way to give prenatal vitamins and to prevent one of the worst outcomes in medicine for a family -- a child with cancer," Dr. Gideon Koren, a senior scientist in the SickKids Research Institute who led the study, told CTV News.

Women considering pregnancy have long been advised to take folic acid to prevent congenital defects such as spina bifida. But these latest findings suggest that supplementing with a multivitamin containing folic acid may be even better.

Surveys show that fewer than half of Canadian women take prenatal multivitamins before or during pregnancy, a number doctors say needs to be increased significantly.
Mother-to-be Summer MacDonald says 'I knew they were important, and this study just reinforces that.'
Dr. Gideon Koren, a senior scientist in the SickKids Research Institute.
"Women planning pregnancies should be highly encouraged to take prenatal vitamins," said Koren.

He says taking a multivitamin is a simple step that any mother can take to help protect the health of his child before and during pregnancy.

"This affordable approach could contribute to a significant reduction in the number of childhood cancer cases diagnosed each year, which has huge implications for society at large," he said.

While other studies have looked at the effect of prenatal vitamins on rates of pediatric tumours, this is the first meta-analysis of prenatal multivitamin use before and during early pregnancy and its protective effect for several cancers.

The researchers aren't sure which components of a prenatal multivitamin offer protection against pediatric cancers but say additional research is needed.

Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer and accounts for 25 to 35 per cent of new pediatric cases each year.

Brain and spinal tumours, the second most common form of cancer, account for 17 per cent of new pediatric cancer cases each year. And neuroblastoma, the most prevalent solid tumour that occurs outside of the brain in children under the age of five, affects one in every 6,000 to 7,000 children in North America.

Dan Mornar is pleased with the finding. He watched his son Jonathan die after developing neuroblastoma and now counsels other parents dealing with a child who has cancer with the British Columbia Childhood Cancer Parents' Association. (can be found at www.bcccpa.org)

"I'd like to be out of a job because cancer was cured or better managed. And prevention here is a key," he said.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with a report from CTV's Avis Favaro and Elizabeth St. Philip
=======================
 
Pregnancy hormone may reverse some MS damage
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. Feb. 21  2007  07:15  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 21st, 2007
CALGARY -- The miracle of life could eventually hold the key to a miracle of sorts for thousands of people suffering from multiple sclerosis, say researchers at the University of Calgary.

Between 55,000 and 75,000 Canadians suffer from MS, a chronic disease in which the body's own immune system attacks myelin, a fatty substance coating the brain and spinal cord. The resulting damage causes lesions that make it difficult for messages to travel through the central nervous system, leading to a progressive loss of sensation and movement.
University of Calgary researcher Dr. Samuel Weiss holds a culture tray of brain tissue in his university lab in Calgary. (CP / Jeff McIntosh)
But there is evidence that MS goes into remission when women become pregnant, and in some cases the body actually begins to repair some of the damage.

Researchers found the hormone prolactin, which is produced during pregnancy, encouraged the spontaneous production of myelin in the brains and spinal cords of pregnant mice. In addition, during pregnancy, the immune system no longer destroyed myelin.

Results of the Calgary study are being published in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

"If you put it all together, it suggests that increases in prolactin makes more myelin, which may contribute to some of the repair that is seen during pregnancy in MS," explained Dr. Samuel Weiss, senior author of the study and director of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.

"It also suggests that prolactin itself may be a potential therapeutic model for treating MS."

All current treatments for the disease target the immune system in the early stages, but once the lesions form on the brain and spinal cord, there are no treatments.

It will probably be several years before studies can be done on human subjects, and the hormone represents only a potential treatment and not a cure, cautioned Weiss.

But Dianne Rogers, 37, sees reason for hope. The woman originally from Montreal was diagnosed with MS when she was 25. Two years ago she gave birth to her daughter Sarah and did notice a difference during pregnancy.

"The pregnancy was pretty benign and I did not have the same symptoms as I have normally. That was wonderful actually," she remembered.

"It was like a birthday present and a Christmas present all rolled in together. It was like, wow, something I don't have to worry about or think about."

But the pregnancy came at a cost. She had been in a relapse for six years before her pregnancy and things have worsened since.
"A month and a bit after, I ended up in a severe relapse. As soon as those pregnancy hormones were gone, slam - I was right into it again."

Rogers, who once aspired to be an Olympic figure skater, mostly notices vision problems and a loss of sensation on her left side.

Dr. V. Wee Yong, who worked with Weiss on the study, said it seems appropriate that pregnancy and the creation of new life may lead to an eventual treatment that will improve the lives of thousands of others.

"It's remarkable. I mean pregnancy is a stressful state, and what is increasingly appreciated is during pregnancy there is the regeneration of a lot of cells," said Yong.

"If we understood the biological processes that contribute to the improvement of well-being during pregnancy, one could now have a lead to take that into a therapeutic situation."

An official with the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada called the announcement significant.

"We're looking at a naturally occurring hormone that has never been looked at on how it can improve MS symptoms," said Stewart Wong. "People who have MS today should be pleased with the research that's taking place."

The research is worth pursuing said Dr. Paul O'Connor, director of MS research at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

"A very interesting study which, however, must be interpreted with caution as mouse MS is by no means the same as human MS," said O'Connor.

"The search for natural agents that can promote remyelination is of key importance for the future welfare of our MS patients."
Rogers is under no delusions about the new research, which essentially is still in its infancy.

"I know it's not a cure, but it's one step closer to finding the reasons why things are happening," she said.

"If this hormone could not only stop or delay the damage but actually alleviate that damage and repair that damage - how fabulous is that?"

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from the Canadian Press
=======================
 
Most premature baby ever born to leave hospital
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. Feb. 20  2007  06:40  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 20th, 2007
MIAMI -- A premature baby that doctors say spent less time in the womb than any other surviving infant is to be released from a Florida hospital Tuesday.

Amillia Sonja Taylor was just 9 1/2 inches long and weighed less than 10 ounces when she was born Oct. 24. She was delivered 21 weeks and six days after conception. Full-term births come after 37 to 40 weeks.
A healthcare worker displays the feet of Amillia Sonja Taylor. (Baptist Hospital via The Miami Herald)
"We weren't too optimistic," Dr. William Smalling said Monday. "But she proved us all wrong."

Neonatologists who cared for Amillia say she is the first baby known to survive after a gestation period of fewer than 23 weeks. A database run by the University of Iowa's Department of Pediatrics lists seven babies born at 23 weeks between 1994 and 2003.

Amillia has experienced respiratory problems, a very mild brain hemorrhage and some digestive problems, but none of the health concerns are expected to pose long-term problems, her doctors said.

"We can deal with lungs and things like that but, of course, the brain is the most important," Dr. Paul Fassbach said Monday. "But her prognosis is excellent."

Amillia has been in an incubator since birth and has been receiving oxygen. She will continue getting a small amount of oxygen, and her breathing will be monitored once she leaves Baptist Children's Hospital. She now is between 25 and 26 inches long and weighs 4 1/2 pounds.

"She's going to be in a normal crib, she's going to have normal feedings, she's taking all her feedings from a bottle," Smalling said.

Amillia is the first child for Eddie and Sonja Taylor of Homestead. She was conceived by in vitro fertilization, which made it possible to pinpoint her exact time in the womb, and was delivered by Caesarean section.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from the Associated Press
A healthcare worker holds Amillia Sonja Taylor. (Baptist Hospital via The Miami Herald)
In this photo made in Oct. 2006 provided by Baptist Hospital, baby Amillia Sonja Taylor is seen. (Baptist Hospital via The Miami Herald)
=======================
 
2 new genetic links predispose people to autism, large study shows
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. Feb. 18  2007  21:47  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 19th, 2007
An international team of scientists including several Canadians has discovered genetic links that put children at greater risk of developing autism.

About 1,500 families offered DNA to scientists searching for a cause for autism spectrum disorder. The results appear in Sunday's issue of Nature Genetics.

Stephen Scherer of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto led the Canadian arm of the research, identifying two key genetic causes for autism.

"Now we can think about this condition in a much different way," said Scherer. "We have an understanding of what's going on in the developing brain in these individuals so we can think about ways to actually deal with this issue."

The work involved abnormalities in chromosomes, gene codes and proteins. Between seven to 12 per cent of the families showed individuals sharing possibly detrimental chromosome abnormalities.

A linkage analysis that searched for regions of the genome that might be shared by individuals with autism spectrum disorder turned up a region on chromosome 11 that has not previously been linked to risk of developing autism.
Autism affects one in 160 children. The complexity of the genetics helps explain why it is described as a spectrum, with no two children exactly alike. Environmental factors may also play a role, scientists say.

The Fenton family of Halifax is a case in point. Liam, 14, has Asperger's syndrome. He is able to do Grade 8 schoolwork but has problems relating to others. His 10-year-old brother, Rhys, has a more classic form of autism and has difficulties with language, learning and social interactions.

"We need to find out why," said their mother, Jo-Lynn Fenton. "Obviously, I have two children with autism, somebody has no children with autism, so there's a reason, and the best way to find out is to look at what's different."

The findings may help steer scientists toward new drugs and behavioural therapies tailored to specific children or groups of children, said Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, director of the Autism Research Centre in Edmonton.

"At some point it may be that this kind of genetic research identifies subgroups of children with autism where the response to intervention may actually somehow relate to the genetics."

New treatments are years away, but the findings may help parents come to terms with why their children are different, and help them to understand that the disorder is not due to something they did during pregnancy.

The study also underlines that if one child is born with autism, there is a greater likelihood their siblings will be, as well.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
=======================
 
Inuit climate change activist committed to cause
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. Feb. 18  2007  12:41  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 18th, 2007
The Canadian Inuit activist nominated alongside Al Gore for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize said she is more committed than ever to drawing the world's attention to climate change in the Arctic.

Sheila Watt-Cloutier, the former chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference, appeared on CTV's Question Period on Sunday.
Inuit Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier appears on CTV's Question Period.
She said she has been working on her objective for more than a decade, acting as an advocate for 155,000 polar Inuit people spread across Alaska, Greenland, Russia and Canada.

"I have been out doing this environmental work for the past 11 years in every forum possible, the United Nations forums, the Arctic council forums and working with the global community to try to get it to understand not only who we are but the negative impacts that globalization is having on our way of life in the Arctic as a hunting culture," she said.

As someone who grew up on the land, Watt-Cloutier said she has witnessed first-hand how climate change is affecting her people's traditional way of life.

That lifestyle, she said, is largely based on cold weather and the presence of ice and snow, and has been put at risk by a warming planet.

With poor ice conditions and lighter snow falls, mobility and transportation is affected, and as a result, danger levels have increased for the Inuit.

"We are having more drownings as a result of the ice not being as safe as it used to be because to read the conditions today are so different from what it used to be, because the ice forms differently because the Arctic sink is warming."

"Even our seasoned hunters are having more accidents as a result of it. The ice forms much later in the fall, it breaks up much earlier in the spring, there are new species of animals we don't even have names for that have arrived in the Arctic. There are much more intense storms and blizzards without warning that come up."

All those factors, combined with the work of activists such as Gore and Watt-Cloutier to draw attention to the issue, means the world, and politicians, are finally paying attention to the issue, she said.
"Well, I think people are finally starting to see what we have been seeing in the Arctic for a number of years," she said.

"The Arctic is the early warning. It is the health barometer for the planet. What is happening on the planet is happening first and fastest in the Arctic. But mind you it is going to start to happen elsewhere in the world."

In another recent victory in her campaign, Watt-Cloutier was granted a hearing in front of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate the relationship between human rights and global warming.

Watt-Cloutier contends the Inuit's human rights are being threatened by governments' lack of effort to counter climate change. She gathered a petition signed by 62 Inuit hunters, women and elders from Alaska and Canada, contending that their traditional way of life is no longer possible.

After a year of lobbying, the commission has agreed to a hearing.

"On March 1 the hearing is in Washington, D.C. They are giving us an hour -- myself, and my legal team, but they want to broaden the debate. They want to see how this relates to the real legal aspects for all people who are vulnerable and who are negatively impacted by global warming and climate change," she said.

"So it is a good sign. It is a good day for us to start to open this issue with that hearing as a first start."

Watt-Cloutier said she has not yet met Gore, but she offered an invitation for him to visit her in the Canadian Arctic.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
=======================
 
Police find body of missing Quebec City teen
Web Posted | Last Updated Sat. Feb. 17  2007  12:00  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 17th, 2007
Quebec police say they have found the body of a 16-year-old who disappeared Wednesday just hours before a major snowstorm hit the area.

Alexandre Morin's body was found near a municipal garage in Sillery, Que., a suburb of Quebec City, according to authorities.
Cyclist Alexandre Morin has been missing since Wednesday.
His family visited the scene earlier Saturday and identified the body.

Close to 1,000 people had been searching for Morin since he went for a jog and didn't return home.

Volunteers, police officers, tracking dogs and a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter were all involved in the search.

Morin, a cyclist, had been training for a cycling competition in France. His training schedule included a daily run.

Police said he had epilepsy, but there is no word on whether that condition contributed to his death.

Morin's father, Jean-Pierre Morin, told The Globe and Mail his son was well-disciplined and would not go away without letting his parents know.

"I'm expecting the worst. You can't lose hope until you find the body. But I don't understand. I have no explanations. I can't see him going somewhere and not call home," Morin said Thursday.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
=======================
 
Al Qaeda releases video of purported Afghan attack
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. Feb. 16  2007  07:48  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 16th, 2007
A new al Qaeda video has emerged on the Internet that shows what the terrorist organization claims is an insurgent offensive on U.S. and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan.

The tape begins with the deputy leader of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, ridiculing U.S. President George Bush, in what appears to be an attempt to undermine American claims it is winning the war against the Taliban.

Al-Zawahri says Bush's claim to have deprived al-Qaeda of a save haven in Afghanistan is a "barefaced lie."
This image made from an undated al-Qaeda video made available by IntelCenter on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2007, shows a man identified as Al-Qaida's No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri. (AP / IntelCenter)
Al-Zawahri, who speaks in Arabic with an English translation in subtitles, appears to be referring to a speech Bush made in January when the president said that American troops "took away al Qaeda's safe haven in Afghanistan -- and we will not allow them to re-establish it in Iraq."

The video then goes on, with a narrator speaking in American-accented English, to show what it claims is an attack on a military position north of Kandahar.

The narrator, who sounds like the American al Qaeda member Adam Gadahn, claims that the position is "liberated" by the insurgents.

However, the film does not show the insurgents capturing the target during the night-time battle.

The video also shows the insurgents firing at the alleged post but it is impossible to identify the weapons in the dark.

It only shows the insurgents walking through the compound -- comprising mud-plastered buildings in a valley -- in daylight.

The night-time footage also shows tracer bullets crossing the sky, gunfire being exchanged and explosions of what are said to be rocket-propelled grenades.
"After a fierce battle, the mujahideen (holy warriors) begin their retreat from the zone of operations," the narrator says in English.

The tape quotes a fighter as saying: "We retreated after about 45 minutes of fighting."

Scrawled on the walls of the single-story buildings once occupied by American soldiers are words such as: "Scalp Hunters," "CPT ASHWOKTH UTAH. N6 '06 ETT," and "Spc Smith Commo US Army 2006."

ETT stands for Embedded Training Teams - the U.S. and other Western soldiers who serve as mentors to the Afghan security forces.

The authenticity of the scenes shown could not be confirmed.
This is an image provided by IntelCenter of a video posted on the Internet by Al-Qaida Friday, Feb. 16, 2007, showing what they claimed to be an insurgent attack on a military position of U.S. and Afghan forces in southern Afghanistan. (AP / IntelCenter)
The English-speaking narrator says the camera is going around "the liberated area to bring us pictures from inside the cleansed military bases."

The video also shows a crowd of men stoning a beige pickup truck that has the number RTS323 on its hood.

The narrator says: "The mujahideen and local residents celebrate the victory in their own special way."

The vide, which carried the logo of the al Qaeda media production company, as-Sahab, was posted on an Islamic website known for hosting extremist material.

Al Qaeda appears to have issued the tape on Thursday with the title "Holocaust of the Americans in the land of Khorasan, the Islamic emirate: Capture of an American post, Arghandab." The name Khorasan refers to Afghanistan.

The video raises some interesting questions about al Qaeda's operations, CTV's Tom Clark reported from Kandahar.

"In the past we were always told al Qaeda operated in the eastern part of Afghanistan. We're here in the south, but in the south it was always just the Taliban that the Canadians were fighting," Clark told CTV's Canada AM.

"That incident, if it's real, occurred just a little bit north of where I'm standing right now. The question that it raises is: Are we now fighting al Qaeda as well as the Taliban? We simply don't know at this point," Clark said.

District chief of Arghandab, Fazel Bari, told The Associated Press the only recent clash in the area was last month when suspected Taliban militants ambushed NATO-led troops and Afghan forces on the road between Arghandab and Qalat, the provincial capital.

Bari said no NATO and Afghan troops suffered casualties, but they detained one man after the battle, which ended with the Taliban withdrawing.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Zundel sentenced to five years in German prison
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. Feb. 15  2007  08:00  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 15th, 2007
Far-right activist Ernst Zundel was convicted by a German court Thursday on 14 counts of incitement for Holocaust denial.

The court ordered the 67-year-old, who was deported from Canada in 2005, to serve the maximum sentence of five years in prison.

Zundel was accused of years of anti-Semitic activities that included denying the Holocaust in documents and on the Internet -- a crime in Germany.
Ernst Zundel sits in a court at his trial in Mannheim, southern Germany in this Nov. 8, 2005 file photo. (AP / Michael Probst)
Zundel and his supporters have argued that he has been denied his right to free speech.

Born in Germany in 1939, Zundel came to Canada in 1958 and lived in Toronto and Montreal until 2001.

After failed attempts to obtain Canadian citizenship in 1966 and 1994, Zundel moved to Tennessee and married fellow extremist Ingrid Rimland. In 2003, Zundel was deported from the U.S. to Canada for alleged immigration violations.

Upon his arrival in Toronto, Zundel was arrested and detained until a Federal Court judge deported him back to German in March 2005. The judge ruled that Zundel was a threat to national and international security.

Two previous attempts at prosecuting Zundel in Canada failed when the Supreme Court of Canada ultimately struck down laws against spreading false news, calling it a violation of free speech.

Since the 1970s, Zundel has been known as a prominent white supremacist and Holocaust denier.

He ran Zundel ran Samisdat Publishers from Canada -- a leading distributor of Nazi propaganda.

He drew attention in the 1980s with publications that included "The Hitler We Loved and Why" and "Did Six Million Really Die?"

Zundel also ran The Zundelsite website.

German trial
Zundel's initial trial in Germany was derailed after he had a dispute with one of his attorneys, Sylvia Stolz.

Stolz was banned from the trial on grounds that she had tried to sabotage the proceedings by calling the court a "tool of foreign domination."

During a later incident, she broke the ban and was removed from the courtroom yelling "Resistance! The German people are rising up."

During the closing arguments for the current trial, defence attorney Ludwig Bock quoted from Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and from Nazi race laws.

Bock accused the court of not wanting to recognize a "scientific analysis" of the Holocaust and claimed that prosecutors had defamed his client.

Prosecutor Andreas Grossmann referred to Zundel as a "political con man" and made reference to his Holocaust denial writings.

"You might as well argue that the sun rises in the west,'' said Grossmann, requesting the maximum sentence for Zundel. "But you cannot change that the Holocaust has been proven.''

In reaction to the verdict, the Canadian Jewish Congress said Thursday that they're satisfied with the sentence given to Zundel.

Congress chief executive Bernie Farber said the court has sent a strong message and that the verdict will bring comfort to Holocaust survivors.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Automaker Chrysler chopping 13,000 jobs
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. Feb. 14  2007  09:02  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 14th, 2007
DaimlerChrysler is chopping 13,000 jobs across North America as part of a plan to cut the struggling automaker's costs. It's not immediately clear how many jobs in Canada are affected.

However, analysts had expected about 2,000 workers in Windsor and Brampton, Ont. to get the axe.

Chrysler Group has a plant in Brampton where the Dodge Challenger, Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger and Magnums are assembled.
Unsold 2007 Compass four-wheel-drive vehicles sit in a row on the lot of a Chrysler-Jeep agency in the south Denver suburb of Centennial, Colo., on Jan. 28, 2007. (AP / David Zalubowski)
It produces Dodge and Chrysler minivans and the Chrysler Pacifica in Windsor.

The restructuring plan also calls for the idling of the company's Newark, Del., assembly plant; the idling of a parts distribution centre near Cleveland; and reducing shifts at plants in Warren, Mich., and St. Louis.

DaimlerChrysler AG said Wednesday it was considering "far-reaching strategic options with partners" and that "no option is being excluded."

The DaimlerChrysler Automotive Group is in the midst of downsizing its North American operations. Similar moves are already underway at competitors Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.

Workers have heard rumours about possible buyouts or early retirement offers similar to those offered by Ford and General Motors to reduce their hourly work forces by tens of thousands.

Analysts believe a large part of the restructuring plan will target plants making trucks and sport utility vehicles, reflecting the recent shift in consumer tastes.

Chrysler lost US$1.5 billion in the third quarter of 2006, and its sales were down 7 per cent last year.

Future vehicles made by the company, analysts say, will likely share more parts with Mercedes vehicles as DaimlerChrysler moves to save money by building more models on common platforms.

Meanwhile, the company said Tuesday it will build the new Dodge Challenger muscle car at its Brampton plant west of Toronto.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
North Korea agrees to nuclear disarmament
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. Feb. 13  2007  07:08  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 13th, 2007
After more than three years of six-nation negotiations, North Korea agreed Tuesday to shut down its main nuclear reactor and eventually dismantle its atomic weapons program.

Under the terms of the deal, North Korea will seal off its main nuclear reactor and related facilities at Yongbyon, north of the capital, within 60 days. They will also allow international inspectors into the country to confirm that the action has been taken.
Negotiators and their aides attend the closing ceremony of the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program in Beijing on Tuesday. (AP / Michael Reynolds)
In exchange, the North will receive initial aid equal to 50,000 ton of heavy fuel oil. Once they irreversibly disable the reactor and all other nuclear programs, the country will receive another 950,000 tons in aid.

"There's no question that this is definitely a very important first step but there is a long way to go," reported CTV's Steve Chao in Beijing.

"The deal doesn't deal specifically with the nuclear weapons North Korea already has in its arsenal. It's estimated they have enough weapons-grade plutonium for up to 12 nuclear weapons."

The agreement was read to delegates from the six countries involved in the negotiations: The United States, North and South Koreas, Japan, China and Russia.

When no objections were made, officials from all sides stood up and clapped.

After the initial 60 days, foreign ministers from all the involved countries will reconvene to discuss progress.

The main U.S. nuclear envoy said Washington was happy with Tuesday's achievement.

"Obviously we have a long way to go, but we're very pleased with this agreement," Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters. "It's a very solid step forward."

The U.S. and North Korea have also agreed to start taking steps towards normalizing diplomatic relations.

While no deadline was set, the U.S. will begin the process of removing North Korea from its list of terror-sponsoring states. Japan and North Korea have also agreed to attempt to normalize relations.

To ensure progress is being made, five working groups will meet within 30 days: denuclearization, normalization of U.S.-North Korea relations, normalization of North Korea-Japan relations, economy and energy cooperation, and peace and security in northeast Asia.
North Korean nuclear envoy Kim Kye Gwan, centre, and his aides clap hands after details of an agreement are read during the closing ceremony in Beijing, China on Tuesday. (AP / Andrew Wong)
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill applauds with others to show approval of an agreement during the closing ceremony in Beijing on Tuesday. (AP / Michael Reynolds)
Analysts say making sure Pyongyang complies with the agreement may be a difficult task.

That's because the country has sidestepped previous agreements in the past and is believed to have numerous mountainside tunnels where they can hide projects.

In 1994, the U.S. and North Korea reached a disarmament deal. The North was to receive was to receive about 454,000 tonnes of fuel oil per year and two light-water reactors in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons ambitions.

The U.S. claimed in 2002 that North Korea had admitted to restarting its nuclear program. Talks have been going on intermittently since 2003; however, they gained new urgency when North Korea claimed in October to have successfully detonated a nuclear device.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Dixie Chicks take home five Grammy awards
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. Feb. 12  2007  01:05  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 12th, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- The Dixie Chicks, who were virtually shunned by the country music industry after lead singer Natalie Maines criticized U.S. President George W. Bush, emerged triumphant at Sunday's Grammy Awards, picking up five trophies, including album of the year.

"I'm ready to make nice," said Maines, referring to the group's defiant anthem. "I think people are using their freedom of speech with all of these awards."

Other trophies for the Chicks included record of the year and best country album for their politically tinged Taking the Long Way.
The Dixie Chicks from left, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire, accept the award for best country album for 'Taking the Long Way' at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 11, 2007, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. (AP / Mark J. Terrill)
"Well, to quote the great 'Simpsons:' heh-heh!" Maines said to laughter and applause, referring to a snide taunt oft-heard on the animated TV show.

Bandmate Emily Robison thanked the trio's core fans for staying with them through death threats, public CD burnings and a boycott by some country radio stations.

"We wouldn't have done this album without everything we went through so we have no regrets," said Robison.

It was also a big night for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who picked up four Grammys and R&B diva Mary J. Blige, who got three.

Blige, who had a leading eight nominations going into the night, snapped up prizes for best R&B album for The Breakthrough and best R&B vocal performance for the song Be Without You.

The song had earlier won best R&B song and in a pre-televised ceremony.

"The is the first time I've ever been up here to receive anything," an emotional Blige said as she fought back tears in one of the night's first acceptance speeches.

Looking elegant in a champagne-coloured gown with a plunging neckline, the R&B diva acknowledged her troubled past and said she considered the prizes an acknowledgment she had grown as a person as well as an artist.
"For so many years I've been talked about negatively and this time I am being talked about positively by so many people," said Blige, whose past includes well-publicized substance abuse problems.

"I'm going to use this success to build bridges, not to burn."

Awards for the Chili Peppers' included best rock album, best rock song and best rock performance by a duo or group.

The Grammy show kicked off with a blast from the past, with the Police performing their classic hit Roxanne 23 years after they split up.

Sting, sporting black pants and a black vest baring muscular arms, clasped hands with bandmates Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers to take a bow at the end of the song for the cheering crowd at the Staples Center.

The group last played together in 2003 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and are set to go on a comeback tour this year.

Justin Timberlake than offered a nod to music's digital world with a performance that began on piano but ended with him filming himself onstage with a handheld camera. An aspiring unknown singer was to join him for a duet later in the broadcast, selected by Internet and text message voting.
Mary J. Blige performs at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007, in Los Angeles. (AP / Mark J. Terrill)
The reunited group The Police, from left, Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers, acknowledge the audience after performing the song 'Roxanne' at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 11, 2007, in Los Angeles. (AP / Mark J. Terrill)
Sampson wins
Before the telecast began, Nova Scotia songwriter Gordie Sampson grabbed Grammy glory, picking up the trophy for best country song for Jesus Take the Wheel.

"Thank you so much,'' Sampson said as he held the shiny gramophone statue while standing onstage with U.S. co-writers Brett James and Hillary Lindsey. "This is quite an honour.''

Sampson had previously found modest success writing album tracks for various artists but Jesus Take the Wheel, sung by American Idol winner Carrie Underwood, was his first massive radio hit, spending six weeks at number one on the U.S. Billboard charts.

Other Canadians, meanwhile, came up empty-handed during the afternoon show.

As he predicted, Vancouver crooner Michael Buble lost out to Tony Bennett, who won the Grammy for best traditional pop vocal album. Sarah McLachlan had also been nominated in that category.

Late last month, Buble said he wasn't going to attend the Grammy ceremony and didn't expect to win, adding "they might as well have already scratched (Bennett's) name'' onto the trophy.

He later changed his mind and said he'd show up, adding the remarks about Bennett were a lame attempt at humour.

Bennett said backstage that he had spent the afternoon hanging out with his young protege, and joked when asked if there were any hard feelings between the pair when the veteran emerged victorious.

"That's up to him, it's not my decision,'' Bennett quipped.

Sultry singer Diana Krall lost out on best jazz vocal album to Nancy Wilson, while Daniel Powter's catchy single Bad Day, a signature song for booted contestants on American Idol, was passed over in the category of best male pop vocal.

Winnipeg's rootsy quintet the Duhks lost out on the trophy for best country duo or group with vocal to comeback country trio the Dixie Chicks, who entered the night with five nominations.

The trio also captured song of the year, beating out Sampson who was also nominated for Jesus Take The Wheel.

Other Canadians who failed to earn trophies were polka king Walter Ostanek of St. Catharines, Ont., composers Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, both of Toronto, and Alberta's Northern Cree and Friends.

Veteran rocker Neil Young lost out in the solo rock vocal performance category to Bob Dylan and rock song category to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Young, who led Canadian prospects with three nominations, had to wait until the evening telecast to find out if he had nabbed the trophy for best rock album.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
=======================
 
U.S. accuses Iran of sending bombs to Iraq
Web Posted | Last Updated Sun. Feb. 11  2007  11:52  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 11th, 2007
On the same day a suicide bomber killed 30 Iraqi police officers lined up for work, U.S. intelligence analysts said they suspect Iran is behind a significant increase in the number of sophisticated roadside bombs appearing in Iraq.

A senior intelligence officer briefing reporters in Baghdad said that orders to send bomb components are believed to have come from the "highest levels'' of the Iranian government, The Associated Press reports.

Between June 2004 and last week, the officer said, more than 170 Americans had been killed by the sophisticated bombs.

Although U.S. officials have alleged for years that weapons were entering the country from Iran, it is the first time they have alleged top Iranian leaders are involved.
An Iraqi army soldier inspects a car destroyed in a car bomb explosion in central Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Feb. 11, 2007. A parked car bomb exploded near an intersection in Mansour, an upscale neighborhood of Baghdad that has been the scene of repeated bombings and kidnappings, killing two people and wounding three, police said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)
Attacks
Earlier Sunday, a suicide bomber slammed his truck into a crowd of police officers in Iraq on Sunday, killing at least 30 people and wounding 50.

The officers were targeted as they lined up for duty near Tikrit, a city located 128 kilometres north of Baghdad. The impact of the crash and explosion collapsed the police station and did heavy damage to three houses, municipal offices and the post office.

It happened at about 8 a.m. local time as police arrived at the Adwar police station to begin their shifts.

Provincial police Capt. Abdel-Samad Mohammed told AP 21 of the 30 were policemen.

The small truck driven by the bomber was packed with explosives covered by hay.

Bashir Masour, a 46-year-old laborer, said the explosion blew out the windows of his house, almost half a kilometre away.
"I ran to help and I saw destruction everywhere, along with charred bodies and body parts. Blood was spilled across a big area," he said. "I carried six people who I thought were still alive but then realized they had died after being torn apart by shrapnel."

Just minutes later, a roadside bomb exploded on the western outskirts of Tikrit, killing two civilians and wounding two others who were riding in the car, AP reports.

In other attacks, a suicide bomber blew himself up next to a police patrol in the religiously mixed neighborhood of Ilam in southwestern Baghdad, killing one policeman, police said.

Elsewhere in the capital a parked car bomb exploded, killing two people and wounding three in Mansour, an upscale western neighborhood that has been targeted numerous times, police said.

The spate of attacks come one day after Gen. David Petraeus took charge of the American forces in Iraq.

He said the U.S. focus would now be on helping Iraqis "gain the time they need to save their country."

With the death of an American soldier killed Sunday by small arms fire near Baghdad, the month's U.S. troop death toll hit 37.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Job gains surprise economists, boost dollar
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. Feb. 09  2007  23:02  ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 10th, 2007
Statistics Canada stunned economists Friday when it released a report saying the economy created almost 90,000 jobs last month, far surpassing analyst expectations.

Ubisoft's Montreal studio hopes to hire hundreds of Canadians, as it expands into making short
films related to its video games -- a plan requiring millions of dollars and the help of both Ottawa and the Quebec government.

"We're doing it basically because this is innovation," said Raymond Bachard, Quebec's minister of economic development.
"It's 1,000 jobs that are going to be created."

When the company first formed in 1997, it hoped to create 800 jobs in the next 10 years. So far, it's already doubled that number.

Statistics Canada said 89,000 jobs were created last month. Analysts had expected only 13,000 positions would be created, as 32,000 new jobs became available in British Columbia and 24,000 in Alberta.

The boom built on an upward trend that started last fall and continued into December, a month which reported 62,000 new positions.

But some economists expressed skepticism over the report, including Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, who spoke to reporters in Rome.

"I have always taken monthly figures with a grain of salt," he said.

"They don't necessarily dictate trends."

JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Ted Carmichael was another market-watcher who warned against drawing conclusions.

Carmichael said he's always been skeptical of the "veracity" of month-to-month changes in StatsCan's Labour Force Survey.

"This survey of 45,000 households tends to yield volatile movements in employment on a month-to-month basis which partly reflects unpredictable sampling errors," Carmichael wrote in a research note Friday.

Dawn Desjardins, an economist at Royal Bank, said the employment numbers were a big surprise.

"Most analysts were looking for a slowdown in the pace of hiring and that's not what we got," Desjardins told The Canadian Press.

The government agency reported Friday that the job boom in January was fuelled by increases in British Columbia and Alberta.
Employment boom
The growth far surpassed analyst expectations that only 13,000 positions would be created as 32,000 new jobs became available in British Columbia and 24,000 in Alberta, reports Statistics Canada.

The boom built on an upward trend that started last fall and continued into December, a month which reported 62,000 new positions.

Despite the numbers, an infusion of job-seekers pushed the unemployment rate up to 6.2 per cent -- from 6.1 per cent in December.

Overall, a record 63.4 per cent of working-age Canadians held jobs in January.

Statistics Canada said the new jobs were divided equally between full-time and part-time positions. Since last October, almost two-thirds of employment jumps have been in part-time positions.

Also, most of the new jobs were created in the private sector. The fields of increase included information, recreation, professional and scientific services, hotels and restaurants and natural resources.

B.C.'s jobs were mostly in the service sector, fuelled by the vibrant skiing industry. Alberta's jobs were mostly full-time positions but the provinces 3.3 per cent unemployment rate remained unchanged because of an influx of workers.

Ontario's jobless rate jumped to 6.4 per cent from 6.1 per cent in December, fueled by an estimated 32,000 additional labour force participants. Quebec saw a rise in their overall rate, which was 7.7 per cent.

Since January 2005, employment rates among off-reserve Aboriginal people living in Alberta and B.C. has seen a dramatic increase. Since January 2006, employment growth among adult women across Canada has been strong, gaining 3.4 per cent.

Job strength boosts dollar
News that 89,000 Canadians found work in January pushed the dollar up almost half a cent against its U.S. counterpart.

The dollar sailed past 85.03 cents US on the strength of the employment numbers and also on the forecasts that interest-rate cuts will be delayed.

Market-watchers predicted the data may persuade the Bank of Canada to hold off on the interest cuts many had expected in the spring.

The Bank of Canada is likely to wait and see how the economy plays out, Desjardins said.

"We think they're going to stay on hold for quite some time," she told CP.

Economist David Tulk of TD Bank, however, suggested that this job momentum could not last for long.

"Look for some correction in the months to come before job creation returns to a more trend-like pace over the course of the year,'' he told the wire agency.

January unemployment figures (previous month in brackets):
Unemployment rate -- 6.2 per cent (6.1)
Number unemployed -- 1,096,500 (1,075,300)
Number working -- 16,729,300 (16,640,400)
Youth (15-24 years) unemployment -- 11.7 per cent (11.2)
Men (25 plus) unemployment -- 5.3 per cent (5.3)
Women (25 plus) unemployment -- 4.9 per cent (5.9)

Provincial unemployment rates (previous month in brackets):
Newfoundland 15.4 (13.8)
Prince Edward Island 10.7 (12.4)
Nova Scotia 7.8 (7.3)
New Brunswick 8.1 (8.5)
Quebec 7.7 (7.5)
Ontario 6.4 (6.1)
Manitoba 4.6 (4.1)
Saskatchewan 4.1 (4.0)
Alberta 3.3 (3.3)
British Columbia 4.3 (5.2)

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with a report by CTV Montreal's Maya Johnson and files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Anna Nicole Smith's mother blames drugs
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. Feb. 09  2007  08:19 ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 9th, 2007
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- The mother of former Playboy playmate and model Anna Nicole Smith blamed drugs Friday for her daughter's sudden death that ended an extraordinary tabloid life at just 39.

"I think she had too many drugs, just like Danny (Smith's late son)," her mother, Vergie Arthur, told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday. "I tried to warn her about drugs and the people she hung around with. She didn't listen.
Anna Nicole Smith leaves the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 28, 2006, in Washington.(AP / Manuel Balce Ceneta)
"She was too drugged up."

Smith's attorney, Ron Rale, said the one-time reality TV star had been ill for several days with a fever and was still depressed over the death five months earlier of her 20-year-old son from what a private medical examiner determined was a combination of methadone and two antidepressants.

On Thursday, authorities say, a private nurse found Smith unconscious in her room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and called 911. A bodyguard performed CPR, Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger said, but Smith was declared dead at a hospital.

Later Thursday, two sheriff's deputies carried out at least eight brown paper bags sealed with red evidence tape from Smith's hotel room.

Edwina Johnson, chief investigator for the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office, said the cause of death was under investigation and an autopsy would conducted Friday.

If Smith died of natural causes, the findings will likely be announced quickly, but definitive results could take weeks, said Dr. Jose Perper, who was to perform the autopsy.

"I am not a prophet, and I cannot tell you before the autopsy what I am going to find," he said.

Smith's son's death in the Bahamas on Dec. 10 came just a few days after she gave birth to a daughter, Dannielynn, whose custody remains in dispute.
The birth certificate lists Dannielynn's father as attorney Howard K. Stern, Smith's most recent companion, who Rale said was with Smith at the hotel and was too choked up to talk when he called Rale with the news. Smith's ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead is waging a legal challenge, saying he is the father.

A hearing was scheduled in Los Angeles on Friday at which lawyers were expected to discuss an emergency motion filed by Birkhead's attorney seeking DNA from Smith's body, her attorney Rale said. The reasons for the motion were not immediately clear, but an attorney for Stern, James T. Neavitt, was frustrated.

"There's no question about her being the mother," he said. "So what's the purpose of the DNA testing? Why do they need her DNA?"

Debra Opri, the attorney who filed Birkhead's paternity suit, said only that doctors told her to get a DNA sample, declining to elaborate.

She said Birkhead was devastated. "He is inconsolable, and we are taking steps now to protect the DNA testing of the child. The child is our No. 1 priority," she said.

The baby was being cared for in the Bahamas by the mother of Shane Gibson, the Bahamian immigration minister who is a close friend of Smith's, People magazine reported on its Web site, citing unidentified sources.

A visibly shaken Gibson declined comment as he was leaving his office Thursday night, and he has not responded to several message left by The Associated Press seeking comment.

Through the '90s and into the 21st century, Smith was famous for being famous, a pop-culture punchline because of her up-and-down weight, her Marilyn Monroe looks, her exaggerated curves, her little-girl voice, her ditzy-blonde persona and her over-the-top revealing outfits.

Recently, she lost a reported 69 pounds and became a spokeswoman for TrimSpa, a weight-loss supplement. In recent TV appearances, her speech was often slurred and she seemed out of it. Some critics said she seemed drugged-out.
This photo, supplied by 'Entertainment Tonight,' shows Anna Nicole Smith, holding her daughter, Dannielyn Hope, Howard K. Stern and 'Entertainment Tonight' co-host Mark Steines, right,at couple's home in Bahama on Saturday Oct.28, 2006.(AP Photo, 'Entertainment Tonight')
Anna Nicole Smith arrives at a press conference for the Australia MTV awards in Sydney, on March 2, 2005. (AP / Rob Griffith)
"Undoubtedly it will be found at the end of the day that drugs featured in her death as they did in the death of poor Daniel," said Michael Scott, a former attorney for Smith in the Bahamas.

Rale said he had talked to her on Tuesday or Wednesday, and she had flu symptoms and a fever and was still grieving over her son. He dismissed claims her death was related to drugs as "a bunch of nonsense."

"Poor Anna Nicole," he said. "She's been the underdog. She's been besieged ... and she's been trying her best and nobody should have to endure what she's endured."

The Texas-born Smith was a topless dancer at a strip club before she made the cover of Playboy magazine in 1992. She became Playboy's playmate of the year in 1993. She was also signed to a contract with Guess jeans, appearing in TV commercials, billboards and magazine ads.

In 1994, she married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, owner of Great Northern Oil Co. After his death the following year, she engaged in a protracted legal fight with her former stepson, E. Pierce Marshall, over whether she had a right to the estate.

A federal court in California awarded Smith US$474 million. That was later overturned. But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court revived her case, ruling that she deserved another day in court.

The stepson died June 20 at age 67, but the family said the court fight would continue.

Smith starred in her own reality TV series, "The Anna Nicole Show," in 2002-04. She also appeared in movies, performing a bit part in "The Hudsucker Proxy" in 1994.

Smith was born Vickie Lynn Hogan on Nov. 28, 1967, in Houston, one of six children. Her parents split up when she was a toddler, and she was raised by her mother, a deputy sheriff.

She dropped out after 11th grade after she was expelled for fighting, and worked as a waitress and then a cook at Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken restaurant in Mexia.

She married 16-year-old fry cook Bill Smith in 1985, giving birth to Daniel before divorcing two years later.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from Associated Press
=======================
 
Chrysler to slash 2,000 jobs in Canada: report
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. Feb. 08  2007  07:54 ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 8th, 2007
Chrysler is about to slash 10,000 jobs, including as many as 2,000 in Canada, according to reports.

The Canadian jobs will be cut in Windsor and Brampton, Ont. where 11,500 people are currently employed, The Globe and Mail reports.

The Daimler Chrysler Automotive Group is in the midst of downsizing its North American operations. Similar moves are already underway at competitors Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.
Unsold 2007 Compass four-wheel-drive vehicles sit in a row on the lot of a Chrysler-Jeep agency in the south Denver suburb of Centennial, Colo., on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2007. (AP / David Zalubowski)
Canadian Autoworkers President Buzz Hargrove warned earlier in the week that cuts would be coming at Chrysler, but after the details were leaked he said he wasn't expecting anything this drastic.

"It's beyond anything I ever imagined,' Hargrove told The Globe.

ROBTv's Lou Schizas told CTV Newsnet that industry analysts had predicted Chrysler was heading towards a rough patch in the road.

"Back in the fall, Chrysler had to admit that it was manufacturing cars with no dealer orders," Schizas said.

"Those are totally spec builds, and it was pretty clear in the professional community, at least on Bay Street, that they were going to have to make some adjustments. You cannot be building cars and parking them if you don't have orders from the dealers, and the inventory problem is really what's hurting Chrysler more than anything else."

Chrysler, like Ford and GM, simply hasn't adapted quickly enough to a changing set of consumer priorities, Schizas said.
"They are building mini-vans, SUVs and crossovers that the market is saying: 'Do you know what? They're not gas-efficient enough for the 2007 environment.'"

The cuts will likely affect workers at the mid-management and factory levels, he said.

The announcement had been expected next week. However, with details of the plan already leaked, it's possible that Chrysler brass will speed up the release of the information.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
=======================
 
Canadians investigated in global child porn ring
Web Posted | Last Updated Wed. Feb. 07  2007  11:07 ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 7th, 2007
Authorities in Austria have uncovered a major international child pornography ring that stretches across 77 countries and involves more than 2,360 Internet addresses -- including at least 19 from Canada.

"The RCMP is saying that they've identified 19 IP addresses in Canada," CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife said Wednesday.

"That does not mean that there are 19 suspects -- it could be one individual or several individuals using these addresses."
Austrian Interior Minister Guenther Platter, right, listens to Harald Gremel from the Central Division for Combating Child Pornography, on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007. (AP / Lilli Strauss)
Fife said the RCMP believes the addresses are being used by people in Canada and that they have not been looped here by people outside the country.

The Canadians are suspected of paying to access videos on a website of young children, aged 14 and under, being sexually abused.

The numbers are significantly lower than what Austrian Police Col. Gerrard Hesztera confirmed to CTV Newsnet earlier Wednesday.

"We have 103 hits (Canadian IP addresses) from Canada and of course we gave the information back to the Canadian authorities," said Hesztera.

Interior Minister Guenther Platter said the FBI was investigating about 600 Internet addresses in the United States, German authorities were looking at 400 addresses, France at 100 while his country was looking at 23.

Platter said the videos contained "the worst kind of child sexual abuse."

Austrian police are calling the case "a strike against child pornography unprecedented in Austrian criminal history."
"Girls could be seen being raped, and you could also hear screams,'' said Harald Gremel, an Austrian police expert on Internet crime who headed the investigation.

Gremel said no infants were seen in any of the videos and that authorities moved quickly to share their information with other countries to help apprehend suspects abroad.

He said the investigation was launched in July after a man working for a Vienna-based Internet file hosting service alerted authorities at the Interior Ministry to pornographic material he had discovered during a routine check.

In the span of 24 hours, the man recorded 8,000 hits from 2,361 computer IP addresses in 77 countries, confirmed Gremel. The man managed to record the IP addresses of those trying to access the material and gave the information to authorities.

In Austria, the youngest person implicated in the case is 17 and the oldest is 69.

Gremel said the videos were all posted on a Russian website that is now defunct. To access the material, users had to pay US$89.

Investigators believe most of the videos were made in Eastern Europe and uploaded somewhere in Britain.

Austrian authorities have so far seized 31 PCs, seven laptops, 1,232 DVDs and CDs, 1,428 diskettes and 213 video cassettes.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Military probes allegations of detainee abuse
Web Posted | Last Updated Tue. Feb. 06  2007  08:36 ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 6th, 2007
The military is investigating a complaint that alleges prisoners were abused while in the custody of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

At least one, and as many as three, Afghan detainees "taken captive by the Canadian Forces appears to have been beaten while detained and interrogated by them," alleges University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran in a letter sent to the Military Police Complaints Commission, an independent civilian body, last week.
University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran speaking on Canada AM on Tuesday.
The accusations are based on documents that Attaran obtained under the Access to Information Act.

"I discovered that on a single day last year (in April), a single interrogator working for the Canadian military brought three men to Kandahar Airfield," Attaran told Canada AM Tuesday. "All three of them had a similar set of injuries to their face, to their head and the most seriously injured man had his eyes swollen, cuts on his eyebrows, a slash across his forehead and a cut on his cheek."

Attaran said is seems that the men never received proper required medical attention before being handed off to the Afghans, never to be seen again.
He criticized the Canadian military for not having a mechanism in place to monitor what happens to released detainees.

"(It's) shocking because the Afghan government has acknowledged that torture is quite common in their custody," said Attaran. "We are handing detainees to known torturers and we are not apparently bothered enough to investigate what happens to them."

Commission chairman Peter Tinsley has notified by letter Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier and Capt. Steve Moore, who heads the military police, about the allegations.

"The complaint suggests various failings by the military police members involved relative to safeguarding the well-being of the persons in custody, and, more particularly, in respect of their failure to investigate the causes of various injuries which may have been sustained while in (Canadian Forces) as opposed to military police custody,'' Tinsley wrote on Jan. 30, reports the Toronto Star.

Military spokesperson Maj. Luc Gaudet confirmed to The Globe and Mail that an investigation was launched after Tinsley's letter was received.

The commission is expected to decide soon if it will launch another "public interest investigation" into the charges.
This April 1, 2004, file photo shows U.S soldiers taking an Afghan prisoner in Zunchorah Village, near Khost, about 250 km southeast of Kabul, Afghanistan. (AP / Emilio Morenatti)
Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier, shown here in this file photo, has been notified of the allegations by letter.
(CP PHOTO/Tom Hanson)
The three Afghans were captured near Dukah by a small group of Canadian soldiers.

One of the detainees was seen observing the soldiers but escaped, only to be captured the next day. In a field report, the soldiers described him as "non-compliant." Another is described as being "extremely belligerent" and "it took four personnel to subdue him."

In the most serious instance, it was said that only "appropriate force" was used and that the suspect was an alleged bomb maker.

A military log says the detainee's injuries included bruises and cuts to his face, arm, back and chest. Some of the injuries were reportedly inflicted while the detainee's hands were tied behind his back.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Indonesia flood displaces 340,000 in Jakarta
Web Posted | Last Updated Mon. Feb. 05  2007  07:23 ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 5th, 2007
Horse-drawn carts worked to help rescue flood victims Monday after days of intense rain killed at least 29 people and forced nearly 340,000 residents from their homes in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.

The victims had died either by drowning or electrocution, confirmed officials.

At least nine million people live in the densely packed city, which is seeing its worst flooding since 2002.

"As of today, 75 per cent of Jakarta remains flooded," Anwar Arafin of Jakarta's flood information centre said Monday.

Floods are common in Jakarta, though not on the scale as seen in recent days.

Incessant rains caused rivers to burst their banks on Friday, swamping more than 20,000 homes, businesses and government buildings and forcing authorities to shut off electricity and water supplies.
Indonesian men walk past abandoned cars on a flooded street Monday, Feb. 5, 2007 in Jakarta, Indonesia. (AP / Tatan Syuflana)
Indonesians walk through their flooded neighborhood Monday, Feb. 5, 2007 in Jakarta, Indonesia. (AP / Tatan Syuflana)
The government dispatched medical teams on rubber rafts into the worst-hit districts to prevent outbreaks of disease among residents without clean drinking water.

The Associated Press reports that hundreds of people scrambled to the upper floors of their homes to escape the rising waters. Some became trapped, while others refused to leave despite warnings that the flood waters could rise further in the coming days.

Indonesia's meteorological agency is forecasting two weeks of rain.

Meanwhile, Dr. Rustam Pakaya from the health ministry's crisis center, said nearly 340,000 people had been forced from their homes. Many of the homeless were staying with friends or family or at mosques and government buildings, he said.

"We fear that diarrhea and dysentery may break out, as well as illnesses spread by rats," said Pakaya. "People must be careful not to drink dirty water."

Clearer skies helped the situation in several areas on Monday but most of the city remained submerged under waist-high waters.

"We expect residents to stay alert because water may rise again and very fast,'' said Sihar Simanjuntak, an official monitoring the situation.

Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso blamed deforestation in Puncak, saying it had destroyed water catchment areas, while Environment Minister Racmat Witoelar blamed poor urban planning.

Seasonal downpours cause dozens of landslides and flash floods each year in Indonesia, where millions of people live in mountainous areas or near fertile plains.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with files from The Associated Press
=======================
 
Window of higher quake risk closes for B.C.
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. Feb. 04  2007  12:16 ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 4th, 2007
Residents of southern British Columbia can breathe easier now that the window of increased probability in which a major earthquake could strike in the region closed sooner than expected.
Seismologists at the Pacific Geoscience Centre in Sidney, B.C. say the latest episode of subterranean tremors on Vancouver Island has ended about a week earlier than usual.

They don't know why, but it means the small chance that a magnitude 9.0 or higher earthquake could strike, accompanied by a tsunami equal to the size of and strength of what hit the Sumatra-Andaman Islands in 2004, has become miniscule.

The small tremors are caused by the slipping of the lower plate in the Cascadia Cascadia Subduction Zone, a long, sloping fault that stretches from northern California to the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The zone, which separates the Juan de Fuca Plate and the North American Plate, has a very large fault area which can produce large earthquakes with a magnitude of 9.0 or greater if a rupture were to occur.

Scientists at the Pacific Geoscience Centre discovered the small tremors occur about every 14 months, adding stress to the shallow, locked part of the plate, and bringing it closer to giving way -- which would result in a major earthquake.

Experts initially warned last week that residents of B.C.'s south coast should take precautions after a series of minor tremors were detected along with subduction zone.

Called Episodic Tremor and Slip (ETS), the episodes occurs in the area about every 14 months -- each time adding stress to the fault line and increasing the likelihood of a major earthquake.

The seismologists started detecting strong ETS movement last Friday.

If a major quake should occur, said seismologist Garry Rogers last week: "You're looking at a big tsunami happening at the same time. The west coast of Vancouver Island, the Washington and Oregon coasts, are all vulnerable to a force powerful enough to certainly bring down buildings.
Rogers told CTV.ca that the area of the Cascadia Subduction Zone is comparable in size to the rupture zone of the Dec. 26, 2004 earthquake in the Pacific Ocean that triggered a devastating tsunami in the Sumatra-Andaman Islands.

Another comparable scenario, said Roberts, is the 1964 earthquake that struck Alaska.

"Most of the bigger, taller buildings and structures like bridges suffered some damage, whereas most of the small structures such as houses suffered hardly any damage. So there's an analogy which is probably what is going to happen in Vancouver, Seattle and Victoria."

While larger structures that were built a number of years ago are most vulnerable, continued Roberts, recently-built structures are better off, "because what we do is put this type of knowledge into building codes. Older, bigger structures are more vulnerable because they don't have the present day knowledge built into their design."

The last known great earthquake in the Pacific Northwest -- the Cascadia Earthquake -- struck in January, 1700. While such phenomena are infrequent, with a cycle of every few hundred years, the region is due for a big one.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
=======================
 
B.C. enters window of increased quake risk
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. Feb. 02  2007  23:20 ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 3rd, 2007
Experts warn that British Columbia's south coast has entered a two-week window of increased probability in which a major earthquake could occur.

While the chances of that happening are still very slim, such an event could trigger a tsunami
equal to the size and the strength of what hit the Sumatra-Andaman Islands in 2004.

Seismologists with B.C.'s Geological Survey of Canada made the announcement after measuring a series of minor tremors deep below the Earth's surface and along the Cascadia Subduction Zone -- a long, sloping fault that stretches from northern California to Vancouver Island.

The zone, which separates the Juan de Fuca Plate and the North American Plate, has a very large fault area which can produce large earthquakes with a magnitude of 9.0 or greater if a rupture were to occur.

"Where the Juan de Fuca plate is subducting beneath the North American plate, and where those plates are touching, it's locked," earthquake seismologist Alison Bird told CTV.ca.

"To the east of that, every 14 months we see low frequency tremor activity ... sliding along that zone, which is almost directly beneath us," Bird told CTV.ca in a phone interview from the Geological Survey of Canada headquarters in Sidney, B.C., near Victoria.

"When that happens, we believe what it's doing is loading additional stress onto the locked zone. So if that locked zone happens to be close to critical, it could theoretically trigger a mega earthquake."

Bird and her colleagues noticed a phenomenon, called Episodic Tremor and Slip (ETS), occurs in the area about every 14 months -- each time adding stress to the fault line and increasing the likelihood of a major earthquake.

The seismologists started detecting strong ETS movement last Friday.

If a major quake should occur, said seismologist Garry Rogers: "You're looking at a big tsunami happening at the same time. The west coast of Vancouver Island, the Washington and Oregon coasts, are all vulnerable to a force powerful enough to certainly bring down buildings.
Rogers told CTV.ca that the area of the Cascadia Subduction Zone is comparable in size to the rupture zone of the Dec. 26, 2004 earthquake in the Pacific Ocean that triggered a devastating tsunami in the Sumatra-Andaman Islands.

Another comparable scenario, said Roberts, is the 1964 earthquake that struck Alaska.

"Most of the bigger, taller buildings and structures like bridges suffered some damage, whereas most of the small structures such as houses suffered hardly any damage. So there's an analogy which is probably what is going to happen in Vancouver, Seattle and Victoria."

While larger structures that were built a number of years ago are most vulnerable, continued Roberts, recently-built structures are better off, "because what we do is put this type of knowledge into building codes. Older, bigger structures are more vulnerable because they don't have the present day knowledge built into their design."

The last known great earthquake in the Pacific Northwest -- the Cascadia Earthquake -- struck in January, 1700. While such phenomena are infrequent, with a cycle of every few hundred years, the region is due for a big one.

The Geological Survey of Canada added for an average week, the chances of a mega thrust earthquake occurring is 0.0005 per cent (or one in 200,000); during a week of Episodic Tremor and Slip this increases to 0.026 per cent (or one in 4,000) -- a 50-fold increase.

"We are at a time when (a mega thrust quake) could occur, but it could also be 100 years from now," Bird told CTV.ca.

Rogers compared the heightened risk to driving in rush hour as opposed to driving in less crowded road conditions.
"We all go out and drive every day and we take the chance of getting into a traffic accident. It's a low probability but we know it probably could happen, so we take the step to put our seatbelt on," he told CTV.ca.

"Now we know that the probability is much higher in rush hour and we still drive. What we are doing in Vancouver Island right now, we're driving in rush hour. We have been over the last week and we probably will be for another week. And then we turn to a lower probability."

Bird added this period of higher earthquake risk is a time to get organized and take precautions.

"What I encourage people to do is whenever we're about to have an ETS, it's a good time to use that as a trigger to go over your emergency plan with your family to make sure that your earthquake kit is full stocked," Bird said.

"Sometimes things get taken from earthquake kits to use for other things. So replenish the food and water and other equipment. It's just a good practice, a good reminder, like when the clocks change you check the battery in your smoke detector. For the west coast, you check your earthquake kit every 14 months."

Should B.C. escape the big one this time, the next window of higher earthquake risk will occur around April 2008.

Rogers said seismologists haven't figured out why the ETS phenomenon happens every 14 months in the Pacific Northwest.

"And interestingly enough it's 14 months fairly regularly here for the last decade as we looked back at our old records," he said. "But in Japan, it seems to be about one year; in New Zealand it appears to be about every few years; and Alaska every 18 months. We don't know if it's because of different subduction zones, or it's about where we are in the earthquake cycle."

Written by CTV.ca News Staff
=======================
 
Global warming 'very likely' man-made: report
Web Posted | Last Updated Fri. Feb. 02  2007  08:59 ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 2nd, 2007
Global warming has "very likely" been caused by man, scientists from 113 countries said in a landmark report issued Friday.

The 21-page summary of the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says more droughts, heat waves, rains and a slow gain in sea levels could last for more than 1,000 years.

Man's "very likely" involvement, resulting from the burning of fossil fuels, is about a 90 per cent certainty, says the report.
Clouds of smoke billow from a metal alloy factory in Gaolan county in northwest China's Gansu province. China is the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, after the U.S. (AP Photo)
The conclusion is the strongest ever, making it almost impossible for bureaucrats to blame the changes on natural forces.

"February 2, 2007 may be remembered as the day the question mark was removed from whether (people) are to blame for climate change," said Achim Steiner, head of the UN Environment Programme.

The head of the UN panel, Rajendra Pachauri, said the report was a "very impressive document that goes several steps beyond previous research."

Also, a top U.S. government scientist, Susan Solomon, said "there can be no question that the increase in greenhouse gases are dominated by human activities."
The report was released Friday at a climate change conference in Paris, which Environment Minister John Baird was attending, and will serve as a summary for policymakers around the world.

"We've clearly got to take action," said Baird from Paris. "I think Canadians don't want to hear what can't be done but they want to hear what action will be taken by their government and we hear that call."

Baird said the Conservatives will be moving forward on two fronts.

"The biggest action we can take is to begin to regulate industrial greenhouse gas emissions," he said. "We also want to, at the same time, deal with this huge challenge of greenhouse gassing and the immediate threat of air pollution, smog and air quality in Canada.

The panel approved wording saying man-made global warming can "more likely than not" be blamed for an increase in hurricane and tropical cyclone strength since 1970.

In 2001, the same panel had said there was not enough proof to reach such a conclusion. That report also said that global warming was "likely" caused by humans.

The new report also outlines a "best estimate" that says temperatures will rise between 1.8 and 4.0 Celsius in the 21st century, within a likely range from 1.1 to 6.4 Celsius.

It also projects that sea levels could rise between 19 and 59 centimetres in the 21st century. Meanwhile, the IPCC also concluded that even higher levels remain a possibility in Antarctica and Greenland.

Wording of the new report required consensus from all countries, including the United States and oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia.
Environment Minister John Baird speaks with Canada AM on Friday from the summit in Paris, France.
Two polar bears on a chunk of ice in the arctic. (AP / Dan Crosbie / Canadian Ice Service)
Residents walk across the frozen Songhua River in front of smoke stacks at Jiamusi, in China's northeast Heilongjiang province. (AP / Greg Baker)
Some delegates told AP that Chinese officials expressed opposition to strong wording on the global warming statement.

The Kyoto Protocol is the main plan in place to help cap emissions of greenhouse gases until 2012; however, it has been weakened by the pull out of the U.S. -- the top contributor to greenhouse gases.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with a report from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
=======================
 
Russians probe allegations of 'gagged' babies
Web Posted | Last Updated Thu. Feb. 01  2007  07:59 ET
Giant Dwarf Posted: February 1st, 2007
A scandal is growing in Russia over the actions of staff at a hospital who allegedly tried to silence the cries of babies by putting tape over their mouths.

Russian prosecutors are investigating allegations that staff at the Yekaterinburg hospital
gagged the babies to keep them quiet.

The allegations came to light after a woman at the hospital in the southern Urals heard the muffled cries in the next ward.

Elena Kuritsyna, who reported the incident, had been in the hospital with her own children.

She used a cellphone to film a baby lying in a crib with his mouth taped. The others had pacifiers taped to their mouths. The babies were all orphans, according to the British Broadcasting Corp.

"I heard that a baby was mumbling in a neighbouring room; when I looked in, I saw the baby with plaster over his mouth; he could not cry or do anything, was just mumbling," Kuritsyna told Reuters television.

When she approached the nurse in the ward, she was told at first to mind her own business.

The children were crying too loudly and distracting the staff from their work, Kuritsyna was reportedly told.

She said that she eventually convinced the nurse to remove the sticking plaster, but that the nurse replaced it later.

The allegations have captured the attention of the Russian press, CTV's Moscow Chief Ellen Pinchuk reported.

"It's really got people talking. You always hear rumblings about what happens to abandoned children in Russia and the conditions they live in, both in orphanages and in hospitals as this case was in the Yekaterinburg," she told CTV Newsnet.

"The hospital has said that this is making a mountain out of a molehill, but there is a criminal investigation that's being launched," she said.

The nurse has been suspended and the hospital administrator has also been reprimanded for defending the practice in a television interview.

The unidentified female doctor said her staff was overworked and underpaid.
She also said the practice of silencing the babies saved the staff time by preventing pacifiers from being spit onto the floor.
But Pinchuk said it will be difficult under Russian law to follow the case.

"They really have to prove that it was torture in order for a criminal case to be brought against the staff of the hospital," she said.

The allegations have turned attention on to the issue of underworked staff.

"One of the things that is brought out in the sort of media discussion is that there really are too few staff for these children, that in the West you would usually have one nurse per two to 6 children, whereas here you can have one nurse for up to 25 children, thus making it difficult to care for them," Pinchuk reported.

The scandal has also reignited debate over whether adoption laws should be eased to let more foreigners adopt Russian babies.

"There are have been some cases in the U.S. of children from Russia being killed or maimed by their adoptive parents and the Russians have been taking action to make it harder for foreigners to adopt Russian babies," Pinchuk said.

Prosecutors say they have discovered that sticking plaster was used more than once at the Yekaterinburg hospital.

"Children in the first year of life were systematically gagged with sticking plaster to make children behave quietly," the prosecutors' press service said.

There are roughly one million Russian children, orphaned or abandoned, who are in the care of the state.

Written by CTV.ca News Staff with a report from CTV's Moscow Bureau Chief Ellen Pinchuk