Back to newsletter list 30/09/2006 20:12:12 (UTC) Canada | World Briefs | Sports | Weather Headlines  - Liberal Party members choose delegates for leadership convention. - United States delays new entry requirements for Canadians. - Highway bridge collapses in Montreal.
OTTAWA: LIBERAL PARTY MEMBERS CHOOSE DELEGATES FOR LEADERSHIP CONVENTION Members of Canada's Liberal Party are electing delegates this weekend to send to the party leadership convention that begins in Montreal on December 2. About two hundred thousand party members are choosing 4,300 delegates who'll vote for a new leader. With about 900 delegates chosen by early Saturday, a first-time member of parliament in Toronto, Michael Ignatieff, was leading, having captured 27 per cent of the delegates. Mr. Ignatieff has been seen as the leading contender for several weeks, but his preliminary showing was weaker than expected. Surprising delegate support was being shown by his main rivals, Stephane Dion of Quebec and Bob Rae, a former premier of Ontario for the opposition New Democratic Party. Ontario's former education minister, Gerard Kennedy, was in fourth place. Several other candidates each had less than ten per cent support. Delegate selection will continue through Sunday. The party leadership fell vacant in January after Prime Minister Paul Martin stepped down following a federal election loss to the Conservative Party. WASHINGTON: UNITED STATES DELAYS NEW ENTRY REQUIREMENTS FOR CANADIANS The U.S. Congress has decided to delay new requirements for Canadians entering the United States by car or by ferry. Under the requirements, Canadians would have to produce a passport or other tamper-proof identification document. The requirements were supposed to go into effect on January 1, 2008, but have now been delayed until June 9, 2009. Canada argued that it needed more time to implement the requirements to ensure that there would be no major delays at the border. Support for Canada's position was strongest among American legislators in States close to the Canadian border. But the new regulations will still go into effect in 2007 for Canadians entering by p*** or by ship. The United States is trying to ensure its security against terrorists who might cross the border from Canada. MONTREAL: HIGHWAY BRIDGE COLLAPSES A highway bridge in a Montreal suburb collapsed without warning on Saturday, injuring five people. Three of the victims were reported in critical condition. The overpass is on a busy highway in the suburb of Laval. Three ***s of the overpass and a pedestrian sidewalk collapsed on the highway below. Four vehicles and one motorcycle were on the overpass. Two other vehicles underneath were trapped by tonnes of concrete. Police are investigating the cause of the accident. TORONTO: REPORT SHOWS CHEATING RAMPANT AT CANADA'S SCHOOLS A new study reveals that a surprising number of students at Canadian schools have cheated on their assignments, essays and exams. The study conducted jointly by the University of Guelph and the American university, Rutgers, questioned almost fifteen thousand students in five Canadian provinces. Eighteen per cent of university undergraduates admitted that they cheated on an exam or a test. Almost 60 per cent admitted doing the same while in high school. One in two undergraduates confessed to plagiarism or submitting someone else's work as their own. The study showed that one in two professors suspected that some of their students cheated. Some universities have begun to use computer software to scan students' papers in an effort to detect plagiarism. Some professors believe that students cheat as a result of pressure to succeed. VANCOUVER: CANADA ILLEGAL FISHING Canadian air patrols are finding more boats using illegal fishing nets to catch fish off the northern coast of British Columbia. At least 25 boats were seen this month with driftnets, long nets with fine mesh that capture all forms of marine life indiscriminately. Marine mammals caught in the nets die a slow death. The illegal nets often belong to boats from Asian countries fishing for valuable Pacific salmon. The Canadian air patrols are conducted as part of a joint enforcement program involving the United States, Russia, South Korea, China and Japan. It's not known how many illegal fishing boats were caught in the latest sweep. Russia reported seizing one South Korean vessel. The results of the patrol program will be discussed at a meeting of participants in Vancouver, British Columbia, in late October. KELOWNA: METIS HOLD CONFERENCE Canada's Metis are expected to send an appeal to the federal government during their conference this weekend. About 500 Metis are meeting in Kelowna, British Columbia. The head of British Columbia's Metis Nation, Keith Henry, says that Canada's governing Conservative Party government needs to understand the social and economic problems facing his community and other members of the First Nations. The delegates are expected to ask the government to expand on a plan arranged by the former Liberal Party government last year to narrow the economic gap between native people and other Canadians. The Metis are the descendants of mixed unions between European settlers and Canada's indigenous people. QUEBEC: EMINENT CANADIAN CLERGYMAN DIES An eminent Canadian clergyman has died. Louis-Albert Cardinal Vachon was 94. At his death, he was Roman Catholic archbishop emeritus of Quebec. Pope John-Paul II named him a Cardinal in 1984. Cardinal Vachon resigned in 1990. He served on the Permanent Council of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.
INDIA Police in India are accusing Pakistan's military intelligence agency of aiding Islamic militants to carry out the fatal bombings aboard trains in Mumbai three months ago. More than 200 people were killed. Police say that they now have evidence that the group called Lashkar-e-Taiba set off the bombs. The group was the prime suspect following the crime. Four more suspects in the case were arrested on Friday. In all, 15 suspects are in custody. Both Pakistan's government and the militant group deny India's charges. AFGHANISTAN A suicide bomber exploded his bomb next to Afghanistan's Interior Ministry in Kabul on Saturday, killing at least 12 people and wounded 42 others. A public health ministry official said that many of the injured were in critical condition and that the number of deaths could rise. The explosion happened as ministry employees were reporting to work near a narrow dirt road where employees and civilians pass through a security gate. TAIWAN A huge rally was held in southern Taiwan on Saturday in support of President Chen Shui-bian. His Democratic Progressive Party put the number of demonstrators in the city of Kaohsiung at 300-thousand. Mr. Chen has been under growing pressure to resign from people upset by allegations that he misused government funds. The party leader, Yu Shyi-kun, urged the rally today to support the president in his efforts to write a new constitution and assert Taiwan's independence. Opposition to Mr. Chen is led by his former party colleague, Shi Ming-teh. He's vowed to continue to put pressure on the president until he resigns. ARMENIA France's president threw out a challenge to Turkey's government on Saturday, callling on it to admit to the genocide of Armenians during the First World War. Jacques Chirac spoke on Saturday in Armenia's capital, Yerevan, where he's on a two-day visit. Turkey has always refused to admit that Ottoman forces systematically killed hundreds of thousands of Armenians in a genocide. France officially termed their deaths a genocide five years ago. France has about four hundred thousand citizens of Armenian origin. The Armenian genocide is often cited as an obstacle to Turkey's bid for entry into the European Union, although the E.U. has not formally demanded Turkey to recognize the event as a condition for membership. SOUTH AFRICA India's prime minister on Saturday began a four-day visit to South Africa that has both symbolic and economic importance. Manmohan Singh's visit marks the one hundredth anniversary of the passive resistance campaign launched in South Africa by India's renowned spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi staged peaceful protests against racial discrimination in South Africa and his philosophy inspired local activists to stage rallies that finally brought an end to apartheid. Mr. Singh will visit local sites linked to Gandhi. But in meetings with President Thabo Mbeki, he'll also discuss measures to increase bilateral trade that reached four billion American dollars last year. South Africa predicts that trade with India could triple within four years. BRAZIL Brazilian rescue p***s on Satuday located the wreckage of a Brazilian passenger jet that disappeared over the Amazon jungle on Friday with 155 people aboard. The crash site is in Mato Grosso state, an area described by officials as difficult to access. A senior Air Transport official said that the p*** is thought to have plunged into the ground nose first, meaning there is little chance that anyone survived. CHINA China on Saturday reported its first cases of bird flu in more than six weeks. The cases occurred in the city of Baotou in Inner Mongolia, where almost one thousand chickens died from the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease. Agriculture officials slaughtered nearly nine thousand other chickens to prevent the disease from spreading. The area is under quarantine. China has had 39 outbreaks of bird flu in the last year. Fourteen people who contracted the disease died. Last month, China admitted that its first human cases occurred in 2003, two years earlier than initially reported.
TRACK AND FIELD Canadian runner Kevin Sullivan won the prestigious Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City on Saturday in a time of three minutes, 54.1 seconds. Nick Willis of New Zealand was second and American Matt Tegenkamp was third. The women's race was won by American Sara Hall. FOOTBALL The Montreal Alouettes ended a six-game losing streak on Saturday, beating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 23-20. Montreal kicker Damon Duval scored on four field goals. With the victory, the Alouettes took over sole possession of first place in the Eastern conference, with eight wins and six defeats. The Canadian Football Hall of Fame have inducted five more members, including multi-record holder Henry "Gizmo" Williams, who played with the Edmonton Eskimos for 14 years. Other new members are Matt Dunigan, Bobby Jurasin, Allent Pitts and Victor Spencer. HOCKEY In pre-season National Hockey League action on Friday, Vancouver beat Calgary, 3-2. The veteran forward of the Colorado Avalanche, Steve Konowalchuk, announced his retirement because of a genetic disease that can create heart disease. He played 13 seasons in the NHL. BASEBALL The Toronto Blue Jays lost to the New York Yankees on Friday, 7-2. The Yankees are assured of home field advantage in the post season.
Weather Here is Canada's weather on Sunday. British Columbia will be variable cloudiness. The high temperature in Vancouver will be 16 degrees Celsius. The Yukon: variable cloudiness. Whitehorse, eight. Northwest Territories: overcast. Yellowknife, six. Nunavut: overcast. Iqaluit, three. Alberta: sunny periods. Edmonton, 11. Saskatchewan: variable cloudiness. Regina, 15. Manitoba: mainly sunny. Winnipeg, 23. Ontario: isolated showers. Toronto, 16. Ottawa, 17. Quebec: light rain. Montreal, 13. New Brunswick: mainly sunny. Fredericton, 15. Nova Scotia: mainly cloudy. Halifax, 16. Prince Edward Island: mainly sunny. Charlottetown, nine. Newfoundland: sunny periods. St. John's, 15.
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