Back to newsletter list 31/12/2006 22:20:39 (UTC) Canada | World Briefs | Business News | Sports | Weather Headlines  - On New Year's Eve, Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan think of home. - Major snowstorm hits southern Manitoba. - Canadian aboriginal chiefs predict more protests in 2007.
KANDAHAR: ON NEW YEAR'S EVE, CANADIAN SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN THINK OF HOME Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan greeted the new year at a festive gathering in the new Canada House at Kandahar Airfield. Their party had music, some games like bingo, and soldiers were allowed to drink beer---a rare treat overseas. But the common sentiment among them was the desire to return home safely at the end of their tour of duty. Most of the 2,500 Canadians serving in Afghanistan will return to Canada in late February as part of a normal rotation. The year 2006 saw the greatest loss of Canadian soldiers' lives since the Korean War a half century before---36 Canadians were killed in Afghanistan. WINNIPEG: MAJOR SNOWSTORM HITS SOUTHERN MANITOBA A major cleanup was underway on Sunday in the Canadian province of Manitoba after a winter storm dumped more than 25 centimetres of snow. Residents of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, were having difficulty walking and driving on snowbound streets. Many regular activities were cancelled. The Trans-Canada Highway was closed for several hours because of snow drifts and high winds. Police were urging people to stay off the highways. Winnipeg's airport managed to remain open, but some flights were delayed because of extra time needed to remove ice from airp***'s wings. CALEDONIA: ABORIGINALS PREDICT MORE PROTESTS IN THE NEW YEAR Members of Canada's Six Nations aboriginal tribes vowed to continue their 11-month-old protest in southern Ontario into the New Year. The natives are occupying a housing site that they claim belongs to them under nineteenth-century treaties. The protest has created tension among citizens in the nearby town of Caledonia. A native spokesperson, Janie Jamieson, said that his people have lived too long as second-class citizens. Ontario's aboriginal affairs minister says that only the federal government can resolve land claims. But local native chiefs say that more land claims protests will come in the new year. VANCOUVER: BRITISH COLUMBIA FERRY SERVICE STILL DISRUPTED Ferry service along the northern coast of British Columbia remained disrupted because of bad weather for a fourth day on Sunday, but there was hope that service might return on New Year's Day. One ferry managed to leave Port Hardy in the morning, with several stops planned before reaching Prince Rupert early on Monday morning. But strong wind warnings remained in effect along the coast. Wind gusts were expected to reach 90 kilometres an hour overnight. WINNIPEG: SIKH PRIESTS CHARGED WITH SEXUAL MISCONDUCT Three Canadian priests belonging to a Sikh temple are facing charges of sexual misconduct. The three were arrested last weekend in the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. They were released after they promised to appear in court. They deny any wrongdoing. The charges relate to a kidnapping earlier in December that allegedly involved two of the priests. Police are searching for a fourth suspect who is believed to be in Vancouver. The priests, who are expected to be celibate, belong to the Gurdwara Nanaksar temple. It is one of 17 temples affiliated with a specific Sikh sect, Nanaksar Satsang Sabha. The sect has two other temples in Canada---one in Brampton, Ontario, and the other in Surrey, British Columbia. GATINEAU: WOMAN ARRESTED AT PRIME MINISTER'S COUNTRY HOUSE Security police arrested a woman on Sunday who drove her car through a barrier at the country house of Canada's prime minister, Stephen Harper. The country house at Harrington Lake near the capital, Ottawa, has served as a retreat for Canada's prime ministers since 1959. The woman was later described as disturbed. She apparently wanted to meet the prime minister. Mr. Harper was at the house at the time of the incident, but police say that he was never in danger.
THAILAND New Year's celebrations were cancelled in the capital of Thailand, Bangkok, after a series of bomb explosions killed two people. Thirty-six others were injured, including eight foreigners---three Hungarians, two Britons, two Serbs and one American. At least eight bombs went off in different regions of the city, one of them in a large shopping centre. It's not known who was responsible. The explosions were the latest incidents of violence in Thailand, where the military staged a coup three months ago. The New Year was greeted in Sydney, Australia, by a million people who watched a huge fireworks display along Sydney's harbour. Two former communist states, Bulgaria and Romania, celebrated their entry at midnight into the European Union, an historic moment that drew thousands to midnight concerts. Canada's largest celebration was scheduled to take place at Nathan Phillips Square in the city of Toronto. GAZA The Palestinian militant group, Hamas, announced on Sunday that it had achieve a breakthrough in its talks on freeing an Israeli soldier held captive by militants in Gaza. Hamas gave no details, saying only that Israel had changed its position. Hamas had demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails in exchange for the release of Corporal Gilad Shalit. He has been held for more than six months. His abduction led to a renewal of Israeli military action in Gaza. IRAQ Saddam Hussein was buried on Sunday in his hometown of Awja, near Tikrit in northern Iraq. The burial occured at dawn, one day after the former dictator was hanged. Hussein was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court last month for crimes against humanity. Videos of his execution posted on the Internet showed Hussein exchanging taunts with onlookers from the gallows during the last few minutes of his life. His death has brought no reduction in the sectarian violence in Iraq. On the day of his burial, two car bombs in Baghdad killed two people and injured ten others. Elsewhere in the capital, a rocket hit a residential district, killing two children and wounding two civilians. On Saturday, 12 bodies were found shot dead in Baghdad, most showing signs of torture. BELARUS Belarus's government said on Sunday that it made a last-minute deal with Russia on natural gas imports. The Russian state-owned energy firm, Gazprom, had threatened to stop supplying gas to Belarus on New Year's Day unless Belarus agreed to pay double the price. If that happened, Belarus had warned that it would disrupt Russian gas supplies to Western Europe. Belarus's first deputy prime minister, Vladimir Semashko, said that "the Belarussian side, in a difficult atmosphere on the eve of the new year, signed an agreement on unfortunate terms." The terms were not reported. About 20 per cent of Russia's gas exports to Europe pass through Belarus. Belarus said that the two sides had agreed on basic details and only some minor issues remained to be resolved. SOMALIA Islamist militants clashed on Sunday with soldiers of Somalia's interim government backed by Ethiopian troops and tanks. The fighting occurred about 20 kilometres from the southern town of Jilib. No casualties were reported. The town is on the route to Kismayo, where about three thousand militants are making their last stand. Ethiopian jet fighters were reported flying over Kismayo in preparation for a major offensive. The militants have vowed to resist or to start a guerrilla war. Earlier this week, the militants were forced to give up control of the capital, Mogadishu, in the face of the allied advance. SPAIN Thousands of people marched in Madrid on Sunday to protest a car bombing at the city's international airport the day before. Meanwhile, the search continued for two men missing after the explosion in a multi-level garage. The missing men are believed to be Ecuadorans who were sleeping inside a car at the time of the blast. Rescue crews will require a few days to remove tonnes of debris. The explosion injured 26 people. Police say that the vehicle with the bomb was stolen in France three days earlier. The owner of the vehicle was held captive by three gunmen who identified themselves as members of the militant Basque separatist group, ETA. After the explosion, Spain's government announced that it was breaking off peace talks with ETA. Nine months ago, ETA declared a truce in its war against Spain's government. UNITED NATIONS The new Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, announced his first two appointments on Sunday, just a few hours before he officially took over the post from Kofi Annan. Mr. Ban's chief of staff will be Vijay Nambiar of India, who acted as a special advisor to Mr. Annan. The new chief U.N. media spokesperson will be Michele Montas of Haiti. Miss Montas, a journalist, is the wife of Jean Dominique, a radio broadcaster in Haiti who was murdered by opponents of his broadcasts. Sources at the U.N. also expected that the new undersecretary-general for administration and management would be Alicia Barcena of Mexico. She would replace an American in the post. The United States has indicated that it would like an American as undersecretary-general for political affairs or peacekeeping. Mr. Ban still has to announce his appointment for the major post of deputy secretary-general. CHINA Internet service to China will remain partially disrupted for at least two more weeks. Service to China and many other parts of Asia was affected last week after an earthquake damaged undersea cables. About 70 per cent of Internet and telephone service has been re-routed through satellites and landline cables. But the link to North America will remain disrupted until major repairs are made to the undersea lines. SAUDI ARABIA More than two million Muslim pilgrims continued to perform religious rites on Sunday as part of their annual Haj pilgrimage. Security was tight to avoid the kind of deadly stampedes that have marred the pilgrimage in recent years. There was also concern of violence between Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims following news of the execution of Iraq's former president, Saddam Hussein, the day before. On Monday, the last day of the Haj, pilgrims will make a final visit to the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca. INDONESIA Rescuers in Indonesia remained hopeful on Sunday of finding more survivors following the sinking of a ferry two days earlier. One hundred and eighty people survived, but 400 others were still missing. Life rafts were spotted with dozens of people aboard. Rescuers were waiting for calmer seas. At least 66 bodies have been recovered.
CHINA A Chinese company has bought oil assets in Kazakhstan belonging to the Canadian firm, Nations Energy Company. CITIC Group paid US$1.91 billion. It's China's third-largest oil purchase abroad. The purchase comes one month after Kazakhstan's oil minister vowed to use extreme measures to block the sale. It's not known what caused the government to relent to the sale. Among the assets is the Karazhanbas oilfield, with proven reserves of over 340 million barrels of oil. Current production at the field is more than fifty thousand barrels a day.
HOCKEY Canada's team lost to HC Davos, 3-2, in the finals of the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland, on Sunday. In the third period, Canada's goaltender Justin Pogge misplayed the puck behind the net, allowing the other team to score. At the world junior hockey championship in Leksand, Sweden, Canada's men's team defeated Slovakia, 3-0. Canada plays in the semi-finals on Wednesday. BASKETBALL The Toronto Raptors lost to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday, 110-104. Toronto's Morris Peterson scored 19 points. HOCKEY The Ottawa Senators beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2, on Saturday. Toronto goalie Ray Emery had 43 saves, a season high. Ottawa has won its last five games. The Vancouver Canucks moved into sole possession of first place in the Northwest Division on Saturday, beating the Edmonton Oilers, 6-2. Tampa Bay defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1. Montreal had just 13 shots on net---one shot short of their all-time lowest number. CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING Canadian Devon Kershaw finished second in the men's sprint behind Switzerland's Christoph Eigenmann at the first Tour de Ski competition in Munich, Germany, on Sunday. Kershaw's compatriot, Chandra Crawford, finished third in the women's event. The Tour de Ski has the world's top cross-country skiers racing six times in eight days for a purse of almost US$1 million.
Weather Here is Canada's weather on Monday, New Year's Day. British Columbia have rain. The high temperature in Vancouver will be six degrees Celsius. The Yukon: light snow. Whitehorse, two. Northwest Territories: overcast. Yellowknife, minus four. Nunavut: light snow. Iqaluit, minus 12. Alberta: mainly sunny. Edmonton, three. Saskatchewan: sunny. Regina, minus nine. Manitoba: sunny. Winnipeg, minus seven. Ontario: cloudy. Toronto, seven. Ottawa, eight. Quebec: drizzle or freezing rain. Montreal, six. New Brunswick: snow. Fredericton, two. Nova Scotia: mainly sunny. Halifax, minus one. Prince Edward Island: increasing cloudiness. Charlottetown, minus ten. Newfoundland: snow flurries. St. John's, minus two.
|
