Back to newsletter list 22/09/2007 20:59:26 (UTC) Canada | World Briefs | Business News | Sports | Weather Headlines  - Environment minister applauds new global agreement. - Report criticizes government's national environment plan. - Bomb injures four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
OTTAWA: GOVERNMENT MINISTER APPLAUDS GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT AGREEMENT Canada's environment minister is praising a new international agreement that was reached on Friday at a United Nations conference in Montreal. John Baird calls the agreement a pivotal moment. Delegates from 191 countries agreed to set dates to eliminate the use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons, a substance that damages the earth's ozone layer. Developed nations will stop using the substance by 2020, while developing countries will eliminate it by 2030. Both dates reduced previous deadlines by ten years. All signatories to the agreement will phase out production of the substance in stages. Mr. Baird particularly praised China, India and the United States for accepting the agreement, because the three countries had declined to accept environmental targets set by the Kyoto Protocol. During the week-long conference, delegates marked the twentieth anniversary of the Montreal Protocol, the world's first treaty designed to protect the ozone layer. A study group will determine how much it will cost to implement the new agreement and will make its report early next year. OTTAWA: REPORT CRITICIZES GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT PLAN A new report by a federal government body is strongly criticizing the Conservative Party government's environment plan. The plan was introduced this year after the government decided that Canada's commitment to the targets under the international Kyoto Protocol were unattainable. The National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy says that government estimates on the effectiveness of its plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are likely overstated. The report concluded that nine different government programs either exaggerated their benefits or failed to justify their claims. In some cases, cuts to emissions are counted twice. The report predicts that the programs would not help Canada to meet the reduction targets set out by the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. KANDAHAR: BOMB INJURES FOUR CANADIAN SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN One Canadian soldier was seriously injured and three others were slightly hurt by a roadside bomb explosion in Afghanistan early on Saturday. The incident occurred as a supply convoy was headed to Canadian forward operating bases in Kandahar province from the international base at Kandahar Air Field. An Afghan interpreter was also injured. Improvised explosive devices have become the weapon of choice for Taliban insurgents as they increasingly turn to guerrilla tactics in their war against foreign forces. Some 2500 Canadian soldiers are serving with a NATO-led force in the central Asian nation. TORONTO: CANADA AFGHAN PRISONERS A Canadian newspaper reports that at least 50 prisoners who were captured by Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and turned over to local authorities remain unaccounted for. Earlier this year, the Canadian military came under criticism following reports that Afghan authorities abused and possibly killed some of the 200 prisoners who were turned over to them. Canada's government subsequently called for full accounting of the prisoners. The Globe & Mail quotes Canadian sources in Afghanistan who speculated that the missing prisoners might be a result of poor record-keeping by Afghan authorities. But there have also been cases of prisoners' buying their freedom. RIMOUSKI: OPPOSITION PARTY THREATENS TO BRING DOWN GOVERNMENT Canadians could have an early federal election before the end of the year. On Saturday, the leader of the opposition Bloc Quebecois, Gilles Duceppe, announced that his party will continue to support the minority Conservative Party government of Prime Minster Stephen Harper if he agrees to five conditions in his Throne Speech to open Parliament next month. Mr. Duceppe made his plan known in a speech to party supporters in Rimouski. He said that the government must adopt the Bloc's position to withdraw Canadian troops from Afghanistan in 2009, must meet the environment targets set out under the Kyoto Protocol, must provide support for the forestry and agriculture industries, and must stop federal spending in areas that are under provincial jurisdiction. The demands are harsh enough that it's unlikely that Mr. Harper will agree to all of them. The Bloc Quebecois has supported the government's first two annual budgets, enabling the Conservative Party to remain in party. But the Bloc's power in Quebec---the only province where it campaigns and holds seats---has slipped, in part because of voter dissatisfaction over Mr. Duceppe's previous support of Mr. Harper. The Bloc Quebecois promotes Quebec's independence. OTTAWA: CANADIAN CONFIRMED KILLED IN AIRP*** CRASH The Canadian government has confirmed that a Canadian woman died in the crash of a Thai airliner on the resort island of Phuket last Sunday. The family of Larisa Fayad of Vancouver had not heard from her since before the crash, which left 89 people dead. She had been touring with a Filipino dance company and was on her way to Phuket for a holiday. Forty people survived the crash, including a Canadian woman from British Columbia. VANCOUVER: PROVINCIAL SUPREME COURT JUSTICE IS DEAD A former British Columbia Supreme Court Justice, Dermod Owen-Flood, has died at the age of 76. He'd served as a Supreme Court trial judge from 1990 until last year, when he reached the mandatory retirement age for Canadian judges. He first practised law in the province of Alberta after arriving from Ireland with a law degree in the mid-1950s.
BURMA A sixth day of protests by Buddhist monks was held on Saturday against Burma's military dictatorship. In Yangon, some 2,000 monks were greeted by Aung San Sui Kyi after guards lifted a blockade of the street where the Nobel Peace Laureate has been living under house arrest. Elsewhere, some ten thousand monks marched in the city of Mandalay, a monastic center of Buddhist learning. The protests started recently after the military government raised fuel prices. The monks are now urging civilians to get involved in a peaceful struggle against the military. Civilian participation had been previously discouraged for fear of reprisals against ordinary people and to ensure the demonstrations remain peaceful. Ms. Sui Kyi's National League for Democracy party won elections in 1990, but they were annulled by the army, and she was never allowed to take office. PERU Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori arrived in Peru on Saturday for the first time in seven years. His supporters met him with cheers. One day earlier, Chile's Supreme Court approved the repatriation of Fujimori, who faces charges of embezzlement of 15 million dollars and human rights abuses in Peru during his presidency. He is accused of ordering two notorious massacres in the early 1990s during Peru's fight with the Maoist rebel group the Shining Path. Fujimori's forced departure from Chile comes nearly two years after he arrived unexpectedly in Santiago from Japan, where he'd lived in exile following the collapse of his government in 2000. He'd hoped to launch a bid for the Peruvian presidency in 2006, but was arrested on an international warrant. RUSSIA A former official in Chechnya's pro-Russian administration has been charged with involvement in last year's murder of a Russian journalist. Shamil Burayev was arrested in Moscow last week and has been charged with complicity in murder as an accomplice in the death of Anna Politkovskaya. The Kremlin critic and investigative reporter was shot to death in October, 2006, in what police described as a contract killing. Prosecutors alleged that Burayev learned Ms. Politkovskaya's address from a member of the FSB security service and passed it on to her killers. He says that he is not guilty. CHINA Motorists in China's capital, Beijing, and in more than 100 Chinese cities largely ignored an appeal to stage a day free of cars on Saturday. The so-called Car-free Day was arranged as a way to reduce traffic congestion and pollution. Some ares of Beijing and other cities were open only to pedestrians, cyclists, taxis and busses for most of the day. One major area declined to take part in Car-free Day. Guangzhou said that it's public transport system was not yet ready to handle extra passengers. SUDAN Gunmen seriously wounded three humanitarian aid workers in an attack in Sudan's Darfur region on Saturday. The workers were in two vehicles of World Vision International, a non-governmental organization. The vehicles were clearly marked. The United Nations condemned the attack on what it called 'aid staff who are working to save the lives of Sudanese people.' The U.N. says that attacks on relief staff in Darfur increased by 50 per cent in the 12 months up to June. Sixty-one convoys were attacked. CONGO Four more people have contracted the deadly Ebola disease in Congo. In all, nine people are confirmed to have the disease in the first outbreak of Ebola in the African country in more than a decade. The outbreak is in the region of Kasai Occidental, where in the past four months, more than 160 people have died, possibly as a result of the disease. Three scientists from Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory are in Congo to conduct tests for the disease. There's no cure or treatment for Ebola, a disease that causes massive blood loss and kills nine out of ten victims. The disease spreads from direct contact with infected blood or human secretions. CUBA Cuba's leader, Fidel Castro, gave his first televised interview in more than three months on Saturday, easing speculation that he had died or suffered a relapse. The 81-year-old revolutionary spoke slowly and appeared little changed from his last interview to Cuban state television in early June. The hour-long interview included mention of oil prices and international currency. Mr. Castro hasn't been seen in public since July 2006, when emergency intestinal surgery forced him to step down in favor of a provisional government headed by his younger brother, Raul.
VANCOUVER: NEW MEDIATION PROCESS FOR CITY LABOUR STRIKE Striking city workers in Vancouver, British Columbia, have agreed with the city's management to enhance their mediation process. The labour union and the city will start providing verbal and written submissions on contract terms and conditions within the week. A mediator, Brian Foley, will then make non-binding recommendations to end the strike that has lasted several weeks.
WRESTLING Canadian Erica Sharpe won the bronze medal in the 51-kilogram freestyle class at the world wrestling championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday. She shared the bronze medal with Anne-Catherine Deluntsch of France. Defending champion Hitomi Sakamoto of Japan won the gold. FIGURE SKATING The Canadian pair of Amanda Velenosi and Mark Fernandez won the silver medal in pairs skating at the Junior Grand Prix event in Tallinn, Estonia, on Saturday. Russia won the gold. In ice dancing, Canadians Joanna Lenko and Mitchell Islam won the bronze medal. The United States won the gold. TRACK AND FIELD Canadian sprinter Tyler Christopher was second in the men's 400 metres at the World Athletics Final in Stuttgart, Germany, on Friday. American LaShawn Merritt was first. FOOTBALL The Hamilton Tiger Cats came from behind to beat the Calgary Stampeders on Friday, 24-20. Richie Williams took over as quarterback from injured Casey Printers at the end of the first half, and gained 18 points for the win.
Weather Here is Canada's weather on Sunday. British Columbia will have variable cloudiness. The high temperature in Vancouver will be 17 degrees Celsius. The Yukon: mainly sunny. Whitehorse, six. Northwest Territories: overcast. Yellowknife, seven. Nunavut: light rain. Iqaluit, three. Alberta: overcast. Edmonton, nine. Saskatchewan: overcast. Regina, 17. Manitoba: cloudy. Winnipeg, 25. Ontario: sunny. Toronto, 24 Ottawa, 23. Quebec: sunny. Montreal, 23 New Brunswick: sunny. Fredericton, 20. Nova Scotia: clearing skies. Halifax, 24. Prince Edward Island: drizzle. Charlottetown, 20. Newfoundland: increasing cloudiness. St. John's, 17.
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