Back to newsletter list 09/03/2008 22:40:22 (UTC) Canada | World Briefs | Sports | Weather Headlines  - Winter storm causes flight delays, road accidents, power losses. - Quebec premier wins strong party support. - Wounded Canadian boy recovering well after Jerusalem attack.
MONTREAL: WINTER STORM CAUSES FLIGHT DELAYS, ROAD ACCIDENTS, POWER LOSSES Eastern Canada suffered another major snowstorm this weekend. Hundreds of accidents were reported on Ontario's roads and dozens of flights were cancelled at international airports in Toronto, Ottawa and in Montreal. Part of the entrance to Montreal's airport was closed because of the danger of falling ice from the roof. In the region around Quebec City, more than seventy thousand people were left without electricity as a result of the storm. Busses in Montreal were unable to leave their garages overnight because snow drifts were blocking roads. Snowfalls in many regions of Ontario and Quebec are reaching record high levels this winter. The storm on Sunday moved into Atlantic Canada, bringing high winds, snow and freezing rain. Brief power outages were reported in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick. Longer outages affected several thousand people in Nova Scotia. Ten flights were cancelled at the airport in St. John's, Newfoundland. QUEBEC: PREMIER GAINS STRONG PARTY SUPPORT The governing Liberal Party in the province of Quebec has given its leader a major show of support. About 97 per cent of the 2,500 party delegates handed Premier Jean Charest a vote of confidence on Saturday at a party gathering in Quebec City. The Liberals won 48 of the province's 125 seats in a general election last year. Some political observers predicted that the result would trigger the end of Mr. Charest's political career. But he has rebounded in public opinion polls. JERUSALEM: WOUNDED CANADIAN BOY RECOVERING AFTER JERUSALEM ATTACK A 14-year-old Canadian wounded in a gun attack on a Jerusalem seminary on Thursday is reported to be out of danger. His father, Noah, said that Nadav Samuels had operations for shrapnel wounds to his legs and feet and was recovering. He was among nine students wounded in the attack that killed eight students. The boy was born in Israel and holds Canadian and British citizenship. His family moved to Israel from Toronto in 1982. TORONTO: PROTESTERS RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT LOST ABORIGINALS A small group of protesters demonstrated outside a church in Toronto on Sunday to raise awareness about the disappearance of aboriginal children in the century between 1840 and 1940. The children attended residential schools. Tens of thousands were buried near the schools in unmarked graves. Protesters demanded that government and church leaders reveal the graves' locations. The protesters plan to continue their demonstrations at other churches across the country. In recent years, Canada's residential schools have been criticized for promoting racism and for allowing child abuse. TORONTO: FORMER AMBASSADOR URGES CALM OVER NAFTA AFFAIR Canada's former ambassador to the United States, Derek Burney, is advising parliamentarians in Ottawa to shift their focus in the case of American politicians and the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. Earlier this month, the two contenders for the Democratic Party nomination for U.S. president, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, said that they were ready to re-negotiate NAFTA. A scandal broke out afterwards when it was reported that an unidentified Canadian government official declared that Mr. Obama's comment was no more than an election campaign ploy. Canada's prime minister, Stephen Harper, denied allegations that the leak came from his chief of staff. Speaking on Sunday in a television interview, Mr. Burney said that parliamentarians should concentrate less on finding the identity of the leak and more on the possibility that NAFTA might be re-negotiated. Mr. Burney was among those who negotiated NAFTA in the 1990s. OTTAWA: NEW LAWS PROPOSED FOR SEAL HUNTERS Canada's government will impose new rules to ensure that baby seals are killed more humanely. Canada has been criticized for allowing hunters to shoot and club to death hundreds of thousands of seals each year off the country's Atlantic coast. Hunters are obliged to ensure that the seals die quickly, but government officials acknowledge this does not always happen. Under new rules, hunters will have to follow a three-step process recommended by an independent panel of veterinarians. After clubbing or shooting the seal, a hunter must check its eyes to ensure that it is dead. If not, the animal's main arteries have to be cut. CAPE CANAVERAL: CANADIAN ROBOT READY FOR LAUNCH A Canadian-made robot will play a major role in the next U.S. space shuttle mission on Tuesday. The robot, called Dextre will be taken into orbit in pieces aboard the shuttle Endeavour to the international space station. During spacewalks, the astronauts will assemble Dextre and attach it to the outside of the station. In future missions, the robot will help spacewalking astronauts and ultimately do some of their dangerous work to build and maintain the station.
SPAIN Unofficial results of Spain's election on Sunday showed that the governing Socialist Party of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had been re-elected. One exit poll gave the Socialists at least 172 seats in the 350-seat lower house. It was not clear whether the party would secure an absolute majority. The opposition Popular Party had 148 seats. About 61 per cent of eligible voters were reported to have turned out, slightly lower than in the previous election in 2004. Voters in the northern Basque region also turned out to vote, rejecting appeals by the Basque separatist group ETA to boycott the election. Yesterday, the daughter of a local politician who was slain in a shooting on Friday urged the Basque people to honour her father and to defeat ETA. Prime Minister Rodriguez Zapatero accused ETA of the murder. PAKISTAN Pakistan's two main political oppisition leaders agreed on Sunday to form a coalition that could threaten the power of President Pervez Musharraf. The coalition was announced by the country's former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, and by the leader of the Pakistan People's Party, Asif Ali Zardari, the husband of the party's slain leader, Benazir Bhutto. They also agreed to reappoint judges who were dismissed by President Musharraf last year as being too hostile to his regime. The PPP won the most seats in elections last month, but too few to govern alone. VENEZUELA Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, restored diplomatic relations with Colombia on Sunday, another step toward ending South America's worst crisis in several years. Tension flared early this month after Colombian forces killed a rebel commander whose camp was a few kilometres inside Ecuador. Both Ecuador and Venezuela objected to the cross-border raid, and mobilized troops on the border. At a regional summit on Friday, Mr. Chavez promised to withdraw the troops, reducing tension. Colombia and Venezuela are expected to exchange diplomats soon. But Ecuador continues to seek Colombia's assurance that there will be no more cross-border raids. FRANCE President Nicholas Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement suffered losses in several large cities in the first round of local elections in France on Sunday. Losses were reported in Rouen and Caen, while the opposition Socialist Party continued to hold power in Paris, Lyon and Lille. An unofficial poll showed that the UPM party's candidates had won about 40 per cent of the vote, compared to 47 per cent for the Socialists. President Sarkozy's popularity has plummeted since he was elected last year. Local elections have a minor effect on national politics, but the results are considered a warning to President Sarkozy as the country prepares for the second round of local elections next Sunday. ISRAEL Israel's government announced new plans on Sunday to expand a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. A total of 750 homes will be built in a settlement near Jerusalem called Givat Ze'ev. The settlement lies just outside the boundaries that Israel has drawn for Jerusalem. Two hundred partially built homes in the settlement will be completed. No date was set for construction of the other homes. Palestinian groups have denounced the announcement as a blow to the latest mid-east peace talks. The peace talks were already put in jeopardy after a Palestinian gunman killed eight Jewish students at a school in Jerusalem last week. The school was linked to a local movement promoting Jewish settlements. ZIMBABWE Zimbabwe has passed a new law that requires whites and foreigners to give at least 51 per cent of their businesses to blacks. President Robert Mugabe says that the new law is part of his election campaign strategy called economic empowerment. People will vote in a nationwide general election in three weeks. Mr. Mugabe faces challenges from his former finance minister, Simba Makoni, and from the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. Zimbabwe faces a severe economic crisis with inflation running at 100-thousand per cent. CHINA Government officials in China's Xinjiang region say that the crew aboard a China Southern jetliner foiled a hijacking attempt. The p*** took off on Friday from Xinjiang's capital, Urumqi, headed for Beijing. But it made an emergency landing in the northwestern city of Lanzhou. All on board arrived safely. No details were reported about the alleged hijackers or about how the crew acted. Xinjiang's governor, Nuer Baikeli, said only that the crew took resolute measures. One unofficial source said that two passengers were arrested and flammable material was found in the p***'s toilet. MALAYSIA Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi faced mounting calls to resign after his coalition suffered a humiliating setback on Saturday in elections. Mr. Abdullah conceded that there was a question mark over his future after the Barisan Nasional coalition turned in its worst results, losing its two-thirds parliamentary majority. Malaysia's Islamic party made huge gains by putting on a moderate face and dropping fundamentalist rhetoric that had alienated voters. VENEZUELA President Hugo Chavez on Saturday urged the leader of Colombia's FARC rebels to free Franco-Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt. Mr. Chavez said that before Colombia killed the FARC leader, Raul Reyes, in a raid inside Ecuador, he and Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa had been seeking Miss Betancourt's release through Ecuadoran territory. Miss Betancourt is among some 40 high-profile hostages, including three U.S. nationals, whom the FARC want to exchange for 500 rebels being held in Colombian prisons. ARGENTINA Eighteen people were killed in Argentina on Sunday when their bus was struck by a train at a railway crossing. About 50 other bus passengers were injured, some of them seriously. The bus driver survived. No one on the train was hurt. The accident occurred early in the morning about 200 kilometres south of Buenos Aires. Witnesses say that the bus driver ignored stop signs and drove through the railway crossing's safety barrier.
TRACK AND FIELD Canadian Tyler Christoper won the gold medal in the men's 400 metres at the world indoor track and field championships in Valencia, Spain, on Sunday. He set a Canadian record of 45.67 seconds. Johan Wissman of Sweden was second and Chris Brown of the Bahamas was third. Christopher's medal was Canada's first at the championships. SPEED SKATING Canadian Kalyna Roberge won a bronze medal in the women's 1000-metre race on the last day of the short track world championships in Gangneug City, South Korea on Sunday. Canada's men's and women's teams both won the silver medal in the relay event. At the World Single Distance Championships in Nagano, Japan, on Sunday, Canadian Denny Morrison won the gold medal in the men's 15-hundred metre event. In the women's 1000-metre race, Canadian Kristina Groves won the silver medal. Canada won nine medals in all at the meet, tying its highest-ever total set last year. CURLING Canadian Kaitlyn Lawes and her rink won a bronze medal at the world junior curling championships in Ostersund, Sweden, on Sunday. She defeated Russia, 9-8. In the men's competition, Canadian William Dion won the bronze, defeating Norway, 5-3. BASKETBALL The Toronto Raptors defeated the Seattle Supersonics on Sunday, 114-106. Toronto's Anthony Parker scored 23 points. HOCKEY The Edmonton Oilers beat the Chicago Black Hawks in overtime on Sunday, 6-5. Rookie Andrew Cogliano scored the winner, his second goal of the game. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, 5-2. Montreal's Jaroslav Halak stopped 35 shots on net. The Ottawa Senators beat the Phoenix Coytoes, 4-2. It was Ottawa's second victory in eight games. The Vancouver Canucks defeated the St. Louis Blues, 4-2. The Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the New Jersey Devils, 2-1, after a goal by Zach Parise in the final minute. SNOWBOARD Canadian Matt Morrison won the bronze medal at a World Cup competition in Quebec on Saturday. Benjamin Karl of Austria won the gold. LACROSSE The Calgary Roughnecks beat Portland, 15-12, on Saturday. Calgary's Tracey Kelusky had six points. BASEBALL CAnada's team beat Taiwan on Saturday, 10-0, in a qualifying match for the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Weather Here is Canada's weather on Monday. British Columbia will have rain. The high temperature in Vancouver will be 11 degrees Celsius. The Yukon: variable cloudiness. Whitehorse, one. Northwest Territories: overcast. Yellowknife, minus 11. Nunavut: light snow. Iqaluit, minus 16. Alberta: cloudy. Edmonton, seven. Saskatchewan: mainly sunny. Regina, four. Manitoba: cloudy periods. Winnipeg, zero. Ontario: mainly sunny. Toronto, minus three. Ottawa, minus five. Quebec: sunny. Montreal, minus four. New Brunswick: sunny. Fredericton, minus three. Nova Scotia: snow flurries. Halifax, minus three. Prince Edward Island: mainly sunny. Charlottetown, minus seven. Newfoundland: clearing skies. St. John's, minus nine.
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