Back to newsletter list 09/05/2008 23:37:40 (UTC) Canada | World Briefs | Business News | Sports | Weather Headlines  - Canadian Commons denounces Burma govt. for refusing relief - Canada blames Hezbollah for violence in Beirut - Air Canada imposes fuel surcharge
OTTAWA: COMMONS DENOUNCES BURMESE GOVT. Members of Parliament unanimously adopted a motion on Friday denouncing the "deplorable response" of Burma's government to attempts by foreign nations to succour the victims of Saturday's cyclone. The motion approved by all four political parties represented in the House of Commons denounces as well the "unprecedented seizure" of international aid shipments by the country's military régime. The MPs urged the military junta immediately to allow unrestricted access to international aid agencies and non-governmental organizations. OTTAWA: GOVT. WORRIED BY LEBANON SITUATION The Canadian government has called for a return to calm in Lebanon and condemned the activities of the Shi'ite Hezbollah movement which it says are inciting violence. Canadian Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier says Canada supports the steps attempted by the Lebanese government to end the present crisis, including the election of a new president, adding that it's important not to let Hezbollah drag Lebanon into a war. Mr. Bernier says the Canadian government is following the situation closely and that it will keep Canadians in Lebanon abreast of the changing situation. TORONTO: PM DEFENDS ISRAEL Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canada has in the past been loyal to Israel and will continue to do so. Mr. Harper spoke at an event on Thursday evening meant to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Israel's establishment. Mr. Harper told an audience of 7,000 that the militant groups that threaten Israel are a threat to Canada as well. The prime minister described Israel as "...our friend and ally in the democratic family of nations." The president of the Toronto-based Palestine House lobby, Dr. Farid Ayad, issued a statement that referred to the deliberating uprooting of the residents of 531 towns and villages 60 years ago. OTTAWA: PRISONER IN MEXICO FINALLY FREE A 51-year-old Canadian woman who spent more than two years in a Mexican prison in Guadalajara without being charged is finally free. Brenda Martin was released on parole from a women's prison in Kitchener, ON. Her lawyer says she has gone to Trenton, ON, to see her mother. A Mexican court found her guilty of fraud last month because of an Internet scam practiced by her former boss. OTTAWA: JOB REPORT MIXED More than 19,000 new jobs were created in Canada last month. Most of them were in the public sector or involved people working for themselves. Despite the new jobs, the Canadian government's recording agency says the national jobless rate rose to 6.1 per cent, from 5.9 per cent in March. An economist with the Bank of Montreal, Douglas Porter, says the results show a mixed economy with a loss of almost 15,000 manufacturing jobs, and a drop in average hourly wages. HAVRES-AUX-MAISONS: TRIAL OF SEAL HUNT OPPONENTS CONCLUDES A judge in Iles-de-la-Madeleine, QC, has reserved judgment until Oct. 24 in the case of five opponents of the annual east coast seal hunt. The court had heard evidence all week in the case of members of the Humane Society International and the Humane Society of the United States. They're accused of violating the law by coming within 10 metres of seal hunters in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in March 2006 to film the cull. TORONTO: CHINESE IMMIGRANTS TO BE REMEMBERED The Canadian government has allocated $5 million for educational projects related to the country's early Chinese immigrants. Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity Jason Kenney says the "head tax" and other immigration restrictions imposed on Chinese immigrants was "an unfortunate chapter in our history and deserve recognition." Eligible projects could be monuments, commemorative plaques and exhibits. Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized formally for the head tax in 2006 and offered a symbolic payment to its living payers.
BURMA The military junta has allowed a U.S. cargo p*** to land laden with food and other supplies in the first foreign aid allowed into the country. The government had confiscated other shipments of aid destined for victims of the cyclone that devastated Burma one week ago, causing the UN to suspend aid shipments temporarily. Diplomats and aid groups say the death toll could exceed 100,000. The plight of survivors in the Irrawaddy Delta is expected to worsen because of heavy rain forecast for the next week. Almost two million people are in need of food, clean water, shelter and medicine. Despite the disaster, the junta is pushing ahead with its plan to hold a referendum on a proposed constitution, although the vote was to be delayed by two weeks in disaster areas, including the capital. LEBANON Hezbollah seized control of western Beirut on Friday after three days of street fighting between Shi'ites and Sunni. However, Hezbollah pulled back their fighters at the end of the day, having ordered them to stay away from government buildings. They made no attempt to advance toward the city's Christian area. The Lebanese army made little attempt to interfere in the clashes. The street fighting appears to have strengthened Hezbollah's hand after 17 months of political deadlock with the western-backed government, which holds a small majority in Parliament. At the UN, Secretary General Ban Kil-moon called on the rival forces to show restraint and resolve their differences peacefully. In Washington, the U.S. government blamed Hezbollah for the violence, as well as its patrons Iran and Syria. ISRAEL One Israeli was killed on a communal farm after attackers fired mortar shells into southern Israel on Friday. Three other Israelis were injured. The Israeli military retaliated with missile strikes on two police stations which Hamas says killed five of its militants. The military says militants in Gaza have fired 1,950 mortar shells and rockets into Israel this year, almost as many as were fired in all of last year. ZIMBABWE South African President Thabo Mbeki paid his third visit to Zimbabwe on Friday as a mediator acting on behalf of the Southern African Development Community, which is trying to resolve the country's political crisis. President Robert Mugabe welcomed him at Harare airport, after which they had a four-hour meeting. Zimbabwe has been in crisis since the parliamentary and presidential elections held on March 29. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirei, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, insists he won the vote outright. Last week, the country's electoral commission agreed that he had indeed won but not with a simple majority, so that it runoff vote is required. The MDC is expected to announce on Saturday if it will take part in a runoff. ARGENTINA Argentine farmers have started their second strike in less than two months after negotiations with the government over high export duties failed. Each side accuses the other for that failure. The farmers want the government of President Cristina Fernandez to alter a new tax system by which taxes are pegged to international agricultural prices. The president defends the higher taxes as a way to redistribute wealth and to contain inflation. Before the system was introduced, the farmers were already angry with price controls and export restrictions on wheat and grain. During their three-week strike in March, the farmers blocked roads and halted sales of grains and beef.
CALGARY: AIR CANADA IMPOSES FUEL SURCHARGES Air Canada has announced it has begun imposing fuel surcharges on domestic and U.S.-bound flights. The surcharges will be $20, $40 or $60 depending on the length of the flights. The airline says the surcharges are unavoidable because of the soaring cost of fuel, a cost which could not be compensated by raising fares. On Thursday, Air Canada said that its first-quarter fuel costs had increased by $130 million over the previous first quarter. U.S. carriers instituted similar surcharges last week for transborder flights. Air Canada's main competitor, West-Jet Airlines Ltd., said last week it was considering a surcharge but hasn't yet acted. Air Canada's decision was announced on the day when crude oil prices rose above a record US$126 a barrel. OTTAWA: GOVT. NIXES SPACE BUSINESS DEAL Federal Industry Minister Jim Prentice has confirmed his previously preliminary decision to annul a takeover of the space division of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates to American interests. Mr. Prentice explained that although foreign investment plays an important role in the Canadian economy, the sale of MDA's space division to Alliant Techsystems for $1.3 billion would not be a "net benefit" to Canada under the terms of the Investment Canada Act. This is the first time that the federal government has invoked the law since it was passed in 1985. MDA is the maker of the Canadarm robot mechanism used on the U.S. space shuttle and the International Space Station. It also operates the Radarsat 2 satellite launched in December and which was developed at a cost of $445 million in federal funding. The chief function of the satellite is to monitor the Canadian Arctic and critics of the now defunct transaction said that a takeover by Americans represented a threat to Canadian sovereignty over the territory which it claims in the north. TORONTO: NEW AGENCY MOLTS SUCCESSFULLY The president of the Canadian Press news agency, Eric Morrison, says its reorientation is working and will bolster CP in coming years. The 91-year-old new co-operative a year-and-a-half ago began produce online video. photographs, graphics and special report packages. Mr. Morrison told CP's annual meeting that the service has 20 clients for video. Phillip Crawley, the publisher of The Globe and Mail and CP chairman, said his publication was surprised how quickly video traffic has grown on its website and that readers use it readily because it's easy to access. Last year, CP lost the membership of one of its major subscribers, CanWest Global Communications, but Mr. Morrison says that CP is surviving and growing despite the loss.
HOCKEY Joel Quenneville is the latest coach to be let go in the National Hockey League. Quenneville and the Colorado Avalanche have decided to go their separate ways after Colorado was swept in the second round by Detroit. The Russians remained undefeated at the IIHF World Hockey Championship with a 4-3 shootout win over Belarus. In other action, Finland beat Latvia 2-1. SOCCER Canada has faced its American foe 41 times on the women's soccer pitch, and has come away with just four wins to boast. The Canadians face a tough test once again when they battle the U.S. Saturday in an international friendly at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.
Weather British Columbia: rain, high 15 Celsius Vancouver. Yukon: rain. Northwest Territories, Nunavut: sun. Whitehorse 12, Yellowknife 9, Iqaulit 0. Alberta: rain north, sun south. Saskatchewan, Manitoba: sun. Edmonton 17, Regina 14, Winnipeg 12. Ontario, Quebec: sun. Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal 18. Atlantic Canada: rain. Fredericton 13, Halifax 10, Charlottetown 11, St. John's 5.
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