G8 rejects Mugabe govt.
Ottawa denies Taliban on offensive
Canadians want govt. action on climate
RUSUTSU: G8 WON'T RECOGNIZE ZIMBABWE GOVT.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the other leaders of the G8 grouping of countries have issued a joint statement in which they refuse to recognize the government of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Mr. Mugabe won an easy victory in last month's presidential election. His adversary, Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirei, withdrew from the election because of widespread violence and intimidation against its supporters. The G8 statement condemns the attacks and threatens "financial and other measures" against those responsible for them. Canada had already pledged to impose restrictions on travel, work and study on senior Zimbabwean government, military and police officials. Aircraft registered in Zimbabwe won't be permitted to land in Canada or to fly through Canadian airspace.
HALIFAX: MINISTER DENIES TALIBAN OFFENSIVE
Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay has denied recent days of violence in Afghanistan indicate that Taliban insurgents have launched an offensive. The minister says the violence is linked to the end of the annual poppy harvest, the poppies being the source of Taliban finance. Mr. MacKay says the end of the harvest means there are more young men available to be recruited by the insurgents. The minister also says the Canadian military is frustrated by the rebels' recruiting efforts along the Pakistani border, where he says the Taliban have raided Afghan refugee camps to increase their ranks. Forty people died in a suicide bombing at the Indian embassy in Kabul on Sunday and an 87th Canadian soldier lost his life in a roadside bombing during the weekend. Mr. MacKay says that despite the deaths, per capita income in Afghanistan has doubled since 2002 and more than 80 per cent of Afghans now have access to basic health care, compared with only nine per cent in 2004.
OTTAWA: INFERNAL MACHINE OF TERROR SUSPECT DESCRIBED
The trial on seven terror-related charges of Ottawa-area software designer Momin Khawaja continued Tuesday with testimony by an RCMP officer about a remote-control device seized in a raid on his family home. Of the seven charges, the most serious is that he intended to provide such a device to be used by fellow conspirators to bomb sites in London. British police thwarted the plot and five British Muslims were subsequently found guilty of that conspiracy and sentenced to life in prison. The federal police officer told Ontario Superior Court that the device was a "customized project" considering of a series of specially modified circuit boards, including an encoder, decoder, transmitter and receiver. Mr. Khawaja has pleaded not guilty.
OTTAWA: CANADIANS WANT GOVT. ACTION ON CLIMATE
A public opinion survey indicates that a majority of Canadians want aggressive government action to fight climate change despite increasing fuel costs. The Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll seems to contradict speculation that people don't want governments to drive up their costs any further as they try to cope with soaring gasoline and oil prices. When asked whether they favoured a more cautious approach to environmental issues or stronger action to reduce Canada's dependence on oil, 61 per cent preferred the latter alternative. Only 27 per cent said that government should move more slowly on the environment because of the rising cost of oil and gas.
TORONTO: AUTO UNION LEADER DEPARTS
The leader of Canada's biggest industrial union, the Canadian Auto Workers, has announced he'll resign in September after 16 years of leading it. The CAW has negotiated some of the most lucrative contracts for unionized Canadian workers. But the number of CAW members has shrunk as General Motors, Ford and Chrysler cut tens of thousands of employees and closed plants in Ontario and Quebec. During Mr. Hargrove's tenure, the CAW expanded beyond the auto industry to 17 different economic sectors, including airlines. He has endorsed Ken Lewenza, the president of a CAW local in Windsor, ON, to replace him. The union will vote for a new leader at a convention in September.
ST. JOHN'S: IMMIGRATION CONSULTATIONS BEGIN
National consultations concerning the country's immigration priorities began in the capital of the eastern province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The consultations are aimed at helping Immigration Minister Diane Finley identify the most desirable categories of newcomers. The reformed immigration law recently approved by Parliament gives the minister the authority to establish such priorities as well as to establish quotas for the numbers of applications to be processed. The reform is designed to relieve the backlog of applications and to select immigrants whose skills are most needed, such as physicians.
IRAQ
For the second straight day on Tuesday, the Iraqi government has said that any new security agreement with the U.S. must be based on a timetable for the eventual withdrawal of the Americans. The Iraqi government's national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, says the government won't accept any deal not linked to withdrawal dates. Prime Minister Nur al-Maliki on Monday for the first time said the same thing. U.S. President George W. Bush has said he opposes a timetable for withdrawal. The Iraqi proposal for a security agreement stipulates that when Iraqi forces have assumed responsibility for security in all 18 provinces, U.S.-led forces would withdraw from all cities. Thenceforth, the country's security situation would be reviewed every six months. The U.S. has already handed over security in nine of the 18 provinces.
BRAZIL
Economy minister Guido Mantega has criticized opposition within the G8 grouping to allowing economically dynamic nations like his from joining it. Mr. Mantega calls the situation "an inconsistency, an incoherence" on the part of countries which recognize Brazil's importance yet refuse to accept its entry into the G8. According to the state news agency the minister was alluding to the U.S. and Italy. Canada and the other G8 members concluded a two-day summit in Japan on Tuesday. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has suggested the grouping be widened to include Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa.
RUSSIA
The foreign ministry says that the country will react not diplomatically but militarily if a U.S. anti-missile system is deployed near its territory. The ministry was reacting to the agreement between the U.S. and the Czech Republic to locate a missile radar tracking station on the territory of the latter nation. The tentative accord was announced during a visit to Prague by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The U.S. wants to place interceptor missiles in neighbouring Poland. The stated reason for the anti-missile system is defence against attacks from such "rogue" states as Iraq or North Korea. Russia considers the plan to be directed against its own nuclear deterrent.
ITALY
The ANSA news agency reports that more than 600 boat people arrived on Tuesday at the island of Lampedusa in mid-Mediterranean. According to the agency, the migrant centre there had already almost reached its capacity of 600. The new migrants arrived on three boats, one of them measuring only 15 metres and carrying 290 people. The interior ministry has said that more than 16,000 illegal immigrants arrived in Italy last year, most of them having sailed from Libya.
SWITZERLAND
The United Nations refugee agency says it agrees with the immigration reform proposed by the 27 member states of the EU. The High Commission for Refugees says it views positively the proposals for more co-operation among EU states, as well as the proposed creation of a European Asylum Support Office. However, the UN body says it would like to see the Europeans allow more refugees to settle permanently in Europe. The immigration reform proposed by France received "broad agreement" on Monday at a meeting in Cannes of EU ministers of immigration and the interior. The ministers representing the 27 EU states are seeking consensus on the reform which France wants adopted by October. It aims both at stopping illegal immigration and integration of legal newcomers.
CALGARY: NUCLEAR PLANT PITCHED FOR NORTHWEST
The Bruce Power partnership is promoting the possibility of a nuclear plant in Alberta's Peace River area, some 500 kilometres northwest of Edmonton. Bruce Power Alberta forecasts a contribution of $12 billion to the provincial economy during a 10-year period of preparation and construction. It claims that 1,900 permanent jobs and 800 indirect ones would result as well. Bruce Power Alberta's president, Duncan Hawthorne, says that although more study must be done, the work done so far on the project is promising. Bruce Power earlier this year filed a request with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission to prepare a site that could produce 4,000 megawatts of electricity. Bruce Power is owned by TransCanada Corp., Cameco Corp. and a subsidiary of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System.
OTTAWA: CENTRAL BANK ENDS SPECIAL CREDIT LOANS
The Bank of Canada has announced that it has ended its injections of cash to chartered banks through short-term loans, saying that the credit conditions that resulted from last summer's subprime mortgage crisis in the U.S. have eased. The bank says it will continue to monitor markets and if necessary to intervene to provide liquidity. The U.S. Federal Reserve, on the other hand, has said it will continue providing short-term loans to financial institutions until the end of the year.
VANCOUVER: SUITS CAUSE INVESTMENT HOUSE STOCK TO DIP
Stock in investment house Canaccord Capital Inc. fell by more than four-and-a-half per cent on Tuesday morning after news that it's being sued by seven of its customers who were entangled in the financial meltdown of the asset-back commercial paper debacle. The stock which was worth $22.49 a year ago was trading as low as $7.14. Canaccord was the largest retailer in the country of ABCP when the market for the short-term paper collapsed as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis. The investment firm says it would be released from the suits if a proposed solution by to ABCP crisis is accepted. The "Pan-Canadian investors' committee" has proposed converting the short-term notes into long-term credits. The proposal would provide protection from lawsuits for institutions that traded in ABCP unless they were involved in fraud. The plan has been approved by Ontario Superior Court and by noteholders but is subject to appeal.
CALGARY: HEAVY HAUL 'BLIMP' TO BE DEVELOPED
ShyHook International Inc. of Calgary and Boeing Co., the world's biggest aircraft manufacturer, have announced a partnership to construct a huge blimp-like aircraft to be used for heavy hauling in remote areas. The JHL-40 will have the shape of a blimp and be filled with helium and be powered by four rotors beneath it. It is being designed to haul steel, huge trucks or other heavy equipment in remote places like the Canadian Arctic that lack roads or where roads are hard to use through much of the year. SkyHook President Pete Jess said: "It's a blimp on steroids because it's got more than 20,000 horsepower on it." The companies didn't disclose the cost of developing the aircraft.
LONGUEUIL: PHARMACY CHAIN RECORDS LOSS
Canadian pharmacy chain Jean Coutu Group has reported a loss of $20.2 million, or eight cents a share, for the quarter ending on May 31. That compares with a loss of $6.4 million, for two cents a share, a year earlier. The loss was due in part to a loss of $53.4 million for its 32-per cent stake in Rite Aid, the third-biggest American pharmacy chain. François Coutu told shareholders that the integration by Rite Aid of 1,850 Brooks and Eckerd stores is a huge and painful task, but which is being accomplished on schedule. Rite Aid shares traded in the U.S. have lost $800 million in value in the past year. The Canadian firm also reports having been adversely affected by a 16 per cent drop in government pricing for generic drugs.
MONTREAL: VIDEO GAME FIRM INVESTS FURTHER IN QUEBEC
The world's biggest maker of video games, Ubisoft of France, has acquired Montreal-based Hybride Technologies, a cinematic company that does much of its business with Hollywood. Terms of the transaction haven't been revealed but Ubisoft says it expects it to generate $10 million to $11 million in sales a year. Hybride says the transaction shows how the cinematic and video game spheres are moving closer together.
MONTREAL: REGULATOR MAY APPEAL NORBOURG RULING
Quebec's securities regulator says it may appeal a decision by Quebec Superior Court on Tuesday to reduce the 12-year sentence given to former Norbourg President Vincent Lacroix by 42 months. The court found that some of the charges in connection with a huge fraud committed by the defunct investment house did not entail consecutive sentences. L'Autorité des marchés financiers says it had pleaded for the original sentenced meted out and will evaluate the possibility of an appeal. More than 9,000 Norbourg investors were cheated out of $115 million. The RCMP concluded an investigation last month by laying more than 900 criminal charges against Lacroix and five others, including 200 against him alone.
MARKETS
TSX on Wednesday: 13,819, up 97. Canadian dollar: US98.13 cents, down 0.02 of a cent. Euro: C$1.5954, down 0.68 of a cent. Light, sweet crude: US$136.04, down $5.33.
SOCCER
The Canadian women's soccer team hosts Brazil in a friendly match at BMO Field in Toronto on Thursday in their first home game in almost two years and their final match before they head to Beijing to make their Olympic debut.
The game is also the first meeting between these teams since the
Brazilians clobbered Canada 7-0 at last summer's Pan American Games.
Weather
British Columbia on Wednesday: rain north, sun south, high 24 Celsius Vancouver. Yukon, Nunavut: rain. Northwest Territories: sun. Whitehorse 12, Yellowknife 21, Iqaluit 9. Alberta, Saskatchewan: rain. Manitoba: cloud. Edmonton 19, Regina, Winnipeg 23. Ontario, Ottawa, Montreal 26. Maritimes: rain. Newfoundland and Labrador: sun. Fredericton 31, Halifax 28, Charlottetown 29, St. John's 26.
