Harper government reverses position to avoid non-confidence vote.
Canadians returning from Mumbai.
Canadians among tourists trapped in Thailand.
OTTAWA: HARPER GOVERNMENT REVERSES POSITION TO AVOID NON-CONFIDENCE VOTE
Facing threats from opposition parties and widespread media criticism, the Conservative Party of Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Saturday abandoned a plan to end government subsidies for political parties. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced the plan in his fiscal update on Thursday. Opposition parties said that they need the subsidies to conduct their operations. They threatened to vote against the plan next week, a move that would lead either to an election or to a coalition government of opposition parties. Kory Teneycke, Mr. Harper's communications director, said that the subsidy issue is not worth holding an election or risking a constitutional crisis. The Conservative Party won a minority government in a federal election in October. But the Conservative Party remains threatened. Parliamentarians of the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party might still go ahead and form a coalition if the government fails to propose a major economic stimulus package.
TORONTO: CANADIANS RETURNING FROM MUMBAI
About half of the 17 Canadians who survived the assaults this week in Mumbai are either leaving India or have already left. Four others have continued on their travels, while two are staying on work permits. Two Canadians were killed in the attacks, an elderly doctor, Michael Moss, and a still-unidentified victim. Two others were injured. Toronto yoga instructor Helen Connolly, was released from hospital but Montreal actor Michael Rudder remains in hospital in stable condition, recovering from three gunshot wounds. Canada's consul general in Mumbai, Gary Luton, narrowly escaped violence after he fled to what he thought was safety inside the Taj Mahal Hotel, one of two luxury hotels in which militants took hostages. But he changed direction when he heard gunshots inside the hotel. In all, left 195 people were killed, including 17 foreigners.
BANGKOK: CANADIANS AMONG TOURISTS TRAPPED IN THAILAND
At least 34 anti-government protesters were injured in a grenade attack at Thailand's prime minister's office in Bangkok. Eleven other people were injured. Protesters have occupied a stage in front of Government House for several months. There have been a string of explosions at the site. Meanwhile, a mass protest continued at the city's international airport. Riot police fled their checkpoint near the airport after coming under attack by anti-government protesters. Members of the People's Alliance for Democracy threw firecrackers and iron rods. All flights in or out of Bankok have been cancelled. It's estimated that about two thousand Canadians are among thousands of foreign tourists who've been unable to leave Thailand. Among them are 82 Canadian senior citizens who were on the last day of a 30-day Asian tour when the protest at the airport began. The Canadian seniors were visited by Canada's ambassador after they sent a message to a member of Canada's parliament requesting help.
QUEBEC CITY: OPPOSITION LEADER MAKES ACCUSATIONS
Faring badly in electoral polls, the leader of the opposition Action democratique du Quebec, Mario Dumont, strongly criticized Premier Jean Charest on Saturday for allegedly undisclosed losses at Quebec's pension fund manager. At a morning news conference in Quebec City, Mr. Dumont said that the provincial election next month was called to hide the losses. Mr. Charest's Liberal Party holds a commanding lead in opinion polls. Campaigning in Quebec City, he repeated that at a time of financial difficulty, he needs a strong mandate from voters. The leader of the opposition Parti Quebecois, Pauline Marois, campaigned in the Saguenay-Lac-St. Jean region. Her party is in second place in opinion polls.
INDIA
Commandos killed the last three gunmen inside the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai on Saturday, ending a deadly rampage across the city that began on Wednesday in which 195 people were killed. Other targets included the Oberoi hotel, restaurants, hospitals, and a Jewish centre. Hundreds of people, many of them Westerners, were trapped or taken hostage. Twenty-two of those killed were foreigners---three Germans, three Israelis, one American, one Australian, a Briton, two Canadians, an Italian, a Japanese, a Singaporean, a Mauritian, a Thai and a Chinese national. Five were unidentified. In all, nine militants were killed and one survived. An unidentified defence ministry official said that the captured militant told interrogators that he wanted to go down in history as India's version of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Public anger over the attacks has mounted. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has hinted that elements from Pakistan might have been involved. Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari, says that he would take swift action if evidence surfaces of any individual or group from Pakistan who took part in the attacks.
NIGERIA
The United Nations says that armed clashes broke out again on Saturday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Pro-government militia and fighters loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda fought in the Masisi region, 50 kilometres west of the Nord-Kivu provincial capital of Goma. The militia was forced to retreat from Masisi's centre under rebel pressure. But General Nkunda claimed that he knew of no fighting when he met with U.N. special envoy Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday afternoon. General Nkunda threatened war unless Congo's government enters a new round of talks.
EGYPT
The oil cartel, OPEC, ended a meeting in Cairo on Saturday without making any changes to its oil production. OPEC president Chakib Khelil says that members will decided whether to cut supplies further at a meeting in Algeria next month. OPEC met to assess whether members would comply with a cut of 1.5 million barrels a day announced last month.
MEXICO
At least 12 masked gunmen opened fire inside a restaurant in northern Mexico on Friday evening, killing eight people. The shooting occurred in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. The gunmen arrived in three cars, approached a group of people and opened fire. Earlier this week, police found the bodies of seven men who were killed in an upscale neighbourhood of Ciudad Juarez. Hundreds of killings have occurred in the city related to drug trafficking.
CUBA
Cuba held a ceremony on Saturday for its first religious beatification. President Raul Castro attended the ceremony, another sign of warming government relations with the Roman Catholic Church. A mass was conducted for Father Jose Olallo, the first Cuban to be beatified. Several thousand people filled a plaza in Camaguey, around 500 kilometres from Havana. Father Olallo worked with cholera sufferers before he died in 1889. Cuba's Communist government expelled priests in 1959 and Catholics faced decades of official atheism. Ties improved after Cuba guaranteed religious freedom in 1992. Pope John Paul II visited six years later.
IRAQ
The fortified Green Zone in Baghdad was attacked by rocket fire on Saturday. Two foreigners were killed and 15 injured when a rocket landed near the United Nations compound. The victims worked for a catering company contracted by the U.N. mission. The U.N. largely reduced its presence in Iraq after its headquarters was bombed in 2003.
COLOMBIA
Tens of thousands of people rallied in Colombia's main cities to demand the release of hostages held by FARC rebels. The demonstrations coincided with similar protests held in other cities around the world. Ingrid Betancourt, the French-Colombian politician who was freed from captivity earlier this year, arrived back in Colombia from France on Saturday for the first time since her release. She will stay in Colombia for a short time before embarking on a tour of Latin America. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia rebels continue to hold some 700 hostages.
ISRAEL
Palestinian militants in Gaza shelled a military base in southern Israel on Saturday, wounding six soldiers, one of them critically. A small group called the Popular Resistance Committee claimed responsibility. The attack was in revenge for the death of some of its members. The group is an ally of the Islamic Hamas movement that rules the Gaza strip. Clashes have threatened to shatter a truce between Israel and Hamas.
BOBSLED
Canadians Helen Upperton and Jenny Ciochetti won the gold medal in the women's pairs race in the World Cup season opener in Winterberg, Germany, on Saturday. Two-time Olympic medallist Sandra Kiriasis of Germany finished second while Cathleen Martini and Janine Tischer in the Germany 2 sled were third. Canadians Kaillie Humphries and Shelley-Ann Brown finished sixth in the Canada 2 sled. In the men's pairs race, Canadians Pierre Lueders and David Bissett were fifth. Beat Hefti and Thomas Lamparter of Switzerland won the gold.
SKIING
Italian Peter Fill won the opening World Cup downhill race of the season on Saturday at Lake Louise, Alberta. Second was Switzerland's Carlo Janka. Austria's George Streitberger was third. Canadian Erik Guay was tenth.
HOCKEY
The Edmonton Oilers beat the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, 4-2. The Washington Capitals defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 3-0, on Friday. Brian Burke took over as president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. He has a six-year deal worth a reported CDN$3 million annually.
BASKETBALL
The Toronto Raptors beat the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, 93-88. Toronto's Chris Bosh scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
Weather
Here is Canada's weather on Sunday. British Columbia will have light rain. The high temperature in Vancouver will be 11 degrees Celsius. The Yukon: sunny periods. Whitehorse, minus six. Northwest Territories: overcast. Yellowknife, minus six. Nunavut: light snow. Iqaluit, minus five. Alberta: mainly cloudy. Edmonton, six. Saskatchewan: overcast. Regina, minus one. Manitoba: mainly cloudy. Winnipeg, minus 11. Ontario: increasing cloudiness. Toronto, four. Ottawa, two. Quebec: increasing cloudiness. Montreal, four. New Brunswick: sunny. Fredericton, one. Nova Scotia: sunny. Halifax, three. Prince Edward Island: sunny. Charlottetown, one. Newfoundland: sunny. St. John's, five.
