Top U.S. general warns against excessive optimism in Afghanistan
Canadian job losses to continue
KANDAHAR: 121ST CANADIAN DIES
A Canadian soldiers has died and five others were hurt when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Zhari district west of Kandahar city. The dead soldier was 30-year-old Cpl. Nicholas Bulger of the Edmonton-based 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. The vehicle was travelling behind another in which the senior Canadian commander in Afghanistan, Brig.-Gen. Jonathan Vance, was riding. The general was unhurt. Cpl. Bulger is the third Canadian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan in less than a month. One-hundred-and-twenty-one soldiers have died since Canada's mission there began in 2002.
CALGARY: U.S. COMMANDER WARNS NOT TO UNDERESTIMATE TALIBAN
U.S. Gen. David Petraeus has advised against premature optimism regarding the military situation in Afghanistan as 4,000 U.S. Marines mount an offensive against insurgents in southern Helmand province. Gen. Petraeus warns that the Taliban are an enemy who is tough and resilient, if barbaric, and shouldn't be underestimated. The general is now in charge of the U.S. Central Command. He was the commander in Iraq last year when the "surge" of American reinforcements is credited with reducing the level of violence there considerably. Gen. Petraeus is visiting Canadian chief-of-staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk in Calgary, AB. He's now supervising a new surge of reinforcements for Afghanistan. He told the Canadian Press that the next wave of new troops will be sent to Kandahar, where Canada's 2,700 troops are deployed.
MEMRAMCOOK: 1ST ACADIAN GOV.-GEN. LAID TO REST
A state funeral was held in the Canadian province of New Brunswick for former Gov.-Gen. Roméo LeBlanc. He died last week at the age of 81. Dignitaries in attendence included Gov-Gen. Michaelle Jean, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Liberal Party opposition leader Michael Ignatieff, and former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Mr. LeBlanc was the first Acadian to become governor general, the Queen's representative in Canada.
OTTAWA: JOBS LOSSES TO CONTINUE
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says he now expects the country's economic recovery to be modest and that job losses will continue into 2010. Mr. Flaherty met in Chile on Friday with finance ministers from other North and South American nations. He says the ministers are worried about the toll that the global recession is taking on workers and feel that while economies may be stabilizing, labour markets are not. Economists are predicting that another 30,000 Canadian jobs will have been lost in June. Canada has lost 363,000 jobs since the country entered into recession in October.
OTTAWA: JAPANESE EMPEROR ARRIVES
Japan's emperor, Akihito, arrived in Canada's capital, Ottawa, on Friday for his first visit in 56 years. On his previous visit in 1953, Akihito was 19 years old and still Crown Prince. He's accompanied on his latest trip by his wife. During their 11-day visit, they'll also stop in Toronto, Victoria and Vancouver, where they hope to reach out to Japanese-Canadians.
MONTREAL: PROVINCE SUFFERS MORE FLU DEATHS
The Canadian province of Quebec is reporting its 13th death related to the H1N1 virus. The victim is a woman in her 60s who suffered from other medical problems. Her death raises the total for Canada to 31. The World Health Organization says there are about 77,000 H1N1 cases worldwide, including 332 deaths.
NICOSIA: ARRESTS MADE AFTER CANADIAN'S DEATH
Two Polish men have been arrested in Cyprus in connection with the murder of a Canadian man. The victim, Sergy Nalyvaisky, was found at the foot of a 100-metre cliff. He'd been strangled and had multiple head injuries. The two suspects were arrested after police obtained evidence that they were seen arguing with the Canadian shortly before he was found dead.
DAWSON CREEK: BOMB CAUSED GAS LEAK
Federal police says that a leak at a gas well discovered in northern British Columbia on Wednesday was caused by a bomb. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police says that the blast is the fifth in a series of such attacks against facilities of the EnCana natural gas firm. The earlier explosions occurred in October and January. Police say the site of the blast is three kilometres away from the nearest home and doesn't pose a threat to the public. In October, a letter was written to local news media and to EnCana denouncing energy firms as "terrorists" and demanding that EnCana stop its operations in northeastern B.C.
PAKISTAN
More deaths are reported in Pakistan as a result of missiles fired from a U.S. military drone aircraft. Pakistan's government says that ten militants were killed at their hideouts in South Waziristan near the border with Afghanistan. Pakistan officially objects to U.S. drone attacks on Pakistan's territory. Directly across the border, U.S. forces began a major offensive on Thursday against Taliban militants in Afghanistan's Helmand province.
BRITAIN
Britain is concerned that North Korea will carry out another nuclear test. The statement was made by Peter Hughes, the British ambassador to North Korea. He says the North feels threatened by other countries following the criticism of its underground nuclear test in May and the recent test-firings of missiles. The international community was angry over the nuclear and missile tests. And last month, the United Nations Security Council approved wider sanctions against North Korea over the nuclear test. It included banning all weapons exports from North Korea and most arms imports into that country.
BURMA
The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will not be able to meet with Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. He was told that by Burmese officials. Mr. Ban is currently in Burma holding talks with government officials and seeking Miss Suu Kyi's release from jail. She's been held there during her trial for violating house arrest rules. She has spent 13 of the last 19 years in detention since the military régime refused to recognize the 1990 election victory by her National League for Democracy Party. Canada and other western nations have imposed sanctions against Burma for its poor rights record and its treatment of Miss Suu Kyi.
LIBYA
The African Union has decided not to co-operate with a war crimes warrant against Sudan President Omar al-Beshir and again appealed to the United Nations to delay the case. The final statement by the African Union heads of state summit says AU members "shall not co-operate ... in the arrest and transfer of the President of Sudan to the [International Criminal Court]." Mr. Bashir has been indicted for crimes against humanity in Darfur by The Hague-based ICC. The AU also has reached a new co-operation agreement at its summit in Libya. The new AU regional Authority will be responsible for co-ordinating defence, foreign relations and trade policies. But a proposal by the summit's host, Moammar Khaddafi, to grant the new Authority power to form policy was rejected. Countries with strong economies like South Africa, Nigeria and Angola insist that the integration of Africa's national economies must only be undertaken gradually.
TORONTO: NEWSPAPER WALKOUT AVERTED
A strike has been averted at one of Canada's major newspapers, The Globe and Mail. A tentative contract agreement has been reached between management and union negotiators representing 480 editorial, advertising and circulation workers. The accord was concluded just ahead of a deadline set for Friday. Details on the agreement will not be released until after it's put to ratification vote on Monday.
VANCOUVER: MINER GETS CHINESE INJECTION OF FUNDS
A Chinese firm has acquired a stake in Canadian miner Teck Resources Ltd. China Investment Corp. will pay $1.74 billion to acquire 101.3 million Teck shares. The transaction will close on July 14, provided regulatory approval is given. The news caused the Teck stock to jump upwards by 13 per cent to $2.36 in trading in midday trading in Toronto. Teck has been cutting costs and selling assets to help pay the cost of its $14-billion purchase of Fording Canadian Coal Trust last year. After the acquisition was agreed in July, prices for most commodities plummeted followed in October by the onset of a severe recession.
HOCKEY
The Vancouver Canucks have entered the free agent market. They've signed winger Mikael Samuelsson away from the Detroit Red Wings. Samuelsson spent the past four seasons in Motown and won a Stanley Cup there in 2008. He's the third forward to leave the Red Wings this spring, following Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky.
Weather
British Columbia on Saturday: sun, high 24 Celsius Vancouver. Yukon, Nunavut: sun. Northwest Territories: mix sun cloud rain. Whitehorse 23, Yellowknife 18, Iqaluit 14. Alberta: rain south, cloud north. Saskatchewan: rain north, sun south. Manitoba: rain. Edmonton 23, Regina 22, Winnipeg 24. Ontario: sunny. Quebec: rain. Toronto 22, Ottawa 18, Montreal 20. Atlantic Canada: rain. Fredericton, Charlottetown 20, Halifax 19, St. John's 22.
