Swine flu vaccine distribution is criticized.
Demand for Olympics tickets crashes website.
Police arrest Rwandan war crimes suspect.
MONTREAL: SWINE FLU VACCINE DISTRIBUTION IS CRITICIZED
Canada's government laid out strict rules for distributing the H1N1 swine flu vaccine across the country this Fall, but the distribution system is coming under criticism. Quebec's health minister, Yves Bolduc, expressed his disapproval on Saturday at news that the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal had vaccinated its top 200 donors who were not on the priority list. Mr. Bolduc said that no special privileges should be given. In Ontario, board members at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital received the H1N1 shot last week. The University Health Network is offering the vaccine to its board and executives, along with nurses, doctors, volunteers and other hospital workers. Earlier this week, the vaccine manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, came under criticism for immunizing its employees and their families. Canada's premiers and territorial leaders say the distribution of the vaccine could have been better handled. There have been long lines at clinics because of a vaccine shortage and confusion over who should get the shot first. Flu outbreaks are particularly severe in the western provinces, the territories and the east coast province of Newfoundland.
VANCOUVER: DEMAND FOR OLYMPICS TICKETS CRASHES WEBSITE
The demand for tickets for the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver was apparently so strong on Saturday that the ticket website crashed because of technical difficulties. Tickets went on sale at 10 a.m. Pacific time, but the website said only that the link was broken. The Olympic ticket telephone number was a busy signal. More than 100,000 tickets for events in Vancouver were scheduled to go on sale. The date for ticket sales was postponed until November 14. Tickets for events in Whistler, near Vancouver, were not put up for sale on the web out of concern that local transportation would be inadequate to handle large numbers of visitors to the site. In all, 1.6 million tickets are being sold. Games organizers say that 70 per cent of the tickets will be sold to the general public.
OTTAWA: POLICE ARREST RWANDAN WAR CRIMES SUSPECT
Canadian police have arrested a Rwandan immigrant in connection with war crimes committed during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Jacques Mungwarere had been living in Windsor Ontario. He appeared in a court in Ottawa on Saturday. His case was remanded until November 12. The RCMP's war crimes section began investigating him over six years ago following a complaint from a citizen. He is the second person to be charged under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act. The war crimes unit says people who commit heinous crimes are not welcome to Canada.
TEHRAN: DETAINED CANADIAN IS RELEASED
A Canadian and two Germans who were among about 100 people detained at a mass rally in Tehran this week have been released. Police detained them after violence erupted at a rally to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy. The violence was blamed on supporters of Iran's opposition leader, Mirhossein Mousavi. Mr. Mousavi and another opposition leader, Mehdi Karoubi, had urged supporters to protest against the government despite warnings about illegal gatherings. In all, about 40 people have been released, including an Iranian journalist. The others remain in jail, including a Danish student.
OTTAWA: GOVERNMENT ORDERS INQUIRY INTO SALMON RUN
Canada's government has named a British Columbia Supreme Court judge to lead an inquiry into the collapse of the West Coast sockeye salmon fishery. Justice Bruce Cohen will investigate why only ten per cent of the sockeye salmon returned to the Fraser River to spawn this year. Judge Cohen is expected to produce an interim report by next August.
MERIDA: CANADA TO CONSERVE WILDERNESS
North America will try to do more to preserve its wilderness. Canada's Environment Minister, Jim Prentice, along with the United States and Mexico, have signed a memorandum of understanding to defend uninhabited spaces. No details were reported. The agreement is the first such international accord in the area of wilderness protection. Mr. Prentice is attending a conference in Merida, Mexico, where the agreement was signed.
OTTAWA: GOVERNMENT PROBES RESTAURANT TAX CHEATS
The Canada Revenue Agency says that the country's restaurants hid millions of dollars in receipts over the past two years. The Agency will have a specific amount once its two-year probe ends in March. The probe investigated cases where restaurants' electronic cash registers contained illegal software to delete sales from official accounting records. Once the pilot probe is complete, the agency will launch the enforcement phase. The Quebec government estimates that cheats in that province cost its treasury CDN$425 million in 2007-2008.
VANOUVER: ROYAL COUPLE VISITS OLYMPIC SITE
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla arrived in Vancouver on Saturday to tour the city's Olympic village site, as well as a botanical garden and health-care facilities. The Prince was also scheduled to take part in a seminar on urban environments. The royal couple is on an 11-day tour of Canada.
SCOTLAND
Canada's finance minister, Jim Flaherty, and his colleagues in the Group of 20 promised on Saturday to continue giving emergency support until their economies has stabilized. But they stressed that the recovery remains uneven and dependent on policy support. They also expressed concern over high unemployment rates. On Friday, the United States reported an unemployment rate of just over ten per cent, a figure not seen for 26 years. Meeting in St. Andrews, Scotland, the finance ministers also committed their governments to act to stop climate change. The G20 is considering giving help to poorer nations to develop industries that would ensure the health of the environment. There is growing concern that the world's nations will be unable to agree on a successor to the Kyoto climate treaty when the United Nations holds a major climate conference in Copenhagen next month. The G20 is comprised of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United States and the rotating EU presidency.
EGYPT
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on Saturday used an Arab League forum to brush aside criticism of his country's treatment of Muslims. Speaking in Cairo at the Arab League headquarters, Mr. Wen said that there is no discrimination against Chinese Muslims, including Uighurs. The Chinese premier spoke on the eve of a summit with African leaders in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Mr. Wen was accompanied by a high-level delegation of officials and businessmen. He met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif earlier on Saturday before overseeing the signing of a number of economic and cultural agreements. China's treatment of local Muslims was widely criticized earlier this year after violence erupted in the Xinjiang region pitting mainly Muslim minority Uighurs against members of China's dominant Han group. According to the government, the violence left 197 dead and more than 1,600 injured.
SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia will permit all pilgrims to enter the country for the annual hajj despite concerns about the spread of the H1N1 swine flu virus. But the health minister is urging countries to take precautions. About 3 million people arrive in Saudi Arabia from 160 countries annually. The hajj begins this year on November 25, even as the flu season begins in the Northern Hemisphere. The H1N1 flu has killed 66 people in Saudi Arabia. At an international conference in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, it was recommended that the elderly, pregnant women, and people with chronic diseases and children avoid the hajj this year. The hajj is required of all able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime.
UNITED STATES
The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Saturday to approve a rule setting the terms of the debate for President Barrack Obama's sweeping health care reform bill. The procedural vote was seen as a critical test of support for legislation to overhaul the country's healthcare system. The president's Democratic Party has a majority in the House, virtually ensuring that the initial vote would pass. Republican Party members voted against the proposal. A vote on the legislation was expected later on Saturday.
AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan's Defence Ministry said on Saturday that a NATO air strike in the western province of Badghis mistakenly hit a base housing coalition troops and Afghan security forces, killing four Afghan soldiers and three policemen. A ministry official says the air strike occurred on Friday in the Bala Marghab district. Twenty-five international and Afghan forces were wounded.
NATO is investigating.
LEBANON
Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri will announce a new national unity government in the next two days. The move comes after Mr. Hariri managed to reach a deal with the opposition on the new goverment's makeup. Lebanon has been without a functioning government since Mr. Hariri led his coalition to victory in a parliamentary election in June against Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah and its allies.
HOCKEY
The Canadian women's hockey team won the Four Nations Cup tournament in Tikkurila, Finland, on Saturday, with a 5-1 win over the United States. Meghan Agosta, Cherie Piper, Jayna Hefford, Carla MacLeod and Tessa Bonhomme scored for Canada. Canada snapped a four-game losing streak to the U.S. in international tournament finals. Sweden edged Finland 2-1 for third place.
SPEED SKATING
Canadian long-track speedskater Christine Nesbitt won the gold medal in the one thousand metre event on Saturday at the season-opening World Cup event in Berlin. Nao Kodaira of Japan was second and Marianne Timmer of the Netherlands was third. At a short-track speedskating World Cup event in Montreal on Saturday, Canadian Charles Hamelin took the gold medal in the
1,500 metres. For the second time at the meet, Canadian Olivier Jean was disqualified for impeding another skater. In the semi-finals of the 1,500 metres, Jean tangled with American Jeff Simon. On Friday, Jean was disqualified in the 1,000 metres for blocking a German skater.
FOOTBALL
The Montreal Alouettes beat the Toronto Argonauts on Saturday, 42-17, in the final game of the regular season for both teams.
FIGURE SKATING
Canada's Mylene Brodeur and John Mattatall finished in fifth place in pairs at the NHK Trophy Grand Prix figure skating event on Saturday in Nagano, Japan. China's Pang Qing and Tong Jian won the pairs followed by Russians Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov. Americans Rena Inoue and John Baldwin were third. In women's singles, Canadian Cynthia Phaneuf finished sixth. Phaneuf landed five triple jumps, earning the second highest technical marks for her long program.
Weather
Here is Canada's weather on Sunday. British Columbia will be overcast. The high temperature in Vancouver will be ten degrees Celsius. The Yukon: variable cloudiness. Whitehorse, minus three. Northwest Territories: snow flurries. Yellowknife, minus nine. Nunavut: overcast. Iqaluit, minus four. Alberta: mainly sunny. Edmonton, seven. Saskatchewan: sunny. Regina, nine. Manitoba: sunny. Winnipeg, 11. Ontario: sunny. Toronto, 15. Ottawa, 13. Quebec: sunny. Montreal, 11. New Brunswick: showers. Fredericton, 12. Nova Scotia: showers. Halifax, nine. Prince Edward Island: showers. Charlottetown, eight. Newfoundland: showers. St. John's, four.
