The lunar eclipse seen from BramptonTues, Dec. 21, 2010. 3:37am Severe winter weather causes airport mayhem......Heathrow's Terminal 3 is now planning to turn away passengers trying to enter the airport. People were only being let into the airport unless their flight was actually scheduled to take off. Hundreds of travelers were sleeping in the terminal. The travel delays have disrupted travel all over Europe as people are trying to get home for Christmas holidays. Rail stations have seen delays because those suffering from canceled trains have been backed up so they can get home in the order the trains were canceled. This is not the first time this year major travel disruptions have occurred due to the weather. Some were snow-related, while the most prominent European travel disruption occurred due to a volcano.

Video images released on Dec. 7, 2010 show the arrest of Adam Nobody during a G20 summit demonstration on June 26, 2010.

 

The violent arrest of a G20 protester that was caught on video and caused controversy when no officers were initially held responsible has resulted in a criminal charge.Toronto police Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani was charged Tuesday with assault with a weapon in the takedown of Adam Nobody at the Ontario legislature during the June summit.A video of the arrest, filmed by a videographer and viewed by tens of thousands of people since it was posted on YouTube, shows people running from a line of police in riot gear and at least five officers chasing Nobody.He is swarmed and at least one officer can be seen making a punching motion. Nobody was treated in hospital for a fracture below his right eye.The SIU originally concluded there appeared to be an excessive use of force, but that it was impossible to tell the identify of the officer from the video.Two officers were designated as subject officers during the investigation, but they would not agree to be interviewed, which they have the right to refuse.The SUI reopened its investigation after Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair suggested in a radio interview that the police were arresting a violent armed offender, and that a segment depicting the use of a weapon had been removed from the tape.Blair apologized a few days later, saying there was no evidence there was any "intent to mislead" with the video.Videographer John Bridge came forward to the SIU and told them he had turned his camera off for a few seconds because he thought he might have to retreat from advancing police.During its new investigation the SIU received two more videos of Nobody's arrest and the Toronto police gave the agency names of 15 officers who might have been in the vicinity or involved in the arrest.The SIU singled out three of those officers, but they refused to give statements. None of the 12 other officers said they could identify the officers in the video.Toronto police then gave the SIU the name of one more witness police officer, who then identified one of the three officers as Const. Andalib-Goortani. Andalib-Goortani is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 24 to face the assault with a weapon charge. More than 1,000 people were arrested during the summit. Of that group about 300 were charged and five months later, few are still facing those charges..

On the evening of Nov. 22nd. on the famous Champs Elysees Avenue in Paris, Christmas lights were lit as scheduled. Flashing LED lights are hung on the trees, creating a "snowflake" effect

Largest bikini parade sets world record South Africa saw 605 enthusiastic participants braving the rain and walking around the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium - setting the new Guinness World Record for the largest bikini parade

 Clyde is located  in an area known as The Dunstan where in 2012 we will be celebrating our sesquicentennial founding of the Dunstan Times. Join us for the action! Group travel rates available. Here is an excerpt from the Otago Witness, Issue 2669, 10 May 1905...  Replying to Mr Hutchison on the question of the New Zealand rugby team, Mr. George Cox Fache (one of the selectors) said there had been no official statement that more than 21 men had been selected. There was no desire on the part of the committee to hide anything from the unions. Replying to the remarks on rough play, Mr. Fache said that, in conjunction with the New South Wales and Queensland Unions, the New Zealand Union had submitted a recommendation to the English Union that powers be given to touch-line judges appointed by the referees to report rough or foul play that comes under their notice.

 Burmese government troops clash with protesters Monday after the country's first general election in 20 years. Groups from Burma's ethnic minorities, who make up about 40 per cent of the population, had warned in recent days that civil war could erupt if the military tries to impose its highly centralized constitution and deprive them of rights. The UN was helping to care for the refugees being sheltered at a makeshift camp near the border. "As soon as the situation is under control, we will start sending the refugees back to Myawaddy," said Thai army Col. Wannatip Wongwahe. Early election results suggested that parties linked to the military regime, which has ruled Burma for 48 years, were winning their races. As votes continue to be counted, state media and the Election Commission reported that 40 junta-backed candidates had already won. The vote, boycotted by the main opposition National League for Democracy, has been condemned by a number of Western leaders. U.S. President Barack Obama, who is on a visit to neighbouring India, called the vote "neither free nor fair."  Speaking to India's parliament Monday, Obama said it was unacceptable for Burma's government to "steal an election" and hold its people's aspirations hostage to the regime's greed and paranoia.

A woman who was on an Air Canada flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver on which a young Asian man boarded disguised as an older Caucasian man before removing his silicone mask mid-flight says she tried to warn flight attendants about the disguise before takeoff, but her warnings were ignored.  She told reporters that she approached three flight attendants before the flight left but they did nothing.  “I thought he was going to harm the plane,” said Kurtur-Balas, 35. “I kept my iPhone in my pocket to call my family if something happened.”  On the plane, the man was seated about 10 rows behind her in a middle seat near the restroomOn Oct. 29, the young Chinese national boarded the Air Canada flight using the boarding pass of a U.S. citizen and wearing a mask that made him look older and Caucasion, according to an internal Canada Border Services Agency alert that was leaked to CNN last week. 

TORONTO — A retired Toronto public school principal accused of stealing from student funds has been sent home from the private school where he now works.  Brampton resident Terry Baytor, 58, was the principal at Martingrove Collegiate Institute between 2002 and 2009. He is alleged to have set up an account for students funds, on which he had signing authority. It is alleged that he stole over $88,000 from the account between 2005 and 2009. The funds stolen were raised by students. Baytor is accused of making only partial deposits into the account and paying himself from it. On Monday, police charged Terry Baytor, 58, with theft over $5,000 and fraud over $5,000. Cops allege that while Baytor was principal at Martingrove Collegiate, he bilked more than $88,000 from a student fund that he had signing authority over, paying himself out of the account and skimming money off deposits between January 2005 and his retirement in December 2009. Baytor had since moved on to be the principal of the newly founded Everest Academy, a private athletic school in nearby Thornhill. Academy president and founder Farell Duclair posted a letter on the school's website Tuesday announcing Baytor would "remain closer to home" until the charges against him are "resolved or clarified." "It is with great sadness that we learn of the allegations against Terry," Duclair, a former CFL great, said in a letter to the school community. "In our search for a principal, Terry was highly recommended by a number of senior educators within the province. His background check, his letters of recommendation, and his resume all pointed to a long and illustrious career that culminated into a nomination for the highest honour in education – the 2008 Premier’s Award for Teaching Excellence and Leadership."

 

As Quang Hoang Tran sat handcuffed to a chair in an interrogation room, Const. Will Vander Wier sucker-punched him, breaking his jaw in two places. The provincial Special Investigations Unit (SIU) cleared the Peel Region police officer and Tran was subsequently convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery. But the seven-year-old case was turned on its head last spring when the Court of Appeal for Ontario threw out Tran’s conviction because, in the words of Justice Gloria Epstein, the Peel officers “beat him up” and “attempted to cover up their shocking conduct by destroying evidence, lying to fellow officers and perjuring themselves before the court.” The court’s ruling in June outlined a flawed justice system in the Tran case — from the SIU to the prosecutor’s office — that allowed Const. Vander Wier to go unpunished. The ruling prompted the SIU to reopen the case. Vander Wier was later charged with assault. His case is before the courts. Today’s story is one of an ongoing series probing police conduct in Ontario. A Star investigation of two decades of SIU cases has found police officers are treated far differently than civilians when accused of beating, shooting, running over and killing people. Monday, the toronto Star ran a story of an innocent accountant whose arm was broken by York Region Police when they wrongly accused him of stealing a car. The SIU did not lay charges. In the Tran case, a man accused of vicious home invasions has now gone free because there was what the appeals court called “police brutality” during the interrogation of the accused. Tran and other alleged gang members were accused of terrorizing two families, including sexually assaulting a woman by placing a gun in her mouth and vagina, carving a dollar sign into a man’s back, and pushing an 8-year-old girl down and telling her to “say goodbye to her parents,” the appeals court ruling states. The home invasions took place in Mississauga in 2002. Some people were arrested and pleaded guilty. They implicated others, including Tran, who surrendered to police on March 27, 2003. Const. Vander Wier and his partner, John Conway, drove to Hamilton, where Tran had surrendered to police in that city. According to testimony by Conway later at Tran’s trial, they had little evidence against Tran other than the allegations in a co-accused’s statement. The following is an account of what happened according to transcripts from Tran’s original trial and the appeal court ruling that overturned his conviction. During the drive from Hamilton to Mississauga, the Peel detectives tried to get a statement from Tran, who invoked his right to silence. One detective told him if he did not speak “it’s going to be the hard way.” At the police station, he was shoved and punched by both detectives, Tran testified at his trial. He said he was dragged along a metal railing and his head was slammed into a door. He said detectives told him he would be made to “feel how the (home invasion) victims felt” if he did not cooperate. According to the appeals court ruling, the detectives put Tran in an interview room that was not equipped with a video camera. Vander Wier punched Tran in the ribs and the jaw. Tran’s jaw bled “profusely.” The detectives gave up on their attempt to get a confession and moved him to an interview room that had a camera, trying to get him to say he hit his chin on the table. “Have you been treated improperly?” Conway asked Tran on the video recording. “Have we been treating you fairly?” Tran stared at the floor and kneaded his fists. “You feeling okay? You said your stomach’s not feeling good? Not too long ago you were on the ground,” Conway said. The version given by Vander Wier and Conway, when questioned later, was that Tran hurt himself by falling to the ground when he was alone in the room. Expert testimony heard at trial supported Tran’s version of events. The expert said Tran’s jaw, broken in two places, was “consistent with a blow to the jaw, not a fall.” Tran’s jaw had to be wired shut and to this day he suffers from migraines. After the assault, the detectives cleaned the blood, which Justice Epstein said was an attempt to “conceal their misconduct.” Tran’s trial lasted four months in 2005, including a lengthy portion devoted to the assault in the interrogation room. The trial judge ruled Tran had been beaten by police. In his 2006 verdict, the trial judge convicted Tran of conspiracy to commit robbery and sentenced him to 14 months in jail. However, he was found not guilty of robbery, the more substantial charge.Tran appealed his conviction. Justice Epstein, after reviewing the case, said the misconduct in the case that started with the police assault continued into Tran’s trial. Despite the trial judge’s ruling that there was “overwhelming” evidence of police beating Tran, Crown attorney Stephen Laufer still asked if Vander Wier could sit with him at the prosecution table to prepare witnesses. The trial judge said no and banished both Vander Wier and his partner to the hallway during the trial. The Crown allowed Vander Wier to prepare witnesses outside the court. At the appeals hearing, Justice Epstein said that was wrong. She described Laufer’s attitude toward Vander Wier’s brutality as “cavalier,” even approving of such abuse. Epstein said the Crown’s conduct was “evocative of an alignment with police.” Laufer declined to comment for this article. Justice Epstein also took issue with the SIU investigation into Tran’s allegations of police brutality. The SIU director at the time, John Sutherland, had decided not to charge Vander Wier or his partner. “There is no evidence of any effective response to the police brutality here,” Epstein stated in her ruling. Sutherland, now a judge with the Ontario Court of Justice, did not return the Star’s calls for comment. Officers Vander Wier and Conway declined through a Peel Regional police representative to comment for this article. The SIU did not do its job, the appeals court judge wrote. Nor did the oversight agency, Epstein continued, provide an earlier court hearing in the Tran case with its reasons for clearing Consts. Vander Wier and Conway, except to say the decision was “confidential” and “justified.” The Star found the SIU did not issue a media release about the incident in 2003, and the public was not informed. The agency does not tell the public about half of the cases it takes on. After the SIU decided not to lay a charge, Tran, 24 at the time, went before a court to persuade a justice of the peace to lay a criminal charge against Const. Vander Wier. The justice of the peace agreed with Tran and issued the charge of assault causing bodily harm against the officer. But Tran did not show up for a court appearance and the Peel Regional prosecutor’s office, which works closely with Peel police officers such as Vander Wier, withdrew the charge. They did not provide any reasons for doing so, said Peter Zaduk, Tran’s lawyer. Epstein’s blunt language caught the attention of current SIU director Ian Scott. In July of this year, he reopened the case and charged Vander Wier with aggravated assault. Conway was not charged. Tran declined, through his lawyer, to comment for this article. Seven years later, he still has trouble chewing without biting his tongue, suffers from chronic jaw pain, loose teeth and migraines. Conway is a detective in Peel Region’s robbery unit. Const. Vander Wier, because of his recent charge, has been temporarily moved off the front lines to the Peel police IT department.

MONTREAL - An alleged Hells Angels boss has been arrested in Quebec and is set to be arraigned on murder and gangsterism charges later today. Quebec provincial police say Normand (Casper) Ouimet was caught in Montreal on Monday afternoon when authorities intercepted the taxi he was travelling in. Police had been looking for Ouimet ever since their SharQC operation targeted the Hells Angels 18 months ago. Ouimet, allegedly one of Quebec's most powerful Hells members, was on the province's top 10 most wanted list. Police say he may also be charged with extortion, fraud and money-laundering.........Twenty-two murder charges have been laid against the former business partner of a construction contractor involved in the controversial renovation of Parliament Hill. The charges were laid in a Montreal courtroom today against alleged Hells Angels boss Normand (Casper) Ouimet. Ouimet had spent almost two years on the lam. He was arrested last night and arraigned in court under very tight security; he was slapped with 29 charges, most of them for murder. Ouimet was involved in a company with Paul Sauve, who won a $9-million renovation contract on Parliament Hill. Sauve has since lost the contract because his company went bankrupt. Sauve, president of a Montreal masonry company, has said the Hells finagled their way into his family business at a time when he needed quick cash to finish a major project. Ouimet was no longer involved with the company by the time Sauve won the Parliament Hill contract in 2008.

and related filth on the Hill.... A Quebec businessman at the heart of a Parliament Hill renovation controversy that's under RCMP investigation says he made thousands of dollars a month handing out leaflets and talking up a construction firm. But the job description Gilles Varin provided Tuesday to a House of Commons committee raised the eyebrows of opposition MPs, who wondered why a Montreal construction boss would pay that kind of money to someone to pass out brochures.

Construction boss Paul Sauve says he hired Varin in 2008 to use his Conservative connections to help get a $9-million contract to renovate Parliament Hill's West Block. Sauve's company, LM Sauve, went bankrupt a year later and lost the contract, which is now under investigation by the RCMP. Sauve says he paid Varin $140,000 for his efforts. Varin claims he was only paid $118,000, albeit with money still owing. Bankruptcy records obtained by The Canadian Press indicate LM Sauve owed Varin's company, Varcan Communications, $14,673 when it went belly up. Varin told the committee Sauve paid him between $5,000 and $10,000 each month, starting in September 2007. The arrangement lasted about two-and-a-half years until Sauve ended it in March 2009, shortly before his company went bankrupt. On Tuesday, Varin revealed himself to be well connected to several Quebec Conservatives, including Hubert Pichet, an assistant to Tory Senator Pierre-Claude Nolin. Pichet has also been a Conservative candidate. That friendship stretches back to the early 1980s, Varin said, even before Pichet worked as an aide to Tory Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Varin said he introduced Sauve to Pichet at a Montreal restaurant he frequents. He recalled going over to Pichet's table and saying, "'Hubert, I have someone I want to introduce you to.'" He said they talked for several minutes. Elections Canada records show Sauve donated $1,000 to Pichet in October 2008, when he was the Conservative candidate in La Pointe-de-l'Ile. Varin said it's possible he passed Sauve's brochure to Pichet, but he can't recall doing so. Varin also said he met former public works minister Michael Fortier at a golf tournament and at a few other events. Fortier was public works minister when Sauve got the West Block contract. The Conservative government has tried to distance itself from Varin, claiming he has never been a member of the current party, or either of the two parties that merged to form it, for at least a decade. Varin claimed he once held a membership in the old Progressive Conservative party, but he said he couldn't remember when it lapsed. Varin told MPs he did not encourage Sauve to throw a January 2009 fundraiser for a Montreal-area Conservative riding association. Sauve claims he organized the event at the behest of Varin and the head of the riding association, Gilles Prud'Homme. Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis was the guest of honour at the fundraiser. He was public works minister at the time. Paradis initially denied discussing any government business at the event. The minister later said he congratulated Sauve on getting the West Block job, and he listened to another construction boss gripe about the federal contracting process. Varin's memory was spotty when it came to running afoul of lobbying laws in the past. He said he doesn't remember precisely why a Quebec judge fined him $6,000 in 1977 for his role in several kickback schemes. Nor did he recall much about approaching several Conservative cabinet ministers in 1993 to help secure a bailout for charter airline Nationair when he wasn't registered as a lobbyist

WEATHER WARNING 

Enjoy the mild temperature and calm conditions while you can Tuesday. An unseasonably intense storm is moving toward Ontario and is expected to bring strong winds, cooler temperatures and possible thunderstorms to the GTA. The system, which hit Chicago Tuesday morning and grounded flights and caused damage, is forecast to hit the GTA Tuesday afternoon, ushering in 50-80 kilometre per hour winds, a cold snap, heavy showers and possible thunderstorms.

Brampton Mayoral Candidate		Votes	%Votes
Susan Fennell*	Elected	42,991	50.7
Bruce Haines		15,299	18.0
Garnett Manning		14,898	17.6

Premier Dalton McGuinty says he's willing to work with Toronto Mayor-elect Rob Ford and listen to his ideas to alter the transit plan approved by the province. McGuinty says he called Ford last night to offer his congratulations, but he won't speculate on how the victory by a small 'c' conservative in Toronto could hurt the Liberals in next year's Ontario election. Ford favours subways over street cars, which were a major component of the current Transit City plan, but McGuinty says he's open to changes if that's what the new city council wants. He says the province's job -- "whether below ground or above ground -- is to find common ground." The premier says if Ford and the Toronto council approach the province with a new take on Transit City, then he has a responsibility to listen. McGuinty wouldn't comment on whether or not he would approve Ford's plan to cut the size of Toronto city council in half, saying he would wait until he gets a formal request from the city.

  TORONTO — A man is facing several charges after allegedly intimidating a 63-year-old man in a seniors' residence into allowing him to sell drugs out of the apartment. Police allege they went to a seniors' home where the resident lived, and saw two women and one man flee the apartment, climbing over a balcony. Police say they found the two women in a neighbouring apartment, and both were taken into custody. The man was located on a sixth-floor balcony, where he attempted to break into the apartment by smashing a window. While trying to escape, police say the man stashed two loaded handguns under the bed of a 72-year-old woman. Shaye Stuart Brown, 30, of Toronto, is facing a slew of charges, including unauthorized possession of a firearm and forcible entry.

Cautious support growing in China for Tibetan autonomy, Dalai Lama says

 The quest to secure genuine autonomy for Tibet depends on winning over hundreds of Chinese intellectuals and academics and even some high-level Chinese government officials and military officers, says the Dalai Lama. The Tibetan spiritual leader, on the verge of a visit to Canada, has said that while Tibet should remain a part of China, genuine autonomy is the only way to preserve its culture, language and environment. Over the past two years, Tibetan leaders have met with hundreds of Chinese scholars who cautiously endorse the Dalai Lama’s pursuit, he said. “I personally met, I think, at least three or four hundred intellectuals, professors of some important universities in China and student . . . and they very much support our way,” he said, adding Tibetan authorities have compiled a list of more than 1,000 articles written by Chinese scholars that are “very critical about the (Chinese) government policy.”  In an hour-long interview in the Himalayan mountain town Dharamsala, the 75-year-old Dalai Lama said intelligence officials in Tibet say they have received reports that Chinese agents are being trained to poison him.  While he said China views him as a “demon,” the Dalai Lama said there is “no possibility of cross-checking” the reports of conspiracy. Security in and around Dharamsala has been increased in recent weeks by Indian police, the Dalai Lama said.

 Final G8/G20 bill not yet in...

THE HIGH COST OF A POLICE STATE

 Damaged cars are seen after Typhoon Megi hit the town of Ilagan, Isabela province, north of Manila on Tuesday     Typhoon Megi struck the Philippine archipelago with ferocious winds of 225 km/h Monday, churning up huge waves and smashing trees and power lines as it moved inland. It weakened over the mountains of the main northern island of Luzon. After it exited into the South China Sea on Tuesday, Megi was almost stationary, packing winds of 175 km/h but was forecast to regain strength before its expected landfall in southern China on Thursday. Chinese authorities evacuated 140,000 people from a coastal province. Isabela province in the northeast Philippines, Megi's entry point, bore the brunt of the Typhoon Megi's destruction. More than 8,000 people rode out the typhoon in sturdy school buildings, town halls, churches and relatives' homes. Roads in and out of the coastal province were deserted and blocked by collapsed trees, power lines and debris. Iron-sheet roofs on many of the houses were blown away. In Tamauini town, Ariel Marzan said he escaped just minutes before his house tumbled amid winds so strong his roof was swept into a nearby rice field 30 metres away."I didn't expect it to be so strong," he said as he surveyed the damage and picked up the strewn pieces of his household. Nearby coconut and banana groves were flattened. President Benigno Aquino III said Tuesday that although the typhoon caused significant damage, the loss of life was minimal and "could have been much greater had we not prepared for the storm."

It was a night full of controversy. The Toronto Maple Leafs had two possible goals disallowed and a penalty called against them in overtime, ending their Cinderella start and opening the door for the New York Islanders' first-ever overtime victory in Toronto.  John Tavares scored at 3:26 into the extra period to give the Islanders a 2-1 win over the Maple Leafs on Monday night at the Air Canada Centre. "I just put my head down and tried to shoot it as hard as I could," said Tavares. "I wasn't even sure it went in.... It was a great feeling." Matt Moulson also scored for the Islanders. Dwayne Roloson was outstanding, making 29 saves for his second win of the season. The Maple Leafs, who suffered their first loss of the season after four victories, had two goals called back before Phil Kessel scored the game-tying goal on a power play late in the third. Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 18 shots in the loss.

 More than four in 10 Canadians feel the Conservative government’s decision to suspend Parliament until March is an attack on democracy. And they think the rules should be changed so the prime minister can’t exercise such “arbitrary” power in future, according to a Leger Marketing poll carried out Jan. 25 to 27. Asked if they thought proroguing Parliament was a “clever move” to help the government make progress on its economic stimulus policies, only 12% agreed. Leger vice-president Dave Scholz said the results mirror the way Canada thinks of itself internationally

 Washington Post named The Royal Ontario Museum's new addition the 'ugliest' building of the decade. That's how the Washington Post describes the ROM's $250 million crystal, designed by Daniel Libeskind, the worst of the Aughts for surpassing "the ugliness of bland functional buildings by being both ugly and useless." "His aluminum-and-glass-clad crystalline forms grow out of the building's original 1914 structure, and from the street it's dramatic," Kennicott writes. "But go inside and you need a map to move around its irrational and baffling dead spaces.

A licensed B.C. pot grower was in Toronto yesterday trying to take a bite out of Health Canada's monopoly on medicinal marijuana. Sam Mellace, 56, formerly of Toronto, is allowed to grow 292 plants, which he does in a Racle Valley, B.C. "industrial-style" operation that yields about seven kilos of marijuana every four to six weeks. Mellace is seeking permission to compete with Health Canada to grow and distribute "high grade" pot to users across Canada with doctors' prescriptions. "I have the largest medical marijuana licence in Canada," Mellace said of the 60 grams of pot he's legally entitled to daily. "I am hoping to become Canada's first private-sector provider of medicinal marijuana." Licensed to possess two kilos of pot "anywhere in Canada," his company New Age Medical Solutions Inc., plans to open a chain of stores providing pot-derived remedies, including biscuits, creams and cough medicines. "We are trying to offer the government a proper dispensing method," he said. "We want to give them some competition." He was at York University yesterday to meet with Alan Young, an Osgoode Hall law prof, as part of a plan to grow and sell the drug directly to prescription holders. The Federal Court of Canada recently ruled the government cannot rely solely on the monopoly it created for the distribution of medicinal marijuana, Young said. "At this time we are in discussions with Health Canada," Young said. "I represent sick people who need the drugs because a monopoly doesn't work. By going ahead and seeking authorization from Health Canada we are preventing organized crime and black-market activity," Young said.

Toronto model and actress Talia Russo is raising money with her 2010 calendar. Half the proceeds of sales will go to Canadian Cancer Society. “I have sold 500 and that was without any exposure or press so I’m really excited,” she said.

 U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson and Prime Minister Stephen Harper have a laugh as they each hold a case of beer in front of 24 Sussex Drive, in Ottawa, Friday, March 19, 2010. U.S. President Barack Obama and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a bet over the outcome of the Canada vs. U.S.A. men's gold medal hockey game.  Harper and Obama had each wagered a box of beer on the outcome of the Olympic final, won by Canada in dramatic fashion on Sydney Crosby’s overtime goal. Obama, through Jacobson, tossed in an extra case of Yuengling for Harper, the president’s American brew of choice had he won the friendly wager.

 Saturday’s Lotto 6-49 jackpot is an estimated $41 million and it could be a record-setter for Ontario if it’s won on a single ticket. Anyone planning to buy a lottery ticket ahead of Saturday’s huge Lotto 6-49 jackpot should be prepared for a lineup. The jackpot is an estimated $41 million and it could be a record-setter for Ontario if it’s won on a single ticket. That prize would beat the nearly $40.5 million won on a single Lotto 6-49 ticket on Nov. 1, 2008. The Canadian record for a Lotto 6-49 prize is $54.3 million won in 2005 by 17 people in Camrose, Alta. Earlier this week, a 78-year-old man from Oakville, Ont., became Canada’s newest multimillionaire. Donald MacDonald struck it rich to the tune of $10 million in Friday’s Lotto Max draw and collected his cheque on Tuesday

	Wednesday, Feb 17	Thursday, Feb 18	Friday, Feb 19	Saturday, Feb 20
Forecast	Isolated flurries	Isolated flurries	Cloudy with sunny breaks	Variable cloudiness
High	0 °C	-1 °C	0 °C	0 °C
Low	-4 °C	-3 °C	-5 °C	-7 °C
Probability of Precipitation	40 %	40 %	20 %	10 %

 Geisy Arruda, performs during carnival celebrations at the Sambodrome in Sao Paulo, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010. Arruda, a jovial blonde from a poor family in Sao Paulo, made headlines across the globe last fall when she was expelled for wearing a miniskirt to class. Holding court with the media just before her samba group's parade began, Arruda flaunted her short, red sequined dress, a design inspired by what she was wearing the day she was booted from university.

BRAMPTON, Ont. - A judge has ruled that a man found guilty of terror offences as part of the so-called Toronto 18 was not entrapped. Shareef Abdelhaleem, 34 was found guilty last month of participating in a terrorist group and intending to cause an explosion. No conviction was entered at the time because his defence brought a motion seeking a stay on the basis of entrapment. Today, a judge told a Brampton, Ont., court that entrapment was not an issue in the case and there was virtually no evidence to support Abdelhaleem's position. The judge, in entering the conviction, also described Abdelhaleem's testimony as rambling and nonsensical. Abdelhaleem's lawyer had argued his client was "dragged in" to the Toronto 18 bomb plot by a former friend seeking revenge through his work as a police agent. The Crown contended Abdelhaleem was a willing and active participant in the plot to detonate massive bombs at the Toronto offices of CSIS, the Toronto Stock Exchange and an Ontario military base.

Help stop the whaling...as long ago as March 16, 1976 Greenpeace moved on to its next campaign: saving the whales. Off the coast of California, Greenpeace confronted a Russian whaling fleet by sailing out in a rubber dinghy and putting itself directly in the line of fire. In a CBC Television clip, the fifth estate played the harrowing footage of the Russian warship's harpoon flying a few feet over the dinghy before striking the whale. "It was like a huge Damoclean sword [cutting] into the water," describes Robert Hunter. and the battle still goes on today.....in Australia - An anti-whaling activist from New Zealand is in custody on a Japanese vessel and will be taken to Japan to face charges after secretly boarding the ship as part of a protest, officials said Tuesday. Peter Bethune, a member of the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd activist group, jumped aboard the Shonan Maru 2 from a Jet Ski on Monday with the stated goal of making a citizen's arrest of the ship's captain and presenting him with a $3 million bill for the destruction of a protest ship last month. The Japanese government has decided to bring Bethune to Japan for questioning, Fisheries Agency official Osamu Ishikawa said. He will be charged with trespassing and assault and tried under Japanese law, Ishikawa said. He said officials were working out the details of how to transport Bethune to Japan - whether to keep him on the vessel, which will be at sea for a few more weeks, or to drop him off in a port call and fly him back. The brazen boarding was the latest escalation of a campaign by Sea Shepherd to hamper Japanese whaling activities.

 Former boxing champ Shawn O'Sullivan said he was beaten up by Belleville Police in November. O'Sullivan has made several public appeals for the return of 10 or more rings, including his two world championship rings, stolen during a May 12, 2007 break-in to his home. The arrest comes after his method of retreiving them deteriorates that causes this story to unfold. O'Sullivan got his start at the famed Cabbagetown Boxing Club and shot to fame at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.  Last November when Bellville police responded to a call  O'Sullivan says “I had my hands up, more or less (saying), 'Hey boys, how's your night?' at which they don't respond,” said O'Sullivan. Instead, he said, the officers twisted his arms behind his back, holding his wrists above his shoulder blades and threw him to the ground. “They held me down and start stomping on the backs of my thighs and my calves,” he said, adding one officer then grabbed the hair at the back of his head, then slammed his forehead onto a wooden post.

'Frozen Gore' heats up climate debate
Another two-ton ice sculpture of former Vice President Al Gore is back in a Fairbanks, Alaska. This year’s version is hooked up to make it appear Gore is spouting hot air

The Winter Circle  paints a great big circle of brilliant stars on the dark dome of a winter night. Mars is quickly catching up and joining the late nite splendor. The Winter Circle lassos around Orion’s bright ruddy star Betelgeuse, and this loop of stars circles so far out from Betelgeuse that the Winter Circle even dwarfs Orion the Giant Hunter.