International News

Japan - Baby Heir After a 41-Year Wait

Family and friends gleamed with joy when Japanese Princess Kiko's newborn baby was born on September 6. The baby boy, Prince Hisahito, is the first male heir in 41 years to be born to the Japanese Imperial Household. According to official, it was revealed that the prince had three nurses taking care of him once he got home after he was released from the hospital. He then arrived at his Askshino residence in Tokyo with his mother. After his uncle Crown Prince Naruhito and his father Prince Askishino, the infant prince stands third in line to the throne of the world's oldest monarchy. Kiko's son was born on Wednesday morning via C-section. The birth was also likely to quell efforts to change Japan's male-only imperial law to allow women to ascend the throne. Several women have reigned over the years, the last being Gosakuramachi, who took the crown in 1763. Some Japanese, while cheering the successful royal birth, argued that the reform debate should continue. Some consider the male-only succession law a sexist relic of a bygone era.

Austria - Teenager Escapes Eight Year Captivity

The Austrian blue-eyed 18-year-old Natascha Kampusch, released her story to the September 6 issue of the Austrian glossy weekly magazine, NEWS (The Kronen Zeitung newspaper) and state broadcaster, ORE. She revealed her adult face as well as more details about her eight and a half years long captivity in a windowless six square metres dungeon beneath her captors house. She was abducted from a Vienna street in 1998 when she was 10 years after having had a fight with her mother. She mentioned, "I asked myself again and again, why among all the million people, this happened to me?" She escaped spontaneously from her abductor while he took a telephone call outside his house near Vienna. Soon after, her captor committed suicide after her August 23 escape by jumping in front of a train. She mentioned that her captor suffered very much from paranoia and was chronically distrustful. Natascha is now in Vienna's main hospital for psychiatric care.

Nova Scotia, Canada - First Black Lieutenant Governor

Ms. Mayann Francis, the daughter of a Cuban-Canadian archpriest and his Antiguan-Canadian wife, who was raised in a mining town in Nova Scotia, is now the 31st lieutenant governor. She is the first African Canadian to hold this position in the province, crossing many barriers, and is the second black lieutenant governor in all of Canada. She grew up deep in coal mining country near Sydney on the Cape Breton Island, with two brothers and four sisters. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, Peter Mackey and Nova Scotia Premier, Rodney MacDonald attended the ceremony. Ms. Francis promised to use her position to champion education, diversity and communities. She has an impressive resume, after graduation from New York, Saint Mary's (Canada), and Cornell universities. She served as director of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission for seven years, and held various positions with the Ontario government, Dalhousie University, and in the District Attorney's office in New York. Will the picture of Canada's Governor General Michelle Jean and Nova Scotia's Lieutenant Governor Mayann Francis change the racial and gender terms that Canada is a white man's country?

Oslo, Norway - The Scream and Madonna Return

Museum officials in Oslo were all smiles last August after police said that the two stolen paintings, The Scream and Madonna by Edvard Munch had been recovered. They were taken by three masked gunmen who raided the Munch Museum on August 22, 2004. City of Oslo, which owns the paintings, offered 2 million kroner (about $350,000 CAD) for their return. The paintings were on the FBI's Top-10 art thefts list last fall among the three Rembrandts, a Vermeer, a Monet and five Deges from Boston Isabella Steward Garder Museum in 1990 and a Cezanne stolen from England's Azholean Museum in 1999.

USA - Bill Clinton's Anti-Poverty & Anti-AIDS Campaigns

The 42nd US President, Bill Clinton, celebrated his 60th birthday declaring his anti-poverty and anti-AIDS global campaigns. President Harry Truman, once having left the office, retired as a common citizen and president Dwight Eisenhower retired to his golf and simple family life, while President Hubert Humphrey had a good sense to return to a teaching job in Minnesota. The 29-year-old Maritimer Joe Cashion is now working as the chief of staff to the Clinton Fund HIV/AIDS Initiative, managing its various programs around the world. He now serves as the liaison between the Harlem office and their offices in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. Both are shown in the photo with the former South African president Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg last year.

Spain - 'Extra Virgin' Olive Oil Boosts Health

Olive oil is one of the corner stones of the healthy Mediterranean diet, and it was mentioned in the Ebers Papyrus over 3,000 years ago. It is superior to other mono-unsaturated fats since it contains lots of polyphenols, plant substances that also protect the heart, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Dr. Maria-Isabel Covas who led the research team from Barcelona, Spain, mentioned that polyphenol rich virgin olive oil did a better job at boosting the men's level of good cholesterol, which clears artery clogging fats from the blood stream. Virgin olive oil, which comes from the first pressing of the olives, has much higher amounts of polyphenols than refined olive oil that is derived from latter pressings.

A new drug called, Gleevec, proved to be a smart bomb designed to kill only cancer and effective treatment in chronic mylogenous leukemia (CML). The patients would take only one pill daily with none of the side effects caused by conventional chemotherapy. Molecular geneticists discovered the gene mutations in the CML when two chromosome translocations (chromosomes 9 & 22), resulting in producing a cancer gene that produces an abnormal protein not found in healthy cells. This apparent protein signals white blood cells to proliferate in a rapid rate. Gleevec stops the abnormal protein from working and stops the proliferation of the white blood cells. It seems that years of basic research into the molecular machinery of cancer cells are about to pay off and be useful in producing more effective treatments.

Dr. Margaret Chan, the newly elected Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), will take office after the sudden death of Dr. Lee Jong-Wook in May 2006. She spent most of her life in Hong Kong after graduating from the medical school at the University of Western Ontario (Canada). She is the first Chinese woman to be selected for this post, and the second woman to hold the top WHO post after the Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brunddand. Dr. Chan emphasized she will focus on the following six key issues: Health development, Security, Capacity, Information and knowledge, Partnership, and Performance.
The South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon has been formally elected the next United Nations secretary general, in a vote in the General Assembly.  The resolution, adopted unanimously, follows Mr Ban's nomination to succeed Kofi Annan by the UN Security Council. Mr Annan is due to step down on 31 December after heading the UN for two five-year terms.  Mr Ban, 62, will be the first Asian to head the UN since Burma's U Thant, who held the post from 1961 to 1971. The general assembly confirmed Mr Ban's appointment by acclamation - without a vote - on the basis of approval by all 192 members.

UK - Diana's Sons Concert to Mark Her Death

Princes William & Harry will stage a concert marking the 10th Anniversary of the death of their mother, Princess Diana, who died in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997. The event will be held at London's renovated Wembley Stadium, which can hold around 90,000 spectators and is scheduled for July 1, 2007. Proceeds will be donated to the British homeless charity, Centre-point, and other causes supported by Diana. The princes plan to approach Madonna, Beyonce, and Kylie Minogue to perform, in addition to a confirmed performance by Sir Elton John. Other names likely to be invited include Sting, Phil Collins, George Michael, their favourites The Killers and Pharrell Williams according to some reports.

 

Tonga - The World's Heaviest Monarch

Tonga's King Taufa'ahau Tupour IV died in a New Zealand hospital last September after an unspecified illness. He was crowned in 1965 in the tiny Pacific island nation since the death of his mother in 1965. He rules the Polynesian archipelago of 150 islands for four decades. Crown Prince Taufa’ahau Monumataongo, a graduate of Sandhurst, the British military academy, at one time indicated that he did not wish to succeed his father as king, but reports yesterday said he was expected to do so. The king made headlines in 1976, when he became the world's heaviest monarch, weighing 209 kgs. Within the next decade, the king turned his back on the tradition he was born into as a descendant of the three royal lines of Tonga and embarked on an extraordinary form of executive belt-tightening. He began riding a bicycle on the airport runway in the morning. He challenged his subjects to a weight-loss competition. He gave up fatty pork, a Tongan staple. By his 80th birthday, in 1998, he had dropped to 129 pounds. He was succeeded by his son, Crown Prince Siaosi Tupouto'a, 52 years old, a flamboyant businessman.

Canada - Shakespeare's Sanders' Portrait Comes to Guelph

It is believed that the famous writer, William Shakespeare, sat for a Canadian painter called John Sanders in 1603. The portrait was held in the family for 400 years, and at one time was stored under the Ottawa (Canada) resident, Lloyd Sullivan's grandmother's bed. The portrait has been confirmed by forensic studies to date from around 1600. The Sanders portrait will be part of "Searching for Shakespeare," an international exhibit organized by the National Portrait Gallery in London, that will tour North America during the summer and fall of 2007 including in Guelph, Ontario from January to May 2007. The portrait is also the signature image of the University of Guelph's (Canada) Canadian Adaptations of Shakespeare Project (CASP), headed by professor Daniel Fischlin, and includes the most complete website in the world dedicated to showing the playwright's cultural influence on Canada - www.canadianshakespeares.ca. "Shakespeare - Made in Canada" event will include theatrical and musical performances, exhibitions, speaker's series and educational programs. The Sanders portrait was also the subject of the 2001 book, Shakespeare's Face, and is used by the Stratford Festival of Canada.
 

Global - Revisiting Mona Lisa's Enigmatic Smile

Mona Lisa, is Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo who was a cloth merchant. The painting was commissioned to celebrate the birth of her third child. Born before Leonardo Di Vinci painting her in the 1500s. Using infrared technology, 3D-laser scanners, by a team of Canadian and French scientists, it was suggested that her smile may have expressed the weary joy of a mother with a newborn. They saw a layer of varnish over her dress. They say that was typically worn by pregnant women of that time, or mothers who have recently given birth. This filmy robe was called guarnello. The British historian, Donald Sassoon, notes Gio Vasari, a biographer of Leonardo, wrote in 1586 that Mona Lisa was entertained by clowns and musicians to make her smile. Some experts said she was pregnant, others suggested she suffered from facial paralysis. The results of the study have been published in a book, Mona Lisa: Inside the Painting. A Dutch emotion recognition program determined that her non-grin is just 83% happy, she is also 9% disgusted, 6% fearful and 2% angry. Italian researchers said that Leonardo used a blaring technique called sfumato, employing microscopic dots to create the smokey shadows near her eyes and mouth that make her stare so enigmatic. Sigmund Freud suggested her smile was the result of Leonardo Di Vinci's erotic fixation with his mother's smile. American artist Lillian Schwartz used computers to analyze the facial features of Mona Lisa, concluding that the painting is a self portrait of the artist in drag, in which case he was probably just smirking. Some raised the possibility that the smile is simply the result of sleep deprivation.  After 500 years, the mystery of Mona Lisa's smile remains unsolved.

Egypt - A female sexologist tackles age-old taboo

Dr. Heba Kotb, a 39-years old mother of three daughters, is a forensic medicine lecturer at Cairo University. She studied sexology in a private school in Florida. The married lecturer combined her studies with her own knowledge of her religion to produce a dissertation titled, "Sexuality in Islam." She opened a sexology clinic in Cairo in 2002, wrote sex-advice columns in newspapers, appeared on talk shows and answered questions on an Arabic website. She started the weekly show, Big Talk, on the independent Egyptian satellite channel, El-Mehwar last October. She tackles questions from Muslims all over the Middle East about the most intimate bedroom issues with an openness that is shocking and revolutionary in a society where discussing the subject is taboo. Much of her advice is plain biology, discussing sexual positions, female orgasm, oral sex, masturbation and homosexuality. In her counselling practice, Dr. Heba takes in only married couples and is fully booked for months with couples from across the Arab world. The Egyptian sexologist talks about sex in an Islamic light and recently lectured in Saudi Arabia and Yemen on the same issues. Ms. Mona Helmi, a feminist columnist in the weekly Rosa El-Youssef magazine mentioned, "After Islamic banks, Islamic fashion, Islamic TV channels, Islamic hairdressers, Islamic swimsuits, Islamic writers - now Islamic sex? Sex is an emotional and human condition, not a religious or identity issue."

China - Chinese Richest Business Woman

The ranks of China's wealthiest has expanded, with 14 people having fortunes exceeding $1 billion, up from 7 last year. Zhang Yin, 49-year-old founder of Nine Dragons Paper Co., with a fortune estimated at $3.4 billion, is the first business woman to top an annual list of China's richest individuals, published by Shanghai-based researcher Rupert Hoogewerf. She is the eldest of 8 children born inn north-eastern China, immigrated to Hong Kong as a young adult, and built up her business shipping waste paper from the US to China, where it is recycled into container board at factories in southern and eastern China.

Utah, USA - One Child and Five Parents

In October 2003, Utah woman, Rachel Sullivan, 27, injected into her a body a syringe of semen from a former RCMP officer to be a surrogate mother. After she became pregnant, she was to turn the baby over to his Canadian biological father. Baby "X"'s fate now lies with a panel of Utah judges, and three sets of parents are battling for custody of the toddler, including the 45-years-old biological father. Rachel However, since he is serving time in a California prison, he wants his sister who lives in Ontario to have custody of his son until his release. Rachel Sullivan also wants to keep the baby to live with her with her two other children in her Salt Lake City home. Baby "X" currently lives with a married Salt Lake City couple who have no genetic ties to the baby are also vying for his custody, since his birth in Salt Lake City on July 13, 2004. The Supreme Court of Utah will solve the puzzle of Baby "X" with the surrogate mother, biological father, his sister, and a care-taking couple who want custody of the baby.

Afghanistan - The Only Psychiatric Clinic in Kandahar

Dr. Abdul Rahim Halimyar, 48, runs the only psychiatric clinic in Kandahar. He graduated from Kabul's medical college 26 years ago in the days when universities in the Afghan capital were well-respected. He listens to the stories of 40-60 patients a day from 8a.m. to 9p.m., charging only $2 per visit. Most of his visitors say they don't understand why they feel anxious or depressed and many show adjustive disorders. His eccentricities and scraggly looks are almost enough to convince a visitor that the madness of Kandahar has seeped into him too.  Though his appearance may be deceiving, Dr. Halimyar is convinced that the problems must be solved by discussion and not by fighting, in a city rife with depressing stories.

Global - Daily Doses of Multi-Vitamins Cuts Birth Defects

A new research published in the Canadian Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology shows that adequate of a single pill of multi-vitamins and minerals on a daily basis to women of a child-bearing age, sharply cuts the likelihood of severe birth defects including neural tube defects, hydrocephalus, heart malformations, missing limbs, cleft palate, and urinary tract abnormalities. The research did not show any decrease in the number of cases of Down Syndrome, pyloric stenosis, undescended testes or hypospadius. A previous March of Dimes report showed that in every 17 babies born in the world one has a serious birth defect and that almost 8 million children children annually suffer from a birth defect including 3.3 million who die. Prevalences per 1000 live births range from: 39.7 in France, 54.5 in Canada, and 82 in Sudan.

Waterloo, Canada - Faculty of Engineering Vision 2010

Vision 2010: A Blueprint for Excellence in Engineering Research and Education, is an ambitious academic plan led by the gifted Egyptian-Canadian dean of the the College of Engineering at the University of Waterloo, Prof. Adel Sedra, who is a leading engineering researcher, teacher, and textbook author who brought his record of excellence as an academic administrator to Waterloo in 2003. He chose to become the dean of Waterloo engineering with a single purpose: to make the great faculty the undisputed premier school of engineering in Canada and North America. The website for the faculty is http://www.engineering.uwaterloo.ca/Vision2010.
 

British Columbia, Canada - Rare White Bears

Tourists, photographers and documentary crews visit British Columbia in early September looking for rare black bears that have white fur. These bears who are properly known as Spirit Bears, are a sub-species of black bears unique to British Columbia, Ursus americanus kermodei has a recessive gene that makes one in ten as white as a polar bear, who are officially known as Kermode bears (named after BC museum curator who studied them in the early-1900s), but the local people call them Moksgm'ol - which means white bear. There are an estimated 1200 black and white Kermode bears in the coastal forest. The Kermode bears are found mostly on Gribbell and Princess Royal Islands in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest. About 10% of black bears are white in Princess Royal Islands.

New York - Autism Risk Linked to Paternal Age

Dr. Abraham Reichenberg, a researcher in psychiatry at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and his team published an interesting study in Archives of General Psychiatry. They mentioned that men who wait until after the age of 40 to father children, are far more likely to have offspring with autism than those who have kids before the age of 30. The older dads are six times more likely to have autistic children than the younger ones. They believe that advanced paternal age is a risk factor for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is not clear was causes ASD but there are many theories including exposure to environmental toxins, diet, malfunctioning immune system, advanced paternal age, and mercury derived that used to be found in childhood vaccines. The Autism Society of Canada estimates the incidence rate as 1 in every 286 births, and the condition is four times more likely in boys than girls. Autistic children are treated with intense cognitive therapies, but this approach is expensive and controversial.

Calgary, Canada - Baby Gorilla's Death Brings Tears to Zoo

A two-week-old gorilla has died at a Canadian zoo after her mother's nursing routine was disrupted by other females and feedings by staff failed to maintain the baby's strength. The gorilla died on August 8 after females in the Calgary Zoo's gorilla troop took her away from her mother three times after she was born, creating stress for both the mother, named Zuri, and the newborn, whose energy was sapped, veterinarian Sandie Black said. It is the second high-profile loss of a young animal born at the zoo in less than two years. In December 2004, a baby elephant died after being rejected by its mother. The zoo said the newborn gorilla was snatched in recent days by the troop's dominant female, which allowed it to nurse, although she was not producing milk. The female, Tabitha, had to be immobilized to retrieve the baby. Two days, later, Tabitha took the baby once more and had to be tranquilized again. Zoo staff fed the small gorilla, but hours later another female grabbed her from Zuri and kept her for 30 minutes. Throughout the incidents, Zuri, a first-time mother, showed signs of anxiety and her nursing became intermittent. The baby died before staff could give it another feeding. There is a 30% mortality rate for gorillas born in captivity and a 42% rate in the wild, the zoo said.

Afghanistan - Coca Cola's Distinctive Red and White Logo in Kabul

Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, opened the $25 million Coca Cola Co. bottling plant in Afghanistan's industrial complex of Bagrami, meaning sweet or fragrant. The plant will produce only non-alcoholic drinks: Coca Cola, Sprite and Fanta. The plant is franchised to one of the country's richest men, Habibullah Gulzar. TPresident Karzai spoke only briefly and declined a glass of Fanta. he Afghan president said he hoped the new Coke plant would serve as a catalyst for further private investment to boost his country's ailing economy, which is heavily reliant on foreign aid. A small bottle of Coke costs about 20 cents in the shops of a country of about 25 million people.

Global - Benign and Non-benign Birth Marks

Small port wine stains are relatively common. Former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev has one on top of his head caused by over abundance of blood vessels just underneath the skin. However, 1 in 50,000 live births, show extensive facial birth marks which also have similar malformations on the brain surface, known also known as Sturge-Weber Syndrome. They may lead to frequent seizures and may require drug therapy by a paediatric neurologist. Though there are better drugs for controlling seizures today, some cases with severe recurrent seizures need the neurosurgeon for the removal of part of the brain.

Havana, Cuba - Kofi Annan Implores Developing Countries to End Suppression

United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, urged developing countries to respect human rights, telling their leaders they had a duty to end the suppression of opponents and media. Leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), a 118-member group that includes a number of countries harshly criticized by human rights groups. President Castro of Cuba was elected unanimously as chairman of the group for a 30year term (despite note being present, recovering from recent surgery). The 14th summit was attended by President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe alongside the leaders of more than 40 developing countries. The NAM was set up in 1961 in Belgrade by Third World nations that wanted to avoid being pawns in Cold War power games by not aligning with either Washington or Moscow. There were a broad array of topics up for discussion, but high on the agenda was the violence in the Middle East and nuclear proliferation.

Burma - Freedom Award to Su Su Nway

The 34-years-old, Su Su Nway, was unable to attend the December 6 the John Humphrey Freedom Award laureate ceremony for 2006. A prize named after the Canadian law professor who prepared the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Dr. Jean-Lewis Roy, president of Rights and Democracy, said, "she rallied her community, challenged the authorities in her village and defied the machinations of her country's military junta." She took on the ruling military junta in 2004, by challenging through the courts over the use of forced labour. Her defiance earned her an 18-month prison term for defamation. Despite her release from prison, she has nevertheless become a causes célèbres among human rights groups, including Montreal-based Rights and Democracy group.

Canada - Shaman Artist Display

On September 30, the National Gallery of Canada displayed stunning works that have rarely or never before been displayed of the Shaman artist, Norval Morrisseau. The exhibition, entitled "Transfixing, Transcending, Transforming"  featured 60 vibrant works, from evocations of ancient symbolic etchings on sacred birchbark scrolls and pictographic renderings of spiritual creatures, to more recent works that are celebrations of pure colour. The gallery received a lot of visitors and was overall very successful. The Anishnaabe (Ojibwa) painter’s sublimely colourful and deeply spiritual works have inspired three generations of First Nations artists and made him an icon of Canadian art.

Ottawa, Canada - Federally-funded Services for the Deaf

Deaf Canadians have fought for years to have the same access to federal services as everyone else until now, the 300,000 strong community has had to pay for sign language interpreters, which was seen as discriminatory under the Charter of Right and Freedoms. Lawyer Scott Simser, a deaf man, argued the case before the federal court. Judge Richard Mosley agreed, ruling the government must pay for interpreters. Interpreters fluent in American sign language or La langue des sourdes du Quebec typically cost from $40-60 an hour. Sheila Carlin, president of the Canadian Association of the Deaf and deaf herself, explained that the interpreter cost is very expensive.

Madrid, Spain - Picasso's Guernica: The Powerful Anti-War Symbol

Spanish Prime Minister, Rodriguez Zapatero, opposed the transport of Pablo Picasso's masterpiece, Guerica painting to a regional exhibition in the Basque region next April, saying it was too fragile and due to its advanced state of deterioration. Guernica, considered as modern art's most powerful anti-war statement, was inspired by the 1937 bombing of the Basque town by the Nazis at the request of the late Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco, killing around 1,600 people. But for Basques, Guernica, is a symbol of their national identity, as the town is considered the centre of their cultural tradition. The Basque regional government asked Madrid's Queen Sofia Museum to allow the painting to be exhibited temporarily at Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum for the 70th anniversary of the bombing.

Canada - Wolf Strikes on Labour Day

A black dog-like animal running across the northern Ontario beach of Catherine's Cove at Lake Superior's Provincial Park, where families were enjoying the last day of summer vacation on September 1, attacked six people including a mother and her children. The 33-kg wolf was shot dead on the scene and the wolf's head was sent to Ottawa, where it will be tested for rabies. There have been only a few instances in Canada where wolves have bitten people: no one has ever been killed by a wolf attack in North America.

North America - Canine Colleagues Honour Nitro's Courage

More than 70 canine units from the U.S. and British Columbia, Canada proceeded to downtown Vancouver to the Seaforth Armoury to mourn the death of the police dog, Nitro. The 8-year-old German Sheppard police dog Nitro, who died in the line of duty, as he chased two accused car thieves who jumped on a train in New Westminster. When the train began moving, Nitro, who had arthritis in his elbows, slipped under the wheels and was instantly killed. His death hit the public very hard, where mourners from outside North America sent hundreds of emails and sympathy cards. Nitro's death inspired a special kind of grief. The ceremony included more than 70 police dogs paying tribute, as their handlers led them to sit briefly in front of the memorial where the canine's badge, collar and urn were on display. He was mourned not only as a pet but also as a police officer who died in the line of duty.

Paris, France - France's Signature Cafes Ban Smoking

Under a ban announced last October by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, smoking will be illegal in French cafes, bars and restaurants beginning in January 2008. The move follows similar bans introduced in Ireland, Italy and Scotland, triggered by changing public attitudes to smoking and a growing acceptance of the risks of passive smoking. According to Mr. de Villepin, about 5,000 French people die from breathing others' smoking fumes yearly and that in northern Italy, the number of people under the age of 60 suffering from cardiovascular illness, fell by 10% in the 5 months after last year's smoking ban. Seventy percent of the French public support an effective ban on public smoking. Customers who brake the probation will pay 75 Euros, and the owner of the establishment in which the smoker is caught will be fined 15 Euros.

Ottawa, Canada - New Global Centre for Pluralism

Last October, the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and the Aga Khan-- leader of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims--announced the foundation of a new Global Centre for Pluralism. The institute is dedicated to disseminating the values of multiculturalism around the world. The Aga Khan proposed situating the new centre in Ottawa, as a tribute to Canada's single success in establishing a tolerant multicultural society. His foundation will contribute $40 million to the centre's creation. The Centre will promote pluralism internationally as a means to advance good governance, peace and human development. It will support academic and professional development, provide advisory services, and support research and learning in developed and developing countries.

 

North America - Save the Woodland Caribou and Spotted Owls

Several prominent US and Canadian wildlife conservation groups have called on NAFTA's environmental watchdog to launch an investigation to effectively enforce the endangered species law. At least 197 of the 529 wildlife species identified as being at risk of extinction in Canada. Among those animals that are vulnerable are the spotted owl, the country's most endangered bird. In 1997, biologists estimated there were 200 of the owls, a number that has now dwindled to 17. Also the woodland caribou, the animal that grazes Canada's 25 cents coin, has been wiped out from about half of its former range. Both species are at risk because insufficient amounts of habitats have been set aside from intensive logging to allow them to maintain their populations.

New York, USA - Larry King's Obituary for Ed Bradley

The death of the famed "60 Minutes" interviewer newsman Ed Bradley (1941-2006) last November, challenged the distinguished Emmy Award winning CNN talk show host, Larry King, to dedicate his 1-hour show on the life story of this newsman, who died of leukemia in New York after a heart bypass surgery about a year ago. This news story took front stage in US media despite it being in the midst of the US Congressional and Senate elections. Ed Bradley had won numerous awards and helped breakdown racial barriers at CBS, and creative a distinctive powerful body of work during his 26 years on "60 Minutes." He landed many memorable interviews including, Michael Jackson, the Duke University lacrosse players accused of rape, and only TV interview with Oklahoma city bomber Timothy McVeigh. Three of his Emmys came at the 2003 awards: for lifetime achievement; a report on brain cancer patients; a report about sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic church. He also won a lifetime achievement award from the National Association of Black Journalists. As profiled by Larry King and the guests on his show, Bradley was a distinguished CBS reporter who travelled to Cambodia, China, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

Indonesia - Save the Orang-utan

Dr. Biruté Galdikas, the renowned professor at Simon Fraser University, is trying to stop the destruction of the Orangutans habitat in Indonesia. She has been studying the orang-utans in their habitat for 35 years. She is one of a remarkable trio of women chosen by famed paleo-ontologist Louis Leakey, to study one of the world's great apes. The other researchers are Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey. In 1971 at age of 25, Dr. Galdikas arrived to Borneo and settled in a primitive bark at a site near the edge of the Java Sea. She spends six months yearly studying the grandchildren of apes she first observed in the 1970s. In 1980, there were an estimated 200,000 orang-utans inhabiting the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Now, there could be as few as 30,000. Dr. Galdikas feels that the orang-utan, the one-and-only Asian great ape is worth saving. The orang-utan is particularly vulnerable to extinction because of its low birth rate. A female matures at age 16, and gives birth every 7-8 years, hence she will have a maximum of 4 offspring in her lifetime.

Australia - Placid Stingray Kills World-renowned "Crocodile Hunter"

Steve Irwin, 44, the quirky Australian naturalist who won worldwide acclaim as TV's khaki-clad "Crocodile Hunter", was killed by a stingray barb through the heart while filming a new documentary last September. Irwin tangled with some of the world's most dangerous animals but he died in an extremely rare attack by a normally placid sea creature while he was diving on a reef off Port Douglas in northern Queensland.  Irwin's death was likely only the third recorded fatal stingray attack in Australia, experts said. They said stingray venom was agonizingly painful but not lethal, although the barb was capable of causing horrific injuries like a knife or bayonet. Known around the world for his catchphrase "Crikey" during close encounters with wild animals, Irwin made almost 50 documentaries which appeared on the cable TV channel Animal Planet. He became a virtual global industry generating books, interactive games and even toy action figures. Bindi, his 8-years-old daughter, will star in a wildlife series on the Discovery Kids network entitled, Bindi: The Jungle Girl. The show was originally going to be a father-daughter affair, starring the nature-loving duo.

Nevada, USA - Polygamous Pseudo-Prophet Nabbed in a Red Caddy

Warren Steed Jeffs, 50, was arrested about 8kms north of Las Vegas, Nevada when a state trooper pulled over his flashy red 2007 Cadillac Escalade for a minor traffic violation after noticing its out-of-state temporary licence plate was partly obscured. The trooper recognized Mr. Jeffs, who is on the FBI's Top-10 most wanted list and reportedly has 40 wives and 60 children. He is wanted in Arizona and Utah on charges of sexual misconduct for allegedly arranging marriages of underage girls and for fraud. Mr. Jeffs sect, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, broke away from the Mormon Church when it abandoned polygamy more than a century ago. People are very much in shock and terrified since he told them that if he is arrested, it is a sign for the end of the world and that he assured his followers that he will rise again in the afterlife.

Doha, Qatar - 15th Asian Games Opening Ceremony

In the opening ceremony of the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006, a sense of excitement filled the stadium before the show really swung into action with a barrage of light and sound as hundreds of men with hand-held flaming torches formed the shape of the Qatari flag in its red and white, before re-forming to spell out the words “Peace be upon you” in English and Arabic. HH The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani was then introduced to the audience, before the Qatari flag was raised and the national anthem played.  A stunning display then featured the Far East as a colourful caravan of Chinese dragons, dancers and vehicles entered the stage surrounded by Chinese fire-crackers as the story of the silk robe was told. Then the production moved on to celebrate Arabic culture by bringing on the desert riders of Qatar, who drew a great cheer on their powerful steeds. Hong Kong, Chinese entertainer Jackie Cheung then sang ‘Together Now’ accompanied by hundreds of drummers as the Games' flag bearers entered the arena. Next, the athletes entered the stadium to an enthusiastic reception from the thousands of spectators. China were the first big team to enter the arena. They received a warm welcome and there were more cheers too as teams from India, Pakistan and Indonesia arrived, while the Gulf States were also roundly applauded. The team from Kazakhstan had the most flamboyant headgear, parading in blue fedoras, while the Saudi Arabian team wowed the audience with glittery robes. Whilst all the athletes were in place, Indian starlet Sunidhi Chauhan sang the song ‘Reach out’ as hundreds of children ran into the arena holding white doves, once again symbolising the peaceful nature of the Games. It was then left to HH The Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani to officially open the Games, followed by a short burst of fireworks while Spanish tenor José Carreras sang a duet with Magida El Roumi and entranced the audience.  The lights were dimmed and the 15th Asian Games Torch entered, carried by world champion bowler Salem Bu Sharbak. The Torch final found its way to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Al-Thani, the Qatari equestrian captain who rose through the floor of the stadium astride his horse to accept the Flame.on a horse, then galloped gallantly up a ramp to light up the Flame at the top of the stadium!

More than two dozen items of northwest Native art, returned to Canada after they were taken from British Columbia in 1863. Thompson's family (David Thompson and his cousin Sherry) spent more than $5 million US during the auction at Sothby's in New York. The collection is expected to find a home at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), where the late Lord Kenneth Thompson, former chairman of the Globe and Mail Canadian daily national newspaper, donated a wealth of Inuit art to the museum. The Dundas Collection of Northwest Coast American Indian Art includes 80 objects which were acquired by Reverend Robert J. Dundas, Scottish chaplain, from one of the most famous missionaries on the coast. Adding to the collection is Dundas's 250,000-word long diaries, which describes in detail the communities on the coast as he encountered them. Tsimshian wood-faced mask, which was sold at US$1.8 million was a new record for an individual piece of Native art, while a slave-killer club of carved elk or caribou antler adorned with totenic forms was worth $940,000 US, and a clan hat was purchased for $660,000 US. The collection also included a Tsimshian rattle likely used in Shamanic rituals which sold for over US$400,000. A Tsimshian polychromed wood shaman figure. The intention of the Thompson family is to keep the collection together. The spokesman for the Allied Tribes of Lax Kw'alaams and Metllakatla said they are pleased that the items will return to their ancestral home and be displayed in British Columbia.

Manitoba, Canada - Youngest Maths University Professor!

Prof. Gabor Lukas teaches an introductory math classes at the University of Manitoba. But he's no ordinary math teacher. Lukas is only a few years older than his students. At the ripe age of 24, he is the youngest faculty member of the University of Manitoba. Lukas fled Hungary at age 7 and began his bachelor degree at age 12, By 16 years he was already enrolled for a PhD at York University. From an early age, the child Gabor immersed himself in trigonometric, logarithmic and exponential equations. The young professor comes from a pedigree of academic. His father is a trained civil engineer with a PhD degree in philosophy. Lukas' accomplishment is a feat and ranks high among similar accomplishments by young professors including Halifax native, Erik Demaine, who is a professor at the prestigious university Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Demaine entered university at 12 and became an assistant professor at the tender age of 20!