US warns of N Korea nuclear test 'consequences'

The US and South Korea warned North Korea of "further consequences" if it carried out a third nuclear test, as South Korea's outgoing leader suggested more than one test could be planned.

Lee Myung-bak, who leaves office later this month, told the Choson Ilbo that Pyongyang could be planning "multiple nuclear tests at two places or more".
North Korea said in January it was planning a "high-level nuclear test".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21332624

NHL lockout a 'danger' to the league, according to Stephen Harper

   Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks to TVA during a year-end interview at Rideau Hall December 18, 2012 in Ottawa. (ANDRE FORGET/QMI AGENCY)


OTTAWA  - Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the NHL lockout is placing the league in "danger."
"For the NHL, this is a dangerous situation," he said in an interview Tuesday with TVA's Pierre Bruneau. "It's sad to see the relationship so broken."

Harper said at the end of the day, the NHL is a business and repeat lockouts will only alienate fans.
The prime minister, who's an avid hockey fan, called the ongoing lockout "very sad" but said he's accepted the situation over the past few weeks.

Harper has instead turned his attention to the upcoming Junior World Championship, starting next week in Ufa, Russia.

The 2012-2013 NHL lockout is moving closer to its fourth month, and talks between the NHL and the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) appear to have faltered.

Last Sunday, the NHLPA membership began voting on whether to proceed with a legal manoeuvre that would open the door for the players to file antitrust suits against the league.

Poll

Was Harper too wishy-washy?

• 38%
• Yes, Obama has been sterner.

• 26 votes
• 
  

• 62%
• No, he sees both sides of the fight.

• 43 votes
• 
  

Reuters Photos of the Year...Just a few.

  Space Shuttle Endeavour is transported on Manchester Avenue while being moved from Los Angeles International Airport to its retirement home at the California Science Center in Exposition Park in Los Angeles, California October 12, 2012. REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn

    Artist Pyotr Pavlensky, a supporter of jailed members of female punk band "Pussy Riot", looks on with his mouth sewed up as he protests outside the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg, July 23, 2012. REUTERS/Trend Photo Agency/Handout

    The Orvillecopter by Dutch artist Bart Jansen (R) flies in central Amsterdam as part of the KunstRAI art festival June 3, 2012. Jansen said the Orvillecopter is part of a visual art project which pays tribute to his cat Orville, by making it fly after it was killed by a car. He built the Orvillecopter together with radio control helicopter flyer Arjen Beltman (L). REUTERS/Cris Toala Olivares
 (poohoo, that's funny....ENJ)

   Lightning strikes over a pier during a storm in Atlit, near the northern Israeli city of Haifa October 25, 2012. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: ENVIRONMENT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

   Burned houses are seen next to those which survived in Breezy Point, a neighborhood located in the New York City borough of Queens, after they were devastated by Hurricane Sandy October 31, 2012. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

    Rescuers and relatives stop a woman from committing suicide by jumping off a building in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province August 14, 2012. The woman was rescued as she tried to commit suicide after killing her nephew following a family dispute, local media reported. Picture taken August 14, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer


   RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2012 - A full moon as seen from West Orange, New Jersey, rises over the skyline of Lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center (L) in New York, May 6, 2012. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn (UNITED STATES - Tags: CITYSPACE ENVIRONMENT SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

There are more, to see go to:
http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/12/17/photos-of-the-year

Alta. man's frozen body found in his yard after drinking heavily at office party

  
EDMONTON — A Slave Lake, Alta., man's frozen body was found in his backyard 18 hours after he'd been dropped off following a night of heavy drinking at his office Christmas party.

The mercury plunged to about -21 C early Saturday, when the 29-year-old man arrived home.
A friend later found his frozen body in the yard.

“The death of this young man is a tragedy for his family and this community," RCMP Staff Sgt. Roberta McKale said.

“This is the second accidental death in a week related to alcohol consumption in Slave Lake. The frustrating thing is that these deaths could have been prevented."

On Friday, a man died after he fell down stairs while drunk.

Slave Lake is located 250 km north of Edmonton.

(ummmmmm, ok............)

French psychiatrist found guilty of manslaughter after patient commits murder

  (Shutterstock)

  
MARSEILLES, France - A French psychiatrist whose patient hacked an elderly man to death was found guilty of manslaughter on Tuesday in a groundbreaking case that could affect the way patients are treated.

A court in Marseilles said Daniele Canarelli, 58, had committed a “grave error” by failing to recognize the public danger posed by Joel Gaillard, her patient of four years.

Gaillard hacked to death 80-year-old Germain Trabuc with an axe in March 2004 in Gap, in the Alps region of southeastern France, 20 days after fleeing a consultation with Canarelli at Marseilles’s Edouard Toulouse hospital.

http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/12/18/french-psychiatrist-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-after-patient-commits-murder
                                                                  

Adam Lanza smashed computer's hard drive Newtown students return to class

NEWTOWN, CONN. - Students returned to school in the shattered Connecticut town of Newtown on Tuesday for the first time since a gunman’s rampage killed 26 people in an elementary school, reviving the gun control debate in Washington and prompting a retailer to pull guns from shelves.

Sandy Hook Elementary, where 20-year-old Adam Lanza gunned down a score of 6- and 7-year-olds and six adults on Friday, will remain closed. It was an active crime scene, with police coming and going past a line of 26 Christmas trees, one for each victim, decorated with ornaments, stuffed animals and balloons in the school colors of green and white.

The rest of Newtown’s schools reopened with grief counselors and police present.

The massacre of young children shocked Americans who had grown accustomed to mass shootings, prompting some U.S. lawmakers to call for tighter gun restrictions and pressuring one private equity firm to sell its investment in a gunmaker.

http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/12/18/newtown-students-to-return-to-classes-in-wake-of-school-massacre

Three arrests in $20M Quebec maple syrup heist

 
MONTREAL — Quebec provincial police say they've solved a massive maple syrup heist.
Police say they arrested three people and are looking for five others after 10,000 barrels of maple gold, valued at $20 million, were pilfered from a warehouse east of Montreal between August 2011 and this past July.
"Two-thirds of the stolen syrup has been found," police said in a statement.
Richard Vallieres, 34, Avik Caron, 39, and a third unnamed suspect were to appear in court in Trois-Rivieres, Que., on Tuesday.
They face charges of theft, conspiracy to commit theft, handling of stolen goods and fraud.

 http://www.ottawasun.com/2012/12/18/three-arrests-in-20m-maple-syrup-heist
                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Security expert says Canada should keep eye out for 'Islamist' immigrants

  Chris Roussakis/QMI AGENCY FILE


A security expert says Canada needs to go beyond screening for terrorists landing on our shores and consider the religious beliefs of some prospective immigrants.

Scott Newark says Canada should be concerned about "Islamist" immigrants.

Newark served as executive officer of the Canadian Police Association and also worked as a security and policy advisor to both the Ontario and federal Ministers of Public Safety.

"We need to think hard about what I would call 'Islamism', the political Islam that has absolutely no interest whatsoever in integration, that is intolerant and unyielding and absolutely committed to eradicating Western values," he said in an interview.

Newark says if Canada did a better job screening prospective immigrants, Omar Khadr might not be household name.

Canada knew of Omar Khadr's father's fundraising activities for al-Qaida, for example, and of his father's taking his children to spend time with Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, Newark says.

"But we ignored that," he said. "And that is contrary to what's in our own national security interest."
Newark, unsurprisingly, is a fan of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, who has made significant changes to the immigration system to keep more undesirables out.

"We're bringing in biometric visas on January 2nd and information sharing with the U.S. so that we can screen out the people who represent a security threat," Kenney recently told reporters.

Dr. Salim Mansur, a political science professor at London's Western University, wants Kenney to go a step further and introduce a moratorium on immigration from Muslim nations.

"This is not racist," Mansur said, referring to Newark's comments. "Their values, ideologies, politics and culture is completely incompatible with the values of Canada as a liberal democracy."

Poll

Does Canada do a good job at screening prospective immigrants?

• 6%
• Yes

• 5 votes
• 
  

• 4%
• I don't know

• 3 votes
• 
  

• 90%
• No, it could be better

• 73 votes
• 
  

Gun restrictions won’t stop killing

  (Shutterstock)


As a father ­— a father who was fortunate enough to have a job that made it possible to drop our kids off at school nearly every day from elementary through to high school — I grieve for the parents who lost six- and seven-year-olds in the horrible shootings last week in Newtown, Conn.

So it is with the deepest regret that I even raise this subject while the little victims of that mass killing are being laid to rest. I wish with all my heart I didn’t have to talk politics in the shadow of this tragedy.

But the forces that would regulate personal freedom in the name of public safety are already using the raw emotions generated by this horrific event to call for restrictions on law-abiding citizens’ rights in the name of preventing a repeat.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/18/gun-restrictions-wont-stop-killing

Ontario gun laws make mass shootings less likely: OPP commish

  OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis. (STAN BEHAL/Toronto Sun files)


TORONTO - Gun laws in this province make mass shootings such as what happened in Connecticut less likely, says OPP Commissioner Chris Lewis.

All the same, he’s worried by rumblings from Ottawa about an easing of regulations surrounding the ban on prohibited weapons such as assault weapons.

A firearms advisory committee appointed by federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews came up with the recommendations recently. They were quickly slapped down by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, but Lewis is worried by the discussion.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/18/ontario-gun-laws-make-mass-shootings-less-likely-opp-commish

NRA breaks silence, pledges to help prevent future U.S. massacres

WASHINGTON - The National Rifle Association said on Tuesday it wanted to contribute meaningfully to prevent another massacre like the Connecticut shooting, suggesting a sharp change in tone for the largest U.S. gun rights group.

“The National Rifle Association of America is made up of four million moms and dads, sons and daughters - and we were shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders in Newtown,” the organization said in a statement.

It said it plans a news conference on Friday after staying silent as a matter of common decency and out of respect for families in Newtown, Connecticut, where a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at a school last Friday.

“The NRA is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again,” the statement said. An NRA spokesman did not immediately respond when asked to elaborate on what the contributions might entail.

Giving breasts a squeeze could hinder cancer growth

Women suffering from breast cancer may benefit from giving their breasts an extra squeeze – literally.
According to researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, placing mechanical force on malignant mammary cells can actually reverse their irregular growth process and put them back on track for a normal growth pattern.

“We are showing that tissue organization is sensitive to mechanical inputs from the environment at the beginning stages of growth and development,” said Daniel Fletcher, professor of bioengineering at Berkeley and faculty scientist at the Berkeley Lab, as well as the study’s lead investigator.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/12/18/giving-breasts-squeeze-could-hinder-cancer-growth/

Canada's wait-and-see approach on Syria coalition right way to go 6

  Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird. (Reuters)


In Monday’s column I made an error when I said Canada wasn’t following suit with the U.S., Britain, France and something like 100 other countries in recognizing the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) as the “legitimate” replacement for the Bashar al-Assad dictatorship.
What I should have said is that Canada is “prepared” to recognize the SNC as the legitimate government — but not until we, Canada, are sure that whatever gang replaces the existing regime practices a modicum of democracy and respects the rights of minority groups, independents and women.

Foreign Minister John Baird made this clear in a speech delivered in Morocco to a Friends of Syria convention.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/17/canadas-wait-and-see-approach-on-syria-coalition-right-way-to-go

MMA fighter Ray Elbe suffers fractured penis

'Keeping it safe during sex isn't just wearing a condom'

 

    A photo posted to Twitter shows mixed martial artist Ray Elbe in hospital.

 

Mixed martial artist Ray Elbe likely suffered the worst injury of his career earlier this month.
This one, however, occurred outside the octagon.

Elbe, who announced he's currently on a training tour in southeast Asia, took to his personal website over the weekend to confirm he sustained a penile fracture during intense intercourse with his girlfriend.

“Keeping it safe during sex isn’t just wearing a condom,” Elbe said in an online video message. “As it happened you can imagine the shock and the horror that was going on. Obviously my girlfriend was frantic. We’re in a foreign country that doesn’t speak English."

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/17/mma-fighter-ray-elbe-suffers-horrifying-injury-away-from-ring

Torturer 'easily-controlled' victim's wife, court hears

   A woman who helped her boyfriend torture her ex-husband was a “gullible" and "easily-controlled,” a court has heard.


TORONTO - A woman who helped her boyfriend inflict unimaginable sexual and physical torture on her ex-husband was a “gullible, easily-controlled” simpleton who couldn’t save him, a sentencing hearing was told.
Psychiatrist Derek Pallandi testified Monday that the woman’s low intelligence, naivete and stress handcuffed her from sparing her former husband from a litany of abuse at the sadistic hands of her boyfriend, John Siscoe.
The woman, 31, has admitted she was an accomplice as Siscoe perpetrated three months of torture against her ex-husband, 40, while the trio shared an Eglinton Ave. W. apartment in the fall of 2009.
The trio met in B.C. and moved together to Toronto in September 2009.

The identities of the woman and the victim are covered by a publication ban.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/17/torturer-an-easily-controlled-simpleton-court-hears

ScarJo hacker jailed for 10 years

   Actress Scarlett Johansson addresses delegates during the final session of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina September 6, 2012. (REUTERS/Jason Reed)


A man who hacked into Scarlett Johansson's private computer files and leaked nude photos of the actress online has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars.

Christopher Chaney, 35, from Florida, was arrested in connection with the scandal and charged with 25 counts of identity theft last year.

It is believed he accessed the private email and phone accounts of a string of celebrities, including Johansson, Christina Aguilera and Mila Kunis.

He pleaded guilty to nine cyber hacking-related felonies in March and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a Los Angeles court on Monday.

U.S. District Judge S. James Otero passed down the sentence after watching a videotaped statement from a tearful Johansson.

He told the defendant, "It's hard to fathom the mindset of a person who would accomplish all of this. These types of crimes are as pernicious and serious as physical stalking."
Chaney hacked into Johnasson's private accounts and stole naked pictures of the actress intended for her then-husband Ryan Reynolds, before publishing the images on the Internet.

Two dead in two separate Northern Alberta crashes Mounties say both crashes still under investigation

Mounties are continuing to investigate tw
o unrelated fatal collisions that happened within an hour of each other Friday in northern Alberta.
The fist wreck happened near Legal where Morinville RCMP say a vehicle crossed the centre line and struck a southbound vehicle head-on along a stretch of Highway 2 sometime around 6:30 p.m.

The man of the northbound vehicle was pronounced dead on scene south of Legal — about 55 km north of Edmonton. The investigation into the crash still continues, say Mounties who have ruled out booze as a factor in the crash.

 http://www.edmontonsun.com/2012/12/15/two-dead-in-two-separate-northern-alberta-crashes

Ineffective leadership hampers America

    U.S. President Barack Obama gestures as he delivers remarks on the economy to employees at the Daimler Detroit Diesel plant in Redford, Michigan, December 10, 2012. (REUTERS/Jason Reed)


This Christmas, as we roast our chestnuts by that open fire, it’s important to spare a thought for our American cousins.

After all, they are still clinging to the edge of the fiscal cliff and the nights are getting ever colder. Oh yes, they’re also being pushed up against the debt ceiling at the same time. It’s like a never-ending Indiana Jones movie but with no leading men.

It’s constant drama. Will they scramble up off the cliff by Jan. 1? Will they raise their debt ceiling and avoid defaulting on their bonds? Tune in next week to find out.

But perhaps we’re no better. Yes, we’re on top of the mountain these days, staying warm by the fire and probably feeling a little bit pleased with ourselves with our good jobs and relative prosperity.

How easy it is to forget that over the decades we’ve chained ourselves to those poor suckers down south and if they go over the cliff we’ll be right behind them.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/14/ineffective-leadership-hampers-america

McGuinty Libs blow another $1.4 billion

Apparently the Dalton McGuinty government is a lot better at raising taxes than collecting them.
Among the horror stories in outgoing Ontario Auditor General Jim McCarter’s final annual report last week was word the finance ministry expects it will never collect up to $1.4 billion of the $2.4 billion it’s owed in back taxes.
In other words, the same Liberal government that broke its promise not to raise taxes through three election campaigns and nine years in office, was simultaneously leaking tax revenues like a sieve.

While it may be human nature to see it as good news when a tax-and-spend government like McGuinty’s doesn’t collect all the money it’s owed, in reality it’s another fiscal disaster.

Think of all the things $1.4 billion could have bought, assuming the government had collected it.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/14/mcguinty-libs-blow-another-14-billion

Fashion Island shooting: Gunman fires shots outside California mall

  
LOS ANGELES - A gunman caused panic at a southern California mall on Saturday when he fired at least 50 shots in a parking lot outside a department store, but hit no one and was taken into custody, police said.
The incident at the Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach - which came a day after a man killed 27 people and then himself in a shooting rampage in Connecticut - caused shoppers to flee into store dressing rooms, according to local broadcast reports.

“A male was shooting a weapon in the air and at the ground, standing by a vehicle,” Newport Beach police spokeswoman Kathy Lowe said.

Police said they had taken the man, 42, into custody. They did not immediately release his name or say what charges he might face for the incident

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/12/16/fashion-island-shooting-gunman-fires-shots-outside-california-mall