International News
Guide bears witness to rainforest secret
By MARK HUME
Waist deep in sedge grass, Marven Robinson pauses to scan the Pacific Coast estuary spread out before him in one of North America's wildest places _ the Great Bear Rainforest on British Columbia's north coast.
"In thick grass like this a bear will sometimes stand up right in front of you," he says, "but it's not threatening.
Is Hezbollah cashing in on Viagra and vice?
By COLIN FREEZE
It is an unlikely fundraising scheme for terrorists, in which U.S. prosecutors say Canadian and American suspects smuggled cigarettes and sold fake Viagra to raise money for Hezbollah.
When authorities bring the alleged ringleaders to trial in January, they will argue that 19 people _ five of them Canadian _ also sold other counterfeit goods, including Zig-Zag-branded cigarette papers, to help raise money for the Lebanese terrorist group.
Among the suspects: Theodore Schenk, a 73-year-old Jewish widower from Miami Beach, Fla., and one of his alleged accomplices, Abdel-Hamid Sinno, a 53-year-old Quebecker who once worked as an imam in Montreal.
"Hezbollah has significant numbers of supporters in North America .
More spending problems with Canadian natives group
By BILL CURRY
Federal auditors have found new spending problems at the federally funded Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, including the case of a native leader who was claiming mileage and per diems for daily trips to and from his Thunder Bay office.
The Indian Affairs Department is auditing the congress, the main national group representing natives who live outside of reserves, to examine how federal money to its Ottawa headquarters and eight provincial wings is being spent.
The audit has found that about $150,000 spent by the congress's Ontario affiliate, the Ontario Metis Aboriginal Association, has been disallowed and must be returned.
National chief Patrick Brazeau said the congress will not tolerate such behavior and has suspended the Ontario affiliate.
"If you don't play by the rules, then you're out," he said.
The Ontario affiliate received about $430,0000 in funding in fiscal 2004-05 for programs dealing with Metis rights.
Federal officials stated in the audit that the Ontario wing was not able to provide detailed justification for invoiced payments to the Native Trading House, a company run by Frank Palmeter, a former vice chief of the congress.
The audit also lists about $21,000 in disallowed travel expenses submitted by the president of the Ontario affiliate, Michael McGuire.
"The destination shown on the travel claim is Thunder Bay, the place of (the president's) residence and OMAA office.
The call goes out from Canada: Yankee, come visit
By TAVIA GRANT
Canada has an image problem south of the border. It's not that Americans have a bad impression of their northern neighbour _ it's that they have no impression at all.
It's little wonder, then, that U.S.
