The moncitizenship is the new Canadian governmental task. The diplomatic lines of Republics of Yemen and Poland are non grata with their masks

Ten Russian agents who infiltrated suburban America and acted as spies for Moscow were deported Thursday after admitting their crimes.

The spies left New York for Moscow hours after pleading guilty to conspiracy in a Manhattan courtroom and being sentenced to time served and ordered out of the country, said a law enforcement official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak on the record.

The spies were to be exchanged for four people convicted of betraying Moscow to the West in the biggest spy swap since the Cold War.

The 10 defendants, many speaking in heavy Russian accents despite having spent years posing as U.S. citizens, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in a Manhattan courtroom, were sentenced to time served and ordered out of the country.

The swap carries significant consequences for efforts between Washington and Moscow to repair ties chilled by a deepening atmosphere of suspicion.

Semitic illegal drug calls Khat spreads in North

America and Europe

The defendants, captured last week in suburban homes across the Northeast, were accused of embedding themselves in ordinary American life for more than a decade while leading double lives complete with false passports, secret code words, fake names, invisible ink and encrypted radio.

One worked for an accounting firm, another was a real estate agent, another a columnist for a Spanish-language newspaper.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the "extraordinary" case took years of work, "and the agreement we reached today provides a successful resolution for the United States and its interests."

White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel said on PBS's NewsHour that President Barack Obama had made the decision to go forward with the arrests.

But whether the defendants provided Russia with valuable secret information is questionable.

"None of the people involved from my understanding provided any information that couldn't be obtained on the Internet," Chapman's attorney, Robert Baum, told The Associated Press.

In Russia, the Kremlin said President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree pardoning four convicted foreign spies so that they can be exchanged for the 10 U.S. defendants.

The Kremlin statement carried by the Russian news agencies says that Medvedev has pardoned Russian citizens Alexander Zaporozhsky, Gennady Vasilenko, Sergei Skripal and Igor Sutyagin.

Sutyagin, an arms analyst, was reportedly plucked from a Moscow prison and put on a plane to Vienna. Skripal is a former colonel in the Russian military intelligence, and Zaporozhsky is a former colonel in the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also issued a statement saying that the exchange being conducted by Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service and the CIA was conducted in the context of "overall improvement of the U.S.-Russian ties and giving them new dynamics."

An Obama administration official said the quick and pragmatic arrangement of the spy swap with Russia speaks to the progress that has been made in U.S.-Russian relations.

The senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the deal, said that by shutting down the spy operation, the U.S. sent a warning to other governments that might be interested in undertaking similar spy operations.

The U.S. Justice Department said in a letter Thursday that some of the four prisoners are in poor health and had served lengthy prison terms. Three of the four were accused by Russia of contacting Western intelligence agencies while they were working for the Russian or Soviet government, the letter stated.

The 10 suburban spies pleaded guilty to conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign country and were ordered deported.

Relatives of the accused Russian spies leave the courtroom in New York City on Thursday. (Louis Lanzano/Associated Press)

An 11th defendant has been a fugitive since fleeing authorities in Cyprus following his release on bail.

One defendant's attorney said a private plane was expected to take the 10 to Russia within days.

The defendants — led into court in handcuffs, some in prison smocks and some wearing T-shirts and jeans — provided almost no information about what kind of spying they actually did for Russia.

Asked to describe their crimes, each acknowledged having worked for Russia secretly, sometimes under an assumed identity, without registering as a foreign agent.

Defendant Anna Chapman — whose sultry photos gleaned from social-networking sites made her a tabloid sensation — pulled back her mane of red hair as she glanced around the courtroom. A burly deputy U.S. marshal hovered behind her.

All the defendants stood and raised they right hands in unison to be sworn in before answering a series of questions from the judge, beginning with a request to state their true identities. Their answers were short and scripted, their 10 guilty pleas given one by one in assembly-line precision.

The 10 Russian agents freed by the United States are unlikely to be greeted as heroes in Russia, as the Kremlin will probably try to turn the page quickly over the embarrassing incident and avoid further damage in relations with Washington.

Independent newspapers and liberal commentators in Russia have chafed at the obvious lack of results of the spy ring work and ridiculed the low level of their training.

• Harvard University, A.B. (1963) - studied government and international relations.
• Cambridge University, LL.B (1965).
• Queen's University, LL.B (1966).

• Harvard University, A.B. (1963) - studied government and international relations.
• Cambridge University, LL.B (1965).
• Queen's University, LL.B (1966).

"I appreciate your responsible and difficult decisions in that regard," Harper told Cameron during the leaders' brief remarks to reporters at the G8 site.

Cameron replied he believed the spending cuts were what "needs to be done" and said he looked forward to working with other leaders at the dual summits to "address the imbalances that we have."

While some leaders are calling for continued stimulus spending in the wake of last year's financial crisis, Harper is expected to call on G20 leaders to cut their budget deficits in half within three years.

During their remarks, the British leader also disclosed he went for a swim in the lake at the Deerhurst Resort, where leaders are meeting.

"Good for you," Harper said, then added he didn't get that kind of "free time."

"It just means you get up very early," the British PM replied.

'Designated speech area' quiet

Police escorted about two dozen protesters down the main street of Huntsville in the morning. The protesters, who were calling on G8 leaders to declare water a human right, decided to turn around after five minutes and return to the site where they began.

Meanwhile, the "designated speech area" on the outskirts of town was quiet ahead of the summit. Ontario Provincial Police are patrolling the area roughly eight kilometres from the actual summit site.

The CBC's Dave Seglins visited the area early Friday morning and described it as a large farm field.

"It's way out of town, it's buggy, there has not been a single protester here," Seglins said.

Maternal health plan at forefront

One of the main items on the agenda will be Harper's maternal health initiative, aimed at dramatically reducing the number of women in the developing world who die in childbirth and the number of children who succumb to preventable diseases.

Harper's spokesman Dimitri Soudas said G8 leaders seem very interested in the maternal health initiative, but added it was premature to speculate whether individual leaders would make their own personal pledges.

"So far, the discussions have been in a positive direction," Soudas told reporters. "Non-G8 countries have also expressed interest in it. We obviously welcome contributions from non-G8 countries."

July 4, 2010: CBC NEWS: The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh watched Big Red Mike win the 151st running of the Queen's Plate in Toronto on Sunday afternoon.

The Queen, an avid owner and breeder of horses, presented the trophy to the winning jockey, Eurico Rosa da Silva, and Big Red Mike's handlers from Terra Racing Stable.

She and Prince Philip arrived at Woodbine Racetrack in a horse-drawn carriage. It was her fourth trip to see North America's oldest continuously run stakes race, after visits in 1959, 1973 and 1997.

The royal couple, who were pulled down the track in a landau to applause and cheers from thousands of people at the track, spent some time in the walking ring before watching the running of the Queen's Plate.

For the first time, two women were in the jockey lineup, including Emma-Jayne Wilson, riding D's Wando.

"I'm honoured. My parents are from Britain and I've been to England a few times," Wilson, who was born and raised in Ontario, said before the race.

Semitic illegal drug calls Khat spreads in North

America and Europe

However, she added that she wouldn't be distracted by the presence of royalty.

"I hope I can enjoy it as best as I can, but I got a job to do, and I promise you, I'm going to be focused on my job," she said.

The Queen's Plate, commemorating a plate granted by Queen Victoria that was then valued at 50 guineas, is a 1¼-mile race for three-year-old Canadian thoroughbreds. Today, race winners get a gold cup and 50 gold sovereigns, as well as 60 per cent of the total purse of $1 million.

On Sunday morning, the Queen and Prince Philip attended a church service in Toronto as royal watchers gathered outside in the sweltering heat and humidity.

Royal watchers applaud as the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh leave Church in downtown Toronto. (Dave Seglins/CBC)

About 1,500 people waited as the couple entered St. James Cathedral in downtown on their second-last full day of a nine-day visit to Canada.

The Queen wore a blue patterned outfit with a matching turquoise hat. Those invited inside donned their Sunday best and fancy hats, and several men were decked out in military regalia.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, his wife and Lt.-Gov. David Onley sat across the aisle from the Queen.

The royal tour continued amid a heat alert in Toronto. Temperatures in the low 30s were expected to feel like the high 30s - maybe even 40 C - when the humidity was factored in.

Queen mingles with the crowd

Dharby Harrison, 8, travelled from London, Ont., to see the Queen outside St. James Cathedral. (Dave Seglins/CBC)

The crowd applauded as the Queen did a short walkabout after the church service and was presented with bouquets of flowers.

First in line for the Queen's greetings was eight-year-old Dharby Harrison.

"It was awesome," Dharby told CBC News. "She said, 'Thank you' and I said, 'No, thank you, Your Majesty."

So far, the royal couple have visited Halifax, Ottawa and Winnipeg on their Canadian tour.

On Monday, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will visit the headquarters of Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry device, in Waterloo, Ont. They will return to Toronto before leaving for New York City on Tuesday.

The moncitizenship is the new Canadian governmental task. The diplomatic lines of Republics of Yemen and Poland are non grata with their masks.

M.T. Al-Mansouri

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part One

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-1

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Two

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Three https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-2

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Four

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-4

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Five

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-3

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Six

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-5

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Seven

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/forum/topics/rcmp-canadas-image-and

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Eight

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-6

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Nine

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profile/OIPWHRMT

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Ten

Active and sleeper cells of terrorists and criminals Downtown Ottawa, and in North America Part One

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/active-and-sleeper-cel...

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Elven

Active and sleeper cells of terrorists and criminals Downtown Ottawa, and in North America Part two

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/active-and-sleeper-cel...

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Twelve

Active and sleeper cells of terrorists and criminals Downtown Ottawa, and in North America Part Three

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/active-and-sleeper-cells-of-2

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Thirteen

Active and sleeper cells of terrorists and criminals Downtown Ottawa, and in North America Part Four

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/active-and-sleeper-cel...

Russian spy suspects, as seen from left to right in this courtroom sketch, are Vicky Pelaez, Richard Murphy, Cynthia Murphy and Juan Lazaro. (Shirley Shepherd/Reuters)

The Associated Press : Last Updated: Thursday, July 8, 2010/11:57 AM ET : One of the biggest Russia-U.S. spy swaps since the Cold War was in motion Thursday, as a Russian convicted of spying for the United States was reportedly flown to Vienna from a Moscow prison.

Igor Sutyagin, a Russian arms control analyst serving a 14-year sentence for spying for the United States, told relatives he was one of 11 convicted spies in Russia who would be freed in exchange for 10 people charged in the United States with being Russian agents.

Sutyagin's lawyer in Moscow said a journalist called Sutyagin's family to inform them that he was seen walking off a plane in Vienna on Thursday. However, the lawyer was not able to get confirmation from Russian authorities.

Sutyagin, who worked as an arms control and military analyst at the Moscow-based think-tank U.S.A. and Canada Institute, was arrested in 1999 and convicted in 2004 on charges of passing information about nuclear submarines and other weapons to a British company that investigators claimed was a CIA cover.

Sutyagin's brother said Sutyagin saw a list of 11 prisoners in Russia who are being traded for 10 people arrested in the United States last week for being unregistered Russian agents.

Russian and U.S. officials have refused to comment on any possible swap.

Meanwhile, defence lawyers in New York say they expect an immediate resolution for their 10 clients charged with spying in the United States.

A federal court in New York was to decide the fate of those 10 suspects later Thursday.

Neither country would confirm an exchange was planned. But the machinations — including a meeting in Washington between U.S. officials and the Russian ambassador on Wednesday — had all the hallmarks as the two former Cold War enemies moved to tamp down tensions stirred by the U.S. arrests.

Dmitry Sutyagin said his brother remembered only one other person on the Russian list of spies to be exchanged — Sergei Skripal, a colonel in Russian military intelligence who in 2006 was sentenced to 13 years on charges of spying for Britain.

A spokesman for British Prime Minister David Cameron would not confirm or deny a possible London tie to the spy swap.

"This is primarily an issue for the U.S. authorities," spokesman Steve Field said.

Five suspects charged with spying in the U.S. were hurriedly ordered to New York on Wednesday, joining five others already behind bars there, after Sutyagin spilled the news of the swap from his penal colony near the Arctic Circle.

In a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday, the 10 suspects in New York and an 11th person, who was released on bail by a court in Cyprus and is now a fugitive, were formally charged.

Arraignment hearing set

The moncitizenship is the new Canadian governmental task. The diplomatic lines of Republics of Yemen and Poland are non grata with their masks.

The indictment charged all of them with conspiring to act as secret agents and charged nine with conspiracy to commit money laundering. It demanded that those accused of money laundering return any assets used in the offence.

Attorney Robert Baum, who represents defendant Anna Chapman, said late Wednesday the case might be settled when she and the other nine people arrested in the United States appear for arraignment on the indictment, raising the possibility of guilty pleas to the lowest charges and deportation from the U.S.

Prosecutors released a copy of the indictment as federal judges in Boston and Alexandria, Va., signed orders directing that five defendants arrested in Massachusetts and Virginia be transferred to New York. All were charged in Manhattan.

The defendants were accused of living seemingly ordinary lives in America while they acted as unregistered agents for the Russian government, sending secret messages and carrying out orders they received from their Russian contacts.

All have remained in custody except for a man identified as Christopher R. Metsos, the 11th suspect who is charge with being the ring's paymaster. Metsos, travelling on a fake Canadian passport, jumped bail last week after being arrested in Cyprus.

Semitic illegal drug calls Khat spreads in North

America and Europe

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part One

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-1

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Two

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Three https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-2

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Four

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-4

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Five

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-3

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Six

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-5

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Seven

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/forum/topics/rcmp-canadas-image-and

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Eight

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-6

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Nine

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profile/OIPWHRMT

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Ten

Active and sleeper cells of terrorists and criminals Downtown Ottawa, and in North America Part One

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/active-and-sleeper-cel...

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Elven

Active and sleeper cells of terrorists and criminals Downtown Ottawa, and in North America Part two

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/active-and-sleeper-cel...

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Twelve

Active and sleeper cells of terrorists and criminals Downtown Ottawa, and in North America Part Three

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/active-and-sleeper-cells-of-2

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Thirteen

Active and sleeper cells of terrorists and criminals Downtown Ottawa, and in North America Part Four

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/active-and-sleeper-cel...

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Fourteen

Active and sleeper cells of terrorists and criminals Downtown Ottawa, and in North America Part Five

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/active-and-sleeper-cel...

Growing up as I did in rural Manitoba, I was 10 years old when I bought my first rifle, a .22-calibre Cooey bolt-action repeater for $10.

With my friends, who also had .22s, we spent many summer days hunting rabbits and gophers. Gophers in particular.

At the time, the province paid a nickel bounty for every gopher's tail you brought in. Designed to curb Manitoba's burgeoning gopher population, the policy was a distinct failure, although my friends and I did what we could to wipe them out.

We all used .22 Whiz-Bang long rifle ammunition. It came 50 shells to a box. A box cost 85 cents.

Simple arithmetic meant you had to have 17 hits to buy a new box of Whiz-Bangs. You can develop a pretty good shooting eye working to that standard.

Growing-up moment

Hunter McConathy, 7, holds a hunting rifle with a short stock as his father Bryan and salesman Russ Duncan watch him at the Cabela's store in Fort Worth, Texas in 2008. In June 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Chicago's strict gun control law, in the process affirming the right of individual Americans to own arms. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)

In the fall, we went duck and deer hunting with our fathers and other older men.

To be invited to shoot over decoys or to be assigned a deer stand was a big growing-up moment.

In that part of the world, guns were mixed in with the baseball season, fall football, bicycles, paper routes and hanging around. Guns were a part of the scene but by no means the dominant activity.

When I left Manitoba to work elsewhere, almost always in urban areas, guns and hunting simply faded from my life. I've never owned one since.

My wife and I live in Washington but we also have a small farm in northern Virginia. Fauquier County to be exact. It's about 80 kilometres from the capital. Fauquier is very much about hunting and the outdoor life.

Most of my neighbours hunt, many belong to skeet, trap or pistol clubs and, as was the case in Manitoba, guns are part of a family tradition with one notable difference: women are now fully active in these sports. Many young girls follow the same path as their brothers.

Semitic illegal drug calls Khat spreads in North

America and Europe

Guns on the bar

Many are also National Rifle Association members. And while I don't shoot anymore, my neighbours and I have common cause.

It is that the lunatic-fringe gun owners, and the weak-kneed politicians who serve them, have now gone too far.

In Virginia, you can carry a concealed weapon. You need a permit that requires some minimal knowledge of your weapon and a check of your background.

I remember a few years back, when the law came into effect, the local newspaper interviewed the first Fauquier County recipient of such a permit. They also ran a picture of the man, a beefy, crew-cut young guy who said he was a construction worker.

Asked why he wanted to carry a gun, his response was simple and straightforward: " It makes me feel good."

More than 100,000 such permits have been issued since.

These permits have always had no-go areas. You can't carry a concealed weapon in schools, hospitals, at the mall, etc. But this week, the state legislature passed a law that allows gun-toters to wear their iron in bars and restaurants where liquor is sold.

This law passed despite being opposed by every police chief in the state.

The majority of restaurant and bar owners opposed it as well.

The new law says a permit-holder cannot drink alcohol while packing a gun. But bar owners say, if a gun is concealed, how would they know who may be breaking the law.

One of those in the forefront of the law's successful lobbying effort is Philip Van Cleave of Virginia's Citizens Defence League.

He told reporters he wanted the law because: "If there is somebody drinking in there and suddenly they pull a knife and start to stab people or whatever, I want to protect myself."

There was another, perhaps more significant defeat this week for the gun-control movement: The U.S. Supreme Court strike down the city of Chicago's strict gun rules.

In a shot heard nationwide, the court ruled that "states and local jurisdictions cannot significantly limit the right to keep and to bear arms," a direct response to Chicago's 28-year ban on handguns being kept in the city's homes.

'Commonsense regulations'

The news triggered a barrage of headlines and dire warnings. Many commentators, such as CNN/New Yorker legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, felt that gun control had just been thrown out the window and someone was soon going to have to figure out how to stop someone from legally owning a Stinger missile.

Silly, I know, but this is the U.S.

Almost overlooked, the justice did add language that indicated states and local jurisdictions could enforce "commonsense regulations."

In the wake of the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley promised to soon push for a new ordinance regulating handguns in the city. (M. Spencer Green/Associated Press)

That was enough for Chicago Mayor Richard Daley. His council immediately passed a new law, even tougher than the previous one.

Its teeth is that it makes gun permits very difficult to get. The procedure is time-consuming and the mayor promises that if any loopholes are found he will plug them

.

This newest step by Chicago will almost certainly end up in the courts as well.

Pretty much everyone, on both sides of the gun issue, believes the court's inclusion of "commonsense regulations" will open the door to hundreds, if not thousands of lawsuits testing the limits of gun control right across the land.

Obviously, you don't want guns in schools. But with the right to own guns by individuals now firmly established, where do you draw the line?

The vast majority of the gun owners that I know understand what is right. It's time for politicians to get with it and not just play to the loudest voices.

Some quick statistics.

Every year more than 100,000 Americans are shot and more than 30,000 will die as a result of their wounds.

Eighty-five people in the U.S. die each day from gun violence, nine of them are teenagers or children.

And a note to Philip Van Cleave and his concern about being stabbed in a bar: Gun owners are four times more likely to die from guns than those without weapons.

Henry Champ

INSIDE WASHINGTON

About the author

Henry Champ has been one of the world's top foreign correspondents for most of his 40 years in journalism. Until his retirement in November 2008, he was CBC Newsworld's authority on Washington, D.C., where he continues to live. A leading Canadian voice on the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq and the growing concerns over the Canada-U.S. relationship, Champ continues to write a regular column for CBCNews.ca

The moncitizenship is the new Canadian governmental task. The diplomatic lines of Republics of Yemen and Poland are non grata with their masks.

M.T. Al-Mansouri

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part One

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-1

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Two

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Three https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-2

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Four

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-4

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Five

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-3

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Six

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-5

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification Part Seven

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/forum/topics/rcmp-canadas-image-and

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Eight

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/rcmp-canadas-image-and-6

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Nine

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profile/OIPWHRMT

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Ten

Active and sleeper cells of terrorists and criminals Downtown Ottawa, and in North America Part One

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/active-and-sleeper-cel...

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Elven

Active and sleeper cells of terrorists and criminals Downtown Ottawa, and in North America Part two

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/active-and-sleeper-cel...

RCMP: Canada’s Image and Beautification: Part Twelve

Active and sleeper cells of terrorists and criminals Downtown Ottawa, and in North America Part Three

https://poetsofottawa.ning.com/profiles/blogs/active-and-sleeper-cells-of-2

Irish-owned vessel boarded without incident

Last Updated: Saturday, June 5, 2010 /4:05 PM ET : CBC News : Israeli forces boarded a Gaza-bound ship Saturday, preventing the Irish-owned vessel from breaking through a naval blockade of the territory ruled by Hamas.

Israel first sent four warnings to the MV Rachel Corrie — named after an American activist killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in 2003 — telling the crew to sail to the nearby Israeli port of Ashdod.

The 1,200-tonne vessel was carrying aid, along with 11 pro-Palestinian activists and nine crew members as it was intercepted in international waters, about 30 kilometres from Gaza's shore.

Israeli forces avoided a repeat of Monday's events on the Turkish aid ship Mavi Marmara as it escorted the Irish ship to Ashdod.

Military spokeswoman Lt.-Col. Avital Leibovich said Saturday's takeover took just minutes as the ship's captain gathered passengers in one area of the vessel, presumably to avoid violence.

She said commandos clambered onto the boat by sea, instead of descending from helicopters as occurred Monday when commandos were attacked and nine activists were killed.

Netanyahu fears 'Iranian port'

After the latest takeover at sea, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signalled he is determined to enforce the naval blockade, saying he would "not allow the establishment of an Iranian port in Gaza."

Iran is one of Israel's most implacable foes and supplies weapons and cash to Hamas.

Netanyahu said Israel's three-year-old blockade of Gaza is meant to keep weapons out of the hands of Hamas.

Egypt has helped enforce the blockade on land, but President Hosni Mubarak ordered the passenger terminal with Gaza to open daily, instead of sporadically, after last Monday's raid.

The U.S. had adopted a gradual approach of persuading Israel to ease restrictions but said Friday it was working "urgently" with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and other international partners to develop new procedures for delivering more goods to Gaza while blocking the entry of weapons.

Treat Khadr as child soldier: UN envoy

Last Updated: Wednesday, May 5, 2010 | 1:31 PM ET Comments110Recommend50

The Canadian Press

The UN envoy in charge of child protection said the war-crimes prosecution of Canadian Omar Khadr could set a dangerous precedent and is calling on Canada and the U.S. to treat him as a child soldier.

Khadr, 23, is facing prosecution in Guantanamo Bay before a military commission for alleged crimes he committed when he was 15.

International conventions afford special safeguards for children during armed conflicts, said Radhika Coomaraswamy, who is the UN's under-secretary-general, special representative for children and armed conflict.

Khadr needs to be rehabilitated, she said.

Khadr is charged with murder, conspiracy and support of terrorism, after being accused of tossing a hand grenade that killed a U.S. medic during a battle in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border in 2002.

He is into a second week of pre-trial hearings at Guantanamo Bay, where his lawyers are arguing self-incriminating statements he gave were the product of torture.

Khadr has so far refused to attend his pretrial hearing, claiming his prison guards were intimidating him and tried to humiliate him during body searches

Last Updated: Thursday, May 20, 2010 / 10:32 AM ET : CBC News

Queen Elizabeth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, will visit Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Ontario during their tour of Canada this summer, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office announced Wednesday.

"Royal tours present a wonderful opportunity for Canadians to learn more about our constitutional monarchy, one of the pillars upon which our country is founded," said Harper.

"They are an important part of our history, traditions and institutions."

The royal couple's tour schedule includes stops in Halifax from June 28 to June 30; the National Capital Region from June 30 to July 3; Winnipeg on July 3; Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, from July 3 to July 6.

Their full itinerary will be announced at a later date, according to the PMO.

This will be the Queen's 22nd official tour of Canada. She and Prince Philip last toured Canada in 2005, when they visited Saskatchewan and Alberta to celebrate the centennial of the entry of those provinces into Confederation.