The pace of health care spending in Canada continues to slow, according to a new report.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information released its report on health expenditures on Tuesday, saying it is expected to reach $207 billion in 2012.

Health care spending as a share of the economy and of provincial government spending has fallen, said Dr. Michael Rachlis, a health policy consultant in Toronto commenting on the report.

"The current received wisdom is that health care costs are just rising inexorably out of control. So that's why a data release that's saying something moderate about moderating spending data is of news."

The proportion of Canada's gross domestic product or GDP spent on health care is expected to reach 11.6 per cent this year compared with an all-time high of 11.9 per cent in 2010, the institute said, as provincial and territorial governments focus on controlling health care costs.

"Weaker prospects for economic growth combined with fiscal deficits and fewer savings from debt service charges could have a dampening effect on the future growth of public-sector health spending," the report's authors concluded.

"Managing health-specific price inflation for core medicare goods and services, including doctors, nurses, other health care professionals and advanced diagnostics, will be a challenge."

The growth of spending on physicians, 14.4 per cent, hospitals, 29.2 per cent, and drugs, 15.9 per cent, all slowed but continued to account for the largest share of health dollars.

In 2012, hospital spending will grow by 3.1 per cent and physicians by 3.6 per cent — the lowest rates of growth since the late 1990s, CIHI said.

Another earthquake has rattled the north coast of B.C.

The 6.2-magnitude tremor was recorded at 7:29 p.m. PT Monday at a depth of about 10 kilometres and was centred about 260 kilometres southwest of Prince Rupert, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

There were no reports of injury or damage.

It is very close to the same area of Saturday's 7.7 magnitude quake.

The U.S. National Weather Service said the latest quake was not expected to generate a tsunami.

The tremor came as questions are being raised about the B.C. government's response to the weekend earthquake off the northwest coast, after officials took more than half an hour to issue a tsunami warning.

Seismologists say aftershocks like the latest one are normal. But Masset fire chief Stephen Grosse said that comes as little comfort to residents.

"People are like pins and needles around here right now," Grosse said. "People are too nervous. It scared them pretty bad. They still don't know who to trust, or if they should trust anybody."

Grosse said the rush to stock up on gas, water and non-perishibles left one gas station empty over the weekend

Hurricane Sandy will test Toronto’s ability to deal with a major storm unlike any other in recent history, city officials told a news conference Monday afternoon. Although the city has had to deal with serious flooding, mass power outages and harsh thunderstorms before, said city manager Joe Pennachetti, it’s “the length and scope of this storm that is different.”

Blair Peberdy, a vice president with Toronto Hydro, said he has never seen anything like it before.

“Certainly not in my career if the forecasts are what they say they are. I’ve been with Toronto Hydro for 25, 30 years. So I don’t think we’ve seen one come through as strong as this one,” he said.

Toronto Hydro is predicting tens of thousands of homes could be without power. Outages may last from a couple of hours to a number of days.

The storm, which is expected to take a direct path through Southern Ontario from New York, will pummel the GTA with winds up to 100 km/h. Meteorologists were predicting Toronto would receive 30-50 millimetres of rain by Tuesday night. The brunt of the storm will hit Toronto Tuesday morning.

Mayor Rob Ford advised Torontonians to take down outdoor Halloween decorations, stay off the roads and brace for power outages.

“We are expecting very strong winds, in some situations up to 90 kilometres an hour, and some heavy, heavy rainfall. This means there is potential for materials blowing onto the streets, falling tree branches, flooding and power outages,” said Ford.

In addition to securing loose items, such as waste bins and decorations, the mayor encouraged residents to clear storm sewer grates of leaves and stock up on food, water, flashlights and batteries.

If stoplights go dark, intersections should be treated as four-way stops, he added.

For hydro outages call 416-542-8000. Toronto Hydro will be posting updates on its website as well as tweeting details @TorontoHydro.

In case of non-emergency assistance, such as flooding or fallen branches, contact 311.

There are 32 areas in Toronto, including parts of North York and Rexdale to areas in Scarborough and the Beach, that are prone to “chronic” basement flooding during intense storms.

“We do expect heavy rainfall but it’s spread out over a number of hours, so the sewer system should be able to keep up with it,” said Lou Di Gironimo, the general manager of Toronto Water. “The problem is if the leaves get into the catch basin and start plugging up some of the storm sewers, you may see localized flooding.”

Several pockets are also at risk of road flooding. The Bayview extension and Hoggs Hollow are the most likely to have a problem. City crews are working in the area to ensure drainage systems are clear.

Meanwhile, Community Safety Minister Madeleine Meilleur told reporters at Queen’s Park that Emergency Management Ontario would assist any municipalities, including Toronto, unable to handle the fallout from the storm.

Meilleur added that the Red Cross and responders from Quebec and Manitoba may be able to assist if Ontario needs extra help.

ORNGE air ambulances were grounded as of 2 p.m. Monday because of the strong winds

555470
Rome (CNN) -- Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio
Berlusconi has survived political, corruption and sex scandals over the years,
but on Friday, a Milan court sentenced the flamboyant politician to four years
in prison for tax evasion.
Berlusconi, who is likely to
appeal, called it an "unacceptable political sentence" in an interview that
aired on CNN affiliate TGCOM24.
 "I was convinced that I would get
acquitted of an accusation that is far from the truth," he said. "This is a
conviction I can easily define as political, incredible and even
intolerable."
His trial, which also involved executives from Berlusconi's Mediaset television
group and the head of a Swiss bank, concerned the purchase of TV rights for
films that were then resold within the group at inflated prices.
Prosecutors said the scheme,
involving about 3,000 American films, allowed those involved to avoid a major
tax bill. They may have to pay a fine of up to €10 million ($12.9 million) if
the court's ruling is upheld.
 Under the Italian legal system,
Berlusconi and his fellow defendants have the right to appeal their sentence
twice, in the appeals court and a higher court.
 Also, because the case dates to
July 2006, the statute of limitations will expire next year, meaning there is a
good chance none of the defendants will serve any prison time.
 Berlusconi, 76, resigned as prime
minister in November amid his country's debt crisis, bringing to an apparent end
an 18-year era in which he dominated Italian politics.
 Through the years, he was
accused of embezzlement, fraud and bribery, but he was never convicted until the
tax evasion case.
 He also faces trial on charges
that he hired an underage prostitute and later tried to pull strings to get her
out of jail when she was accused of theft.
 The woman involved in the
long-running case is the Moroccan dancer Karima el Mahroug, nicknamed "Ruby the
Heart-stealer."
 American movie star George
Clooney had been expected to appear Friday as a defense witness in that case but
did not show up. The actor's representative said he would not be serving as a
witness for Berlusconi.
 He added: "I'm a victim of
judicial harassment."
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/26/world/europe/italy-berlusconi-convicted/index.html?hpt=ieu_c1

News story 2
At least 14 passengers on a Spain-bound vessel died when
the craft sunk off the coast of Morocco, a Moroccan official said Friday.


Mustapha Khalfi, Moroccan minister of communication, said the sinking took
place Thursday in the Mediterranean Sea off the Moroccan city of Alhucemas.


The ship was headed from Morocco to Spain, Khalfi said. Spain's Maritime
Rescue Service said a Spanish air force plane aided by rescue ships found the
boat 18 miles from the Moroccan coast.


At least 70 people were on board, Khalfi said, and 17 have been rescued.
Spanish authorities transported the survivors back to Morocco.


A search is under way for more survivors, Khalfi said.


The people on the ship are thought to be migrants escaping to Europe. Many
Africans looking to flee their homelands have tried to reach Europe by boat.
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/26/14-dead-in-sinking-off-moroccan-coast/?hpt=ieu_c2

504240
665179

Antarctic Sea Ice Reaches Record High Levels

The sea ice circling Antarctica reached record levels late last month, extending 7.51 million square miles (19.44 million square kilometers), the most ever recorded by satellite.

The previous record was set in 2006, at 7.49 million square miles (19.39 million km), according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

On Sept. 26, microwave images flown as part of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program captured the maximum sea ice extent. Dark gray land fills the center of the image, and light gray ice shelves float just offshore. (Ice shelves are the tongues of land-bound glaciers that extend out into the sea.) The yellow outline circling Antarctica defines the median sea extent from 1979 to 2000 — the total area in which the ice concentration in the ocean was at least 15 percent.

The record ice pack is likely due to stronger winds caused by warming temperatures in the Antarctic, according to a NASA statement. These circumpolar winds generally act to blow sea ice outward, except in the Antarctic Peninsula region, where winds from the north push the ice southward. Thus, sea ice extent near the northwestern Antarctic Peninsula declines rapidly, while areas in the Ross Sea and the southern Indian Ocean show significant increases, according to NASA.

Just as the Antarctic reached its zenith, the Arctic ice pack shrank to its minimum extent for the year– and it was a record low. The minimum was set on Sept. 16, at 1.39 million square miles (3.61 million square km). That is almost 300,000 square miles (777,000 square km) less than the previous record minimum set in September 2007 (1.61 million square miles or 4.17 million square km).

http://www.livescience.com/23912-antarctica-sea-ice-record-image.html

We make Arctic melt

Record melting of Arctic ice has alarmed climate scientists, but the extraction industry and shippers are thrilled at new business prospects.Having drained the world of most accessible oil, companies see in the Arctic Circle a most striking source for long-term fossil-fuel development. Shipping companies plan direct routes to Asia. It’s high time governments wake up to real danger.

A recent UN report projects Arctic summer ice to be non-existent by 2020. Climate researchers warn that the rapidly melting ice, with darker ocean waters that absorb the sun’s heat, will contribute to a shifting jet stream, creating new and unpredictable volatile weather patterns.

International oil companies acknowledge the melting is an effect of global warming. Yet instead of being alarmed, countries such as the US, Norway, Russia and even China are using the melting as a pretext for strategic benefit from global warming to gain new fossil fuel supplies. Global-warming skeptics, free-market adamants, major companies and governments have quickly come to accept future climate change as a new normal.  Few deny that climate change is underway. Whether governments and humans can take steps to stem their addiction and help the planet recover is the real issue.

In his 2006 environmental documentary, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, former US vice-president Al Gore shows a scale. On one side is the earth, the other side, a sum of gold bricks. He presumes the world’s long-term health is considerably heavier than the pile of gold bricks of economic interests and that world governments would take concerted action to stop it.  He was wrong. Most countries remain silent to the risks of climate change, and their non-policies continue to ignore it.  Short-term economic interests outweigh long-term economic security.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?section=editorschoice&xfile=/data/editorschoice/2012/October/editorschoice_October13.xml

Diamond planet discovered 40 light years from Earth

New research suggests that a massive, star-scorched planet in the Cancer constellation, not far from our solar system, is made in large part of diamonds, opening new vistas on the way scientists understand how planets are created.

The planet, 55 Cancri e, is twice the size of Earth and so rich in carbon that it holds at least three times our planet’s mass in diamonds, according to a new paper that has been accepted for publication in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters.

On 55 Cancri e, the surface is covered in graphite, the dark stuff of pencils, with diamonds pushing through from layers underneath, said the paper’s lead researcher, Nikku Madhusudhan, a fellow at Yale University’s Center for Astronomy & Astrophysics.

“We’re talking about a rocky planet. Not much gas, almost entirely solid. The outermost layer is at an extremely high temperature ... There could also be a lot of diamonds on the surface because of the geophysical movements in the interior. The diamonds could come to the surface very easily,” Dr. Madhusudhan said in an interview.

“But just below the surface there is a very thick layer, about a third of the whole radius [of the planet], just in diamonds.”

That rocky, mind-boggling world broils under 2,150C heat because the planet is so close to its star.

“There’s not even a climate left. It’s rubbed off by the heat. It’s a permanent barbecue,” said co-author Olivier Mousis, a French astronomer at Université de Franche-Comté.

The planet is the closest of five that orbit around 55 Cancri A, a star located 40 light years from Earth, close enough that it can sometimes be seen with the naked eye.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/science/diamond-planet-discovered-40-light-years-from-earth/article4605246/

.

Jaded China watchers observe the fall of Chongqing's "Red Leader" Bo Xilai and see little more than the disposal of another corrupt Communist sociopath who crossed multiple red lines - not of reckless criminality, but of naked ambition, of disobedience to the Center, and of unseemly and embarrassing behavior involving foreigners - and got slapped down by the party leadership.

Score one for the Chinese Communist Party, in other words, for the efficient use of party disciplinary functions, media operations, and kangaroo courts to wrap up the messy package without overt violence and organized public dissent or embarrassing private leaks from Bo's allies inside and outside the CCP, thereby

 

maintaining the public veneer of leadership unity going into the transitional 18th party congress.

This interpretation is not satisfactory to China's reformers, who see the country lurching into crisis and hope to shoehorn the Bo Xilai affair into a narrative of national political, social and economic renaissance.

Their efforts have elicited a faint but unmistakable echo in state media, serving as an indication that the party leadership accepts the reality of crisis and the need for reform, if not the radical changes advocated by the reformers.

Sun Liping - who acted as Xi Jinping's PhD thesis adviser at Tsinghua University and therefore symbolizes the reformers' hopes for access and influence at the highest levels of the new party leadership - recently posted his thoughts on the Bo Xilai case, opining that it would have been better if the verdict had been delivered after, instead of before, the party congress: If the verdict had come down after the congress, it would have diminished the political tinge of the case. Instead, it could have been part of an overall consideration of the rule of law for the next 10 years ... and even helped create a "force" for reform ... a wedge for further major reforms ... It could have served as the starting point for the political institutionalization of the reformist faction.[1]Central to Sun's thesis is that Bo was an atypical representative of anti-reform forces, and his fall before the congress was not a decisive victory for reform that would secure the ascendancy of pro-reform forces in the new leadership.

Sun Liping believes that the main obstacle for China's reformers is not nostalgic Maoists trying to push back reforms; it is the inertia represented by the massive, entrenched interests that have corruptly benefited from the current, flawed reforms, and which oppose further, more thoroughgoing reforms that would threaten their advantages.

Sun characterizes this dilemma as the "political transition trap", the real trap, in his view, as opposed to the "income transition trap" (the difficulty of evolution beyond labor-intensive industries and thereby hoisting per capita income into the promised land of middle-class pay packets) that obsesses Chinese and international developmental economists.

A significant if unspoken corollary of Sun's persuasive analysis is that entrenched interests - maybe we should call them the "cadre-industrial complex" in a hat-tip to the late US president Dwight Eisenhower's prescient warnings about the "military-industrial complex" - hold the upper hand under normal circumstances.

In other words, an exceptional set of circumstances, if not a crisis, is necessary to break the inertia and get the reformist bandwagon rolling.

For Sun, a nice, thorough mastication of the Bo Xilai case by the powers that be after the party congress might have provided a suitable kick-start to the reformist movement.

Although the Bo Xilai ship has sailed (Bo has been expelled from the CPP by its disciplinary mechanism and now awaits his final, legal fate in the politically irrelevant civil courts), reformers are apparently still trying to make hay from the state of affairs in Chongqing.

On the serious-progressive end of the reformist spectrum, the financial news outlet Caixin editorialized: Bo taught us all a painful lesson. Thirty years of reform and opening up has brought China tremendous success, but also created many problems in society. Its people are desperate for solutions. Chinese leaders should heed the call for change and deepen their reform efforts.

Their priority now is to continue fighting corruption and speed up the reform of the economic and political systems, particularly the legal system. "All people are equal before the law" must be more than a slogan, and the system of checks and balances strengthened.

Bo showed us that going backwards or standing still are not options for China; only by striking out can it thrive. [2]An influential reformer, Han Zhiguo (previously on the staff of the State Planning Commission and then a big wheel at various economic and sociology journals; now head of a private university) tried to exploit the Chongqing issue from another angle by providing a jolt of old-fashioned Communist rabble-rousing.

Han posted an item on his weblog calling for a purge of extreme-left elements in Chongqing. Literally. As in: The main harm of the Chongqing affair is a return of the Cultural Revolution and the reigniting of an extreme-left line ... Chongqing must completely purge [qingsuan] the extreme left line. [3]The "Chongqing affair" is the matter of a hapless youth, Ren Jianying, who reposted content hostile to the Bo government on his webpage, was subsequently discovered by the local cops to possess a T-shirt with the inflammatory slogan "Live free or die," and received a sentence of two years' labor reform.

The post is illustrated by a pretty picture of clouds over a pasture intended to convey the image of a ferocious gathering storm.

Leaving aside the completely creepy reference to qingsuan - which literally means "a thoroughgoing settling of accounts" and, in particularly rough times for the CPP, referred to the execution of political enemies - and the question of whether Han is advocating the top-down, legalistic, and numerical quota purges imposed in the 1950s as opposed to the chaotic "bottom-up" assaults orchestrated by the Red Guards in the 1960s or something else - it is somewhat doubtful that Chongqing is groaning under the tyranny of extreme-left red terror.

Zhou Yongkang, an erstwhile political ally of Bo Xilai (and, in the overheated imagination of some bloggers, fomenter of an attempted coup d'etat to repair the fortunes of his buddy), recently made a publicized tour of Sichuan province. Zhou holds the security brief in the Standing Committee of the Politburo and his overweening emphasis on "stability maintenance" was seen as complementing Bo Xilai's public stance as hard-charging, crime-fighting mayor.

Reading between the lines, Zhou's visit was intended to reassure local security cadres that despite the discrediting of Zhou's law-and-order agenda by the exposure of rampant criminality in Bo's government, all would be well as long as Bo's disappointed neo-Maoist acolytes were not allowed to make trouble on the streets in the run-up to the 18th congress: Zhou visited the procuratorial, judicial and police departments in the provincial capital of Chengdu.

When meeting with representatives from these departments, Zhou urged them to honestly carry out their legal responsibilities by enhancing law enforcement, providing better service for the people, dissolving disputes, and maintaining justice, social harmony and stability.

He asked for major achievements from them to mark the CCP's 18th National Congress, which is scheduled to start on November 8. [4]It appears that residents of Chongqing fearing a reign of terror by Bo Xilai's red-bandanna diehards can rest easy.

As Sun Liping has asserted, the main problem in China is not maniacal neo-Maoists; it is cadres and businessman happy to suck up bank loans to line their pockets and prop up local governments even as the country slides off a cliff. 

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The 14-year-old Pakistani girl who was shot in the head simply because she wants an education has become an international symbol of defiance against the Taliban.

Though the extremist group has been called murderous ideologues for years, Malala Yousufzai's determination and bravery have inspired thousands across the world to stand up. Her attack has prompted protests in her home country over the past several days, and moved regular people and highly influential global leaders alike to get more serious than ever about defeating the Taliban.

On Monday the 14-year-old arrived in Britain for medical treatment while rallies in her name were just ending or being organized.

A 'turning point'?

The sheer depravity of men trying to shoot to death a teenage girl has raised questions about whether Pakistan's government, its military and its intelligence services are doing everything they really can to defeat Taliban militancy, which has flourished more than ever in regions like the Swat Valley.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, the first woman to hold that job, said Sunday that she thinks the shooting marked a turning point in the ferocity of how Pakistan goes after Taliban offenders and extremist groups.

They demanded veils for women, beards for men and a ban on music and television. They allowed boys' schools to operate but closed those for girls.



Man charged over UK photographer kidnap in custody

UK photographer John Cantlie was taken hostage for a week while working in conflict-hit Syria
A 26-year-old man charged with the kidnap of a British photographer in Syria has been remanded in custody after appearing in court.

Shajul Islam is accused of imprisoning John Cantlie and Dutch journalist Jeroen Oerlemans against their will.

He was arrested at Heathrow airport on 9 October and appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

Mr Cantlie, who had worked for the Sunday Times, was taken hostage by Islamist militants in Syria in July.

Earlier, a 26-year-old woman who had been arrested at Heathrow alongside Mr Islam on suspicion of terrorism was released without charge.

Speaking at the time of their arrest, Scotland Yard said the pair had flown to the UK from Egypt and confirmed both were British.

Two addresses in east London were searched under the Terrorism Act in connection with police inquiries, the Met added.

Wednesday's court hearing was told by prosecutor Piers Arnold that Mr Islam - a trainee doctor who studied at St Bart's and University London Hospital - had joined a jihadist group in Syria and worked as a medic for them.

There could be 15 British nationals in the jihad camp in Syria, he said.

The court also heard that the accused had been arrested on a flight back from Egypt with his wife and one-year-old daughter.

Mr Islam was remanded in custody. The next hearing will take place on 2 November at the Old Bailey.
504248

JERUSALEM - Israeli authorities blockading the Gaza Strip in 2008 went so far as to calculate how many calories would be needed to avert a humanitarian disaster in the impoverished Palestinian territory, according to a newly declassified military document.

The military said Wednesday the guidelines were never implemented. However critics rejected the claim, saying the document was new evidence that Israel used food as a pressure tactic to try to force Gaza's Hamas rulers from power — a strategy that ultimately failed.

Israel maintained a strict blockade over Gaza from 2007-2010. During that time, Israel limited food supplies entering Gaza and maintained a baffling list of items that were banned or permitted as part of a broader effort to topple the violently anti-Israel Hamas by squeezing the economy.

In the January 2008 document, Israel determined how to ensure that Gazans eat 2,279 calories of food each day, a figure in line with World Health Organization guidelines.

It broke down the calorie allocation by various food groups, and in minute details. It said that males aged 11 to 50 required 316.05 grams of meat per day, and women in the same age group needed 190.47 grams of flour. The analysis also included adjustments for locally grown farm products as well as an assessment of the kinds of food imports that would be needed to sustain the population.

Israeli military spokesman Maj. Guy Inbar said these calculations were not meant to punish the people of Gaza. Instead, he described them as safeguards that helped to identify when goods were in short supply and a humanitarian crisis might be nearing.

"A mathematical formula was devised to identify food needs and avert a humanitarian crisis in Gaza," he said. Israel never used the calculation to restrict the flow of food to Gaza, he added.

Israel's Defence Ministry resisted years of attempts to release the guidelines, and consented only after an Israeli advocacy group, Gisha, won a Supreme Court order.

Gisha contends that Israel calculated the calorie needs for Gaza's population in order to restrict the quantities of goods and basic products it allowed in during the first three years after Hamas violently overran the territory.

The Israeli government imposed the blockade on Gaza after identifying it as a "hostile territory" in September 2007, three months after the takeover by Hamas, an armed, Iranian-backed group committed to Israel's destruction. Hamas has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks and both Israel and the U.S. consider it a terrorist group.

In a government resolution on the blockade, Israel called for restrictions on the movement of civilians and goods in and out of the territory and to reduce the supply of fuel and electricity. The resolution, which noted repeated rocket attacks launched from Gaza, said Israel would strive "to avoid a humanitarian crisis."

Critics say the policy amounted to collective punishment of Gaza's already impoverished population of more than 1.5 million.

"The official goal of the policy was to wage 'economic warfare' which would paralyze Gaza's economy and, according to the Defence Ministry, create pressure on the Hamas government," Gisha said in a release Wednesday.

Israel controls the only official cargo crossings into Gaza, and greatly limited the flow of goods into the territory following the Hamas takeover. Israeli officials have said the flow of goods was often limited because of frequent Palestinian attacks on the crossings.

As part of its policy, Israel used odd, secret guidelines to differentiate between humanitarian necessities and nonessential luxuries. The result was that military bureaucrats enforcing the blockade allowed frozen salmon and low-fat yogurt into the Hamas-ruled territory, but not cilantro or instant coffee.

Gisha's director, Sari Bashi, said official military documents from that period indicate that the Israeli guidelines on calorie intake were in fact the basis of policy.

For example, the guidelines recommend allowing 300 calves into Gaza each week to fulfil the territory's meat needs. In a September 2008 court case, the government rejected a request by an importer to bring more calves into Gaza, saying 300 animals were sufficient, using an identical figure from the guidelines.

"Whether or not the document was a draft, it reflects the calculations that were used to set the policy," Bashi said. "The policy clearly restricted food."

In a U.S. diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks last year, American diplomats quoted their Israeli colleagues as saying the blockade was meant to push the area's economy "to the brink of collapse."

The embargo crippled Gaza's economy and wiped out tens of thousands of jobs by banning raw materials and suffocating trade. Gaza also frequently suffered from shortages of basic consumer goods.

Hamas mitigated ithe blockade's effect by building a network of underground tunnels to bring in food, weapons and other contraband from Egypt, at inflated prices.

Despite the shortages and hardship, at no point did observers identify a nutritional crisis developing in the territory, whose residents rely overwhelmingly on international food aid. Hamas remains firmly in control of Gaza.

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the document was "evidence that the Gaza blockade was planned and the target was not Hamas or the government as the occupation always claimed. This blockade targeted all human beings. ... This document should be used to try the occupation for their crimes against the humanity in Gaza."

Israel's blockade was suddenly forced into the international spotlight after Israeli naval commandoes carried out a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound international flotilla that sought to breach the embargo in May 2010.

Under heavy international pressure, Israel significantly eased the land blockade, allowing consumer goods to move into Gaza freely.

Construction materials are still largely barred from entering, on the ground that Gaza militants could use items such as pipes and concrete to attack Israel. A naval blockade also remains in effect, which Israel says is necessary to prevent weapons smuggling at sea. Exports remain heavily restricted.

"Israel never saw the people of Gaza as our enemy," said Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev. "On the contrary, we saw them as victims of the extremist Hamas regime, a regime that places its very radical agenda above and beyond the interest of the people of Gaza."



Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Israeli+army+calculated+calorie+needs+Gazans+stave+malnutrition/7401513/story.html#ixzz29aU2fU3a

503967
1.Turkey's ammunition claim on Syria plane 'lies' - Damascus
    Syria has accused Turkey of lying over its claim that a  Syria-bound plane forced to land in Ankara was 
carrying Russian-made defence equipment. Syria's foreign ministry challenged Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who made the claim,  to show publicly the "ammunition" that had been seized.
    Mr Erdogan said the jet was intercepted because of suspicions that  Russia was breaching an arms embargo on Syria. Russia also denied the aircraft had illegal cargo on board.
It said the interception by Turkish military jets had put the lives of the passengers - including 17 Russian nationals - "in  danger".
    Tensions were already high between  Turkey and  Syria, following the deaths of five Turkish civilians by shelling from  across the border last week.Turkey has returned fire, and on Wednesday its top military 
commander warned Ankara would respond with greater force if the shelling continued.

'Tip-off'
    On Thursday Syria's  foreign ministry accused Mr Erdogan of lying "to justify his government's  hostile attitude towards Syria", according to Syria's  Sana state news agency."The plane's cargo was documented in detail on the bill of lading and  the plane did not carry any illegal
material or any weapons," the  ministry said. It urged Mr Erdogan to "show the equipment and ammunition at least to his people".
    The Syrian Air Airbus A320, with about 30 passengers on board, was intercepted late on Wednesday by two Turkish fighters and escorted to Ankara's Esenboga airport.
Turkey said previously it had received an intelligence tip-off that it 
had illegal cargo on board.
    Speaking to reporters in Ankara, Mr Erdogan said: "This was equipment and ammunition that was being sent from a Russian agency... to the Syrian  defence ministry".
"Their examination is continuing,"  he added.
He said the supplier was a state-run arms manufacturer.Russia's state arms export agency Rosoboronexport said it had no information about the cargo and denied it had
any connection with the  flight or anything on
board.

Damaged ties
    The aircraft was allowed to leave Ankara in the early hours of Thursday. But Syrian Transport Minister Mahmoud  Saeed accused Turkey of carrying out "air piracy" and breaking civil  aviation agreements.
Turkey has already imposed an arms embargo on Syria, and Foreign Minister Ahmet 
Davutoglu said it was determined to stop any transfer of weapons  to Syria through its
airspace.The foreign ministry said there was "no basis" for safety concerns and  that "all measures were
taken to ensure the safety of all passengers and to  cater to their possible
needs".
    Since the uprising against Syria President Bashar al-Assad began last year, Russia has repeatedly refused to abandon its  support for Damascus, while Turkey has been a vocal critic of the Assad  government.
The BBC's James Reynolds, near the Syrian border in southern Turkey, says that despite taking opposite views, Ankara and Moscow have maintained a close relationship and continued to do business together.
This incident could be the biggest test of their ties since the conflict broke out, he adds.
In another sign of deteriorating relations, Turkish officials revealed on Thursday that Syria had stopped buying electricity from its neighbour last week.
In Syria itself, a huge  explosion hit near a state security building in the centre of Damascus on Thursday.
State media said two people had been injured in the attack, which it blamed on "terrorists".


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19918858

The plane was searched at Ankara's airport for several hours before being allowed to leave.

2.Hasan Aydemir jailed for posting fake bomb to wedding of sister
    A man who air freighted a fake bomb  to disrupt his sister's wedding in Turkey has been jailed for four years. Hasan Aydemir,  28, posted the gift-wrapped parcel with a decorative bow on the top from a  branch of UPS in Camden, north London.
Aydemir, of Allington Avenue, Haringey, north London, denied making a bomb hoax but was found guilty at Blackfriars Crown Court.
The parcel was addressed to a wedding hall in the Gungoren area of Istanbul. The court heard he told staff at UPS that the parcel contained presents, a watch and a teddy. His sister was due to be married three days later.
    Attached to the package was a piece of paper bearing the words translated into English as: "Leave the package on the table of the bride and groom on 20/03/2011. The package is my gift to Hatice-Metin."'Extremely irresponsible'"Aydemir also phoned the reception
  hall to ensure that his instructions to take delivery of the parcel were carried  out.
    Jurors heard that when Aydemir sent the parcel on 17 March last year, he was locked in a family dispute about his sister's wedding and hoped to disrupt the service by sending the hoax bomb.
His plan was foiled when the package was inspected at Ataturk airport by a customs officer, who found it contained a device made up from a clock and
pieces  of different coloured wire and putty designed to look like a bomb.Although he had used false details on the postage forms,  police were able to identify Aydemir through CCTV footage and  phone records.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Osborne, senior national
  co-ordinator of counter terrorism, said: "Hasan Aydemir had clearly gone to great
lengths to make a realistic looking hoax  device, which was designed to deceive
anyone seeing it into thinking that it was  a bomb.

"His actions were extremely irresponsible and wasted valuable police
  resources both in Turkey and in London."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19915681

788979
Uk in falls to 2.5% despite rising fuel cost

UK inflation fell to its lowest in almost three years in September, easing the pressure on cash-strapped consumers. But there was a sting in the tail for people on benefits, as last month's inflation numbers will be used to set payouts.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said consumer price inflation eased to 2.2% in September, the lowest since November 2009. That compares with a rate of 2.5% in August and is in line with economists' forecasts. Inflation as measured by the retail prices index (RPI), which includes some housing and tax costs, dropped from 2.9% to 2.6%.

Policymakers have been hoping that a fall in inflation will ease the pressure on consumers and encourage people to start spending again to help prop up the economy. However, the figures were skewed by sharp rises in gas and electricity in September last year and inflation is expected to pick up again when this year's round of price increases start to take effect. This month four of the big six energy suppliers announced that bills would rise by 6%-9%.

Vicky Redwood at Capital Economics said higher utility bills, rising food prices and university tuition fees would lift inflation in the coming months. But she expected the yearly rate to stay close to the Bank of England's 2% target, and even fall below it as a result of the weakness of the economy. That should pave the way for the bank to announce an extension of the quantitative easing programme later this year.

She said: "While next month's MPC [monetary policy committee] decision is shaping up to be a relatively close call, we still expect more asset purchases to be announced in the coming months."

Tuesday's data will provide George Osborne with a rare piece of good news, as next year's benefits bill could come in lower than forecast as a result. The Office for Budget Responsibility, whose forecasts are used by the Treasury, expected September's CPI [consumer prices index] to be 2.6%. Under that estimate, the benefit bill for next year stood at £183bn.

The lower rate of inflation will also offer relief to retailers and other companies, as the annual increase in business rates, due in the spring, is determined by September's RPI. However, some of Britain's leading retailers are campaigning for rates to be frozen, as the escalation of costs was preventing them from opening new stores and driving the economy.

In a letter to the Financial Times, Ian Cheshire, chief executive of Kingfisher, Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, and Andy Clarke, chief executive of Asda, called for the moratorium.

Separately, the ONS said factory gate inflation rose to 2.5% – higher than analyst forecasts of 2.2% – while input prices dropped 1.2%, as the price of oil and imported metals came down. The ONS said house prices rose 1.8% on the year in August, down from a 2% increase in July.http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/sep/18/uk-inflation-falls-despite-fuel-costs

N.Y. Man Gets Watch Back 53 Years After Theft October 22, 2012 RSS Feed Print ENDICOTT, N.Y. (AP) — A man in upstate New York finally has his wristwatch back, 53 years after it was stolen.

Ed Grigor says he had long ago forgotten about the 23-jewel wristwatch stolen when he was in the Navy.

[PHOTOS: America's Elite: Navy SEALs]

Then last month the Binghamton-area man got a call from a Las Vegas couple. They were able to track down Grigor because his name was engraved on the back of the watch.

The Press and Sun Bulletin of Binghamton (http://press.sn/XJqC6c ) reports that the mother of the woman who tracked down Grigor owned a guest house frequented by Navy servicemen stationed in Virginia Beach. When they ran low on money, she would hold collateral until they paid their bills, but some never came back.

When the woman's mother died, the watch was found among her possessions.

Grigor now calls his watch Time Traveler.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No Damage Is Reported From a Quake in Maine By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: October 16, 2012
PORTLAND, Me. (AP) — An earthquake hit southern Maine on Tuesday evening, rattling New England as far as Boston and Connecticut.

The United States Geological Survey first estimated the magnitude at 4.6 but later downgraded it to 4.0.

The quake, which occurred around 7:15 p.m., was centered about three miles west of Hollis Center, which is 20 miles west of Portland. The depth of the quake was about four miles, the Geological Survey reported.

The Maine Emergency Management Agency said it had received no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

Officials at the Seabrook Station nuclear plant in New Hampshire, about 60 miles from the epicenter, declared an unusual event but said the facilities were not affected. The plant has been offline for refueling.

The giant leap for Red Bull by Ilse Grabe
22 October 2012
Go big or go home! Red Bull’s space jump stunt with Felix Baumgartner has been calculated to yield over £100-million (about R1.4-billion) in return on exposure for the brand.

This was calculated after only four days, while the impact of the incredible feat is still reverberating through all media channels.

The jump was a very risky marketing move for Red Bull – but they had the courage of their conviction and it paid off handsomely.

The marketing impact is not just about being on the news, printed in newspapers and spoken about – it is about ruling the waves with funny, serious and viral memes.

Had the jump been unsuccessful, for any reason, I have no doubt the amount of exposure and return would have been similar but not necessarily positive.

Advertisers need to identify strong media platforms that fit their brands and be courageous in execution. In today’s integrated media space you can create massive impact when a big idea is executed in an epic way, whether risky or not.

The rule is that you must stay true to your key brand benefits, which must come across very strongly. The jump was a proof point of the idea that Red Bull gives you ‘wings’. And because of the fact that extreme sport like this is second nature for Red Bull, they became marketing pioneers through the stunt and literally give their own brand ’wings’.

From water sports and motor sports to base-jumping athletes, Red Bull’s single-minded support for extreme sport gives them phenomenal value.

The jump at its peak had eight million people watching live on YouTube, breaking the previous record of 500 000 concurrent views, according to AllThingsD.

The video received over two million views with 24 hours of the jump, which is 1 388 views per minute. Gone are the days that global stunts and events are viewed later; the Web has changed the way we consume live events, and within seconds consumers are generating content around them and before you as the marketer or advertiser.”

Not to be outdone, some brands used quick-thinking ambush marketing to link their brand own proposition to the stunt.

American snack foods company Slim Jims, known for their comedic campaigns, responded with ‘the world’s shortest free-fall’ on a popular American late night show, while Lego shot a short stop-motion film that recreated the stunt using a range of their space themed construction toys.

Confectionary company Kit Kat capitalised on the tension preceding the jump, attaching a chocolate to a weather balloon and sending it up, with their tagline ‘Have a break’, for Felix Baumgartner.

 Ilse Grabe is business unit head at media agency Carat.

569975 & 570025
B.C. teen's family asks bullies to stop in wake of suicide

The family of a B.C. teenager who took her own life last week is asking online bullies to leave the teenager alone, police say.

Amanda Todd committed suicide in her family home on Wednesday, about a month after posting a video on YouTube saying she had sunk into depression after enduring years of online bullying, blackmail and physical assaults at school.

At a news conference on Saturday, RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen asked anyone disparaging the teen online to stop and think.

"We've spoken directly with the family at length and they are asking that those that are putting out these inappropriate comments, continuing to post pictures of Amanda, to please stop," Thiessen said.

"What if it was their mother, their sister, their daughter, that made this terrible decision that Amanda made? Would they be comfortable with those images and inappropriate comments being put out on social media? I would suggest they probably wouldn't be."

Thiessen said those posting inappropriate comments could face legal action.

"They run the risk of being charged criminally," he said. "If we gain the appropriate evidence, charges will be forwarded for approval where we can."

Remarks called 'sickening'Images and comments making light of Todd’s death and suggesting she deserved to be bullied are flooding a Facebook memorial page dedicated the teen — so many that Facebook can’t remove them fast enough.)Many of the posts come from the U.S., where Todd's mother says the teen had a cyber-stalker who talked her into flashing her breasts — then sent the pictures to her friends and teachers.

Even cyber-bullying expert Wanda Cassidy, an SFU professor, says she’s shocked the bullying is continuing after Todd’s suicide.

"It is really sickening," she said. "Kids aren’t the only people that cyber-bully. Older people do as well so it can be a habit that is engrained in a family or in society at large."

Cassidy says Facebook should release the names of people who commit acts of hate or libel online.

"Police need to be more involved. The courts are starting to get more involved. Parents need to be more involved, schools need to be more involved and we as a society need to say we will not tolerate this behaviour."

Plane crash in northwestern Ontario kills 3

Plane was being transferred from Airdrie, Alta. to Trois-Rivieres, Que. Three people died in a plane crash just south of the community of Pickle Lake in northwestern Ontario last evening.

The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) said the crash of the small craft happened Tuesday night nearly three kilometres past the end of the runway during a landing attempt.

The plane ended up in densely wooded area four kilometres south of Pickle Lake.

One of the four people aboard survived. That person has been airlifted to hospital in Winnipeg for treatment of minor injuries.

The identities of the people have yet to be released.

Pickle Lake Mayor Roy Hoffman said he was told at about 8 p.m. that an ELT (emergency locator transmitter) had gone off.

At about 2 a.m. on Wednesday, he received a call from the fire department that searchers were dispatched to look for the plane.

“And at that time, there was a Hercules aircraft circling Pickle Lake, dropping flares a little bit east of Pickle. I got up and went out, and sure enough they had found the plane," Hoffman said.

Guided by information from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) aircraft, Ontario Provincial Police officers and Nishnawbe-Aski officers entered the area on foot and found the plane.

Members with the JRCC parachuted into the site to assist with extrication and medical attention.

"The wreckage is actually in pretty bad shape, so I can't even determine whether it was a single engine or twin engine," Hoffman said.

The TSB said the plane was being transferred to new owners in Trois-Rivières, Que., from Airdrie, Alta.

Pickle Lake is 530 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.

Canadian border guard shot near Vancouver
Driver of van with Washington plates shot officer, then killed himself


A Canadian border services officer was shot and seriously wounded by a gunman who then fatally turned his weapon on himself at the Peace Arch crossing south of Vancouver, police say.

The female border officer's condition is not known, but Const. Bert Paquet said at an RCMP news conference that she was breathing and conscious when airlifted to hospital.

Paquet told reporters that a man travelling alone in a white van with Washington licence plates pulled up to a kiosk and shot the border guard.

He said the suspect died from "what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound."

Video surveillance is being reviewed and witnesses are being interviewed, Paquet said.

Traffic at the Peace Arch border crossing would be closed for several hours, police said late Tuesday afternoon. (Mark Gryski/CBC)LeAnn Dombrosky told CBC News she was at the border crossing when the shooting occurred.

“I was the third car in the Nexus lane as this incident occurred at 1:51 p.m.," Dombrosky said in an email.

"There was a gunshot and sounds of a woman screaming which drew the attention of all the other guards. Then after about 10 seconds, the guards were yelling to a man in a white van in the far left lane (closest to the building) to put his hands up –another shot or two were fired – in which the driver of the white van took his life with a bullet in his head.”

Minister respondsPublic Safety Minister Vic Toews issued a statement saying his thoughts and prayers go out to the officer's family and colleagues.

"I am deeply concerned by the news of the shooting today at the Peace Arch border crossing of a CBSA officer," Toews said. "This event is a sobering reminder of the dangerous conditions faced daily by the men and women of our law enforcement agencies."

Traffic in both directions was halted after the incident occurred and would not be moving "for several hours," Paquet said.

The Peace Arch, officially called the Douglas crossing, about 40 kilometres south of Vancouver, is the third-busiest border point between Canada and the U.S.

An average of 3,500 cars pass through the crossing on a slow day, and during peak periods about 4,800 vehicles will move through the border.

During those peak periods, border delays can reach four hours on either side of the border.

346924&503792    


Coquitlam dad drove kids to church with wife’s body in trunk
A Coquitlam man who killed his wife over a custody dispute drove around for two days with her body in his SUV while he took his two kids to Burnaby Mountain and to church.

Zhongming (James) Mou, 36, was charged with first-degree murder for the strangulation death of Yating (Lancy) Hu, 27, in July 2011 after her body was found by fishermen in the Fraser River near Steveston, where he had dumped it inside a suitcase two days after he killed her.

The couple were embroiled in a nasty custody battle over their two sons, now four and three years old, before she was murdered.

Mou, after first admitting the murder to undercover officers, confessed to police, and the charge was reduced to second degree.

Both first and second degree carry life sentences but the eligibility for 1st degree is a minimum 25 years while second degree it's 10 to 25 years.

Crown asked the judge on Tuesday to keep Mou in jail for 15 to 20 years before he can apply for parole to denounce the crime and deter others.

Mou's lawyer is to argue for his recommended sentence on Friday, after which the judge is likely to reserve his decision.

Parents Distressed

Mou, his hair long and bushy and wearing a sports jacket over a blue shirt and jeans, showed no emotion during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.

Hu’s parents sat almost directly behind him in the public gallery, separated by Plexiglas, and her mother, Yanyu Xiao, sobbed loudly and uncontrollably during the morning recess.

Her father, Muming Hu, wiped away tears as he addressed the court through a translator, in lieu of a submitting his victim impact statement. He described an agony that hasn’t gone away since they learned of the disappearance and murder of their only child.

“And he (Mou) is not remorseful at all,” he said.

Custody Battle

Through an agreed statement of facts read into the record, court heard that Mou and Hu had married in 2003 but had separated and Hu, who had in May 2011 lived in a women’s shelter, was insisting on sole custody.

He told police he thought she wasn’t a good mother and didn’t have a “mother nature,” and that the older son, then three, “hated” her because she hit him.

He said he couldn’t see his children being properly raised by her and had thought of killing her twice before he did it.

The couple were discussing custody on Skype on July 15, 2011, but getting nowhere because she was too emotional, he said, so he invited her to his Coquitlam house.

Planned to Kill Her

He said she was being “very hard” that night and, at 5 a.m., he decided to kill her.

While she was in the washroom, he removed a metal bar from the Total Home Gym apparatus, closed the windows in the house and invited her into the laundry room to show her something and beat her with the bar, increasing the force when she screamed for help.

He then strangled her using an electrical cord and stuffed her body in a suitcase and put it in the back of the SUV.

He worked until 10 a.m. cleaning the house, sending the children back to bed when they woke.

Body Disposal

He told police he drove around for the next two days with the body in the SUV, with his children and “their mother’s body in the back,” said Crown prosecutor.

He turned up the air conditioner when the body started to decompose and smell.

After checking the tide charts for low tide, he drove to the Fraser River in Richmond at 3 a.m. Monday and weighted the suitcase down with two rocks and tried to tow it away from shore. But he struggled as it filled with water and abandoned it as it sank.

He tossed the metal bar into the Fraser River, disposed of other evidence in other locations and buried his wife’s cellphone, keys, wedding ring and wallet — minus its bank cards — in his parents’ backyard, later digging up the wallet to retrieve his son’s B.C. CareCard

Hu’s body in the suitcase was found by two fishermen near Steveston on Aug. 27, 2011, two days after Hu’s parents came from China to make a public appeal for the return of their daughter.

Stories Conflicted

Mou had told police conflicting stories at the time, saying he had dropped Hu off at her apartment at 8 p.m. and later said she had stayed at the Coquitlam home overnight and left on her own in the morning.

Mou was arrested and charged about two weeks later, on Sept. 9, 2011.

Confessed to Reporter

Less than a week later, he granted an hour-long interview to a Ming Pao reporter who showed up unannounced at the jail.

He told her he wasn’t sorry for killing Hu because she threatened to take his children away and that he didn’t feel bad about killing her and that he had lost feelings for her.

He blamed the social workers at the women’s shelter for directing her to seek $6,000 in alimony from him.

He rated her parenting skills at four out of 10 and his own at seven, until the murder, which he admitted dropped that number to zero.

Mou has been in custody since his arrest.

The children are being raised by his parents.

Hu’s father said he and his wife have moved to Canada to help raise them but there’s been friction over custody with the Mous.


Canadian border guard shot at Peace Arch crossing identified; Border remains closed . A male suspect driving a van with Washington State licence plates killed himself at the scene

METRO VANCOUVER - A Canada Border Services Agency officer who was shot in the neck by a man who then killed himself Tuesday at the Peace Arch border crossing is in stable condition, an agency spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday.

Stephanie Wudel said that shooting victim Lori Bowcock, who is in her late 20s, is expected to make a full recovery.

Bowcock had moved to Vancouver less than a ago after working as a civilian dispatcher at the Ontario Provincial Police communications centre in London, Ont.

She worked with the OPP up until the spring, said spokesman Sgt. Peter Leon, although he did not know when she began her employment. She had also worked as a volunteer at the OPP detachment in Middlesex, Ont.

He would not comment further on the investigation.

"As an organization we are very concerned for her and we wish her a speedy recovery," said Leon.

Bowcock was working in the booth at the Douglas border crossing, commonly called the Peace Arch crossing, when a male suspect shot her in the neck Tuesday afternoon. Surrey RCMP spokesman Cpl. Bert Paquet said the lone male then turned the gun on himself and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Bowcock was airlifted to Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster around 2:30 p.m. and was severely injured but still breathing and conscious on evacuation, he said. She is listed as in stable condition.

Jean-Pierre Fortin, president of the Customs and Immigration Union, offered Bowcock support on behalf of members.

"The thoughts of our entire membership are with our sister and her family in this terrible time. This incident reminds us all that as law enforcement officers serving Canadians, the personal safety risk we undertake is real every time we go on shift because dealing with the unknown is part of our job," said Fortin, in a statement Wednesday.

He said in the days to come, the union will closely examine the circumstances of what took place.

Meanwhile, the Peace Arch border remained closed on both sides Wednesday. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has taken over the case and is investigating it as an attempted homicide.

The suspect was entering the country in a white Ford Econovan with Washington plates registered to a man from Bremerton. Mounties have not yet confirmed his identity.

Lt. Pete Fisher, a spokesman with the Bremerton police, could not confirm whether the suspect was from Bremerton, saying the detachment had no information on the individual.

"We're still talking to witnesses to confirm exactly what events took place," Paquet said, noting officers will be examining video surveillance and working with U.S. law enforcement agencies.

LeAnn Dombrosky, a resident of south Surrey, said she was about three cars behind the white van in the lineup to cross the border into Canada. She said she had her windows rolled down when she heard a loud gunshot.

Seconds later, she heard a woman screaming.

"Somebody in that area started to yell 'get down on the ground' and other commands," she said, adding that she saw border officials crouched around the van with their guns drawn.

"At that point a second gunshot went off."

Dombrosky echoed what several other witnesses said on Tuesday that she believes no shots were fired by border guards.

"I figured that he opened fire on (Bowcock) and that was her screaming. I'm not an expert, but I believe the second shot was (the suspect) shooting himself."

Dave Noble, who commutes from Washington to White Rock and was in line at the crossing when the incident occurred, said he heard shots fired in quick succession, and then heard some screams.

Two ground ambulances and a helicopter were on scene Tuesday afternoon, said BC Ambulance spokeswoman Kelsie Carwithen.

Traffic into Canada at the Douglas crossing, also known as the Peach Arch crossing, was diverted to the Pacific Highway and Aldergrove crossings Tuesday afternoon and evening, CBSA officials said.

Kevin McAllister, assistant general manager at the Peace Portal Golf Course, which is adjacent to the crossing, said an employee and several guests reported to him that they heard shots fired at around 2 p.m.

"Two shots were fired," he said. "We've heard fire, police, ambulance heading southbound on (Highway) 99, which is probably about a couple hundred yards from the 18th green. So that's what they heard when all hell broke loose."

McAllister said he also heard and saw a police helicopter hovering over the 10th and 11th fairways, which are the closest fairways to the highway and the border crossing.

Customs and Immigration union official Dan Sullivan said the shooting is the first of a border guard in Canadian history. He said other officers have been assaulted or threatened with a gun, but no one has been shot on the job before.

"We are hoping and praying for her," he said. Because he's not sure if her family has yet been located he doesn't want to say how long she has been on the job or other details that might identify her.

Sullivan said the union is always working with the CBSA on security issues affecting employees, but he added there's not much that could have been done to prevent Tuesday's tragedy.

"You have probably been through the border. There is an officer sitting in the booth there. That officer deals with 200 vehicles. Anyone of those vehicles can decide how they are going to interact with the officer," Sullivan said.

After years of lobbying, a program was started four years ago to arm border guards with firearms.

Sullivan said it will take another six years for all officers to be trained and armed. Currently, 40 per cent of officers at Peace Arch have firearms, he said.

He wouldn't comment on whether the injured officer was carrying a gun.

CBSA president Luc Portelance issued a statement expressing his sympathy for the guard's family.

"This is a profound reminder of the risks that border services officers assume every day. I know that the courage and dedication of our officers are second to none," he said.

Vic Toews, federal minister of public safety, said in a statement he was deeply concerned about news of the shooting.


Port Mann and Golden Ears: Two bridges, one bill
There are different tolling systems for the new Port Mann Bridge and the Golden Ears Bridge, but drivers will be invoiced together

Starting in early 2013, drivers who cross the Fraser River will be able to manage their Golden Ears Bridge and Port Mann Bridge tolls together.

"The Golden Ears Bridge transponder will always work on the Port Mann Bridge, and the Port Mann Bridge decal will always work on the Golden Ears Bridge," explained Sany Zein, TransLink's director of roads.

But eventually, it will be more cost effective to just have a TReO decal installed on the windshield.

Tolling on the Port Mann Bridge will begin in December.

Then everyone — regardless of enrolment in either tolling program — will receive a discounted rate of $1.50 when crossing the Port Mann Bridge between December and the end of February.

For those who register for the decals before Feb. 28, the $1.50 Port Mann rate will continue until December 2013.

To qualify for a further bonus, the Transportation Investment Authority is offering a $30 credit (equivalent of 20 free trips in a car) for drivers who have a decal installed and a payment method on file before Nov. 30, 2012.

Each motorcycle, small vehicle, or medium vehicle listed on the account will receive the credit.

But the offer does not apply to large vehicles, and is limited to personal accounts with four or fewer vehicles listed.

The credits expire on May 31.

For drivers who currently use the Golden Ears Bridge and have transponders, Zein explained that, after integrated billing is introduced in spring 2013, travel on both bridges will be tracked, correlated, and automatically billed together.

Drivers may choose to opt out of integrated billing by calling the customer service centres, which will mean motorists will then receive a separate invoice for travel on the Golden Ears Bridge.

"If you have the decal, you will get the best rates on the Golden Ears and Port Mann bridges," Zein said, "but if you have the transponder, you only get the best rate on the Golden Ears Bridge, not the Port Mann."

Golden Ears Bridge was the first electronically tolled bridge in Western Canada when it opened in 2009, and Zein explained that the two bridges are using different systems because the decal technology is new.

"When we were choosing the tolling technology for the Golden Ears Bridge around 2007, this technology wasn't available. It was only in a prototype stage," he said.

If drivers prefer to only have a TReO decal, they can turn in the transponder in December.

As a Quickpass transponder is no longer needed after tolling on the Port Mann Bridge starts, it can be returned after Dec. 1, Mondays to Fridays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., to either of the Golden Ears customer service centres, in Walnut Grove or across the river in Pitt Meadows.

GOLDEN EARS BRIDGE TOLLS

Cars: Most passenger vehicles, vans, SUVs, pick-up trucks, and taxis

Transponder $2.95 Video $3.50 Pay As You Go $4.20

Small truck: Cars towing a trailer, light duty commercial vehicles with fewer than five axles, school buses, motor homes, and intercity buses or coaches

Transponder $5.95 Video $6.50 Pay As You Go $7.10

Large truck: Articulated trucks or tractor trailer combinations

Transponder $8.85 Video $9.50 Pay As You Go $10.05

Motorcycle: Motorized two-wheeled vehicles; does not include electric bicycles

Transponder N/A Video $1.50 Pay As You Go $2.70

• The permanent Port Mann Bridge tolls are not yet finalized, but are expected to be about $3 per car.