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Firebombing at NW home

CALGARY - Being awake at 4 am meant Iftikhar Ahmed was able to see an assailant holding a Molotov cocktail approach his house on Panatella Boulevard NW and throw it at an upstairs window. (Calgary Herald)

 

Attempted murder

TORONTO - Kamal Khanna, 44, reportedly was arrested while sitting on the steps of his home in suburban Alliston, Ont. on Tuesday morning when police responded to an emergency call at his home.  (CanWest)   MORE:  Girl in hospital, father charged

 

Student accused of making threats

VANCOUVER - A University of BC student has been charged in connection with threats that led to a lockdown on campus four weeks ago.  Hwi Lee, 19, is charged with two counts each of uttering threats and mischief.   Lee's alleged target was a female member of the campus security staff.  (Vancouver Province) MORE:  Suspect math whiz kid    Charge in UBC scare

 

Eyewitness testimony too often unreliable

VANCOUVER - The kidnapping trial of Graham McMynn has again exposed the difficulty eyewitness testimony poses in sensational criminal cases.  (Vancouver Sun)   PREVIOUS:   'I looked up and noticed...a gun'   McMynn kidnapping   Kidnap timeline

 

Questions swirl

VANCOUVER - The grieving family of Manjeet Kaur Nandha turned reporters away at their Surrey home Monday as questions continued to swirl about why the 42-year-old mother killed herself days after her Vancouver restaurant was destroyed by arson. (Vancouver Sun)   PREVIOUS:  Blast suspect released on bail   Owner of restaurant commits suicide   'Ineptitude' lead to arson blast suspect   Suspect in hospital with burns   Mystery early morning cab trip probed

 

Enough is enough

WINNIPEG - Trevor Denning, 37, said three children were throwing snowballs at the front window of his home on Isbister Street, in the Assiniboia neighbourhood, around 8 pm Thursday.  One of the other boys then said, "Cut him," and Denning was stabbed in the chest, he said.  The father of two, a long-haul trucker, crawled to a neighbour's house for help and was rushed to hospital with a collapsed lung.  (CBC) 

 

4 months for promoting hatred

FORT ST. JOHN - Keith Francis William Noble, 31, was accused of disseminating hateful messages on a website reported to police in December 2004.  (Vancouver Province)

 

72-year-old charged

CALGARY - It's not your grandpa's hobby garden: A 72-year-old city man is at the centre of a $3-million drug bust, accused of growing marijuana crops in his Whitehorn house.  (Calgary Herald)  

 

Ramage sentenced to 4 years

NEWMARKET - Former NHLer Rob Ramage was sentenced to four years in jail after being found guilty in October of impaired driving causing death and four other charges in the December 2003 automobile accident that claimed the life of former Chicago Black Hawks defenceman Keith Magnuson.  (CanWest)  MORE:  Ramage sentenced   Ramage appeals term

 

Jones sentenced to 6 months

WHITE PLAINS, NY - Marion Jones was sentenced to six months in prison for lying about using steroids and a check-fraud scam, despite beseeching the judge that she not be separated from her two young children "even for a short period of time."  (AP)

 

FBI dusts off D.B. Cooper

PORTLAND - The man calling himself Dan Cooper, also known as D.B. Cooper, boarded a jet in Portland for Seattle the night of Nov, 24, 1971 and commandeered it, claiming he had dynamite.  (AP)  MORE:  FBI: D.B. Cooper redux

 

4 charged in house takeover

OTTAWA - Four Ottawa men face a multitude of charges after Ottawa police ended a home takeover that had been going on for about a month.  Police allege the quartet had moved in on the four-person family living there and began using it as a base for dealing drugs.  The family, a man and a woman, a boy, 16, and girl, 15, were intimidated, police said and afraid to complain to authorities.  (Ottawa Citizen)

 

Bonds indicted

SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds has been indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice charges, culminating a four-year federal investigation into whether he lied under oath to a grand jury looking into steroid use by elite athletes.  (AP)  MORE:  Barry Bonds indicted

 

Websites name UK 'blackmail royal'

LONDON - A British court ruling barring the naming of a minor royal involved in an alleged sex-and-drugs blackmail plot is being widely ignored on the internet, demonstrating the waning power of strict UK gagging orders in the information age. (Times online)    PREVIOUS:  Royal targeted in sex and drugs blackmail plot   Royal in 'sex and cocaine blackmail video plot'

 

A game of khat & mouse

TORONTO - One after another, customers entered her tiny corner store and left carrying small plastic bags containing foot-long plant stems sprouting dark green leaves.  Another shipment of "Khat” had arrived. (National Post)

 

Letter bomb suspect

TORONTO - The man accused of last month’s letter bombings in Toronto and Guelph may have been acting on personal grudges, targeting his former lawyer and a past neighbour among his victims, sources say.  (National Post)   PREVIOUS:  Letter-bomb suspect seemed unstable   Police probe letter bomb mystery

5 most dangerous cities are in BC

Five of the 10 most dangerous cities in Canada are in BC, a new report says.  Prince George is fourth on the list compiled by Maclean's magazine. New Westminster, Chilliwack, Victoria and Vancouver occupy spots six though nine.  (Vancouver Province)   PREVIOUS:  The best and worst of Canada   The most dangerous cities in Canada

 

Singer blew almost twice legal limit

SURREY - Chad Kroeger, frontman of BC-based rock band Nickelback, allegedly had a blood alcohol level of .14, almost twice the legal limit, when he was stopped by RCMP nearly two years ago on suspicion of drunk driving. (Vancouver Sun)  MORE:  Kroeger gets fine, driving prohibition

 

Gay, lesbian and bisexual at higher risk of violence

OTTAWA - Gay, lesbian and bisexual Canadians are significantly more likely than heterosexual Canadians to fall victim to violent crimes, including sexual assault, robbery and physical assault, according to a new study prepared by Statistics Canada.  (CanWest)  MORE:   Sexual orientation and victimization 2004   Gays report more violent crimes

 

BC premier's office vandalized

VANCOUVER - On Thursday, four members of the Anti-Poverty Committee, a Vancouver-area protest group that made headlines last month for shouting profanities at Governor General Michaelle Jean, tried to burst into Campbell's Vancouver office. When they were shut out by staff members, they vandalized the building, splashing it with paint.  (CTV)  

 

Another severed foot

GULF ISLANDS - Three severed right feet have washed ashore in the past six months in what has become one of the most bizarre Vancouver Island police cases in recent memory.  (Vancouver Sun)

 

Keep violent teen in jail says victim

VANCOUVER - The name of the youth who beat Jarrett Fairhurst unconscious cannot be reported because he was 17 at the time of the incident.  (Vancouver Province)

 

'Relief' at last

EDMONTON - Lesley Miller gasped, then wept quietly after Leo Teskey was found guilty of a brutal assault more than seven years ago that left her husband an invalid.  Dougald Miller was left an invalid by Teskey's assault on Nov. 21, 2000. . (Edmonton Journal)   MORE:   'He never showed any remorse'

 

Lafleur turns himself in

MONTREAL - Hockey legend Guy Lafleur turned himself in to Montreal police on Thursday, one day after police issued a warrant for his arrest.  His lawyer said that Lafleur is accused of giving contradictory testimony in the case of his 22-year-old son, who is facing more than 20 charges ranging from sexually assaulting a minor to armed assault and forcible confinement.  (CTV)

 

Your rig could be impounded

VICTORIA - BC's transportation minister has a warning for owners of heavy commercial vehicles not up to safety standards: Your rig could be going to jail.   (Vancouver Province)   MORE:  Is the next truck tragedy waiting

 

Fifth teen charged in cat killing

CAMROSE - A fifth teenager who was at the Camrose home where a cat was microwaved over the winter break was charged with break and enter on Thursday.  The teen had earlier been charged with possession of stolen property.  Four Camrose teens were charged with animal cruelty in January after a house was twice broken into and a cat killed in a microwave oven.  (Edmonton Journal)  PREVIOUS:  Web outs 4 in cat killing

 

Civic most stolen vehicle

For the third year in a row, the Honda Civic tops the Insurance Bureau of Canada's list of the 10 most-stolen vehicles.  The 1999 and 2000 Civic SiR two-door cars take first and second spots in this year's ranking.  (Vancouver Province)   MORE:   Top 10 most-stolen cars   They were movie stars before the cops came calling   Driver charged in crash   Least stolen vehicles for 2007   Mazda 3 owners want to sue for bad locks

 

Tories fight for jailed millionaire

OTTAWA - Despite numerous diplomatic efforts - including a meeting in Sofia last year between Bulgaria's top prosecutor and Secretary of State Jason Kenney, at which Mr. Kenney pleaded for the return of 55-year-old Michael Kapoustin - Bulgaria refuses to transfer a man it once labelled an international swindler.  (CanWest)   MORE:  Canadian in Bulgarian prison ignored by Grits   Glass Hill

 

Playing with matches

LOS ANGELES - A boy admitted to starting one of more than a dozen wildfires that ravaged Southern California last week, state detectives said Tuesday night.   (MSNBC)     PREVIOUS:  2007 California wildfires

 

PMC hired by McCann

PRAIA DA LUZ - A private security firm has been secretly investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann for four months because her parents feared that Portuguese police were failing properly to search for their daughter.    (Times online)   PREVIOUS: Madeleine McCann case    Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

 

No-call list has little chance

Canada is one turn of a hamster-wheel closer to a national telemarketing no-call list.  When it does arrive, those who register will still receive unsolicited calls from a list of exempted concerns including registered charities, political parties, polling companies, newspapers selling subscriptions, and businesses with whom the telephone owner made a purchase within the last 18 months.  (Vancouver Province)

   

Jones returns Olympic medals

SALVO, NC - Disgraced sprinter Marion Jones has relinquished the five Olympic medals she won at the 2000 Sydney Games and accepted a two-year ban after admitting she used performance-enhancing drugs, the US Anti-Doping Agency said on Monday.  (Reuters)  PREVIOUS:  Jones admits steroid use

Viewers think Internet fire videos cool, but stupid

Recent incidents involving Canadian students have revealed a cottage industry of online videos in which teenagers - almost all male - pull dangerous stunts for the benefit of cameras held by cackling sidekicks.  (CanWest)  PREVIOUS:  Teen combustion a trend

     

Police find missing Quebec teen

MASCOUCHE - Police have found a missing Quebec teen after she left a note saying she had been "sold" to someone for about $3,000 in cash and drugs, and are investigating whether the disappearance was a hoax. .  (CTV)  PREVIOUS:  Missing teen 'sold' into prostitution, police say

Man sentenced for brutal assault

CALGARY - The prolonged attack by a man on his former girlfriend over a two-day period nearly two years ago was "terrorizing, nothing short of torture," a judge said Thursday in sentencing him to six years in prison.   (Calgary Herald)     PREVIOUS:  Prosecutor details brutal attack, torture of woman    Michael Brian Clark

 
     

New charges

VANCOUVER - Tracy Lloyd Caza, 47, faces a charge of break and enter, assault and attempt to defraud in relation to an incident Nov. 14 in the 3500-block Vanness Street.  (Province)

Suspect has history of preying on seniors

Rings nowhere to be found

Alleged ring thief has more than 50 convictions

Ring thief a professional

 
     

Strip-or-get bombed threat spreads

PHOENIX - A telephone caller making a bomb threat to a Hutchinson, Kan., grocery store kept more than 100 people hostage, demanding they disrobe and that the store wire money to his bank account.   (KPHO)   MORE:  Maine bomb threat at supermarket linked to national scam

Reuters gets that sinking feeling

News agency Reuters has been forced to admit that footage it released last week purportedly showing Russian submersibles on the seabed of the North Pole actually came from the movie Titanic.  (Guardian UK)  MORE:  Finnish teen sinks Russian TV's titanic polar ploy

 
     

Attackers beat man for $5.50

SASKATOON - After escorting his girlfriend home around 10:30 pm Tuesday, Chris Huculiak, 19, was returning home through Confederation Park when two young men made him a target.  (Saskatoon Star Phoenix)

Girls sentenced in table-leg beating

HALIFAX - Silvia Bortignon, 66, was beaten with metal table legs by the three girls Aug. 27 on the Halifax Common. (Halifax Daily News)   PREVIOUS:  2 girls sentenced for beating   Teenage girls held in beating

 
     

Killer's art for auction

OTTAWA - The prison artwork of a notorious Canadian killer is being offered for sale on an American website that promotes criminals as celebrities.  More than half a dozen items produced by cult killer Roch Theriault at the Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick are up for auction on MurderAuction.com, which specializes in so-called "murderabilia."  (Star)

DVD's weren't what expected

MONTREAL - Fans of vintage U.S. television programs around the world complain they have been duped over the Internet by a Montreal company.  On a popular consumer complaint website, dozens of them point the finger at Garcia Media Group Inc. and an associated website, tvboxset.com.  (Montreal Gazette)   MORE:  Ripoff Report: tvboxset.com

 
     

Bouncers walk, police scolded

WINNIPEG - Three bouncers have been cleared of manslaughter charges in the death of a patron outside a Winnipeg nightclub in February, 2004.   Associate Chief Justice Jeffrey Oliphant, in a written decision released Thursday, said the actions of the three bouncers during a scuffle outside The Beach nightclub at the Pembina Highway Canad Inns were justified.   James Ronald Hanson, 28, died of asphyxiation following the skirmish with security staff.   (Free Press)

Man questioned over tycoon 'plot'

LONDON - A man has been questioned in connection with an alleged attempt to assassinate Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky. Scotland Yard said the man was arrested in central London on 21 June on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.  He was released without charge two days later into the custody of the immigration service.   (BBC)  PREVIOUS:   Brazilian judge orders the arrest of Berezovsky   Tevez's agent pursued by Interpol   Carlos Tevez

 
     

Vick 'ashamed' of dogfighting role

RICHMOND - Michael Vick apologized to the NFL and his Atlanta Falcons teammates Monday for saying he was "ashamed" and disappointed over his role in a dogfighting operation.   Shortly before making his first public statements, the star quarterback pleaded guilty to a federal dogfighting charge and awaits a Dec. 10 sentencing date that likely will send him to prison.  (CBS/AP)  PREVIOUS:  Vick sentenced to 23 months   Case unmasks fixers'   Co-defendants plea   Vick indicted   Brutal culture of dog fighting   RBC hits Vick with $2.3M lawsuit

France reels from Tour scandals

GOURETTE - One French newspaper ran a mock obituary for the scandal-tainted Tour de France. Another said the race had become a joke and should be cancelled.  France reeled Thursday from the news that race leader Michael Rasmussen had been ousted by his team for lying about his whereabouts during pre-race training, the third blow this week to the venerable 104-year-old Tour. In recent days, two riders - including star Alexander Vinokourov - were thrown out because of positive drug tests.  (AP)   PREVIOUS:  The Tour's wheels keep falling off

 
     

House party turns ugly

VANCOUVER - Leslie Laforest has discovered how quickly a teen's house party can get overwhelmed with uninvited guests in an era of cellphones and text messaging.  (Vancouver Sun)

Hot house

WINNIPEG - City police said Friday a 36-year-old Winnipeg man faces charges for allegedly stealing a house.  (Winnipeg Free Press)   MORE:  Man allegedly turned stolen house into parking lot

 
     

Gutted Saltspring retreat

SALTSPRING ISLAND - Fire destroyed the Saltspring Island Village Resort’s 30,000-square-foot main clubhouse and adjacent pool building.  Cpl. Kerry Howse of the Saltspring RCMP Detachment said the cause of the fire is under investigation.   (CanWest)

Hired killer pleads guilty

MONTREAL -  The 27-year-old man hired to rub out hot dog king Konstantinos Kyvetos – owner of a string of down-market La Belle Province fast-food restaurants – has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, attempted murder, arson and obstruction of justice.  (Toronto Star)

 
     

Man faces 7 charges for attack

MONTREAL - A Montreal man has asked for protection after being charged in the kidnapping of a 56-year-old woman who was beaten and dumped in the trunk of her own car.    (CP)   PREVIOUS:   Kidnap suspect gives up   'Negotiator' is Montreal's go-to guy    Police hunt kidnapping suspect   Manhunt begins  

Iranian fatwa against Rushdie

TEHERAN - A prominent Iranian cleric has appeared on state radio to declare that the fatwa issued against Salman Rushdie in 1989 is "still alive".  . (Telegraph UK)    PREVIOUS:  Iran's fear of the 'little devil'   Knighthood spurs bin Laden title  Reward to 'execute' Rushdie   Tyrants and tolerance

 
     

Sunken ship leaves oil spill

KING GEORGE ISLAND - The cruise ship operated by a Canadian company that struck an iceberg in the Antarctic and sank to the bottom of the ocean last week is causing a 1.5 kilometre-long diesel spill, Chilean officials say.   (CTV)  

 

Passengers leave Antarctic

Watching the sunrise from a lifeboat

Gore’s buddy left carbon footprint

Abandon ship

MS Explorer

 
     

Afraid to go into some city areas

WINNIPEG - Winnipeggers are the most likely to say they're afraid to set foot in some parts of their city, a Canada West Foundation survey of residents of seven Canadian cities has found. . (Winnipeg Free Press) 

Anti-narcotics official found guilty

UN - A Dubai court found Canadian anti-narcotics official Bert Tatham guilty today on drug possession charges, sentencing him to four years in prison in the Arab emirate.  (CanWest)   MORE:  Dubai sentences BC man to prison

 
     

Massive Tsartlip artifact stolen

MAYNE ISLAND - A massive stone bowl believed to be between 4,000 and 6,000 years old has been stolen from a beach on Mayne Island, an area belonging to the Tsartlip First Nation.   (Victoria Times Colonist) 

Curbside justice nets $80M

TORONTO - Courier companies are Toronto's biggest parking violators. Of the top five ticket recipients in 2006, three were international couriers: Federal Express, United Parcel Service and Purolator.  (Toronto Star)

 
     

Makah to reassure senators

WASHINGTON - A high-level delegation from the Makah Tribe is to meet with Washington's two senators Wednesday in an effort to reassure them that the tribe did not approve of the killing of a gray whale last weekend.  (Seattle PI) 

Hunting for trouble in the path of whales

'What type of culture needs a machine gun to kill

Makah on 'damage control' mission

Debate grows over tribal whale hunts

Some Island bands keen on whale hunt

Whale dies after shooting, harpooning by Makah

 
     

Police identify truck driver

TORONTO - David Virgoe, of Stroud, Ont., was killed at the scene when his Red International Harvester truck swerved to avoid other vehicles and then overturned in a ditch.  Three men face 11 charges relating to the crash that shut down the major north-south highway for more than 12 hours on Monday.  (CTV)   PREVIOUS:  Police investigate stabbing after fatal hwy. crash     'We will crush your car,' Bryant warns racers    Street racers face $10,000 fines

Pop tart justice

HOLLYWOOD - Lindsay Lohan has been busted yet again for DUI, and Nicole Richie also faces jail time for driving under the influence. With their on-again, off-again cohort Paris Hilton having just been sprung from the slammer, Lohan and Richie may well be next in line for what some call a crackdown on Hollywood’s bad girls.  (Fox) PREVIOUS:  California's overcrowded prisons subject of court hearing     California prisons bursting at seams