Afternoon Update November 27th, 2010 (18)

Canada

#1 — CNews | $400M ponzi scheme suspect arrested

CALGARY – One of two men accused of running an alleged $400 million ponzi scheme is back behind bars, this time facing unrelated charges for allegedly forging a cheque.

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#2 — CNews | Senate power tips to Tories

OTTAWA – Canada’s red chamber will turn Tory blue on Monday.

Harper’s minority Conservative government will hold a majority of the seats in the Senate, leading some to fear more opposition bills will be squashed, and gridlock and filibusters will become the norm.

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#3 — Globe | Staged car accidents on rise in Toronto: insurers

Ontario’s efforts to reform the insurance sector and clamp down on fraud in the Toronto area have not slowed the problem of staged car accidents, the province’s insurers have told the government.

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#4 — Globe | RCMP to probe complaint of insider trading of Taseko Mines

The RCMP will look into allegations of illegal insider trading involving a sudden stock drop in Taseko Mines, cases that are rarely prosecuted in Canada and can have an onerous burden of proof.

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#5 — LFP | Meningitis scare in Hamilton

Health officials in Hamilton, Ont. are searching for people who may have come in close contact with a 17-year-old girl dead after contracting meningitis, a highly contagious infection.

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#6 — NP | How not to do a reno: Inside the ‘scandalous tale’ of Parliament's makeover

The five sealed envelopes arrived one by one to the main lobby of the government’s Bid Receiving Unit in Gatineau, Que., on April 3, 2008. The envelopes were time-stamped — none later than 2 o’clock, zero minutes, zero seconds —and representatives from each of the bidding firms, one that would prove more controversial than the rest, filed into a boardroom for the reveal.

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#7 — OC | Canada’s Afghan combat mission enters final phase with command transfer

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Canada’s war in Kandahar formally entered its final phase Saturday with the transfer of command to a battle group led by 1st battalion, the Royal 22nd Regiment.

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8 — MG | Polak: Abandoned in a 'dead land'

Inukjuak, Nunavik – The rumble of a snowmobile , children shouting in the schoolyard, dogs barking, the gusting wind. These are the sounds of Nunavik, the northernmost part of Quebec and homeland of the province's Inuit.

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#9 — Star | Queen’s Park poised to help Rob Ford scrap vehicle tax

Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government is going out of its way to signal that it is ready to collaborate with Toronto’s new mayor and his aggressively conservative agenda.

Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne called local reporters Saturday, four days before Ford takes office.

She said she wants to let Ford, his new council and Torontonians know that her government can quickly make technical changes to accommodate the cancellation of Toronto’s $60 vehicle registration tax.

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World

#10 — BBC | Fishing nations criticised over deal on bluefin tuna

Fishing nations have agreed a small cut in Atlantic bluefin tuna quotas, after meeting in Paris.

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#11 — BBC | UK pledges aid to fight Haiti cholera epidemic

Britain is to fund more than 1,000 medical staff to set up treatment centres for victims of Haiti's worsening cholera epidemic.

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CNN | Cuba to send medical reinforcements to Haiti

#12 — Fox | Feds Seize Websites Suspected of Online Piracy

The U.S. government is shutting down websites suspected of copyrighted infringement or selling counterfeit goods as Congress debates a bill that would give feds more authority to do so.

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#13 — Fox | Tijuana top cop who fought cartels is out of a job

TIJUANA, Mexico –  Julian Leyzaola tried with unprecedented zeal to end the grip of drug cartels on one of Mexico's most notoriously corrupt police forces: In two years as top cop, he blanketed key parts of Tijuana with vetted officers, new patrol cars and military commanders, while purging hundreds of allegedly corrupt cops.

The retired army officer survived a drug-gang assassination campaign that killed dozens of his officers. He says he rejected an $80,000-a-week offer from an emissary of Mexico's most-wanted drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Now he's out of a job.

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#14 — DM | 'Stay indoors!' Police warn Britons to stay off the roads

Freezing weather will grip Britain for weeks to come, forecasters warned tonight – with rain, sleet and snow expected across the country.

Some of the worst widespread early snow for 17 years has seen much of the country disrupted and police in affected areas are urging people to stay indoors.

Severe weather warnings have been in place, with Scotland and North East England experiencing the worst of the weather, and snowfalls of up to 40cm in some areas.

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#15 — DM | Navy officer who ran nuclear submarine aground near the Isle of Skye is 'relieved of his command'

The captain of a new British nuclear-powered submarine which ran aground off the coast of northwest Scotland last month has been relieved of his command, the Ministry of Defence said today.

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#16 — DM | 'Humiliated': Female passenger subjected to patdown 'because her sanitary towel showed up on body scanner'

A female passenger has claimed that she was assaulted by TSA agents when she was ordered to be patted down because her sanitary towel showed up on the body scanner.

The woman was wearing a flannel panty liner, that evidently aroused suspicion, causing her to endure what she described as a 'horrible' experience.

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#17 — Telegraph | Will release of new Wikileaks secrets blow Obama's nice guy image?

He is the US president many Europeans thought they always wanted, but leaks of US diplomatic cables may show him rather differently, says Toby Harnden in Washington.

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#18 — Telegraph | SAS commander quits Army amid claims defence cuts have hit morale

A highly decorated senior SAS commander, who masterminded a deadly campaign against the Taliban, has resigned from the Army amid claims that defence cuts are hitting morale.

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