Rudolph the reindeer is having a glittering antler makeover — the latest attempt to halt some of the thousands of road deaths of the roaming caribou in the wilds of Finland.
Anne Ollila of the Finnish Reindeer Herder's Association says the antlers of 20 reindeer have been painted with various fluorescent dyes to see how the animals react and whether the paints are resistant to the harsh Arctic climate.
If successful, animals with glittering antlers will be free to roam Lapland — a vast, deserted area in northern Finland where herders tend to some 200,000 reindeer.
Ollila says reflectors and reflective tape have proven unsuccessful as reindeer have torn them off — and road signs warning drivers of roaming reindeer often are stolen by tourists as souvenirs.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Crocodiles can climb trees: researchers
ORLANDO - Most people entering crocodile territory keep a wary eye out on water and land, but research suggests they need to look up.
Though the reptiles lack obvious physical features to suggest this is possible, crocodiles in fact climb trees all the way to the crowns, according to University of Tennessee researcher Vladimir Dinets.
Researchers in the climbing study observed crocodiles in Australia, Africa and North America. The study documented crocodiles climbing as high as six feet off the ground. But Dinets said he received anecdotal reports from people who spend time around crocodiles of the reptiles climbing almost 30 feet.
Dinets said crocodiles lack the toe and foot structure that would be expected of a climber. However, smaller and juvenile crocodiles in particular were observed climbing vertically while larger ones tended to climb angled trunks and branches, all of which is a measure of the reptiles' spectacular agility, he said.
"They just go slowly," he said. "Eventually they get there."
The finding was reported in January in Herpetology Notes in collaboration with Adam Britton from Charles Darwin University in Australia and Matthew Shirley from the University of Florida.
The researchers believe the crocodiles climb to keep a lookout on their territory and to warm themselves in the sun.
"The most frequent observations of tree-basking were in areas where there were few places to bask on the ground, implying that the individuals needed alternatives for regulating their body temperature," the authors wrote.
"Likewise, their wary nature suggests that climbing leads to improved site surveillance of potential threats and prey."
People who spend time around crocodiles have known about the climbing ability for decades, Dinets said, but this study is the first to thoroughly examine the climbing and basking behavior.
Dinets also was co-author of a widely reported study in 2013 that demonstrated crocodiles used sticks and twigs to hunt, balancing nest-building material on their snouts just above the water line to lure birds. The crocodiles lay in wait for hours and lunged when a bird ventured near.
That finding was the first reported use of tools by any reptile and the first known case of predators timing the use of lures to a seasonal behavior in their prey, according to a University of Tennessee press release at the time.
The latest climbing study suggests paleontologists studying extinct species should be cautious about drawing conclusions from fossils, adds Dinets.
"If crocodiles were extinct and you only knew them from fossils, you wouldn't be able to guess they climb trees because they don't have any physical adaptations," Dinets said.
"Assumptions based on fossils, he said, can be "far less correct than people think."
Though the reptiles lack obvious physical features to suggest this is possible, crocodiles in fact climb trees all the way to the crowns, according to University of Tennessee researcher Vladimir Dinets.
Researchers in the climbing study observed crocodiles in Australia, Africa and North America. The study documented crocodiles climbing as high as six feet off the ground. But Dinets said he received anecdotal reports from people who spend time around crocodiles of the reptiles climbing almost 30 feet.
Dinets said crocodiles lack the toe and foot structure that would be expected of a climber. However, smaller and juvenile crocodiles in particular were observed climbing vertically while larger ones tended to climb angled trunks and branches, all of which is a measure of the reptiles' spectacular agility, he said.
"They just go slowly," he said. "Eventually they get there."
The finding was reported in January in Herpetology Notes in collaboration with Adam Britton from Charles Darwin University in Australia and Matthew Shirley from the University of Florida.
The researchers believe the crocodiles climb to keep a lookout on their territory and to warm themselves in the sun.
"The most frequent observations of tree-basking were in areas where there were few places to bask on the ground, implying that the individuals needed alternatives for regulating their body temperature," the authors wrote.
"Likewise, their wary nature suggests that climbing leads to improved site surveillance of potential threats and prey."
People who spend time around crocodiles have known about the climbing ability for decades, Dinets said, but this study is the first to thoroughly examine the climbing and basking behavior.
Dinets also was co-author of a widely reported study in 2013 that demonstrated crocodiles used sticks and twigs to hunt, balancing nest-building material on their snouts just above the water line to lure birds. The crocodiles lay in wait for hours and lunged when a bird ventured near.
That finding was the first reported use of tools by any reptile and the first known case of predators timing the use of lures to a seasonal behavior in their prey, according to a University of Tennessee press release at the time.
The latest climbing study suggests paleontologists studying extinct species should be cautious about drawing conclusions from fossils, adds Dinets.
"If crocodiles were extinct and you only knew them from fossils, you wouldn't be able to guess they climb trees because they don't have any physical adaptations," Dinets said.
"Assumptions based on fossils, he said, can be "far less correct than people think."
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Canada’s Olympians enjoy passport to free beer
The value of a Canadian passport just went up.
Bright, flag-red beer fridges have been set up at Canada Olympic House in Sochi offering free Molson products to Canada’s Olympians and their sporty friends.
All it takes to open it is a swipe of a Canadian passport.
Once opened, the athletes can extract as much beer as they see fit.
The fridge looks something out of hoser heaven, but it’s actually the product of a modified webcam and a tiny computer.
They scan the passport’s image and then check if it matches what’s found on a Canadian passport.
If it computes, then the fridge’s latch is released and the passport-holder can extract as much free beer as is desired.
Molson’s spokesperson Forest Kenney said in an interview that the promotion is a continuation of a campaign that began last summer with the Rethink advertising agency.
In that campaign, which went viral, a fridge was left in random locations with a note that it could only be opened with a Canadian passport.
When a Canadian would happen by, he/she would be able to play the role of a good host and give the strangers beer.
The Canadian women’s hockey team created a short-lived flap after winning the gold in the Vancouver Olympics, and then celebrating on ice with champagne, cigars and Molson’s Canadian beer.
Kenney said he couldn’t immediately say how much free beer has been quaffed in Sochi and how much it cost to set up the fridge there.
Not surprisingly, reviews have been favourable from lovers of free beer, despite the blatant attempt to cash in on patriotism.
“Well played, Canada. Well played,” tweets ABC News producer Meredith Frost.
“1st time I’ve ever wanted 2b Canadian,” confesses John Elder of Nashville.
“This is why Canada is the greatest country in the world,” raves a tweeter who identifies him/herself as “FromIceLevel.”
The deft marketing move has also drawn favourable nods from major media, including USA Today, whose writer excitedly raved, “This Canadian beer machine is the most amazing technology in the Olympics.”
Bright, flag-red beer fridges have been set up at Canada Olympic House in Sochi offering free Molson products to Canada’s Olympians and their sporty friends.
All it takes to open it is a swipe of a Canadian passport.
Once opened, the athletes can extract as much beer as they see fit.
The fridge looks something out of hoser heaven, but it’s actually the product of a modified webcam and a tiny computer.
They scan the passport’s image and then check if it matches what’s found on a Canadian passport.
If it computes, then the fridge’s latch is released and the passport-holder can extract as much free beer as is desired.
Molson’s spokesperson Forest Kenney said in an interview that the promotion is a continuation of a campaign that began last summer with the Rethink advertising agency.
In that campaign, which went viral, a fridge was left in random locations with a note that it could only be opened with a Canadian passport.
When a Canadian would happen by, he/she would be able to play the role of a good host and give the strangers beer.
The Canadian women’s hockey team created a short-lived flap after winning the gold in the Vancouver Olympics, and then celebrating on ice with champagne, cigars and Molson’s Canadian beer.
Kenney said he couldn’t immediately say how much free beer has been quaffed in Sochi and how much it cost to set up the fridge there.
Not surprisingly, reviews have been favourable from lovers of free beer, despite the blatant attempt to cash in on patriotism.
“Well played, Canada. Well played,” tweets ABC News producer Meredith Frost.
“1st time I’ve ever wanted 2b Canadian,” confesses John Elder of Nashville.
“This is why Canada is the greatest country in the world,” raves a tweeter who identifies him/herself as “FromIceLevel.”
The deft marketing move has also drawn favourable nods from major media, including USA Today, whose writer excitedly raved, “This Canadian beer machine is the most amazing technology in the Olympics.”
Canadian coach’s act of kindness in cross country skiing at Sochi Olympics reflects all of us: Kelly
SOCHI, RUSSIA—After his own miserable afternoon in the midst of the greatest 24 hours in our Olympic history, Canadian cross-country ski coach Justin Wadsworth wandered over to the finish line.
His own athletes were all eliminated early. He was crestfallen. He wanted to watch the end of the semifinal in the men’s free sprint.
As he stood there, surrounded by other officials, he spotted Russian Anton Gafarov coming over a rise. Gafarov, an early medal favourite, was struggling miserably.
He’d crashed on a quick downhill corner and broken a ski. Then he’d crashed again. A long, thin layer of P-Tex had been skinned off his ski. It was now wrapped around his foot like a snare.
Gafarov was not ‘skiing’ to the finish. He was dragging himself.
Wadsworth looked around. No one was moving. Everyone just stared, including a group of Russian coaches.
“It was like watching an animal stuck in a trap. You can’t just sit there and do nothing about it,” Wadsworth said later.
In a race typically decided by tenths-of-a-second, Gafarov was three minutes behind the pack. He was trying to make it the last couple of hundred metres down the 1.7 km course.
Wadsworth grabbed a spare ski he’d brought for Canadian racer Alex Harvey and ran onto the track.
Gafarov stopped. Wadsworth kneeled beside him. No words passed between them. Gafarov only nodded. Wadsworth pulled off the broken equipment and replaced it. Gafarov set off again.
“I wanted him to have dignity as he crossed the finish line,” Wadsworth, a three-time Olympian, said.
That. That right there. That’s the Olympics.
If you don’t get a lump in throat thinking about what Justin Wadsworth did for a man he doesn’t know to speak to, but recognizes as a friend in sport, then you should head to the ER. You need a heart transplant.
The moment circled back perfectly to Sara Renner in Torino 2006, and the Norwegian official who tossed her his own pole once she’d lost hers. Renner won silver for Canada. Norway finished fourth.
The Norwegian, Bjornar Hakensmoen, later said: “This competition, and all competitions, it should be a fight. It should not be decided by skis.”
He doesn’t say anything there about winning. The important thing is the fight, and not just that. Fighting the right way.
Every two years, we send our best to the Olympics hoping they will express something essential about all the rest of us. All we ask is that they represent us with pride.
On that basis and more, Canada has just enjoyed the finest day in its Olympic history.
Sochi is the 47th Games — summer and winter — we have participated in. For 18 hours between late Monday night and early Tuesday evening, Canada led the total and gold medal count. For the first time ever.
We can point at the podiums — and for the third time here, there were two winsome and utterly charming young athletes to fall in love with on that score. Dara Howell and Kim Lamarre took gold and bronze, respectively, in the ski slopestyle Tuesday morning.
Lamarre had been dropped from the national program a year earlier after tearing up a knee.
“I was like, well, screw this. I have a chance. I’m going to keep putting my heart into it and give my everything.”
If you feel like it, you could spend all day wandering around Olympic venues here, bursting into tears.
The medals matter, but from the perspective of a whole nation, they are the dessert. The way these Canadian athletes and coaches carry themselves is the real patriotic meal.
For two weeks, they are the only face we present to the whole world. If so, thank God for Justin Wadsworth. Russia will remember what he did here longer than they will remember any Canadian medalist, in the same way that we still remember Bjornar Hakensmoen.
Our streak on top of the medal board — less than a day in the midst of about two years of competition over the course of a century — ended in the early evening. Norway took the lead based largely on their success in Wadsworth’s backyard, cross-country skiing.
Three Canadians made the heats. All were eliminated in the first rounds.
By banal statistical measures, the day was a failure.
Because of Justin Wadsworth’s simple act of sportsmanship, it becomes a great Canadian moment. He’s an American by birth. It hardly matters. He lives in B.C. His kids are Canadian. He’s wearing our colours. He’s us. Or, at least, the ‘us’ we’d like to think we are.
(Another lovely angle in all this — the other person who benefitted from Hakensmoen’s kindness to Renner was her teammate in that race, Beckie Scott. Wadsworth and Scott are married.)
We’re here first and foremost in the spirit of friendly competition. When we win, we want to do it the right way. We don’t want it to be about the skis.
Talking about it, Wadsworth circled back to Hakensmoen and Renner.
“Any coach would offer that pole.”
Well, Wadsworth was standing amidst several coaches. He was the only one who thought to help.
The best part of this story? When I talked to him, about two hours after it all went down, Wadsworth wasn’t clear on why I wanted to.
Because of the thing with Gafarov, I said.
His own athletes were all eliminated early. He was crestfallen. He wanted to watch the end of the semifinal in the men’s free sprint.
As he stood there, surrounded by other officials, he spotted Russian Anton Gafarov coming over a rise. Gafarov, an early medal favourite, was struggling miserably.
He’d crashed on a quick downhill corner and broken a ski. Then he’d crashed again. A long, thin layer of P-Tex had been skinned off his ski. It was now wrapped around his foot like a snare.
Gafarov was not ‘skiing’ to the finish. He was dragging himself.
Wadsworth looked around. No one was moving. Everyone just stared, including a group of Russian coaches.
“It was like watching an animal stuck in a trap. You can’t just sit there and do nothing about it,” Wadsworth said later.
In a race typically decided by tenths-of-a-second, Gafarov was three minutes behind the pack. He was trying to make it the last couple of hundred metres down the 1.7 km course.
Wadsworth grabbed a spare ski he’d brought for Canadian racer Alex Harvey and ran onto the track.
Gafarov stopped. Wadsworth kneeled beside him. No words passed between them. Gafarov only nodded. Wadsworth pulled off the broken equipment and replaced it. Gafarov set off again.
“I wanted him to have dignity as he crossed the finish line,” Wadsworth, a three-time Olympian, said.
That. That right there. That’s the Olympics.
If you don’t get a lump in throat thinking about what Justin Wadsworth did for a man he doesn’t know to speak to, but recognizes as a friend in sport, then you should head to the ER. You need a heart transplant.
The moment circled back perfectly to Sara Renner in Torino 2006, and the Norwegian official who tossed her his own pole once she’d lost hers. Renner won silver for Canada. Norway finished fourth.
The Norwegian, Bjornar Hakensmoen, later said: “This competition, and all competitions, it should be a fight. It should not be decided by skis.”
He doesn’t say anything there about winning. The important thing is the fight, and not just that. Fighting the right way.
Every two years, we send our best to the Olympics hoping they will express something essential about all the rest of us. All we ask is that they represent us with pride.
On that basis and more, Canada has just enjoyed the finest day in its Olympic history.
Sochi is the 47th Games — summer and winter — we have participated in. For 18 hours between late Monday night and early Tuesday evening, Canada led the total and gold medal count. For the first time ever.
We can point at the podiums — and for the third time here, there were two winsome and utterly charming young athletes to fall in love with on that score. Dara Howell and Kim Lamarre took gold and bronze, respectively, in the ski slopestyle Tuesday morning.
Lamarre had been dropped from the national program a year earlier after tearing up a knee.
“I was like, well, screw this. I have a chance. I’m going to keep putting my heart into it and give my everything.”
If you feel like it, you could spend all day wandering around Olympic venues here, bursting into tears.
The medals matter, but from the perspective of a whole nation, they are the dessert. The way these Canadian athletes and coaches carry themselves is the real patriotic meal.
For two weeks, they are the only face we present to the whole world. If so, thank God for Justin Wadsworth. Russia will remember what he did here longer than they will remember any Canadian medalist, in the same way that we still remember Bjornar Hakensmoen.
Our streak on top of the medal board — less than a day in the midst of about two years of competition over the course of a century — ended in the early evening. Norway took the lead based largely on their success in Wadsworth’s backyard, cross-country skiing.
Three Canadians made the heats. All were eliminated in the first rounds.
By banal statistical measures, the day was a failure.
Because of Justin Wadsworth’s simple act of sportsmanship, it becomes a great Canadian moment. He’s an American by birth. It hardly matters. He lives in B.C. His kids are Canadian. He’s wearing our colours. He’s us. Or, at least, the ‘us’ we’d like to think we are.
(Another lovely angle in all this — the other person who benefitted from Hakensmoen’s kindness to Renner was her teammate in that race, Beckie Scott. Wadsworth and Scott are married.)
We’re here first and foremost in the spirit of friendly competition. When we win, we want to do it the right way. We don’t want it to be about the skis.
Talking about it, Wadsworth circled back to Hakensmoen and Renner.
“Any coach would offer that pole.”
Well, Wadsworth was standing amidst several coaches. He was the only one who thought to help.
The best part of this story? When I talked to him, about two hours after it all went down, Wadsworth wasn’t clear on why I wanted to.
Because of the thing with Gafarov, I said.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
The ever-increasing cost of being an Olympic sponsor
Advertising has always been part of the modern Olympics, but it was a "Games-changing" move in 1984 that created the expensive, exclusive sponsorship program that we see today.
At the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the International Olympic Committee reduced the number of advertisers from hundreds of brands down to 35.
For the benefit of exclusivity, the cost of being a sponsor went up. But being an official, exclusive Olympic sponsor was a big enough draw that it allowed the IOC to charge much higher rates.
The strategy was so successful that the L.A. Games posted a huge profit, which in turn led the IOC to create a global sponsorship program known as TOP – standing for "The Olympic Partners."
It gave a small, select group of advertisers the rights to use Olympic symbols worldwide during a particular Olympic period in return for lucrative fees.
In 2012, these TOP sponsorship corporations paid over $100 million each to participate, with the next tier paying $40 million each.
Prior to this, competing brands were allowed to advertise at the same event. And perhaps the most extreme example occurred at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
The Adidas and Puma shoe companies were owned by feuding brothers, Adolf and Rudolf Dassler.
Their sibling rivalry exploded into a full-fledged war during these Games when their respective shoe companies furiously tried to outbid each other to induce track athletes to wear their brands.
As author Joseph Turrini details in his book The End of Amateurism in American Track and Field, the competing footwear companies offered cold hard cash to athletes to switch brands — usually in the form of thousands of dollars — stuffed into their shoes.
The shoe companies blatantly ignored Olympic amateur regulations and distributed over $100,000 in cash, and over $350,000 in shoes and equipment during the 1968 Games.
In spite of the public scandal the bribes caused, most athletes were unrepentant.
They felt they were providing publicity for the shoe companies, and should be rewarded.
The Olympic committee realized it would be impossible to police the situation, so it mandated that only all-white non-branded shoes could be worn in competition.
But the athletes protested, stating that they wanted to wear the shoes they trained in.
Black athletes also rebelled at having to wear all-white shoes, and the shoe companies simply ignored the mandate.
Brand wars at the Olympics escalated for a time as sport apparel sponsorships expanded exponentially.
'Exclusivity' today
Flash forward, and we see what "exclusive" sponsorship have brought about.
In one of the funniest moments of the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, the London Symphony Orchestra started playing Chariots of Fire.
As the familiar, repetitive organ note began, onlookers saw that it was comedian Rowan Atkinson, aka Mr. Bean, sitting in with the orchestra, playing the note with one finger.
In true Mr. Bean fashion, he becomes bored and pulls out his Samsung phone. He checks emails, becomes completely distracted, and starts taking selfies.
It was a virtuoso performance (and a big YouTube hit subsequently) — starring Samsung.
The official and exclusive worldwide partner for wireless communications equipment at the 2012 Olympics, Samsung gave out 2,500 free phones to the athletes, who then used them in the opening and closing ceremonies to take pictures and videos in front of millions of viewers worldwide.
At the London Games, BMW supplied the cars, Coke the sodas and McDonald's was the only restaurant allowed to sell French fries on the grounds.
In addition, all ATM machines were changed to VISA, and Omega provided all official timing.
Still, all that sponsorship revenue only covered 40 per cent of the cost of staging the Olympic Games.
Ticket sales provide only a small portion of the revenue, and even though Philadelphia-based Comcast, one of the largest communications companies in the world, just bid $4.4 billion for the broadcast rights to the next four Olympics, that is still not enough to pay the bill.
I predict we'll see sponsorship money tip over the 50 per cent mark by 2018.
Otherwise, there is no other way to pay for the Olympics, unless we all agree to scale down our expectations.
But that won't happen, as the Olympics demand spectacle, spectacle demands sponsors and sponsors demand international audiences.
One thing is for certain — the cost of the Sochi Olympics will set a new world record.
At the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the International Olympic Committee reduced the number of advertisers from hundreds of brands down to 35.
For the benefit of exclusivity, the cost of being a sponsor went up. But being an official, exclusive Olympic sponsor was a big enough draw that it allowed the IOC to charge much higher rates.
The strategy was so successful that the L.A. Games posted a huge profit, which in turn led the IOC to create a global sponsorship program known as TOP – standing for "The Olympic Partners."
It gave a small, select group of advertisers the rights to use Olympic symbols worldwide during a particular Olympic period in return for lucrative fees.
In 2012, these TOP sponsorship corporations paid over $100 million each to participate, with the next tier paying $40 million each.
Prior to this, competing brands were allowed to advertise at the same event. And perhaps the most extreme example occurred at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
The Adidas and Puma shoe companies were owned by feuding brothers, Adolf and Rudolf Dassler.
Their sibling rivalry exploded into a full-fledged war during these Games when their respective shoe companies furiously tried to outbid each other to induce track athletes to wear their brands.
As author Joseph Turrini details in his book The End of Amateurism in American Track and Field, the competing footwear companies offered cold hard cash to athletes to switch brands — usually in the form of thousands of dollars — stuffed into their shoes.
The shoe companies blatantly ignored Olympic amateur regulations and distributed over $100,000 in cash, and over $350,000 in shoes and equipment during the 1968 Games.
In spite of the public scandal the bribes caused, most athletes were unrepentant.
They felt they were providing publicity for the shoe companies, and should be rewarded.
The Olympic committee realized it would be impossible to police the situation, so it mandated that only all-white non-branded shoes could be worn in competition.
But the athletes protested, stating that they wanted to wear the shoes they trained in.
Black athletes also rebelled at having to wear all-white shoes, and the shoe companies simply ignored the mandate.
Brand wars at the Olympics escalated for a time as sport apparel sponsorships expanded exponentially.
'Exclusivity' today
Flash forward, and we see what "exclusive" sponsorship have brought about.
In one of the funniest moments of the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, the London Symphony Orchestra started playing Chariots of Fire.
As the familiar, repetitive organ note began, onlookers saw that it was comedian Rowan Atkinson, aka Mr. Bean, sitting in with the orchestra, playing the note with one finger.
In true Mr. Bean fashion, he becomes bored and pulls out his Samsung phone. He checks emails, becomes completely distracted, and starts taking selfies.
It was a virtuoso performance (and a big YouTube hit subsequently) — starring Samsung.
The official and exclusive worldwide partner for wireless communications equipment at the 2012 Olympics, Samsung gave out 2,500 free phones to the athletes, who then used them in the opening and closing ceremonies to take pictures and videos in front of millions of viewers worldwide.
At the London Games, BMW supplied the cars, Coke the sodas and McDonald's was the only restaurant allowed to sell French fries on the grounds.
In addition, all ATM machines were changed to VISA, and Omega provided all official timing.
Still, all that sponsorship revenue only covered 40 per cent of the cost of staging the Olympic Games.
Ticket sales provide only a small portion of the revenue, and even though Philadelphia-based Comcast, one of the largest communications companies in the world, just bid $4.4 billion for the broadcast rights to the next four Olympics, that is still not enough to pay the bill.
I predict we'll see sponsorship money tip over the 50 per cent mark by 2018.
Otherwise, there is no other way to pay for the Olympics, unless we all agree to scale down our expectations.
But that won't happen, as the Olympics demand spectacle, spectacle demands sponsors and sponsors demand international audiences.
One thing is for certain — the cost of the Sochi Olympics will set a new world record.
IOC won’t investigate report of fixed ice dance judging
SOCHI, RUSSIA - The International Olympic Committee won’t investigate reports of a proposed deal between figure skating judges, calling the rumours “groundless.”
Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir found themselves in the middle of a brewing scandal on Saturday night after French newspaper L’Equipe reported a proposed agreement between Russian and American judges to keep the Canadians off the top of the podium.
“Co-operation between the U.S. and Russia? In this case absolutely not,” IOC communications director Mark Adams said at a press briefing Sunday morning. “I have seen absolutely no evidence apart from the claim, so we would treat that as a bit of gossip, frankly, which is groundless.”
L’Equipe’s story, under the headline “Petits arrangements entre amis” — or “Small arrangements between friends” — cited an unnamed Russian coach as saying there was a “proposed barter” between the two countries.
The proposed judging fix, according to L’Equipe, would ensure Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White would win gold ahead of Canada’s defending Olympic champion.
Virtue and Moir finished second to their American rivals in the short dance segment of the new team event Saturday night. Afterward, they shrugged off any suggestions of a fix.
“(Judging) is not at the top of our minds,” Moir said. “Being Canadians we lived through Sale and Pelletier. . . figure skating has a storied past with all that stuff. But the beautiful thing about being an athlete guys is that’s none of our concern.”
The rumours brought back memories of the judging scandal in Salt Lake City, when Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were temporarily denied gold due to backroom dealing between judges.
The scandal prompted a complete overhaul of the judging system in hopes of curtailing any judging fixes.
U.S. Figure Skating called the comments “categorically false.”
“There is no ‘help’ between countries,” the national organization said in a statement. “We have no further response to rumours, anonymous sources or conjecture.”
Adams said the report wasn’t an IOC matter, but that of the International Skating Union.
“I would suggest you put that to them. I am sure they are looking at it already,” Adams said. “Of course we take it seriously. The only point I was trying to make was, having read the report, I didn’t actually see anything beyond an unnamed person making a kind of general allegation. But the first instance would be the skating federation.”
Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir found themselves in the middle of a brewing scandal on Saturday night after French newspaper L’Equipe reported a proposed agreement between Russian and American judges to keep the Canadians off the top of the podium.
“Co-operation between the U.S. and Russia? In this case absolutely not,” IOC communications director Mark Adams said at a press briefing Sunday morning. “I have seen absolutely no evidence apart from the claim, so we would treat that as a bit of gossip, frankly, which is groundless.”
L’Equipe’s story, under the headline “Petits arrangements entre amis” — or “Small arrangements between friends” — cited an unnamed Russian coach as saying there was a “proposed barter” between the two countries.
The proposed judging fix, according to L’Equipe, would ensure Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White would win gold ahead of Canada’s defending Olympic champion.
Virtue and Moir finished second to their American rivals in the short dance segment of the new team event Saturday night. Afterward, they shrugged off any suggestions of a fix.
“(Judging) is not at the top of our minds,” Moir said. “Being Canadians we lived through Sale and Pelletier. . . figure skating has a storied past with all that stuff. But the beautiful thing about being an athlete guys is that’s none of our concern.”
The rumours brought back memories of the judging scandal in Salt Lake City, when Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were temporarily denied gold due to backroom dealing between judges.
The scandal prompted a complete overhaul of the judging system in hopes of curtailing any judging fixes.
U.S. Figure Skating called the comments “categorically false.”
“There is no ‘help’ between countries,” the national organization said in a statement. “We have no further response to rumours, anonymous sources or conjecture.”
Adams said the report wasn’t an IOC matter, but that of the International Skating Union.
“I would suggest you put that to them. I am sure they are looking at it already,” Adams said. “Of course we take it seriously. The only point I was trying to make was, having read the report, I didn’t actually see anything beyond an unnamed person making a kind of general allegation. But the first instance would be the skating federation.”
Friday, February 7, 2014
Olympic rings mishap doctored by Russian TV
Smoke and mirrors? Russian state television aired footage Friday of five floating snowflakes turning into the Olympic rings and bursting into pyrotechnics at the Sochi Games opening ceremony. Problem is, that didn't happen.
The opening ceremony at the Winter Games hit a bump when only four of the five rings materialized in a wintry opening scene. The five were supposed to join together and erupt in fireworks. But one snowflake never expanded, and the pyrotechnics never went off.
But everything worked fine for viewers of the Rossiya 1, the Russian host broadcaster.
As the fifth ring got stuck, Rossiya cut away to rehearsal footage. All five rings came together, and the fireworks exploded on cue.
"It didn't show on television, thank God," Jean Claude-Killy, the French ski great who heads the IOC coordination commission for the Sochi Games, told The Associated Press.
Producers confirmed the switch, saying it was important to preserve the imagery of the Olympic symbols. But the incident could be seen by viewers outside of Russia, including CBC's presentation of the ceremony.
The unveiling of the rings is always one of the most iconic moments of an opening ceremony, and President Vladimir Putin has been determined to use the ceremony as an introduction of the new Russia to the world.
Konstantin Ernst, executive creative director of the opening ceremony, told reporters at a news conference that he called down to master control to tell them to go the practice footage when he realized what happened.
"This is an open secret," he said, referring to the use of the pre-recorded footage. The show's artistic director George Tsypin said the malfunction was caused by a bad command from a stage manager.
Ernst defended his decision, saying that the most important part was preserving the images and the Olympic tradition: "This is certainly bad, but it does not humiliate us."
NBC was to air the ceremony in the U.S. on tape delay later Friday, and said in a statement: "We will show things as they happened tonight."
The opening ceremony at the Winter Games hit a bump when only four of the five rings materialized in a wintry opening scene. The five were supposed to join together and erupt in fireworks. But one snowflake never expanded, and the pyrotechnics never went off.
But everything worked fine for viewers of the Rossiya 1, the Russian host broadcaster.
As the fifth ring got stuck, Rossiya cut away to rehearsal footage. All five rings came together, and the fireworks exploded on cue.
"It didn't show on television, thank God," Jean Claude-Killy, the French ski great who heads the IOC coordination commission for the Sochi Games, told The Associated Press.
Producers confirmed the switch, saying it was important to preserve the imagery of the Olympic symbols. But the incident could be seen by viewers outside of Russia, including CBC's presentation of the ceremony.
The unveiling of the rings is always one of the most iconic moments of an opening ceremony, and President Vladimir Putin has been determined to use the ceremony as an introduction of the new Russia to the world.
Konstantin Ernst, executive creative director of the opening ceremony, told reporters at a news conference that he called down to master control to tell them to go the practice footage when he realized what happened.
"This is an open secret," he said, referring to the use of the pre-recorded footage. The show's artistic director George Tsypin said the malfunction was caused by a bad command from a stage manager.
Ernst defended his decision, saying that the most important part was preserving the images and the Olympic tradition: "This is certainly bad, but it does not humiliate us."
NBC was to air the ceremony in the U.S. on tape delay later Friday, and said in a statement: "We will show things as they happened tonight."
Monday, February 3, 2014
Canada is watching rapidly mounting H7N9 case count, but still feels risk is low
TORONTO - The number of H7N9 bird flu infections continues to climb rapidly in China. But the Public Health Agency of Canada says it believes the risk the virus poses to Canadians remains low.
The agency's director general for immunization and respiratory infectious diseases said Canada is monitoring the situation in China, and continues work on an update of the national pandemic preparedness plan that was begun in the aftermath of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
"We're very interested and watching very carefully what is going on in China," Dr. John Spika said Monday in an interview.
"But the bottom line is that until the virus demonstrates some ability to more efficiently spread from person to person it remains something that we're very interested in, watching carefully but still consider to be a low risk."
Since the new H7N9 virus emerged last spring, there have been about 277 cases diagnosed; 63 of the infections have been fatal. After several months with no infections over the summer, new cases began to pop up in the fall as temperatures went down and conditions for the spread of influenza viruses improved. Since then, there have been 142 new cases, and 18 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Spika said the recent diagnosis of a case of H5N1 bird flu in Alberta is a reminder that hospitals and public health officials across the country should be on the lookout for infections with novel flu viruses in people with a travel history to China.
The woman, who died from her illness, is believed to have contracted the virus while visiting China.
"It's quite possible that the same thing may occur with H7(N9)," Spika said, referring to the possibility that infected travellers may bring the virus to Canada. But he said the fact that surveillance efforts picked up the H5N1 infection leads the Public Health Agency to believe H7N9 cases would likewise be detected.
Spika said a lot of work has been done on the national pandemic plan since 2009. In particular, an effort has been made to make the document more flexible so that authorities can react with greater ease to the particulars of the next pandemic.
Prior to 2009, many pandemic plans — both here and abroad — were written in such a way that reaching a particular phase on the World Health Organization's pandemic alert scale activated certain response activities. For example, vaccine production contracts kicked in when the WHO declared a pandemic was underway. The resulting outbreak turned out to be milder than planners had been anticipating and some countries ended up with vaccine they didn't want or need.
Spika said the revised plan will be more like a guidebook than a cookbook. He said it is hoped the provinces and territories will approve the revised plan in the spring or early summer. Work remains to be done on annexes to the main document, including those relating to surveillance, laboratory efforts, vaccines and antivirals.
On the latter issue, Spika said provinces and territories appear to be maintaining their stockpiles of flu antiviral drugs. The national antiviral stockpile contains enough of the drugs to treat about 17 per cent of the population, he said.
Canada has not asked its pandemic vaccine suppliers to make and test H7N9 vaccine, opting instead to wait for the results of clinical trials being done in the United States.
The U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority — BARDA — has funded trials to test how much vaccine each person would need to gain protection against H7N9, and whether a boosting compound called an adjuvant would be needed to stretch supplies during a pandemic.
Past studies of H7 flu viruses have shown they are poorly immunogenic; without an adjuvant, even large doses produced poor results.
The U.S.-funded studies of H7N9 vaccine have confirmed that two doses per person would be needed to get a protective response, and that an adjuvant would be needed.
The U.S. has decided to stockpile H7N9 vaccine, though it will not reveal how many doses it plans to have on hand. Spika said to this point there has been no decision taken on whether Canada should add H7N9 vaccine to a national stockpile which already includes some H5N1 vaccine.
The agency's director general for immunization and respiratory infectious diseases said Canada is monitoring the situation in China, and continues work on an update of the national pandemic preparedness plan that was begun in the aftermath of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic.
"We're very interested and watching very carefully what is going on in China," Dr. John Spika said Monday in an interview.
"But the bottom line is that until the virus demonstrates some ability to more efficiently spread from person to person it remains something that we're very interested in, watching carefully but still consider to be a low risk."
Since the new H7N9 virus emerged last spring, there have been about 277 cases diagnosed; 63 of the infections have been fatal. After several months with no infections over the summer, new cases began to pop up in the fall as temperatures went down and conditions for the spread of influenza viruses improved. Since then, there have been 142 new cases, and 18 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
Spika said the recent diagnosis of a case of H5N1 bird flu in Alberta is a reminder that hospitals and public health officials across the country should be on the lookout for infections with novel flu viruses in people with a travel history to China.
The woman, who died from her illness, is believed to have contracted the virus while visiting China.
"It's quite possible that the same thing may occur with H7(N9)," Spika said, referring to the possibility that infected travellers may bring the virus to Canada. But he said the fact that surveillance efforts picked up the H5N1 infection leads the Public Health Agency to believe H7N9 cases would likewise be detected.
Spika said a lot of work has been done on the national pandemic plan since 2009. In particular, an effort has been made to make the document more flexible so that authorities can react with greater ease to the particulars of the next pandemic.
Prior to 2009, many pandemic plans — both here and abroad — were written in such a way that reaching a particular phase on the World Health Organization's pandemic alert scale activated certain response activities. For example, vaccine production contracts kicked in when the WHO declared a pandemic was underway. The resulting outbreak turned out to be milder than planners had been anticipating and some countries ended up with vaccine they didn't want or need.
Spika said the revised plan will be more like a guidebook than a cookbook. He said it is hoped the provinces and territories will approve the revised plan in the spring or early summer. Work remains to be done on annexes to the main document, including those relating to surveillance, laboratory efforts, vaccines and antivirals.
On the latter issue, Spika said provinces and territories appear to be maintaining their stockpiles of flu antiviral drugs. The national antiviral stockpile contains enough of the drugs to treat about 17 per cent of the population, he said.
Canada has not asked its pandemic vaccine suppliers to make and test H7N9 vaccine, opting instead to wait for the results of clinical trials being done in the United States.
The U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority — BARDA — has funded trials to test how much vaccine each person would need to gain protection against H7N9, and whether a boosting compound called an adjuvant would be needed to stretch supplies during a pandemic.
Past studies of H7 flu viruses have shown they are poorly immunogenic; without an adjuvant, even large doses produced poor results.
The U.S.-funded studies of H7N9 vaccine have confirmed that two doses per person would be needed to get a protective response, and that an adjuvant would be needed.
The U.S. has decided to stockpile H7N9 vaccine, though it will not reveal how many doses it plans to have on hand. Spika said to this point there has been no decision taken on whether Canada should add H7N9 vaccine to a national stockpile which already includes some H5N1 vaccine.
U.N. nuclear agency may press Iran on rare isotope in probe
VIENNA - The U.N. nuclear watchdog says it wants Iran to clarify past production of small amounts of a rare radioactive material that can help trigger an atomic bomb explosion, but which also has non-military uses.
The comment about polonium by U.N. atomic agency chief Yukiya Amano at a weekend security conference in Munich suggested the issue may be raised at talks between his experts and Iranian officials on February 8.
It also signaled his determination to get to the bottom of suspicions that Iran may have worked on designing a nuclear warhead, even as world powers and Tehran pursue broader diplomacy to settle a decade-old dispute over its atomic aims.
The silvery-grey soft metal polonium gained notoriety eight years ago in the poisoning of a former Russian spy, Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko, in London. The interest of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a Vienna-based U.N. agency, stems from its potential role in atomic arms.
"The separation of polonium-210, in conjunction with beryllium, can be part of a catalyst for a nuclear chain reaction," the Arms Control Association, a U.S. research and advocacy group, said on its web site.
It was not immediately clear why Amano would bring up polonium-210 now. The IAEA had said in a report as far back as 2008 it had discussed the substance and Iran had answered its questions about it.
Back then, it cited Iran as saying that some of its scientists had proposed a research project on the production of the material in the 1980s but that the chemist working on it left the country before its completion and it was aborted.
The IAEA said in 2008 it had concluded that the Iranian explanations were consistent with its own findings: "The agency considers this question no longer outstanding at this stage."
Robert Kelley, a former senior IAEA official, said the matter had been settled at the time and that it was a question of "minor experiments that weren't part of any organized programme".
Mark Hibbs of the Carnegie Endowment think-tank said one possibility was that the IAEA had received new intelligence information regarding polonium-210. Hibbs said it had been his understanding that the issue was not seen as urgent and essential by the U.N. agency.
IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said it was not a new issue, but an example of one "that the agency is keeping an eye on and that would benefit from further clarification." Amano referred to it in response to an audience question, Tudor added.
An IAEA investigation into Iran's behavior is running in parallel with new measures to curb Iran's nuclear programme under a deal negotiated with world powers in November in return for limited easing of U.S. and European Union sanctions.
The big powers' interim agreement focused mainly on preventing Tehran obtaining nuclear fissile material to assemble a future bomb, rather than on the question of whether Iran sought atom bomb technology in the past.
The U.N. body has made clear it wants Iran to start addressing long-standing allegations that it may have researched how to make a nuclear bomb, a charge it denies.
Amano's statement offered a hint that polonium-210 may be among topics it wants to discuss at the February 8 meeting: "Polonium can be used for civil purposes like nuclear batteries, but can also be used for a neutron source for nuclear weapons. We would like to clarify this issue too," he said.
A U.S. think-tank, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), said Iran had admitted to producing small amounts of polonium-210 in a Tehran research reactor in the early 1990s.
"Iran claims that the polonium was produced as part of a study of the production of neutron sources for use in radioisotope thermoelectric generators and not for use in a nuclear weapons neutron initiator," it added on its web site.
Often strained in the past, ties between Iran and the IAEA have improved since last year's election of a relative moderate, Hassan Rouhani, as new Iranian president on a platform to ease Tehran's international isolation.
The IAEA's investigation into what it calls the possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme is separate from, though still closely linked to, the more wide-ranging negotiations between Tehran and the six major states - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.
Under an agreement signed just weeks before the powers reached their own agreement to cap Iran's nuclear activity, the U.N. agency has already visited a heavy water production plant and a uranium mine in Iran. However, those first steps do not go to the heart of the IAEA's investigation.
Western diplomats say the U.N. body's investigation will be taken into account during talks, due to start on February 18, between Iran and the major powers on a long-term agreement to scale back Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for a lifting of sanctions.
The comment about polonium by U.N. atomic agency chief Yukiya Amano at a weekend security conference in Munich suggested the issue may be raised at talks between his experts and Iranian officials on February 8.
It also signaled his determination to get to the bottom of suspicions that Iran may have worked on designing a nuclear warhead, even as world powers and Tehran pursue broader diplomacy to settle a decade-old dispute over its atomic aims.
The silvery-grey soft metal polonium gained notoriety eight years ago in the poisoning of a former Russian spy, Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko, in London. The interest of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a Vienna-based U.N. agency, stems from its potential role in atomic arms.
"The separation of polonium-210, in conjunction with beryllium, can be part of a catalyst for a nuclear chain reaction," the Arms Control Association, a U.S. research and advocacy group, said on its web site.
It was not immediately clear why Amano would bring up polonium-210 now. The IAEA had said in a report as far back as 2008 it had discussed the substance and Iran had answered its questions about it.
Back then, it cited Iran as saying that some of its scientists had proposed a research project on the production of the material in the 1980s but that the chemist working on it left the country before its completion and it was aborted.
The IAEA said in 2008 it had concluded that the Iranian explanations were consistent with its own findings: "The agency considers this question no longer outstanding at this stage."
Robert Kelley, a former senior IAEA official, said the matter had been settled at the time and that it was a question of "minor experiments that weren't part of any organized programme".
Mark Hibbs of the Carnegie Endowment think-tank said one possibility was that the IAEA had received new intelligence information regarding polonium-210. Hibbs said it had been his understanding that the issue was not seen as urgent and essential by the U.N. agency.
IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said it was not a new issue, but an example of one "that the agency is keeping an eye on and that would benefit from further clarification." Amano referred to it in response to an audience question, Tudor added.
An IAEA investigation into Iran's behavior is running in parallel with new measures to curb Iran's nuclear programme under a deal negotiated with world powers in November in return for limited easing of U.S. and European Union sanctions.
The big powers' interim agreement focused mainly on preventing Tehran obtaining nuclear fissile material to assemble a future bomb, rather than on the question of whether Iran sought atom bomb technology in the past.
The U.N. body has made clear it wants Iran to start addressing long-standing allegations that it may have researched how to make a nuclear bomb, a charge it denies.
Amano's statement offered a hint that polonium-210 may be among topics it wants to discuss at the February 8 meeting: "Polonium can be used for civil purposes like nuclear batteries, but can also be used for a neutron source for nuclear weapons. We would like to clarify this issue too," he said.
A U.S. think-tank, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), said Iran had admitted to producing small amounts of polonium-210 in a Tehran research reactor in the early 1990s.
"Iran claims that the polonium was produced as part of a study of the production of neutron sources for use in radioisotope thermoelectric generators and not for use in a nuclear weapons neutron initiator," it added on its web site.
Often strained in the past, ties between Iran and the IAEA have improved since last year's election of a relative moderate, Hassan Rouhani, as new Iranian president on a platform to ease Tehran's international isolation.
The IAEA's investigation into what it calls the possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme is separate from, though still closely linked to, the more wide-ranging negotiations between Tehran and the six major states - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.
Under an agreement signed just weeks before the powers reached their own agreement to cap Iran's nuclear activity, the U.N. agency has already visited a heavy water production plant and a uranium mine in Iran. However, those first steps do not go to the heart of the IAEA's investigation.
Western diplomats say the U.N. body's investigation will be taken into account during talks, due to start on February 18, between Iran and the major powers on a long-term agreement to scale back Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for a lifting of sanctions.
Google provides glimpse at secret US requests for data
Google on Monday for the first time provided a glimpse into the numbers of secret requests for user data are made by the US in the name of fighting terrorism.
US officials used the authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to ask for information from between 9,000 and 10,000 Google user accounts in the first six months of 2013, and between 12,000 to 13,000 accounts in the six months prior to that, according to a blog post.
Release of such data was subject to a six-month delay under terms of an arrangement with the US Department of Justice to let Internet firms be slightly more open about how much information is sought under authority of FISA court orders.
"Publishing these numbers is a step in the right direction, and speaks to the principles for reform that we announced with other companies last December," Google law enforcement and information security legal director Richard Salgado said in a blog post.
"But we still believe more transparency is needed so everyone can better understand how surveillance laws work and decide whether or not they serve the public interest."
Google included the FISA request numbers in a routinely released Transparency Report about efforts by governments to legally obtain data from the California-based Internet titan.
Last week, US authorities agreed to give technology firms the ability to publish broad details of how their customer data has been targeted by US spy agencies. The agreement came amid litigation from tech giants Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft and Yahoo.
The companies have been seeking the right to release figures on vast surveillance of online and phone communications, in the wake of leaked documents from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
US officials used the authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to ask for information from between 9,000 and 10,000 Google user accounts in the first six months of 2013, and between 12,000 to 13,000 accounts in the six months prior to that, according to a blog post.
Release of such data was subject to a six-month delay under terms of an arrangement with the US Department of Justice to let Internet firms be slightly more open about how much information is sought under authority of FISA court orders.
"Publishing these numbers is a step in the right direction, and speaks to the principles for reform that we announced with other companies last December," Google law enforcement and information security legal director Richard Salgado said in a blog post.
"But we still believe more transparency is needed so everyone can better understand how surveillance laws work and decide whether or not they serve the public interest."
Google included the FISA request numbers in a routinely released Transparency Report about efforts by governments to legally obtain data from the California-based Internet titan.
Last week, US authorities agreed to give technology firms the ability to publish broad details of how their customer data has been targeted by US spy agencies. The agreement came amid litigation from tech giants Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft and Yahoo.
The companies have been seeking the right to release figures on vast surveillance of online and phone communications, in the wake of leaked documents from former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Man 'acting violently' on flight to Vancouver arrested
A man on an international flight from China was arrested Sunday morning after the plane landed at Vancouver International Airport.
Richmond RCMP said a pilot had reported at about 6:30 a.m. PT that a passenger was "acting violently" on the China Southern Airlines flight, and had to be restrained.
A passenger on that plane, Tanya Truong, told CBC News that the man — who seemed to be in his 30s and may have had an Australian accent — was behaving strangely even before they all boarded the plane at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.
"When we were lining up to get on to the flight from Guangzhou, we had already noticed him," she said. "He appeared slightly rowdier than the rest."
But the trouble began about halfway through the 11½-hour flight, she said.
"Everyone was asleep and the lights were turned off in the plane, and he ran down the aisles, screaming and yelling at someone and alarming everyone and waking everyone one up.
"There were several flight attendants trailing him and, I think, trying to get him to calm down.
"He was just screaming a lot of swear words at one of his family members," she said.
Some passengers who had been sitting near him later told Truong that they suspected he had been intoxicated, and overheard flight attendants telling him to stop drinking.
After about an hour or two of the flight attendants keeping watch on him in the back of the plane, first in the kitchen area and then in the back row seated with one of the flight attendants, things apparently got worse.
"Other flight members had to get involved," Truong said.
"He kept trying to provoke the flight attendant," she said. "I think this definitely alarmed a lot of people because this was really loud, and it looks like he was trying to harm the flight attendant, so he had to be taken down."
"Several people had to, kind of like, sit on top of him, and then he was handcuffed," she said.
The flight attendants announced that because the passenger has compromised the safety of the other passengers, he would be taken into police custody when the plane landed.
Richmond RCMP arrested the passenger just after 9:30 a.m. PT at Vancouver International Airport.
Cpl. Stephanie Ashton said he was taken into custody and is being held at the Richmond RCMP Detachment until he appears in court on Monday.
Ashton said "it is unknown where the man originates from or the purpose of his travel to Canada."
Truong said some of the passengers who spoke with the man's family members on the flight said the family had talked about being on their way to go to Whistler to snowboard.
Richmond RCMP said a pilot had reported at about 6:30 a.m. PT that a passenger was "acting violently" on the China Southern Airlines flight, and had to be restrained.
A passenger on that plane, Tanya Truong, told CBC News that the man — who seemed to be in his 30s and may have had an Australian accent — was behaving strangely even before they all boarded the plane at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport.
"When we were lining up to get on to the flight from Guangzhou, we had already noticed him," she said. "He appeared slightly rowdier than the rest."
But the trouble began about halfway through the 11½-hour flight, she said.
"Everyone was asleep and the lights were turned off in the plane, and he ran down the aisles, screaming and yelling at someone and alarming everyone and waking everyone one up.
"There were several flight attendants trailing him and, I think, trying to get him to calm down.
"He was just screaming a lot of swear words at one of his family members," she said.
Some passengers who had been sitting near him later told Truong that they suspected he had been intoxicated, and overheard flight attendants telling him to stop drinking.
After about an hour or two of the flight attendants keeping watch on him in the back of the plane, first in the kitchen area and then in the back row seated with one of the flight attendants, things apparently got worse.
"Other flight members had to get involved," Truong said.
"He kept trying to provoke the flight attendant," she said. "I think this definitely alarmed a lot of people because this was really loud, and it looks like he was trying to harm the flight attendant, so he had to be taken down."
"Several people had to, kind of like, sit on top of him, and then he was handcuffed," she said.
The flight attendants announced that because the passenger has compromised the safety of the other passengers, he would be taken into police custody when the plane landed.
Richmond RCMP arrested the passenger just after 9:30 a.m. PT at Vancouver International Airport.
Cpl. Stephanie Ashton said he was taken into custody and is being held at the Richmond RCMP Detachment until he appears in court on Monday.
Ashton said "it is unknown where the man originates from or the purpose of his travel to Canada."
Truong said some of the passengers who spoke with the man's family members on the flight said the family had talked about being on their way to go to Whistler to snowboard.
First teams arrive in Sochi as Russia races to finish
Russia on Sunday welcomed the first teams to its southern resort of Sochi less than a week ahead of the start to the Olympic Games, as organisers worked all out to finish accommodation on time.
The Games, the biggest event Russia has hosted since the fall of the Soviet Union, are to get underway on February 7 at a ceremony starting at 2014 local time (1614 GMT) that is expected to project Russia’s status as a world and sporting power.
Athletes from five teams, including New Zealand and Japan, were given official welcoming ceremonies as they arrived at the Olympic Village ahead of the main influx of athletes next week.
Media arriving early for the Games have found organisers racing against the clock to finish accommodation on time, with rooms still being furnished even after journalists had checked in.
"There are still some issues to be solved as it is always just before the games," International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach acknowledged as he attended a session of the IOC executive board in Sochi.
"But always in this respect we are in contact with the organising committee and we hope that the situation will be solved in the next couple of days," he added.
After winning the right to host the Games in a bid spearheaded by President Vladimir Putin, Russia had to build almost all its infrastructure from scratch in an almost virgin area, a drive that has caused huge concern among environmental activists.
"The first time I visited the Olympic Park was in August 2009 and it was an empty site. I’m not afraid that things are not yet completed -- they are tiny details and will be finished soon,” said Oleg Kharchenko, the chief architect from state contractor Olympstroi.
Teams from New Zealand, Mongolia, Japan, Belgium and the Philippines are the first being ceremonially welcomed on Sunday in the two Olympic villages by the sea and by the mountains. The Russian team is due to arrive on February 5.
The world will be scrutinising Russia to see whether it is capable of hosting a world class Games amid concerns about issues ranging from the risk of attacks by Caucasus militants and Russia’s now notorious law against gay propaganda.
Russia is proudly presenting what it sees as a new concept for the Games, with stadium events like figure skating and ice hockey held in the Olympic Park on the temperate coastline and the alpine and nordic events in the snowy mountains above.
Despite being billed as the Sochi Games, the event is centred over 30 kilometres to the south of the city close to the resort of Adler, with self contained "mountain" and "coastal" clusters.
A security blanket has descended on the area after the deadly suicide bombings in Volgograd in December that killed 34 people and exposed the risk of militant attacks on the Games.
Cars need a special permit to enter the Sochi area and airport-style security is in force for commuters using local trains, with hundreds of volunteers body-searching passengers at each station.
The so-called “mayor” of the coastal Olympic village is the Russian pole vault champion Elena Isinbayeva who caused a furore with her anti-gay remarks at the World Athletics Championships in August.
The weather, however should pose little problem.
According to the Russian weather centre’s chief Sochi forecaster Valery Lukyanov, temperatures are near ideal for the first days of the Games, reaching up to 12 degrees Celsius by the sea but freezing nicely down to a minimum of minus 12 at night in the mountains.
The Games, the biggest event Russia has hosted since the fall of the Soviet Union, are to get underway on February 7 at a ceremony starting at 2014 local time (1614 GMT) that is expected to project Russia’s status as a world and sporting power.
Athletes from five teams, including New Zealand and Japan, were given official welcoming ceremonies as they arrived at the Olympic Village ahead of the main influx of athletes next week.
Media arriving early for the Games have found organisers racing against the clock to finish accommodation on time, with rooms still being furnished even after journalists had checked in.
"There are still some issues to be solved as it is always just before the games," International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach acknowledged as he attended a session of the IOC executive board in Sochi.
"But always in this respect we are in contact with the organising committee and we hope that the situation will be solved in the next couple of days," he added.
After winning the right to host the Games in a bid spearheaded by President Vladimir Putin, Russia had to build almost all its infrastructure from scratch in an almost virgin area, a drive that has caused huge concern among environmental activists.
"The first time I visited the Olympic Park was in August 2009 and it was an empty site. I’m not afraid that things are not yet completed -- they are tiny details and will be finished soon,” said Oleg Kharchenko, the chief architect from state contractor Olympstroi.
Teams from New Zealand, Mongolia, Japan, Belgium and the Philippines are the first being ceremonially welcomed on Sunday in the two Olympic villages by the sea and by the mountains. The Russian team is due to arrive on February 5.
The world will be scrutinising Russia to see whether it is capable of hosting a world class Games amid concerns about issues ranging from the risk of attacks by Caucasus militants and Russia’s now notorious law against gay propaganda.
Russia is proudly presenting what it sees as a new concept for the Games, with stadium events like figure skating and ice hockey held in the Olympic Park on the temperate coastline and the alpine and nordic events in the snowy mountains above.
Despite being billed as the Sochi Games, the event is centred over 30 kilometres to the south of the city close to the resort of Adler, with self contained "mountain" and "coastal" clusters.
A security blanket has descended on the area after the deadly suicide bombings in Volgograd in December that killed 34 people and exposed the risk of militant attacks on the Games.
Cars need a special permit to enter the Sochi area and airport-style security is in force for commuters using local trains, with hundreds of volunteers body-searching passengers at each station.
The so-called “mayor” of the coastal Olympic village is the Russian pole vault champion Elena Isinbayeva who caused a furore with her anti-gay remarks at the World Athletics Championships in August.
The weather, however should pose little problem.
According to the Russian weather centre’s chief Sochi forecaster Valery Lukyanov, temperatures are near ideal for the first days of the Games, reaching up to 12 degrees Celsius by the sea but freezing nicely down to a minimum of minus 12 at night in the mountains.
Seattle Seahawks beat Denver Broncos 43-8 to win first Super Bowl title
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Seattle Seahawks have won their first Super Bowl title, crushing the favoured Denver Broncos 43-8.
Linebacker Malcolm Smith returned an interception of Peyton Manning 69 yards for a touchdown late in the first half Sunday, and Percy Harvin returned the opening kickoff of the second half 87 yards for another TD.
The Seahawks led 36-0 before Denver finally scored on the last play of the third quarter.
Manning was 34 of 49 for 280 yards, but most of that came after Seattle had all but put the game away. He was flustered by Seattle's fierce defence for most of the first half, throwing two interceptions. The second fluttered into Smith's hands after Cliff Avril struck the five-time NFL MVP's arm as he was releasing the ball.
Second-year quarterback Russell Wilson was coolly efficient for the Seahawks, throwing for two touchdowns.
Linebacker Malcolm Smith returned an interception of Peyton Manning 69 yards for a touchdown late in the first half Sunday, and Percy Harvin returned the opening kickoff of the second half 87 yards for another TD.
The Seahawks led 36-0 before Denver finally scored on the last play of the third quarter.
Manning was 34 of 49 for 280 yards, but most of that came after Seattle had all but put the game away. He was flustered by Seattle's fierce defence for most of the first half, throwing two interceptions. The second fluttered into Smith's hands after Cliff Avril struck the five-time NFL MVP's arm as he was releasing the ball.
Second-year quarterback Russell Wilson was coolly efficient for the Seahawks, throwing for two touchdowns.
Katy Perry sets Twitter milestone with 50 mln followers
Twitter Counter, a service for tracking Twitter usage, said Perry had picked up tens of thousands of followers since Thursday, as she roared her way to 50,025,667.
Perry, 29, whose "Dark Horse" tops the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart this week, opted to say nothing Friday about her online achievement.
Instead she tweeted thanks to Madonna for having invited her to curate the pop diva's Art for Freedom human rights project during the month of January.
Teen idol Justin Bieber dethroned Lady Gaga as the most-followed Twitter user in January 2013, but ceded the top spot to Perry in November.
On Friday, Bieber -- due in court on Valentine's Day over alleged drunk driving and illegal drag racing in Florida -- had 49,230,470 followers, followed by President Barack Obama with 41,219,748.
Lady Gaga, in fourth place with 41,025,492 followers, made Twitter history when she became the first to claim 20 million followers -- just under two years ago, in March 2012.
Perry's current album "Prism" entered the Billboard 200 chart at number one upon its release in October. Her goth-themed rendition of "Dark Horse" was a highlight of Sunday's Grammy awards.
Perry, 29, whose "Dark Horse" tops the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart this week, opted to say nothing Friday about her online achievement.
Instead she tweeted thanks to Madonna for having invited her to curate the pop diva's Art for Freedom human rights project during the month of January.
Teen idol Justin Bieber dethroned Lady Gaga as the most-followed Twitter user in January 2013, but ceded the top spot to Perry in November.
On Friday, Bieber -- due in court on Valentine's Day over alleged drunk driving and illegal drag racing in Florida -- had 49,230,470 followers, followed by President Barack Obama with 41,219,748.
Lady Gaga, in fourth place with 41,025,492 followers, made Twitter history when she became the first to claim 20 million followers -- just under two years ago, in March 2012.
Perry's current album "Prism" entered the Billboard 200 chart at number one upon its release in October. Her goth-themed rendition of "Dark Horse" was a highlight of Sunday's Grammy awards.
Canada's 'shocking' natural gas prices expected to continue to rise
Natural gas customers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia who were facing record bills in January are being warned to expect another wave of increases in February, the fifth increase in the price of natural gas since September.
Daniel Picard's natural gas metre didn't record any unusual consumption at his Fredericton townhouse in January, so his record natural gas bill caught him off guard.
"I had never seen $400. I have seen maybe $250 or $200 — that's shocking," he said.
Picard is among thousands in the region coping with runaway natural gas prices that have ambushed northeastern North America this winter, according to New Brunswick government energy consultant Jon Sorensen.
"We've seen a record world price - the highest price we've seen for natural gas in the world from New Jersey to Nova Scotia. It's been like a horror movie," he said.
In Halifax, Heritage Gas passed along gas price increases of 110 per cent between September and January. That’s a bargain compared to New Brunswick where prices quadrupled for customers of Irving Energy and quintupled for customers of Park Fuels.
Enbridge executive Gilles Volpe said buying gas on spot markets this winter has been like high stakes roulette.
"Within two or three days we saw price swings from $5 to $75," he said.
Dave Young with New Brunswick's Energy and Utilities Board is warning even worse is on the way.
"The prices you had in January are very likely to be higher in February, so consumers should take whatever action they think they can take to prepare for that," said Young.
Natural gas is the most widely-used form of heating on the continent, heating about half of all homes. The second-most common — electricity — is also vulnerable to the price of natural gas because many power plants that generate electricity are gas-powered.
"This winter looked to be slightly colder than normal, but no one was really screaming for this kind of cold weather,” said Aaron Calder, a market analyst at Gelber & Associates.
All the cold air is resulting in a draw-down of supplies of gas in storage. They’re down 20 per cent from where they were this time a year ago, the U.S. Department of Energy said last month.
At the same time, drillers are struggling to produce enough to keep up with the demand for new gas.
The supply situation has been exacerbated by the fact that in the past, much of gas production was in the Gulf of Mexico. There, weather only plays a role during the Atlantic hurricane season in the summer and fall.
New sources of gas are on the mainland and they’re vulnerable to freezing, ice and snow. Wells that are not designed for such extreme conditions can freeze, halting production.
Daniel Picard's natural gas metre didn't record any unusual consumption at his Fredericton townhouse in January, so his record natural gas bill caught him off guard.
"I had never seen $400. I have seen maybe $250 or $200 — that's shocking," he said.
Picard is among thousands in the region coping with runaway natural gas prices that have ambushed northeastern North America this winter, according to New Brunswick government energy consultant Jon Sorensen.
"We've seen a record world price - the highest price we've seen for natural gas in the world from New Jersey to Nova Scotia. It's been like a horror movie," he said.
In Halifax, Heritage Gas passed along gas price increases of 110 per cent between September and January. That’s a bargain compared to New Brunswick where prices quadrupled for customers of Irving Energy and quintupled for customers of Park Fuels.
Enbridge executive Gilles Volpe said buying gas on spot markets this winter has been like high stakes roulette.
"Within two or three days we saw price swings from $5 to $75," he said.
Dave Young with New Brunswick's Energy and Utilities Board is warning even worse is on the way.
"The prices you had in January are very likely to be higher in February, so consumers should take whatever action they think they can take to prepare for that," said Young.
Natural gas is the most widely-used form of heating on the continent, heating about half of all homes. The second-most common — electricity — is also vulnerable to the price of natural gas because many power plants that generate electricity are gas-powered.
"This winter looked to be slightly colder than normal, but no one was really screaming for this kind of cold weather,” said Aaron Calder, a market analyst at Gelber & Associates.
All the cold air is resulting in a draw-down of supplies of gas in storage. They’re down 20 per cent from where they were this time a year ago, the U.S. Department of Energy said last month.
At the same time, drillers are struggling to produce enough to keep up with the demand for new gas.
The supply situation has been exacerbated by the fact that in the past, much of gas production was in the Gulf of Mexico. There, weather only plays a role during the Atlantic hurricane season in the summer and fall.
New sources of gas are on the mainland and they’re vulnerable to freezing, ice and snow. Wells that are not designed for such extreme conditions can freeze, halting production.
LG G Flex Review: Behind the Curve
The one thing you can say for certain LG G Flex is that it commands attention, mostly because it is curved. Beyond that, the questions start flooding in. Why is it curved? Why is its screen so mediocre? Why would you want to buy it? Unfortunately, after using the phone for several days, I still don't have an answer.
LG's 6-inch phone with a curved screen. The curve isn't just a selling point, it's the selling point, as if you're supposed to say: Sure, this phone might not have a great camera, but LOOK AT ITS CURVES FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. If the prevailing Android trend of the last few years has been increasingly mammoth screen size, this year's seems to be curved gadgets. We saw a lot of curves at CES, mostly in the form of beautiful, enveloping TVs. But curves are not exclusive to televisions. Increasingly, phones have 'em too. Whether or not they continue to depends on the success of products like the G Flex.
For starters, it's massive. Actually, it's too massive, in a way that feels clunky. Six inches is a big phone regardless, but the curve adds depth to length. I found myself absent-mindedly rocking it back and forth on my desk, like a mini balance board for my hands. Its curve had me worried I was going to break it when I flex it (it flexes, which makes sense, given) or when it's in my pocket. It never did though; the G Flex is deceptively durable.
Take away the curve, and the G Flex looks like a lot of other large Android smartphones. Were it slightly smaller and flat it'd be a ringer for its LG cousin, the G2. From the front, it's shaped almost identically to the Samsung Galaxy S4, and it has a similar glossy plastic back. It also lacks any kind of physical buttons, except for the volume and power buttons on the back. This placement takes some getting used to, although the payoff for when you are used to it isn't particularly clear.
The curved screen is supposed to make calls clearer and holding your phone against the curve of your cheek more comfortable (which sounds like something out of a gadget romance novel). That's the theory, anyway. In reality, the sound doesn't seem to be affected all that much. If there's a difference, it's imperceptible to my ears.
Holding the G Flex to your face is awkward, too, thanks to that 6-inch screen. To put it into context, the G Flex is slightly bigger and heavier than the Samsung Galaxy Note III. You almost feel like you're making a call into a turkey leg you bought at the Renaissance fair.
The one benefit to the curve that actually seems to work is that it makes the G Flex less reflective that most smartphones you're used to. It really does reduce glare. On a rare sunny January day, I killed some time outside a coffee shop playing Temple Run on the G Flex. This is something that on a bright day would ordinarily be impossible because of the sun, but I could actually manage okay! I still didn't beat my high score, though.
Beyond that though, the display is not great. The Flex has a paltry 224 pixels per inch display, a far cry from retina-quality and noticeably less than any flagship you can find. It's grainy enough that what should be a crystal-clear image looks almost blurry.
The phone is also "self-healing," or more resistant to scratches, which it actually seemed to be after several days in and out of pockets, purses, and backpacks. I deliberately scratched it with the sharp edge of a bobby pin and it didn't pick up any scuffs.
The Flex is also running a build of Jelly Bean that is completely out of date—Android 4.2.2, which came out all the way back in the halcyon days of 2012. 2012! It's also bogged down with LG's proprietary apps, which you don't need and will never use.
You can "knock" to wake the phone up, as you could on the LG G2. But as with the G2, the feature only works about a third of the time. The Flex has home, back, and menu selection on the bottom of its giant screen, but it has left Android multitasking features out, in favor of a bunch of weird LG-specific gestures, like swiping applications to the side with three fingers to "save" it. That doesn't work well pretty much ever, provided that you want to use this feature you don't need and won't remember in the first place. The Flex also boasts LG Voice Mate, a voice control system that is unreliable at best. It had me missing all the goodness of Google Now.
That being said, the phone's got a decent amount of zip, thanks to its Snapdragon 800 guts. There was no lag playing games. It handled several rounds of Temple Run 2 without a hiccup.
The G Flex's 13MP rear camera is also a pretty lackluster. It's fast enough, it's good enough, but it's just not enough to stand out above any other of its Android cohorts.
Where the Flex shines the most is battery life, which makes sense given its underpowered display. With a 3,500 mAh battery, the Flex gets the same kind of battery life as that of the Droid Maxx. That's nearly two days on a single charge. Even with normal use—which for me is basically having the phone sewn to one hand while I constantly refresh Twitter—the Flex gave me about two days worth of juice.
The LG G Flex is a phone designed to hug the contour of your butt when placed in your back pocket.
The reduced glare on the screen is also nice, especially in that it's something you don't think about until you're sitting outside in the sun and having trouble reading a text.
It's big enough to bring back memories of the Zack Morris brick phone. The curves would be slightly more forgivable if the phone itself were smaller and less cumbersome. Six inches is just way too big for a phone. Additionally, as with the LG G2, the volume and power buttons are on the back, rather than the side. It is still strange placement. It is still not good.
The screen is pitiable. You hit a certain point with retina and beyond displays where you you don't possibly need any more pixels. The G Flex falls well below that point.
It is also expensive! The G Flex is $300 on contract with AT&T and $672 on T-Mobile (paid out over two years, but that's a long time to have a mediocre phone). No matter how you slice it, that's way too much. The Nexus 5, for comparison, is twice the phone at about half the price, depending on your carrier.
Hard pass. The main reason for the G Flex's existence seems to be that people don't buy new stuff if you don't make new stuff. At its high price, you're also paying a whole lot for what is essentially a gimmick. I can't imagine carting this around for two years.
Don't get me wrong. The phone is fine! Unwieldy in its size, but it's fine. It'll do what you need it to do, and it'll do it for a couple days on one charge. It's just not an extraordinary device, it's awkward to use, and you shouldn't buy it unless you're truly desperate for a conversation piece in your pocket..
LG G Flex SpecsNetwork: AT&T
• OS: Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
• CPU: 2.26 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800
• Screen: 6-inch 1280 x 720 Curved POLED, Real RGB, 245 ppi
• RAM: 2GB
• Storage: 32GB
• Camera: 13 MP rear / 2.1 MP front
• Battery: 3500 mAh Li-Po (3400 on T-Mobile)
• Dimensions: 6.31 x 3.21 x 0.31/0.34 inches
• Weight: 6.2 ounces• Price: $300 on contract on AT&T or Sprint, $672 on T-Mobile• Price: $300 on contract on AT&T or Sprint, $672 on T-Mobile
A camera you can throw
The Panono camera ball takes 360 degree photographs when it is thrown in the air.
The sphere is covered by 36 cameras which, once airborne, simultaneously capture individual images - these are then pieced together in the cloud to produce a 108 megapixel image which can be explored in any direction.
The sphere is covered by 36 cameras which, once airborne, simultaneously capture individual images - these are then pieced together in the cloud to produce a 108 megapixel image which can be explored in any direction.
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