The last male child in a family of many boys is likely to be gay, Canadian researchers have found. The study found that ”the most consistent bio-demographic correlate of sexual orientation in men is the number of older brothers [one has]” and not social influences.
This was the race Michael Schumacher was supposed to close the gap on Fernando Alonso in the chase for the Formula One championship. After all, Schumacher had won the Canadian Grand Prix seven times. Alonso never had anything but trouble at the Circuit Gilles Villeneueve.
Defending world drivers’ champion Fernando Alonso stormed to pole position for the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on Saturday. Spaniard Alonso (24) fended off a later surge from his teammate Giancarlo Fisichella to take the top spot in one minute and 14,972 seconds — more than two-10ths of a second ahead of the Italian.
German Michael Schumacher has targeted victory in this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix as he attempts to close in on the lead of the drivers’ world championship. Schumacher (37), who drives for Ferrari, has 51 points — 23 fewer than defending world champion Fernando Alonso of Spain — and knows that he must start a dramatic turnaround in Montreal.
A suspect in an alleged plot to bomb Canadian buildings had applied to a flying school and considered using a plane for an attack, according to court documents revealed by Canadian radio. But the suspect, Amin Mohamed Durani (19) did not attend the flying lessons, fearing that he would draw attention to himself.
More arrests were expected following the detention of 17 people over an alleged al-Qaeda-inspired plot to bomb high-profile targets in Canada. Amid media reports that the Canadian Parliament was on the group’s hitlist, Mike McDonell, assistant commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said: ”This investigation is not finished.”
Twelve men and five youths arrested overnight face charges for plotting al-Qaeda-inspired ”terrorist attacks” on several locations in Ontario, Canada’s economic hub, officials said on Saturday. The group is alleged to have acquired three tonnes of ammonium nitrate, a common fertiliser ingredient, and ”components necessary to create explosive devices”, police said.
At least 10 suspects were arrested in the Toronto area on Friday on terrorism-related charges, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said. The Canadian Press quoted an unnamed police source as saying the charges were related to an explosives plot in Ontario, Canada’s largest province.
Fifa will push for its members to adopt the world anti-doping code in time for the World Cup next month, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) said on Sunday. If the code is adopted before the start of the tournament on June 9 in Germany, the world’s soccer stars would be subject to two-year suspensions for serious doping violations instead of the lighter bans under Fifa rules.
Animal rights activists accused Canadian authorities on Monday of fomenting trouble to prevent them from scrutinising the controversial seal hunt that started over the weekend. Seven activists were arrested on Sunday for getting too close to a vessel involved in the hunt while trying to document the slaughter on Sunday.
The curtain rose in Toronto on Thursday night on an epic musical adaptation of The Lord of the Rings that has taken four years to produce, features 55 actors, 500 pieces of armour and 17 elevators, and cost about -million — making it almost certainly the most expensive stage production in history.
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/ 7 February 2006
Stephen Harper has been sworn in as Canada’s Prime Minister, marking the first time in more than a decade that the Conservative Party will rule in this traditionally liberal nation. He has pledged to clean up government corruption and revive relations with the United States.
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/ 31 January 2006
In a last-ditch bid to save western Canada’s spotted owls, the emblem of North America’s environmental movement, nature lovers are suing the federal government in court to force action. Four environmental groups wants a judge to order Canada to draft an emergency plan to protect the rare birds.
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/ 24 January 2006
Canada’s next prime minister, Stephen Harper, promised on Tuesday to deliver change after voters swept his Conservatives to power, ending 12 years of Liberal rule. ”Tonight, friends, our great country has voted for change,” he told a cheering crowd in Calgary after his party emerged as the single largest grouping in the new Parliament.
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/ 11 January 2006
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and opposition leader Stephen Harper, his Conservatives ahead in the latest polls, raged against possible Quebec separation in a televised election debate on Tuesday. ”It’s not right to say that it’s a crime to promote federalism in the province of Quebec,” Harper said, rebuffing attacks by separatist Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe.
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/ 10 January 2006
Colourful Canadian poet Irving Layton, twice considered for a Nobel Prize in literature for his provocative verse, died on Wednesday in Montreal at the age of 93, according to media reports. Layton, who once described himself as "a quiet madman, never far from tears", wrote about 50 books of poetry and prose over five decades.
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/ 15 December 2005
Foreign big-game hunters will be banished from a vast area of western Canada’s wilderness, local environmentalists said, announcing an unusual purchase of a commercial hunting licence. The Raincoast Conservation Foundation privately raised 1,35-million Canadian dollars (,17-million) to buy one of North America’s largest guide outfitters
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/ 10 December 2005
A United Nations conference agreed on Saturday to extend the life of the Kyoto Protocol on global warming and launch a dialogue between Kyoto members and the United States on long-term action for tackling the greenhouse gases that drive dangerous climate change.
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/ 26 November 2005
The Toronto zoo has recovered a red panda that had escaped its pen and evaded capture for more than a month by blending in with Canada’s colourful red maple leaves, officials said on Friday. The nine-year-old animal was found by a gardener this week sitting in a tree about 2km away, healthy, but a bit thinner.
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/ 21 October 2005
Following just a few simple rules regarding moderate exercise, healthy eating and lifestyle can ensure weight control and lower the risk of disease, say the world’s leading researchers on obesity. ”There’s been a hysteria in place over the last many years,” said Dr Steven Blair, who presented a key speech on the state of the art in exercise to an international science conference on obesity in Canada.
Health officials were still struggling on Thursday to discover an unknown virus that claimed 16 lives at a Toronto retirement home in recent weeks, according to officials. ”We’re still trying to find the source of the outbreak,” said a spokesperson for the Toronto Public Health Authority. ”And, we may never know. In almost half of such cases the actual strain is never identified.”
A Federal Express cargo plane crashed in downtown Winnipeg on Thursday, killing the female pilot and narrowly missing nearby cars and buildings, police told Agence France Presse. The Cessna 208 was en route from Winnipeg in central Canada to Thunder Bay in neighbouring Ontario province when it went down at about 5.45am (10.45am GMT) in the trendy Osborne Village neighborhood of the city.
Africa must urgently boost investments in aquaculture to fight hunger as natural fish stocks on the continent and elsewhere decline, scientists say. Africa is the only region in the world where the per capita fish consumption is dropping, placing an estimated 200-million Africans who depend on fish as a main part of their diet at risk of malnutrition.
Rafael Nadal added a career-first hard-court title to his increasingly crowded trophy shelf, defeating three-time champion Andre Agassi 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 on Sunday to win the ,2-million Montreal Masters. The rain-interrupted victory was the ninth of the season for the talented 19-year-old.
They represent the past and future of men’s tennis. Eight-time grand-slam winner Andre Agassi beat Greg Rusedski 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the final of the Montreal ATP Masters Series, where he will face teenager Rafael Nadal. The 35-year-old Agassi will be bidding for his third Canadian crown in Sunday’s final.
Top seed Rafael Nadal booked a place in the semifinals of the ,2-million Montreal Masters as rain produced a frustrating and inconclusive evening on Friday for veteran campaigner Andre Agassi. Top seed Nadal dropped just three points on serve in his opening set as he trampled Argentine Mariano Puerta 6-3, 6-1.
French Open champion Rafael Nadal and American Andre Agassi remained on course for a possible final showdown as they booked quarterfinal berths at the ,45-million ATP Masters Series in Montreal on Thursday. Nadal emerged with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over France’s Sebastien Grosjean.
Rafael Nadal made up for lost time on a day of rain interruptions, racing to a 6-1, 6-2 victory on Wednesday night over Brazilian Ricardo Mello for a third-round place at the ,2-million Montreal Masters. The top-seeded teenager will have only hours to recover before a Thursday match against Sebastien Grosjean.
Rafael Nadal didn’t let a jammed finger deter him from an opening-round hard-court victory, overcoming long-time mentor Carlos Moya 6-3, 6-7 (0-7) 6-3 on Tuesday at the ,2-million Montreal Masters. The 19-year-old from the Spanish island of Mallorca needed treatment on a finger on his left hitting hand.
Andre Agassi defeated Alberto Martin of Spain 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the Rogers Cup on Monday. The fourth-seeded Agassi finessed his way from the baseline with steady groundstrokes, capitalising on mistakes by his 26-year-old opponent.
The first sign that something might be amiss came when the plane lifted abruptly into the air after the captain aborted his first attempt to touch down. The cabin fell gradually silent as the jetliner regained height and circled above the airport for several minutes.
Passengers who survived a plane crash on an Air France jet headed for Toronto have described their panic and confusion on Wednesday morning as the plane burst into flames after skidding off the runway into a ravine. All 297 passengers survived the crash on Tuesday night.