Friday, May 24, 2013

Global News

Sports

Canucks’ coaches axed after sweep

VANCOUVER—Vancouver Canucks’ general manager Mike Gillis is in no rush to name a replacement for fired coach Alain Vigneault.
“I don’t have a timeframe,” Gillis said during a news conference yesterday after Vigneault’s dismissal was confirmed.

Business

‘I did not know’ about bailout: Harper

LIMA, Peru—Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government deploys a vast early-warning communications system to warn of potential problems on the horizon.
But Harper insisted yesterday that he learned about his right-hand man bailing out an embattled Conservative senator in much the same way as other Canadians did: by seeing it on the news.

National

Reforestation ruling to have implications

OTTAWA—A Japanese-based forestry company has won a long-running tax battle with Ottawa over how reforestation obligations should be handled when harvest rights are sold.
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 9-0 today that passing on future liabilities for land reclamation cannot be considered taxable at the time of the sale.

Technology

Telus wants Mobilicity

TORONTO—Telus is prepared to pay off Mobilicity debtholders, hire its employees, and provide service to the small wireless carrier’s 250,000 customers in a deal announced today.
The Vancouver-based telecom company’s offer of $380 million is subject to conditions, including approval by the Competition Bureau, Industry Canada, and Mobilicity’s debtholders.

Health & Wellness

Free T-shirts, other non-cash incentives can up blood donations, study finds

TORONTO — A new study suggests incentives like free T-shirts and gift cards could boost blood donation rates without compromising blood safety.
Canadians are not paid cash for blood and rolling up one’s sleeve to donate is seen as an altruistic act.
But research by an international team of economists suggests that offering non-monetary incentives could bring in more donors.

International

Veterinary surgeons remove basketball-sized hairball from tiger in US that stopped eating

CLEARWATER, Fla. — It’s not unusual for a cat to get a hairball, but a 400-pound (180-kilogram) tiger needed help from veterinary surgeons when he couldn’t hack up a soccer ball-sized hairball by himself.

Science

The Galapagos are now just a click away: Google photographs famous islands for Street View

SAN FRANCISCO — Few have explored the remote volcanic islands of the Galapagos archipelago, an otherworldly landscape inhabited by the world’s largest tortoises and other fantastical creatures that inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

People

Fewer kids walking, biking

TORONTO—Fewer Canadian kids are commuting by walking or biking as a new report reveals a marked decline among young people using active modes of transportation.
Active Healthy Kids Canada released its annual Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth this week, assigning a ‘D’ grade in the category of active transportation.

Life

Tiger cleared of huge hairball

CLEARWATER, Fla.—It’s not unusual for a cat to get a hairball, but a 400-pound tiger needed help from veterinary surgeons when he couldn’t hack up a soccer ball-sized one by himself.
The 17-year-old tiger named “Ty” underwent the procedure yesterday at a veterinary centre in the Tampa Bay area community of Clearwater.