Ads 468x60px

Pages

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

PRESS DIGEST - CANADA - Aug 31

n">Aug 31 (Reuters) - The following are top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

THE GLOBE AND MAIL:

-- The apparent overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi's regime may not signal an end to Canada's military involvement in Libya, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says.

Canada's role in NATO's close support of the rebels-turned-rulers is due to end on Sept. 27, when Parliament's mandate for involvement expires. But Baird is not ruling out continuing that mission into October and beyond.

-- The push for a merger between the Liberal Party and the NDP has quickly become a major issue among the growing field of candidates to replace Jack Layton, threatening the steely discipline and tight focus that propelled the New Democrats to unprecedented standing in Ottawa.

Without Layton, the NDP establishment has been unable to put a lid on speculation about greater unity among parties that oppose the Conservative government in Parliament.

The top contenders for the NDP leadership - party president Brian Topp and House Leader Thomas Mulcair - are being forced to deal with the thorny issue after maverick MP Pat Martin said he will run if no one else takes a pro-merger position.

Report on Business Section:

-- At the stroke of midnight on Wednesday night, the switch from analog to digital signals will be completed in most major markets across Canada - and the country's private TV broadcasters will have spent more than $70 million to free up space on the airwaves at the government's command.

-- Canadian banks are no longer hoarding capital as they did during the economic crisis, but the country's major lenders are still reluctant to return cash to shareholders and deliver regular dividend increases that investors have long counted on.

Analysts expected Bank of Nova Scotia would boost its dividend while reporting third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, but the bank held back on a payout hike even as it reported a 21 percent increase in net earnings, or 18 per cent excluding one-time items.

NATIONAL POST

-- Vancouver police are launching a website dedicated to serving justice on those who were involved in the riots that followed Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs in June.

At a news conference Tuesday, Inspector Les Yeo said the website initially will contain 40 photographs of people suspected of taking part in the riots, taken from pictures and video that were shot that night. People can submit additional pictures through the website, he added.

-- The European Union had no interest in negotiating a freetrade agreement with Canada nine years ago, despite heavy lobbying from the federal government, according to a newly leaked diplomatic cable.

The cable from the U.S. embassy in Ottawa and posted on the whistleblower website WikiLeaks, says the EU did not see any sound economic argument for the two parties to enter into a free-trade agreement.

Financial Post section:

-- Research In Motion Ltd has a problem with Apple Inc trademarking its WebKit software in Canada.

RIM has formally opposed Apple's application in documents filed with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) this month. Apple first asked to trademark its open-source Web browser software in May, 2010, and received preliminary approval in June, 2011.

-- CNN is moving deeper into mobile news delivery, announcing the acquisition Tuesday of Vancouver tech startup Zite, the developer of a personalized magazine iPad app. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though online reports indicate the Atlantabased media outlet paid between $20-$25 million.


View the original article here