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Quebec police admit they went undercover at Montebello protest
Quebec provincial police admitted Thursday that three of their officers disguised themselves as demonstrators during the protest at the North American leaders summit in Montebello, Que. A YouTube video shows Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, ordering three masked men back from a line of riot police. However, the police force denied allegations its undercover officers were there on Monday to provoke the crowd and instigate violence. 'At no time did the police of the Sûreté du Québec act as instigators or commit criminal acts,' the police force said in French in a news release. 'It is not in the police force's policies, nor in its strategies, to act in that manner. 'At all times, they responded within their mandate to keep order and security.' See also

'US friendly fire' kills British soldiers in Afghanistan
Three British soldiers have been killed in an apparent friendly fire incident involving US aircraft in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said today. Two other soldiers were injured in the incident, which occurred yesterday. The MoD said the soldiers, from 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment, were taking part in a patrol to disrupt Taliban activity in north-west Kajaki, in Helmand province. The patrol was attacked by Taliban insurgents and air support was summoned in the form of two US F15 aircraft. One bomb was dropped, apparently killing the three soldiers. They were declared dead at the scene. The two injured soldiers were evacuated by helicopter to a medical facility at Camp Bastion for treatment.

For the first time, Britons' personal debt exceeds Britain's GDP
Britons have racked up so much debt on loans and credit cards that the total borrowed now exceeds the entire value of the economy, new research shows today. The financial consultant Grant Thornton is forecasting that gross domestic product (GDP) will hit £1.33 trillion this year, less than the £1.35trn which was outstanding on mortgages, credit cards and personal loans in June. The symbolic overtaking is the first time that the country's 60 million people owe more to the banks than the value of everything made by every office and factory in the country. It prompted a warning that personal borrowing was so out of control that many more people would be pushed over the 'financial edge'. The runaway housing market is the biggest reason why consumer debt has spiralled, totalling £1.131trn.

Motorway closed after shots fired at police
Shots have been fired at a police car on a road leading on to the M5 near Gloucester. Two shots were fired at the patrol car as officers made a routine stop-check on a vehicle at around 4.10am on Friday. Gloucestershire Police said a patrol car had stopped to make a routine check on a blue L-registration BMW 3 series that was parked in a lay-by on the B4008, just off junction 12 of the motorway. But, as police pulled up behind the BMW, two shots were fired from the vehicle. It then made off on to the southbound carriageway of the motorway. Police have closed the motorway in both directions between junctions 12 and 13.

The Path Towards War With Iran
This month saw yet another escalation of the U.S. policy of isolating and pressuring Iran as the White House announced its intention to add Iran's Revolutionary Guard to the State Department's list of terrorist organizations. There is something to be learned from this about the nature of U.S. foreign policy if we care to examine the implications; and the ramifications of such a decision could be quite serious and potentially deadly, so it warrants a look. The announcement was preceded by yet another declaration from the Pentagon that Iran was supplying 'explosively formed penetrators' (EFPs) to Shiite militias combating the U.S. occupying forces in Iraq. The weapon is basically an improvised explosive device which projects a slug of metal upon detonation capable of penetrating armor.

Hugo Chavez ready to broker humanitarian deal in Colombia
The Venezuelan president made an appeal to a rebel leader to begin talks after meeting families of hostages. Hugo Chavez said he is ready to broker an humanitarian deal between the government of Colombia and guerrilla leaders to release hostages held by rebel groups. The South American head of state - well reputed by the FARC, Colombia’s largest guerrilla group- made a public appeal to guerrilla leader Manuel Marulanda to begin talks. “Marulanda, this is Chavez. I don’t know you, but wherever you are, I speak to you as a great Colombian, here with Colombian family members of those in captivity. You know that Colombia's President has asked our friend Senator Cordoba for a facilitation meeting. She has asked for my help. This occasion presented itself and I only want to help', addressed the Venezuelan President to the leader of the FARC.

Fingerprint scanning at nursery
A fingerprint scanning system is being introduced at a nursery in Bath to allow only parents and staff access. The biometric controls are being introduced at the First Steps nursery to 'enhance existing security arrangements'. The company behind the system, UK Biometrics, said no fingerprints were actually stored and no human rights were infringed. Manager Lysha Goode said: 'Security is a prime concern for parents and staff.' 'With our new biometric system we know only registered people can gain access to the nursery so parents have peace of mind,' she said. Sally Glover, of UK Biometrics, added: 'The nursery has specified the only key which cannot be lost, stolen, forged or hacked - the human fingerprint.

Two Years After Katrina, Billions in Relief Funds Are Missing
The federal government has promised more than $116 billion in recovery aid, but residents of the still-devastated Gulf Coast wonder whether the check bounced. When pressed on the slow pace of recovery in the Gulf Coast, President Bush insists the federal government has fulfilled its promise to rebuild the region. The proof, he says, is in the big check the federal government signed to underwrite the recovery - allegedly more than $116 billion. But residents of the still-devastated Gulf Coast are left wondering whether the check bounced.

PM facing battle with unions over EU treaty
The row over whether Gordon Brown should have a referendum on the EU treaty took a new turn yesterday with trade union leaders joining Conservatives in calling for a public vote on the issue. The prime minister looks set to face an embarrassing defeat at next month's TUC conference on the referendum issue - with three unions in favour of an active 'no' campaign to urge the public to throw out the proposed changes altogether. He insisted yesterday there was no need for a referendum: 'We believe the proper way to discuss this is through detailed discussion in the House of Commons and the House of Lords and I believe parliament will pass the legislation.' He said he believed the TUC would support the government next month.

Protesters divested their garments in protest against forced prostitution
Police in Nepal overnight detained 13 men and women who tried to strip in front of parliament here to protest the decades-old practice of forcing girls from their community into prostitution. “We detained five Badi men and eight Badi women as they tried to strip off their clothes during a demonstration” outside Nepal’s parliament complex, Kathmandu police chief Sarbindra Khanal said. “This is a restricted area, and protesting is banned,” he said. Members of the poor Badi community are one of the most disadvantaged groups in the country. For generations, many have been forced into the sex trade because of a lack of other options.

Exiled former Pakistan PM wins right to return
In a swingeing blow to General Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's Supreme Court has ruled that an exiled former prime minister should be allowed to return to the country where he plans to challenge the military leader's efforts to secure another term as president. The court ruled yesterday that Nawaz Sharif, whose government was overthrown by General Musharraf in a bloodless coup in 1999, and his brother had an 'inalienable right' to return to Pakistan from London. 'They have an inalienable right to come back and stay in the country as citizens of Pakistan,' said Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry. He said their return should not be 'hampered or obstructed' by the authorities.

British Army deploys new weapon based on mass-killing technology
A new 'super-weapon' being supplied to British soldiers in Afghanistan employs technology based on the 'thermobaric' principle which uses heat and pressure to kill people targeted across a wide air by sucking the air out of lungs and rupturing internal organs. The so-called 'enhanced blast' weapon uses similar technology used in the US 'bunker busting' bombs and the devastating bombs dropped by the Russians to destroy the Chechen capital, Grozny. Such weapons are brutally effective because they first disperse a gas or chemical agent which is lit at a second stage, allowing the blast to fill the spaces of a building or the crevices of a cave.

Sudan 'still sending Darfur arms'
Sudan is still sending weapons to Darfur in contravention of a UN arms embargo, Amnesty International says. It is estimated more than 200,000 people have been killed by Khartoum-backed militias in the last four years. Now the human rights group Amnesty International has released pictures of military aircraft which it says were taken in July this year at an airfield in El Geneina, in west Darfur. This is not the first time evidence has emerged of the Sudanese government violating the UN arms embargo.

Israel must do more for peace process, urges envoy
The man appointed by Gordon Brown to be the UK's Middle East envoy has warned that Israel must do more to improve the lives of the Palestinian people, or else attempts to revive the peace process could fail. Michael Williams, who is currently the UN secretary general's special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, spoke out ahead of taking up his new role next month. A conference aimed at getting the peace process back on track is scheduled to take place in the US in November. But Mr Williams suggested that the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, would have to be given assurances of positive Israeli intentions before he would attend.

Eta blamed for blast outside police station
A van loaded with explosives blew up outside a police station in Spain today, in what appeared to be the first attack by the separatist group Eta since it called off a ceasefire in June, officials said. Two officers were slightly injured when the bomb went off in the Basque city of Durango shortly after 3.15am (2.15am BST). The blast caused serious damage to a civil guard station and residential barracks. Several nearby apartment buildings were also damaged. There had been no warning, said the Spanish interior ministry. 'Families and children live in that police station, which makes the attack all the more despicable,' Paulino Luesma, the ministry's chief delegate in the Basque regional capital, Vitoria, told a local radio station.

Chatter about an 'incident' on West Coast at all time high
Chatter picked up by WMR's sources in the nation's capital and in California point to unusual events that could be a prelude to a 9/11-like false flag 'incident' during the Labor Day weekend, possibly one focused on the San Francisco Bay Area. The FBI in Seattle, as well as the Washington Joint Analytical Center (WJAC), have asked for the public's help in identifying two men spotted aboard Washington state ferries exhibiting unusual behavior. A number of ferry passengers have reported the two men showing strange behavior. Two photos have been circulated showing two young 'Middle East' looking men on board a ferry. The reluctance of the FBI to provide more details is reminiscent of the 2000 and 2001 closely-held government reports that a number of teams of between two and five to six young male and female Israelis, all veteran or reserve Israeli Defense Force members, were spotted casing facilities prior to and subsequent to the 9/11 attacks.

Timber mill threatens birthplace of green politics
Residents of Tasmania, the Australian state regarded as the birthplace of the global environmental movement, are bitterly divided about plans to build a massive timber-pulping mill in one of the island's most scenic areas. The state government and the logging industry are firmly behind the mill, which will pulp several million tons of woodchips a year for export. Opponents claim that it will harm the environment, the economy and public health. Launceston - Tasmania's second-largest city, with a population of 65,000 - is just 22 miles south. Tourism operators, vineyard owners, organic farmers and fishermen in the Tamar Valley region, in northern Tasmania, are concerned about the impact of air pollution and chemicals flowing into the nearby Bass Strait.

Troops killed in Pakistan attack
A suicide bomber has killed at least four soldiers in north-west Pakistan near the Afghan border, officials said. The bomber drove a car laden with explosives into a military convoy near Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal area.
Several others were injured in the attack. A military vehicle was also severely damaged, officials said. The US says North Waziristan is a safe haven for the Taleban and al-Qaeda. Pakistan denies the claim. Troops were rushed from Miranshah to the scene after Friday morning's attack, officials said. Violence has soared in North Waziristan and other areas along the border since troops stormed the radical Red Mosque in the capital, Islamabad, in July, with the deaths of more than 100 people.

Author jailed for protesting too near Parliament
The first person to be convicted of organising an “unauthorised” demonstration within 1km of Parliament Square was sentenced to 14 days imprisonment yesterday for refusing to pay his fines. Author and editor Milan Rai (42) is currently being held at Wandsworth prison, following a court appearance at Horseferry Magistrates court on 21 August. On 25 October 2005, Mr Rai was arrested opposite Downing Street with vegan chef Maya Evans, after the pair read out the names of Iraqis and British service personnel who had been killed in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. Mr Rai was subsequently convicted of organising an “unauthorised” demonstration within 1km of Parliament, fined £350 and ordered to pay £150 in costs.

Out-of-body experiences explained away by scientists
They have long been cited as evidence of life after death. But scientists have come up with a more rational explanation for out-of-body experiences.The findings, reported in the journal Science, suggest that the mind relies on the senses of sight and touch to know it is located inside the body. When the connection between the two is disrupted - by illness, drugs or scientific experiments - things go awry, creating a sensation that the mind has left the body. Neuroscientist Dr Henrik Ehrsson used goggles, a video camera and sticks or rods in a simple experiment to confuse the brain. A volunteer was asked to sit on a chair and wear goggles that were linked to a video camera trained on his back. Looking through the goggles, the person saw an image of his back, from the perspective of someone sitting around six feet behind him.

300-page iPhone bill that's as thick as a novel
stomers across the US have filed complaints with manufacturer Apple about the size of their phone bills. An archaic billing system has meant that almost every user of the sophisticated multimedia mobile phone, which was launched in June, has been sent a phone bill that is as thick as a novel. One customer videoed herself reading through a 300-page, double-sided £137 bill that was sent to her and posted the footage on YouTube. Justine Ezarik, 23, from Pittsburgh, who admitted to sending 30,000 text messages a month, said the bill chronicled in specific details every piece of information from her phone, includingfiles she had downloaded and uploaded. Her video has already received three million hits, and yesterday she said: 'It cost them almost $10 (£5) to send this bill. It just doesn't make a lot of sense.'