Canada records surprising growth in digital camera sales

Canadian consumers bought more digital cameras than expected in 2007. Instead of a forecast 10 percent growth, the member companies of the Canadian Imaging Trade Association (CITA), headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, saw digital camera sales rise by almost 26 percent.

This was the second year in a row growth had exceeded forecasts; in 2006 there had been a 20 percent increase in sales rather than an expected plateau. Both increases were the result of "a genuinely unexpected shift in consumer buying habits," said the association. Canadian consumers, it added, are upgrading to higher performance digital cameras earlier and faster.

Manufacturers shipped more than 3.8 million digital cameras to Canadian retailers in 2007, up from the approximately 3 million in 2006 and 2.5 million in 2005. DSLR shipments, at 210,000 units, increased by approximately 45 percent compared to 2006. This follows an approximately 50 percent growth spike in 2006.

CITA also reported film sales in 2007 totaled 7.9 million rolls, a decline of 39 percent compared to 2006. The association forecasts a 40 percent decline in total film sales to 4.7 million rolls in 2008. Single-use camera shipments in 2007, reported by CITA members, were approximately 3.2 million units, representing a 28 percent decline compared to 2006. While CITA members account for almost all the film sold in Canada, it is estimated non-CITA members could account for up to 30 percent of the single-use cameras sold. A further decline of 29 percent is projected in 2008, with total single-use camera sales expected to be 2.3 million, as reported by CITA members.

Professional color reversal film sales declined almost 45 percent while professional color negative film declined almost 49 percent. The decline is expected to continue in 2008 with professional color reversal film forecast to decline about 46 percent and professional color negative film forecast to decline about 45 percent.

Beginning in 2006, the rate of decline of photographic color paper began to moderate. Color roll paper volume in 2007 continued this trend. Depending on roll size, volumes of color roll paper declined at a rate of 13 percent and 4 percent. Overall, color negative paper was down 12 percent. CITA forecasts the rate of decline in 2008 will increase slightly; color paper overall is forecast to decline 14 percent this year.

Overall demand for binoculars softened in 2007 with about 210,000 units sold. This represents a decrease of slightly less than 9 percent compared to 2006. Full size zoom binoculars showed a 25 percent increase in unit sales compared to 2006. Spotting scope sales in 2007 showed significant positive growth from the previous year, with more than 10,000 units sold, representing an increase of 34 percent compared to 2006.

The Canadian Imaging Trade Association is the association of manufacturers/importers and distributors of photographic/electronic imaging equipment and sensitized materials.

Desperate travellers mob trains in China after worst snowstorm in decades

William Foreman, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GUANGZHOU, China - Hundreds of thousands of desperate travellers, some hoisting terrified children or baggage over their heads, pushed their way onto trains Thursday as service resumed after the worst winter storms in decades paralyzed China.

Piles of suitcases, dirty blankets, duffel bags, clothing and shoes, abandoned in the chaotic stampede, littered the rain-soaked train station in Guangzhou, the starting point for the busy rail line north to Beijing.

Railway officials said the restored service could carry 400,000 passengers a day, but hundreds of thousands of stranded people, most of them migrant workers, were still waiting to leave the city.

More streamed in every hour to try to catch a train home for next week's Chinese New Year in one of the world's biggest annual mass movements of people. A record 178.6 million people - more than the population of Russia - were expected to ride the rails. Most would be riding in "hard-seat class," in train cars with only hard wooden seats.

To control the crowds, police built a massive corral the size of two or three football fields around the train station plaza. Thousands of travellers were herded into the outdoor waiting area, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, pressed tightly against one another. Some hefted their luggage over their heads, while others carried children on their shoulders so they could breath more easily.

"I've been stuck here for two days, and I stood here in the plaza all last night and couldn't sleep," one scruffy migrant worker in a green work suit yelled to a reporter before he was swallowed up by the crowd.

As soon as one wave of passengers was allowed to board trains, police allowed another to leave the plaza and enter the train station to wait some more. This would spark a stampede as people pushed past guards and dashed into the building.

A policeman helped one woman by carrying her toddler, the child's tearful face scrunched up in terror. The mother ran behind the officer, clutching the nape of his coat so she wouldn't get separated from her child.

Several women became overwhelmed with emotion as they neared the station and began crying. A woman in a pink jacket fainted and was lifted over the sea of people as she was passed over the crowd to receive medical help.

China's rail system was thrown into chaos last weekend, when heavy snow in regions just north of Guangdong province brought down electrical lines that power the trains. Guangzhou - the capital of Guangdong - quickly swelled with migrant workers who had just taken holiday leave from the thousands of factories in the province. The country has nearly 200 million migrant workers.

The freakish blizzards, which are forecast to continue, also caused dozens of deaths, blackouts and airport closures in southern, central and eastern China, regions that aren't accustomed to such severe weather and lack the equipment to deal with it. More than 30 centimetres of snow accumulated in the hard-hit provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Zhejiang and the city of Shanghai.

In Guangzhou, the crisis showed the toughness of the migrant workers and their high threshold for boredom, traits that make them excellent workers in factories that make everything from Honda sedans to Apple iPods and Nike sneakers, and have lured away millions of jobs from the rest of the world.

Most slept outdoors or on the floors of schools and convention centres as they patiently waited for the trains to run again. So far, there have been no reports of riots.

Zhang Yusheng, a 45-year-old truck driver, was stoically waiting with his wife to go home to central Henan province so they could see their two children. They can only make the trip once a year, and it normally takes 20 hours by train.

"We came here last night because our train was supposed to leave this morning, but there is no way we're going to get on it," Zhang said with no signs of agitation. "There were just too many people ahead of us, so we are just going to wait here until there is another train we can get on. We might have to wait two days."

Most of the workers showed up in Guangzhou dressed for the normal moderate weather in the province, which shares the same latitude as Florida. But the cold snap caused temperatures to dip down to 4 C.

Only a few had coats or parkas, and most endured the cold driving rain in cheap polyester blend sweaters covered with light jackets or tattered blazers. They sloshed around in canvas sneakers or flimsy leather dress shoes.

The storms also took an "extremely serious" toll on crops, said Chen Xiwen, deputy director of the Communist party's leading financial team. "The impact on fresh vegetables and on fruit in some places has been catastrophic," Chen told reporters in Beijing.

Mixed in with the blue-collar masses Thursday were young professionals, easily spotted in their trendy glasses and new clothes. They didn't seem to be as hardy as the workers.

Cheng Xia, 28, a graphic designer, said he went to Guangzhou's station the night before, but gave up his spot and went home. He swapped his large suitcase for a small carry-on bag so he could navigate through the crowd better. He also packed a tote bag full of snacks and a roll of toilet paper for the trip home to the western province of Sichuan, normally a 20-hour journey.

"The weather is still bad," he said. "Once I get on a train, who knows how long I'll be on it? We could get stuck for three or four days."

© The Canadian Press, 2008

Canadian Television Fund goes before CRTC as Canuck shows enjoy success

Lee-Anne Goodman, THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - The Canadian Television Fund, the non-profit corporation that finances Canadian television productions, goes before the CRTC next week at a seemingly fortuitous time. CTV has just sold one of its CTF-funded dramas, "Flashpoint," to a major American network, and Canadian TV fans are watching homegrown shows in increasing numbers.

"We're really making some serious inroads," Valerie Creighton, president of the CTF, said in an interview Thursday.

"Many of our programs are now hitting a million-plus (viewers) . . . so Canadians are watching Canadian-made shows and shows that are funded by the CTF more than ever before."

Creighton and other fund officials will be in Ottawa on Monday for the start of public CRTC hearings into the future of the 12-year-old fund, which is financed by the federal government, cable companies and direct-to-home satellite providers.

A handful of Canadian TV actors, including Wendy Crewson, Peter Outerbridge and Yannick Bisson, will be on hand in Ottawa to defend the fund at a noontime news conference.

The situation was grim for the CTF last year as it dealt with the fallout of two major cable companies suspending payments, even though they're obligated under CRTC regulations to commit five per cent of their revenues to the $288-million fund every year.

Jim Shaw, CEO of Shaw Communications, informed the fund in December 2006 that he would hold back about $56 million per year. Quebecor's Videotron soon followed suit and said it would also withhold contributions.

That prompted a flurry of discussions at the federal level that resulted in both companies resuming payments until a CRTC task force into the fund could complete its work. The public hearings beginning Monday are the final leg of that process.

"According to the CRTC, Canadians now have 662 television services (channels) available to them, and given that vast array of choice, CTF-funded shows are just doing fantastically," Creighton said. "We're going to focus at the hearings on the tremendous success achieved by CTF-funded shows and the growth and the progress we've made over the years."

Quebecor and Shaw have said they pulled the plug to express their unhappiness over how the fund's money was being spent. The companies also wanted the CTF to recognize new media platforms, like video-on-demand and Internet programming.

Calls to Shaw Communications were not immediately returned on Thursday, but Jim Shaw recently said he intended to give the CRTC an earful on Monday.

"We'll be at that hearing, have no doubt," he said after his company's annual general meeting in Calgary on Jan. 11.

Many have decried the stance taken by Shaw Communications and Quebecor, pointing out that the CRTC allowed cable companies to hike subscription rates in the 1990s if they agreed to contribute to the CTF.

"They reached an agreement with the CRTC that allowed them to keep 50 per cent of the money that would otherwise have been refunded to their customers in exchange for giving the other 50 per cent to the CTF," Richard Stursberg, CBC-TV's president of network programming, said in an impassioned defence of the fund last year.

"In other words, the CTF cost the cable companies nothing. In fact, they received money they would never otherwise have had if they contributed to the fund."

Creighton says the fund simply finances the production of shows that the country's broadcasters are most interested in getting on their schedules.

"We are already a market-driven fund, in that the decisions are made on what projects get chosen for CTF support by broadcasters," she said.

"The money doesn't go directly to broadcasters, it still goes to independent production, but the broadcasters are actually the proxies for the audience and are certainly closest to the audience in terms of their own mandate and role and the market research that they do."

Current ratings successes that are funded in part by the CTF include the CBC shows "Little Mosque on the Prairie," "JPod" and "The Border" and Global's "The Guard," which drew more that 800,000 viewers for its recent debut.

Arguably helped along by the continuing Hollywood screenwriters strike that has resulted in a dearth of fresh programming on American networks, a slate of new Canadian shows has been attracting more and more viewers in the past few weeks.

The CBC reality show "The Week the Women Went" (not funded by the CTF because it's a reality show) continues to increase its numbers, attracting 858,000 viewers this week, while "The Border" is now getting more than 700,000 viewers a week and "Sophie," also a CTF-funded show, is pulling in more than 600,000.

The pilot of "Flashpoint," the CTV police drama, was also supported by the CTF, and CBS's decision to snap it up is proof that world-class Canadian programming is being created with help from the fund, Creighton said.

The CTF is utterly necessary, she added, to encourage and support quality Canadian content in the face of the cultural behemoth to the south of us.

"When you look at the country of Canada, we're a really small market and we're up against the biggest producer of entertainment in the world in terms of television," she said. "We've got a very compelling story to tell the CRTC and the facts will speak for themselves in terms of the shows that the CTF has supported."

© The Canadian Press, 2008

No significant delays reported as new ID rules begin at U.S.-Canada border

David Runk, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT - Tougher identification rules went into effect Thursday along U.S. borders, but there appeared to be little added delay as travellers unprepared for the change were in many cases allowed to cross with a warning.

Rather than seeing a bottleneck over the Ambassador Bridge into Detroit, truck driver Paul Kraus said, "It's actually slow today." The 42-year-old regularly crosses the bridge from Windsor, Ont., and said he always carries the required documents.

U.S. and Canadian citizens entering the country are no longer allowed to simply declare to immigration officers at border crossings that they are citizens. Instead, those 19 and older must show proof of citizenship, such as a passport or a "trusted traveller" card issued to frequent border crossers. Driver's licences must be accompanied by proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate.

Orville McFarlane of San Diego had just his driver's licence as he returned from a sports betting parlour in Tijuana, Mexico, but was still allowed past San Diego's main border crossing.

"I was taken aback a little bit" about being asked for a birth certificate, the 36-year-old pharmacy technician said. "I said I didn't have it. He gave me a reminder slip."

Customs officials said delays were minimal across the country and that most motorists had the documentation they needed.

"It's been a very smooth transition," said Assistant Commissioner Thomas Winkowski, of the Washington-based Office of Field Operations, Customs and Border Protection. "There have been no issues with wait times."

He said compliance statistics were expected Friday detailing how many people arrived at the border with proper documentation.

Officers at the ports had latitude to admit people who are unaware of the changes once their identities were confirmed, and many points were offering a grace period and handing out flyers explaining the changes.

On the U.S. side of the border in Progreso, Texas, those returning from a trip to Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, across the Rio Grande carried bags of prescription drugs, cigarettes, liquor and crafts. Bobby and Genice Bogard of Greers Ferry, Ark., crossed so Genice could get a tooth capped.

The Bogards, who winter in Mission, Texas, knew the requirements were coming but thought they took effect in June. So even though they have U.S. passports, they had left them at home.

"He allowed us to pass with a driver's licence," Bobby Bogard said of a border agent.

"But next time he said he wouldn't," added Genice Bogard.

Others were ready for the new rules, or say they've grown accustomed to carrying citizenship documents since security tightened following the Sept. 11 attacks. At the Peace Bridge, officials said most travellers entering Buffalo, N.Y., from Fort Erie, Ont., had proper documentation.

"I always come across with my passport," said Fred Goetz of Burlington, Ont.

Smooth travel was reported at many crossings along the northern and southern borders.

The rules eventually will get even tougher for U.S. citizens entering the country from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean because of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which Congress approved in 2004.

The driver's licence-birth certificate combination will not be allowed when the law is fully implemented, but that has been delayed at land and sea crossings until June 2009.

Mexican citizens will continue to have to present valid passports and visas. Canadian citizens previously were not required to show a passport but will need one after next year.

Critics, particularly in northern border states, have assailed Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff over the changes. Some businesses and legislators worry that the new rules - and the costs of getting a passport - would discourage some people from making the trip.

"We are right on the border and 50 per cent of our guests are Canadian, so it's an enormous part of our business," said Bill Stenger, president of Jay Peak ski resort in Jay, Vt.

© The Canadian Press, 2008

Lacking virus laws, police in Japan arrest alleged spammer on copyright violation

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TOKYO - Police investigating a man for allegedly spreading a computer virus had to arrest him on a copyright infringement charge because Japan lacks laws against malicious computer programs, a police officer said Friday.

Masato Nakatsuji, 24, a graduate student at Osaka Electro-Communication University, is suspected of illegally copying and distributing over the Internet an image from the Japanese animation film "Clannad" showing a woman walking amid falling cherry blossoms.

But Nakatsuji also allegedly embedded the image in the "Harada virus," one of Japan's "Big Three" viruses, a Kyoto police officer said on the customary condition of anonymity.

Police said it was the first arrest in Japan involving making or spreading viruses.

Although computer viruses have wreaked havoc around the world for more than two decades, Japan has been slow to pass legislation to crack down on people who make and spread the potentially destructive programs.

In the latest case, police considered other charges, including damage to property and obstructing business, before deciding that copyright violation charges would hold up best in court, the officer said.

Nakatsuji, who is not suspected of creating the virus, was in police custody and not immediately available for comment. Police said he isn't contesting the charges.

Downloading the Harada virus with the animated image destroyed data and spread on the Internet information stored in computers hit by the virus, according to police.

The virus was also spread through an illegal Japanese file-sharing software program called Winny. The extent of the damage has not yet been disclosed, the Kyoto officer said.

Koji Namikoshi, spokesman for the university where Nakatsuji was researching laser technology, said the university is strengthening instruction on ethical uses of the Internet.

"But the only illegality is copyright," he said. "Something is wrong."

The maximum punishment for copyright infringement is 10 years in prison and fines of 10 million yen or $93,000.

© The Canadian Press, 2008

China steps up Internet control with video rules but firms expected to adapt

Joe Mcdonald, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING - China will take a new step Thursday to tighten control of the Internet when rules go into force limiting online video-sharing to state companies.

But regulators, wary of hurting a fast-growing industry, are expected to let private operators work around the restrictions.

The rules are aimed at expanding a Chinese censorship system that tries to block Internet use to spread dissent while promoting it for business and education. Communist leaders are especially anxious about unflattering video showing up online ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August, a major prestige project.

"It seems to be that political content is the foremost concern," said Duncan Clark, chairman of BDA China Ltd., a research firm in Beijing.

The rules came in a surprise announcement Dec. 29, just four weeks before they take effect - a move possibly driven by urgency about getting controls in place ahead of the Summer Games.

Online video has exploded in popularity in China, which has 210 million people online and says it expects to surpass the United States this year as the world's biggest population of Internet users.

Sites such as Tudou.com, 56.com and Youku.com say they get as many as 100 million viewers a day, a scale that rivals China's biggest state TV channels. Some offer full-length television programs, but many popular videos are created by amateurs. The companies have raised tens of millions of dollars from investors.

"Online video is increasingly becoming a sizable media platform," said Edward Yu, president of Analysys International, a Chinese technology consulting firm. "They are trying to attract users who traditionally watch TV and might now get their programming online."

China enforces the world's most extensive system of web monitoring and censorship and has issued a welter of regulations in response to the rise of blogging and other trends. Operators are required to monitor web pages and bulletin boards and delete content deemed subversive.

But online video's stunning growth appears to have caught regulators by surprise, possibly prompting the rushed release of rules that are unusually strict by the standards of earlier controls.

The potential for embarrassment was highlighted in December when a female Chinese sportscaster grabbed the microphone at a state television event to announce Olympics coverage plans and accused her husband, also a broadcaster, of adultery.

A 2 1/2-minute video of the Dec. 28 event appeared on dozens of websites in China and abroad. Tudou - named for the Chinese word for potato - said it was one of the site's most- watched items.

Under the new rules, video sites require a license that only state companies can obtain. That is in line with regulations that require all Chinese media to be state-owned. But it is a break from other online content rules, which compel private companies to enforce censorship but let them operate on their own.

There is no word yet on how amateur videos, known as UGC or "user generated content," will be handled - whether makers must register, who will censor content or whether they are allowed at all.

People who follow the industry say they expect companies to be allowed to comply by working out partnership deals with state-owned newspapers or TV stations.

No deals have been announced, but analysts expect private operators to be allowed to function beyond Thursday's deadline while they negotiate.

"They are still talking," said Dick Wei, a JP Morgan technology analyst in Hong Kong. "They feel so long as they are talking to the government they are not really facing that much urgency."

Still, companies and investors face uncertainty.

A Tudou spokesman, Gong Xiaoli, declined to say whether it has worked out its status. "It is not convenient for us to make any comment on the issues related to the new regulation," Gong said.

Spokespeople for 56.com and the popular sites Sohu.com and Sina.com, which have video- sharing sections, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The major U.S.-based video site YouTube.com also has a Chinese-language service. But its computers are outside China, putting it beyond the reach of the new rules.

Entrepreneurs faced similar challenges earlier when Beijing said only Chinese citizens could hold a website licence, seemingly shutting out foreign investors. Companies coped by making their Chinese employees the official owners of China-based sites while revenues were channeled to investors abroad.

Online video revenues from websites are modest but growing by nearly 100 per cent a year, while investors are pouring money into sites.

The government-sanctioned Internet Society of China is forecasting total revenues of 160 million yuan ($22 million) this year - nearly double the 2007 level - and 290 million yuan ($40 million) in 2009.

Yukou says it raised $40 million in November. In total, Clark says eight companies have taken in $190 million since 2005.

The Canadian Press, 2008

Japan recalls 12 tonnes of Chinese dumplings tainted with insecticide

(CBC) - Japanese health officials have ordered a recall of insecticide-tainted Chinese dumplings after one child ended up in a coma and nine others became ill.

The Health Ministry said Wednesday that 10 people experienced sharp abdominal pains, vomiting and diarrhea after eating the dumplings.

A five-year-old girl awoke from a coma after eating them, authorities said. The girl's mother, two brothers and sister were in serious condition in hospital.

Tests on the dumplings, the containers and the patients' vomit revealed traces of methamidophos, an organic phosphorus insecticide. Authorities are unsure if the products were contaminated in China or Japan.

Importer JT Foods Co. Ltd. imported the affected products from Tianyang Food Processing, China's Hebei Foodstuffs Import & Export Group.

JT Foods, which estimates it distributed nearly 12 tonnes of dumplings, is also recalling 22 other products imported from its Chinese distributor, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. The products were sold east of Tokyo in the Chiba prefecture and in the western region of the country in the Hyogo prefecture.

Made-in-China products came under close scrutiny last year as a wide range of products, including toys and toothpaste, were recalled from the marketplace for health hazards. An extensive recall of pet food after authorities determined wheat gluten imported from China was tainted with melamine.

Chinese authorities have launched a series of high-profile safety campaigns, introducing reforms in the country's food, health and manufacturing sectors.

With files from the Associated Press

Touching nose to refer to new Thai PM is no joke

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BANGKOK, Thailand - Sign-language interpreters in Thailand have run afoul of some governing party supporters by holding their noses to refer to the new prime minister.

Samak Sundaravej, chosen Monday as the first elected prime minister since a Sept. 2006 coup, has been nicknamed "Mr. Rose Apple Nose" because many claim his nose resembles the fruit.

Thai sign-language interpreters often indicate prominent facial features as shorthand for dignitaries and during a live broadcast of Monday's parliamentary session, they held their noses between two fingers numerous times to refer to Samak.

One interpreter, Kanittha Rattanasin, said this gesture has long been used for Samak but is drawing wide notice only now.

"It is not meant as a nose joke," she said.

"We have touched our noses for years to refer to Samak but people noticed this time because we had to repeat the movement over 300 times."

Juthamas Suthonwattanacharoen, another interpreter, said Samak supporters have called the National Association of the Deaf in Thailand to say the sign does not befit the country leader and the Thai daily newspaper Matichon said the gesture angered some members of Samak's party.

Samak, 72, a combative right-wing politician, easily beat Democrat party candidate Abhisit Vejjajiva, 43, to head the country.

"We refer to a person's most unique physical appearance and for Abhisit, it's his good looks," Juthamas said.

"If someone has very long eyelashes, or prominent ears, we use those."

Kanittha said some reference to Samak's popular cooking show might work as a new sign. But for now, there are no plans to change it, Juthamas said.

© The Canadian Press, 2008

Universal music still sees future in CD market, Vivendi Chief says

Emma Vandore, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CANNES, France - A music company executive says it's too early to write the epitaph for the CD.

The CEO of Universal Music's parent company, Vivendi SA says the death of the CD is not upon us, despite the rapidly growing popularity of online digital music.

Jean-Bernard Levy told a music conference in the southern French city of Cannes that he expects the market for CDs to last for "many years."

Record companies are reeling from the decline of the CD market, fuelled by music piracy, according to industry group the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, or IFPI.

But in a question and answer session with delegates at the Cannes conference, Levy said he still believes there is "a big market to sell records physically for many years still."

"It's not the migration of one physical format to another, I think it's a transition into very diversified business models of which CDs will remain a part. I don't believe at this stage for the next few years we will see a complete showdown (elimination) of CDs," he said, speaking in English.

Record companies' revenue from online digital music sales rose 40 per cent to US$2.9 billion in the past year, but the growth has thus far failed to cover losses from collapse of the CD market, the IFPI said last week.

CD sales fell 11 per cent between 2005 and 2006, and are likely to drop further in 2007, according to the industry federation. Digital downloads now account for 15 per cent of the world's music sales, with more than 500 legally licensed music sites selling around six million tracks of music, according to the federation.

Asked about moves away from copy-protection safeguards on downloaded digital music, previously championed by the recording industry as a bid to prevent piracy, Levy sounded a cautious note.

"We are still testing it - but I want to recall our policy that is still we are strongly attached to DRM, especially for advertising-based models and subscription-based models," he said, referring to Digital Rights Management, which includes software coding that prevents copying downloaded music.

DRMs can frustrate consumers by limiting the type of device or number of computers on which they can listen.

Last year, Universal Music began testing an unlimited music download service in France offered through broadband provider Neuf Cegetel. It is also giving Nokia customers a year's unlimited access to millions of songs.

"We don't want to make too many comments at this stage," Levy said of the trials.

© The Canadian Press, 2008

Toyota tops in production; GM no. 1 in sales

Associated Press

TOKYO - Toyota may have fallen short of General Motors in global vehicle sales last year but it beat its U.S. rival in another measure - global vehicle production.

In the latest neck-and-neck numbers race between the world's top two automakers, Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday it had made a record 9,497,754 vehicles worldwide in 2007, up 5.3 per cent from the previous year. That's about 213,000 more automobiles than the 9.284 million GM made last year.

Toyota's earlier, less-precise production estimate for 2007 was 9.51 million. Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco in Tokyo said there was no special reason for the change from the estimate.

By sales, however, General Motors Corp. just barely retained its crown over Toyota, selling 9,369,524 vehicles around the world, up three per cent from the previous year, and about 3,000 vehicles more than Toyota.

Toyota on Friday updated its sales tally for last year with additional three digits at 9,366,418. In numbers released last week, Toyota said it sold 9.366 million vehicles last year globally, up six per cent from 2006 - allowing GM to keep its title of world's No. 1 automaker for the 77th year.

The two big manufacturers are vying for sales in the United States, Europe and other established markets but also new markets, including India and China.

Toyota said production in Japan marked its sixth straight year of gains for a record in 2007. Exports and overseas production also surged, it said.

Toyota has been racking up growth recently, riding on its reputation for quality and good mileage. Soaring gas prices are making smaller cars that are Toyota's forte increasingly in demand.

Toyota has enjoyed a green-car image because of the fashionability of its Prius gas-electric hybrid, which cuts down on global warming emissions.

Hundreds of thousands stranded by Chinese blizzards ahead of New Year travel

William Foreman, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
GUANGZHOU, China - Snow and ice storms have stranded hundreds of thousands of people - most of them migrant workers hoping to leave for the Chinese New Year - and more blizzards threatened Monday to wreck what for many is a rare chance to see family.

The government, scrambling to prevent riots among the crowds that have swelled daily since the storms began Jan. 10, offered temporary shelter in schools and convention centres. Hundreds of police and soldiers were posted around a southern train station.

Frustrated in their efforts to return home, migrant travellers created small camps of suitcases in the mud outside the train station, scattering chicken bones and cigarette butts.

Li Moming, a construction worker among the 500,000 people stuck in the main southern city of Guangzhou, wore a mud-splattered pinstriped suit for a homecoming that might not happen.

He spent the night on the street in a cold drizzle. The train to his village in central Henan province, 20 hours away, was cancelled. He might have to spend the holiday at his work site instead.

"What can you do?" he said. "It's the weather. It's nobody's fault. You can't control the weather."

Chinese New Year begins Feb. 7 - when the train station will start to sell tickets again, radio reports said. State-run newspapers ran headlines urging the migrants not to travel. But for many migrants, the New Year - China's most festive holiday - is the only chance for months to visit their families, and they stay away for weeks.

One young mother who would give only her surname, Yang, spent the night on the street in front of the station with her seven-month-old daughter. She said she would probably have to cancel her holiday visit with her family and return to her small apartment near her factory.

Many workers were stoic, accustomed to the huge crowds, discomforts and long delays that are common for China's poor. But others fought among themselves while trying to board long-delayed trains during the busiest travel season of the year.

The great effort put into managing the Guangzhou crowd did not surprise Susan Shirk, whose recent book, "China: Fragile Superpower," discusses how domestic unrest poses a serious threat to the communist regime.

"When large numbers of people are upset about the same problem at the same time, there is a risk of large-scale collective action that could threaten Communist party rule," said Shirk. "Will the travellers blame the weather or the government?"

A new round of blizzards threatened central Chinese provinces Monday, putting more pressure on already strained transport, communications and power grids. The weather has already affected 67 million people.

The storms, which have killed 24 people since they began, have already caused economic losses equivalent to US$2.5 billion, the Civil Affairs Ministry said. The storms snapped power lines for trains in neighbouring Hunan province - a midpoint for the busy rail line that runs from Guangzhou to Beijing.

The government pledged Monday to increase the output of gasoline, coal and power to ease shortages amid the severe winter weather, which has forced rationing in some areas, the Xinhua News Agency said.

The announcement came as coal prices hit a record high Monday and heavy snows blocked deliveries to power plants. The government was already struggling to ease shortages of pork, grain and other food items that have set off a sharp rise in inflation.

On Friday, the cabinet ordered local authorities to ensure adequate food supplies to keep prices stable ahead of the New Year.

© The Canadian Press, 2008

Air pollution a threat to Canadians' heart health: report

(CBC) - Breathing dirty air is a threat to heart health, but few Canadians have made the connection, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Only 13 per cent of Canadians surveyed for this year's Report Card on Canadians' Health, which was released Monday, said air pollution affects heart health.

While nearly two-thirds of the 1,134 people surveyed said they believe air quality affects health, almost the same percentage, 61 per cent, do not let smog advisories affect what they do outdoors.

Additionally, only three per cent recognized pollution is a year-round problem.

"We can encourage Canadians to make lifestyle changes to reduce their risk," Stephen Samis, director of health policy for the foundation, said in a statement.

"Air pollution is a pervasive and unavoidable health risk for heart disease that all Canadians face - and most are unaware of its short and long-term impact."

The foundation says the problem may be that many Canadians do not see that air pollution affects their community.

The survey found 64 per cent of respondents believe their air quality to be good to excellent, with:

- 84 per cent of those surveyed in the Prairies saying their air quality was good

- 75 per cent in Atlantic Canada

- 71 per cent in British Columbia

- 59 per cent in Quebec

- 53 per cent in Ontario

However, when the Heart and Stroke Foundation measured the provinces' air quality from 2002 to 2005, most provinces received poor marks for air pollution's impact on heart health.

Ontario, Quebec and interior British Columbia all got failing grades while lower mainland B.C. and Alberta both got Ds. Manitoba got the best mark, with a B.

The foundation said almost a third of Canadians are exposed to higher-than-acceptable levels of fine particulate matter, the tiny particles in the air from pollution sources such as factories or wood stove smoke.

About 6,000 deaths every year in Canada are linked to short-term exposure to air pollution, with 69 per cent of these related to cardio and cerebrovascular disease, according to the foundation's 2008 report card.

To help improve the grades, and heart health, the foundation recommends rolling out the national Air Quality Health Index based on the Toronto, Nova Scotia and B.C. pilot programs, to give all Canadians access to daily air quality measures and recommendations on when and how to limit exposure.

It also called for incentives to reduce air pollution, investments in public transit and stronger legislation to ensure emission controls truly result in cleaner air.

"Environment Canada has made great strides by setting a Canada-wide standard for particulate matter pollution," Samis said, adding that it is "now essential for our governments to set policies that decrease emissions and reduce air pollution."

He said such investments "will not only address concerns about the environment, but may ultimately reduce the burden on our healthcare system."

Indonesia registers 100th bird flu death

(CBC) - Indonesia has recorded its 100th human death from the bird flu, almost half of the total worldwide fatalities.

A nine-year-old boy and a 20-year-old woman died from the disease over the weekend, raising the death toll to 100, said Joko Suyono of the National Bird Flu Centre.

He said two Indonesians in their 30s who also tested positive were being treated in the capital, Jakarta.

Since the H5N1 virus emerged in late 2003, 222 people have died worldwide, with nearly half of those fatalities in Indonesia. It is also one of the only countries to log human deaths year-round, as bird flu typically flares in the winter months.

Meanwhile, India has recorded its worst-ever outbreak and officials have slaughtered more than 1.6 million birds since mid-January.

Most cases of bird flu are linked to contact with sick poultry. The disease remains difficult for humans to catch, but experts fear the virus could mutate into a form that spreads easily among people.

With files from the Associated Press

CRTC plans to outsource investigation of telemarketing complaints

THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission is looking for an outside party to investigate Do Not Call List violations and other telemarketing complaints.

The federal telecom regulator said Monday that all telemarketers will pay fees to the investigator to cover its costs, which are expected to be about $100 per action.

The commission said it will issue a formal request for proposals by the end of February, moving "another step closer to launching the national DNCL and enforcing the new telemarketing rules."

© The Canadian Press, 2008

China's volatile markets reflect growing uncertainty in booming economy

Elaine Kurtenbach, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SHANGHAI, China - Chinese investors took a beating Monday as the Shanghai composite index sank 7.2 per cent to its lowest close in nearly six months.

The benchmark's decline shadows the malaise on Wall Street, but also reflects jitters among Chinese investors over how their country will weather a global slowdown as it faces daunting economic strains of its own.

"I'm not really worried, because it couldn't get any worse," said Mel Ma, a 25-year-old Shanghai public relations executive. "I made money over the past two years, but then lost all my profits in six trading days."

While Chinese shares are still largely off-limits to foreign investors, recent trends show its markets are no longer immune to global realities. The past two weeks - unlike most of last year - Chinese markets have been pulled back and forth along with other regional exchanges amid concerns over a U.S. recession.

"Today's decline directly reflects worries over global stagnation," said Chen Huiqin, an analyst at Nanjing-based Huatai Securities. "The U.S. market's weakness spilled into Hong Kong, and Hong Kong's weakness affected Shanghai."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.4 per cent last Friday, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 4.3 per cent Monday.

In Shanghai, the decline at the start of the week matched that of Jan. 22, when the composite benchmark also fell 7.2 per cent. Its close Monday, at 4,419.3, was its lowest finish in nearly six months.

The index has already lost 16 per cent so far this year. And although it is still more than 50 per cent higher than it was a year ago, the correction that began in mid-October has rattled many of China's new investors, who had piled into the market by the millions over the past two years, hoping for higher returns than the paltry interest paid on bank savings.

Many have cut their losses and cashed out.

"The recent, continuous declines caused panic," said Peng Yunliang, a senior analyst at Shanghai Securities.

According to the Shanghai Depository and Clearing Co., as of Jan. 18, some 60 per cent of all share trading accounts for the main class of yuan-denominated "A shares" were vacant, meaning their owners had sold off their shares.

Fears that a U.S. economic slump will hurt demand for Chinese-made products have sapped confidence in the prospects for a return to the bull run of last year. Meanwhile, a prolonged bout of severe winter weather is also taking a toll.

Ice and snow have paralyzed transport across wide regions of southern and central China, slowing shipments of coal and prompting the government to order emergency measures to counter power outages.

China Aluminum Corp. plunged by the daily 10 per cent limit to 30.1 yuan on Monday.

Many large caps were dragged down by new profit worries.

Market heavyweight PetroChina fell eight per cent to 24.06 yuan. Citic Securities plunged by the daily limit of 10 per cent to 68.42 yuan, as did refiner Sinopec, which fell to 17.05 yuan.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest lender, sank 6.2 per cent to 6.62 yuan.

"Investors, especially institutional investors, are very cautious," said Chen of Huatai Securities. "They're waiting for some 'market rescuing' action, or at least some comment, from the government," she said.

China's regulators do have a record of tinkering with policy to counter market trends: In October, the authorities suspended sales of mutual funds to new subscribers, taking the steam out of what they feared was a stock price bubble.

Ma, the PR executive, says she was not optimistic about any government action.

"We don't expect the government to do anything until it's too late," she says. But she'll still dabble in stocks.

"There are always regrets in stock investing," Ma said. "But better not to waste time on that and to instead focus on good stocks and opportunities."

© The Canadian Press, 2008

Canada's annual inflation rate dips to 2.4 per cent, bigger drop in offing

Julian Beltrame, THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - Canada's inflation rate is in a downward spiral as the strong loonie and the impact of the one-point reduction in the GST start cutting into prices of consumer goods.

Statistics Canada said Friday that inflation slipped to 2.4 per cent on an annualized basis in December from 2.5 per cent the previous month, and the core index - which the Bank of Canada also uses to monitor inflation - fell a 10th of a point to 1.5 per cent, the lowest in two years.

And inflation is due to take a further downturn this month, the first month consumers will benefit from the reduction in the GST to five per cent, announced last October.

If the entire one-point drop is passed on to consumers, the GST effect will reduce prices across the board by about 0.6 per cent.

"This is good news for consumers because their purchasing power is going further," said Michael Gregory, an analyst with BMO Capital Markets.

"Although the Bank of Canada expects core inflation to average as low as 1.3 per cent year-over-year during the first half of this year, the double-whammy of the strong Canadian dollar and weak U.S. economy casts downside risk on this already very low inflation projection."

Friday morning, the Canadian dollar was up 0.3 of a cent at 99.69 cents after jumping 1.7 cents Thursday.

With inflation no longer on the radar screen, the central bank has been given more room to cut interest rates sharply in response to a weak economy or as a lever to control another surge in the loonie.

The currency's gains, while considered good for consumers, is causing havoc in the manufacturing and forestry sectors.

Bank of Canada governor David Dodge said Thursday that although he doesn't expect Canada to slip into recession, growth will be significantly curtailed this year, particularly in the first three months.

He said the economy is expected to grow at a meagre 0.6 per cent pace during the first quarter and at about 1.8 per cent for the year.

"Expectations of lower inflation and slower growth will keep the bank in rate-cut mode in the months ahead and we expect a 50-basis-point easing at the next fixed action date in March," said RBC senior economist Dawn Desjardins.

While gasoline prices, heating oil and mortgage costs continue to lead the way in pushing inflation up, the number of items applying the brakes keeps growing, with "reading material" showing up in a significant way for the first time in December.

Book and automobiles became the cause celebre last fall among critics who complained that retailers were not passing on the savings of the loonie rising to - and past - parity with the U.S. currency.

But Statistics Canada said prices for books and other reading materials fell nine per cent last month, from November, with the biggest savings coming in paperbacks.

Consumers also continued to realize dollar-related savings when purchasing or leasing automobiles, which cost 4.1 per cent this December and last year.

As well, computer equipment and supplies costs fell 13.7 per cent, fresh fruit dropped 7.2 per cent and fresh vegetables were 4.7 per cent less expensive last month than a year ago.

The biggest reason total inflation remained above two per cent in December was the cost of gasoline, which shot up by 14.9 per cent in the month over last year, after a 17.6 per cent rise in November. The higher pump prices coincided with a significant increase in crude oil prices on international markets.

Excluding higher gasoline prices - which account for 4.9 of the consumer price index basket - the all-items index rose only 1.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, mortgage interest costs rose 7.3 per cent in the month over last December. Home replacement costs rose 4.4 per cent, but the agency said this component has been falling since July, particularly in Alberta.

Consumers also paid 27.1 per cent more for heating oil in December, the biggest increase since October 2005.

For the full year, Statistics Canada said inflation averaged 2.2 per cent, slightly higher than the two per cent average over 12 months in 2006.

Here's what happened in the provinces and territories (previous month in brackets):

-Newfoundland and Labrador 2.3 (2.3)
-Prince Edward Island 2.8 (2.9)
-Nova Scotia 3.1 (2.8)
-New Brunswick 2.6 (3.2)
-Quebec 2.2 (2.0)
-Ontario 2.1 (2.4)
-Manitoba 2.0 (1.7)
-Saskatchewan 3.7 (4.0)
-Alberta 4.1 (4.7)
-British Columbia 1.2 (1.3)
-Whitehorse, Yukon 4.0 (4.1)
-Yellowknife, N.W.T. 3.2 (3.1)
-Iqaluit, Nunavut 2.8 (2.9)

The agency also released rates for major cities, but cautioned that figures may fluctuate widely because they are based on small statistical samples (revious month in brackets):

-St. John's, N.L., 2.5 (2.4)
-Charlottetown-Summerside, 2.9 (3.0)
-Halifax, 3.1 (2.8)
-Saint John, N.B., 2.7 (3.2)
-Quebec City, 2.2 (1.9)
-Montreal, 2.2 (1.8)
-Ottawa, 2.0 (2.2)
-Toronto, 2.4 (2.5)
-Thunder Bay, Ont., 1.4 (1.5)
-Winnipeg, 1.9 (1.6)
-Regina, 3.1 (3.5)
-Saskatoon, 4.9 (5.2)
-Edmonton, 4.5 (5.1)
-Calgary, 3.7 (4.3)
-Vancouver, 1.3 (1.4)
-Victoria, 0.6 (0.6)

© The Canadian Press, 2008

Bono, pushing for aid to Africa, gives Japanese PM a red iPod

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DAVOS, Switzerland - Rock star Bono bowed and gave Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda an iPod at the start of a meeting Saturday to try to get more Japanese support for the fight against poverty in Africa.

The gift broke the ice as Fukuda sat down with Bono, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other major supporters of more aid for Africa.

Fukuda asked the U2 frontman if his music was on the red recording device.

"No, but you can download it," said Bono. Fukuda replied that his son has some of Bono's music.

After the private meeting, Fukuda told government and business leaders at the World Economic Forum that African development would be one of the three major themes of the G-8 meeting he is hosting in Japan this July.

Proceeds from sales of the special-edition red iPod directly to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Africa.

Earlier this week, Bill Gates said the Red-branded products have generated US$50 million for the fund in the last year and a half.

© The Canadian Press, 2008

Australia issues travel warning against Canada; not as safe as S.Korea

Pat Hewitt, THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - As Canadian tourism officials prepare to launch a new campaign next week to promote Canada as a place for Australian tourists to "keep exploring," travellers from Down Under may have second thoughts if they take the advice of their own government's "Smart Traveller" website.

It has a warning posted about travel to The Great White North.

The website, which is run by Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has Canada listed as a country where travellers should "exercise caution," which is the second-lowest rating out of five - the highest being "do not travel."

Australians are advised to be cautious because of "the risk of a terrorist attack" in Canada, heavy snow, windchill and ice in the winter, and forest fires that can erupt "at any time."

British Columbia, in particular, was singled out as being in an active earthquake zone and "subject to avalanches," along with Alberta.

Canada in the same company as some, but not all, members of the G7 - the U.S., Britain, Germany, France and Italy. But such countries as Serbia, Kazakhstan, Bosnia, Albania, Spain, Malaysia, Greece and Cambodia also have an "exercise caution" flag on the website alongside Canada.

The website says the United Kingdom remains a potential target for terrorist activity and lists the attacks in 2005 and 2007. It also says Australian travellers face the risk of terrorism in the U.S. and mentions a July 2007 National Intelligence Estimate which concluded the U.S. is in a heightened threat environment.

But the site doesn't specifically mention why Canada is listed as a risk for terrorism.

Countries listed as safer than Canada include China, Chile, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Belarus, Romania, South Korea, Ireland, Norway, Japan and Latvia. They get a "be alert to own security" rating, the lowest on the list.

Dozens of countries are deemed less safe than Canada and Australian travellers are warned to have a "high degree of caution" when going there. Other countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Sudan have a "do not travel" warning.

William Davis, a spokesman at Australia's High Commission in Canada, told The Canadian Press from Ottawa the warning about Canada is not new, but a "couple of years old."

"This is quite an old warning and it's not really about Canada," Australian High Commissioner Bill Fisher said "The warning is a general one for all Western countries and it followed some quite nasty statements by al-Qaida two or three years ago about attacks on Western countries."

Fisher said Canada is low down on the list of warnings and added all governments put out warnings about countries.

While the commissioner said the warning is old, the website does list the advice as current for Saturday, January 26, 2008 - which is Australia Day, a national public holiday across the country.

"Every year we have a survey about the dream destination and every year in Australia, Canada is No. 1," Fisher added. "So I think people vote with their feet and their money, certainly with their ambitions, so we send about 200,000 Australians to Canada a year."

Canada's Foreign Affairs department declined to return calls seeking the government's reaction to the travel warning.

The Foreign Affairs website, which offers advice to travellers, has no official travel warnings against Australia, and says most Canadian visitors to that country don't have any problems, and there are "no serious security or safety concerns."

However, it does say foreigners are targets for pickpockets and purse snatchers, especially at airports, and all travellers should exercise caution in the more popular tourist areas and avoid hitchhiking Down Under. It says women should not travel alone after dark in Australia and that flash floods and bushfires occur in many parts of the country.

The Canadian Tourism Commission, which promotes Canada to 10 regions including Australia, said 207,000 Australians visited Canada between January and November 2007, up 9.9 per cent from the previous year. The CTC is predicting a four-per-cent rise in the number of Aussie visitors to Canada in the first quarter of 2008 over the same period a year ago.


Sylvie Lafleur, executive director of overseas markets for the commission, told The Canadian Press in an interview from Vancouver that Canada is "very well known for being a friendly, safe and secure destination.

"We know that Australians are very attracted to the breadth of experiences that Canada has to offer."

She said the United Nations has ranked Canada as the second best country to live in.

"I think that speaks volumes," Lafleur said.

She declined to say whether the travel warning would make the commission's job harder to sell Canada as a favourable tourism destination aboard. But she said she isn't worried, noting the high numbers of Australians who visit Canada.

"Canada, we know through our research . . . is really considered a friendly and welcoming destination for Australians."

Lafleur said the CTC promotes Canada through print advertising, billboards and the Internet. She said the commission will be launching a new campaign in Australia starting Monday.

According to the Canadian Embassy website in Australia, Australia provides the fifth largest number of overseas visitors to Canada each year.

The Canadian Press, 2008

Shanghai subway employee fired for uploading video of couple kissing to Internet

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING - Shanghai's subway operator has fired an employee who uploaded security camera video of a couple kissing on one of its trains to the Internet.

Chinese media say the company has also offered compensation and an apology to the pair, who could be identified from the video, and were reportedly shamed and harassed over its appearance on sites such as YouTube. The video reportedly showed the couple kissing and embracing.

In a statement, the company says it's wrapped up an internal investigation and found the videotape was uploaded by people who had worked for Shanghai Metro.

The company says formal apologies were made and it's negotiating with the couple over compensation.

The Xinhua news agency said the company's probe found three employees had been involved in the incident, two of whom quit last September for reasons it did not explain.

Xinhua identified the dismissed employee as a woman. Her name was not given.

© The Canadian Press, 2008

Pakistan test fires nuclear-capable medium-range missile

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan successfully test-fired a medium-range ballistic missile Friday at the conclusion of the army's annual field-training exercises, the military said.

A statement said the Strategic Missile Group had launch the Shaheen-1 missile Friday from an undisclosed location. The nuclear-capable missile has a range of 700 kilometres.

Pakistan routinely tests the various missiles in its arsenal, designed to match that of neighbouring archrival India.

© The Canadian Press, 2008

EU proposes strict new toy safety regulations

(CBC) - The European Union is considering a toy safety proposal that would lower allowable limits of lead and mercury, impose stiffer penalties on manufacturers for unsafe toys, and outlaw bundling toy giveaways with food products.

The safe toy proposal, introduced Friday by Enterprise Commissioner Guenther Verheugen, also recommends the following:

- Prohibiting chemicals linked to cancer.
- Banning allergenic fragrances.
- Strengthen legislation to prevent accidents caused by small parts in toys.
- Put more responsibility on importers to ensure safety of toys.
- Introduce penalties for importers and manufacturers for safety violations.

The proposal, which would update 20-year-old toy safety legislation, has now been sent to the European Parliament and the bloc's Council of Ministers for consideration.

Verheugen acknowledged the new standards will create challenges for the toy industry but he noted the health and safety of children is non-negotiable.

"Economic operators are now called to live up to their responsibilities to ensure that children can enjoy playing with toys without risks," Verheugen said in a statement.

Poses challenges, but welcomed

Toy Industries of Europe, a trade group representing companies including LEGO, Mattel and Hasbro, said they welcomed the initiative but noted it also posed several significant challenges.

"We envisage that the new proposal will raise many challenges for the industry, in particular when it comes to the practical implementation of the new rules," the group said in a statement.

"We do, however, welcome the increased efforts to improve the enforcement of the safety rules to ensure that products on the market are safe."

Consumer confidence in the toy industry was shaken in 2007 when a wide range of products, including Thomas the Tank Engine trains and Mattel products, were recalled from the marketplace for exceeding standards on lead content.

Manufacturers used lead as either an agent to soften plastic or to improve durability and colour in paint.

Other products, including Polly Pocket dolls and Batman action figures, were pulled from store shelves after it was discovered the magnet pieces could be pulled off the toys and ingested.

CTVglobemedia says cable and satellite firms should have to pay for signals

THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - CTVglobemedia and CanWest Global Communications Corp. (TSX:CGS) are telling the CRTC that cable and satellite providers should have to pay local TV broadcasters for distribution of over-the-air signals in Canada.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission announced in November that it was inviting comments on the possible introduction of compensation for the distribution of local TV signals.

"CTVglobemedia is seeking fairness and balance in the economic model for local television," the company said Friday in a release as it filed a brief to the CRTC along with CanWest Global.

"Compensation for carriage is essential if CTVglobemedia is to sustain the level of service it provides to local communities and its contribution under the Broadcasting Act."

CTVglobemedia, owner of the CTV network, operates 27 local TV stations from Halifax to Victoria. CanWest's large media holdings include the Global Television Network.

CTVglobemedia says local television "is in the midst of a crisis. Audience fragmentation and the rise of new media platforms are resulting in declining advertising revenues."

But cable and satellite firms take a much different view in their CRTC filings.

"A fee-for-carriage regime would have a serious negative impact on all sectors of the Canadian broadcasting system including consumers ... program producers and specialty and pay services," Gary Smith, president of BCE Inc.'s Bell ExpressVu, said in a release.

"In fact, the only beneficiary would be the big broadcasting corporations themselves."

In its brief, CTVglobemedia says compensation from cable and satellite providers should be linked to TV stations' provision of local programming.

It also argues that:

-Cable and satellite providers who wish to provide an out-of-market local TV station to subscribers allowing them to station-shift or time-shift should be required to obtain consent from the original broadcaster; and

-In markets where direct-to-home penetration has reached 30 per cent, the providers should be compelled to carry local TV stations.

"Conventional TV has passed the tipping point," said Paul Sparkes, executive vice-president of corporate affairs at CTVglobemedia. "Ad revenues are shrinking year after year and our expenses continue to rise.

"Right now, cable companies pay nothing for our signal, yet they charge their customers to watch local news and programming. It's just not right."

A recent study of cable and satellite TV subscribers shows that few know that none of the proceeds of their monthly bill directly supports local TV stations. The survey, released Thursday, was conducted by Nanos Research.

In addition to its conventional stations, CTVglobemedia holds interests in 35 specialty TV channels, including sports channel TSN. It also owns the Globe and Mail and CHUM Radio Network, which operates 35 radio stations throughout Canada.

Other CTVglobemedia investments include an interest in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors and the Air Canada Centre; and an interest in Dome Productions, a supplier of mobile high-definition production services.

© The Canadian Press, 2008

Global cellphone sales slowing, IDC says

(CBC) - After years of massive growth, the worldwide market for cellphones is finally starting to cool, according to analysts at IDC.

Year-over-year growth in sales of handsets during the holiday quarter has fluctuated between 18 and 30 per cent over the past three years, but this past quarter saw an increase of only 11.6 per cent, the global research firm said on Friday. That lower growth is an indication that cellphone sales have peaked.

"The expectation that the market would maintain the level of growth it saw over the last three years was unrealistic," said Ryan Reith, senior research analyst with IDC's worldwide mobile phone tracker, in a release. "We expect growth to be in the single digits throughout 2008, and most likely for years to follow."

More than 300 million devices were shipped in the fourth quarter, bringing the 2007 sales total to more than 1.1 billion handsets, or a 12.4 per cent increase over the previous year.

Many countries - particularly in Europe and Asia - have reached cellphone saturation points, where many people own more than one device and subscriptions actually outnumber the population. As a result, handset sales in these countries are largely driven by customers replacing their devices, rather than new subscribers coming on.

The slowdown isn't likely to happen in Canada, however. With about 19 million cellphone subscribers, or about 60 per cent of the population, Canada is far from achieving the penetration rates seen in Europe and Asia. Lawrence Surtees, principal analyst of communications research for IDC Canada, said in an interview that Canada will still need a few years to achieve a saturation rate of 80 to 90 per cent of the population.

"I don't think we're anywhere near a saturation point in Canada yet," he said. "We've got a ways to go mainly because we still have many people that are waking up to wireless."

He said the global slowdown could also reverse itself when the cellphone makers start paying attention to the largely undeveloped market of Africa.

"They're just beginning while the rest of the world has sort of hit a plateau," Surtees said.

Nokia maintains lead

Worldwide, Nokia maintained its lead over the handset market, with a share of about 38 per cent. The company shipped more than 437 million devices, representing a four per cent increase in market share over 2006.

IDC's prediction of single-digit growth countered a more bullish forecast by Nokia on Thursday, which predicted a 10 per cent increase in mobile phone shipments in 2008.

Samsung overtook Motorola as the No. 2 manufacturer, with 14 per cent market share. The company shipped 161 million handsets in 2007, giving it a three per cent increase in market share over 2006, IDC said.

Motorola faced a number of challenges over the past year, with the company's chief executive admitting the firm had missed out on significant growth areas, including 3G, China and emerging markets. Motorola's market share slipped to 13.9 per cent in 2007 from 21 per cent a year earlier. The company shipped 159 million handsets, down from 217 million.

"Give credit to Samsung for taking the No. 2 position worldwide from Motorola," said Ramon Llamas, research analyst with IDC's mobile devices technology and trends team, in a statement. "Samsung capitalized on replacement handset opportunities in the United States and Europe with a steady stream of mid-range and high-end devices, while Motorola spent much of the year addressing inventory challenges."

Sony Ericsson and LG Electronics rounded out the top five mobile phone vendors with nine and seven per cent market share respectively, IDC said.

Dunkin' Donuts sets sights on Shanghai

(CBC) - Green tea doughnuts will be on the menu at 100 Dunkin' Donuts shops slated to open in Shanghai over the next decade.

The first location in mainland China will open this spring, the Massachusetts-based company announced Friday.

In addition to the company's standard menu offerings of bagels, coffee and doughnuts, the Shanghai outlets will roll out new products to suit local tastes, the company said. New items will include honeydew doughnuts and mochi rings - doughnut-like desserts made of rice flour.

The company, which operates 7,900 restaurants in 31 countries around the globe and is one of many companies seeking to crack the Chinese market, also announced plans to expand its franchise in Taiwan.

In early January, Swiss chocolate maker Barry Callebaut opened a factory in eastern China in a bid to capture the country's growing appetite for chocolates and sweets.

Digital music sales up 40 per cent, but increase fails to make up for decline in CDs

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON - The music industry's global trade body reports record companies' revenue from digital music sales rose 40 per cent to US$2.9 billion in the past year - but the growth is still failing to cover losses from the collapse of CD sales.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, or IFPI, said the increase in legitimate music sales fell short of offsetting the billions being lost to music piracy, with illegal downloads outnumbering the number of tracks sold by a factor of 20 to 1.

But the trade group said it welcomed French President Nicholas Sarkozy's proposal to clamp down on copyright violations.

Sarkozy called in November for Internet service providers in France to automatically disconnect customers involved in piracy.

IFPI chief John Kennedy said the plan is "the most significant milestone yet in the task of curbing piracy on the Internet."

The industry body said CD sales fell 11 per cent between 2005 and 2006, and likely dropped further in 2007. Digital music revenue has so far failed to make up for the decline - and is also showing signs of slowing, the IFPI said.

From US$380 million in 2004, digital revenue roughly tripled in 2005 and nearly doubled in 2006, but brought only a 40 per cent increase in 2007, the IFPI said.

But it said digital downloads have grown in five years to account for 15 per cent of the world's music sales, with more than 500 legally licensed music sites selling around six million tracks of music.

Japan is continuing to drive the digital market, the report said, particularly as a result of consumers using mobile phones to download music.

However, young Japanese mobile Internet users are also likely to be abusing pirated music, with a Recording Industry Association of Japan report showing nearly two-thirds frequently obtained illegal music through their phone.

The Canadian Press, 2008

Asian stocks surge in early trading after overnight Wall Street rally

Cassie Biggs, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONG KONG - Asian markets rallied Friday, further recovering from their plunge earlier this week, as investors took heart from gains on Wall Street overnight and positive figures about the U.S. economy.

Investors also welcomed details of a tax rebate for U.S. consumers announced as part of President George W. Bush's economic stimulus plan. The tax rebate will put $600 to $1,200 in most tax filers' pockets.

"The markets are reacting to news Bush and Congress have agreed to accelerate tax rebates for U.S. consumers so they can go out and buy more exports from Asia," said Francis Lun, a general manager at Fulbright Securities in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped nearly six per cent in early trading before trimming some gains. By midmorning, it was up 1,138 points, or 4.83 per cent, at 24,667 points. The index fell 2.2 per cent the previous day.

In Tokyo, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index extended its gains for a second straight session, rising 367.05 points, or 2.8 per cent, to 13,459.83 by midday. It gained 2.1 per cent Thursday.

Markets in Australia, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines were also up.

On Wall Street on Thursday, the Dow Jones industrials rose more than 100 points, partly lifted by data that suggested the U.S. job market is holding up. The U.S. Labor Department said the number of people seeking unemployment benefits last week fell for a fourth straight week.

Investors were also cheered by strong gains Thursday in Europe.

Hong Kong gainers were led by property issues on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve would again slash rates when it meets next Tuesday and Wednesday. Hong Kong banks usually match the U.S. rate cuts as the Hong Kong dollar is pegged to the U.S. currency.

Asian markets have had a volatile week, buffeted by worries the United States, a key export market and the world's biggest economy, was going to contract.

On Monday and Tuesday, all Asian markets suffered steep losses before rebounding Wednesday and Thursday after the U.S. Fed slashed lending rates by 0.75 per cent.

The Hong Kong index bucked Thursday's upward trend. After rising three per cent in the morning, it slumped 2.3 per cent later in the day after French bank Societe Generale announced a massive write-down in subprime assets and detailed how a junior trader had lost the bank more than $7 billion. Analysts described Hong Kong's drop as a "knee-jerk reaction" to the French bank's news.

"We should have ended up yesterday," said Rob Hart, an analyst at Morgan Stanley.

"But there was no where else to pull money from when the Societe Generale news came out. Tokyo and Seoul had already closed."

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.88 per cent to 12,378.61 Thursday, following a 2.5-per-cent surge Wednesday. The Nasdaq composite index advanced 1.9 per cent to 2,360.92.

U.S. stock index futures were also up, suggesting that rally could continue. Dow futures were up 37 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 12,402, while Nasdaq futures were up 15.5 points, or 0.8 per cent, to 1,852.5.

© The Canadian Press, 2008

Beijing market known for fakes launches own brand name, warns counterfeiters

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEIJING - A Beijing clothing market famous for selling fakes has started its own line of brand-name products - with a warning to counterfeiters to stay away.

The Beijing Silk Street Co. Ltd., which owns a multistorey market that is filled with hundreds of clothing shops - many of which sell Burberry and Ralph Lauren fakes - has launched its own SILKSTREET line of shirts, ties, scarves, teacups and other goods, the general manager of the market said Friday.

"For over 30 years we've always been selling other people's clothes," George Wang said.

"We've never sold our own."

He hopes to capitalize on the influx of foreign visitors for the Olympics.

Wang said the move is a way to start to enforce intellectual property rights and show better quality comes with real goods.

But he warned if anyone tries to sell fake SILKSTREET goods, they will be dealt with "according to the law." Counterfeit goods remain widespread in China, despite occasional crackdowns, because laws against the practice are rarely enforced.

The market has a program to crack down on fake goods, Wang said, such as giving a 20-per-cent discount on rent for stalls that sell real goods.

But many of the shops in the market still sell fake good.

"The quality and look is good," shopkeeper Xu Meiling said of SILKSTREET shirts, comparing them favourably to fake foreign-brand shirts hanging in dozens of stalls.

The new SILKSTREET brand shirts go for $25. Fake Paul Smith and other name-brand shirts cost $21, she said.

Wang said he wants big-name brands like U.S. apparel maker North Face, who recently won a lawsuit against the market for infringement, to open stalls in the market. So far, they are "hesitant," he said, fearing their brand name will be tainted by association with the market.

In September 2006, five global luxury brand names - Burberry, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada - won $1,387 in compensation from a joint lawsuit against Silk Street and five of its tenants, the first case in China to end in such a settlement.

© The Canadian Press, 2008

Only one in five Canadians want 2008 election, poll suggests

THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - A new poll suggests only about one in five Canadians want a federal election this year.

The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey of just over 1,000 Canadians found 58 per cent wanted the election in 2009, while only 22 per cent wanted one this year.

The federal Conservative government has survived in a minority Parliament since early 2006 and opposition parties have been back and forth over when to bring it down.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion has said he wants to wait to decide on a confidence vote until after the federal budget, expected in February or March.

The poll, conducted Jan. 17-20, also suggests Conservative supporters are less likely than those of other parties to back the idea of an election this year.

Bloc Quebecois and NDP supporters were the most likely to want an earlier election.

The survey is considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times in 20.

© The Canadian Press, 2008

CBC board approves international distribution deal

(CBC) - The CBC's board of directors has approved a deal to sell the public broadcaster's international sales arm to content distribution company Fireworks International.

In a teleconference on Wednesday, the board had its first official meeting with new CBC president Hubert Lacroix and, among other issues, discussed and then approved the controversial sale.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal comprises the sale of the international rights to 135 active titles - encompassing about 700 hours of programming - to Fireworks, a division of British-based ContentFilm.

"We believe this represents a significant win for CBC, for Canadian taxpayers and for the producers, actors and others who have a stake in the programming, which will now have an opportunity for greater exposure and sales internationally," Lacroix said in a statement.

"Under the terms of the agreement, benefits will continue to accrue to rights holders of the programs, including the CBC."

Richard Stursberg, CBC's executive vice-president of English services, added that the decision was made after considering a host of issues, "including financial consideration that fully values the assets, the fact that it would minimize business disruption, be the best solution for affected employees and give us a strong partner moving forward."

Announced on Dec. 18, the deal provoked protests from Canadian producers and distributors who objected to the fact that CBC management did not give domestic firms a chance at a deal for the catalog.

Also, industry members have taken issue with the fact that the CBC-Fireworks deal was announced days before a Toronto-based firm - Peace Arch Entertainment - announced a takeover bid for parent company ContentFilm.

Vancouver aims for wireless network in downtown core

(CBC) - The City of Vancouver is looking to create a wireless broadband network throughout the downtown core.

On Tuesday, the city issued a request for "expressions of interest" from organizations willing to build and finance the internet network on the provincial website BC Bid, where government contracts are posted.

If approved, the pilot project would cover 2.3 square kilometres of downtown Vancouver.

Councillor Peter Ladner, who has been pushing the idea, told CBC News the challenge is to find partners to fund the project because the city doesn't want to bill taxpayers.

"We are looking for somebody who wants to come forward with a business plan where the payment would either be coming from consumer subscribers, or from some company or public institution," said Ladner.

City staff threw cold water on previous attempts to set up a broadband network, arguing it would be impossible to implement without a cost to taxpayers.

CBC asset sale sparks fury

Martin Knelman
TheStar.com

The shootout at the public broadcasting ranch is going down to the wire.

On the eve of a crucial teleconference of the CBC's board of directors, the group representing virtually all of the country's major producers has added its voice to the mounting chorus of objections to a highly unorthodox sell-off of international rights to shows produced with Canadian public funds.

In a letter dated Monday to Timothy Casgrain, chair of the CBC board, Guy Mayson, president of the Canadian Film and TV Producers Association, asks the board to reject a deal made by CBC Television to sell 135 titles and 700 hours of its international sales catalogue to Fireworks International, a division of ContentFilm.

"We feel that a more transparent and open bidding process should be required when an important public agency is looking to divest itself of some of its assets and that Canadian companies should at least be allowed to bid," Mayson writes. "The fact that this business transaction appears to have been negotiated and presented to the CBC board of directors without any opportunity for Canadian companies to bid ... seems contrary to good public policy."

To which I would add: You can say that again.

In a sane and honest world, the CBC board would take the honourable course and reject this deal, insisting instead, as Mayson puts it, "that CBC management allow Canadians and international companies who may be interested the opportunity to provide competitive bi