Vancouver's poor - dark side of the Games

VANCOUVER — Canada is spending over two billion dollars on the Winter Olympics but just steps away from the venue for the opening ceremony sits one of the country's most notorious slums where drug addiction and prostitution are rife.

The scenes of homelessness and the squalor of Downtown Eastside are not the images Olympic organizers want visitors to leave with.

But the neighbourhood's close proximity to BC Place Stadium where the Olympic cauldron will be lit on Friday, will make it hard for visitors to miss.

"The biggest misconception is people think it could not happen to them," said Mark Townsend, who runs a non-profit group for the homeless.

"We have daughters of university professors, former professionals. Mental illness could strike any of us."

The homeless, prostitutes, addicts, Native Canadians and the poor all share the cramped area where hundreds of people die of drug overdoses every year.

In the 1990s, it was the killing field for serial killer Robert Pickton.

The Vancouver pig farmer was charged by police with murdering more than two dozen women, mostly prostitutes and drug addicts from Vancouver's east end. He initially told police he killed 49 women and in 2007, he was convicted of killing six women and was sentenced to life in prison.

"It could happen again," Townsend said. "We are dealing with a group of people that have been marginalized."

Vancouver's red-light districts have about 500 prostitutes, many of whom are Native women from small western Canadian towns.

There are about 18,000 people living in the east end with about 10 percent being Natives, who make up just two percent of Canada's overall population.

The area is also home to the only legal drug injection site in North America where addicts can go and inject their own drugs with a nurse on hand in case they overdose.

"I have to be a good judge of character," said Jennifer Gravelle, who works as a prostitute. "I care about my safety. I just want to eventually get out of this area and get a good house."

Leonard (he didn't want to give his family name) has lived in the area for four decades and says it is getting worse.

"In the last six years it has become a crack haven," said the former vending machine operator.

"You see young girls who have beautiful faces and it doesn't take long for their looks to change once they get into the heavy drugs. Why waste money on the Olympics? Clean up the community and help these people."

In the run up to the Games, the government poured money into housing, cleaning up the rubbish in the back alleys and putting fresh coats of paint on some of the more historic old hotels.

But Townsend wonders what it will be like when the Olympic tourists have gone.

"The Olympics are only a few weeks," said Townsend, who grew up in Bristol, England but moved to Vancouver 19 years ago.

"We are worried about the long-term. When the media leaves will all the hotels the government bought to refurbished be shut down? Will the emergency shelters and temporary housing remain open?"

Mood drug inhibits breast cancer medication: study

PARIS — A common antidepressant weakens or cancels the beneficial effects of a standard treatment for breast cancer, according to a study released Tuesday.

Women who take the mood drug paroxetine -- better known by its brand names Paxil and Seroxat -- at the same time as the breast cancer medication tamoxifen face an increased risk of death, researchers reported.

The antidepressant alone has no impact on the course of the disease but should not be taken at the same time as anti-cancer drug, the study recommended.

Tamoxifen significantly improves survival for the dominant type of breast cancer, the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women worldwide.

But to work properly, it must be converted by the liver into an active metabolite, the chemical that remains after a drug is broken down by the body.

It was previously suspected that antidepressants that boost the release of the naturally occurring neurotransmitter serotonin, such as paroxetine, might interfere with this process.

To find out, Catherine Kelly and colleagues at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto, Canada investigated the health care records of 2,430 women with breast cancer who had received tamoxifen from 1993 to 2005.

About 30 percent of these women also received an antidepressant -- paroxetine more than any other -- at the same time, often prescribed over long periods to help patients cope with the stress of battling the deadly disease.

The use of paroxetine in combination with tamoxifen resulted in an increased long-term risk of breast cancer death -- approximately one additional fatality after five years of illness for every 20 women treated.

"These results highlight a drug interaction that is extremely common, widely underappreciated and potentially life-threatening, yet uniformly avoidable," said David Juurlink, a co-author or the study.

Tamoxifen is prescribed to women who have so-called estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer, which accounts for up to 80 percent of all cases of the disease.

Fizzy drinks 'increase cancer risk'

Sugary soft drinks can dramatically increase the risk of pancreatic cancer, research suggests.

As little as two soft drinks consumed a week can almost double the chances of developing the disease, one of the most deadly forms of cancer, a study found.

Scientists believe the high sugar content of many soft drinks may explain the trend.

Since pancreatic cancer is relatively rare - affecting around 7,600 people each year in the UK - the absolute risk from soft drinks is small.

However those diagnosed with the disease have a poor prognosis. Only 2% to 3% of patients in the UK survive as long as five years.

Researchers based their findings on more than 60,500 participants recruited for a large-scale health study in Singapore.

Over the course of 14 years, 140 of the volunteers were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. People who consumed two or more soft drinks a week - averaging five in total - had an 87% increased risk of developing the disease compared with those who did not.

In general the "soft drinks" concerned were of the fizzy sugar-sweetened variety. No association was seen between the consumption of fruit juice and pancreatic cancer.

Study leader Dr Mark Pereira, from the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota in the US, said: "The high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth.

The research has been published in the journal Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevent.

Olympic organisers desperate for climate change

VANCOUVER — Winter Olympics chiefs will not sanction a desperate last-minute venue switch despite unseasonably warm temperatures continuing to curse Cypress Mountain, the host of the freestyle events at the Games which begin on Friday.

The host city enjoyed highs of 11 degrees again on Saturday while meteorological officials said that the warm weather, which has led to 300 dumper trucks and even helicopters being used to transport snow from higher elevations, will continue right up to the opening ceremony on February 12.

The imported snow has been piled high on wood and hay which have been laid to form the bumps which test the freestyle skiiers at Cypress Mountain.

"We are not relocating any events," said Tim Gayda, the vice-president of organising committee VANOC, responding to the problems caused by the warmest January on record, a legacy of El Nino, a periodic warming feature over the Pacific Ocean

"We had a bunch of contingency plans about too much snow or too little snow and we are largely knee-deep in the contingency plan for the too-little snow.

"But the events will take place at Cypress Mountain - 100 percent. The fields of play are pretty much built."

As the Olympic torch arrived at the skiing venue of Whistler, protesters were gearing up to make their point to correspond with the opening ceremony on Friday with over 15,000 security personnel in place to monitor demonstrations.

Olympics organisers have agreed to set up designated zones where protesters can have their say with a dizzying array of grievances being voiced - from supporting the homeless and poor to claims by pro-Native Canadian groups that the Games are being staged on 'stolen land'.

"We think that the majority of the protesters will be peaceful," said Steve Sweeney, deputy chief of Vancouver Police, whose officers are expected to face attempts to disrupt the torch relay on its way to the opening ceremony.

"If they're going to tackle the torch-bearer, that's unlawful."

Vancouver Police expect to see around 1,500 demonstrators when the opening ceremony takes place.

"The International Olympic Committee is like the World Trade Organization," claimed Harjap Grewal, a spokesman for Olympic Resistance Network (ORN).

"Seven billion dollars have been spent on these Games while people are losing their homes in the Downtown Eastside (a Vancouver neighbourhood, often described as Canada's poorest district).

Son of USA hockey team's GM killed in car smash

RICHMOND, Indiana — Brendan Burke, the youngest son of the United States Olympic hockey team general manager Brian Burke, was killed Friday in a two-car smash on a snowy highway.

Brendan Burke, 21, had recently come out as a gay man saying at the time he hoped to help end homophobia in the hockey world.

Brian Burke is the general manager of the US men's hockey team that will compete in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.

Burke also manages the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League.

Police said the younger Burke died at the scene after the Jeep Grand Cherokee he was driving slid into the path of a Ford truck. Burke's 18-year-old passenger Mark Reedy was also killed.

US Olympic Committee chairman Larry Probst said the USOC was "extremely saddened" by Burke's death.

"Our heart goes out to Brian and his family in this very difficult time," Dave Ogrean, executive director of USA Hockey, said. "We know the prayers of the entire hockey family, including our Olympic team, are with the Burke family."

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman described Brendan as "a young man of courage and character."

"The National Hockey League grieves tonight for the family and friends of Brendan Burke, a young man of courage and character," Bettman said Friday.

"Words simply cannot express our sorrow over his loss. We send our deepest, most heartfelt condolences to Brendan's father, Brian; his mother, Kerry; everyone in Brendan's family and all who were inspired by his love for hockey."

Brendan is a former amateur goaltender who was hoping to go into hockey management one day.

The Americans first Olympic game is February 16 against Switzerland.

Super Bowl fever swamps storm-ravaged New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — Win or lose on Sunday, the New Orleans Saints will return from their first-ever Super Bowl to a hero's welcome, complete with their own Carnival parade, from a long-suffering city still rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina.

Super Bowl fever has swamped the Big Easy, where everything from Mardi Gras parades to church services has been rescheduled to make sure fans can catch the kickoff of their team's first-ever shot at the National Football League championship spectacle.

The Saints' surprisingly successful season has been a powerful tonic for residents still recovering from the killer August 26, 2005 storm that flooded nearly 80 percent of the low-lying coastal city.

Hundreds of people died in their homes after the levees broke and water levels rose the rooftops. Even more died in the chaos that followed -- including some of those stranded in the Superdome football stadium that served as a shelter.

Locals, who had angrily brooded over the sluggish pace of recovery, have for months now greeted each other on the street with the joyously ungrammatical Saints' fan chant, "Who dat? Who dat! Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?"

The emotional boost came at a time when disaster-struck residents typically become disillusioned and fearful that their lives will never return to normal, said Charles Figley, an expert in post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Superdome football stadium -- once a horrific symbol of the abject failure of government to help thousands of people displaced by the storm -- is now an emblem of the city's rebirth.

"It's new life. It's new hope. It's promise," said Figley, a professor at Tulane University in New Orleans.

"The Saints are in the Super Bowl -- Anything is possible."

Most cities only throw parades if their teams win the Super Bowl.

But fans here have been greeting their team at the airport after every game this season. And city officials say the floats will roll and the marching bands will play for the Saints on Tuesday whether they win or lose.

"Beating the Indianapolis Colts may be more important to the players, but the fans will be proud of the Saints -- win or lose," explained Vincent Sylvain, a radio talk show host on WBOK-AM radio.

The Saints' Super Bowl bid has put New Orleans back in the national spotlight "right at the time when we think many people have forgotten us," Sylvain said. "It's more than just a game."

The players agree.

"It's a source of strength for us just knowing we're playing for much more than a Super Bowl," Saints quarterback Drew Brees said.

"We have an opportunity to give them so much hope, lift their spirits. No city deserves a champion more than New Orleans."

A million people were displaced by Katrina and tens of thousands have not yet returned.

The Saints spent a year as nomads, with owner Tom Benson pondering relocating the team while the Superdome was repaired.

The notion that the once-woeful Saints could even reach the Super Bowl five years after Katrina is so fantastic that residents here credit the team with infusing the city with triumphant optimism not seen since the storm.

"No matter what happens in the Super Bowl, the Saints have already given this city a gift that will last forever," novelist Tom Piazza agreed, as he tried on a black-and-gold Saints cap at a drugstore in the flood-scarred Lakeview neighborhood.

"No matter what stories other cities tell about themselves, New Orleans has the greatest story of any city in the country and maybe the world."

If past is prologue, Damion Frey predicted he will see a surge of business after the Super Bowl at the Art Accent Tattoo Studio near the French Quarter.

"We're doing more fleur de lis, more Superdomes and more 504s than we did before the storm," said Frey, referring to the Saints' domed stadium and the city's telephone area code.

Winning the championship would be a welcome feat, he said. But it would just be icing on the cake.

"We 'won' -- we done got there."

Clinton terms Haiti child smuggling case 'unfortunate'

WASHINGTON — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday it was "unfortunate" that American Christians are suspected of smuggling children out of quake-hit Haiti even if their intentions were good.

Haitian prosecutors are due to decide Thursday whether to charge the 10 Christians, who have been held by authorities there since they attempted to sneak a group of 33 children out of the country.

"Trafficking of human beings, particularly of children is a problem across the world," Clinton said after holding talks in Washington on Wednesday about the problem of trafficking in persons worldwide.

"The Haitian nation acted to protect children who were being removed from their country without appropriate documentation," the chief US diplomat said.

"It was unfortunate that, whatever the motivation, this group of Americans took matters into their own hands," Clinton said.

"We are engaged in a discussion with the Haitian government about the appropriate disposition of their cases. They've been granted consular access," she said.

"We've been working through the questions the Haitian government has and we're looking for the best way forward... We take this very seriously," she said.

The children were picked up last week by members of an Idaho-based Baptist group called New Life Children's Refuge who tried to take them across the border to the Dominican Republic where they planned to establish an orphanage.

Mazar Fortil, interim prosecutor for the main Port-au-Prince court, told AFP on Monday that the group, which is yet to be formally charged, could be tried for kidnapping, child trafficking and a lesser charge of criminal conspiracy.

The case came to light as authorities in Port-au-Prince expressed concern that some Haitian children may have fallen prey to human traffickers or been misidentified as orphans in the chaos following the January 12 earthquake that leveled the city.

Internet Explorer a champ but Chrome a contender

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft's latest version of Internet Explorer (IE) is a hit but Google's Chrome has been steadily gaining ground on the Web browsing software, according to industry figures released Tuesday.

Chrome's share of the browser market rose from 1.62 percent in March of last year to 5.22 percent last month, according to Net Application trend data.

During the same period, Internet Explorer's piece of the Web browser market dropped from 68.46 percent to 62.12 percent, Net Application reported.

The percentage of people using Safari browser software tailored for Apple's Macintosh computers went from 3.63 percent in March of last year to 4.53 percent in January.

"I think what Microsoft is seeing is that when people upgrade from IE 6 they don't necessarily go to IE 8," said Net Application spokesman Vince Vizzaccaro.

"They have been very vocal with trying to get people to upgrade, and people may be looking around to see what other browsers are available."

About two weeks ago, Microsoft released a patch for an IE 6 software hole through which China-based cyber spies attacked Google and other firms.

Attackers used email or some other lure to get employees of a targeted company to click on a link and visit a specially crafted website using IE.

Malicious software would then be downloaded that has the capability to essentially install 'back doors' in machines and give hackers access.

The US software giant advised people to upgrade from IE6, which is nearly a decade old.

No matter which Web browser people use, upgrading to the most current version promises to increase protection against hackers.

Net Application data from January showed that while a fifth of the world's machines still used IE 6 to explore the Internet, IE 8 took the top spot with 25.56 percent of the overall market.

"We launched just less than a year ago, so it?s both humbling and thrilling to see so many people choose our product so quickly -- making it the most popular browser of choice worldwide," Brandon LeBlanc of the Windows Team wrote Tuesday in a blog post.

IE 7 and 8 browsers have together tallied more than 350 million blocks of malicious software and links to 125 million "phishing" websites devised to trick people into disclosing valuable information such as passwords.

"You may have recently heard about organizations including Google recommending that people update their browsers and move off older versions, such as the nearly decade-old IE 6," LeBlanc wrote.

"Think about what technology and the Internet were like in the year 2000 and consider how they?ve evolved since then. It was a different time and people?s browsing needs were different. Today?s Internet calls for more."

Couple: Star wedding planner Tutera got cold feet

NEW YORK – A newlywed couple say celebrity party planner David Tutera jilted them by dropping out of their lavish Singapore nuptials about 10 days before the ceremony — a claim that Tutera disputed Monday.

The couple's allegations were made Friday in a lawsuit filed by molecular biologist Melissa Chin and information technology consultant Steve Choi.

The two, who ultimately married as planned in August, said Tutera left them scrambling to pull off the six-figure affair.

They said they paid Tutera at least $265,000 and even had a breed of orchid designed in his honor. In return, the reality show host promised to help "in creating their special and magical day," according to the lawsuit filed in a Manhattan court.

But after travel arrangements hit a minor snag, the couple said, Tutera not only didn't show but also canceled or didn't fulfill orders for items including the bride's bouquet.

A Tutera spokeswoman said the couple missed a final payment, and he was told not to come because the wedding fund had run dry.

"Tutera did as advised" and looks forward to resolving the dispute in court, said the spokeswoman, Eda Kalkay.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, saying the Massachusetts couple "suffered severe emotional distress wondering what items were going to be delivered for their wedding."

The New York-based Tutera hosts "My Fair Wedding" on the WE TV network. His clients have included Star Jones.

Dubai police say Mossad may have killed Hamas chief

DUBAI — Dubai's police chief said Sunday that Israel's spy agency, Mossad, could be behind the murder of a top Hamas leader in a Dubai hotel room.

"It could be Mossad, or another party," police chief Dhahi Khalfan told AFP.

"Personally, I don't exclude any possibility. I don't exclude any party that has an interest in the assassination" of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhuh, Khalfan said.

"There were seven or more people holding passports from different European countries" in the group suspected of killing Mabhuh, Khalfan said.

He refused to name the countries, but added, "we are currently in contact with these European countries to verify the authenticity of the passports."

The hardline Palestinian Hamas movement on Friday accused Israel of assassinating Mabhuh, who was found dead in his hotel room in Dubai on January 20, and vowed revenge.

Hamas has acknowledged that Mabhuh was in Dubai to buy arms for Hamas in its struggle against Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.

Khalfan said that "it seems (Mabhuh) opened the door" of his room, letting his killers in. "Mabhuh was suffocated," Khalfan said, adding that "strangulation is possible."

The Israeli press, meanwhile, hailed the killing, with the rightwing English-language Jerusalem Post calling it "another blow to the 'axis of evil'" that will make it more difficult for Hamas to get arms into its Gaza strip stronghold.

On Sunday, The Times of London, cited unidentified Middle Eastern sources as saying that Mabhuh's body was found by staff at the luxury Al Bustan Rotana hotel in Dubai.

The paper said that Mabhuh was travelling on a false passport and on arrival in Dubai was followed by two men described by local police as "Europeans carrying European passports."

The hit squad injected Mabhuh with a drug that induced a heart attack, photographed all the documents in his briefcase and left a "do not disturb" sign on the door, the paper said.

It added that the Hamas leader was on a mission to buy arms from Iran to Gaza, and was tracked from the moment he boarded Emirates flight EK 912 from Damascus on January 18.

Mabhuh, a founder of Hamas' military wing, was in charge of arms purchases for the militant group.

Dubai, a rich and glitzy city-state that part of the United Arab Emirates federation, has been an exposing its murkier side with several murders and assassination in recent years.

Sulim Yamadayev, a bitter foe of pro-Russia Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, was shot dead in Dubai in March 2009.

In January 2003, Dubai-based businessman Sharad Shetty, suspected to be a close associate of Indian underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was shot at point-blank range in a gangland-style killing at Dubai's India Club.

Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim was found dead in her Dubai home in July 2008. She had been stabbed to death and her face mutilated.