'Destruction' of BP benefits no one: British PM

British Prime Evangelist David Cameron says that despite BP's responsibility for the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it's important for thousands of people that the friends remain viable.

"This is a very vital company for all of our interests," Cameron said in an exclusive interview with CBC's Peter Mansbridge.

Cameron, in Canada for the G8/G20 summits, will be conference face to face with U.S. President Barack Obama, who has had harsh words for the company since the spill occurred.

"I don't evaluate [the spill] has been damaging for Britain. It's certainly been damaging for BP which is an important British company and I certainly … homelessness it to be, an important and stable company in the future," Cameron said.

He noted that 40 per cent of the suite's shares are held by Americans, followed by 39 per cent in the U.K. He added that the company is responsible for providing thousands of jobs in both countries.

Cameron said he understands Obama's frustrations about the attendance and that it's "heartbreaking" to see the effects of the "environmental catastrophe."

He said BP is committed to capping the well, cleaning up the spill and paying out compensation. But at the same outdated, "we don't want to see the destruction of the company that is important for all our interests."

Cameron also spoke about his new coalition government, suggesting that the circumstances that led to him forming a handle with his political rivals are not necessarily the same in other countries like Canada.

"The reason I was able to help put this coalition together is that the Latitudinarian Democrats wanted to do the same thing as us, which was to put aside differences for the national interest. And they were prepared to take risks as we were prepared to take risks in dictate to do that," Cameron said. "And that situation doesn't always make itself available in every country."

Cameron also talked about the key r accountability plays in the G8 summit, despite what detractors might believe.

"We are doing it to an extent here at the G8 by having an responsibility report published about the promises we made back at the famous Gleneagles G8, where there was a big brouhaha about the promises made to Africa," Cameron said.

"And there is a communiqu coming out showing who is on target and who isn't, and that is part of the accountability."

There was much criticism from debt-relief activists that the G8 countries failed to create good on a commitment made at the 2005 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, to boost aid to Africa by $50 billion by 2010.

But what happens, Mansbridge asked Cameron in the evaluate, "When you look around the table and delegate X has not delivered. Is it a lot of finger-pointing happening at that point?"

There is not necessarily put one's hands on-pointing, Cameron replied.

"But the fact is back at home we all have to justify ourselves to the huge percentage of our population that be fond of deeply about these issues," he says.

"You know, in all our countries, we have organizations, whether it's Oxfam, whether it's Save the Children Worldwide, with massive public support, and they will rightly hold our feet to the fire and say, 'Have you guys done what you said you were going to do?' and so I think that is worthy."

Police officers chief Bill Blair insists he is committed to protecting the right to protest during the G20 weekend and there is no reason to doubt him. During last year’s Tamil demonstrations downtown, he aptitude over backward to defend that right despite pressure to crack down on the traffic-snarling protests. Even so, he and his provincial counterparts have overstepped themselves by suspending definite civil rights around the downtown security zone.

Under Ontario Regulation 233/10, the provincial superintendence has made the zone subject to the Public Works Protection Act, usually employed to protect public facilities like enforce and train stations. That means police can challenge anyone who comes within five metres of the zone. They can ask for ID and they can subject the person to a search.

Chief Blair says the human being can refuse and leave the zone, but if he doesn’t, police can place him under arrest. Conviction under the law brings a penalty of up to two months in big house or a maximum fine of $500. One 31-year-old man who was stopped by police and refused to supply his ID ended up spending several hours in incarceration, learning about the mysterious new regulation only after his release.

Many people who hear of all this will simply say: so what? We know that a lot of bad actors are effective to have a crack at breaching or pulling down the fence. Why shouldn’t police be able to question them?

But the right that is being compromised here is high-ranking. Canadians who are simply walking along the street are under no obligation to tell police their name or agree to be searched. “Papers, please,” are not words that people in this fatherland need to fear.

If police really suspect that someone near the fence is up to no good, they have plenty of other powers at their instruction. If they see someone with a brick or a molotov cocktail, they have every right to arrest him. In fact police can arrest anyone whom they suspect of having committed a felony, being in the midst of committing a crime or preparing to commit a crime.

But simply hanging about and looking doubtful is not a crime. This gives police the power to challenge anyone who ventures near the fence, a power that jittery oversee officers could easily abuse.

Almost as troubling as the content of this new rule is the way it was enacted. The provincial cabinet made the coins without any notice or public announcement, instead merely publishing it on the e-Laws web site June 16.

Chief Blair says there was no undertake at secrecy and everything was by the book. Technically, that may be so, but the result was to change the rules on the protesters without telling anyone.

Why didn’t Chief Blair and the uninformed authorities simply say that they wanted to be clear about their authority to defend the security fence – as the chief explained, after the low-down, on Friday? That way, protesters would have been aware of the new rule and civil libertarians and opposition parties would have had a chance to challenge it. As it is, 233/10 will not even be published in the Ontario Gazette, the verified record of provincial laws, until the summit is over.

Three dead after explosion rocks north Edmonton neighbourhood

EDMONTON — Three people are dead and at least three others are in hospital after an explosion levelled two homes and likely destroyed two more in north Edmonton Sunday afternoon, fire officials say.

Others may still be missing after the blast. Authorities are now picking through the rubble at 180A Avenue and 91st Street searching for any sign of life. A search and rescue helicopter is also scanning the surrounding area.

The explosion occurred at about 1:20 p.m. The force of the blast shook the ground and scattered debris for hundreds of metres surrounding the site.

At the epicentre of the explosion, only the foundation of a home now remains. A second house was also destroyed and two more were knocked off their foundations, said district fire chief Robert D’Aoust.

Investigators don’t yet know what caused the blast. There are no signs that it was a drug lab, D’Aoust said.

The explosion damaged 19 homes scattered across an entire city block. The siding on Tito Perez’s house, more than 200 feet from the epicentre, was buckled by the explosion. Concrete debris smashed a hole in his neighbour’s roof.

The fire at the centre of the blast was still burning at 5 p.m., D’Aoust said, but it was under control.

D’Aoust said one woman and a child were taken to the University of Alberta Hospital with minor injuries. Another woman was treated for shock.

One firefighter was suffering from exhaustion, D’Aoust said.

About 70 people were evacuated from the area and are staying with family and friends, he added.

Kateryna Usova lives about two blocks from the site. Her family heard a bang as “loud as a war starting.”

They ran outside and could see a distinct balloon-shaped black cloud hanging over the destroyed house.

Other witnesses described a scene of chaos at the explosion site.

There was debris on the streets and windows, and cars were smashed, said Lindsey Rayner, a licensed nurse practitioner who lives four blocks from the explosion. “People were running about and animals were running wildly, too.”

Rayner rushed to the scene after getting a frantic call from her friend, who said his mother had been injured in the explosion. Rayner and Aaron Strohmier went to the scene together. “It was chaotic, like something out of a movie,” she said.

“Flames were shooting out of the house,” Strohmier added.

Rayner first knew that something was wrong when she heard what sounded like a huge popping sound around 1 p.m. Her friend called shortly afterward and said a house had exploded and that his mother was hurt. Then her friend said, “Please come help me. She’s hurt. She’s hurt. People are hurt.”

They went to her friend’s house. The garage was caved in. Shingles were falling off and windows were shattered. Rayner said, “(It’s) just a big huge pile of mess.”

They found their friends’ mother sitting under a tree in a state of shock. Rayner had her lay on the ground to stabilize her and waited for paramedics. They said it was a long wait for the ambulance — 15 to 20 minutes. “She was restless and in pain but I couldn’t do anything because I didn’t have anything,” Rayner said.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Three+dead+after+explosion+rocks+north+Edmonton+neighbourhood/3179739/story.html#ixzz0rSLq7Jir