LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Protesters rallied in dozens of cities Saturday as part of a global protest against seed giant Monsanto and the genetically modified food it produces, organizers said.
Organizers said "March Against Monsanto" protests were held in 52 countries and 436 cities, including Los Angeles where demonstrators waved signs that read "Real Food 4 Real People" and "Label GMOs, It's Our Right to Know."
BEIJING, China - China's premier has criticized the European Union for pursuing anti-dumping cases against Chinese solar power and telecommunications equipment that he warned will hurt both sides.
The official Xinhua News Agency quoted Li Keqiang as saying in a speech in Switzerland that pursuing anti-dumping cases will hurt European consumers and might encourage trade protectionism.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - It seems that the impossible has occurred: The nation's most congested city has become a model for traffic control.
Yes, gridlock still prevails and drivers' blood pressure still spikes as LA's traffic arteries seize up during every morning and afternoon rush hour.
MANASQUAN, N.J. - Saws and sledgehammers joined beer and barbecues — under covered porches — as a fixture of the first Memorial Day weekend at the Jersey shore since Superstorm Sandy roared through.
Seven months after the devastating storm pummeled large swaths of the shore, the tourists made their way back, though many substituted porch parties for a day at the beach on Saturday due to rain that has lingered since Thursday.
RALEIGH, N.C. - Tesla Motors is fighting a bill in North Carolina that would effectively ban the company from selling its electric cars in the state, pitting it against auto dealers who say the car maker has an unfair advantage selling directly to consumers online.
It's the latest such battle for California-based Tesla, which like other car manufacturers must navigate a patchwork of state laws dictating how its vehicles can be sold. Nearly all states — 48 — require manufacturers to sell their vehicles through dealerships to ensure the companies don't undercut their own network of franchised dealers, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association.
BERLIN - An auctioneer says one of Apple's first computers — a functioning 1976 model — has been sold for a record 516,000 euros ($668,000).
German auction house Breker said Saturday an Asian client, who asked not to be named, bought the so-called Apple 1, which the tech company's founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built in a family garage.
BERLIN - A German shipping company says four crew members from one of its vessels have been released a month after being kidnapped by pirates off Equatorial Guinea's coast.
Leonhardt and Blumberg says the container ship's crew members— including Ukrainian, Russian and Kiribati citizens — are in good spirits despite having spent 31 days in captivity.
OTTAWA - McDonald's golden arches on Parliament Hill? Tim Hortons billboards at the Governor General's residence?
Nothing quite so crass is in the works, but a cash-strapped federal agency is actively looking for corporate sponsors to fill gaping holes in its budget.
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Department of Justice lawyers filed court papers Friday again asking a federal appeals court to delay lifting age restrictions and prescription requirements on an emergency contraceptive popularly known as the morning-after pill.
The papers seek to delay implementation of a judge's April 5 ruling lifting restrictions on the drugs, including the medications sold under the brand name Plan B, setting the stage for another court showdown between President Barack Obama's administration and women's health activists over access to the contraceptive.
CLEVELAND - A man who put aside his Big Mac to help rescue three women held captive in a Cleveland house says he's not endorsing a group of restaurants offering him free burgers for life.
The restaurant where Charles Ramsey worked as a dishwasher initially created a burger named in his honour. Then more than a dozen area eateries decided a larger tribute was due.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - News Corp. said its board of directors has approved plans to split its entertainment and publishing businesses into two separate companies. The company also adopted a shareholder-rights plan designed to prevent a hostile takeover in the volatile trading period after the split is complete.
The New York-based media conglomerate also said Friday that the target date for the split is June 28. The company holding its TV and movie properties will be 21st Century Fox. The new News Corp., a smaller entity, will be focused on newspapers and publishing. Both will be publicly traded, under separate ticker symbols.
Kinder Morgan Canada's proposal to increase the capacity of its Trans Mountain pipeline calls for 30 oil tankers a month to load up with Alberta crude at its terminal in Burnaby, B.C., — up from about one per week.
The information is part of a formal description of the proposed $5.4-billion, 1,150-kilometre-long pipeline project the company has filed with the National Energy Board.
The Justice Department is objecting to a proposed $20 million severance payment for American Airlines CEO Tom Horton, saying it's bigger than allowed by bankruptcy law.
Horton became CEO when American filed for Chapter 11 protection in November 2011. The proposed merger of US Airways Group Inc. and American calls for Horton to lose that job and become chairman of the combined company. American has proposed giving him severance pay of almost $20 million and lifetime flight benefits.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Online video site Hulu is again up for sale, with Yahoo and pay TV operators DirecTV and Time Warner Cable among the seven bidders, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
The person wasn't authorized to speak publicly and spoke Friday on condition of anonymity, after several news outlets reported on the bidding.
WASHINGTON - Health officials are investigating cases involving patients who suffered complications after being injected with potentially contaminated medications made by a Tennessee specialty pharmacy.
The Food and Drug Administration said Friday the problems involve seven patients who received steroid injections from Main Street Family Pharmacy, a compounding pharmacy in Newbern, Tenn.
VANCOUVER - Catalyst Paper (TSX:CYT) says it has sold its Elk Falls industrial site and related assets to Calgary-based Quicksilver Resources Canada Inc. for $8.6 million.
Sale of the approximate 1,200-acre parcel includes a fully serviced, 400-acre industrial site and adjacent property near Campbell River, B.C.
SAN FRANCISCO - A California bill that would have required manufacturers to figure out how to keep the most common plastic junk out of state waterways died in the state Assembly without a vote Friday.
Assembly Bill 521 was before the chamber's Appropriations Committee, and the panel failed to act on it, effectively killing the legislation for the session. It had previously passed the Assembly Natural Resource Committee.
National Bank (TSX:NA) says it's interested in new acquisitions but will be very selective about which sectors it looks to.
"Wealth management does remain a priority for us," said president and chief executive Louis Vachon during a conference call Friday.
WINNIPEG - Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. has agreed to sell its Allstream business telecommunications arm to an Egyptian investment group and use about half of the $405 million in proceeds to reduce its pension obligations and debt.
MTS, which operates Manitoba's largest telecommunications business, said Friday that the money it receives will be used to bolster its already strong position in its home province and tap growth opportunities.
MONTREAL - Valeant Pharmaceuticals shares hit an all-time high Friday amid reports that it is in talks to expand its eye-care business by buying Bausch and Lomb.
The stock hit $90.17 before closing at $87.02, up $10.18 or 13.25 per cent Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
TORONTO - The man who has staunchly defended the mayor of Canada's largest city through a storm of crack cocaine use allegations spent Saturday angrily lashing out at a claim that he himself once sold hashish for several years in Toronto.
An incensed Coun. Doug Ford, the mayor's older brother, vehemently denied the allegations contained in a national newspaper article as he took the media to task for what he suggested were relentless attacks on his family.
CHARLOTTETOWN - The game of hockey will soon change for peewee-level players across the country after a vote by Hockey Canada on Saturday that banned bodychecking.
Hockey Canada's board of directors overwhelmingly voted to eliminate bodychecking for peewee players at its annual general meeting in Charlottetown on Saturday, with only the Saskatchewan Hockey Association voting against.
MONTREAL - A longtime Quebec journalist is in critical condition after a car accident this morning in Montreal.
Normand Lester — probably best known for his controversial collection of essays "The Black Book of English Canada" — slammed into a stopped vehicle at a red light at around 9:30 am.
OTTAWA - McDonald's golden arches on Parliament Hill? Tim Hortons billboards at the Governor General's residence?
Nothing quite so crass is in the works, but a cash-strapped federal agency is actively looking for corporate sponsors to fill gaping holes in its budget.
MONTREAL - Space-industry watchers expressed concern this week that the emerging space tourism sector is not being candid enough about the safety risks for travellers.
They voiced some of those concerns during a conference of the International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety, which held three days of meetings in Montreal.
HALIFAX - The Canadian Hurricane Centre is backing U.S. predictions of an active season this year, telling residents in the Atlantic provinces to brace themselves for a handful of major hurricanes.
But Chris Fogarty, the centre's program supervisor, said Friday there's no way of predicting how many of those storms will make land.
EDMONTON - An Edmonton judge, unwavered by screaming and expletives from an angry crowd, granted bail to an accused drunk driver whose SUV plowed into a restaurant patio and killed a toddler.
Two-year-old Geo Mounsef was pinned to a wall in the crash last weekend and later died in hospital.
Kinder Morgan Canada's proposal to increase the capacity of its Trans Mountain pipeline calls for 30 oil tankers a month to load up with Alberta crude at its terminal in Burnaby, B.C., — up from about one per week.
The information is part of a formal description of the proposed $5.4-billion, 1,150-kilometre-long pipeline project the company has filed with the National Energy Board.
SASKATOON - Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, once a staunch supporter of a reformed federal Senate, has given up the fight.
Wall says he now believes it would be easier to scrap Parliament's chamber of sober second thought than try to change it.
National Bank (TSX:NA) says it's interested in new acquisitions but will be very selective about which sectors it looks to.
"Wealth management does remain a priority for us," said president and chief executive Louis Vachon during a conference call Friday.
WINNIPEG - Manitoba Telecom Services Inc. has agreed to sell its Allstream business telecommunications arm to an Egyptian investment group and use about half of the $405 million in proceeds to reduce its pension obligations and debt.
MTS, which operates Manitoba's largest telecommunications business, said Friday that the money it receives will be used to bolster its already strong position in its home province and tap growth opportunities.
NELSON, B.C. - A so-called act of God is allowing the province of B.C. to cut off compensation for residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed in the Johnsons Landing landslide.
An avalanche of mud and debris rolled over the tiny community of about 35 residents in southeast B.C. last July, wiping out five homes and killing four people.
TORONTO - The Department of National Defence says it's still in talks to help move the Toronto Zoo's three resident elephants to California, but says the animals will have to stay put until the fall.
Animal welfare activists had previously said the zoo was in talks to borrow a Canadian Forces plane to transport the pachyderms to an elephant sanctuary in California.
A retired Canadian police officer slain in Mexico is being remembered as a generous and loving woman who dedicated a lot of her time to helping animals.
News reports in Mexico say Lynn Earle, 60, was found stabbed to death in her home in Playa del Carmen earlier this week.
OTTAWA - As the federal ethics commissioner readies for a third look at Stephen Harper's former right-hand man, Mary Dawson is reminding Canadians her office can only look so far.
The commissioner is examining whether Harper's chief of staff Nigel Wright violated the Conflict of Interest Act when he gave Tory Sen. Mike Duffy more than $90,000 to repay his housing expenses.
CALGARY - A former Canadian Football League all-star completed his spectacular fall from grace Friday when he was sentenced to 90 days in jail for assaulting his one-time girlfriend.
Joffrey Reynolds, 33, will serve his time on weekends and faces two years of probation once he has completed his sentence.
MONTREAL - The spirits of Canadian politicians were soaring Friday with news that the country's only UN agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization, will not be flying the coop.
Qatar had aggressively courted a move of the agency to Doha, going so far as saying diplomats were fed up with Montreal's bone-chilling winter weather.
TORONTO - Mayor Rob Ford broke his week-long silence Friday to deny he smokes crack cocaine and to lambaste the media for judging him, but his assertions seemed unlikely to douse the raging flames of scandal that have engulfed him.
In a carefully-worded statement at city hall, the embattled mayor fought back against reports that he was caught on cellphone video appearing to be smoking crack.
TORONTO - Twenty-two years after a nine-year-old girl was lured from her apartment building lobby and sexually assaulted, a suspect has been arrested, police announced Friday.
Investigators said that after being stalled for more than two decades, the break in the case came by using forensic DNA evidence collected at the time of the incident.
TORONTO - Here is the full text of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's statement Friday afternoon in which he denied he uses crack cocaine. Ford also addressed the players of the football team at Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School, where he was dropped Thursday as coach.
Well, good afternoon everyone. I'd like to take this opportunity to address a number of issues that have circulated in the media over the last few days. There has been a serious accusation from the Toronto Star that I use crack cocaine. I do not use crack cocaine, nor am I an addict of crack cocaine. As for a video, I cannot comment on a video that I have never seen or does not exist. It is most unfortunate, very unfortunate, that my colleagues and the great people of this city have been exposed to the fact that I have been judged by the media without any evidence. This past week has not been an easy one. It has taken a great toll on my family and my friends and the great people of Toronto. For the past week, on the advice of my solicitor, I was advised not to say a word. I want to thank the people of this great city for their outpouring of support.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - Every week digs Toronto FC a little bit deeper into a hole of its own making.
The latest in a string of five defeats came from a 2-0 setback at New England on Saturday night.
CHICAGO - All that tinkering with the power play, all the practice time and the tweaked combinations finally paid off for the Chicago Blackhawks when they needed it the most.
Jonathan Toews and Andrew Shaw scored with the man advantage in the second period, and the Blackhawks avoided elimination with a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night in Game 5 of the second-round playoff series.
SAO PAULO - Neymar said Saturday he will be joining Barcelona after the Confederations Cup, the latest addition to a star-filled roster that already includes four-time FIFA Player of the Year Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta.
The decision came a day after Neymar's Brazilian club, Santos, said it had accepted offers from Barcelona and Spanish rival Real Madrid, and that it was up to him to pick where he wanted to play.
MONTREAL - When they were growing up together in Rome, it was normal for Alessandro Nesta to see his friend Marco Di Vaio score goals in bunches.
So the former Italy international defender had a good laugh when asked about the hat trick Di Vaio netted in the opening 32 minutes of the Montreal Impact's 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Union on a wet, cold Saturday night at Saputo Stadium.
SEATTLE - Umpire Jeff Nelson expressed regret on Saturday for making an incorrect call a night earlier, saying it was a play he'd never seen in 25 years.
"That play, your focus goes to the bag, and you watch the foot touch the bag and listen for the ball hitting the mitt. In this case, I ruled the ball was caught by the first baseman, and the ball was actually caught by the pitcher," Nelson told a pool reporter before Saturday's game between the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers. "The pitcher kind of came out of nowhere on that play. I didn't pick that up. Obviously, looking at the replays, I wish I had."
BOSTON - Claude Julien decided not to give his goalie a pep talk after a pratfall in the crease handed the Rangers a goal that had the potential to turn the series around.
Instead, the Bruins coach waited until after Tuukka Rask responded with 28 saves to help Boston beat New York 3-1 in Game 5 on Saturday and advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Until about a month ago, Robbie Rogers had no interest in being one of the highest-profile openly gay athletes in the world.
Rogers didn't want the pressure or attention, and he was weary of soccer itself. After coming out and simultaneously retiring in February, the former MLS champion and U.S. national team player planned to devote himself to fashion school and family, not soccer or social change.
SASKATOON - Members of the Halifax Mooseheads won two trophies at the Canadian Hockey League awards ceremony on Saturday, but the title they really want is still one victory away.
Mooseheads forward Jonathan Douin was named the 2012-13 CHL player of the year, while head coach Dominique Ducharme took home coach of the year honours.
FORT WORTH, Texas - Matt Kuchar finished a long Saturday at Colonial exhausted and still a stroke in front.
"This morning feels like a day ago," Kuchar said. "It's hard to believe it's the same day."
SASKATOON - The Halifax Mooseheads and Portland Winterhawks have been at the apex of the Canadian Hockey League all season, so it's only fitting that the powerhouse clubs will meet in the MasterCard Memorial Cup final.
The teams will play for the CHL title on Sunday in a showcase game that will feature not only the best clubs in junior hockey, but also the top prospects ahead of next month's NHL draft.
LONDON - With minutes left to play and the biggest game in club football once again in his hands, Arjen Robben made sure he didn't miss this time.
Robben found redemption at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, scoring the winner in the 89th minute of the Champions League final to give Bayern a 2-1 victory over German rival Borussia Dortmund — ending four years of frustration for his team in Europe's biggest tournament and erasing some of the painful memories of his penalty miss in last year's final.
EDMONTON - Considering they had been only together for four days, the players on Canada's national men's rugby team had to be pleased with their strong start to an important summer.
John Moonlight scored the lone try 20 minutes into the first half Saturday as Canada came away with a 16-9 victory over the United States in a match played in the pouring rain in Edmonton.
TORONTO - R.A. Dickey said the Toronto Blue Jays' latest loss was all on him.
"The loss can be solely hung around my neck for sure," the right-handed knuckleball pitcher said after Toronto fell 6-5 to the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday. "If I pitch better we win the game."
CHARLOTTETOWN - The game of hockey will soon change for peewee-level players across the country after a vote by Hockey Canada on Saturday that banned bodychecking.
Hockey Canada's board of directors overwhelmingly voted to eliminate bodychecking for peewee players at its annual general meeting in Charlottetown on Saturday, with only the Saskatchewan Hockey Association voting against.
CONCORD, N.C. - Jimmie Johnson is focused on chasing victory at the Coca-Cola 600. He says he's not thinking about his championship legacy.
A win Sunday night would be Johnson's fourth in NASCAR's longest race, trailing only Darrell Waltrip's five spring victories at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Johnson could also strengthen his series points lead with his third win this season as he chases his sixth Sprint Cup title. And a win would be a record seventh at Charlotte.
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Tyson Gay accomplished all his goals at the Adidas Grand Prix: He won, put his body through the grind of rounds — and stayed injury-free.
On a cold, rainy afternoon, the American-record holder eased to victory in the 100 metres, finishing in 10.02 seconds into a headwind Saturday. He appeared to slow down a bit at the end but still beat countryman Ryan Bailey by .13.
BUFFALO, N.Y. - It may have been a four-inning rehab start, but Josh Johnson looked closer to being the pitcher the Toronto Blue Jays thought they acquired last November.
Johnson, sidelined with right triceps inflammation since his last start for Toronto on April 29, allowed one hit and one walk and struck out three as the Buffalo Bisons beat the Indianapolis Indians 2-1 in triple-A International League action Saturday.
LONDON - Thousands of German football fans gathered at Wembley Stadium on Saturday and packed into central London ahead of the Champions League final.
In the first all-German final, Borussia Dortmund plays Bayern Munich later Saturday in European football's showpiece match.
