Canadian Tamil protesters demand intervention

Canadian Tamil protesters marched in front of the Prime Minister's office Thursday, demanding the government restart peace talks in Sri Lanka.

Canada is home to about 300,000 Tamils, one of the largest Tamil populations outside Sri Lanka and India.

Demonstrators want Canada to remove the terrorist label it placed on the Tamil Tigers, who are fighting for an independent homeland in Sri Lanka, said Senthan Nada, one of the organizers.

The Sri Lankan High Commission has called on Canadian authorities to crack down on public demonstrations of support for the Tigers.

But Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said that's not going to …

Seeing life through a child's eyes

On a perfect summer afternoon in Chicago, a shiny little toddlerwas on a tourist walk with her thirtyish mom and dad. She held handswith both parents as they crossed Wacker Drive at Wabash Avenue,stopping on the median in front of the fountain.

The little girl was thrilled by the falling, splashing water.Her parents, who might have walked right past the fountain if theyhad been alone, stopped and took the time to share their daughter'sinterest and join in her delight. They seemed happy to take part inthe wonder of her discovery.

When Joan and I were expecting Jenny, I would stop and watchscenes like this one, smiling and walking away almost light-headedwith …

Swiss club Thun hires coach Challandes

THUN, Switzerland (AP) — Swiss club FC Thun has hired coach Bernard Challandes to take charge of his third top-tier team in less than five months.

Thun says Challandes signed a one-year contract with the club, which has qualified for the Europa League preliminary rounds next season.

Challandes left Neuchatel …

'Avatar' races to $4.8M opening day in China

Already a global hit, James Cameron's "Avatar" raced to a $4.8 million first day in populous China, with a publicist predicting the sci-fi blockbuster will set a new Chinese box office record.

"Avatar" raked in 33.03 million Chinese yuan ($4.8 million) on Monday, in a 3-D, 2-D and IMAX joint release, Weng Li, spokesman for state-run film importer China Film Group told The Associated Press in a phone interview on Wednesday.

Weng called the result a strong showing but wasn't sure if it was a first-day record. The modern benchmark for a hit in China is 100 million yuan ($14.6 million), and "Avatar" is on track to easily pass that …

Tough subject, strong response A little 'Night' reading has big impact on 8th-graders Series: ONE BOOK ONE CHICAGO

Timing isn't everything. Suzanne Saposnik planned to teach herunit on the Holocaust to coincide with the city's selection of Nightby Elie Wiesel for its second One Book One Chicago program. But shedidn't know spring vacation would occur during the week the city wasculminating the program with special events.

Despite the fact school was not in session, Saposnik and 13 of herstudents took time out from their vacations to hear Wiesel speak.

"His book made a deep impact on me," said Yelena Mironova, one ofSaposnik's students. "Meeting someone like that in person who's beenthrough history and experienced it made it more real."

Reading Night is only a small part of …

Super-concentrated microbial potion banishes MTBE

BIOTECHOLOGY

A microbial mixture that can clean up groundwater contaminated with methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), an oxygenate used in gasoline, and tertbutanol (TBA), a byproduct from the degradation of MTBE, at one-tenth the expense and at 50-80% less time than required with conventional methods, such as pump-and-treat technologies (e.g., spargers and strippers), has been commercialized by Osprey Biotechnics, Inc. (Sarasota, FL; www.ospreybiotechnics.com). The product, called MTG-3, contains 6 x 10^sup 8^ colony-forming units (CFU) of patented strains of Pseudomonas bacteria per mL of water. "We know of no other product with such high cell concentrations that is able to maintain …

Reports: Patrick Thoresen rejects Philadelphia Flyers renewal offer; set for European hockey

Philadelphia Flyers winger Patrick Thoresen has decided to reject a final contract offer and temporarily return to European hockey.

"I wanted a so-called one-way contract, which is to say the same salary regardless of whether I played in the NHL or a farm team," the 24-year-old Norwegian told the state radio network NRK on Tuesday. "That makes things more predictable for me and my family."

In February, the Flyers claimed Thoresen on waivers from the Edmonton Oilers, which he joined in 2006. He said because that club change was so …