Police: Arrest in deadly Toronto mall shooting

TORONTO (AP) - Toronto police say they have made an arrest in Saturday's shootings at a mall food court that left one person dead.

Police did not release further information Monday morning on the arrest.

Police have said the shooting at Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto targeted one person and suspect it was gang-related. Police said seven people were shot in all

The man who died, 24-year-old Ahmed Hassan, was shot several times.

Two people remain in the hospital in critical condition.

Japan's Latest Nuclear Crisis: Getting Rid of the Radioactive Debris

A plan to disperse the waste to incineration facilities across the country, meant to instill national unity, is doing the opposite, and further delaying Japan's ability to move beyond Fukushima.

Nonoko Kameyama

Protestors clash with police while trying to prevent trucks, carrying possibly radioactive debris, from entering the Hiagari incineration facility at Kita Kyushu City.

KITA KYUSHU, Japan -- Disposing the more than 20 million tons of rubble caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami is proving to be a difficult problem for Japan, not least because much of the rubble has been irradiated by the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The government's plan -- to destroy 4 million tons of potentially radioactive earthquake debris in garbage incinerators around the country -- is dividing the nation and further delaying the country's ability to put Fukushima behind it.

More than a year after the disaster, over 90 percent of the debris from disaster-stricken areas is still sitting around, waiting for disposal. Under a government pledge to clear the rubble entirely by 2014, the Ministry of the Environment is leading an effort to distribute the rubble to municipalities around Japan for speedy incineration and burial. But people across the country have met the plan with strong opposition, objecting that it needlessly spreads radiation to unaffected areas.

Last week, trucks carrying earthquake debris from northeastern Japan arrived in the south-western island of Kyushu, as part of the national government's plan to disperse and destroy debris. Protestors blocked the road for 8 hours over fears that incinerating the debris would spread radiation to areas that have not yet been contaminated by the nuclear disaster. The waste was burned last Thursday in the first "trial burn" of radioactive tsunami debris to be conducted in this part of Japan.

The protest in front of the main gate of Hiagari Incineration Facility in Kita Kyushu City was the latest in a divisive debate over the effort to ship roughly 20 percent of earthquake debris from the Tohoku region (where Fukushima is located) to municipalities around Japan for incineration. The plan, which calls for shipping the debris as far as the southern most island of Okinawa, has been promoted as a symbol of Japan's national unity and collective reconstruction effort.

While debris from Fukushima will not be incinerated in the program, due to high radiation levels, municipalities and citizen groups are worried that even debris from neighboring Miyagi and Iwate prefectures could be contaminated enough to be too hazardous to process. Many fear that doing so will not only release radiation into the local atmosphere, but also concentrate it into highly irradiated ash that would be difficult for local municipalities and garbage companies to dispose of safely. 

American Metal Market Steel Awards for Excellence Dinner and Hall of Fame Celebration

NEW YORK, NY, Jun 04, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- American Metal Market proudly announces the finalists for the 2012 Awards for Steel Excellence. The 2012 Awards for Steel Excellence program will recognize the most innovative companies across multiple categories. The winners will be announced and honored at a special dinner on June 19, 2012 during the Steel Success Strategies XXVII Conference. Individual tickets will be available when you register for the Steel Success Strategies event.

Also included in the dinner is a celebration of the newly launched Steel Hall of Fame and its inductees. A video tribute to the Inaugural Class will open the dinner and a live presentation by Dan DiMicco, Chairman and CEO of Nucor will honor Inaugural Class Inductee Ken Iverson.

The Steel Hall of Fame Inaugural Class Includes:

Andrew Carnegie Elbert Gary Henry Bessemer Charles Schwab

Willy Korf Ken Iverson Park Tae-Joon Yoshihiro Inayama

The Class of 2012 will then be honored with the following presentations:

--  Tribute to 2012 Inductee John B. Tytus by James Wainscott, Chairman
            & CEO, AK Steel
        --  Tribute to 2012 Inductee Luigi Danieli by Gianpietro Benedetti,
            Chairman & CEO, Danieli
        --  Tribute to 2012 Inductee Father William Hogan by Frank Koeble
        --  Tribute to 2012 Inductee Irving Rossi by Herbert Fastert
        --  Tributes to Thomas Graham by John Surma, Chairman & CEO, US Steel
            and James Wainscott, Chairman & CEO, AK Steel including
            presentation of Hall of Fame plaque to Thomas C. Graham, the first
            living Inductee to the Steel Hall of Fame
        
        

The evening continues with presentations for the AMM Awards for Steel Excellence. The full list of nominees includes:

Best Innovation

--  Carpenter Technology - Phased Array Inspection System
        --  China Beijing Mining Exchange - China Iron Ore Spot Trading Platform
        --  Olympic Steel - Tube Laser installation at Chicago Tube & Iron
            subsidiary
        --  Majestic - Technology innovations to improve transparency
        
        

Best Merger & Acquisition

--  AK Steel/Magnetation LLC, AK Coal Resource Inc.
        --  Carpenter Technology/Latrobe Specialty Metals
        --  AM Castle/Tube Supply Inc.
        --  Grede Holdings/Novocast and Teknik (Mexico from Grupo Proeza) and
            Paxton-Mitchell (Omaha, Neb)
        --  Olympic Steel/Chicago Tube & Iron
        
        

Best Operational Improvements

--  ArcelorMittal Dofasco - Operating cost savings, productivity increase
            resulting from Primary Optimization Program (POP)
        --  ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor - Blast furnace top gas Energy Recovery
            & Reuse (504 boiler project)
        --  ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor - Enhanced efficiency, quality resulting
            from rebuild of the 160-inch plate mill heat treat operation
        --  Carpenter Technology - Seven-fold increase in throughput and zero
            customer rejections resulting from the implementation of Phased Array
            Inspection System
        --  Superior Tube - Implementation of a Lean Manufacturing culture leading
            to a 12-percent Increase in revenue and 62-percent improvement in
            operating profit
        
        

Best Brownfield/Greenfield Technology

--  ArcelorMittal Dofasco - Primary Optimization Program (POP)
        --  ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor - Blast furnace top gas Energy Recovery
            & Reuse (504 boiler project)
        --  ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor - Rebuild of Heat Treat Operation serving
            160-inch plate mill
        --  Essar Steel Algoma - Installation of Individualized Oven Pressure
            Control System on No. 9 Coke Battery
        --  GE/Wuhan - Increase in energy efficiency and profitability
        --  Magnetation - Use of a unique, advanced magnetic separation process to
            recover iron ore from existing stockpiles of previously mined
            material.
        
        

Environmental Responsibility/Stewardship

--  Sims Metal Management - Global "Green" Initiatives, capital
            Investments and accreditation
        --  Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI) - Auto emissions reduction
            through the SMDI's FutureSteelVehicle Project
        --  Olympic Steel - Installation of a 100 KW Northern Power 100 wind
            turbine to supplement power used by company's Cleveland temper mill
            and corporate headquarters
        
        

Industry Ambassador/Advocate of the Year

--  Dr. Sunil Widge, Carpenter Technology's Senior Vice President
            -Strategic Business Development & Governmental Affairs and
            Chairman of the Stainless Steel Industry of North America from 2009 to
            2011, steering the organization through a difficult time for the
            industry.
        --  Thomas A. Danjczek, President, Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA)
        --  Thomas J. Gibson, President and Chief Executive Officer, American Iron
            & Steel Institute (AISI)
        
        

Logistics/Transportation Provider of the Year

--  Union Pacific - Introduction of numerous new products, including
            Pipeline Express, Seamless Steel and Copper Connection, designed to
            improve the ease of doing business by rail for metal shipping
            customers
        --  Olympic Steel - Pioneering a private fleet of metal movers that now
            number 117 total tractors and trailers and the implementation of a
            state-of-the-art fleet management system
        
        

Scrap Company of the Year

--  Sims Metal Management - For overall excellence in customer
            service/support and continuous improvement initiatives worldwide
        --  Upstate Shredding - Customer-centered service, community participation
            and strong support, have helped make Upstate Shredding - Ben Weitsman
            one of the largest privately held scrap metal processors on the U.S.
            East Coast
        --  Cohen - Fourth-generation, privately owned, family business celebrated
            a banner year in 2011 when it rebranded, added satellite operations
            and adopted an aggressive plant to vertically integrate several new
            product lines and services into its business model.
        --  All Star Metals - Brownsville, Texas-based licensed ship recycling,
            metal processing and environmental remediation contractor that has
            achieved steady growth over the past nine years.
        
        

Service Center of the Year

--  Berlin Metals - For excellence in customer service, support and
            retention. On-time delivery rates are said to have exceeded 99 percent
            for nearly a decade with customer complaint percentage pegged at less
            than 1/2 of one percent for 15 years. Return on net assets (RONA)
            2009, 2010 and 2011 is reported at 1.5 percent, 21.7 percent and 23.9
            percent respectively.
        --  Mill Steel - Grew 41.5 percent in terms of tons sold and 26.3 percent
            in terms of customers sold in calendar year 2011. Also completed
            variety of expansion and equipment installation projects and
            experienced NO customer defaults or bankruptcies in 2010 or 2011.
        --  AM Castle - Moved aggressively to ensure future growth via the $165
            million acquisition of Tube Supply at an attractive multiple of
            EBITDA.
        --  Olympic Steel - Acquisition for $150 million in cash and assumption of
            about $6 million in debt of Chicago Tube & Iron Co. (CTI, in July,
            2011 proved immediately accretive to earnings. Combined, Olympic and
            CTI noted revenue of about $1.5 billion.)
        
        

Steel Producer of the Year

--  CMC - CMC's vertical integration model revolutionized the way the
            steel industry operates today.
        --  The Timken Co. - By applying its knowledge of friction management and
            power transmission, Timken helps customers products run smoother,
            faster and more efficiently.
        
        

For more information about the AMM Awards for Steel Excellence or the Hall of Fame, please contact Karen Ross at 412-880-4966 or kross@amm.com.

Contact:
        Karen Ross
        412-880-4966
        
        
        

SOURCE: American Metal Market

New game show ‘Are You Normal, America?’ raises question of what’s normal for Oprah

OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, officially rolls out a new game show Monday at 9 that is annoying on so many levels it ultimately raises a question no one wants to either ask or answer:

If this is what we need to save OWN, is it worth saving?

With a slightly different tweak, “Are You Normal, America?” — which had a sneak preview Sunday — might be merely one more routine time-killing game show.

The setup is that two contestants, who until that point didn’t know each other, are paired as a team that must guess what most people would do in some common situation.

They must identify “normal” American behavior.

For example, after staying in a hotel, do more people take the toiletries or tip the maids?

The contestants agree on their best guess and then they find out whether this matches the behavior that the show’s producers found in what they say is a survey of at least 1,000 people around the country.

While they do this polling, the show’s producers also film random respondents. So we see someone in Chicago, or Utah, or Miami, explaining the answer a little more fully.

The show also selects 10 respondents to come to the studio and sit in chairs on the stage during the game.

After each poll result has been revealed, host Barry Poznick or Kim Coles says at least one member of this panel has admitted to some unusual or mildly scandalous behavior involving the question at hand.

The host identifies the behavior and the team guesses which panelist ’fessed up to it. If they’re right, they win more money.

A team that gets all the questions right and identifies all the correct panelists can win more than $100,000.

As you may gather, “Are You Normal, America?” is basically a mashup of a dozen other game shows. It’s also a little complicated. But the veteran Poznick is a likable enough host, so it all goes down easy until it reaches the “pee in the shower” question.

The question is whether most people do that.

And boy, does the show latch onto this one. Contestants and audience are instantly reduced to giggling third-graders who have just heard a naughty word.

Then it turns out that one member of the panel not only does this, but has turned it into a game — and the giggling starts all over again.

It’s more juvenile than offensive, except it quickly becomes clear this segment is designed to become the episode’s takeaway.

That’s when a number of viewers may think, y’know, this is not why I watched Oprah.

She made her fans laugh, cry or maybe think. She didn’t try to keep their attention with, literally, bathroom humor.

It’s hard to believe this is why she knocked herself out to start a network — and harder to believe this is what she wants it to deliver.

Pakistani apex court suspends Rehman Malik from Senate

Islamabad : Pakistan's Supreme Court Monday suspended the Senate membership of Interior Minister Rehman Malik for holding dual nationality, a media report said.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heard the case of Malik holding dual nationality of Britain and Pakistan, reported Geo News.

Malik said he had forfeited his British citizenship but he failed to provide sufficient documents to the apex court.

The apex court had earlier suspended the National Assembly membership of Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker Farahnaz Ispahani, and has issued notice to Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Sheikh in a similar case.

A fresh petition submitted Monday named 14 other parliamentarians and members of provincial assemblies who, it claimed, held dual nationalities. The lawmakers have been issued notices by the court.

The court adjourned the hearing till June 13.

Mental health wait times grow to a year

In Ottawa, the city that's been diagnosed as the "depression capital of Canada," the wait time to be assessed for a mood disorder at the city's marquee mental health treatment centre has now grown to one year.

Dr. Raj Bhatla, chief of psychiatry at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, says there is an "urgent need" to cut the 12-month waiting list for people suffering from depression, bi-polar disorder and other related conditions.

The Royal Ottawa has committed to cutting the wait time in half to six months. But without new funding and with a shortage of psychiatrists, all the centre can do is "an internal rejigging" that will "cut into the ability" of psychiatrists to provide longer-term treatment, Bhatla said.

These revelations have caused concern.

"It's unconscionable to deny people timely access to psychiatric assessment and care," said Bill Wilkerson, co-founder of the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health.

"I happen to think that Dr. Bhatla is one of the most talented, progressive psychiatrists I know of anywhere. That is a very credible source. And I think this is an honest appraisal of the situation," Wilkerson said in an interview.

"If the leadership of the Royal Ottawa, whose heart is as big as its scientific capabilities, is conceding wait lists are a problem then I think the government of Canada, as an employer, and the province of Ontario, as a provider of services, must wake up and pay attention."

Pak SC probing 'killing' of women sentenced to death for 'fornicating' at wedding

Islamabad, June 4 (ANI): Taking suo motu notice of media reports of the killing of four women who were earlier given a death sentence by a Jirga in Kohistan for defying strict tribal customs, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has summoned Chief Secretary of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, District Police Officer of Kohistan and Deputy Inspector General Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on June 6.

Media reports of the alleged killing of four girls and a fifth for being 'an accomplice' were presented before the chief justice by the registrar of the Supreme Court, reports The Express Tribune.

The jirga had declared four women and two men 'fornicators' after they were allegedly caught on videotape singing and dancing together at a wedding party in Bando Baidar village.

The video caused a furore in the community, who felt the video had stained the honour of their tribe. According to sources, elders of the Azad Khel tribe had summoned a jirga at the Seertaiy village, which sentenced the four women and the two men to death.

The chief justice ordered Attorney General Irfan Qadir to find out if the news reports about the incident were factual or not.

He further said that if the reports were bogus and such an incident never occurred, then the girls be presented before the court the same day.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain also said that the reports were "wrong and baseless".

The chief justice said, "This incident is a gross violation of fundamental human rights", adding that the Supreme Court has already given directions against the jirga system.

The police had registered an FIR against two brothers, Bin Yasir and Gul Nazar, for allegedly making the film and uploading it on a video-sharing site.

An elder brother of the accused men, Muhammad Afzal, said the women were called back from their in-laws and locked in a room. He added that their family members subjected the women to severe torture.

Afzal also said that the jirga sent over 30 men to kill of his brothers

Buddhist vigilantes kill 9 Muslims in Myanmar bus attack

Buddhist vigilantes in western Myanmar attacked a bus and killed nine Muslims; police said on Monday, the deadliest communal violence in the region since a reformist government took power a year ago.

The bus was besieged near Taunggoke town in the western state of Rakhine on Sunday evening by a group who blamed some of its passengers for the murder of a Buddhist woman a week ago, said residents and politicians. One of those killed was travelling in a separate car.

Rakhine is home to Myanmar's largest concentration of Muslims, but their presence is often resented by the Buddhist majority. The resentment is particularly sharp for Rohingya Muslims, whose roots date back to the nineteenth century when they were brought to the country as labourers by colonial power Britain.

Ko Kyaw Lay, a Muslim human rights activist in the region who belongs to an opposition party, said none of those killed were Rohingyas.

Police could not immediately confirm details of the violence.

"An investigation is underway but I can't give you any further details," said a police official who requested anonymity.

In a separate incident on Sunday in Sittwe, the Rakhine capital, 10 people were shot and wounded when riot police tried to break up a protest, witnesses said. They said the rally by about 200 people was unrelated to the attack on the bus.

Protesters threw stones at police and a 13-year-old novice monk was among those wounded, witnesses said.

Myanmar is one of Southeast Asia's most ethnically diverse countries, where sectarian and ethnic tension persists despite a new political climate and broad reforms by a civilian-led government that says it has made peace and national unity a priority since it replaced a military junta 15 months ago.

In the case of the bus attack, Taunggoke resident Kyaw Min said the Buddhists "were angered by the authorities' handling" of an attack on a woman who people in the area said was raped by several men and then killed.

Just before Sunday's attack, leaflets bearing a photo of the woman and describing the rape were distributed in the area.

"ATTACK ON PILGRIMS"

Several residents, who declined to be identified, said the Muslims on the bus were not from the area and were on a visit to Rakhine state. They suggested those killed may not have been the perpetrators of the reported rape and murder.

In a joint statement, eight overseas-based Rohingya rights groups condemned the attack on "Muslim pilgrims", which they said came after months of anti-Rohingya propaganda stirred up by "extremists and xenophobes".

A spokesman for the coalition, Tun Khin, said that although those killed were not ethnic Rohingyas, the groups were concerned about the plight of Muslims in Myanmar. They called on the government to treat Muslims fairly and tackle "Rakhine terrorism".

Residents were also on edge after the Sittwe demonstration. Shopkeeper Thein Kyaw said the protest erupted outside a police station after hired thugs attacked and detained business operators who refused to pay over-inflated taxes.

Demonstrations were extremely rare under Myanmar's former military rulers but are becoming more frequent as the public voices discontent over issues such as land ownership and chronic power shortages, which led to peaceful marches by hundreds of people in several towns and cities last month.

Legalisation of public protests is among reforms implemented by President Thein Sein, a former junta general.

But the speedy moves to liberalise are a test of the security forces' tolerance of dissent in the former Burma. The changing political landscape has also seen Internet and media censorship significantly reduced.

Hla Saw, secretary general of the Rakhine Nationalities Development Party, blamed the state government for "mismanagement" of the tax issue and said his party was due to meet state officials to try to resolve the conflict.

Top honor for Tendulkar: Legendary batsman sworn into Indian parliament

Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar became India's first active sportsperson to be sworn in as a member of parliament on Monday.

In a surprising move, the world's highest Test run scorer was nominated to the upper house, the Rajya Sabha by chairman by Hamid Ansari.

The batsman became the first to reach 100 international centuries earlier this year.

Top honour: Sachin Tendulkar is congratulated by a number of Indian dignitaries

Making it official:Tendulkar signs the oath book as India's Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V. Narayanasamy watches

'In the last 22 years of my international career, cricket has given me so much and I also wanted to give something back to cricket in the latter half of my life,' Tendulkar said on the Board of Control for Cricket in India's official website.

'Today with the nomination, I am in a better position not only to help cricket but also other sports. It means a lot to me. I will try to help other sports.

'But I believe there will be a few obstacles along the way, and I will need from my fellow parliamentarians, the administrators, media and our countrymen. Together we can make a lot of changes.'

Making his mark: Tendulkar is sworn into Parliament in New Delhi

New role: Tendulkar speaks to the media after taking oath at the Indian parliament

Tendulkar was accompanied by his wife Anjali, and Indian Premier League chairman and MP Rajiv Shukla

Of the 250 members in the Rajya Sabha, 12 are nominated by the president for 'special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service.'

The soft-spoken cricketer has previously been considered for the Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian honour.

Notable personalities from literature, art and social services have been nominated before, but Tendulkar is the first sportsman to enter the upper house via a nominated seat.

Journey of a lifetime: Tendulkar with his wife Anjali arrives at the Indian parliament

Rebels kill 80 Syrian soldiers at weekend

Syrian rebels killed at least 80 army soldiers at the weekend, an opposition watchdog said on Monday, in a surge of attacks that followed their threat to resume fighting if President Bashar al-Assad failed to observe a U.N.-backed ceasefire.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said local doctors had confirmed the names of 80 dead government soldiers.

Insurgents told the group they had killed more than 100 soldiers and destroyed some tanks in clashes across Syria, including Damascus and Idlib province in the northwest.

Some commanders in the rebel Free Syrian Army had announced they would be "free of any commitment" to international envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan if Assad did not end violence by Friday.

The May 25 massacre of at least 108 people, nearly half of them children, in the Houla area of Homs province dealt a possibly fatal blow to Annan's proposed ceasefire, which was supposed to take effect on April 12, but never did.

Rami Abdelrahman, the head of the Observatory, told Reuters that many army checkpoints were destroy in heavy clashes overnight in Idlib province, where many rebels operate.

"A minimum of 4 to 6 checkpoints in the village of Ariha were attacked and destroyed in the last 24 hours," he said.

The 15-month-old uprising against Assad's 11-year rule began with peaceful protests, but Syria is now slipping into civil war as rebels fight back against a violent government crackdown.

The United Nations says Assad's forces have killed more than 9,000 people since March, 2011. Syria blames the violence on armed "terrorists" it says have killed more than 2,600 soldiers and other members of the security forces.