Toronto
Chinese honey trap? A Canadian lawmaker’s relationship with a Chinese reporter was exposed last week, leading to accusations of a possible security breach. Bob Dechert, a married member of Parliament, admitted to sending “flirtatious” e-mails to Shi Rong, but said the two were not having an affair. Shi, who is also married, works for Xinhua, a news service linked to China’s intelligence service and often used as cover for Chinese spies. The e-mails were apparently leaked by her husband. Canadian pundits are calling for Dechert to resign. “I cannot help but think that this relationship was based on the desire of the Chinese government to have influence over someone in a senior position in the government of Canada,” said Charles Burton, a former Canadian diplomat.
Havana
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American still jailed: Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson failed this week to win the release of a U.S. government subcontractor jailed in Cuba. Alan Gross, 62, was arrested in 2009 for giving Internet-access equipment to a Cuban Jewish group, an act the regime labeled subversion. The U.S. had asked that he be released on humanitarian grounds, because his wife and daughter both have cancer, and when the regime invited Richardson to Havana last week, hopes of a pardon ran high. Richardson, an experienced diplomat who has good relations with Cuban authorities, said he had tried “all means” but was not even allowed to see Gross. “I am very disappointed and surprised,” Richardson said. “It was just an outright rejection of even a dialogue on what could be done.”
Caracas, Venezuela
Shaman cure: President Hugo Chávez has turned to shamans to treat his cancer. Tribal healers from Venezuela’s Amazon jungle danced and prayed at a ceremony at the presidential palace to protect Chávez from “enemies and bad health.” Chávez, 57, had pelvic surgery in Cuba in June for his unspecified form of cancer, and since then he has undergone several rounds of chemotherapy. “The cancer was removed, and with the grace of God and all our gods, it went away and will never again return,” Chávez said. Last month, Chávez credited his survival so far to Fidel Castro and Jesus.
