Tokyo, Japan (AHN) – Sony Corporation has temporarily suspended on Wednesday its webpages in Canada, Thailand, Indonesia and Greece following another unauthorized intrusion into its portal.

The fresh hacking involved the theft of personal data of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications in Canada. The hackers stole 2,000 names, phone numbers and email addresses, but failed to get any credit card details.

They also altered a Sony webpage in Thailand to make it easier to send phishing email and stole web codes from Sony’s music unit’s portal in Indonesia. The Greek intrusion affected about 8,500 customers’ information.

Sony said the hacked websites were externally hosted by third parties and not linked to its main network.

The fresh attack followed last month’s hits on Sony’s network, which involved the data of over 100 million customers. Besides crippling Sony’s PlayStation Network, last month’s cyber attack cost the Japanese firm, which expects a third year of loss, $171 million (JPY 4 billion).

The intrusions also places doubt on Sony’s online security systems. Following the fresh round of hacking incident, Sony’s shares fell 1.5 percent on Wednesday at the Tokyo trading floor.

Sony said it is investigating if the fresh attacks on its webpages are linked to last month’s hacking into the company’s PlayStation Network. The company said it has so far found no evidence connecting the two incidents.

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Name of Product: Disney Princess Plastic Racing Trikes

Units: About 9,000 in the U.S. and 700 in Canada

Manufacturer: Kiddieland Toys Limited, of Scituate, Mass.

Hazard: The plastic castle display and the princess figures protruding from the top of the handle bar pose a laceration hazard if a child falls on it.

Incidents/Injuries: CPSC and Kiddieland have received three reports of children suffering facial lacerations.

Description: This recall involves the Disney Princess Plastic Racing Trikes. The trikes are pink and fuchsia with a purple seat and wheels. On top of the handlebar, there is a rotating castle display surrounded by three princess figures. “Disney Princess” is printed on the label in front of the trike just below the handlebar.

Sold at: Target, JCPenney, Meijer and H.E.B. stores nationwide and on the Web at www.target.com from January 2009 through April 2011 for about $50.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately take the trikes away from children and contact Kiddieland for a free replacement handlebar with an enclosed rotating display.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Kiddieland at (800) 430-5307 anytime, or visit the firm’s website at www.kiddieland.com.hk

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Gatineau, Quebec, Canada (AHN) – Canadian Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff promised voters on Thursday to make permanent the green renovation tax credit in order to create a new industry focused on green home renovations.

To make more Canadian homes more energy efficient, Ignatieff proposed a $400-million fund that would provide homeowners a $13,500 refundable tax credit or up to $2,000 in tax relief for residences that install windows and put in place other environment-friendly initiatives.

The Liberal’s pro-environment stance, however, is not a vote-getter. According to a survey by online job search firm Monster.ca, what Canadian voters look for in their next prime minister are qualities similar to the requirements for a company head.

The survey said 89 percent of respondents picked having a vision and leadership as the top qualities they would look for in a candidate whom they will vote for on May 2. Other desired qualities cited by the respondents were communication skills, being a strong role model, being results-driven and having a track record of success.

Another 51 percent said they want their next prime minister to be a person they could talk with over beer or coffee.

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Acton Vale, Quebec, Canada (AHN) – Canadian Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper bared over the weekend the campaign platform of the Tories. The highlight of the party’s platform is a promise to continue farm subsidies and protection for producers of dairy products, eggs and poultry.

Harper said the subsidy is part of the party’s search for export markets for Canada’s agricultural sector, which includes signing of free trade agreements. However, observers said Ottawa’s protectionist policies are one of the main blocks at international trade forums, especially those for agricultural products.

To improve food safety, Harper also vowed to hike the budget of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

On Sunday, the New Democratic Party disclosed its platform, which has for its theme giving the Canadian family a break. NDP leader Jack Layton said the party, if elected to office, will hire more doctors and nurses, improve the pension system, create jobs through tax breaks for small enterprises, help consumers cope with soaring prices by placing a cap on credit card fees and removing the federal sales tax from home heating, and creating a more constructive tone in Parliament.

Layton said the NDP, if elected to power, would spend $8.9 billion during its first year in office and achieve a balanced federal budget by 2014-15. Layton promised to deliver the NDP campaign promises within 100 days in office, although polls said the NDP is a far third in electoral surveys, next to the Tories and Liberals.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Williams-Sonoma Recalls Hot Chocolate Pots Due To Burn and Laceration Hazards

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product.

Name of Product: Hot chocolate pots

Units: About 28,000 units in the United States and 700 in Canada

Importer: ICI USA, LLC, of Seattle, Wash.

Distributor: Williams-Sonoma Inc., of San Francisco, Calif.

Hazard: The handle of the hot chocolate pot can break off during use, posing burn and laceration hazards.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received 28 reports of handles breaking off of the pots, including eight reports of injuries involving minor burns or cuts.

Description: This recall involves the Whirly Whip hot chocolate pots sold individually as item number 2981454 or 4986535, and as part of the Whirly Whip hot chocolate pot gift set item number 3021714. The item number can be found on the product’s box, below the bar code. The pot is made of white porcelain and has a red handle. The lid has a red knob and a frother attached to the underside of the lid knob.

Sold at: Williams-Sonoma stores nationwide, online at www.williams-sonoma.com and through Williams-Sonoma catalogs from October 2010 through January 2011 for between $30 and $40.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled hot chocolate pots and either return the product to any Williams-Sonoma store or contact Williams-Sonoma for instructions on how to return the product for a full refund.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Williams-Sonoma toll-free at (855) 643-4206 between 4 a.m. and 9 p.m. PT seven days a week or visit the firm’s website at www.williams-sonoma.com

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – While Canadian businesses laud a campaign promise from the Liberal Party to grant firms a tax break for hiring young workers, they oppose a planned corporate tax increase to 18 percent from 16.5 percent.

The Liberals have been pushing for a corporate tax hike, while the Tories insist on a corporate tax reduction in the last Parliament.

Catherine Swift, president of the Canadian Federation Independent Business, pointed out that the current standard that classifies business income of over $500,000 places companies with few employees on the same footing as those with many workers.

Swift also warned of the negative impact of hiking Canada Pension Plan benefits because payroll taxes are one of the largest issues for independent Canadian businesses. However, she lauded the campaign offer by the Liberal Party of a 100 percent break on Employment Insurance premiums if small- and medium-sized firms would hire people between 18 to 25 years old.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said Sunday that the party decided to offer the Youth Hiring Incentive program because it is small- and medium-sized firms that create most of the jobs.

The Liberals also vowed to reduce spending, hike taxes on the rich, push homeowners to pursue green renovations and offer online voting for Canadians.

Ignatieff estimated their campaign platform would cost $8.23 billion. However, the Tories disputed the Liberals’ figure and reckoned it would cost at least $10 billion.

Ignatieff said that despite these programs, by hiking the corporate tax rate by 1.5 percent, a Liberal-led federal government would be able to save $3 billion in the first year of office. He added the savings would grow to $5 billion in the second year.

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Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (AHN) – Corrects Clark’s party membership

The Liberal party of British Columbia selected Christy Clark on Saturday as the party’s leader. With her selection, Clark will become the province’s 35th premier and BC’s second female head.

Clark will replace Gordon Campbell, who resigned in November over the unpopular harmonized sales tax.

Clark got 4,420 points through telephone ballots cast on the third round of voting. She beat former Health Minister Kevin Falcon, who got 4,080 points on the third round. Clark won over former Attorney General Mike de Jong and former Education Minister George Abbott in the first and second rounds.

Clark once served as deputy premier and shifted to a radio career as broadcaster for CKNW radio.

With her victory, Clark became the second person in BC’s history to become premier without being a current member of the legislative assembly. The first was Bill Vander Zalm, who led the campaign against the HST.

As premier, Clark said her first priority will be to put families first, and then job creation and battling poverty. She also plans to call for a provincial election earlier than the original schedule of 2013.

The first female premier was Rita Johnston, who held briefly the leader’s post of the Social Credit party in 1991.

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Palo Alto, CA, United States (AHN) – Facebook has added “Civil Unions” and “Domestic Partnerships” to its relationship status options. The move on Thursday gives gay and lesbian couples the option to declare themselves “in a civil union” or “domestic partnership,” and is viewed as a victory for same-sex couples.

According to Facebook, “this has been a highly requested feature from users. We want to provide options for people to genuinely and authentically reflect their relationships on Facebook.”

Effective immediately, Facebook users in the U.S. can choose relationship options of single “In a relationship,” engaged, married, “It’s complicated,” “In an open relationship,” widowed, separated and divorced.

“Today, Facebook sent a clear message in support of gay and lesbian and couples to users across the globe,” said Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation. “As public support for marriage equality continues to grow, we will continue to work for the day when all couples have the opportunity to marry and have their relationship recognized by their community, both online and off.”

According to Barrios, GLAAD was involved in the efforts to add the status option.

The rollout of the new options is slated to next be unveiled in Canada, United Kingdom, France and Australia followed by countries where same sex marriages are legal and recognized.

Facebook has over 600 million users.

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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – The average Canadian family debt in 2010 was $100,000, according to a report released Thursday by the Vanier Institute of the Family.

The $100,000 average debt boosted the debt-to-income ratio to a record-high 150 percent, which was only 93 percent in 1990 when the average family debt was at $56,800. Within 20 years, the ratio jumped 78 percent.

While debt is going up, the savings rate is going down. In 2010, the average Canadian family saved $2,500 per household yearly, which is a 4.2 percent decline from the 1990 average savings of $8,000.

The tightness of finances is reflected in the rise to 17,400 by the fall of 2010 the number of Canadians households whose mortgage payments were three or more months late. That is up by almost 50 percent since the recession hit Canada. Also up are credit card delinquencies and bankruptcy rates.

Family members entering the labor force would somehow alleviate the tight financial bind with which many Canadian families struggle. However, because of the unemployment situation, young family members have found it difficult to get a job. Since the middle of 2009, only 5 percent of new jobs created across the country went to workers in the 15-to-24 age bracket.

The institute supported efforts of the federal Task Force on Financial Literacy to come up with a comprehensive strategy to strengthen the knowledge, skills and confidence of Canadians in making responsible financial decisions. It also backed up the creation of an environment that would facilitate good choices and afford financial security.

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – A study by St. Michael’s Hospital has concluded that home dialysis is as effective as treatments done in the hospital, and much lighter on the pocket.

Home treatment costs $20,000 to $30,000 less, which would translate into savings of up to $516 million if 17,200 kidney patients who underwent hospital dialysis from 2007 had treatments at home, the study found. The data is based on records of the Canadian Institute for Health Information, which were analyzed by St. Michael’s researchers led by Dr. Jeffrey Perl, a kidney specialist.

Perl pointed out that kidney patients who had their dialysis done at home or the hospital have the same 33 percent death rates during the course of the study. However, he admitted not all kidney patients are suitable for home-based treatment.

In home-based dialysis, or peritoneal dialysis, patients are injected with cleansing fluids through a catheter tube to removed toxins from the blood. The fluids are drained several times a day. In hospital-based dialysis or hemodialysis, the patient’s blood is removed from the body, filtered and then returned minus the toxins.

Only 18 percent of kidney patients have their dialysis done at home and their number is going down, even if it saves patients time and even allow some of them to hold jobs.

For kidney failure patients lucky enough, the better alternative to dialysis is to find an organ donor match More potential kidney donors were added to the Living Donor Paired Exchange pool after Quebec signed up in the exchange on October.

The exchange started in January 2009 as a partnership between the Canadian Blood Services and three Canadian provinces. In less than two years all Canadian provinces have signed up, with Quebec becoming the latest to join.

There are about 35,000 Canadians suffering from kidney ailments, with 3,000 of them on the waiting list for an organ transplant. The medical procedure saves the health care system up to $40,000 a year in treatments and medication.

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