Toronto

Plan would stop drug sales to U.S.

Canadian health officials are drafting a proposal to prevent Internet pharmacies from selling mail-order prescription drugs to U.S. consumers, a spokesman said Wednesday, a move that would essentially kill a $700 million industry.

The three-pronged measure being considered by Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh would prevent Canadian doctors from countersigning prescriptions for U.S. patients without examining them in person, spokesman Ken Polk said.

It also would prohibit prescriptions for foreigners who are not present in Canada and create a list banning common drugs from being exported, Polk told The Associated Press.

A proposal was expected to be presented to Prime Minister Paul Martin’s cabinet by the end of the month, Polk said.

Ukraine

Losing candidate appeals election results

Losing presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych appealed the results of last month’s election to Ukraine’s Supreme Court, arguing that the election be declared invalid because of massive fraud, a court spokeswoman said Wednesday.

Preliminary results from the Dec. 26 election show opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko winning a sound victory.

Yanukovych will ask the court to declare that it is “impossible to establish the result of the election” due to massive fraud, campaign manager Taras Chornovil said.

The appeal would be identical to the one Yushchenko used in challenging the Nov. 21 presidential runoff, in which Yanukovych claimed victory, he said.

Jerusalem

Sharon warns of force in Gaza pullout

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Wednesday his government would throw all its might against those resisting the dismantling of Jewish settlements, his sternest warning yet to opponents of his plan to pull out of Gaza and part of the West Bank this summer.

Sharon’s warning came two days after settlers clashed with soldiers at an unauthorized West Bank outpost, a possible prelude to confrontations when Israeli forces move in to take apart veteran settlements for the first time in Israel’s 34-year occupation.

“They shouldn’t dare to even raise a hand against a policeman or a soldier,” Sharon said. “We will act against (them) with all our might.”

Jordan

Officials: Police foil plot to kill Americans

Prosecutors leveled charges against two Jordanian terrorism suspects after police foiled a plan to kill four American archeologists, security officials said Wednesday.

Jamil Mohammed Kutkut, 27, and Ibrahim Mohammed Zein al-Abedeen, better known by Jihad al-Qashah, 36, were charged with plotting to commit terrorist acts, illegal possession of automatic weapons and infiltrating Jordanian territories.

No details were available on the American targets of the plot, which police say they foiled when they arrested Kutkut on Oct. 17. Al-Abedeen allegedly fled to Syria.

Austria

Nuclear agency to visit suspect Iranian site

Iran has agreed to grant access to a military site the United States links to a secret nuclear weapons program, and the first U.N. inspectors could arrive “within days,” the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Wednesday.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Mohamed ElBaradei also criticized reported U.S. bugging of his phone conversations, saying such actions crippled his agency’s ability to act independently of national agendas.

And in comments sure to annoy the United States, ElBaradei suggested the time was approaching to wind down 2 1/2 years of intense focus on Iran’s activities.