Canadian Arrested

TEHRAN — Hossein Derakhshan, the Iranian-Canadian blogger who visited Israel in 2006 and 2007 on his Canadian passport, has reportedly been arrested in Tehran for spying for Israel. The Iranian website Jahan News said Nov. 17 that Derakhshan, 33, who holds Canadian and Iranian citizenships, admitted to spying for Israel. Jahan News is linked to the Iranian intelligence community. The report said his confession included “intricate” points and that he attended various conventions in Israel. It also said Israeli news sources called him a friend of Israel. After his 2007 visit to Israel, there was a change in his blog posts, which had been pro-Israel. He also praised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after calling for his ouster. The Iranian-born Derakhshan came to Canada in 2000, but later left for England.

Cancer Claims Boy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The 12-year-old Orthodox boy at the centre of a legal dispute over when life ends has died. Motl Brody’s heart stopped on Nov. 15, 11 days after doctors at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., declared the New York boy legally dead because his brain activity had ceased. Motl’s parents sued to keep their son, who had brain cancer, on life support, arguing Jewish law doesn’t consider someone without brain activity to be dead. The hospital said in court filings that “scarce resources are being used for the preservation of a dead body.” The family’s lawyer told the Washington Post that “nature took its course before the judicial system ran its course.”