The Toronto Sun announced 16 layoffs and the elimination of 10 vacant positions on Friday, acting on a commitment announced in June to eliminate up to 30 jobs.

The troops of the Netherlands work in Uruzgan province, immediately north of Kandahar province, which is where Canada's troops are located. However, the Dutch are having an easier time of it than the Canadians. Could it be the Dutch have a gentler touch with the locals?

From the NYT:

BEIJING, Dec. 1 — China announced temporary regulations on Friday loosening restrictions on foreign journalists, a step intended to fulfill the country’s promise to allow visiting reporters to work freely in advance of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The rules, announced by the Foreign Ministry, will supersede existing restrictions that require journalists to obtain government approval before traveling or conducting interviews. Under the new rules, a foreign journalist will only need to obtain the permission of the person being interviewed.

“It is crystal clear that as long as the interviewee agrees, you can do your reporting,” the ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, told reporters at a briefing.

The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China, a Beijing-based association of international news bureaus, applauded the new rules and singled out the Foreign Ministry for praise. But the group also called on the government to make the regulations permanent. The rules take effect on Jan. 1 and end Oct. 17, 2008, after the conclusion of the Paralympics.

An agreement reached in Afghanistan's Helmand province between the central government and tribal elders could be setting exactly the wrong precedent.