Toronto

Adam Lind is an enigma, to baseball, to the Blue Jays, even to himself.

In a perfect football world, Ricky Ray takes all the snaps, makes every right read and delivers the ball on time to whomever is open down field or on checkdowns.

It’s India versus Sri Lanka and England against South Africa in the semifinals of the Champions Trophy.

Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run homer, J.P. Arencibia and Maicer Izturis added back-to-back shots and the Toronto Blue Jays won their seventh straight game, beating the Colorado Rockies 8-3 Tuesday night.

Half of Canada’s First Nations children are living in poverty, triple the national average, according to a new analysis of census statistics that pegs the cost of easing the problem at $580-million a year.The study by the left-leaning Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives being released Wednesday also paints a grim picture of Métis, Inuit, and non-status Indian children, as well as of children of immigrants and visible minorities.The analysis of census data from 2006 — the latest year relevant statistics are available — finds one-third of immigrant children and almost one-quarter of visible minority kids live below the low-income line.For other indigenous children — Métis, Inuit, and non-status Indian children — the rate is about 27 per cent.The overall rate for children who belong to none of those groups is about 12 per cent.“That half of status First Nation children live in poverty should shock all Canadians,” said Patricia Erb, head of the charity Save the Children Canada.The report points out that poverty is not just a measure of income, noting that status First Nations children often live in communities that are impoverished when it comes to services and infrastructure.According to the study, indigenous children trail the rest of Canada’s children on practically every measure of well-being: family income, educational attainment, water quality, infant mortality, health, suicide, crowding and homelessness.“Canada cannot and need not allow yet another generation of indigenous citizens to languish in poverty,” the study states.“Failure to act will result in a more difficult, less productive, and shorter life for indigenous children.”David Macdonald, the economist who co-authored the study for the policy centre, said the situation is even worse in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where almost two out of three status First Nations children live in poverty.To define the poverty, the analysis uses Statistics Canada’s after tax low-income measure, which amounts to about $38,000 a year for a family of four.The report estimates it would cost $7.5 billion a year from either market income or government transfers to bring all children in the country up to the poverty line.The report suggests that government jurisdiction plays a critical role in the poverty rates, especially for First Nations children.It urges an increase in federal child benefits but also says the key is to remove barriers to education, training, employment and entrepreneurship.Study co-author, Daniel Wilson, said the indigenous population is the fastest growing in Canada.“If we refuse to address the crushing poverty facing indigenous children, we will ensure the crisis of socioeconomic marginalization and wasted potential will continue,” Wilson said.

Nathalie Morin is a Canadian woman who fell in love with a Saudi Arabian man.She moved halfway around the world to live with him — after he was deported from Quebec for being in this country illegally.That was her mistake.The couple has three children, one of whom was born in Canada. Whether they were ever actually married is unclear, as is so much about the saga that has been designated a “private family matter” by Foreign Affairs. Morin’s mother, Johanne Durocher, has for years been pleading with Ottawa to bring Morin and the kids to Canada, alleging her daughter is a victim of domestic violence, abuse and rape by her husband, was denied adequate food, and was being kept in the Kingdom against her will.This much is not in dispute: Two Saudi women who attempted to help Morin were sentenced on Saturday to 10 months in prison. They were found guilty on a Sharia law charge of takhbib — incitement of a wife to defy the authority of her husband.Saudi Arabia is ruthlessly misogynist in culture and law. Among other proscriptions, women are not allowed to drive. Until recently, they weren’t even permitted to ride a bicycle. Equality Now, a global organization that advocates for the human rights of women and girls around the world, notes of the change in law that now allows females to get on a bike: “Women have recently been allowed to cycle as long as it is in a circle, with a male guardian and with no specific destination in mind.”The two women who attempted to assist Morin are Wajeha al-Huwaider and Fawzia al-Ayuni. They are a remarkably brave pair of female activists operating inside a repressive society and they’re now going to pay the price for that. Al-Huwaider has been in trouble with Saudi authorities before for repeatedly driving her car on public highways, filming herself whilst doing so and posting the video online.It is as thorns in the side of the Saudi regime, the women maintain, that they were prosecuted on the takhbib charge.“These harsh sentences will not deter us from our Islamic duties of helping those who are oppressed, needy, and to press for women’s rights,” they said in a statement published in Arabic on the Membar al-Ahwar website. “The charge of trying to smuggle Morin out of the country was dropped because the prosecution did not have enough evidence.”One of them has children who live in the U.S. and visited them regularly. But the sentence imposed includes a two-year ban on travel outside Arabia following the prison term. The women have 30 days to appeal.Equality Now has launched a media campaign in support of al-Huwaider and al-Ayuni, urging foreign governments to condemn the sentence. “This is part of a wider issue of the need for women to have male guardians at all,” said spokesperson Brendan Wynne, in an email to the Star.In a phone interview from Amman, Jordan, Suad Abu-Dayyeh, Equality Now’s consultant for the Middle East and North Africa, said the Saudi women were prosecuted — and persecuted — for their activism, and not only on behalf of Morin but against compulsory male guardianship for all women and child marriage. “The government thinks that by bringing these women into court, they will stop resisting because they’ve been involved in several campaigns for women’s rights. Canada and other countries must push to have this sentence deleted.”Al-Huwaider and al-Ayuni insist they had never attempted to “kidnap” Morin or counsel her in how to leave her husband.“All they did was meet with her once, for a few minutes, at a shopping mall, because they wanted to give her food,” says Abu-Dayyeh.The Saudi women were arrested a year ago for their dealings with Morin.At the time, Morin’s mother told reporters she had contacted the Saudi activists because she was worried that her daughter was not eating and could not le

Antareis Bryan was hoping to make a roster spot in arena football for the Spokane Shock when word leaked of a need for defensive backs in Toronto.

The feeling in Toronto is completely different. Not long ago, Blue Jays fans were convinced that a game was lost after a starter gives up a couple of runs in the second, but today, many of us were convinced that the Blue Jays were going to win after the batters started the game with four runs in the first. The batters are hitting and the pitchers are dominating. Winning is fun... but it is a bit weird! After an 8-3 win over the Rockies, the blue birds of Toronto have now won seven straight games, the 21st time in franchise history that they have done so. The Blue Jays are still in last place in the American League East, but are now two games under .500 at 34-36 (.486). And no, you're still not allowed to watch the standings yet, GatorJay. Starter Esmil Rogers was fantastic. He was no-hitting the Rockies through one out in the sixth inning before Jonathan Herrera broke it up with a clean single up the middle. He had 1-2-3 innings in the first, third, fourth, and fifth. Rogers allowed three straight hits to start the seventh leading to a couple of runs before he was relieved to a standing ovation from the 22,852 fans at the park. The final line for Rogers looks good, but he pitched better: 6.2 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 H, 5 K, 1 BB, 89 pitches, 55 strikes. I must admit I was very skeptical when the club announced that the were going to convert Rogers into a starter to fill in for all the holes in the rotation, but he now has had two very good starts in a row. Rogers, Aaron Loup, Darren Oliver, and Steve Delabar combined to limit the Rockies to just four hits. Overall the pitching during this winning streak has been stupendous, giving up just 12 runs in the 64 innings good for a 1.69 ERA. And the shutdown pitching has led to some short games: tonight's went 2:20, and all but the first win of the streak were played in three hours or less (and that first game was a 10-inning affair). Mark Buehrle takes the mound tomorrow night, so it looks like it just might be another short one. The Blue Jays weren't shabby at the plate either! As mentioned above, the Jays jumped to an early lead off of Canadian Jeff Francis. Melky Cabrera led off with a single, Jose Bautista grounded out, then the Jays strung together five straight base hits (Edwin Encarnacion, Adam Lind, Mark DeRosa, Rajai Davis, and J.P. Arencibia) and scored four runs without a homer. That first inning featured a curious play: when Davis singled to Rockies left fielder Carlos Gonzalez, DeRosa rounded third to try to score from second but then stopped and tried to run back to first when he saw that Gonzalez had gotten to the ball and was going to throw him out. It didn't look like he should have even tried to score, but interim third base coach DeMarlo Hale waved him in all the way (usual coach Luis Rivera is off at his son's graduation). It didn't end up mattering, but it gave Cargo his major league-leading ninth outfield assist. After the four-run first, the very hittable Jeff Francis disappeared and the crafty Jeff Francis took the mound to shut down 10-straight Blue Jays until Cabrera singled in the fifth. A batter later, Encarnacion hit a homer that left the park rather quickly. Toronto tacked on a couple more runs on back-to-back homers by Arencibia and Maicer Izturis in the sixth. It was Arencibia's 15th and Izturis's fourth. Surprisingly, that was the first back-to-back homer for the 2013 Blue Jays. Jose Bautista and Emilio Bonifacio were the only starters without a hit. Jays of the Day! Rogers (+.200), Encarnacion (+.138) Suckage Jays: None.

Brandon Morrow's rehab assignment with the Dunedin Blue Jays came to a halt Tuesday on the news that the forearm discomfort which sent him to the disabled list on June 1 has not gotten any better.

Tim Duncan doesn’t need another ring to go down as the best power forward ever.