A shaman in Norway has suggested aboriginal people in B.C. might have cursed the Nordic country's Olympic athletes because of their opposition to Norwegian-owned fish farming operations in B.C., but West Coast native leaders deny any mystic influence.>>>

Latvia was on course for its first Winter Olympic gold medal on Thursday when Martins Dukurs blazed a trail down the Whistler track to lead the men's skeleton competition at the midway point.

On a day when the safety of the course was again questioned following a string of crashes in bobsleigh practice, Dukurs nailed two runs down the treacherous 1,400 meter layout and smashed the track record on his first slide.>>>

It was a rain of prayers in Oke-Ijetu area Osogbo, Osun State capital on Sunday, as leadership and members of Oranmiyan, Oke-Ijetu held a marathon one-year remembrance prayers session for the late Alhaja Wosilat Oseni (Nee Aregbesola), the deceased elder sister of the Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate in the state, Engineer Rauf Aregbesola.>>>

She looked like trouble: a woman in sunglasses, sweatpants and flip flops who walked up to Richard Ybarra’s booth at Fishermen’s Village, the outdoor mall in Punta Gorda where he sells hand-made jewelry. Clearly intoxicated and out of sorts, she must have recognized Mr. Ybarra as a soft place to fall, because soon she had collapsed into his arms, spilling intimate details about her life and her ex-husband.

People walking by did their best to ignore her existence. But not Mr. Ybarra.>>>

It may seem odd that a guy whose event is all about speed would have a turtle painted on the front of his helmet.

But Canadian skeleton racer Jon Montgomery isn't about to mess with the wisdom of a shaman.

Last September some members of the Canadian team -- which begins its quest for gold Thursday night at the Whistler Sliding Centre -- visited sport shaman Sandra Molendyk in Revelstoke. They had their sleds blessed and built a totem pole and painted it with their own hopes and dreams.>>>