NEWS IMAGE COLLAGE / for 10-2009

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - A suicide bomber struck a checkpoint near a major air force complex in northwest Pakistan Friday, killing seven people as the army wages an anti-Taliban offensive along the Afghan border.

Soupy Sales, the rubber-faced comedian whose anything-for-a-chuckle career was built on 20,000 pies to the face and 5,000 live TV appearances across a half-century of laughs, died Thursday. He was 83.

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia - The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan planned an unexpected appearance Friday at a meeting of NATO defence ministers focused on making Afghan security forces responsible for fighting the war there.

All 76 Tamil migrants who were caught aboard the Ocean Lady last weekend intend on applying for refugee status -- but authorites say the Sri Lankans will be held until they can find out whether have connections to terrororist or criminal organizations.

Scientists have unravelled the mechanism by which the fungal disease chytridiomycosis kills its victims.

On a day when Vancouver's police chief insisted his officers would not act with a heavy hand against Olympic protesters, B.C.'s solicitor general was having to field questions about how heavily Olympic security personnel have dealt with a group of First N

SASKATOON - A Saskatoon company is cashing in on the story of the Colorado family whose young son supposedly floated off in a homemade balloon

The B.C. government is asking the province's Supreme Court to decide whether Canada's anti-polygamy law violates the Charter of Rights, Attorney General Michael de Jong announced Thursday.

Canadian snowboarding gold medallist Ross Rebagliati is getting into politics. He says he will seek the federal Liberal nomination to run against Conservative cabinet minister Stockwell Day in the B.C. riding of Okanagan-Coquihalla in the next general ele

Go fly a kite CNN, this Balloon Boy is the real deal. Meet Mitch Belfry, the GTA's own and the world's original Balloon Boy.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - New Zealand's national carrier apologized Friday to the families of victims of the nation's worst air disaster - 30 years after it happened.

A B.C. man accused of killing his three children last year testified Thursday that he harboured doubts that his youngest son was his.

Somali pirates seized a Panamanian-flagged cargo ship off Africa's east coast and are holding its 26 crew members from India and Burma hostage, officials said Thursday

The deputy Speaker of Iran's parliament has dismissed an internationally backed plan to have Tehran ship its uranium abroad for enrichment.

Afghanistan is the most complex challenge NATO has ever undertaken, but the alliance must remain engaged there to prevent the country turning back into an al-Qaeda training ground, the organization's top official said Thursday

Canadian and U.S. researchers have mapped the genome of a microbe that lives in ocean "dead zones," areas of low-oxygen water that are expanding because of climate change

A man who killed two women and injured several other people when he crashed his truck into a sushi restaurant in Maple Ridge, B.C., has been found not criminally responsible for his actions

The B.C. government has confirmed it spent almost $1 million of taxpayers' money on 3,200 prime seats at the upcoming 2010 Winter Games for MLAs and cabinet ministers to host visiting politicians, dignitaries and business leaders.

A carpenter out of work because of an injury has been charged after a hostage-taking at the Workers' Compensation Board in downtown Edmonton, police said Thursday.

OTTAWA - The Conservative government considered taking day-to-day control of the mission in Kandahar away from the military and giving the authority to direct troops in the field to Canada's ambassador in Kabul.

THEY'RE faithful, friendly and furry - but under their harmless, fluffy exteriors, dogs and cats, the world's most popular house pets, use up more energy resources in a year than driving a car, a new book says.

One of the best things about watching sports is the way gifted athletes can shock us with incredible feats of skill and strength. Unfortunately, as we have learned this month, sports stars can also make our jaws drop when they're nowhere near an arena or

The Guardian newspaper reported Wednesday that Peter Martland of Cambridge University discovered that Mussolini was paid 100 pounds a week by Britain in 1917 - equal to about 6,000 pounds ($9,600) today.

It's a nice little run the Oilers are on right now ... too bad so many of them are too messed up to enjoy it. As Edmonton's list of illnesses and injuries grows longer, the list of merry men grows shorter.

A neighbour of the man believed to be the hostage-taker said he had expressed a long-standing grudge against the WCB. Don Bellerose said his friend was upset with a doctor in the building, who he said had damaged his knee during a checkup.

B.C. Solicitor General Kash Heed has introduced a bill that would prohibit drivers from using cellphones while driving, unless the phones are connected to hands-free devices.

LONDON, Ont. - The alleged mastermind in the killings of eight fellow Bandidos is not a psychopath and the only reason his southwestern Ontario farm played host to the biker gang massacre was because of the murderous intentions of a co-accused, Wayne Kell

For a government obsessed with photo-ops and media control, it's somewhat surprising to discover the man in charge of government doesn't watch the finished product.

B.C. New Democrats have released documents that show the provincial government purchased box suites at GM Place and the Pacific Coliseum for the use of MLAs and cabinet ministers during the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games

The Vancouver Canucks scored twice in the third period, including Mikael Samuelsson's winning goal with 4:42 remaining, to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 at the United Center on Wednesday night.

Police in Abbotsford, B.C., are investigating after a video was posted on YouTube showing an officer stomping on and kicking a drug suspect who is lying face down on the ground, while another officer walks on the back of the suspect's legs

According to RDS, Sergei Kostitsyn has been suspended for the second time this season by the Montreal Canadiens and Hamilton Bulldogs.

A shop assistant who was told she could not sing while she stacked shelves without a performance licence has been given an apology.

A primate fossil that was hyped as revealing the earliest evolutionary roots of monkeys, apes and humans is, in fact, as distant a relative as a primate could be, scientists say.

VIENNA, Austria - Iranian negotiators on Wednesday expressed support for a deal that - if accepted by their leaders - would delay Tehran's ability to make nuclear weapons by sending most of its existing enriched uranium to Russia for processing, diplomats

Top American defence officials called North Korea's nuclear threat more lethal than ever even as an envoy from the Communist regime was headed Wednesday to the United States to discuss the issue.

A B.C. driving expert says a bus driver caught on video doing a Sudoku puzzle on his route was more than just distracted -- he was putting his passengers at risk of injury, or worse.

CBC and Radio-Canada's Vancouver newsroom won in five categories of the annual Jack Webster Awards handed out in Vancouver on Tuesday evening, including the first Webster award for excellence in online journalism.

The man accused of killing his three children in a Merritt, B.C., trailer home last year has testified he was first admitted to a psychiatric ward at age 20, after a bad experience with LSD.

Our internal body clocks are shaped by the weather as well as by the seasons, scientists have discovered.

Israel and the US are due to begin a two-week military defence exercise, thought to be the largest of its kind in Israel's history.

Australian Defence Minister John Faulkner has asked for recommendations on how to complete operations in Afghanistan as early as possible.

Personal computers are about to get a makeover with the launch of the latest Windows operating system. Microsoft is hoping the successor to Vista will be more of a hit with users when it launches on 22 October.

Six original paintings portraying nearly 100 years of Canadian naval history were unveiled in Ottawa October 15.

Despite initial indications the planned renaming of the Northwest Passage to the "Canadian Northwest Passage" would have clear sailing through the House of Commons, the idea may be facing rough waters after all.

WASAGA BEACH, Ont. -- The teenaged son of a retired police officer who was charged with speeding at 239 km/h let out a big sigh of relief yesterday after he beat the rap.

Planning hiccups are part of an Olympic Games, so it was in Ancient Olympia that everyone held their breath Wednesday when a practice lighting of the 2010 Olympic flame didn't seem to be working.

The Vancouver Canucks return to Chicago on Wednesday for the first time since the crushing 7-5 loss to the Blackhawks that eliminated them from the playoffs in the spring.

The H1N1 vaccine has been approved for rollout across Canada, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced Wednesday.

A gunman who held eight hostages at the Workers' Compensation Board building in downtown Edmonton surrendered peacefully around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, said Edmonton police.

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The Federal Aviation Administration has opened its own investigation into the 50-mile (80-kilometre) flight of the helium balloon that briefly delayed flights at Denver International Airport after a couple reported that their 6-year-

Staff have had to take over the mothering duties for a giraffe born two days ago at the Greater Vancouver Zoo after the animal's mother refused to nurse it.

The first in a series of pre-Olympic security exercises was completed in Vancouver Tuesday morning -- with a few kinks. The 2010 Integrated Security Unit was practicing its response to some type of criminal activity at the Athlete's Village in False Creek

Golden eagles have been filmed hunting and attempting to kill reindeer calves. One eagle was filmed swooping down and grabbing a calf, while another pulled out of an attack at the last minute.

An American scientist who worked for the US defence department and the space agency Nasa has appeared in court charged with attempted espionage.

The Canadian Arctic is experiencing a heat wave that has seldom been matched in the past 200,000 years, says a new scientific paper based on the study of sediments found at the bottom of a remote lake on Baffin Island.

Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean appears to have blinked after her stare-down with Prime Minister Stephen Harper over her use of the phrase "head of state" earlier this month to describe her position in Canada's system of governance.

For anyone who suffers from arachnophobia, it might be advisable to read no further....That's because this is a story about a spider -- a very BIG spider.

A new NASA rocket engine designed with Canadian help may allow astronauts to one day travel to Mars in just 39 days, rather than the six months experts predict the journey would take under conventional rocket power.

A judge has released video footage of two Toronto 18 members receiving a large shipment of fertilizer to construct massive bombs, like the one Timothy McVeigh used in Oklahoma City.

Canadian investigators have confirmed they are working with the government of Sri Lanka to determine the identities of 76 men taken into custody on a boat off Vancouver Island over the weekend.

The softening of Ignatieff's tone comes as the Liberals continue to slump in the polls following a declaration in early September that his party would no longer support the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Legions on P.E.I. have put out a call to service groups in the province to help with this year's poppy campaign

The skies and waterways around Greater Vancouver will be full of unusual sights over the next several days as the 2010 Integrated Security Unit prepares for the upcoming Olympic Games with a series of drills.

This is according to a new report that concludes that states are wasting millions on an inefficient death penalty system, diverting scarce funds from other anti-crime and law enforcement programs.

The story of one family's alleged descent into a dire life of drugs turned a page when they were booted from their house by Alberta sheriffs. "It's not a joyful day for me. I thought it would be," said a neighbour living near the shuttered 10231 163 St. h

A U.S. military deserter has sought sanctuary in a Vancouver church to avoid deportation and imprisonment in his home country.

Just hours after releasing their Top 10 Most Wanted Con Air Candidates, police arrested Andrew Gillis in New Westminster, one of the Top 10.

Canada's former top soldier waged war on many fronts during his long march to the post of Chief of Defence Staff. But the most intense were the counter-insurgencies waged on Parliament Hill against Conservative officials who wanted him silenced and bureau

TORONTO -- In a split second, a family was shattered, three people were killed and one young man's life was changed forever.

B.C. is moving to cut welfare to people who are facing warrants for serious crimes in the province and elsewhere in Canada.

Vancouver police issued a public warning Sunday morning after a local woman was violently sexually assaulted while walking through a west side park.

Scientists and engineers from the Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) were on Parliament Hill on Monday, urging the government to proceed carefully when privatizing the Crown corporation.

Thousands of civilians in an insurgent-held region of Pakistan fled for safety as the country's army fought militants in the third day of a military campaign.

Talks aimed at persuading Iran to hand over the further enrichment of its uranium to an outside country are progressing well, a United Nations official said Monday in Vienna

The Canucks and the Oilers begin the 2009-10 edition of their rivalry on Monday night at Rexall Place in Edmonton.

European astronomers have found at least 32 new planets, bringing the number of known planets outside our solar system to more than 400.

American rockers Guns N' Roses plan to tour Canada in 2010 in support of their most recent album Chinese Democracy

Eloise Campanella, a spokeswoman for the Larimer County sheriff's office, said Monday that investigators likely won't finish their reports and present them to the district attorney's office until next week. It will then be up to prosecutors to decide whet

An investigation by Vancouver police has cleared a fellow officer of any wrongdoing in the fatal shooting of Reuben Coleman, 21, at a gas station nearly two years ago

A former NHL player alleges in a new book that he has documented proof there's a bias against French-Canadian players in the NHL.

OTTAWA - NDP Leader Jack Layton says parliamentarians have a chance this week to restore Canada's reputation as a protector of the environment, just in time for the high-stakes Copenhagen meeting on climate change.

A gun allegedly used in two Ottawa homicides in 2007 was smuggled hundreds of kilometres from a rural corner of Maine into Canada.

A ship carrying dozens of unidentified men seized off the coast of B.C. on Saturday might be part of a massive, international people-smuggling operation run by an Indonesian ship captain.

The Canadian Forces will soon be awarding the first of many new Sacrifice Medals to recognize soldiers who die on military service, not just those targeted during combat.

Three workers were injured, one seriously, when a boiler exploded at a heating plant near the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa Monday.

Canada has shipped two million doses of swine flu vaccine to provinces and territories, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Monday.

Chretien, delivering a speech in Paris in advance of a trip to London to accept an honour from Queen Elizabeth II, refused to discuss in detail domestic political issues such as Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff's recent struggles. But he grew animated

The Harper government spent over $100,000 staging a one-hour event in June to deliver an update on its efforts to help the recession-ravaged economy.

Federal Defence Minister Peter MacKay won't say whether a seized ship with 76 would-be immigrants is a human smuggling operation.

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Dozens of people who were aboard a mystery ship that was seized off Canada's West Coast and towed into Victoria over the weekend were loaded onto buses on Sunday and ferried to the Vancouver-area for further screening.

QUEBEC - Gilles Taillon has become the leader of l'Action democratique du Quebec, a third-place provincial party that recently came within a whisker of power but now faces an uncertain future.

The federal government is expected to approve the release of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine this week

Close to a dozen reservists from the Royal Regina Rifles will be deployed to Afghanistan by the end of October. A large portion of the men and women who have volunteered for deployment are under the age of 25.

A war monument that honours the 130 Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan was unveiled in downtown Fredericton on Sunday afternoon.

B.C. running back A.J. Harris's first start of the season ended with the game-winning touchdown in the visiting Lions' 24-21 come-from-behind win Sunday over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.