NEWS IMAGE COLLAGE / for 12-2009

Provinces ban drivers from using hand-held devices, for talking, texting or e-mailing, while operating a motor-vehicle

With first place in Group A on the line, Canada defeated the United States 5-4 in a shootout to clinch a bye into the semifinals of the world junior hockey championship in Saskatoon.

Prime Minister will look back on a string of policy successes, even as decision to prorogue leaves a bad taste in opponents' mouths

Passengers headed to Hawaii for New Year's Eve were disappointed Thursday after their flight had to return to Vancouver when the pilot discovered a problem with a tire.

What a comeback!!! Seemingly dead and buried after staking the Blues a three-goal lead, the Vancouver Canucks scored four unanswered goals to record an amazing 4-3 overtime victory in St. Louis on Thursday night.

The Vancouver Canucks haven't yet said how long Kevin Bieksa will be out of the lineup, but his return won't be any time soon as the club reaches the halfway point of the NHL schedule in St. Louis on Thursday.

B.C. NDP Leader Carole James is going to take her show on the road in the new year, with the aim of posing big questions to British Columbians and hearing their concerns

A top military commander released the names of four soldiers killed in a bomb blast in Afghanistan, describing the men as enthusiastic and passionate soldiers.

South Dakota authorities say a woman found passed out in a stolen vehicle may have set a state record with a blood alcohol content of .708, or almost nine times the legal limit.

TORONTO -- The short-eared owl and the Jefferson salamander are just two of the many species at risk in Ontario because the province lacks more than 1 billion trees, according to Trees Ontario.

A dinosaur balloon-blowing kit and a floating eyeball are among three toys recalled by Health Canada after testing found unacceptable levels of dangerous substances.

B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell says he has no plans to leave office until his job is done.

Veteran defenceman and B.C. native Scott Niedermayer will serve as captain of the Canadian men's hockey team at the 2010 Vancouver Games, it was announced on Wednesday. No Calgary defencemen were selected among contenders Dion Phaneuf and 2006 members Ja

Four Canadian soldiers, along with a Canadian reporter, were killed Wednesday by a powerful improvised explosive device in Kandahar city in Afghanistan.

Canada lost 4-3 to Belarusian club Dynamo Minsk in its final round-robin game at the international hockey tournament Wednesday to drop to 2-2 and miss a chance to play in Thursday's championship.

Russia is considering sending a spacecraft to a large asteroid to knock it off its path and prevent its collision with Earth - a collision NASA considers highly unlikely - the head of the country's space agency said Wednesday.

Eight Americans were killed in an apparent suicide attack in southeastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, U.S. officials said.

A $16.2-billion plan to build a natural gas pipeline through the Northwest Territories has come closer to reality, with a regulatory body giving the project its approval.

The move to prorogue, or suspend, Parliament is widely seen as a strategic move by Harper to gain a majority on Senate committees while possibly also avoiding criticism over the Afghan detainee issue.

Google wins domain name disputes almost every time, and it suffered its second loss ever on Christmas Eve. How "Groovle.com" avoided a one-way transfer to the Googleplex.

One of Canada's leading climatologists says the big Arctic melt of 2007 is the country's top weather story of the decade -- if not the century.

Canadian employers expect to hire more full-time workers in 2010, especially in the technology and customer service sectors, according to online job site CareerBuilder.ca

Looks like Manitobans got ho-ho-hosed over the Christmas break. By spending $3.8 million, holiday revellers set a single-day record for alcohol sales at Manitoba Liquor Control Commission stores Dec. 23.

Waterloo, Ont., native Ahren Spylo scored a hat trick as German club Adler Mannheim handed Canada its first loss of the Spengler Cup international hockey tournament Tuesday.

Lauri Korpikoski scored the only goal in the shootout as the Phoenix Coyotes defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2 on Tuesday at Jobing.com Arena.

Taylor Hall scored his first three goals of the tournament and set up another as Canada breezed to an 8-2 victory over Slovakia on Tuesday night for its third straight win at the world junior hockey championship in Saskatoon.

TORONTO -- A licensed B.C. pot grower was in Toronto yesterday trying to take a bite out of Health Canada's monopoly on medicinal marijuana.

Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month.

The lieutenant-governor of British Columbia has turned the shed behind Government House into a carving studio so he can work on a special project.

A Canadian warship has moved to help a vessel and its crew held captive by Somali pirates for more than two months

An apparent carjacking on West Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver has left four people injured following a bizarre string of events that appeared to begin with a confrontation between a driver and a pedestrian.

The emission caps apply to a manufacturer's total vehicle fleet, which means companies that manage to come under the limit can either bank their credits, or sell them to others, Beauchamp explained. When the West Coast state first introduced its standa

Quebec needs the labour of immigrants, but is slow to fully integrate them...

A Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up a U.S. airliner told his parents he wanted to study Islamic sharia law in Yemen shortly before cutting off contact with them, the Nigerian government said on Tuesday.

An injured moose and her calf continue to thrive on the good fortunes provided by neighbouring humans. More than a month has passed since acreage owners Mike Haustein and Christine Markwart started setting out feed and water to a moose that limped into th

In the end, it was the Oilers who got a face full of designer leather as the Flames waltzed into their building and shoved them into the loss column like nerds in a high school locker.

It's coming down to the wire in Time Warner Cable's dispute with Fox channels and other cable TV programmers.

A British man convicted of drug smuggling was executed in China early Tuesday, despite appeals for clemency from his family, human rights groups and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, according to British officials.

Looking ahead to 2010, Canada's political leadership scene is as bleak as a January landscape. Canadians are desperate for big ideas about how to make our country and our cities dynamic and exciting, but all we have for leaders is a group of pipsqueaks an

A stand for freedom of expression or just poor taste? That's the debate that has emerged in Richmond, B.C., after a large stainless steel sculpture was installed near a busy intersection a couple weeks ago.

Amateur astronomers are trying to persuade municipal officials in B.C.'s southern Interior to cut out nighttime glare from city lights and turn 1,700 hectares of mostly rural land into a dark-sky preserve.

When Prime Minister Stephen Harper named first-time federal MP Leona Aglukkaq to his cabinet in late 2008, he couldn't have imagined the roller-coaster ride that lay ahead for the rookie health minister.

China executed a British man convicted of drug smuggling on Tuesday after rejecting a string of appeals from the British government and last-minute pleas from his relatives to spare his life.

An aging population and growing awareness mean the number of people known to be living with disabilities is on the rise in Canada, says a newly released report.

The National Film Board is examining the experiences of Canadians' during the economic turmoil of 2009-10 in a series of films created solely for the internet.

Canadian airline passengers are barred from bringing any carry-on luggage aboard U.S.-bound flights, with some key exceptions, under new security rules announced Monday.

An ancient "dwarf" whale appears to have fed by sucking small animals out of the seafloor mud with its short snout and tongue

A Turkish archaeologist has called on his government to demand that Italy return the bones of St Nicholas to their original resting place.

President Barack Obama has pledged his administration "will not rest" until all those behind an alleged plot to bomb a US plane are brought to justice.

Thirty years ago, the Soviets' famous hockey team needed to be smuggled out of the U.S. to avoid a major international incident

Brandon McMillan scored in the first minute of the game and completed the hat-trick in the final minute of play as Team Canada cruised to a 6-0 victory over Switzerland on Monday at the World Junior Hockey Championship in Saskatoon.

GUELPH, Ont. - A 19-year-old woman faces assault charges after an Olympic torch carrier was knocked down in this southern Ontario city on Monday morning.

A suicide bombing targeting a Shia Muslim procession in Pakistan's largest city of Karachi killed at least 30 people and wounded dozens more Monday, as Shias across the country marked the key holy day of Ashoura.

A British national convicted of drug trafficking faces execution in China on Tuesday, which would make him the first European citizen to be executed in China in half a century.

A wing of al-Qaeda has claimed it was behind the attempt to blow up a Christmas Day transatlantic flight, saying it was in retaliation for U.S. attacks in Yemen.

Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has been named The Canadian Press male athlete of the year for the second time in his career.

Chinese archeologists working in Henan province believe they have found the tomb of Cao Cao, a 3rd century general and ruler known for his ruthlessness

Some 125 pilot whales died in New Zealand after getting stranded on beaches over the weekend, and vacationers and conservation workers managed to coax 43 others back out to sea.

Long lineups at some Canadian airports for travellers seeking to fly into the U.S. appeared to ease on Monday after security was beefed up in the wake of an in-flight bombing attempt on a Northwest Airlines flight.

The solar system is passing through an interstellar cloud that physics says should not exist. In the Dec. 24th issue of Nature, a team of scientists reveal how NASA's Voyager spacecraft have solved the mystery.

The lieutenant with the Canadian Navy, who is originally from Red Deer, recently received the Chief of the Defence Staff Commendation for her role in capturing pirates in the Gulf of Aden, near Somalia, on April 18, 2009.

Nearly four years ago, when the Harper government came to power, the cabinet was filled with either rookie ministers or the rare Mulroney leftover. Now it's filled with a few veteran ministers who have put a stamp on their portfolios, for better or worse.

Thousands of Canadians had their flights cancelled or delayed on Sunday, as new security measures came into effect for anyone travelling to the U.S. by air.

U.S.-bound passengers at Toronto's Pearson International Airport were experiencing significant delays Sunday as a result of new security measures implemented following an attempted attack Friday on a flight into Detroit.

Bill Stertz is sure about one thing for the coming spring: unlike last April, he will not have to stand on the roof of his house, surrounded by rising flood water, waiting to be rescued by boat.

JUNO BEACH, Fla. - The pilot of an American Airlines jet that overshot the runway in Jamaica said Saturday that he's happy to be home with his family for the holidays, and praised his crew for their quick thinking and professionalism.

The Vatican will review security procedures after a woman jumped a barrier and rushed at Pope Benedict for the second time in two years, managing to knock him down before being pulled away by security, a spokesman said Friday.

Daniel Sedin had goal and two assists and twin Henrik also scored for Vancouver as the Canucks beat the Oilers 4-1 at GM Place, extending Edmonton's losing streak to six games.

AUSSIE rockers AC/DC could have to cancel a sold-out concert because their big sound poses a danger to rare birds.

The Canadian military is looking for savings of more than $190 million by March to help pay for the Harper government's defence strategy

After a difficult year with a sliding economy and rising deficits, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he is optimistic that 2010 will be a year of recovery for his country.

VANCOUVER, B.C. - A famous 19th-century German general said no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy, a maxim that described warfare but could easily apply to another deeply complex human endeavour, the Olympics.

The Vancouver Canucks have enjoyed the West Coast recently, winning five of seven contests during their season-long, eight-game homestand.

Security has been tightened on all U.S.-bound flights after a man claiming to be an agent of al-Qaeda was charged Saturday with trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day as it was preparing to land in Detroit.

Team Canada picked up from where it left off last year, defeating Latvia 16-0 on Saturday in their first game of the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canada's military will press ahead with its new strategy of having troops live among Afghans despite this week's "surprise" death of a Canadian soldier in a village in Panjwaii district, a senior officer said.

Toronto police spent Friday at the scene of a devastating industrial accident, investigating how a scaffolding could have snapped in two killing four migrant construction workers on Christmas Eve.

A passenger attempted to use an explosive device abroad a Delta Air Lines flight landing in Detroit but the device failed, a senior U.S. counterterror official told the Associated Press.

For the first time, chimpanzees have been seen using tools to chop up and reduce food into smaller bite-sized portions.

Thousands of Christian worshippers have celebrated Christmas Day in Bethlehem - believed to be the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ

A state of emergency has been declared in South Dakota, Texas and Oklahoma, where the authorities have shut down highways after a series of accidents.

The US has condemned a Taliban video of an American soldier captured by the militants in Afghanistan last June as an affront to his family at Christmas.

Trooper Corina Skinner tore open a box -- addressed simply to a "female soldier" -- to find magazines, a manicure kit and other Christmas gifts.

Three people were killed in car accidents on Christmas Eve on the Prairies, as a winter storm hit the region. Two people were killed on roads in Manitoba, and a third died in Alberta.

Two women standing on a Toronto subway platform on Christmas Eve narrowly escaped death after a complete stranger pushed them towards the tracks.

As the United States and NATO prepare to ramp up their war effort in Afghanistan, military experts say Ottawa has already begun planning how to wind down its mission there.

The top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land delivered Christmas wishes Thursday for peace in the Middle East - and prayed for the day when Palestinians would no longer be confined by Israeli barriers.

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Vancouver fire crews are cleaning up after a Christmas Day fire gutted a building not far from where another massive blaze destroyed community businesses last month

Five years ago, Vijayakumar Gunasekaran watched the early ripples of the Boxing Day tsunami on his television in Singapore and thought of his home village of Nallavadu on India's eastern coast.

The Taliban released a video Friday showing a U.S. soldier captured more than five months ago in eastern Afghanistan. Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl is the only known American serviceman in captivity. The U.S. airborne infantryman was taken by the Afghan Taliban in P

A North Vancouver family that lost virtually everything in a fire Thursday morning discovered a few hours later that the Christmas spirit is alive and well in their neighbourhood.

EDMONTON - Wildlife and railway experts will be thinking outside the boxcar this winter to come up with ways to reduce the number of grizzly bears that are killed by trains that rumble through the Rocky Mountain national parks.

Pope Benedict XVI's traditional Christmas Day blessing highlighted "the wounds of wars and conflicts" in a speech delivered hours after he was knocked down by a woman who jumped the barriers in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

When the Medicine Hat Tigers went looking for a new coach seven years ago, general manager Rick Carriere put in a call to Dave King.

The Queen's annual Christmas message emphasized a year marred by the economic downturn and the war in Afghanistan, but she stressed that people should not be deterred from working towards a "better future."

Fisheries officers and volunteers on Thursday rescued a pilot whale that had washed up on a Nova Scotia beach, while efforts continued to save several more.

another great Christmasnisence from the San Diego Reader

Europe's Goce satellite is returning remarkable new data on the way the pull of gravity varies across the Earth.

Only in recent years did scientists find that the secretive aquatic mammal migrates from shallow to deep water.

The skipper of the Jewish immigrant ship the Exodus, which was refused entry to British-controlled Palestine in 1947, has died at the age of 86

Russia will continue developing new nuclear missiles and launchers despite disarmament talks with the US, Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev says.

After a daylong journey through southern Ontario, where it thrilled thousands in Leamington, Kingsville, Essex, Amherstburg and LaSalle, where it was held high by hockey legend Gordie Howe, the Olympic torch entered the City of Windsor.

He may have lost his NHL shutout record this week but now the family of the late Terry Sawchuk would like to find his two stolen Stanley Cup rings.

A second prominent Toronto brain surgeon is taking shots at CBC television personality Don Cherry.