NEWS IMAGE COLLAGE / for 10-2008

EDMONTON - A "bullet" truck pulls up to an oilfield battery near Redwater. The pure carbon dioxide in the long pressurized tank could have gone to the Coca-Cola plant to add the fizz to soft drinks, or to any of a number of other uses

PLESETSK COSMODROME, Russia (Reuters) - President Dmitry Medvedev oversaw the test firing of an intercontinental Topol missile on Sunday and vowed to commission new generation weapons for Russia's armed forces

VANCOUVER - Carol Huynh, Kevin Light and the rest of Canada's 2008 Olympic medallists were good enough to beat the world in Beijing two months ago, but they can't beat the Canadian taxman.

About 100 Taliban militants are dead after two separate clashes in southern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday

President Hamid Karzai has offered Taliban leaders the possibility of positions in his government if they agree to a peace deal which could bring fighting to an end.

BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan - Two Americans and a Russian are on their way to the international space station.

A reward for information leading to the arrest of Emily Stauffer's killer has ballooned to more than double the original goal.

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said Sunday it will resume dismantling its main nuclear facilities, hours after the U.S. removed the communist country from a list of states Washington says sponsor terrorism.

WINNIPEG - For those grieving the death of a loved one, usually in a traffic accident, a roadside memorial is more than a collection of teddy bears and candles.

Canadian Gold is the new Hockey Night in Canada anthem

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Pirates have hijacked what shipping officials describe as a massive tanker off the Somali coast.

Pavol Demitra scored at 3:54 of overtime to lift the visiting Vancouver Canucks to a thrilling and hard-fought 5-4 win over the Calgary Flames Saturday night.

LAKEVILLE, Minn. (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee John McCain was booed at his own rally on Friday as he tried to rein in increasingly raw anger among supporters stunned by Democrat Barack Obama's lead in the polls.

The arrest of a Victoria man for possessing child pornography has sparked investigations in 16 countries.

TROY, N.Y. - Who is running for president? In an upstate New York county, hundreds of voters have been sent absentee ballots in which they could vote for "Barack Osama."

They nabbed the bad guys, the handgun and the two stolen laptops.

An election flyer from Fredericton Conservative candidate Keith Ashfield is stirring up some controversy, all because of a photo.

The federal government's $25-billion takeover of bank-held mortgages to ease a growing credit crunch faced by the country's financial institutions is not a bailout similar to recent moves made in the United States and other Western countries, Conservative

A female vice-principal and teacher at an elementary school in Vernon, B.C., has been charged with three sex-related offences involving a student under the age of 14, police said

A plan to have an acclaimed gay author speak to students in Charlotte County high schools has been scrapped after a few parents objected.

Vancouver police are adopting a new policy to disclose any uses of Taser weapons following yet another incident Friday in which a man was jolted by one of the weapons, this time at a hospital.

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe defended Stephane Dion Friday as the Liberals and Tories continued to trade sharpened political attacks over the Grit leader's muddled English-language interview.

Canadian officials have released the names of a pilot and military photographer who died while photographing a jet formation near the Snowbird base in Saskatchewan Thursday.

VANCOUVER -- The B.C. Human Rights Commission has rejected a human rights complaint against Maclean's magazine that claimed an article about Islam violated anti-hate laws.

The final weekend of the federal election campaign has arrived and leaders are working to shore up support before voters cast their ballots on Tuesday.

The federal Tories will enter the final weekend of the federal election campaign with a solidified lead and a bounce from vote-rich Ontario, but still needing last-minute votes if they are to cobble together their much-sought after majority.

WASHINGTON - General Motors is in preliminary talks about a possible merger with Chrysler, The New York Times reported late Friday.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Sarah Palin unlawfully abused her power as governor by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper, the chief investigator of an Alaska legislative panel concluded Friday. The politically charged inquiry imperiled

NDP Leader Jack Layton says he'd spend federal money to bring the Canadian Grand Prix back.

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper renewed attacks on Stephane Dion's economic plan on Friday, following an interview on Thursday in which Dion struggled to understand a question.

QUEBEC -- Abortion rights activist Henry Morgentaler was awarded the Order of Canada on Friday as a few protesters voiced their opposition outside the Citadel in Quebec City.

Several Formula One teams say they can't understand this week's decision to drop the Canadian Grand Prix from the 2009 schedule

The Ottawa Senators announced Friday that Daniel Alfredsson will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and the team doesn't expect him to miss more than a couple of weeks.

Accused killer Vince Li bears sole responsibility for the grisly death of Greyhound bus passenger Tim McLean, the bus line says in court documents filed last week.

Accused child molester Danial Todd Gratton sported a huge shiner and bruise yesterday at his first court appearance on kidnapping and sexual assault charges.

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- NATO defence ministers Friday authorized their troops in Afghanistan to attack drug barons blamed for pumping up to US$100 million a year into the coffers of resurgent Taliban fighters.

Statistics Canada's latest employment report has smashed a previous record for job creation, surpassing forecasts with 107,000 new jobs in September. But 97,000 of them are part-time.

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - NATO allies reached a deal on Friday on a U.S. call for direct attacks on the Afghan drugs trade that the alliance's military commander said is key to bringing security to the country, the alliance said.

A Regina man who police said was in an "agitated" state and wielding an axe has died in hospital from an apparent cardiac arrest after he was subdued using pepper spray.

A military aircraft is reported to have crashed at the 15 Wing base in Moose Jaw, Sask.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Liberal leader Stephane Dion refused on Wednesday to rule out renewed cuts to the military if he defeats Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper in next week's election.

Extreme tastiness, ferocious cocktails and urban drunkenness could make the rare pineapple squirrels extinct within four years environmentalists are warning.

The environmental impacts of Alberta's oil sands will not be restricted to Western Canada, researchers say, but will extend thousands of kilometres away to the Great Lakes, threatening water and air quality around the world's largest body of fresh water.

Eugene Melnyk wants Mats Sundin to be a Senator, delivering the message loud and clear in person last week

Security forces are predicting protests will escalate as the 2010 Olympics approach and have mounted a number of "intelligence probes" to counteract threats.

LONDON - When NATO defence ministers meet in Budapest on Thursday, they will face a worsening situation in Afghanistan and vexing questions about whether the war can be won.

In the midst of a global market crisis, a survey by the World Economic Forum has proclaimed Canada to have the world's soundest banking system.

Paris Hilton continues online presidential campaign

OSLO, Norway - A Norwegian Labour party politician took voluntary sick leave today and said she wouldn't seek re-election after running up big phone bills at Parliament's expense by turning to an unusual set of advisers: fortunetellers.

SEKIU, Wash. - A woman in Washington state says her cast-iron stove shot her in the leg.

FERNDALE, Mich. - A man assigned "The Crucible" in an adult education English class doused his teacher with a nonflammable liquid and threatened to burn her as a witch, police said.

MONTREAL - McGill University in Montreal was named Wednesday as one of the top 25 universities in the world by the prestigious Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings.

North Korea announced Thursday that it is preparing to restart the facility that produced its atomic bomb, clearly indicating it plans to completely pull out of an international deal to end its nuclear program

OTTAWA -- "They took all the Rabbits but they left the Seahorse, probably because they had enough b**t plugs. The Seahorse comes with a b**t plug."

WASHINGTON - It was a moment that stood out in a presidential debate void of many pithy sound bites: "That one," Republican John McCain said contemptuously of Barack Obama, pointing in the general direction of his Democratic rival while discussing energy

RCMP officials say they have spoken to the Mountie who helped out a Saskatchewan candidate in the federal election, reminding the officer about the force's policies with regard to political campaigns.

Stephen Harper's Conservatives may have stopped this week's bleeding of support on the campaign trail amid growing fears of a recession and global economic turmoil, a new poll suggests.

The northern Vancouver Island village of Zeballos lost a piece of history this week when the Zeballos Hotel went up in flames early Tuesday morning during a fierce storm

An outbreak of streptococcal infection has killed 10 people and made dozens of other ill in and around Thunder Bay, Ont., over the past year, but health officials say the risk to the general public is still low.

Canada's mission in Afghanistan could reach a total cost of $18.1 billion or $1,500 per Canadian household by 2011, a government report estimates

The chief executive officers of the now-disbanded health regions in Calgary and Edmonton were paid $1.7 million and $1.5 million in severance respectively, Alberta Health Services announced Wednesday.

VICTORIA -- The B.C. Automobile Association has dropped plans to offer members a form of medical wait-list insurance after thousands of members voiced their opposition.

Jason Strudwick hadn't taken two steps into the Oilers workout room when the barbs started flying. His new teammates were on him in an instant, burying him in one-liners about the length of his workout shorts. That's when he knew he was going to like it h

On the day that the Conservative government will release a controversial parliamentary report on the financial cost of Canada's mission in Afghanistan, the U.S. is calling on Ottawa and NATO allies to pledge more troops and boost military spending in the

Four product tests at a Maple Leaf plant in Toronto have come up positive for listeria, the deli meat producer at the heart of a deadly nationwide listeriosis outbreak said Wednesday

Starbucks has built its name around being environmentally sound and culturally sensitive

REGINA - Some wildlife officials in Saskatchewan say there will probably be more cases of large predators wandering into urban areas and having to be shot.

OTTAWA - Close, but no recession, at least in Canada. That was the good news amid all the bad in economic forecasts Wednesday, including declarations by several that the U.S. economy is already in recession

EDMONTON - The last of Edmonton's soldiers from the most recent Afghanistan tour are expected to return home tonight.

OTTAWA - More than 3,000 kilograms of chocolates sold at Costco, dollar and bulk stores across Canada were recalled Wednesday after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency found that the chocolates contain melamine

B.C. Hydro crews worked steadily yesterday, restoring power to more than 30,000 customers on Vancouver Island left in the dark after gusting windstorms.

The man accused of shooting and killing a four-month-old Jack Russell puppy on Quadra Island is to appear in court Thursday

Killer whales in waters off southern Vancouver Island and Puget Sound are losing blubber and developing strange behaviour patterns because of a shortage of salmon, whale experts say.

Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Department of Fisheries alleging it has failed to legally protect the critical habitat of killer whales

NEW YORK - In a sign of the times, the National Debt Clock in New York City has run out of digits to record the growing figure.

TORONTO -- The CRTC says nearly 2.7 million phone numbers have signed on with the new national do-not-call list.

On the eve of a parliamentary report on the financial cost of the Afghanistan mission for Canada, an independent group has released their own answer on the subject: $28 billion.

KYIV, Ukraine - Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko dissolved Parliament Wednesday and called an early election, dashing hopes for the revival of a pro-western coalition and throwing this politically volatile ex-Soviet country into further turmoil

A Canadian soldier was shot and seriously wounded by insurgents in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday

Warning: this story contains graphic details

Two years ago, I received a notice in the mail from the Delaware County voter registration office in Media, stating that my request to vote in the county was denied. The document accurately stated my name and my home residence.

The average MLS sale price of a single-family home in Calgary metro dropped by nearly six per cent in September compared with a year ago while condo prices fell by more than 10 per cent, according to data released this afternoon by the Calgary Real Estate

Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said today his office plans to stop serving eviction notices on people who have fallen behind on mortgage payments as well as renters unaware their buildings have fallen in arrears.

A federal grand jury has indicted the son of a Tennessee state legislator for hacking into Sarah Palin's Yahoo! email account.

When a flu pandemic hits, utility workers and truck drivers will be as valuable in resolving the ensuing crisis as doctors and nurses will be, and so should also get top priority when it comes to deciding who gets medical care, a new bioethics study says.

Bank of Canada joins global rate cut of 50 basis points

Wine started flowing through taps in dozens of homes during an Italian grape festival in Marino, south of Rome.

CALGARY -- The suspect in an allegedly race-motivated attack on a Japanese tourist was denied bail yesterday

Calgary businessman Brett Wilson has been identified as the lead investor in Derby County, the English soccer club bought by an international consortium last January.

Patrick Carpentier's tenure at Gillett Evernham Motorsports is officially over with the team and driver deciding to part ways, effective immediately.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - The No. 7 that Paul Newman wore as Reg Dunlop in the cult hockey comedy ''Slap Shot'' is going to the rafters of the Syracuse War Memorial.

Joel Ifergan entered at a convenience store in Montreal this past May, looking to strike it rich in a $27-million Super 7 jackpot.

A majority of Canadian immigrants feel they don't have enough information to vote with confidence in the upcoming federal election, a new poll concludes.

Several of the world's central banks, including the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve, have cut short-term interest rates by half a percentage point in a co-ordinated international action.

The International Olympic Committee will retest doping samples from the Beijing Games to check for traces of a new blood-boosting drug

Zapping frozen meals in the microwave may be fast and easy, but it also can make you sick if it's not done properly.

A rare treasure from an ancient Islamic dynasty sold for more than $6 million Cdn at a London auction on Tuesday.

A report detailing the cost of Canada's mission in Afghanistan will be released on Thursday. Parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page was tasked with tallying the cost of the Afghan war since it began six years ago.

RCMP in B.C. say they think they know who caused a major diesel spill on a remote West Coast island, but in this case, it seems unlikely the Mounties will get their man.

A man in his 20s or early 30s suffered life-threatening injuries Tuesday night after being shot in a residential area in Surrey, B.C.

MONTREAL - A man is suing Loto-Quebec for $13.5 million he says he won in a drawing last May but was denied on the grounds he bought his ticket seven seconds past the deadline.

A Department of National Defence study released Tuesday has revealed more details about the rescue effort that took place after two crewmen abandoned the sinking Check-Mate III earlier this year.

A strong earthquake that shook the high Arctic on Tuesday morning was picked up by seismic instruments as far south as Nevada, but Canadian quake experts say they doubt anyone could have felt the shockwaves

Sales of one of the country's favourite investments, Canada Savings Bonds, will open Friday after Monday's scheduled start was delayed amid worldwide turmoil in credit markets

There are conflicting reports about what actually happened at the actor's beach-adjacent homestead this morning around 11:30.

Human evolution is grinding to a halt because of a shortage of older fathers in the West, according to a leading genetics expert.

Bodies are cut up and dumped in acid. Victims are stripped naked and hung from bridges. Others have their tongues cut out before being murdered -- Mexican gangs are using horrifying methods to outdo each other in an already harrowing drugs war.

About 300 people were arrested Tuesday when U.S. immigration agents searched a poultry processing plant in South Carolina, the Justice Department said.

Human remains found last week in a sandpit in northern New York State are those of a Canadian woman who disappeared four years ago, U.S. authorities confirmed Tuesday

SEATTLE -- Here's the scenario: It's Friday night, and what began as an innocent happy-hour margarita morphed into a few pitchers. After all, those tacos were salty.

Samson the white short-haired cat was destined to have a difficult life after being born with a face too small for his body.

The Conservatives are cancelling plans to restrict which film and TV projects are eligible to receive tax credits -- a move that had enraged the arts community, especially in Quebec where the party is desperate to gain ground.

On Monday, NASA's Messenger spacecraft drew within 125 miles of Mercury in its second pass by the planet within the past year. The probe is following a route that includes bouncing from planet to planet to slow itself down enough to orbit Mercury in March

New World Order!

WESTERN FAIR: City's bylaw officers will study photographs taken at the show to determine if any legislation was contravened

Three members of the Calgary Stampeders were fined by the CFL for confronting and verbally abusing game officials after they had left the field following a 37-34 loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday

The Toronto Stock Exchange continues to fluctuate Tuesday after starting the day on an upswing with a nearly 300-point gain.

TOKYO - Police have apprehended a westerner who went skinny dipping in a moat ringing the Imperial Palace in Tokyo

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A man claiming to speak for pirates holding a Ukrainian arms ship off the Somali coast says an agreement on freeing the vessel is near.

KATHMANDU, Nepal - Religious authorities in Nepal anointed a three-year-old girl as a living goddess Tuesday in a tradition dating back centuries

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her cabinet voted on Tuesday to extend the country's participation in a NATO-led military mission in Afghanistan for 14 months, a government official said