NEWS IMAGE COLLAGE / for 02-2012

Greenwood, B.C, residents can now say they have the best tap water in the world, according to an international water tasting competition.

The federal government is shutting down its seasonal student job centres, saving $6.5 million annually, and instead is bolstering online job resources for youth.

Oetzi the iceman, whose body was frozen into the Italian Alps 5,300 years ago, had brown eyes, type O blood and was lactose intolerant, a DNA analysis shows.

It has taken 26 million years, but scientists say getting the first glimpse at what a long-extinct giant penguin looked like was worth the wait.

A Vancouver Island pet owner could face cruelty charges after the rescue of seven puppies and a mother dog so malnourished they were eating rocks and sticks to stay alive.

British Columbia's health minister insists a Vancouver-area hospital is safe despite concerns raised by medical staff and an infectious disease expert about 84 bacteria-related deaths at the hospital since 2009.

A powerful storm system is blamed for killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 35 others across the U.S. midwest.

The federal government announced new legislation to provide safe drinking water in First Nations communities, but critics say the lack of firm funding is unacceptable.

A U.S. man was found guilty Wednesday of child abuse for forcing his young grandsons on grueling hikes in the Grand Canyon in searing summer heat, even as they threw up and collapsed with cramps.

Corporations would no longer be able to claim private boxes or seats as a tax deduction as province looks to cut costs

A former U.S. Marine has been credited with saving the life of an Edmonton toddler whose neck was pinned by a car's power window.

The key players from the CHL commissioner David Branch, to Hockey Canada chief executive officer Bob Nicholson and USA Hockey's chief executive officer Dave Ogrean recently spoke on the topic of putting an end to fighting. CBCSports.ca caught up with Paul

Greece's largest unions held protests and a work stoppage Wednesday, as the crisis-hit country's coalition government pressed ahead with wage cuts and other austerity measures.

The United States said Wednesday North Korea has agreed to suspend nuclear activities and accept a moratorium on nuclear and long-range missile tests, in a breakthrough in negotiations with the secretive communist nation.

Closing refineries, problems in Europe and in the Arab world, and moody markets mean Canadian motorists can expect to pay high prices right into the summer, says one expert.

An Elections Canada investigation into black ops "robocalls" was focused on a Conservative party campaign in Guelph, Ont., documents obtained by Postmedia News and the Ottawa Citizen show.

The head of the group that runs Canada's school of hockey officiating says Hockey New Brunswick needs to send a strong message that abusive behaviour at rinks won't be tolerated.

The RCMP are investigating an alleged on-ice attack that left a 25-year-old man with broken bones in his face and five missing teeth.

Canada's northernmost research laboratory will shut down for most of the year due to lack of funding.

Officials say sharks are killing and injuring California's endangered sea otters in record numbers.

A popular B.C.-based dating website is being sued by the parents of a dead U.S. soldier, who allege their son's photograph was used on online personal ads four years after he was killed in Iraq.

Canad Inns Stadium will host one more Winnipeg Blue Bombers football game after all.

The sister of a presumed victim of serial killer Robert Pickton has told the Missing Women Inquiry in Vancouver that police chose to ridicule her sister rather than listen to her, missing an opportunity to save her life and perhaps to arrest Robert Pickto

Russian and Ukrainian special services have arrested a group of suspects accused of attempting to assassinate Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Russia's state television said Monday.

A teenager described as a bullied outcast at his suburban Cleveland high school opened fire in the cafeteria Monday morning, killing one student and wounding four others before being caught a short distance away, authorities said.

First came the rain. Then came the fire. Everything that could go wrong with this Daytona 500 did go wrong, and the first NASCAR race in primetime television will be remembered for everything but the eventual winner.

Canada's glitch-prone, second-hand submarines will be with the navy until at least 2030, but defence planners will begin drawing up a replacement program within the next four years.

There was virtually no chance of survival for three engineers who were killed when the train they were travelling in flew off the tracks and collided with a building on Sunday in Burlington, Ont., said the lead investigator from the Transportation Safety

The Vancouver Canucks have traded rookie forward Cody Hodgson to the Buffalo Sabres along with defenceman Alexander Sulzer in exchange for forward Zack Kassian and defenceman Marc-Andre Gragnani.

CTV Toronto - A Liberal research staffer was behind the "Vikileaks" Twitter account that published details of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews' messy divorce, interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae said Monday.

Whistle-blower group WikiLeaks says it has begun publishing more than five million emails from a U.S.-based intelligence company, which the group believes has been targeting WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange.

Police arrested actress Lucy Lawless and five Greenpeace environmental activists after the group spent four days protesting aboard an oil-drilling ship docked in New Zealand.

Public meetings looking into a replacement for Metro Vancouver's aging Pattullo Bridge began this week, stirring up controversy over tolls and what a new bridge should look like.

A massive totem pole was carried by 120 people along the Seattle waterfront on Sunday as a tribute to a man who was shot to death by a police officer in 2010.

CTV Toronto - A TTC ticket collector was shot inside Dupont station and rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries Sunday evening.

An 11-year-old girl is dead following an after school fight at a Long Beach elementary school, but authorities say they have no immediate plans for arrests.

The McAbee fossil beds in Cache Creek, located just hours from Vancouver, are being formally recognized as a Heritage Site.

As crowds look on in a downpour, workers begin the demolition of an Inner Harbour landmark

The descendants of a surgeon who died on the Titanic nearly 100 years ago are appealing for a benefactor to purchase a soon-to-be-auctioned letter he wrote from the doomed ship -- and to return it to the city where the vessel was built.

A powerful earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 shook southwestern Siberia on Sunday afternoon, the second to hit the area in two months. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, emergency officials said.

If the only Canadian on death row in the United States is unsuccessful in his plea for mercy in May, it will likely be Leroy Kirkegard who oversees what happens next.

Protesters angry over Qur'an burnings by American troops lobbed grenades at a U.S. base in northern Afghanistan and clashed with police and troops in a day of violence that left seven international troops wounded and two Afghans dead.

About 35,000 people formed a human chain around the centre of Moscow on Sunday for a protest against President Vladimir Putin's re-election campaign.

A newborn had to be rushed to a Detroit Hospital after an ORNGE air ambulance was too slow to respond to a call in Windsor, Ont.

Loui Eriksson's goal at 3:52 of overtime sent the Dallas Stars to their fourth consecutive victory, 3-2 over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.

Police in New Brunswick's Kennebecasis Valley were called to a local rink Friday night after a 13-year-old referee ejected a hockey mom and a peewee coach.

Health officials say 70 people were hospitalized after a chlorine incident at a public swimming pool in the B.C. Interior.

Three people are dead and dozens were injured after a VIA Rail train derailed in Burlington, Ont. Sunday afternoon.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper personally approved a $21,865 hospitality tab for visiting European bureaucrats last fall even as the government was preaching fiscal restraint.

The Galaxy Beam is a unique device; it is currently the only Android device that features a built-in HD projector.

Headstones commemorating allied servicemen killed during World War II campaigns in the Western Desert lay smashed and strewn across Benghazi Military Cemetery.

A winter storm will bring a wide variety of weather to the Maritimes on Saturday, including 30 centimetres of snow in Northern New Brunswick and winds of up to 100 kilometres per hour on the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia.

From parasites to crabs and living slime affectionately dubbed "rock snot," invasive species can wreak havoc when introduced into a new habitat.

Ties between the rival Koreas should improve before North Korea and the United States can achieve real progress in their relationship, a U.S. envoy said Saturday after holding nuclear talks with North Korean officials in Beijing.

OTTAWA -- Canada has convened two days of international meetings in Washington next week to discuss problems around the controversial F-35 stealth fighter jet program

President Obama's 2012 election campaign page on Google+ is flooded with messages in Chinese after local restrictions are removed.

An explosion caused by a fire at a Brazilian research station in the Antarctic leaves two soldiers missing and one injured, the Brazilian military says.

In Canada, the phrase "Harper's Elbows" might make a good description for the prime minister's penchant for playing political offence.

On the cusp of a trial over the catastrophic 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, phalanxes of lawyers, executives and public officials have spent the waning days in talks to determine how much BP and its partners in the doomed Macondo well project shoul

Argentine police had to battle an angry mob soon after the recovery of another body in the wreck of a train, which crashed at a station in Buenos Aires, injuring hundreds.

Pakistan begins demolishing the three-storey compound where Osama bin Laden lived for years and was killed by U.S. commandos last May.

A Yemeni health official says a car bomb outside the gate of a presidential compound in a southern city has killed at least 25 people, hours after the country's new president was formally inaugurated.

A basketball-playing parrot in southern New Brunswick is scoring points with audiences.

The B.C. Teachers Federation will ask its members next week if they want to engage in a fullscale work stoppage in response to the government's plan to impose a contract settlement on them.

More tolls, per-kilometre charges and vehicle registration fees are some of the revenue-raising suggestions in a confidential TransLink report aimed at finding ways to pay for Metro Vancouver roads and transit.

The risky stunts that teens and young adults engage in and record for posterity on YouTube may seem irresponsible and even crazy to some, but experts say reckless behaviour is a normal part of brain development.

Police in Nepal's capital detained 13 Tibetans who tried to storm the U.N. office Friday, demanding the world body help the people in Tibet under Chinese rule.

The latest financial report from BC Ferries shows company losses almost doubled in the third quarter of the last fiscal year compared to the same period a year earlier.

A British Columbia mother says a Pee Wee hockey coach humiliated her 12-year-old son by cuffing the young player on the head with a hockey glove in the change room. But the coach is denying the allegations and other parents have come forward to defend him

Parts of Atlantic Canada will be hit with a major winter storm overnight and into Saturday as a low-pressure system from New England closes in on the region.

While maintaining a new football stadium remains a top priority, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are planning $14 million in fixes and upgrades, including a new seating area, for the existing Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

Ottawa police said they have responded to more than 100 collisions since noon and are advising motorists to adjust their driving to increasingly poor road conditions.

Gov. Gen. David Johnston awarded 43 medals of bravery and three stars of courage, including one to an Ottawa police officer who tried to save a life despite a family tragedy.

Labrador MP Peter Penashue triggers an angry reaction at a vigil when he refuses to discuss search and rescue.

A winter storm is hammering eastern Ontario and southern Quebec, while a second low-pressure system has prompted Environment Canada to issue weather warnings in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The games may have taken place in September, but celebrations to commemorate the legendary 1972 Canada-USSR hockey series are already underway in Moscow.

Cory Schneider had 30 saves and Aaron Rome and Mason Raymond scored goals as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the New Jersey Devils 2-1 Friday night.

New evidence suggests that the moon, once thought to be geologically cold and dead, is still stretching and contracting on its surface.

Two big transmission lines got provincial go-ahead Thursday. Energy minister Ted Morton said two north-south transmission lines will proceed as recommended last week by the Critical Transmission Review Committee.

A Roman Catholic priest who worked in Newfoundland and Labrador for many years is facing 24 new sexual abuse charges, bringing the total number against him to 62.

As changes to rules on OxyContin prescriptions have dominated headlines over the past week, a Thunder Bay physician says the publicity around narcotics addiction can add to the stigma facing patients suffering from chronic pain.

Boston University is forming a task force to study the "culture and climate" of its men's hockey team. The move follows the arrest of two players -- including a Canadian -- on charges of assaulting female students this season.

Five more people have been charged with participating in Vancouver's Stanley Cup riot, police announced Thursday.

Stargazers of the world are getting a treat this weekend. On Saturday and again Sunday, Venus, Jupiter and Earth's moon converge for a brilliant night show.

Seven U.S. Marines were killed when two helicopters collided in the California desert during night training exercises, the latest of several Marine Corps training accidents in the region.

Winter is about to remind parts of the country it can still pack a punch, as a series of weather systems is expected to dump snow in southern B.C., central Canada and the East Coast.

Alex Burrows had the only score in a shootout, lifting the Vancouver Canucks to a 4-3 victory that snapped the Detroit Red Wings' NHL-record 23-game home winning streak. Detroit hadn't lost at Joe Louis Arena since Nov. 3 against Calgary.

Health officials in B.C.'s Fraser Valley are urging people to get vaccinations for whooping cough as the disease continues to spread in the region.

HELENA, Mon. � Montana�s governor says the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta�s oilsands to the Gulf Coast will eventually be built and he blames the delay on �jackasses� in Washington who have only recently discovered the issue.

Huge oil tankers can safely travel in and out of the port of Kitimat, B.C., says a Transport Canada review of Enbridge Inc.'s controversial Northern Gateway project.

Student demonstrators have blocked access to a Montreal bridge amid protests over tuition-fee hikes. The shutdown of Jacques Cartier Bridge, a key access point to Montreal, comes just before rush hour.

A group including a victims' advocate, two retired judges and a former Conservative MP say Canadians will be more fearful and less safe five years from now under criminal justice changes being made by the Harper government.

However, in global markets, Canada's largest technology company has fallen well behind Apple

B.C.'s education minister says he'll ask his staff to start preparing back-to-work legislation for teachers after a fact finder concluded the chances of a voluntary end to their contract dispute are "very unlikely."

An Alberta couple whose pet husky killed their two-day-old baby says all the dogs in the home went through training and obedience classes.

www.forces.gc.ca is the official Web site of the Department of National Defence and Canadian Forces. It is the best source of current and historical Canadian military information.

Illegal calls directing voters to non-existent or wrong polling stations during the last federal election have been traced by Elections Canada, the Ottawa Citizen is reporting.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay says there's a greater need for partnership between the Canadian and U.S. military in uncertain economic and political times.

A recent bar brawl at a watering hole inside the House of Commons highlights the very different world of British politics

A year on, modellers continue to provide daily forecasts of the likely spread of floating debris washed out into the Pacific by the Japanese Tohoku megatsunami.

Pending tryouts for B.C.'s lingerie football team are leaving some up-and-coming athletes with a dilemma: is it worth stripping off most of their uniform -- not to mention protective gear -- to play professionally?

Two garbage truck drivers in the Okanagan say they have been fired after speaking to the media about a surveillance camera installed on the front windshield of a company dump truck.

Two Montreal cardiologists are facing disciplinary action over allegations they received hefty kickbacks to push patients to the top of the waiting list, the Quebec College of Physicians says.

A bill to force internet service providers to collect customer information, known as the lawful access or online surveillance bill, will cost at least $80 million to implement, CBC News has learned.

Since before the age of dinosaurs it has burrowed unbothered beneath the monsoon-soaked soils of remote northeast India - unknown to science and mistaken by villagers as a deadly, miniature snake.

Shortages of various prescription drugs are occurring more frequently, but doctors and patients have no way of knowing when a medication will be unavailable because pharmaceutical companies aren't required to publicly report gaps in supply.

More than two dozen current and former law enforcement officials in the United States - including police officers, prosecutors and judges -- are warning the Canadian government against mandatory minimum sentences for minor marijuana offences.

The Council of Europe's anti-torture committee is pressuring Germany to do away with the practice of surgical castration of sex offenders.

A French photojournalist and a prominent American war correspondent working for a British newspaper were killed Wednesday by Syrian shelling of the opposition stronghold Homs as President Bashar Assad's regime escalated its attacks on rebel bases by straf

It was an incredible sight for anyone lucky enough to catch a fleeting glimpse Tuesday night of a very bright light that streaked across the sky above Alberta and Saskatchewan.

At least 49 people are dead and hundreds injured after a train packed with passengers slammed into a Buenos Aires subway platform on Wednesday.

A long-time friend of Pierre Trudeau who had the Juno awards named after him after a career spent championing Canadian performers as head of the CRTC and CBC has died.

Drivers across North America are paying more to fill their gas tanks as analysts warn of record fuel-price increases this spring.

Libertarian thinktank keeps prominent sceptics on its payroll and relies on millions in funding from carbon industry, papers suggest

Speakers at a major science meeting being held in Canada said communication of vital research on health and environment issues is being suppressed.

Russian scientists have managed to ressurect an Ice Age plant from a squirrel's burrow stuck in the Siberian permafrost for 30,000 years.

Canada has fired a diplomatic shot across the bow of the European Union, warning that any move to single out oilsands crude as environmentally unfriendly will be met with retaliation.