NEWS IMAGE COLLAGE / for 02-2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio _ Alexander Ovechkin and the young Washington Capitals are maturing _ and that is definitely not good news for the rest of the NHL.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - The Anaheim Ducks' road to the White House was paved with three big goals on a Super Tuesday for the Stanley Cup champs.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a guru to the Beatles who introduced the West to transcendental meditation, died Tuesday at his home in the Dutch town of Vlodrop, a spokesman said. He was thought to be 91 years old.

Decimated Canucks earn a point

Dan Gerak noticed the first signs in late November in the upper Pitt River Valley -- several big paw prints in the snow and the carcass of a black-tailed deer.

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper met briefly Tuesday with Stephane Dion, hoping to persuade the Liberal leader to support an indefinite extension of Canada\'s combat mission in Afghanistan, provided NATO steps up with reinforcements.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a guru to the Beatles who introduced the West to transcendental meditation, died Tuesday at his home in the Dutch town Vlodrop, a spokesman said.

The Edmonton Oilers have been sold to local billionaire Daryl Katz for $200 million, pending the approval of the NHL.

A state lawmaker wants to ban restaurants from serving food to obese customers — but please, don’t be offended.

OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier says Canada won't build a detention facility in Afghanistan or participate in the management of its prisons, despite suggestions that doing so might keep local authorities from abusing enemy captives.

Over six years after the Canadian Forces were first sent to Afghanistan, the federal government maintains it has no estimate of how many more soldiers could die before the mission ends

There's nothing a Nintendo fan looks forward to more than the next Mario game, and "Super Mario Galaxy" for the Wii doesn't disappoint.

Australian astronomers have discovered a giant finger of hydrogen gas pushing its way into the Milky Way, a finding that could help end a year-long controversy over the fate of our nearest neighbouring galaxies.

Many Americans are content with the 9/11 Commission Report, but the two chairmen of the commission, Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton are not.

Actress Shell Kepler, who for years played the gossipy nurse Amy Vining on the TV soap opera "General Hospital," has died. She was 49.

Two ecosystems with a huge Canadian component - the boreal forest and Arctic ice - are on a shortlist of nine elements in Earth's climate system fast approaching their "tipping" point.

Ohlund, Miller join the list of no-shows on defence as the team can now rely on only one of its top-six blueliners

OTTAWA - The House of Commons ethics committee probing the Mulroney-Schreiber affair, which last sat before Christmas, is set to resume this afternoon and MPs could hear some potentially stunning testimony.

Ray Zahab has conquered deserts and mountains and just about every other challenge an ultramarathoner can face. Now, he's preparing for a 750-km run to the North Pole, where Zahab faces unforgiving terrain and possibly polar bears. Just how he likes it

OTTAWA — The Conservative government says legislation introduced Monday will protect the jobs of military reservists who work in the federal civil service or in federally regulated industries.

Credit: Cpl Robert LeBlanc Two sailors aboard the drifting barge Azaan talk to members of the approach party from HMCS Charlottetown. HMCS Charlottetown has rescued two sailors found adrift in the Arabian Sea aboard the Azaan, a 240-foot barge desi

A "plastic soup" of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said.

Nova Scotia is in danger of being cut off from the rest of Canada as the Atlantic Ocean rises, according to the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Defence scientists are exploring the possibility of building warships out of carbon fibre instead of steel.

Fixing a dent in one of Canada’s used submarines cost more than twice as much as the navy predicted.

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- A large military resupply operation in Afghanistan's Panjwaii district was hit Tuesday by an improvised explosive device, slightly injuring two Canadian soldiers and disabling their vehicle.

The march toward a possible consensus on Canada's future in Afghanistan begins today as Prime Minister Stephen Harper holds his long-awaited meeting with Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion.

Taking stock of pledges made, kept and broken as PM's government marks 2-year anniversary...

OLD NEWS BUT STILL INTERESTING TO PUSH INTO A THREAD

METRO VANCOUVER - Sockeye have returned to the Coquitlam River for the first time in nearly a century, and could be spawning in Coquitlam Lake as early as this summer.

OTTAWA - Stephane Dion, whose Liberal party likely will have the deciding vote on Canada's future military role in Afghanistan, appeared to leave little room for negotiation when he takes part in a rare meeting Tuesday with Prime Minister Stephen Harper

OSLO (Reuters) - Global warming this century could trigger a runaway thaw of Greenland's ice sheet and other abrupt shifts such as a dieback of the Amazon rainforest, scientists said on Monday.

Poland's foreign minister has chimed in to Canada's call for help in Afghanistan, saying Monday that responsibilities there must be more evenly distributed between intervening nations.

A Massachusetts woman suddenly found an unexpected passenger in her back seat Friday while driving home with her daughter after running a simple errand

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach has called a provincial election for March 3. It's the first time he'll lead his Progressive Conservatives to the polls since replacing Ralph Klein in late 2006. "These are very exciting times for our province," Stelmach

OTTAWA - It took a while, but the troubled Chalk River nuclear reactor once again meets safety standards.

OTTAWA - International angst over Canada's Afghan ultimatum awaits Defence Minister Peter MacKay as he meets this week in Lithuania with reluctant NATO allies for the first time since the Manley commission report.

The federal government is opening up more of the Beaufort Sea to exploration, inviting bids for a part of the Northwest Territories ranging over one million hectares.

A Danish court has forced Tele2 Denmark to stop internet users from accessing the Swedish file sharing site Pirate Bay.

SAO PAULO, Brazil - Two Brazilian research groups said Sunday the Amazon rain forest will shrink by nearly 20 per cent by 2030 as farming, road construction and poor government surveillance speeds deforestation.

MANAUS, Brazil - Julio Tota stood atop a 60-metre steel tower in the heart of the Amazon rain forest, watching "rivers of air" flowing over an unbroken green canopy that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Four men who run one of the most popular file-sharing sites in the world have been charged with conspiracy to break copyright law in Sweden.

Investigators say they are still trying to determine the identity of an eight-month-old baby girl abandoned in a north Toronto parking lot last week

Two teenage girls were sentenced Monday to 12 months in custody for beating a 66-year-old woman with metal table legs last summer in Halifax.

It appears a deal could soon be reached to sell the Edmonton Oilers to local businessman Daryl Katz.

Nova Scotia's Pictou County is considering new rules that would prevent the gay pride flag and others from being raised at civic buildings, on the heels of a flag controversy in neighbouring Truro.

A second nuclear power plant at Point Lepreau on the Bay of Fundy would be viable under certain conditions, a feasibility study released Monday says.

MONTREAL -- The judge behind the explosive probe into the sponsorship scandal will continue his struggle to preserve its findings this week as he heads to court to fight claims he was wrong in assigning part of the blame to former prime minister Jean Chre

Case appears to raise questions about corruption in Canada's immigration procedures in China, the biggest source of immigrants to Canada...

The federal government is launching a national effort targeting the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in its bid to reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections that kill thousands of Canadians

The governing Conservatives want to haul Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez before the House Ethics Committee to apologize and to "admit that he lied" when he asked planted questions sent from a CBC reporter in the sensational Mulroney-Schreiber House Ethics Co

Baby shampoos, lotions and powders may expose infants to phthalates, a class of chemicals that has been linked with reproductive problems, a small study suggests.

OTTAWA - Poland will put two of its eight helicopters in Afghanistan at the disposal of NATO forces fighting in the volatile southern region.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Seven astronauts have returned to NASA's launch site in Cape Canaveral for another shot at flying the space shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station.

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba - Lawyers for Omar Khadr called on U.S. authorities today to dismiss all charges against the Canadian terror suspect.

Kumar, 40, and another Indian doctor are the subject of a global manhunt after police near Delhi raided an illegal hospital where at least 500 people were forcibly operated on and had their kidneys transplanted, often to wealthy foreign patients.

New Democrat Leader Jack Layton says Canada's current direction in Afghanistan is leading towards a "dead end" and he hopes to convince Liberal Leader Stephane Dion to join him in pushing for a change.

Members of the House of Commons will vote Monday on a proposed bill that would replace Canada's controversial security certificate legislation.

Insider, critics, Manley all say tight-lipped style is failing Canadians

Premier Ed Stelmach plans to call his first election campaign as premier today, shortly after Lt.-Gov. Norman Kwong reads an Alberta throne speech that effectively doubles as the Conservatives' campaign launch.

Fifteen per cent of Canadians would give up their ballot in Canada's next federal election to vote in the U.S. election, a new poll co-sponsored by the CBC has found.

NEW YORK - The figure in the photograph is clad in Army fatigues, boots and helmet, lying on his back in peaceful repose, folded hands holding a military cap. Except for a thin trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, he could be asleep.

Google Inc. says Microsoft Corp. could use its proposed $42-billion US acquisition of Yahoo Inc. to gain illegal control over the internet, underscoring the online search leader's queasiness about its two biggest rivals teaming up.

PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan -Canadian and Afghan National Army soldiers are kicking down doors and bursting into residential compounds in this Taliban fiefdom, looking for insurgents responsible for a wave of deadly attacks.

Wearing higher heels - although perhaps not stilettos - may improve your pelvic floor muscles and in doing so boost your sex life, a study suggests.

A Canadian military team has determined that 18 Cormorant helicopters are needed for the air force to perform the search-and-rescue role once handled by a smaller number of 40-year-old Labrador choppers.

Hillary Clinton's campaign committee as of October 2007 from a Washington Post article, reads like a who's who of the CFR (Council on Foreign Relations) and the military elite.

LOL This is hilarious

More than two years since he held the office of prime minister, critics say it's time for Paul Martin to step down as a member of Parliament.

The Turin 2006 Olympic opening ceremonies had opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti. Vancouver 2010 has Céline Dion. Turin had a tire-squealing Ferrari. Vancouver has Jet Skis.

OTTAWA - Almost $1.2 billion in native residential school payments have been a joyful windfall for most former students, but they have also brought fresh trauma - especially for those still fighting related demons.

OTTAWA - Canada's border agency wants to expand its surveillance of travellers entering the country, with plans to force buses, trains and cruise ships to provide advance electronic lists of passengers and their personal details.

Since getting a tongue-lashing from the Manley panel, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has offered a mea culpa of sorts for not being open enough with the Canadian public about what's going on in Afghanistan, and he has promised to try to do better.

EDMONTON - Charles Francis was flying across Melville Island in the High Arctic conducting a shorebird survey with two other biologists last summer when they spotted what they thought was a polar bear feeding on a muskox.

OTTAWA -- Tugged by Conservatives on one side, and New Democrats on the other, Liberal Leader Stephane Dion also faces internal tension in caucus over policy on Canada's military mission in Afghanistan.

OTTAWA — The prime minister’s own department has ordered a fresh investigation into the way it hands out contracts after an audit found widespread rule-breaking.

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD - A Canadian general took command of NATO troops in war-ravaged southern Afghanistan yesterday, promising "intense operations" against extremists and a more stable, secure region.

A winter storm was walloping parts of Quebec and Atlantic Canada on Saturday after sweeping across Lake Erie and dumping heavy wet snow in Ontario.

Audio of 911 Call **Graphic**

EDMONTON - Rexall Place in Edmonton has become something of a home away from home for the Dallas Stars.

ATLANTA - Eric Perrin went back to his IHL days to come up with his game-winning move in a shootout.

Her preternatural talent has wowed audiences everywhere she sings. Now Nikki Yanofsky is set to tackle no less an institution than Carnegie Hall after two shows here – not too bad for a 13-year-old

ST. LOUIS - Manny Legace kept the Anaheim Ducks down, giving the St. Louis Blues a chance to end a prolonged shootout drought.

NEWARK, N.J. - The days when the New Jersey Devils dominated the New York Rangers are gone.

DETROIT - The Detroit Red Wings finally got a lucky bounce. Henrik Zetterberg's 30th goal broke a scoreless tie with 2:20 left and Dominik Hasek made 15 saves for his 80th career shutout to lift Detroit to a 2-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Fri

Quirky Parkdale store features only designs by up-and-coming, local Canadian artists

KOENIGSEE, Germany - Canada's Pierre Lueders and Lascelles Brown raced to a bronze medal in a two-man World Cup bobsled race Saturday.

The saga of Tony Rosato, in which the mentally ill comic actor from Saturday Night Live, SCTV and Night Heat spent more than 800 days in jail on a domestic harassment charge, mostly because he denies he is sick, then was transferred to a psychiatric insti

Leonard Nimoy finds more artistry lies behind the camera than performing in front of it

Six years ago, Robert Whitehead was without a doubt the loudest critic of the Yellow Quill First Nation government. A disgruntled band member, he had publicly chastised the band boss, Chief Hank Neapetung, complaining about band employees -- including tea

Members of the media have been asked to leave the Yellow Quill First Nation in advance of a funeral for two little girls who were found frozen to death on the Saskatchewan reserve earlier this week.

The deaths of a Canadian military officer and three other United Nations observers in southern Lebanon in 2006 were 'tragic and preventable,' a Canadian Forces board of inquiry has found.

Toronto police investigating the abandonment of an infant in a north Toronto parking garage say they're now working on the theory that child may be from the United States.

Have you ever lied when your girlfriend asked if she looked fat? How about when your boyfriend asked whether you found another man attractive? If you answered 'yes', you're part of the majority, according to a new study.

If Canadian football player Nick Kaczur plays his cards right, he might have two new rings on his fingers by the end of the month. The 28-year-old Brantford native and right offensive tackle for the New England Patriots is beginning the month with Sunday

BRIDGEWATER, N.S. -- The mother and family of a Nova Scotia girl are making a renewed plea for her to call home after five days of searching have produced no sign of the 12-year-old.

Citizen and Immigration Canada wants its employees to break their BlackBerry habits.

OTTAWA -- Suspected al Qaeda collaborator Mohamed Harkat is being freed from jail, but will remain under house arrest until his next hearing.

REGINA -- Former aboriginal leader David Ahenakew will be tried a second time on a charge of wilfully promoting hatred, Saskatchewan's Justice Ministry announced Friday.

A northern British Columbia community is struggling to understand the rash of suicides that continues to take the lives of many of their teenage citizens.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- A Canadian has assumed the top post for international military efforts in southern Afghanistan.

The belief that routine childhood vaccines can lead to autism remains one of the most stubbornly enduring.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy has married Italian-born model turned pop singer Carla Bruni following a whirlwind romance.

Canada's cherished groundhog weather forecasters have emerged from their heated, custom-built homes and predicted an early spring, capping a week of snowstorms and bitter cold that kept Canadians burrowed inside their own cozy dens.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- The governor of Kandahar says he's never interrogated, much less abused, a prisoner in his government's custody.

OTTAWA - Canadian soldiers won't be able to avoid combat if they remain in Kandahar and switching places with another NATO country in a quieter region of Afghanistan is not an option, the country's top military commander said Friday.

SUNRISE, Fla. - Roberto Luongo returned to South Florida, only to watch his former team do something it hadn't done in more than eight years: beat Vancouver

Canada's top soldier says an Afghan governor accused of personally torturing prisoners has done some "phenomenal work" and that allegations against him have yet to be proven as fact.

OTTAWA -- The decision had been made to evacuate a Canadian military officer and three other United Nations observers shortly before they were killed by an Israeli air strike in South Lebanon nearly two years ago, a Canadian Forces board of inquiry has fo

TORONTO -- The alleged mastermind of an illegal kidney transplant ring has family ties to Canada and may have fled to this country, the lead investigator said Friday.

The snowstorm that caused more than 100 accidents on Ontario roads Friday has begun pounding Quebec, making life difficult for drivers and cancelling flights.

Microsoft went public Friday with a $44.6 billion cash-and-stock bid to acquire Yahoo.

Phone

Canucks grab rare early lead but can't hang on as they drop a 4-3 decision to the Lightning

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - The East Coast never looked so good to the Los Angeles Kings. Buried at the bottom of the NHL standings, the team Wayne Gretzky put on the map two decades ago is trying to find its way. An overtime loss and a win at the start of an e

PHILADELPHIA - Nothing solves a prolonged road slump for the Rangers quite like making the trip to Philadelphia

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Predators don't have the big guns they had last season, but they do have one of the hottest lines in the NHL.

OTTAWA - The Bruins didn't give their best performance in Ottawa on Thursday night, but given the Senators' current state, Boston's effort was good enough to come out of Scotiabank Place with a victory.

WASHINGTON - The Capitals' Alex Ovechkin broke his nose, needed stitches in his lip after getting hit with a puck and then showed the Montreal Canadiens the true meaning of the word tough.

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nik Antropov was assessed two game misconduct penalties in overtime of a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. The second penalty was for abuse of an official - which carries an automatic three game suspension.

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Anna Loginova was, for many Russians, a feminine icon -- bridging the glamorous world of modeling and the murky depths of Russian crime.

A Mississauga man who has been posting messages online supporting attacks against military targets in Canada should "absolutely" be prosecuted, the chairman of the Senate National Security and Defence Committee said Thursday.

DETROIT - Tougher identification rules went into effect Thursday along U.S. borders, but there appeared to be little added delay as travellers unprepared for the change were in many cases allowed to cross with a warning.