Canada News Headlines - Canadian Press

TORONTO - It should come as no surprise that a country like Afghanistan, with its warrior culture and a history steeped in violence and armed conflict, would be prone to the sort of allegations of torture currently rocking Ottawa's political class, experts say.

MONTREAL - The case of a Quebec woman who says she lost her long-term disability benefits because of photos that appeared on Facebook should serve as a reminder that nothing on the Internet is truly private.

A Canadian-Iranian journalist who spent nearly four months in Tehran's infamous Evin prison says his interrogators were "masters of psychological torture."

HALIFAX, N.S. - An Afghan agency, at one time entrusted to monitor Canadian-captured insurgents in Kandahar, says it has documented nearly 400 cases of torture across the war-ravaged country.

DUNCAN, B.C. - When 17-year-old Kelly Nicholls left his home in the Vancouver Island community of Duncan under an evacuation order on Friday, the water that had flooded the street was just touching the edge of his one-storey house.

OTTAWA - The Liberals are proposing new rules to control how much partisan mail MPs can send to their constituents at taxpayers' expense.

MONTREAL - Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois is promising to crackdown on what her party calls the erosion of French language in Montreal, a move she says will serve to preserve a relative linguistic peace in the province.

VALLEYVIEW, Alta. - An 18-year-old woman who was walking in the middle of a northern Alberta highway in the dark was struck be two vehicles and died Saturday evening.

WINNIPEGOSIS, Man. - A 37-year-old woman in northwestern Manitoba is facing a long list of charges after a high-speed police chase that ended when the tires on her vehicle were flattened by two spike belts.

NANTON, Alta. - Police have released the names of three teen women killed in a two vehicle crash south of Calgary Saturday afternoon, but have yet to reveal the name of a fourth woman who died in the wreck.

TORONTO - Toronto police are investigating two separate shootings that left a man dead outside a downtown condo tower and five people injured outside a banquet hall in the city's east end.

TORONTO - The Toronto Transit Commission will be halting sales of tokens Monday as it tries to prevent hoarding in the wake of a January fare increase.

TORONTO - There's a murky tale behind the building of a casino energy plant that's at the heart of a brewing scandal at Ontario's troubled lottery corporation and two multimillion-dollar lawsuits.

OTTAWA - Ottawa police have nine people in custody after a lengthy Sunday morning standoff at an upscale downtown hotel ended peacefully.

BELANDAY, Afghanistan - When Capt. Jean Vachon's lost dog came back, the war against Taliban insurgents in Kandahar suddenly didn't seem so hopeless after all.

MONTREAL - The governor of Maine is worried about the proposed mega sale of NB Power to Hydro-Quebec and is eager to voice his concerns with Quebec Premier Jean Charest.

HALIFAX, N.S. - Canada's top military commander says the transfer of prisoners to Afghan authorities has been halted more than once due to safety concerns.

OTTAWA - Rankin Inlet Mayor John Hickes has become a voice for discontent about federal stimulus money in the North.

OTTAWA - Canada's top Mountie says he expects the coming report on the deadly 1985 Air India bombing to be highly critical of the RCMP.

OTTAWA - Michael Ignatieff isn't a Tim Horton's kind of guy - and that suits his new chief of staff just fine.

EDMONTON - Alberta and British Columbia are looking to add more international sparkle to Canada's Rocky Mountain parks.

HALIFAX, N.S. - A test to certify the model of helicopter involved in a fatal crash off Newfoundland showed it would remain airborne for "around 10 minutes" - about one third of the time required - if oil leaked from its gearbox, aviation regulators say.

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Steve and Heather Boey have always felt safe in their Vancouver-area home, having an RCMP officer living nearby.

TORONTO - Prime Minister Stephen Harper urged journalists to "shine light into dark corners" of government affairs during a speech late Saturday, but wouldn't take questions from reporters covering the event.

HAMILTON, Ont. - The Superior Court judge who first tried to order aboriginal protesters to vacate a former housing development in southern Ontario in 2006 has died.

EDMONTON - An environmental group says a promise from the Alberta government for action on water management over the next decade is too little too late.

MONTREAL - It's been a year and a week since I've written in my blog. Ah! The president's been lazy. But now, there's something I need to do. The Liberal party is in a free fall, and it won't recover. Like all the liberal parties in Europe, it will become a poor little thing at the mercy of ephemeral coalitions. For having refused the historic coalition that could have placed it at the head of the left, it will be punished by history. Well, I was convinced the moment Paul Martin treated Jean Chretien so cavalierly. That moment signalled the death of our party. If the elites of Toronto had been more alert, humble and realistic, Stephane was ready to take all the time and the hits to rebuild that party. But they couldn't accept 26 per cent, now we're at 23 per cent.

MONTREAL - The outspoken wife of former Liberal leader Stephane Dion has written a scathing letter in which she questions Michael Ignatieff's ability to lead the party out its current woes.