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MOSCOW (AFP) - A fire broke out overnight in Moscow's drug rehabilitation hospital, killing 42 people, emergency ministry and firefighter service officials said. All 42 victims were women, including two of the hospital's staff, as the fire started in the hospital's women's wing, Moscow's chief...

By Alexandra Zawadil GRESTEN, Austria (Reuters) - As Christmas nears, Austrian children hoping for gifts from Santa Claus will also be watching warily for "Krampus," his horned and hairy sidekick. In folklore, Krampus was a devil-like figure who drove away evil spirits during the Christian...

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - City leaders have apologized after a program on Tempe's cable channel showed a white police officer telling two black men they could get out of a littering ticket by performing a rap. Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman and Police Chief Tom Ryff apologized for the show Thursday and...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Using fish line and a hook, a thief reeled in bags of cash from a bank's night deposit box. Officials would not say how much money was taken, but think the thief made off with 11 deposit bags, Bloomington police Sgt. David Drake said. An employee of the Fifth Third...

By Rasha Madkour KATY, Texas (AP) - A plan to build a mosque in this Houston suburb has triggered a neighbourhood dispute, with community members warning the place will become a terrorist hotbed and one man threatening to hold pig races on Fridays just to offend the Muslims. Many...

LONDON (Reuters) - British hearings into the deaths of Princess Diana and her companion Dodi al Fayed will be held in public after a decision that they should be conducted in secret was reversed, judicial authorities said on Thursday. The original decision of presiding judge Dame Elizabeth...

By Alicia Chang LOS ANGELES (AP) - After decades of scouring images of Mars for signs of water, scientists believe they have found stunning evidence that water may even now be flowing through the Red Planet's frigid surface. The news excited scientists who hunt for extraterrestrial life. If...

Many people think of Calixa Lavallée as an obscure music teacher who dashed off a patriotic song in a moment of inspiration. The truth is quite different. Lavallée was, in fact, known as "Canada's national musician" and it was on this account that he was asked to compose the music for a poem...

BY LAUREN LANGILLE At our school desks we learn how to read, write and speak French, but how do we learn to LIVE the language? We start to notice its usefulness and importance at municipal, provincial, national and global levels. By speaking French, we have the opportunity to expand and enrich...

Maybe, just maybe, our story will help get that conversation started By Claudia Cornwall and Liz Crompton It’s a bit like a marriage. For the most part, parents and teachers have the best interests of the child at heart. And they know it’s better if they keep talking to each other...

In 1953, every independent realm of Her Majesty passed an act concerning the royal title and style of the Queen. This was the first time that separate acts and separate titles were adopted for the same monarch by different realms, but the practice of formally proclaiming or enacting a particular...

By Susan Cornwell and Andrew Gray WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Robert Gates, President George W. Bush's choice to take over the Pentagon, said on Tuesday America was not winning in Iraq and warned that the Middle East could explode into violence. The Senate Armed Services Committee recommended...

By Jim Brown OTTAWA (CP) - Giuliano Zaccardelli is out as head of the RCMP, but the clamour over the Maher Arar affair - and what it means to the future of the force - shows no sign of abating. Zaccardelli resigned Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Prime Minister Stephen Harper made it...

Santa is naughty, not nice - so Harrods fires him LONDON (AP) - The famous British department store Harrods said Wednesday it had fired a Santa Claus who made ``inappropriate'' comments to adult visitors. Harrods said it was able to identify the rude Santa - known in Britain as Father...

By Dennis Bueckert OTTAWA (CP) - Health spending continues to outpace inflation and population growth but the rate of growth is slowing, says the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Canadians will spend $148 billion on health care this year or $4,548 per person, says an institute...

Fr John A. Hardon SJ By now, there must be as many definitions of the priesthood as there are dictionaries in print. But in the Catholic Church, the priest exists for one main purpose: to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass. So true is this that, without the priesthood, there would not only be...

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Our nettlesome task is to discover how to organize our strength into...

From Susan Munroe, 2001 Census Statistics on Languages in Canada Canada is increasingly becoming a multilingual society according to language statistics from the 2001 Census of Canada. Statistics Canada says that while most people in Canada speak English or French at home, one out of every six...

From Susan Munroe, Role and Responsibilities of the Canadian Prime Minister The prime minister is the head of government in Canada. The Canadian prime minister is usually the leader of the political party that wins the most seats in the House of Commons in a general election. The prime minister...