National Post - Top Stories

Eleven killed in horrific southwestern Ontario crash

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:51:22 Z

In the worst road disaster in recent Ontario memory, eleven people were killed Monday night when a flatbed truck crashed into a passenger van carrying 13 migrant workers in a rural area west of Kitchener, Ont.

Canada's lucrative policy pivot on China

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:46:48 Z

Peter Goodspeed: Like the U.S., Canada is in the midst of a foreign policy pivot in Asia. But while Washington looks to contain Beijing militarily, Ottawa is seeking to expand trade

Caterpillar's EMD facility never really was ‘our’ plant

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:29:28 Z

Andrew Coyne: By now, the nationalist version of last week's closing of Caterpillar's London, Ont., plant has been firmly established in the public mind

Paxton guilty of sex assault against former roommate

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:11:56 Z

Dustin Ward Paxton has been found guilty of aggravated assault and sexual assault against his 28-year-old former roommate and business partner

Inquiry chief denies ‘cover-up’ in Pickton case

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 02:39:35 Z

Emotions boiled over Monday at the inquiry examining investigations of killer Robert Pickton, with the commissioner angrily denying he's enabling a “cover-up,” followed by a lawyer repeating the accusation and walking out

Kenneth Mark's sad, lonely death

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:07:22 Z

Christie Blatchford: The pathologist kept repeating that Kenneth Mark had a big heart, to be expected in a 6-foot-4 man. He didn't know that other witnesses testified the same thing, but they meant to describe his spirit

Few refugees recognized from Sun Sea, Ocean Lady

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:02:59 Z

The refugee claims from the nearly 600 Sri Lankans who paid smugglers to ferry them to Canada are moving slowly and face dwindling odds of success, new statistics show

Reassessment of alcohol’s death toll fuels call for higher liquor tax

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:17:25 Z

Canada should consider a lower blood-alcohol limit, higher liquor taxes and other measures to curb drinking, a group of University of Toronto researchers is urging after calculating a new and larger estimate of alcohol’s annual death toll

Man says former PM’s brain could prove he’s Diefenbaker’s son

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:22:12 Z

John George Dryden says he could be John Diefenbaker’s son and has new leads that might prove it, including a tip that the former prime minister’s brain is preserved

Obama hits back at Iran bank's 'deceptive practices,' imposes tough new sanctions

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:40:23 Z

Barack Obama tightened sanctions on Iran another notch, targeting its central bank and giving U.S. banks new powers to freeze assets linked to the government

Ecstasy deaths in B.C., Alberta spark debate over poisonous problem

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:17:33 Z

Cheryl McCormack, 17, of Abbotsford, died after popping ecstasy with her high school friends during a sleepover. They thought it would help them lose weight

Woman who escaped from Pickton not ‘credible,’ inquiry hears

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:36:53 Z

The woman, known to the inquiry as 'Ms. Anderson,' broke free from handcuffs at Pickton’s trailer in March 1997 and escaped after a bloody knife fight with him

Byelection for Jack Layton's former riding delayed by administrative 'oversight'

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:31:15 Z

An “administrative error” has prompted the federal government to push back the date of a byelection in Toronto-Danforth, a spokesperson in the Prime Minister’s Office said Monday

Radical cleric, alleged bin Laden aide to be released on bail in U.K.

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:04:06 Z

A U.K. judge has ordered the release of Abu Qatada, allegedly a former top aide to Osama bin Laden, despite government concerns he poses a security risk

Victims of Norway massacre weep, ridicule Breivik as killer decries immigration

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:15:53 Z

Survivors and relatives of those killed in a Norwegian mass-murder rampage wept and ridiculed the smiling attacker in court Monday as he defended his acts by issuing a tirade against immigration

Toronto transit chief’s petition denounced as ‘coup’ by Rob Ford ally

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:49:03 Z

TTC Chair Karen Stintz has submitted a petition with 24 signatures on it calling for a special meeting to resurrect part of the light rail plan known as Transit City, even as one Ford ally denounced her efforts as a “coup”

Bearded and breastfeeding – the story of a pregnant man

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:18:28 Z

As Neil Hope puts it, being pregnant is a bit of a public 'spectacle,' prompting even complete strangers to comment on the expectant parent’s condition

Canadian home prices rose in January: CREA

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:36:37 Z

Canadian housing prices rose in January on a monthly basis for the first time in three months, according to a report from the Canadian Real Estate Association

Sheldon Alberts: Romney is running out of first impressions

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:12:34 Z

Sheldon Alberts: Mitt Romney won easily in Nevada, but just one month into the Republican primary process, he is in danger of losing control of his political narrative

Children who are spanked more aggressive: study

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:29:36 Z

In one study, designed to reduce difficult behaviour in children, researchers found that families that reduced their use of physical punishment saw a decline in aggression and anti-social behaviour in their children

Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal given to 60 Canadians

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:13:29 Z

The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal – one of a series of national celebratory gestures to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s ascent to the throne – was given to 60 Canadians Monday at Rideau Hall

Washington home explosion that killed man and his two sons called a murder-suicide

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:36:10 Z

A house explosion on Sunday that killed a father and two boys and involved a bitter custody dispute has been dubbed a double murder-suicide, authorities said

15-year-old hockey player dies after collapsing in game near Ottawa

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:26:19 Z

A 15-year-old hockey player died in hospital early Monday morning after collapsing during a game Sunday evening in Carp, Ont. — just west of Ottawa

Stop ‘blabbing’ about attacking Iran, Netanyahu tells his government officials

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:58:19 Z

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu warned officials to stop 'blabbing' about the possibility of an attack targeting Iran’s nuclear program, the newspaper Maariv reported Monday

Josefina Vasquez Mota becomes Mexico conservatives’ first female presidential candidate

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:30:19 Z

Voters from Mexico’s ruling conservative party selected their first woman presidential candidate on Sunday, choosing a former education minister to battle the opposition’s nominee, who has a big lead in the polls

Syrian forces hammer Homs, kill dozens more after UN peace plans blocked

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:56:25 Z

'This is the most violent bombardment in recent days,' said one activist in Syria who was in touch with Homs residents. Another activist said forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were using multiple rocket launchers in the attack

Five dead, dozens wounded after explosion levels Pakistan factory

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:49:55 Z

A three-storey factory collapsed on Monday in the Pakistani city of Lahore after a gas explosion, killing at least five people and trapping dozens, emergency officials said

Obama bests Romney in latest poll

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:47:47 Z

President Barack Obama — bolstered by a stronger economic outlook and recent job growth — would win in a match-up against the two leading Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, a poll on Monday showed

Greenpeace calls Moscow nuclear facility fire ‘extremely dangerous’ despite official reassurances

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:37:12 Z

There was no risk of a radiation leak after a fire started Sunday at a Moscow nuclear research centre housing a non-operational 60-year-old atomic reactor, officials said, but Greenpeace Russia expressed serious concerns

Rex Murphy: The Thomas de Quincey school of Canadian gun control

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:09:55 Z

Rex Murphy: Do Ian Thomson’s tormentors believe that there are arsonists and murderers out there who may decline into jay-walking, then to smoking in a park, and finally, to The Unsafe Storage of Firearms?

Romney gets easy win in Nevada GOP caucuses

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:53:55 Z

Republican front-runner Mitt Romney crushed his three remaining rivals in Nevada Saturday, taking firm command of the party’s volatile presidential nominating race

Tentative deal reached in Toronto labour dispute

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:31:45 Z

The tentative deal between the city and the union representing its outside workers came after an all-night session that sought to avoid a labour disruption

Super Bowl comes down to execution

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:11:17 Z

Post reporter Matt Scianitti looks at the matchup between the New York Giants and New England Patriots ahead of the big game.

Former Jack Layton riding byelection called for March 12

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:12:46 Z

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called a byelection for former NDP leader Jack Layton’s riding of Toronto-Danforth, to take place on March 12

Christie Blatchford: Shafia defence so quick to strike righteous pose

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:07:40 Z

How amusing it was to read this week in the unofficial organ of the criminal defence bar about potential avenues of appeal in the just-ended honour-killing trial in Kingston, Ont.

Torture, executions are daily occurrences at North Korea’s ‘rehabilitation’ gulags

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:56:32 Z

Modern gulags include Kwanliso 15 at Yodok, 128 km east of Pyongyang. With 50,000 political prisoners, it is one of the most rapidly growing camps in North Korea

Alain de Botton’s atheist temple may prove religion is more relevant than ever

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:26:49 Z

For the launch of his book, Religion for Atheists, Alain de Botton unveiled a plan for the first of what he hopes will be a network of atheistic shrines

Andrew Coyne: Nasty as Caterpillar may be, it had the jobs workers wanted

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:06:47 Z

The closing of the London, Ont., Caterpillar plant is a terrible blow to the workers and the city. It can hardly come as a surprise, however

Pickton case 'has all the familiar hallmarks of a police cover-up': lawyer

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:36:20 Z

Cameron Ward represents the families of 23 missing and murdered women at the Pickton inquiry. Five months in, his faith in the process has crumbled

Kelly McParland: Deficit report reveals decrepit state of Ontario finances

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:29:03 Z

Ontario voters and taxpayers could be forgiven if they awoke Friday with the sense they’d been badly duped