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The Chebucto Road area in Halifax is getting a new landmark. Construction is underway for a new community centre and mosque next to the Maritime Muslim Academy. "It’s unique in its architecture," said Hadi Salah, the academy’s principal and chairman of the centre’s building committee. The new centre’s brick facade will blend in with neighbouring buildings, which include the academy and the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts. However, the structure will also feature windows and domed roofs that will make it instantly identifiable as a mosque. The $6-million project should be done in 12 to 14 months, Mr. Salah said....

The head of an anti-sealing group is upset that Halifax Regional Police aren’t pressing charges again a Metro Transit driver who stopped his bus, ran toward the protesters and pretended to attack a mock seal with an extendable baton. The incident, which happened at about 12:40 p.m. Saturday in front of the main entrance to the Public Gardens, has prompted the transit company to relieve the driver of his duties pending a full investigation. During that time, the driver will receive full pay. The director of the Atlantic Canadian Anti-Sealing Coalition said it’s "extremely alarming" that no charges have been...

A Halifax man fears a judge will send his three teenage children back to live with their mother, a dominatrix who admits to dressing her teenage daughter in bondage gear and posing for photos with her in a sex dungeon. The daughter, then 15, posted the photos, which include a shot of her wearing a dog collar and leash held by her mom, on the Internet last June. When the father saw those, he called child protection workers, who alerted Halifax Regional Police. On the advice of a child welfare worker, all three teens moved out of the home. The...

Skillfully crafted from tin cans, matchsticks and off cuts, one can only imagine the satisfaction a prisoner of war derived from finishing this stunning model aircraft as he languished in Stalag Luft III. Constructed almost perfectly to scale, his detailed version of a Lancaster Bomber like the one he flew before his capture even bears what appears to be the skull and crossbones logo of RAF 100 Squadron, famous for its night-time raids.Little is known about its maker, other than that he was an airman named E Taylor.     The model was found during a clearance sale at house...

Excerpt - LONDON (Reuters) - Police arrested two men in northern England under the country's security laws on Tuesday and were searching five properties. The men, aged 25 and 29, were arrested at separate locations in Halifax at about 6 a.m. by detectives from London's Counter Terrorism Command and local West Yorkshire officers under the Terrorism Act 2000, police said in statement. Police were examining four properties in Halifax and an address in north London. The arrested men are being taken to the capital for questioning later on Tuesday. ~ snip ~

A peaceful protest turned tense yesterday when some Muslim students confronted a Halifax professor who drew criticism for posting contentious cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad on his office door. Peter March, a philosophy professor at Saint Mary's University, said he was merely trying to promote a reasoned debate when he suddenly showed up in the midst of 100 protestors. "You can't do philosophy directly and honestly without causing inflammation," he said as the protest march was getting started. "It's one of the side effects, rather like surgery." When students realized who he was, a group of angry youths started shouting,...

Some Halifax-area Realtors have had more than anxious sellers and nervous buyers to worry about lately, as at least three have become the victims of an obscene caller’s fixation. Halifax RCMP are investigating, and the 1,300-member Nova Scotia Association of Realtors recently issued a warning through its website that a man who makes numerous disturbing calls is targeting young male Realtors. Troy, a 30-year-old Realtor who is married with an infant daughter, said he first heard from the man about three weeks ago. “One night I received a call, just a sexual call, really late at night, and then two...

Today, it's Halifax's turn to play host, as it welcomes Rosie O'Donnell and friends ashore. The former talk-show host and about 2,200 other passengers will disembark from the cruise ship Norwegian Dawn for a taste of the city's hospitality. The cruise organizers - Rosie's wife, Kelli, and Kelli's business partner, Gregg Kaminsky - chose Halifax because same-sex marriage is legal here and because the city is known as gay-friendly. Ten couples from the ship will get married at Pier 21 today, starting at 8:30 a.m. "We heard that the trip was coming, and one of our members said we should...

HALIFAX – Three archeologists are digging through what is likely the remains of a rich man’s privy. Developers want to build a $20-million hotel and residential development beside Halifax’s Brewery Market. But provincial law dictates that scientists armed with trowels and hoes get to comb the site first, looking for artifacts of historical significance. Yesterday the cultural detectives were concentrating on the brick foundation of what they suspect was once a large outhouse. “There’s no unpleasant surprises,” said Stephen Davis, the Saint Mary’s University archeologist leading the dig. Among buckets of ash from coal-fired furnaces that filled the old outhouse,...

Although she can't remember the blast, it doesn't take long for Lenora Cross to start chatting avidly about her incredible Halifax Explosion experience. The soft-spoken Dartmouth woman was born Nov. 10, 1917 - just 26 days before the Mont Blanc and the Imo collided in Halifax Harbour, creating a catastrophic eruption that totalled north-end Halifax, devastated parts of Dartmouth and killed or wounded more than 10,000 people. Mrs. Cross was one of at least 20 Halifax Explosion survivors who gathered at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic on Sunday afternoon for a public reception to commemorate the disaster's anniversary. It...

JOHN WARD OTTAWA (CP) - Tongue firmly in cheek, President George W. Bush (news - web sites) paid tribute Wednesday to his mythical Canadian supporter, Jean Poutine. While he may have the reputation of a mangler of the English language, Bush used his Canadian visit to show that he - or his speech writers - can deliver a wit-laden line. The quips during his Canadian visit covered the landscape from the mad cow crisis, to hockey, to protesters and even a Rick Mercer CBC spoof. In Halifax on Wednesday, Bush gestured towards Prime Minister Paul Martin. "Paul and I share...

Yesterday, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge announced his resignation. President Bush said, "Tom Ridge has been a key member of my Cabinet, working to help make America safer and stronger." Today, President and Laura Bush traveled from Quebec to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the president delivered a speech thanking Canadians for helping stranded American airline passengers due to the attacks on 9/11. The First Couple returned to DC after their visit to Halifax, where President Bush received Nobel Prize winners in the Oval Office. Secretary of State Colin Powell is in Haiti, where gunfire erupted around the presidential palace where...

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you very much. (Applause.) Please be seated. Thank you all very much. Thanks for the warm welcome. Mr. Prime Minister, thank you, and Mrs. Martin, for a fantastic dinner last night in Ottawa. We really loved it. My only regret today is that Laura is not with me. She is -- went home to thank those who have been decorating the White House for the great Christmas season that's coming up. I married well. (Laughter.) I appreciate the Premiers who are here. Premier Hamm, thank you for your hospitality. Premier Lord, Premier Binns, and Premier Williams, I...

OTTAWA - George W. Bush rode into town on a world-reconciliation tour offering kind words for Canada but not a shred of contrition for his unilateralist foreign policy Tuesday. He was unrepentant, however, when asked about Canadian distaste for his policies and cited his recent U.S. electoral triumph as justification for his invasion of Iraq. "I'm the kind of fella who does what I think is right and will continue to do what I think is right," Bush said. "I'll consult with our friends and neighbours, but if I think it's right to remove Saddam Hussein for the security of...

Listen live to streaming signal. Requires broadband connection and WMP. Fine on my Mac, with occasional skip caused by a problem at CBC.

...So it's refreshing to learn that Canada's hoi polloi (i.e., the silent majority) take a far different view of the U.S. According to poll results released yesterday, some 71% of Canadians identify the U.S. as their country's closest friend. In addition, 60% say they have "positive" feelings about America, while a further 25% say their feelings are "somewhat positive".... The main reason given for the close ties is trade and economic relations. The poll was commissioned by the non-profit Friends of America.... Despite occasional disagreements, the two countries have a better relationship than any other border states in the world...

HALIFAX (CP) - Investigators in the fatal crash of a massive cargo jet near Halifax have virtually ruled out overloading as the cause and are instead probing the mystery of why the engines were underpowered at takeoff. Bill Fowler, lead investigator with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, told The Canadian Press the flight data recorder shows the MK Airlines 747 jet's weight at takeoff was "fairly close to" 352,400 kilograms. That was the maximum the plane was allowed to weigh for the runway at Halifax International Airport on Oct. 14. "Bottom line, we do not see at this time...

HALIFAX (CP) -- The tail section of a Boeing 747 snapped off seconds before the loaded cargo jet crashed into woods at the end of a runway at Halifax International Airport early Thursday, killing all seven crew members. "Our thoughts and our prayers go to the families of those killed in this tragedy," said Pat Chapman, a spokesperson for the airport authority. The tail of the wide-body plane, owned by MK Airlines Ltd. of Britain and Ghana, lay in a field at the end of the runway, inside the fence surrounding the airport property. "The aircraft basically didn't take off,"...

A Boeing 747-200 aircraft with seven crew members aboard crashed Thursday at Halifax International Airport. All seven aboard the jet, which is owned by MK Airlines Ltd. of Britain and Ghana, were killed, say Canadian authorities. The aircraft was loaded with fish, lobsters and lawn tractors, they say. Parts of the 747 are made at Boeing Wichita. Boeing Seattle spokeswoman Liz Verdier says a three-person team has been dispatched to the scene. Boeing usually dispatches an investigation team to the site of crashes involving its jets, especially one involving its largest product, the 747 model. Verdier says it has been...

No survivors in Halifax plane crash Seven crew confirmed dead Mike Tutton Canadian Press October 14, 2004 A firefighter walks past a large section of a Boeing 747-200 cargo plane owned by British-based MK Airlines at the Halifax International Airport. (CP/Andrew Vaughan) CREDIT: MK Airlines The MK Airlines plane that crashed during takeoff was a Boeing 747, similar to the one shown here. HALIFAX -- A loaded cargo jet bound for Spain with seven crew members aboard crashed into woods at the end of a runway at Halifax International Airport early Thursday after its tail snapped off during takeoff. Police...