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Canada will formally withdraw its stand from the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, the country's minister of the environment Peter Kent has said, making it the first nation to pull out of the global treaty.  The protocol "does not represent a way forward for Canada" and would have forced it to take "radical and irresponsible choices", Mr. Kent said in Toronto on Monday. He added that it was a mistake for Canada to have signed up for Kyoto: "As we have said, Kyoto for Canada is in the past ... We are invoking our legal right to formally withdraw from Kyoto." "The Kyoto protocol does not cover the world's two largest emitters, China and the US, and therefore cannot work," he said. China, which argues that it should be exempt from emissions reduction targets because it is a developing nation, said Canada's decision was "regrettable" and went against international efforts to tackle climate change. "We...

Sales of trucks and passenger cars were both down as the number of new motor vehicles sold dropped 4.8 per cent in Canada in August this year. That's 128,764 new vehicles. Statistics Canada reports preliminary industry data indicate new vehicle sales increased four per cent in September. Sales of trucks (which include minivans, sport-utility vehicles, light and heavy trucks, vans and buses) fell 5.2 per cent to 73,002 in August after four straight monthly increases. The agency says passenger cars sales dropped 4.3 per cent to 55,762. North American-built car sales dropped 5.7 per cent and were the main contributor to the decline, while sales of overseas-built cars fell 2.6 per cent. New vehicle sales dropped seven provinces in August. The largest gain was in Alberta, where sales increased 2.4 per cent.

Home sales in Canada were down 20 per cent in September from the record highs of last year in what the chief economist of Canada's main real estate industry group described Friday as a trend that will continue well into next year. The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) said Friday that 33,913 homes were sold in September, up three per cent from last month and the most since May. But sales were still significantly lower than the 42,431 recorded last September, when buyers flocked to the market as the economy showed signs of recovery from the recession. "They were pretty strong year-ago numbers, so that's to be expected," CREA's chief economist, Gregory Klump, said of the drop in comparative numbers. However, he noted that this September's sales reflected similar sales for the month in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Prices were little changed from last year at $331,089. Unfavourable year-over-year comparisons are expected to continue into the second quart...

One may think it as a dream! But now it is reality to Gabrielle Gress,a courageous and youngest teen of the world who showed his charismatic tactics and controlling ability to the world on September 14 this year. At the age of 14, Winter Haven girl has already started setting flight records, not just in her town but all over the world. Gabrielle Gress became the world's youngest person to ever fly a multiple aircraft in the same day after she flew two airplanes and one helicopter solo at an airport outside Toronto, Canada during her birthday last Sept. 14. “The record I broke is being the youngest person to solo aircraft, (fly) an airplane and helicopter,” Gress said. She beat the previous age record by three months. Gress, already an accomplished pilot, trains every day or even twice a day at times at the Winter Haven Airport. She had to taxi out her plane, take off, fly a designated pattern in the sky then land and taxi back in, she said. Gabrielle...