Most recent entries for December 2010

CBC community members comment on popular stories every day, often creating involved discussions and adding to the overall news experience. We value your comments, and here we present some of your views on the year's most-discussed stories.

Further reading:

G20

G20 crowds, police engage in standoffs
CBC Street Level G20 blog                                                                                         
Eyes on the street: Your images of the G20 in Toronto 

Prorogued parliament protested

CAPPWatch: Liveblogging the Ottawa anti-prorogation rally 
Little support for proroguing parliament: poll

The CBCNews.ca Your Voice team works with you to help tell stories important to Canadians. Throughout the year, we've received hundreds of your photos, videos and personal accounts of news events, at home and abroad. Your contributions added colour and context to stories ranging from natural disasters to the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and the G20 summit in Toronto. While it's impossible to feature every piece of great content we've received from you, this year-end roundup highlights some of the best CBC News community content of 2010.

Anguish in Haiti as bodies are pulled from the rubble following a deadly earthquake. (Patrick Farrell/Associated Press, The Miami Herald)

Haiti

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake that stuck Haiti on Jan. 12 left Canadians scrambling to find missing relatives and friends. In an effort to help (Canada having the largest Haitian population outside the Caribbean country), the Your Voice team developed a photo gallery that enabled people to upload information and images of missing loved ones. The goal was to assist people on CBCNews.ca who were trying to obtain news about family and friends at a time when this information could be scarce. The team also pulled tweets and photos from the ground, hosted live chats about the recovery situation, and posted blog entries from individuals in Haiti who were helping with the rescue effort or searching for loved ones. Three months after the earthquake, CBC News worked with families who had lost loved ones to create the Haiti Legacy Project, honouring their memories.

• Photo gallery: Haiti missing persons
  
• Haiti Legacy project
  
• Live chat replay: Haiti earthquake
  
• Citizen Bytes: Stories from Haiti
  

Wayne Gretzky poses with a fan at a Vancouver sports apparel company. (Submitted by ShelbyThom)

Jan. 1 marks the beginning of a new calendar year, but for many of us, the start of the new year represents something deeper than just the passing of time: it can represent a clean slate and the chance to start fresh. It's why so many people declare life-changing goals around this time -- New Year's resolutions.

For January's photo contest, we want to celebrate the spirit of starting anew and see images that capture your interpretation of "beginnings." Perhaps you've just moved into a new home and plan to fill it with a lifetime of memories. Or maybe you're beginning an adventure in a foreign place that you always promised yourself you'd visit. We encourage you to get creative and to tell us the story behind your photos.  

The contest opens Dec. 31. Send your photos by Jan. 21. We'll feature the five best submissions Jan. 24 and give you a chance to vote for your favourite until Jan. 31. The winner will be announced Feb. 4, so be sure to check back.

The winner will receive a DVD copy of Africa on the Move, a documentary series that captures the vibrancy of Africa's diverse people and rich cultures, courtesy of the CBC Shop. Click here for more information.

Upload your images here or to our CBC Your Voice Flickr Pool, tagged with the words "January photo contest," or email them to: yournews@cbc.ca with "January photo contest" in the subject line.

  The green substance in B.C.'s Goldstream River on Wednesday is under analysis. (Marion Little)

Ont. woman slashed in Jamaica returns home

The Ontario woman allegedly slashed by her husband in Jamaica last week returned home late Wednesday afternoon, a Toronto airport official confirmed.
Read more

Montreal nanny reunites with Filipino family

A Filipina woman working as a nanny in Montreal has been reunited with her family thanks to a Good Samaritan, after being swindled by a crooked travel agency.
Read more

Canadian gives birth to royal great-grandchild

Buckingham Palace says Queen Elizabeth has become a great-grandmother, thanks to Canadian Autumn Phillips.
Read more

Mystery green substance in B.C. river

Some water in a river on Vancouver Island has turned neon green, prompting an investigation by B.C. Environment Ministry officials.
Read more

Oldest von Trapp sister dies

Agathe von Trapp, one of two surviving members of the original Trapp Family Singers, has died. She was 97.
Read more

1. Wife talks in Jamaica attempted murder case

A woman who says her husband slashed her throat in Jamaica last week is planning a return to her home in Ajax, Ont., after testifying at a preliminary hearing.

Read more.

2. U.A.E. hits Canadians with pricey visa fees

Canadians headed to the United Arab Emirates will have to pay as much as $1,000 for new visa requirements starting in January.

Read more.

3. Montreal police car involved in fatal crash

Quebec provincial police are investigating an accident involving a Montreal police car that left one person dead and three injured Tuesday.

Read more.

4. Ottawa man's body found in Charlottetown harbour

A body recovered from the Charlottetown harbour Wednesday afternoon is that of a missing Ottawa man, P.E.I. police have confirmed.

Read more.

5. Montreal nanny reunites with Filipino family

A Filipina woman working as a nanny in Montreal has been reunited with her family thanks to a Good Samaritan, after being swindled by a crooked travel agency.

Read more.

By Adam Vrankulj

On today's edition on Daily Radar, Usher and Homer Simpson fight for musical credit in a YouTube video; Twitter has people sharing awkward moments; a camera strapped to a sword shows a dizzying effect; a fight over french fries gets out of hand and a man steals a taxi and tries to register it to drive.

 A video making the rounds online today shows some close melodic similarities between Usher's song, OMG and a song sung by Homer Simpson in an older episode of The Simpsons. Watch the video for yourself here, and decide if this close melody is a coincidence or not.

A popular hashtag trending high on Twitter today has people sharing what they think is awkward. #thatawkwardmomentwhen has been trending all morning, and is being shared heavily. Some humourous examples so far have been, "you delete someone from your phone, and then they text you #thatawkwardmomentwhen," and "when you wave at someone and they don't wave back #thatawkwardmomentwhen."

A top trending video online today has people's heads spinning. Filmed from the perspective of the tip of a sword, this video shows what it would look like if you taped a camera to the tip of a sword and swung it around your head. Appearing motionless, the people in this video swinging the sword are clearly amused by the results.

A man in Sandusky, Ohio, tried to return french fries to a McDonald's restaurant, and some salty language was exchanged, CBC reported. Authorities say a customer refused fries suggesting they weren't fresh, and then got into a fight with a worker behind the counter. Witnesses say the customer called the employee a derogatory name, and was then threatened by the defensive worker brandishing a mop. The police came, and the customer left without french fries. 

A man in northern California stole a taxi and then tried to register it at a department of motor vehicles office, CBC reported. Jermaine Grosse, 26, was arrested Monday on suspicion of auto theft and forgery. Before the incident, Grosse had just been released from a hospital after a psychiatric evaluation. If it wasn't the licence plate number that gave it away, the obvious fact that the vehicle was a taxi would have been hard to miss.

As North Americans gear up for Christmas Day, many children in the eastern hemisphere are waking up to find presents delivered by Santa Claus (or a family member on behalf of old Saint Nick).

In fact, for 55 years now, North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) has offered a holiday service to track Santa's journey, beginning with a telephone hotline in the early days to now using Google Maps, YouTube, and social networking sites to provide updates. Check out the embedded map to track his progress.

Of course, Christmas isn't just about presents under the tree. It's a holiday that means many different things to many different people. This is a time of year when people reconnect with family, friends, and spiritual traditions.

We want to know how you celebrate Christmas. Do you put up decorations, exchange gifts, or attend religious services? Does your family has its own unique customs. Show us how you celebrate Christmas by uploading your photos here, emailing them to yournews@cbc.ca, sharing them in our Flickr pool, or tweeting them to @CBCYOURVOICE. You can also upload your Christmas videos here and holiday video greetings here.

We've already received photos of people showing their unique Christmas customs. Thea Kurdi sent us this picture of the family Christmas tree. "No you're not seeing things," Kurdi wrote. "This is an upside-down tree we got from Hammacher Schlemmer a few years back when our son was two. His toys had taken over the living room and his little hands would not have stayed off the ornaments so this was a good all around solution. Everyone loves it." Please send us your Christmas tree photos.

(Submitted by Thea Kurdi)

CBCNews.ca community member nevhill's wife sets up an annual holiday village scene, complete with train set and carollers. This picture was submitted to the Deck Our Walls photo gallery here.

(Submitted by nevhill)

Send us your Christmas tradition stories, photos, and video, and we'll feature some in our community blog. Happy holidays!

For December's photo contest, we wanted to see images that represented the word "lights" to you. Light -- whether from a Christmas tree or a flickering candle or a garland of a holiday decorations -- can often provide a lift during these shorter days and longer nights. They're also an important part of many holiday traditions.

Thanks to everyone who submitted entries into this month's contest. You can see our Top 5 finalists in the gallery below. You have until Dec. 31 to vote for your favourite photo. The winner will receive a CD prize pack courtesy of CBC Radio 2. Happy holidays!

(This survey is not scientific. It is based on readers' responses.)

At this time of year, many public officials make their annual holiday addresses, and they often end up going viral online.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered his annual holiday message Thursday, and highlighted large-scale Canadian events over the past year. Specifically, Harper mentioned Canada's success at the Vancouver Olympics, the G8/G20 summits and a visit from the Queen.

"It was a year during which Canada shone," he said. "We did ourselves proud." 

You can watch the prime minister's holiday address here. 

On the other side of the Atlantic, Queen Elizabeth will give her annual Christmas Day message Friday, but the content she will cover is already known.

According to the Guardian, "The Queen's Christmas message to the nation will highlight the importance of sport as a medium that can help build communities and create harmony." 

The address will also focus on how sport can be used to develop crucial social skills.
Even the astronauts at the International Space Station gave their own holiday address from space. You can watch their holiday address here.

Now it's your turn to address the nation with your reflections and well wishes. What would you say in a recorded holiday address? Upload a video yourself making a year-end holiday address, and we'll feature it with others sent to us in a separate post next week.

You can upload your video here or you can send it to yournews@cbc.ca with "holiday address" in the subject line.