A video game that features a gunman stalking the halls of a suburban Vancouver high school has stirred up controversy but neither the police nor people associated with its creation think there's anything sinister about it.

The game, video of which was posted on YouTube, understandably set off alarms in the wake of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, and last December's murder two dozen children and teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.

In classic first-person-shooter style, it shows the player stalking the halls and rooms of Port Moody Secondary School, gunning down other apparently armed opponents to an ominous music soundtrack.

It's actually a "map" designed for the well-known game Counter-Strike, and not some twisted revenge fantasy, says game defender, Aarman Rahim, who says he's been wrongly identified as its developer.

GlobalBC News connected the game to Rahim, who it said once headed the school's chapter of Amnesty International.

Counter-Strike is a team

Read More »from Former B.C. high school student under fire for helping design violent game with his school as backdrop

Could British Columbia MP Joyce Murray be the next leader of the federal Liberals?

While a Justin Trudeau 'coronation' is still the likely scenario, things have gotten a lot more interesting over the past couple of weeks.

As explained by the Canadian Press, only less than half of the party's supporters signed up to vote before a Thursday midnight deadline.

Less than half the almost 300,000 people who signed up to take part in the federal Liberal leadership race have registered to vote, despite getting an extra week in which to do so.

Trudeau's team initially boasted that it had signed up 165,000 supporters, which was widely interpreted as assuring the front-runner a comfortable first-ballot victory.

However, the disappointing number who registered to vote may mean a closer contest than expected.

'A closer contest than expected' but can someone else possibly win?

How about Murray: who many feel is now second place in the contest?

[ Related: David Bertschi drops out of federal

Read More »from How Joyce Murray could beat Justin Trudeau and win the Liberal leadership race

Soon there might be no need to shove any dead deer to the side of the road, for the state is close to legalizing bringing roadkill home for dinner.The state of Montana has taken a new view of roadkill, namely that it's good eating.

Soon there might be no need to shove any dead deer to the side of the road, for the state is close to legalizing bringing roadkill home for dinner, according to Reuters.

[ Related: Is 'freeganism' a good idea? ]

A bill passed in the state Senate on Thursday allows residents to salvage big game they have hit with their cars, including moose and elk. The governor would still need to sign the bill in order for it to become law.

Several other states permit eating roadkill, according to Reuters, including Alaska and Idaho.

Roadkill moose has been salvaged in Canada by the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, for donation to charity events, according to the St. John's Telegram. However, the province stopped making those donations in 2009 because it wasn't always clear if the dead moose were diseased.

A Senator quoted by Reuters said the Montana Food Bank Network refused to accept roadkill donations.

Read More »from Bon Appetit! Montana passes bill to legalize eating roadkill

Pauline Marois' proposed Bill 14, the first substantial revision of Bill 101, Quebec's 1977 Charter of the French language, has sparked a language crisis in the province.

Bill 14 contains a whopping 155 proposed amendments to the Charter of the French Language, all of which are designed to enable francophones to never have to speak a non-French language as long as they reside within Quebec's borders. Bilingualism will be a thing of the past.

Barbara Kay outlines what she considers "a pathological attack on the sin of speaking English" in the National Post:

"To this end Bill 14 would co-opt all public institutions, municipalities, school boards, unions, private enterprises and even ordinary Quebecers as participants and – not to put too fine a point on it – occasional spies in the great common project of suppressing English. That the project would radically diminish the freedoms and quality of life of non-francophones seems irrelevant, perhaps even a matter of satisfaction, to this

Read More »from English language debated, faces uncertain future in Quebec with proposed rules

How did people in the political world amuse themselves before Twitter?

It seems everyday now a political gaffe turns into a Twitter trend.

[ Related: Twittersphere mocks Obama’s comparison of Israeli-Palestinian relations to U.S. and Canada ]

Today's trend comes courtesy of a communications staffer in the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) who mistakenly used the term 'Harper Canada' instead of 'Harper government' in a press release.

It has spurred a #HarperCanada Twitter frenzy:

"Harper Canada" announces $500K for sewage system in NS;twitpic.com/cdg3yz

— David Akin (@davidakin) March 22, 2013

DOES THIS MEAN WE CAN SEND HIM INTO SPACE AND ATTACH HIM TO THE SIDE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION? #HARPERARM #HARPERCANADA — SKYTANK (@SKYTANK) March 22, 2013

I don't want to live in #HarperCanada. I just want to live in regular Canada!!

— Canteach (@canteach) March 22, 2013

SupremeCourtofCanada ==>SupremeCourtofHarper#HarperCanadaSCC SCH — jude fleming (@flemingjude) March

Read More »from Gaffe mistakes government for ‘Harper Canada’ in press release, spawns Twitter trend

An Australian cyclist has made international news after befriending a thirsty koala on the side of the road.

Harley Johnstone told 9News that he saw a koala sitting by the road in Adelaide Hills, South Australia, as he rode past on his bicycle. When he pulled over and leaned the bike against a guard rail the marsupial didn't run away.

He guessed his new friend might be thirsty, he told the news outlet, so he opened his water bottle and shared a drink.

[ Related: Dog and lion cub share a beautiful friendship ]

After lapping up some water, the koala lets Johnstone pat it on the head and even licks his hand. The animal starts to paw at the water bottle, reaching with its clawed feet.

Another koala recently made human pals when it hitched a ride in their canoe.

Koalas are typically nocturnal animals that spend most of their time eating bundles of eucalyptus leaves, which can make them smell like cough drops, according to National Geographic.

Hunting and habitat destruction has left the

Read More »from Australian cyclist makes friends with a koala

Piper the cat lives in a drain pipe on the Atlanta BeltLine's Eastside trail.

A local celebrity, she has a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and regularly receives fan mail from local residents who drop notes in a miniature mailbox outside her drain pipe.

Walkers, joggers and cyclists have made Piper the BeltLine's mascot.

"When did you you decide you were going to write a letter to a cat?" 11Alive reporter Jeff Hullinger asked one woman as she delivered her letter to Piper.

"I discovered her two days ago while I was riding my bike and I noticed that people were coming to paying homage," she replied.

"She inspires me to get some exercise, I feed her, bring my cat food and plastic bags," another resident said.

As for Piper, she "writes" the following words of encouragement on Twitter:

"Stay frisky, my friends."

Read More »from Piper the cat lives in drain pipe, receives fan mail from local residents

Visitors stepped into the Royal Ontario Museum this week for a look at a piece of urban history — a layout of dead birds that had collided with Toronto buildings.

The Fatal Light Awareness Program, or appropriately, FLAP, hosts the yearly exhibition using collected corpses of birds that were victims of window collisions. Sounds like messy work.

2400 dead birds, victims of window collisions in Toronto in 2012 on display at the ROM twitter.com/FLAP_TO/status…

— FLAP (@FLAP_TO) March 22, 2013

[ Related: Killer kitties: Study says cats responsible for billions of bird deaths each year ]

Next to artifacts from ancient Cyprus and historical architecture from China, dead birds seem like a bizarre choice for a museum. But there's a point to make here.

It's that Toronto, not only its people but its very existence, is deadly to birds.

No wait, that wasn't it.

About a million birds are killed every year after colliding with buildings in Toronto, according to research by FLAP.

Since birds have

Read More »from Birds killed flying into buildings on display at Toronto museum