Canada imposed Monday a fresh round of sanctions on Syria targeting the central bank and seven cabinet ministers in a bid to halt President Bashar al-Assad's deadly crackdown on dissent.

The Canadian embassy in Damascus and a consulate also were shuttered and Canadian diplomats left the country, the foreign affairs ministry said.

The Swiss group Nestle said on Friday it was the first company in Britain to remove artificial flavors in all its confectionery products such as Smarties or Rolo.

The company said in a statement that it had replaced artificial colors, flavors and preservatives with natural ingredients in all 79 confectionery products it sells in Britain.

People around the world share their deep secrets with Frank Warren and he, in turn, reveals them to all.

Confessions drawn, pasted or written on postcards flow relentlessly into his mailbox and Warren provides as many as possible with time in the spotlight at his website,PostSecret.com.

A Canadian Via Rail passenger train derailed west of Toronto Sunday, killing three railroad employees and injuring dozens of passengers, officials said.

Via Rail spokeswoman Michelle Lamarche said the three people killed were all engineers riding in the cab of the locomotive at the front of the train when it derailed in Burlington, Ontario. A fourth Via worker in the locomotive was injured, she said.

Top economic powers at the G20 meeting in Mexico's capital this weekend were set to urge Europe to do more to tackle its financial crisis before they commit to new funding for the IMF.

The European Union is seeking to gain support for an additional $500 billion of resources for the International Monetary Fund at the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in Mexico City on Saturday and Sunday.

A veterinary medical association in Western Canada announced Friday a ban on the cosmetic cropping of dogs' ears, but some breeders warn it could lead to torn floppy ears.

The Manitoba Veterinary Medical Association passed the bylaw at its annual general meeting on February 3 after all four of Canada's eastern maritime provinces enacted similar bans, but only now publicized it.

Hundreds of protesters demonstrated Saturday in New York and pacifist groups took to the streets in dozens of other U.S. and Canadian cities in a "Day of Mass Action" against a possible war with Iran.

About 500 protesters gathered in Manhattan's Times Square and marched to the headquarters of the U.S. mission to the United Nations and to the Israeli consulate.

Canada has expelled four Russian diplomats following the arrest last weekend of a Canadian soldier charged with leaking secrets to a foreign entity, Canadian media reports said Friday.

But in Moscow, the Russian foreign ministry denied the reports.

Canada has expelled four Russian diplomats following the arrest last weekend of a Canadian soldier charged with leaking secrets to a foreign entity, a newspaper reported Friday.

Canada's Globe and Mail said the four diplomats had been removed from the list of envoys officially recognized by Canada, while the CBC news service said at least some of them had left the country over the spying case.

Doctors in a domed laboratory in Canada are designing a virtual world where they hope to one day treat traumatized children with colorful avatars using toy-like medical gadgets.

Sensory stimulation could be used to make a burn victim feel she is encased in a block of ice. Three-dimensional images of a child's bedroom at home could make him forget he is in a hospital.