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Metro Snapshot: May 15, 2008 – Metro US

Metro Snapshot: May 15, 2008

Lucky drivers at the pumps yesterday were handed cash equaling the amount of tax they paid to fill up. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation staged protests at nine gas stations across Canada reimbursing gas tax to drivers, calling for lower gas taxes. Meanwhile, Stephane Dion is defending his proposal to bring in a carbon tax, accusing the Conservatives of spreading lies about the environment-focused plan before they’ve even seen it. In Nova Scotia, Premier Rodney MacDonald is asking Stephen Harper to reconsider moving a coast guard training vessel from Cape Breton to Quebec as he feels it will have a “detrimental impact” on the training of new recruits, while the military is studying whether its fleet of 40-year-old Sea King helicopters can have their lifespan extended. The Calgary zoo is downplaying reports that the 40 stingrays that died in a hands-on exhibit may have been poisoned.

China has issued a public appeal for rescue equipment as the government struggles to cope with the aftermath of the earthquake that has killed more than 19,500 people, while Myanmar aid operations were disrupted by heavy rains. There are approximately 2.5 million people in urgent need of food, water and shelter. In the States, the U.S. Interior Department is listing polar bears as a threatened species in danger of extinction, which obliges the government to devise a protection plan for the animals, but there will be no limits on the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the loss of sea ice habitats. Hillary Clinton could also be in danger of extinction after John Edwards endorsed former rival Barack Obama.

Marissa Miller is called the hottest woman in the world, Paul McCartney is in hot water for having a hybrid car flown in from Japan, William Shatner talks about getting hot and heavy with Star Trek fans, and a Fahrenheit 9/11 sequel is in the works.