TORONTO - Mayor Rob Ford broke his week-long silence Friday to deny he smokes crack cocaine and to lambaste the media for judging him, but his assertions seemed unlikely to douse the raging flames of scandal that have engulfed him.

BEIJING, China - A top North Korean envoy has delivered a letter from leader Kim Jong Un to Chinese President Xi Jinping and told him Pyongyang would take steps to rejoin stalled nuclear disarmament talks, in an apparent victory for Beijing's efforts to coax its unruly ally into lowering tensions.

HALIFAX - The Canadian Hurricane Centre is backing U.S. predictions of an active season this year, telling residents in the Atlantic provinces to brace themselves for a handful of major hurricanes.

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. - The trucker was hauling a load of drilling equipment when his load bumped against the steel framework over an Interstate 5 bridge. He looked in his rearview mirror and watched in horror as the span collapsed into the water behind him. Two vehicles fell into the icy Skagit River.

Kinder Morgan Canada's proposal to increase the capacity of its Trans Mountain pipeline calls for 30 oil tankers a month to load up with Alberta crude at its terminal in Burnaby, B.C., — up from about one per week.

SASKATOON - Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, once a staunch supporter of a reformed federal Senate, has given up the fight.

National Bank (TSX:NA) says it's interested in new acquisitions but will be very selective about which sectors it looks to.

A retired Canadian police officer slain in Mexico is being remembered as a generous and loving woman who dedicated a lot of her time to helping animals.

OTTAWA - As the federal ethics commissioner readies for a third look at Stephen Harper's former right-hand man, Mary Dawson is reminding Canadians her office can only look so far.

MONTREAL - The spirits of Canadian politicians were soaring Friday with news that the country's only UN agency, the International Civil Aviation Organization, will not be flying the coop.