Canadian motorists should brace for gasoline prices of $1.75 per litre as tropical storm Gustav threatens to shut down oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, according to a report released Friday.

With weather agencies calling for another active hurricane season, CIBC World Markets is warning that pump prices could spike if the 2005 storm season that saw hurricanes Katrina and Rita is repeated.

Gustav is expected to reach the Gulf of Mexico by Sunday.

“Only three years after hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production, an emerging hurricane storm is tracking another potentially lethal swath through America’s energy heartland,” said Jeff Rubin, CIBC’s chief economist. “And with both oil and gasoline inventories much lower than when Katrina and Rita hit, the price consequences could be even worse this time.”

The report said oil production in the rig-dotted Gulf will be increasingly threatened by major Gulf storms that are growing in both frequency and strength.

BANGKOK, Thailand —  Thailand’s prime minister declared a state of emergency in the capital Tuesday after street fighting overnight between opponents and supporters of the government left one man dead and dozens of people injured. Read the full story

Zimbabwe’s main opposition party has said two days of power-sharing talks with the ruling Zanu-PF have ended without agreement. Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesman Nelson Chamisa told the BBC the balance of power was in dispute. He said President Robert Mugabe wanted MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai to become a titular prime minister without real authority, which was “unacceptable”. Mr Mugabe last week threatened to form a new government without the MDC.  “The MDC does not want to come in apparently,” he said on Wednesday, a day after being booed and jeered by opposition MPs at the formal opening of parliament. Read the full story

Prince Harry has urged Army bosses to return him to the front line in Afghanistan. The soldier royal, third in line to the throne, had a successful first tour of duty in the war zone earlier this year. Now he is desperate to go back for another encounter with hostile Taliban forces. Harry, 23, and members of his Blues and Royals regiment will resume training at Windsor’s Combermere Barracks next week. The Prince will not immediately prepare for war but concentrate on normal regimental duties. Meanwhile top brass will try to decide if — and how — he can return to Afghanistan to fight. A Blues and Royals source said Thursday night: “Harry has made no secret of the fact he wants to be there when the regiment returns to the front line next year. “He said the experience of leading his men into battle is one he hopes he can repeat. “And with one mission under his belt, he has the skills and experience which will make him an extremely valuable member of the battle group.” Read the full story

The piercing wails from little lungs fill the air at this makeshift relief camp in Bihar’s flood-ravaged Purnia district. The babies scream for food. Their mothers cradle them in loving arms but cannot soothe the hunger in their bellies. Food is scarce for the hundreds of people who have sought shelter here. They huddle under tents made from blankets and propped up by bamboo stems. Read the full story

Russian beats American Ruiz in unanimous decision to win belt left vacant

BERLIN - Russian giant Nikolai Valuev won the WBA heavyweight championship Saturday night, using his left jab to outpoint American John Ruiz in an unanimous decision. The fight was first declared a split decision, but the score was officially later changed to give Valuev all three of the judges’ votes. The 7-foot Valuev (49-1) regained the title he lost to Ruslan Chagaev in April 2007 and beat Ruiz (43-8-1) for the second time. Read the full story

Curfew set, looters warned; hurricane set to hit Louisiana on Monday

NEW ORLEANS - The Big Easy and other Louisiana coastal areas took on the eeriness of ghost towns Sunday as most residents heeded a mandatory evacuation order, and police and National Guard troops clamped down to prevent the kind of lawlessness and chaos that followed Katrina three years ago. Read the full story

In all likelihood, Charlie and Brooke Sheen will be the proud parents of a baby boy – or so they think. What makes the newlyweds so sure? Well, Charlie’s three other children (Sam, 4, and Lola, 3, with ex-wife Denise Richards, and Cassandra, 23, with ex-girlfriend Paula Profitt) are all girls. And unless, as he said, he’s “batting 100 percent,” the couple thinks they’ll be decorating the nursery with baseballs rather than Barbie dolls. Read the full story

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan —  Predictions that Pervez Musharraf will have to flee Pakistan to escape treason charges have died along with the coalition that drove him from the presidency. The ex-general can now eye comfortable — though high-security — retirement in the luxury villa, complete with a swimming pool and strawberry bed, that he is building in an elite suburb of the capital. Since resigning Aug. 18 to avoid impeachment, the former military ruler has stayed below the radar as the country he ran for nine years plunged into fresh political turmoil.Nawaz Sharif, whose government Musharraf toppled in a 1999 coup, has been baying for revenge in the form of a trial for sedition — a crime punishable with death. Read the full story

Results taken from air samples reveal that a body was decomposing in the trunk of a car driven by the mother of missing Florida toddler Caylee Anthony, a local TV station reported. Detectives with cadaver dogs said in July they detected the smell of human decomposition coming from the trunk of the Pontiac that the mother, Casey Anthony, was driving when police began investigating the dispappearance of her little girl, who was last seen more than two months ago. The University of Tennessee “Body Farm” conducted the tests on the car’s air samples Aug. 10, and on Wednesday their conclusion was released: a human corpse had been decomposing there, according to WESH-2 TV. Back in July, Caylee’s grandmother Cindy Anthony initially made a frantic 911 call to report that her daughter’s car smelled like a dead body. She later said the scent just as easily could have been that of rotting pizza. Read the full story