TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian police may have caught a break in the sweetest crime of the year, seizing thousands of gallons of maple syrup from an exporter on suspicions that it was part of a cache of syrup that went missing from a Quebec warehouse in late August.

Quebec provincial police removed about 1,000 barrels, or 600,000 pounds, of maple syrup from S.K. Export Inc’s storage facility in Kedgwick in the neighboring province of New Brunswick, according to the company’s owner, Etienne St-Pierre.

TORONTO (Reuters) – “Silver Linings Playbook,” a dramatic comedy about a man who returns to his family home after eight months in a mental institution, won the top prize at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday.

The film, by “The Fighter” director David O. Russell and starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, took home the BlackBerry People’s Choice award for best film at the 37th edition of the festival.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Documentaries are making waves at the Toronto film festival, exploring subjects ranging from abuse in the Catholic Church to brutal massacres in Indonesia, often in novel ways.

For the first time ever in Toronto, two non-music based documentaries were given the star treatment at the festival, with gala screenings of Liz Garbus’ “Love, Marilyn” about Marilyn Monroe and Shola Lynch’s “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners” about U.S. civil rights activist Angela Davis.

TORONTO (Reuters) – The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has taken a backseat in recent days to the Arab Spring, but at the Toronto International Film Festival an unusually high number of films shine fresh light on the decades-long conflict.

Dramas like “The Attack” and “Out in the Dark” explore the human side of the strife, while documentaries such as “State 194″ and “The Gatekeepers” offer insight into the politics behind the conflict through interviews with top political and security players.

TORONTO (Reuters) – At the age of 75, Dustin Hoffman has finally made the leap from acting to directing with “Quartet,” a pitch-perfect comedy that charmed critics and audiences alike at the Toronto Film Festival.

Shot in the British countryside, the film centers on a trio of retired opera singers happily living out their sunset years in an idyllic care home for aging musicians.

TORONTO, Sept 9 (Reuters) – Cult novel “Cloud Atlas” was
once considered unfilmable. For some movie critics, it still is.

The adaptation of the philosophical book by Britain’s David
Mitchell premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival
to sharply divided reviews, suggesting the complex storylines
and ambitious plot structure did not always connect with
audiences who had not read the novel.

By Julie Gordon

(Reuters) – Molycorp Inc (MCP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) posted a loss on Thursday after rare earth prices continued to sag in the second quarter and said slumping cash flow would force it to secure more financing to fund 2012 capital spending, sending the miner’s shares tumbling.

Molycorp, the biggest rare earth producer outside of China, is in the midst of an $895 million expansion and modernization at its Mountain Pass mine in California. It is set to spend $289 million over the remainder of the year on the project.

TORONTO, July 26 (Reuters) – Barrick Gold Corp
reported a 35 percent decline in quarterly profit on Thursday
and warned capital costs on one of its biggest growth projects
would come in much higher than forecast, driving down shares of
the world’s largest gold miner.

The company blamed the higher costs for building Barrick’s
massive Pascua-Lama gold mine, straddling the border between
Chile and Argentina, on a decision to use an in-house team to
manage construction rather than hiring an outside contractor.

TORONTO, July 25 (Reuters) – Teck Resources Inc
sees no near-term reprieve from the lower coal and metal prices
that dragged its quarterly profit lower, news that sent its
shares tumbling on Wednesday.

Vancouver-based Teck, Canada’s largest diversified miner,
said economic uncertainties in Europe and the United States and
ebbing growth in China, India and other emerging markets held
back demand and prices for many of its products in the quarter.

TORONTO, July 18 (Reuters) – The national chief of Canada’s
First Nations aboriginals was re-elected on Wednesday in a vote
of confidence for his non-confrontational approach with the
Conservative federal government over its pro-development
policies.

Even though critics have said Shawn Atleo’s relationship
with Prime Minister Stephen Harper is too close, the British
Columbia native leader cruised to victory in the third round of
voting by chiefs at an assembly in Toronto.