PRESS DIGEST - Canada - May 27

May 27 (Reuters) - The following are top stories from selected Canadian newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

THE GLOBE AND MAIL:

- North Korea, facing international sanction for this week's nuclear test, threatened on Wednesday to attack the South after Seoul joined a United States-led initiative to check vessels suspected of carrying equipment for weapons of mass destruction.

- Gunmen detonated a car bomb near police and intelligence agency offices in Lahore on Wednesday, killing about 30 people and wounding more than 250 in one of Pakistan's deadliest attacks this year, officials said.

- Finance Minister Jim Flaherty offered an impromptu fiscal update Tuesday, announcing that this year's budget deficit will balloon to more than $50 billion - a new record for red ink in Canada as the costs of the economic downturn mount.

Report on Business Section:

- Russian businessman Yuri Milner has amassed a fortune from investing in Internet companies throughout Europe and Russia, and his firm, Digital Sky Technologies (DST), is now the owner of 2 per cent of the popular social networking site Facebook.

- The ranks of Canadians collecting unemployment benefits are swelling rapidly, in numbers that suggest many people thrown out of work are finding it tough to get back into the labour force.

The surge of more than 10 per cent in the number of people collecting benefits in March - to 681,400 - was the biggest since the financial crisis took hold last October.

- The largest shareholder of Forzani Group Ltd (FGL.TO) says it intends to support the company's nominees for the board of directors at the Calgary-based retailer's next shareholders annual meeting.

NATIONAL POST

- Short story writer Alice Munro has won the international version of Britain's top literary award, becoming the first Canadian to take home the Man Booker International Prize.

Financial Post section:

- Jim Flaherty, the Finance Minister, said that a weaker economy and billions to aid struggling North American car makers is going to push the budget deficit into record territory this year.

- Concerns that amendment to the Competition Act would drive up costs and lengthen review times of pending mergers appear to be coming true, as the Competition Bureau has issued second requests for information for at least three and possibly more recent deals, including the $19 billion combination between Suncor Energy (SU.TO) and Petro-Canada (PCA.TO).