National News

CHICAGO - The arc of Stephen Harper's views on Afghanistan might have been summed in his body language Monday as he and other NATO leaders met to discuss the alliance's problem child.

OTTAWA - The Harper government had a host of military and possibly commercial reasons for not blaming and shaming Russia in the aftermath of an embarrassing spy scandal involving a junior intelligence officer, a series of internal briefings suggest.

OTTAWA - Newly released documents show Canadian spies closely eyed existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, tracking his planned trip to Quebec in support of people arrested during a crackdown on separatist threats.

VANCOUVER - It was between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. and Elsie Erickson's mother had just begun lighting the stove when four RCMP officers barged into their tiny wooden home in the village of Krestova, B.C.

OTTAWA - Politicians and athletes are equally devoted to their respective games.

MONTREAL - Quebec's student protests took a dark, angry turn over the weekend following the introduction of an emergency law aimed at restoring order in the province, while the movement gained a number of high-profile supporters on the international stage.

MONTREAL - A public inquiry endowed with wide-ranging powers will begin hearings on Tuesday into the inner workings of Quebec's construction industry, and experts are warning the contents may not be pretty.

TORONTO - The next time you get frustrated because a website refuses to load instantly, or a streaming video has to buffer for a few seconds, think of the surprisingly large number of Canadians still on dial-up.

FREDERICTON - Prince Charles and his wife Camilla begin their Canadian tour in earnest today with a visit to a military base and a citizenship ceremony in New Brunswick.