National News

OTTAWA — Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has asked arts bodies that get federal funding to suspend all cultural activities involving Russians linked to Vladimir Putin's regime in protest of his invasion of Ukraine.

OTTAWA — Canada is extending its military mission in Iraq and the Middle East for another year. Defence Minister Anita Anand announced the 12-month extension on Thursday evening, only hours before the current mandate was set to expire.

OTTAWA — The government should invest at least $6.3 billion over this year and next to deal with the immediate housing needs of Indigenous people in urban, rural and northern communities, a federal council says.

CALGARY — Recovered in the rubble of a fatal train derailment near the British Columbia-Alberta boundary was an unfiled hazard report that outlined dangers with braking on that fateful stretch of track.

Ottawa will open the department of Indigenous Services up for a review to identify ways it discriminates against First Nations children.

OTTAWA — Russia's blocking of humanitarian aid to Ukraine and its bombing of medical facilities should be the subjects of an international war crimes investigation, says Canada's international development minister.

HALIFAX — In the seconds after a Mountie sped past a gunman wanted for a murderous rampage in Nova Scotia two years ago, the officer hesitated about whether to give chase, and by the time he did the suspect was gone.

OTTAWA — A new NATO report suggests that while most other allies have started to invest more in defence, Canada is even farther from meeting the military alliance's spending target than previously believed.

MONTREAL — Federal prosecutors on Thursday said they did nothing wrong in connection with a secret criminal trial that took place in Quebec and that was described by the province's Court of Appeal as contrary to the fundamental principles of justice.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden brandished one of the biggest weapons in his economic arsenal Thursday in hopes of turning the United States into a leading producer of electric-vehicle batteries and the minerals used to make them.