National News

OTTAWA — North Koreans who have escaped from Kim Jong Un’s regime say public executions for offences, including watching South Korean videos, are still taking place, some in front of crowds of spectators forced to watch.

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what's on the radar of our editors for the morning of Dec. 15 ... What we are watching in Canada ...

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — The silencing this year of a familiar mournful howl at the mouth of Halifax harbour has ignited a debate about Atlantic Canada's dwindling number of foghorns.

GJOA HAVEN, Nunavut — A metallic shrill rings out over the Arctic Ocean on the shores of Gjoa Haven in western Nunavut.

OTTAWA — When Wilf Steimle makes the 600-kilometre drive from his home near Barrie, Ont., to board meetings in Montreal, he can get there in under seven hours with three 12-minute stops to repower his electric car.

OTTAWA — The lightning spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant is prompting federal politicians to reconsider the wisdom of having several hundred MPs crammed together in the House of Commons.

TORONTO — No winning ticket was sold for Tuesday's $65 million Lotto Max jackpot. However, a ticket holder in Quebec claimed one of the eight available $1 million Maxmillion prizes. The grand prize for the next draw on Dec.

PENTICTON, B.C. — The mayor and council of Penticton, B.C., offered an official apology and voted to reimburse a woman almost $141,000 after the city sold her home well below assessed value in order to collect a $10,000 property tax bill.

A look at the latest COVID-19 news in Canada: — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pleaded with provinces to use the COVID-19 rapid tests they've already been sent as she promised Ottawa will spend another $1.

Several provinces on Tuesday issued new health orders to slow the spread of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, which is disrupting holiday plans across the country and threatening governments' abilities to control COVID-19 transmission.