OTTAWA - Defence lawyers can be barred from a judicial hearing in which the identity of a secret informant would come out, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon is defending his government in the face of claims that detainees in Afghanistan, many of them innocent, were routinely abused by Afghan authorities after being handed over by Canadian soldiers.

TORONTO - The wealthy Thomson family remains number one on the latest Canadian Business magazine list of the 100 richest Canadians.

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Newfoundland and Labrador's health minister and the Eastern Health authority are looking into concerns raised by the family of a 27-year-old man who's in a coma after contracting swine flu.

AMRITSAR, India - India's stunning contrasts were once more in evidence as Prime Minister Stephen Harper concluded a three-day tour of the emerging South Asian economic giant.

WASHINGTON - The National Archives is bringing together investigators to search for scribbled secrets from the early days of the Watergate scandal as the chain of events began that destroyed Richard Nixon's presidency.

WASHINGTON - Palin-Beck 2012?

CALGARY - If Theo Fleury decides to pursue criminal charges against former junior hockey coach Graham James, Sheldon Kennedy will be in his former teammate's corner.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The Taliban kept to the shadows of Haji Baba on Wednesday as Canadian soldiers trying to seize control of the insurgent stronghold continued to pick up apart its defences.

A pair of animal rights groups are planning on protesting the seal hunt during the Olympic torch run over the next few months.