National News

VANCOUVER — Renters across the country faced record low vacancy rates and record high rent increases in 2023, but Statistics Canada says Toronto and Vancouver residents who don't own their homes face the greatest financial pressures.

OTTAWA — The Liberal government will dispatch more than 800 drones to Ukraine starting as early as this spring.

SAINT-BASILE-LE-GRAND, Que. — A 53-year-old Quebec man has been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his spouse in St-Basile-le-Grand, Que., just east of Montreal.

SAGUENAY, Que. — The jury that will decide the fate of a Quebec man charged with the first-degree murder and sexual assault of a 19-year-old junior college student in 2000 was sequestered today after the judge began delivering instructions.

OTTAWA — Trust in the Canadian justice system depends on clear communication to the public, Canada's newest Supreme Court justice said as she was officially welcomed to the country's highest court.

Quebec's elections agency is investigating donations totalling $200 made to the governing Coalition Avenir Québec by a couple who say they were told they could meet the transport minister if they donated.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office says his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, will visit Canada next month. Meloni is set to visit Toronto on March 2 in her first visit since she was elected in 2022.

HALIFAX — For days on end, Richard Murray barely left his jail cell, trapped by staffing shortages that forced officials to lock down inmates. "This is total cruelty and I only exist in these four walls of hell ....

Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today...

As Ukraine nears a grim anniversary in its war with Russia, the Red Cross says residents in the strife-torn country are adapting to a new normal of cannibalized houses, intermittent electricity, air raid sirens and rocket attacks.