Howard Alexander

Just a half hour before their mosque was set ablaze on Saturday, members of the Kawartha Muslim Religious Association were in the building celebrating the birth of a baby, said the president of the association, Kenzu Abdella.

TORONTO – They're among the questions often asked by parents anxious about the time children and teens spend glued to digital gadgets — from TV and computers to smart phones and tablets:

PICTURE BUTTE, Alta. – Mounties and farmers pitched in to round up over 200 cattle that apparently broke through a fence and roamed loose near a southern Alberta town on Sunday.

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Two members of the Eagles of Death Metal band tell VICE that several people hid in their dressing room during the deadly terrorist attack in Paris last week.

PARIS – A subdued France paid homage Friday to those killed two weeks ago in the attacks that gripped Paris in fear and mourning, honouring each of the 130 dead by name as the president pledged to “destroy the army of fanatics” who claimed so many young lives.

AMMAN, Jordan – A trickle of Syrian refugees seeking to leave Jordan flowed into Canada's processing centre in Amman on Sunday, the first day of operations at what will eventually become the hub of much of the Syrian refugee resettlement program.

OTTAWA – The Trudeau government unveiled Thursday its plan for transforming the Senate into an independent, non-partisan chamber —the first major reform to the scandal-plagued upper house in 50 years and arguably the biggest change since its inception in 1867.

SAINT-JEROME, Que. – Guy Turcotte was found guilty on Sunday of second-degree murder in the stabbing deaths of his two young children more than six years ago.

OTTAWA – The promised new era of civility in Parliament is sounding a lot like a rehash of the federal election campaign.

TORONTO – The sounds of the holiday season are pretty much the same from year to year: "Feliz Navidad," "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and "White Christmas" on constant rotation in supermarkets, department stores and coffee shops.

HALIFAX – The RCMP have launched a cuteness offensive in Nova Scotia.

MONTREAL – Dickie Moore was a gritty goal-scorer and playmaker on the Montreal Canadiens dynasty of the 1950s, even if he wasn't quite as famous as some of his legendary teammates.

OTTAWA – Provincial and territorial finance ministers are scheduled to gather tonight in Ottawa with federal counterpart Bill Morneau to begin confronting the hard economic truths facing Canada and the new Liberal government.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – To say that the force is strong with this one is an understatement.