Prime Minister Stephen Harper opened a Canadian tourism office in Beijing highlighting the centennial of the Calgary Stampede as a reason for more Chinese to travel to Canada.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is welcoming a possible deal that would allow Taliban insurgents to open an office in Qatar in order to hold talks with the United States.

The Afghan Taliban say they have reached a preliminary deal with the Gulf state of Qatar to open a liaison office there, which could have a key role in peace talks to end more than a decade of war.