Canada PM focuses on Arctic north - Global Chess game

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is on a five-day visit to the northern Arctic region of his country.

Mr Harper said it was all part of an initiative to promote Canada's sovereignty in the far north.

The prime minister observed a day of military exercises in Canada's eastern Arctic, home mainly to the indigenous Inuit people.

Canada's government is making the long-neglected north a priority, as other countries eye the region's resources.

About 700 Canadian military personnel are involved in Operation Nanook, three weeks of military exercises in the Canadian Arctic.

Mr Harper has now managed to see the operation up close for himself, first travelling by helicopter to a navy frigate and then by dinghy to a submarine which dove underwater for an hour-long warfare exercise.