Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper reshuffled his cabinet Monday to name new foreign and defense ministers.

Robert Nicholson, who has served as defense minister since 2013, was tapped to replace John Baird as foreign minister.

Canada pushed Egypt on Sunday to immediately release al-Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy, an Egyptian-Canadian who is set to be retried this week while also awaiting deportation.

"Canada is deeply concerned with the announcement that a retrial date has been set despite assurances that Mr. Fahmy would be released along with his colleague, Peter Greste," said Lynne Yelich, minister of state for consular affairs.

With Australian Peter Greste freed and a Canadian colleague close to release, the other Al-Jazeera journalist arrested in Cairo faces languishing in jail for an indefinite period because he has only Egyptian nationality.

Under global pressure to release the prisoners, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree tailored for Greste and colleague Mohamed Fahmy, allowing the deportation of foreigners but overlooking Baher Mohamed in the process.

China has released on bail a Canadian woman under investigation for undermining state security while her husband has been held on spying charges, Beijing said Thursday, six months after they were detained.

Kevin Garratt and Julia Dawn Garratt, a Christian couple who ran a coffee shop in the Chinese city of Dandong, on the border with North Korea, were seized last August, prompting an international diplomatic row.

Freed from her "bad dream" of three months in prison, Saudi activist Suad al-Shammari, an associate of detained blogger Raef Badawi, sees hope in the ascent to the throne of new King Salman.

But there is no immediate chance that Badawi or his detained lawyer Waleed Abulkhair can benefit from a prisoner amnesty announced by Salman, whose reign commenced on January 23 following the death of King Abdullah, Shammari said.

Federal police Tuesday arrested a Canadian with ties to the Islamic State group for allegedly helping others join the jihadists, Canadian authorities said.

International warrants were also issued through Interpol for the arrest of two other men, including a Canadian reportedly killed in Syria, for joining the banned terror group.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who carved out a more assertive role for Canada on major international issues, announced Tuesday he is stepping down and will not stand in upcoming elections.

The surprise departure of one of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's most trusted lieutenants is a major loss as the conservative leader seeks a fourth mandate to govern in October elections.

Al-Jazeera journalist Mohamed Fahmy has renounced his Egyptian citizenship, his family said Tuesday, in a bid to follow his Australian colleague Peter Greste in being released from a Cairo jail.

Fahmy's surrender of his Egyptian passport is a necessary step for him to be freed and deported as a foreign national under a decree issued by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in November. He also has Canadian citizenship.

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird will be announcing his resignation from the Cabinet on Tuesday, a senior government official said.

The official who is close to the minister said late Monday that Baird simply felt it was the right time to move on after a successful career in both the Ontario provincial legislature and federal parliament. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak ahead of Tuesday's announcement.

The trial of two men accused of plotting to derail a Toronto-New York passenger train to protest the deployment of Western troops in Afghanistan started Monday in Canada.

Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser, both in their 30s, were arrested in 2013 in what police said was an al-Qaida-backed plan to sow fear across North America.