North America

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 14 (APP): With India feeling the heat from growing international criticism of its state-sponsored anti-Muslim violence across the country and the continuing atrocities in occupied Kashmir, New Delhi has made the UN a venue of its disinformation campaign against Pakistan to divert attention from the sorry state of affairs at home, according to diplomatic observers.

KINGSTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - A trial of dozens of alleged gang members in Jamaica is testing recent judicial reforms designed to fight the island's powerful criminal groups, widely blamed for the Caribbean nation having one of the world's highest murder rates.

Jamaica's Supreme Court is trying the 33 defendants on charges including arson, murder and being part of a criminal organization. The offenses were allegedly committed between 2015 and 2019 on the western outskirts of the capital Kingston.

OTTAWA, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- Canada's neighbor, the United States, is "on the precipice of becoming a failed democratic state," and Canada should plan its possible responses and prepare for what comes next, according to an article published by the media network the Conversation on Sunday.

"Failing to do so will put our own democracy at risk," said Robert Danisch, a communications professor at the University of Waterloo.

(AP) --- Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers was in a familiar spot earlier this month when Republican legislators sent him a bill that would have banned anti-racist teachings in schools. For the 66th time since taking office in 2019, he pulled out his veto pen.

The rejection was the latest reminder of the crucial role Evers and a select group of fellow Democratic governors play in some of the most politically divided states. They are the only backstop against a wave of GOP-backed legislation targeting everything from abortion rights and school curricula to access to voting.

WINDSOR, Ontario (AP) — The busiest U.S.-Canada border crossing was open Monday after protesters demonstrating against COVID-19 measures blocked it for nearly a week, but a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa, persisted as city residents seethed over authorities’ inability to reclaim the streets.

TORONTO, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) has frozen two personal bank accounts into which C$1.4 million ($1.1 million) had been deposited to support protesters fighting the Canadian government's pandemic measures, a bank spokesperson said on Saturday.

WASHINGTON/KYIV, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The United States said on Sunday that Russia could invade Ukraine "any day now" and might create a surprise pretext for an attack, as the German chancellor prepared for talks this week with President Vladimir Putin to try to ease the crisis.

Washington has said the door for diplomacy remained open but it has also repeatedly said Russia's military, which has more than 100,000 troops massed near Ukraine, was poised to act.

OTTAWA, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- Canadian police stepped up enforcement Saturday to end truckers' protests, especially in Windsor, the Canada-U.S. border city and Ottawa, the capital city, as protests and demonstrations continued nationwide.

Windsor Police tweeted on Saturday morning that they had begun enforcement actions against protesters opposing COVID-19 restrictions who blocked access to the Ambassador Bridge for most of the week.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The list of Republicans willing to support President Joe Biden’s forthcoming nominee to the Supreme Court “is longer than you would initially imagine,” the Senate’s second-ranking Democrat recently teased to reporters.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin declined to name names. But it’s clear that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is near the top of the list.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With elections in view and Democrats’ headline domestic bill in a rut, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer have very different takes on how things are going in their chamber.

“I know we’re spending the week dealing with assistant secretaries of something or other, and that’s terribly important,” Sanders, the progressive firebrand and Vermont independent, said dryly on Wednesday. The Senate confirmed 15 nominees last week for the Federal Maritime Commission, judgeships and other posts.