North America

OTTAWA, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Trucks rolled into Canada's capital Ottawa on Saturday to stage what police say will be a massive protest against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's COVID-19 vaccine mandates in front of parliament on a frigid winter day.

The so-called "Freedom Convoy" - coming from east and west - started out as a rally against a vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers, but has turned into a demonstration against government overreach during the pandemic with a strong anti-vaccination streak.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- The number of officers who were killed in 2021 in the United States is the highest on record in the past 20 years, U.S. media outlet Fox News has reported.

This figure includes unprovoked confrontations and premeditated ambushes, said Fox News on Friday, citing data published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The trend shows no signs of letting up this year, with six police officers the victims of gun violence over the past two days alone, said the report.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States should "work together to contain the separatist forces of Taiwan," Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang has said.

The one-China principle is the most important foundation of China-U.S. relations in the past decades, said Qin in an interview with U.S. National Public Radio aired Friday, adding that the United States has been walking away from this commitment "bit by bit."

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A judge on Friday approved an agreement by lawyers to destroy the assault-style rifle that Kyle Rittenhouse used to kill two people and wound a third during a 2020 street protest in Wisconsin.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said the state crime lab would destroy the gun, probably in April. Judge Bruce Schroeder, the Kenosha County judge who presided over Rittenhouse’s trial, approved the agreement. Rittenhouse was not in court for Friday’s hearing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the U.S. Capitol insurrection subpoenaed more than a dozen individuals Friday who it says falsely tried to declare Donald Trump the winner of the 2020 election in seven swing states.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Friday the buildup of Russian forces along Ukraine’s border has reached the point where President Vladimir Putin now has a complete range of military options, including actions short of a full-scale invasion.

“While we don’t believe that President Putin has made a final decision to use these forces against Ukraine, he clearly now has the capability,” Austin told a Pentagon news conference.

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — When Markicia Horton graduates this spring from the Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston and takes the bar, she’ll be stepping into a world where a Black woman is set to be on the U.S. Supreme Court for the first time in its 232-year history.

BOSTON (AP) — A winter storm lashed the Northeast with deep snow and wind gusts near hurricane force Saturday, causing coastal flooding and threatening widespread power outages while forecasters warned conditions would worsen as the day went on.

Parts of 10 states and some major population centers — including Philadelphia, New York and Boston — were pummeled by the storm. By late morning, more than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow had fallen on parts of New Jersey’s shore and eastern Long Island.

MIAMI (AP) — A retired Venezuelan army general says U.S. officials at the highest levels of the CIA and other federal agencies were aware of his efforts to oust Nicolás Maduro — a role he says should immediately debunk criminal charges that he worked alongside the socialist leader to flood the U.S. with cocaine.

The stunning accusation came in a court filing late Friday by attorneys for Cliver Alcalá seeking to have thrown out narcoterrorist charges filed nearly two years ago by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.

CONROE, Texas (AP) — As he prepared to tee off at one of his Florida golf courses, a fellow player introduced Donald Trump as the “45th president of the United States.”

“45th and 47th,” Trump responded matter-of-factly, before hitting his drive.

The quip — a moment of levity on the links captured on shaky cellphone video — was a reminder that the former president often has another presidential run on his mind. But the declaration belied the growing challenges he’s confronting as a series of complex legal investigations ensnare Trump, his family and many associates.