Protest showdown and Russian war games: In The News for Feb. 11

Trudeau also posted on Twitter that federal officials would continue working with provincial and municipal governments to end the protests, which he warned are “hurting jobs, businesses, and our country’s economy.”

Interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen joined the other party leaders on Thursday in calling on the protesters to stand down in order to stem the escalating economic damage resulting from the demonstrations.

Meanwhile, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the RCMP was sending reinforcements to Ottawa and Windsor.

The latter city was granted intervener status Thursday in an application for an injunction that would stop protesters blocking Canada-bound traffic at the Ambassador Bridge crossing. An Ontario Superior Court justice was set to hear submissions Friday.

The same court on Thursday granted a request from the Ontario government to freeze protesters’ access to millions in donations raised on the fundraising platform GiveSendGo.

South of the border, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a written statement urged Canadian authorities to immediately end the blockades that are now threatening her state’s economy by slowing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cross border trade.

But despite all the entreaties, the protests showed no signs of letting up.

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Also this …

WINDSOR, Ont. — An Ontario Superior Court justice is set to hear an application today for an injunction that would bar protesters from blocking the Ambassador Bridge border crossing in Windsor, Ont.

The Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association applied for the injunction, and the City of Windsor was granted intervenor status.

Geoffrey Morawetz adjourned proceedings yesterday, saying that while the matter was of great economic consequence, a ruling outlawing the protests would be serious and the defendants should be given a chance to respond.

They’re due to resume at noon.

The Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor and Detroit is considered the busiest commercial land border crossing in North America.

The protest is one of several demonstrations happening in the country over COVID-19 measures.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX’s Elon Musk said Thursday that the first orbital flight of his towering Starship — the world’s most powerful rocket ever built — could come in another month or two.

While he anticipates failures, he’s confident Starship will reach orbit by the end of this year.

Musk provided his first major Starship update in more than two years while standing alongside the 119-meter rocket at SpaceX’s Texas spaceport. He urged the nighttime crowd, “Let’s make this real!”

“This is really some wild stuff here,” he said. “In fact, hard to believe it’s real.”

NASA plans to use the fully reusable Starship to land astronauts on the moon as early as 2025. Musk, meanwhile, hopes to deploy a fleet of Starships to create a city on Mars, hauling equipment and people there.

For now, the initial flights would carry Musk’s internet satellites, called Starlinks, into orbit.

“There will probably be a few bumps in the road, but we want to iron those out with satellite missions and test missions” before putting people on board, he said.

SpaceX’s Super Heavy first-stage booster has yet to blast off. But the futuristic, bullet-shaped, steel Starship — perched on top and serving as the upper stage — successfully launched and landed on its own last May, following a series of spectacular explosions. The rocketship soared more 10 kilometers.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

MOSCOW — Britain’s defense secretary visited Moscow Friday for talks on easing tensions amid massive Russian war games near Ukraine.

Ben Wallace’s trip comes a day after British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss held talks in Moscow, urging Russia to pull back over 100,000 troops amassed near Ukraine and warning that attacking its neighbor would “have massive consequences and carry severe costs.”

Russia says it has no plans to invade Ukraine but wants the West to keep Ukraine and other former Soviet countries out of NATO. It also wants NATO to refrain from deploying weapons there and roll back alliance forces from Eastern Europe — demands flatly rejected by the West.

In an interview Thursday with NBC News, U.S. President Joe Biden repeated his warning that any Americans still in Ukraine should leave as soon as possible.

“It’s not like we’re dealing with a terrorist organization. We’re dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. It’s a very different situation and things could go crazy quickly,” he said.

Asked whether there were any scenarios that would prompt him to send U.S. troops to Ukraine to rescue Americans, the president said: “There’s not. That’s a world war when Americans and Russia start shooting at one another.”

Amid the soaring tensions, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Thursday that the Ukraine crisis has grown into “the most dangerous moment” for Europe in decades.

NATO has stepped up military deployments to bolster its eastern flank, with the U.S. sending troops to Poland and Romania.

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On this day in 1945 …

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin signed the Yalta Agreement, in which Stalin agreed to declare war against Imperial Japan following Nazi Germany’s capitulation.

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In entertainment …

ORLANDO — A medical examiner in Florida says comedian Bob Saget died from blunt head trauma, likely from a backwards fall.

The 65-year-old was found dead in a Florida hotel room on Jan. 9 after performing stand-up comedy the night before.

Thursday’s statement from Medical Examiner Joshua Stephany in Orlando says a toxicology analysis didn’t show any illicit drugs or toxins in Saget’s body.

The statement says Saget’s death was an accident.

That conclusion was first announced by the family of the “Full House” star.

They said the coroner concluded that “he accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it and went to sleep.”

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ICYMI …

CANBERRA, Australia — Koalas were declared officially endangered Friday in eastern Australia as they fall prey to disease, lost habitat and other threats.

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley downgraded their conservation status across the country’s east coast, in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, on a recommendation by the government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee.

Earlier they had been listed as a vulnerable species.

Many koalas in Australia suffer frtom chlamydia. Koala populations in New South Wales have fallen by 33-o 61per cent since 2001. In 2020, a parliamentary inquiry warned the species might become extinct before 2050 without urgent intervention.

The number of koalas in Queensland has fallen by half since 2001 due to drought, fires and deforestation. Some are killed in attacks by dogs, or run over on roads.

“Koalas have gone from no-listing to vulnerable to endangered within a decade. That is a shockingly fast decline,” said Stuart Blanch, a conservation scientist with the World Wildlife Fund-Australia.

“Today’s decision is welcome, but it won’t stop koalas from sliding toward extinction unless it’s accompanied by stronger laws and landholder incentives to protect their forest homes,” he said.

The Australian Koala Foundation estimates that there are less than 100,000 Koalas left in the wild, possibly as few as 43,000. Summer brushfires in 2019-20 killed at least 6,400 of the animals, as rescuers worked desperately to save them and treat their injuries.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2022

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Protest showdown and Russian war games: In The News for Feb. 11

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