Canada

OTTAWA, March 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday said the United States is prepared to "act forcefully" to protect Americans, commenting after the U.S. military carried out air strikes against Iran-backed forces in retaliation for an attack that killed an American contractor and wounded five U.S. troops.

"Make no mistake: the United States does not ... seek conflict with Iran, but be prepared for us to act forcefully to protect our people," Biden told reporters during an official visit to Canada.

TORONTO (AP) — A 16-year-old wounded his mother with a firearm and then killed two police officers before taking his own life in western Canada early Thursday, officials told The Associated Press.

A police official and a senior government official said the male suspect shot and wounded his mother in Edmonton, Alberta. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as each was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

TORONTO (AP) — Two men died Monday after a pickup truck plowed into pedestrians beside a road in the eastern Quebec town of Amqui, although a senior Canadian official rapidly ruled out a terrorism attack or a national security incident.

A provincial police spokeswoman said nine other people were injured, including two whose injuries are considered serious.

Sgt. Hélène St-Pierre said the 38-year-old driver, a local resident, turned himself in to police and was arrested under suspicion of committing a fatal hit and run.

CHAMPLAIN, New York and WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - Bookseller Zulema Diaz fled her native Peru after being kidnapped, beaten and robbed, hoping to find safety in the United States. Instead, she said she experienced homelessness and sexual harassment as she worked off-the-books on a hospital cleaning crew.

So when Diaz, 46, heard New York City was distributing free bus tickets, she said she hopped on a bus for Plattsburgh, a town close to the Canadian border, then took a taxi to the irregular crossing at Roxham Road to enter Canada and file an asylum claim.

TORONTO, March 9 (Reuters) - As the Bank of Canada pauses its interest rate hikes, investors are betting that the sensitivity of Canada's economy to higher borrowing costs will result in a historically large gap between the tightening campaigns of the BoC and the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Analysts have long argued that Canada's economy is more sensitive to interest rate hikes than the U.S. economy, pointing to the higher debt loads of Canadians after they participated in a red-hot housing market in recent years and the shorter Canadian mortgage cycle.

TORONTO (AP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he will appoint a special investigator to decide whether there should be a public inquiry into reports of Chinese interference in Canada’s elections.

Trudeau also is having a Parliament national security committee examine classified information on the matter.

The Globe and Mail, citing unidentified intelligence sources, reported last month that China preferred to see Trudeau’s Liberals reelected in the 2021 election and worked to defeat Conservative politicians considered unfriendly to Beijing.

TORONTO (AP) — Canada announced Monday it is banning TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices, reflecting widening worries from Western officials over the Chinese-owned video sharing app.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it might be a first step to further action or that it might be it.

Feb 13 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday that the four aerial objects shot down in recent days, including one over Yukon territory on Saturday, are connected in some way, without elaborating.

"Obviously there is some sort of pattern in there - the fact we are seeing this in a significant degree over the past week is a cause for interest and close attention," Trudeau told reporters in a news conference in Whitehorse, Yukon's capital.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Saturday that on his order a U.S. fighter jet shot down an “unidentified object” that was flying high over the Yukon, acting a day after the U.S. took similar action over Alaska.

North American Aerospace Defense Command, the combined U.S.-Canada organization that provides shared defense of airspace over the two nations, detected the object flying at a high altitude Friday evening over Alaska, U.S. officials said. It crossed into Canadian airspace on Saturday.

Police have charged a bus driver with first-degree murder after he drove his vehicle at a high speed into a day care center north of Montreal, killing two children, injuring six and leaving authorities searching for a motive.

Witnesses say that after Wednesday’s crash, the 51-year-old driver, identified as Pierre Ny St-Amand, stepped out of the bus, stripped off his clothes and started screaming.

“He was just yelling; there were no words coming out of his mouth,” Hamdi Benchaabane said.