The trial of the founders of the Freedom Convoy in Canada was supposed to last only 16 days, but due to legal disputes and unprepared witnesses, among other things, the trial has been delayed. It is now coming to an end and is expected to be over in a few days.
The trial of Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, the leaders of the Canadian Freedom Convoy, began last September. They are charged with crimes including vandalism, obstructing police, inciting vandalism and uttering threats in connection with the protests.
The trial was expected to last 16 days, but has been delayed due to a number of factors, including legal complications, technical delays, unavailability of witnesses, and problems with the handling of police evidence. Prosecutors have used video footage of the demonstrations to argue that Lich and Barber had control over the participants and encouraged them to stay in Ottawa. The defense, on the other hand, argues that the demonstrators were directed by the police, with instructions on where to move around the city.
The prosecution’s case wrapped up before Christmas, and it is now time for the defense to present its side, Canada’s CBC reports.
Banned from social media
The trial only resumed for one day on January 4 due to a lack of available court dates. However, the defense has said it needs a total of five more days, which means the trial is now coming to an end. So far, neither Barber nor Lich have testified, and there is no indication that they will.
Lich was banned from using social media as part of his bail conditions, but in December he was allowed to reactivate his account on X, formerly Twitter, after a 22-month hiatus.
– I have been hoping for quite some time to have my conditions varied and with the lack of evidence we have seen so far (and) the unexpected length of time the trial is taking, we felt it was a good time to have this specific condition reviewed, Lich said in a statement to True North in connection with the reactivation.
Once the trial is over, the judge will have up to six months to issue a verdict. A conviction for vandalism carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
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Former U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns believes that one of China's greatest advantages is the Chinese Communist Party's ability to think strategically and long-term.
Nicholas Burns, who served as U.S. Ambassador to China for three years, argues that the Western world has systematically underestimated the Chinese superpower’s capabilities in technology, military, and infrastructure.
In a recent interview, the experienced diplomat highlights several areas where China is far ahead of the United States – and warns that American policymakers still fail to see the full gravity of the situation from the perspective of U.S. strategic interests.
Nicholas Burns, 68, concluded his tenure as U.S. Ambassador to China in January 2025 after three intense years in Beijing. With a long career in American diplomacy behind him – having served under six presidents and nine secretaries of state – he returned to Harvard University where he is a professor of diplomacy and international relations.
Now he speaks openly about his experiences and observations from his time in China. And the picture he paints is more alarming than many are willing to acknowledge.
Impressive infrastructure
— We’ve underestimated Chinese power in the world, Burns states bluntly. As an example, he highlights China’s high-speed rail system:
— Those trains are fabulous. We rode those trains. You know, you can go from Beijing to Shanghai in four and a half hours.
The distance is over a thousand kilometers, he points out, drawing a clear comparison with the American rail system Amtrak:
— We have Amtrak’s just not like that.
But it is in scientific and technological capacity that Burns sees the greatest challenge.
— That’s the coin of the realm in our decade, he says and continues:
— In the next few decades. Which society will turn out more scientists and engineers?
Former US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns shakes hands with Xu Kunlin, governor of Jiangsu Province in China during a meeting in 2023. Photo: US Department of State
“Alarming” education statistics
The statistics he presents are striking. 34 percent of first-year students at Chinese universities study engineering or STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). In the United States, the corresponding figure is 5.6 percent.
— And they’re a much bigger country, Burns adds.
He also points to a peculiar paradox in American society. At Harvard’s graduation ceremony, where he himself teaches, the pattern is clear:
— At Harvard graduation, where I teach, when we ask our graduate students to stand up as a class, chemistry majors, biology majors, physics majors, largely Asian Americans, Some American citizens, excuse me, Asians, American citizens of Asian ethnicity or Chinese.
The same pattern is visible in business.
— Last week, when President Trump gathered all the tech titans of the United States in the White House, tremendous number of those tech titans are Indian Americans and Chinese Americans, Burns says.
His conclusion is scathing:
— We’re not competing when it really matters for the future. And that’s on technology.
Overlooked military strength
Burns also addresses the Chinese military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), whose capabilities he believes the Western world underestimates.
— Some people have said, well, it hasn’t fought since 1978. What is what it’s worth? I’ve seen the PLA, he says firmly.
— I think we’ve underestimated their military strength, their technology strength.
FMR U.S AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: “WE’VE UNDERESTIMATED CHINA’S POWER”
Nicholas Burns:
“Those trains are fabulous – you can go from Beijing to Shanghai in 4 1/2 hours, over 1000 kilometers. We have Amtrak, and it’s just not like that.
One of China’s greatest advantages, according to Burns, is the Chinese Communist Party’s ability to think strategically and long-term.
— The Communist Party of China is strategic and they don’t have to worry about, you know, we want to worry about what the press says. I mean, that’s a good thing to have the press challenging the government. They have nobody opposing them. And so they can make big bets over 10, 20, 30 years.
As an example, he mentions China’s systematic Africa policy:
— For 35 consecutive years, the Chinese foreign minister, whoever that person is, has made his first trip of the year in January to Africa to show the Africans you are our priority.
The contrast with the United States is striking.
— I think President Trump never went to Africa in his first term. President Biden went once to Angola for two or three days in December, at the very end of his term, Burns says.
His conclusion is unequivocal:
— They’re strategic, and we’re not competing on that level. So actually, I think the Chinese technology military economics are stronger than we think they are. And I think we’ve underestimated them, and we can’t do that any longer.
Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton has been indicted for storing top secret documents in his home and sharing classified information with family members. Bolton’s hacked email account also gave unidentified hackers access to sensitive material.
The neoconservative figure John Bolton, who served as National Security Advisor during President Donald Trump’s first term and later became one of his sharpest critics, was indicted on Thursday for violations related to handling classified documents.
The indictment suggests that secret information was exposed when hackers – allegedly linked to the Iranian regime – broke into Bolton’s email account. A representative for Bolton informed the FBI in 2021 about the hack, according to prosecutors, but did not disclose that he had shared classified information via the account or that the hackers now had access to government secrets.
Bolton denied the charges in a defiant statement.
— Now, I have become the latest target in weaponizing the Justice Department to charge those he deems to be his enemies with charges that were declined before or distort the facts.
The indictment alleges that Bolton, between 2018 and August of this year, shared more than 1,000 pages of diary-like notes containing top secret information with two family members – identified as his wife and daughter. The material included information from meetings with US government officials, intelligence documents, and conversations with foreign leaders.
After sending one document, Bolton wrote to his relatives: “None of which we talk about!!!” In response, one of the relatives wrote: “Shhhhh”, prosecutors state.
— There is one tier of justice for all Americans. Anyone who abuses a position of power and jeopardizes our national security will be held accountable. No one is above the law, commented Attorney General Pam Bondi.
John Bolton used to go on TV every single day and accuse President Trump of mishandling classified information.
He has now been indicted for sending classified information over his personal email and keeping classified documents at his house. pic.twitter.com/8H4poGKKMA
Bolton’s attorney Abbe Lowell said that the underlying facts were investigated and resolved several years ago, and that the charges concern parts of Bolton’s personal diaries from his 45-year career in government.
He suggests that the case is linked to the Department of Justice’s failed attempt to block the publication of his 2020 book, “The Room Where It Happened”, which portrayed Trump as deeply ignorant about foreign policy.
— These charges are not just about his focus on me or my diaries, but his intensive effort to intimidate his opponents, to ensure that he alone determines what is said about his conduct, Bolton claimed.
Bolton has, throughout his long career in Republican foreign policy circles, become known as a neoconservative war hawk with hardline views on American military power.
He was, among other things, a strong advocate for the Iraq War and has consistently argued for an aggressive foreign policy toward Iran and North Korea. Trump once called him a “crazy” warmonger who would have led the country into “World War Six”.
Q: John Bolton was just indicted by a grand jury in Maryland. You reaction?
TRUMP: I didn’t know that. You’re telling me for the first time. You know, I think he’s a bad person.
When President Trump was asked about the indictment of his former National Security Advisor, he responded that he was not aware of it.
— I didn’t know that. You’re telling me for the first time, but I think he’s, you know, a bad person. I think he’s a bad guy. Yeah, he’s a bad guy. Too bad. But that’s the way it goes, the president stated.
Swedish citizens will soon be able to travel to China without a visa. This was announced by Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergård (M) during a visit to Beijing.
Sweden has until now been one of few European countries lacking visa-free entry to China, despite most other nations on the continent having gained access to the new rules.
— This is very welcome news, and businesses in particular have been requesting this for a long time. We don’t know the details regarding implementation or exact design, but I expect we will have this shortly. But as I understand it, it will cover Swedish citizens, Stenergård told publicly funded broadcaster SVT.
In July this year, China expanded its visa-free policy to cover a total of 74 countries, where citizens can visit the country for up to 30 days without a visa. Nearly all of Europe is included in the agreement, but Sweden and the United Kingdom have until now remained outside.
For Swedish travelers and businesses, the change represents a major relief, as visa applications were previously time-consuming and costly.
— Swedish companies have unfortunately been affected by excessive red tape for a long time, not least at the EU level, she says.
The Trump administration is considering sweeping changes to the US refugee system that would give priority to English-speaking, white South Africans and regime-critical Europeans.
According to internal documents obtained by the New York Times, the program would be transformed from primarily accepting refugees from Africa, the Middle East and other parts of the world to focusing more on white refugees.
The proposals were presented to the White House in April and July by officials from the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security. President Trump has previously ordered agencies to investigate whether refugee resettlement serves US interests and paused the entire program on his first day in office.
The proposed changes emphasize whether applicants can adapt to the US, and refugees would be instructed to participate in courses on “American history and values” as well as “respect for cultural norms”.
Trump is recommended to prioritize Europeans who have “targeted for peaceful expression of views online such as opposition to mass migration or support for ‘populist’ political parties”.
Trump has already granted priority status to Afrikaners, the white population group that once ruled South Africa’s apartheid regime. Trump has claimed they face racial persecution, an assertion that South African government officials reject.
Drastic reduction
According to the documents, US refugee resettlement has made the country far too “multicultural”.
“The sharp increase in diversity has reduced the level of social trust essential for the functioning of a democratic polity”, the documents state.
Trump plans to reduce the number of refugees from 125,000 to 7,500 per year. The administration also proposes that hundreds of thousands of people already in the application process should have their applications terminated.
— It should come as no surprise that the State Department is implementing the priorities of the duly elected president of the United States, commented Thomas Pigott, spokesman for the State Department.
Anger over the plans
Reports that the US may focus more on white refugees have been met with anger and outrage from refugee activists and left-liberal figures.
Barbara L. Strack, former chief of the refugee division at US Citizenship and Immigration Services, is among many who are highly critical of the proposals:
— It reflects a preexisting notion among some in the Trump administration as to who are the true Americans, she laments, continuing:
— And they think it’s white people and they think it’s Christians.
