In the news today, Jan. 8

RCMP say they arrested 14 people from a blockade to a forest service road in northern British Columbia that is preventing access to a pipeline project. Mounties say the arrests took place at the Gitdumt’en checkpoint on Morice West Forest Service Road for various offences, including alleged violations of an injunction order against the blockade. They allege officers saw a number of fires being lit along the roadway. Members of the Gidimt’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation had set up a camp and a checkpoint in the area, southwest of Houston, which they said was to control access.

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TRUMP RESPECTS LAW ON EXTRADITION: PMO

Donald Trump has affirmed his respect for judicial independence, the Prime Minister’s Office says, less than a month after the U.S. president baldly said he would intervene in Meng Wanzhou’s pending extradition from Canada if it would help forge a trade deal with China. In a summary of a phone call Monday between Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the PMO indicated the leaders discussed the high-profile U.S. extradition request — though Meng was not named — and agreed on the importance of respecting the independence of judges and the rule of law.

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B.C. LAWYER SAYS MAN CONFESSED OUT OF FEAR

In final arguments to a B.C. Supreme Court jury, a defence lawyer for a man charged with killing a 12-year-old girl in the province says his client lied when he confessed to the crime. Patrick Angly says Garry Handlen told multiple lies throughout the nearly nine-month undercover operation because “he is a liar.” Angly says fear of losing a job that offered multiple perks and a promising future with a well-connected crime group led Handlen to the false confession. Handlen has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death Monica Jack, who was last seen on May 6th, 1978, as she rode her bike in Merritt, B.C.

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PEEWEE HOCKEY TEAM WANT TO FIND COACH A KIDNEY

A Vancouver peewee hockey coach says he’s “amazed and overwhelmed” by the response to a video put together by his team to help him find a living kidney donor. Stephen Gillis said the video is the nicest thing that anyone has ever done for him. “Help us help our coach,” team members dressed for a game say in unison in the video. Some members of the 11- to 12-year-old mixed gender team hold up message placards in the video, including: “Coach Stephen is really sick” and “We need to find a donor for Coach Stephen.”

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ALSO IN THE NEWS:

— A re-trial is scheduled for former taxi driver Bassam Al-Rawi, accused of sexually assaulting a female passenger in Halifax.

— The case of truck driver Jaskirat Sidhu, charged with dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily injury in a crash involving the Humboldt Broncos team bus, will be in court today.

— Statistics Canada will release its merchandise trade figures for November today.

The Canadian Press

In the news today, Jan. 8

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