Reuters World News Summary

Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Israel, Britain and Spain and most of the United States are easing or lifting COVID restrictions, and most of Canada's provincial governments are rolling them back, too. Elon Musk tweets, then deletes, meme comparing Trudeau to Hitler Elon Musk compared Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with Adolf Hitler in a tweet that appeared to support truckers protesting vaccine mandates -- and which immediately triggered a storm on Twitter.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Analysis-Pandemic fatigue a challenge for Canada's Trudeau amid protests

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's support of vaccine mandates in fighting COVID-19 helped him win re-election five months ago, but now he looks increasingly isolated as restrictions are being lifted around the world. Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Israel, Britain and Spain and most of the United States are easing or lifting COVID restrictions, and most of Canada's provincial governments are rolling them back, too.

Elon Musk tweets, then deletes, meme comparing Trudeau to Hitler

Elon Musk compared Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with Adolf Hitler in a tweet that appeared to support truckers protesting vaccine mandates -- and which immediately triggered a storm on Twitter. Musk sent the tweet on Wednesday just before midnight in California, and had deleted it by midday on Thursday, without explanation. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Ukraine shelling renews invasion fears as Russia expels U.S. diplomat

Shelling in Ukraine on Thursday renewed Western fears of an imminent Russian invasion as U.S. President Joe Biden said Moscow is preparing a pretext to justify a possible attack and the Kremlin expelled an American diplomat. Early morning exchanges of fire between Kyiv's forces and pro-Russian separatists - who have been at war for years and where a ceasefire is periodically violated - caused alarm as Western countries have said an incursion could come at any time.

Mexican journalists protest, urge president to stop violence against press

Journalists in the Mexican border city of Tijuana on Thursday held protests to urge President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to bring to an end the spate of violence that has seen five media workers killed this year. Reporters protested inside and outside the military barracks in Tijuana, where Lopez Obrador held a morning news conference.

Death toll in Brazil's Petropolis reaches 104 after rains trigger mudslides

The death toll from mudslides in Brazil's colonial-era city of Petropolis rose to 104 on Thursday and was expected to increase further as the region reels from the heaviest rains in almost a century this week. As the rescue effort continued, the local morgue was forced to use a refrigerated truck as a back up as more victims were being brought in while other bodies still awaited to be identified by their families.

A Chilean indigenous language vanishes as last native speaker dies

An indigenous language from South America's extreme south has all but vanished after the death of its last living speaker and guardian of its ancestral culture. Cristina Calderon died on Wednesday, aged 93. She had mastered the Yamana language of the Yagan community and after the death of her sister in 2003 was the last person in the world who could speak it. She worked to save her knowledge by creating a dictionary of the language with translations to Spanish.

Police warn Canada protesters of 'imminent' action to clear them

Police warned protesters occupying central Ottawa of "imminent" action to clear them from the capital and began making some arrests on Thursday to end a crisis that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned was threatening public safety. Truckers opposing coronavirus mandates have blocked roads in downtown Ottawa for nearly three weeks, the centrepiece of a movement that has inspired anti-government protests in other countries and temporarily shut border crossings with the United States.

At U.N., U.S. warns Russia planning to attack Ukraine in 'coming days'

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken laid out at the United Nations Security Council on Thursday how Washington believes Russia could seek to invade Ukraine, warning that Moscow was preparing to attack its neighbor in the "coming days." Blinken, as other U.S. officials have done over the past two weeks, accused Russia of planning to manufacture a pretext for an attack on Ukraine that could include "a fake, even a real, attack using chemical weapons," and said: "Russia may describe this event as ethnic cleansing or a genocide."

Russia-backed rebel commander in Ukraine's East rallies veterans to rejoin ranks

A prominent commander of Russian-backed separatists in a breakaway area in eastern Ukraine sought to rally his veteran troops on Thursday, heralding a potential intensifying of the region's conflict. Alexander Khodakovsky, a former political leader in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic who now oversees a military unit, said that "all who want to rejoin ranks should be ready."

Haitian garment workers protest to demand higher wages

Thousands of Haitian garment workers protested in Port-au-Prince on Thursday to demand higher wages following weeks of similar demonstrations over pay and working conditions at firms that export to U.S. clothing retailers. For decades, Haiti has promoted itself as a center for clothing manufacturing thanks to low wages and proximity to U.S. markets, but has faced consistent complaints that wages are too low to cover the cost of basic goods in the Caribbean nation.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)