Category Archives: Protest

US trucker convoy gathers for cross-country trip to protest Covid rules

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Group calling itself the ‘People’s Convoy’ is one of several due to arrive in capital, similar to the demonstrations in Ottawa

A group of US truckers were due to embark on Wednesday on a 2,500 mile cross-country trip from California to Washington to protest against coronavirus restrictions.

The group, which is calling itself the “People’s Convoy”, is one of several starting from different parts of the country and due to start arriving in the US capital at various points through to late next week – all inspired by the demonstrations that recently paralyzed Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, for weeks.

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National guard troops to be deployed in DC as trucker convoy protests loom

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US protest to follow Canadian truckers’ demonstration against pandemic restrictions

The Pentagon is expected to approve the deployment of 700 to 800 unarmed national guard troops to the nation’s capital, a US official said on Tuesday, in the face of trucker convoys that are planning protests against pandemic restrictions beginning next week.

The District of Columbia government and the US Capitol police are requesting the national guard assistance. The troops would be used largely to help control traffic and are expected to come from the district’s national guard and three states, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss aid not yet formally approved.

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Kabul to California: how the ‘hip-hop family’ mobilised for young Afghans

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With breakdancers, artists and parkourists facing a bleak future under the Taliban, a global network stepped in to help, drawing on the activist spirit of rap culture

A veteran of the hip-hop scene and internationally celebrated breakdancer, Nancy Yu – AKA Asia One – has her fair share of people contacting her looking for advice. But the message she received in 2019 from a young Afghan was a little different.

Frustrated by his breakdancing crew’s inability to get visas to perform internationally, Moshtagh* was wondering if Asia could help. “He felt they were really good, but they felt, like, invisible to the world,” she says. “I liked him. He wasn’t trying to bug me or say ‘we need this right now’ … He seemed rather humble and honest.”

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Ottawa trucker protest: pepper spray and scuffles as police try to clear capital – video

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Police pushed back protesters in Canada’s besieged capital on Saturday, arresting 170 people and towing away dozens of vehicles. Many more trucks were driven out of the city, raising authorities’ hopes for an end to the three-week protest against the country’s Covid restrictions. Police in tactical gear quickly gained ground on the second full day of one of the biggest police enforcement actions in Canada’s history, for which officers were drawn in from around the country

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Ottawa protests: conspiracies and accusations of betrayal as police end blockade

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Large parts of area in capital cleared after more than 191 are arrested and 57 vehicles are towed

When thousands of protesters against Covid restrictions arrived in Ottawa last month, it would have seemed unimaginable that they would take over parts of the Canadian capital with little resistance.

To their own disbelief, the rightwing protesters soon controlled the streets outside parliament, brazenly flouting the law in the belief nothing could or would stop them.

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Ottawa: police use pepper spray and stun grenades to clear trucker protest

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Police chief says ‘occupation is over’ as he vows to clear out those still demonstrating against Covid mandates and Trudeau government

Canadian police deployed pepper spray and stun grenades on Saturday in a continuing effort to break up a blockade of trucks and demonstrators that has occupied downtown Ottawa for more than three weeks in a protest against pandemic protocols.

Reports indicated that authorities escalated crowd control efforts. Police with rifles reportedly approached protesters and smashed truck windows.

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Greta stands with Sami and Navalny on trial again: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

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A roundup of the coverage of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Myanmar to Mexico

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Protesters defy police presence in Ottawa after officers warn of crackdown

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Justin Trudeau says ‘high time these illegal and dangerous activities stop’ after nearly three weeks in Canadian capital

Truckers who have blockaded downtown Ottawa for nearly three weeks have defied a growing police presence in the Canadian capital and ignored repeated warnings that they could face steep fines and possible arrest.

Officers had warned of an impending crackdown on Thursday, as busloads of police reinforcements arrived in the city and work crews took the rare step of erecting metal fences outside the senate and parliament.

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Vietnamese activists routinely placed under house arrest, report finds

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Authorities regularly detain environmentalists, rights campaigners and dissidents to prevent them travelling or attending events, says Human Rights Watch

The Vietnamese government is routinely placing activists under arbitrary house arrest, employing tactics including stationing guards outside their homes, setting up roadblocks nearby and using superglue and padlocks to jam their doors shut, according to a report.

The study by Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented cases involving 170 rights activists, bloggers, dissidents and their family members who were prevented from domestic and international travel between 2004 and 2021. The real number of those affected is likely to be higher, the report warned.

Those targeted had worked on various issues, from land rights and environmental activism, to advocating for media freedom and the rights of political prisoners, to participating in anti-China protests.

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Saunas, haircuts, hot meals: Ottawa protesters set up for the long haul

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Protesters against Covid-19 rules seem unfazed by possible police action as prime minister invokes emergency powers

A day after Canada’s prime minister announced a dramatic escalation in his government’s fight against blockades across the country, protesters in the nation’s capital were scheduling haircuts and receiving massages, apparently unfazed by the prospect of ramped-up police enforcement.

Hundreds of semi-trucks which have been parked out front of Canada’s parliament since late January have become emblematic of the protests, but planning and logistics for the occupation is run from a second site in a hotel parking lot on Coventry Road, 5km east of the downtown area.

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Belgian police prevent French ‘freedom convoy’ from entering Brussels

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Barriers and checkpoints set up around European quarter, and drivers directed to park and rest area

Belgian police have stopped drivers taking part in France’s so-called freedom convoy from entering Brussels, where they planned to hold a demonstration on Monday.

Hundreds of protesters had headed north from Paris region on Sunday but Brussels authorities said the convoy would not be allowed to enter the city.

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Myanmar’s first literary work since coup reveals ‘courage and altruism’ of writers

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Picking Off New Shoots Will Not Stop the Spring was born from a desire to preserve online expressions of outrage, grief and dissent, say editors

The first literary work to emerge from Myanmar since the military seized control of the country a year ago reveals the altruism and courage of a new generation of writers, its editor has said.

Picking Off New Shoots Will Not Stop the Spring is an anthology of poems and essays, many of which were written during the military crackdown after last February’s coup. Others date from 1988 to 2020.

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‘Freedom convoy’ Covid protests held in France and Netherlands – video

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​​Demonstrators against Covid-19 restrictions in France and the Netherlands staged protests on Saturday inspired by the 'freedom convoy' demonstrations in Canada. In France, police fired teargas at demonstrators on the Champs Élysées in Paris shortly after a convoy made it into the capital. Cars carrying protesters managed to get through police checkpoints in central Paris to snarl traffic around the Arc de Triomphe. Inspired by horn-blaring demonstrations in Canada, the motorists waved French flags and honked in defiance of a police order not to enter the city.

A convoy of vehicles from across the Netherlands brought The Hague’s city centre to a standstill earlier in the day

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New Zealand authorities deploy Barry Manilow against Covid protesters

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Sound system on parliament grounds plays vaccine messages, Macarena and the crooner’s 1970s hits

New Zealand authorities have deployed Barry Manilow against protesters at its parliament, playing his greatest hits at hundreds camped out over coronavirus restrictions.

The protest began when a convoy of trucks and cars drove to parliament from across the country, inspired by protests in Canada. At first there were more than 1,000 protesters but that number dwindled as the week wore on before growing again on Saturday.

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Freedom convoys: legitimate Covid protest or vehicle for darker beliefs?

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The blockade of Ottawa has sparked copycat action around the globe, and such disparate demonstrations of grievance may prove hard to shut down

It only took six dozen trucks, and a few hundred protesters to bring Canada’s capital to a standstill and close a critical border crossing with the US, throttling the car industry that straddles the line between both countries and relies on a constant flow of trade.

On Saturday, Canadian authorities finally began taking action to clear the Ambassador Bridge into the US, the busiest land crossing in North America, which had been blockaded by just over a dozen trucks and smaller vehicles, and a crowd a few hundred strong.

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Protests grow across Canada as police struggle to reopen key bridge

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Police had early success in clearing Ambassador Bridge, but demonstrators still choke vital trade route

Protesters opposed to Covid-19 vaccine mandates and other restrictions withdrew some of their vehicles from a US-Canadian border bridge on Saturday, but ramped up demonstrations in cities across Canada, including the capital, where police said they were awaiting more officers before ending what they described as an illegal occupation.

Late on Saturday police made the first arrest of a protester blocking the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, more than a day after authorities moved in seeking to end the blockade of the important trade corridor.

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Protests against Covid restrictions held in France and Netherlands

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French police fire teargas in Paris, while convoy of vehicles brings The Hague’s city centre to standstill

Demonstrators against Covid-19 restrictions in France and the Netherlands staged protests on Saturday inspired by the “Freedom Convoy” demonstrations in Canada.

In France police fired teargas at demonstrators on the Champs Élysées in Paris shortly after a convoy protesting against restrictions made it into the capital.

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US-Canada border standoff dissolves peacefully as police move in

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Many demonstrators drove away from Ambassador Bridge as scores of police approached shortly before dawn

A tense standoff at a US-Canadian border crossing crucial to both countries’ economies appeared to be dissolving peacefully Saturday as Canadian police moved in to disperse the nearly weeklong blockade and demonstrators began leaving without resistance.

Many demonstrators drove away from the Ambassador Bridge spanning the river between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, as scores of police approached shortly after dawn.

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Ontario declares state of emergency, threatening fines and jail time to end blockade

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Court grants an injunction to remove protesters from the bridge between Windsor and Detroit

The province of Ontario has invoked a state of emergency and says it will use the threat of hefty fines, jail time and vehicle licence seizures to end a blockade that has crippled trade between Canada and the United States.

Border traffic at the Ambassador Bridge, which links Windsor to Detroit, has been shut down since Monday as part of a nationwide protest against pandemic restrictions, snarling nearly C$300m (US$235m) of trade each day.

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French ‘freedom convoys’ head towards Paris to protest against Covid rules – video

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Despite an order not to enter Paris, motorists protesting against coronavirus restrictions are converging on the capital from cities across France, inspired by the horn-blaring demonstrations taking place in Canada. Whereas in Canada the protests have united truckers angered by a vaccine mandate for crossing borders, in France it is over vaccine pass rules, which require people to show proof of inoculation against Covid to enter bars, restaurants, cinemas and other public spaces

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