The Ukraine-Russia standoff is a troubling watershed moment for NATO

Thomas Hughes, 

Post-Doctoral Fellow, Centre for International and Defence Policy, Queen's University, Ontario - 

Thursday

The Conversation

The escalating tensions among Russia, Ukraine and its allies represents a monumental challenge for the international community while also creating a political environment that could violently upend the way security is approached.

The very real risk of warfare between the military forces of Russia and Ukraine is the primary focus. But for Canada and its allies, this conflict is not only about Ukrainian sovereignty, but also the structure of NATO and the viability of the rules that govern international activities.

If Russia conducts any activity that harms Ukraine or the Ukrainian government, it represents a very public failure of key NATO members to deter such action.

Furthermore, Russia attacking Ukraine — whether through a traditional military invasion or via cyber attacks or misinformation campaigns — would demonstrate the inadequacy of existing security-related international regulations. By escalating tensions, Russia would also exacerbate existing differences of opinion within NATO.

By threatening Ukraine, Russia has put pressure on NATO to either offer unequivocal support to Ukrainians and risk being pulled into a damaging conflict, or make concessions to the Russians.
NATO’s difficult position

These concessions could include NATO forces withdrawing further from Russia, a commitment not to allow Ukraine into NATO or the formal acknowledgement of Crimea as Russian territory.

This puts NATO in a difficult position. Such concessions would be seen as NATO bowing to Russian pressure, and potentially be perceived as abandoning its members on Russia’s borders.

Conversely, there are differences of opinion within NATO about the most effective and appropriate way of engaging with Russia. This was highlighted by the recent resignation of Germany’s Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schoenbach. He stepped down after saying Russian President Vladimir Putin “deserves” respect and that the Crimea Peninsula, former Ukrainian territory that was annexed by Russia in 2014, is “gone” and “will never” be part of Ukraine again.

The latter claim was in direct opposition to the public positions of the German government and its allies, who continue to express the belief that the annexation should be reversed.

Of course, Ukraine is not a NATO member, so there’s no absolute requirement for any other NATO member to come to its defence. Nevertheless, some key NATO members, including Canada, have been vociferous in their opposition to Russian activities.

Should Russia invade Ukraine, it will be very difficult for these NATO members not to respond forcefully. Other NATO allies would also be forced to decide whether they’ll provide support. Failing to do so, even though it may not technically represent an abdication of NATO responsibilities, would signify a considerable breach in the alliance.
The importance of predictability

Furthermore, for NATO members, stability in Europe is heavily based on ensuring that the actions of states in the region are predictable, which is partly achieved through openness and transparency.

In theory, if everyone is open about their activities and benefits — and the risks of their actions are clearly understood — then the likely course of future policy and activity can be predicted. This also makes it easier to prepare if another state’s actions appear to be threatening or aggressive.

If actions are predictable, the ability to act aggressively by surprising another state is reduced, and relationships between states are therefore stabilized.


© (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A Ukrainian serviceman mans a heavy machine gun at a frontline position in the Luhansk region, eastern Ukraine, in February 2022.

To a certain extent, this approach is based on being clear about the costs involved in acting aggressively. The publication of details about the material support given to Ukraine by NATO members, including the United States and the United Kingdom, is an example of how NATO has sought to use openness and predictability to create stability and deter Russia from attacking Ukraine.

By highlighting the improvement in Ukrainian military capability, it suggests that a higher number of Russian troops would be killed if they tried to invade. The intention here is not to surprise Russian troops with Ukrainian capability and defeat them in battle, but instead to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine by indicating a predictable increase in potential Russian casualties.

More fundamentally, predictability has stemmed from the agreement of regulations intended to govern behaviour. When such rules are established and followed, the “game” of international security is easier to play. All participants are aware of the rules and understand that adhering to them benefits everyone.
Rules under seige

These rules are now under huge stress. The possibility of a Russian invasion rips apart the basic tenets of international agreements that generally prohibit the use of force.

In addition, Russia may use force that doesn’t meet the threshold of war, such as launching more cyber attacks or, as the U.K. Foreign Office has suggested, leveraging political pressure that results in the installation of a pro-Russian politician as the head of the Ukrainian government.

These tactics suggest Russia and NATO members have a different understanding of the importance of international law, and that the existing rules provide insufficient guidance around the use of what’s known as “force-short-of-war.” Consequently, predictability is undermined, and NATO decision-making becomes much more difficult.


© (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)Flags flutter in the wind outside NATO headquarters in Brussels as international efforts to defuse the standoff over Ukraine intensified.

The situation marks an existential crisis for NATO. Low-level Russian action against Ukraine would have limited implications for NATO. However, if NATO cannot deter Russia from taking open military action against Ukraine or there’s broad international failure to respond robustly, faith in the rules and regulations that have underpinned international relations could be terminally undermined.

That would result in a re-evaluation of how to successfully establish security. It’s not likely that introspection would lead to greater international collaboration and more robust rules, but a return to more individualistic security policy shouldn’t be accepted lightly.

This situation is therefore a watershed moment. If diplomatic efforts cannot avert further conflict between Ukraine and Russia — whether it’s traditional warfare or activities that fall below this threshold — a dramatic shift in international relations could occur.

A loss of faith in the ability of existing rules and international organizations to ensure peace and stability could wrench apart NATO and result in costly and jarring reconfigurations of security policy.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.

Read more:

Why church conflict in Ukraine reflects historic Russian-Ukrainian tensions

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Thomas Hughes has received funding from the Department of National Defence for a project not directly connected to this topic. Thomas is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for International and Defence Policy, Queen's University.

Prominent Myanmar filmmaker arrested after a year on the run

BANGKOK (AP) — An award-winning film director in Myanmar has been arrested almost a year after he was put on a wanted list for encouraging government employees to join in protests against military rule, a colleague and local media reported Thursday.

Htun Zaw Win, whose professional name is Wyne, was arrested Wednesday at his apartment in Yangon after spending most of the past year on the run, said the colleague, who is also a prominent figure in the entertainment industry. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of arrest.

Wyne has won multiple awards for best director and best screenplay from the Myanmar Motion Picture Organization. In addition to his popular feature films, he has also worked on movies and shorts dealing with political themes, including land-grabbing and censorship.

The colleague said the 48-year-old Wyne is believed to have gone home to receive medical treatment. He has not fully recovered from a stroke in 2019.

According to the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 12,059 people have been arrested since Myanmar’s military ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1 last year. Of those, 9,056 remain detained.

The army takeover triggered widespread protests and the formation of a civil disobedience movement. Celebrities including film directors, actors, singers, artists, and models attended rallies against the military and used social media to express their support of the nationwide movement against army rule.

By the end of February, the military government began issuing arrest warrants for celebrities, charging them with incitement for “spreading news to affect state stability,” an offense punishable by up to three years in prison.

More than 100 celebrities who took part in the protests were sought and listed with their photos on state-run media.

At least 15 were arrested last year, about half of whom were convicted by special courts inside the country’s notorious Insein Prison in Yangon.

Last October, charges were dropped against 24 artists and 10 social media personalities under an amnesty order from Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, head of the ruling military council.

However, the military government continues to issue new arrest warrants, and according to the state-run Myanma Alinn Daily newspaper, at least 187 people have been arrested by security forces since Jan. 27 this year.

The military suppression of peaceful protests gave rise to armed resistance, and a low-level insurgency is active in many parts of the country.

Grant Peck , The Associated Press

North Macedonia's President walks bullied 11-year-old girl with Down syndrome to school

By Allegra Goodwin, CNN - Yesterday 

The President of North Macedonia walked an 11-year-old girl with Down syndrome to school after he heard she was being bullied.

President Stevo Pendarovski held Embla Ademi's hand as he walked her to her elementary school in the city of Gostivar on Monday.

Embla has experienced bullying at school due as a result of having Down syndrome -- a genetic condition that causes learning disabilities, health problems and distinctive facial characteristics -- a spokesperson for the President's office told CNN.

Pendarovski "talked to Embla's parents about the challenges she and her family face on a daily basis," and discussed solutions, his office said in a press release.

"The President said that the behavior of those who endanger children's rights is unacceptable, especially when it comes to children with atypical development," the statement said.

"They should not only enjoy the rights they deserve, but also feel equal and welcome in the school desks and schoolyard. It is our obligation, as a state, but also as individuals, and the key element in this common mission is empathy."

"It will help children like Embla, but it will also help us learn from them how to sincerely rejoice, share and be in solidarity," the president added."

In a video shared by Pendarovski's office, the President can be seen sitting down with Embla's family and giving her gifts.

He is also seen waving the 11-year-old off at the school gate as she walks into the building.

"We are all equal in this society. I came here to give my support and to raise awareness that inclusion is a basic principle", the press release quoted Pendarovski as saying.

The President said he "encouraged and supported" Embla's parents in their fight for the protection of the rights of children like their daughter.

"Prejudices in that context are the main obstacle to building an equal and just society for all," Pendarovski said, according to the press release.

He also stressed there was "a legal and moral obligation to provide inclusive education, in which the main focus is on developing skills and abilities in children with different developmental processes" and emphasized the need to raise public awareness of the issue.

Once part of Yugoslavia, North Macedonia is a small landlocked country in southeastern Europe with a population of around 2 million.


© www.pretsedatel.mk

Pendarovski also sat down with Embla's family and gave her gifts, according to a video shared by his office.

Bulgaria has high expectations of its Canadian first couple

Special to National Post - Thursday

Linda McKenzie was born in Ottawa in 1979 and spent her teens in Courtenay, B.C., a small town halfway up Vancouver Island. Now Linda Petkova, she runs her own bakery and lives with her husband and two of their daughters; their third is off at university.


© Provided by National Post

The Petkov family: Mom Linda McKenzie was born in Ottawa and now runs own bakery in Sofia, Bulgaria. Husband Kiril was minister of the economy before being elected prime minister. The youngest two of their daughters are still at home.

So far, so normal.

Except that the young man she met at the University of British Columbia and later married, a new Canadian named Kiril Petkov, has just been elected prime minister of Bulgaria.

Petkova had never left North America and she knew nothing about Bulgaria, a country of seven million in Eastern Europe, before she met Petkov at UBC in the late 1990s.

“He told me (Bulgaria) was north of Greece and I still wasn’t that sure,” says Petkova.

“But then I never thought I was going to move here, so it didn’t really matter. I just kind of liked him.”


© Courtesy of Linda PetkovaKiril and Linda on a casual day out.

Petkov and his family had immigrated to Victoria when he was 14. He became good friends with Petkova’s twin sister at UBC and he started dating Petkova when she transferred to UBC in her second year.

Life moved fast for the young couple. They married when they were 20 and had their first daughter, Vanessa, a week before they were to start their fourth year. After Petkov graduated with a commerce degree in the spring of 2001, the young family took a trip to Bulgaria, driving all around the country in his parents’ Lada over 10 weeks.

“(It was) like a honeymoon period — with my husband but also with the country,” says Petkova.

Petkov took a job with the Canadian company McCain Foods in Brussels, Belgium, and that was where Petkova finished the last semester of her economics degree after taking off the semester right after Vanessa’s birth.

The Petkovs spent two years in Brussels before Kiril was transferred to Toronto, and then another two years in Cambridge, Mass., where he studied for his MBA and she worked as a research assistant at Harvard University.

After two years in the U.S., the Petkovs thought they would try living in Bulgaria for a couple of years and then see where life would take them; Petkov had accepted a job in its capital city, Sofia, managing Bulgaria’s first large retail park. But first, Petkova moved briefly back to Vancouver Island.

“I wasn’t comfortable enough to give birth (in Bulgaria) so I actually … moved in with my parents for two months to have her,” she says with a laugh, referring to their second daughter, Emma. The family left Canada for Bulgaria when Emma was just five weeks old, as soon as her passport was issued.


© JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomes Prime Minister of Bulgaria Kiril Petkov prior to their bilateral meeting at the EU headquarters in Brussels on Jan. 27, 2022.

In 2007, most Bulgarians, especially older ones, didn’t speak English. But there weren’t many Bulgarian courses or resources available at the time. “(The language) was really difficult for me,” Petkova says.

Bulgarian is written with the Cyrillic alphabet, the same script used to write Russian. But the alphabet wasn’t the main challenge for Petkova (or, in Bulgarian, Петкова).

“They have a lot more tenses than we do and they have the masculine and feminine, which I get wrong all the time…. I make a lot of mistakes still, but (Bulgarians) are so appreciative. They are so surprised that somebody from Canada can learn it.”

Petkova could soon talk to taxi drivers, who weren’t used to meeting people who had moved to Bulgaria. “Every taxi I got into was like, ‘Oh, do you know this guy, Ivan, from Toronto? He’s my cousin. It’s so funny that you’re here and he’s there!’”

It’s no wonder that taxi drivers were surprised. There has been a massive exodus from Bulgaria over the past 30 years, since the country’s borders opened after the fall of one-party communism.


© NIKOLAY DOYCHINOV/AFP via Getty Images

Prime Minister Kiril Petkov (third from left) and his North Macedonia counterpart Dimitar Kovacevski walk by the Aleksander Nevski cathedral after an official welcoming ceremony in Sofia on Jan. 24, 2022.

So the Petkovs were bucking the trend when they moved there. After the retail park, Petkov started his own company, ProViotic, which produces the world’s first vegan probiotic from the snowdrop flower.

Financially independent from the success of ProViotic — a product recommended by both Oprah Winfrey and tennis great Novak Djokovic — Petkov turned his attention to the next generation.

He has taught Harvard-affiliated business and economics courses at Sofia University ever since he moved back, and for the past few years, he has also taught scientists to become entrepreneurs, all at no cost to the students.

The couple had their third daughter, Annie, in 2012. After arriving in Bulgaria, Petkova had done some volunteering, worked a bit for an NGO and then doing online sales for an American fashion company. Nothing quite fit; she was stuck in a rut and she wasn’t happy.

“I hadn’t had a full-time job in about seven years…. I wanted to quit and I didn’t know what else to do.”

In her spare time, Petkova baked. This was partly out of necessity, because a year after she arrived in Bulgaria, she says, “I found out that I had problems with my thyroid, which was due to gluten. And then, a couple years later, I realized all my daughters had the same problem. There were no resources here at all … so I just started making everything from scratch.”

On top of this, Emma, her middle daughter, was diabetic.


© Courtesy of Linda PetkovaFrom left: Kiril Petkov with his wife, Linda, and daughters Annie, Vanessa and Emma.

Petkova had some experience with these conditions — her mother, Margaret McKenzie, has celiac disease. A dietitian, she had developed her own flour mix.

“She was very much at the forefront of developing a lot of these gluten-free products and initiatives, even though she wasn’t commercial about it,” says Petkova.

She adapted recipes to be as gluten-free and as low-carb as possible for her daughters. Her friends started to ask her to bake for their kids’ birthdays and “everyone was telling me I should open a place.”


© Courtesy of Linda PetkovaThe couple, with baby Vanessa, on their first trip through Bulgaria, in 2001.

And three and a half years ago, “I opened a place!” They bought a little Belgian-chocolate shop, put in an industrial stainless steel kitchen “and we started making cake.”

This was the beginning of Amelie Sweet Shop, Bulgaria’s only gluten-free bakery. In addition to making goodies that her daughters can eat, Petkova offers baked goods to those following vegan, keto and raw food diets, too.

One day, a friend of a friend wrote to Petkova, saying that she was a fan of her cakes. Why not apply for MasterChef Bulgaria ? Petkova didn’t watch much TV and had never seen the Bulgarian version of the show before but thought — well, why not? At the least, it would be good advertising for her shop.

“It was just really fun, the whole thing, just because I didn’t take it very seriously…. Every time I went (I thought), ‘Oh my God, this is happening!’”

Petkova had a promising start to her MasterChef campaign in 2020, being fast-tracked to the Top 16 after preparing her signature dessert. But her journey was cut short by a pasta challenge; not eating gluten, she was at a disadvantage. Petkova finished 13th out of the 16 finalists.

But she did it all in Bulgarian and she got the advertising she wanted.


© DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/Getty Images

Former Bulgarian president Boyko Borisov was leader of the Bulgarian conservative GERB party. Here, he is at a polling station during the 2013 general election.

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Sofia for weeks on end in 2020. They accused Boyko Borisov, the prime minister for most of the previous decade, of widespread corruption and the judicial system of protecting him.

In 2021, Bulgaria had two elections that ended without the party with the most votes being able to form a government. During this time, an independent caretaker government ruled the country, and it was in this government that Petkov held office for the first time when he was appointed minister of the economy.

Petkov’s friend and fellow Harvard alumnus, Assen Vassilev, with whom he had taught the Harvard-affiliated courses at Sofia University, was also appointed to this government as the minister of finance.

For last November’s new elections, Petkov and Vassilev decided to strike out and create their own party, We Continue the Change. They ran on an anti-corruption platform — in Petkov’s words, “zero tolerance for corruption — so not small, not limited, but zero” — and won the greatest number of seats.

Petkov and Vassilev negotiated with other parties to form a government and, in mid-December, Petkov was formally inaugurated as prime minister, with Vassilev returning as minister of finance.


© Stoyan Nenov / Reuters

Bulgarian Finance Minister Assen Vassilev became acquainted with Petkov at Harvard.

Bulgarians have high expectations for their new leaders.

“The positive interpretation, from the optimists, is that these are two Harvard-educated young men” who will fix what needs to be fixed in Bulgaria, says Robert Phillips Jr., an associate professor of politics and international studies at the American University of Bulgaria, who has lived in the country for almost 30 years.

Phillips says Petkov needs to address corruption and the rule of law, the health-care system and the education system. If he manages to improve these, then perhaps more Bulgarian expats will come home.


Bulgaria has high expectations of its Canadian first couple

Bulgaria’s constitution states that ministers cannot be dual citizens, so Petkov had to give up his Canadian citizenship when he became minister of the economy in 2021.

High school and university in B.C. “are some my fondest memories,” says Petkov. “This is, of course, where I met Linda. Every time I think about Canada, I have really positive memories about my early life and the start of my career…. My connection to Canada is still in my heart.

“For me, (giving up Canadian citizenship) was a choice I had to make. But since I really had a strong desire to change my country right now, that was a price I was willing to pay….

“It’s amazing to think that seven million people — that their lives could be better by your work. It’s an amazing opportunity and a huge responsibility.”

And Petkov is proud of his wife, who has unwittingly proven to be a political asset.

“One lady told me, ‘Do you know why I will vote for you? … Because I saw your wife making a cake with her own hands last Sunday. I haven’t seen ministers’ wives baking cakes in a small bakery like that before.’”

It’s now been 14 years, far longer in Bulgaria than the two years the Petkovs initially planned for. Bulgaria now feels more like home to Petkova than Canada does. It’s also given her a confidence she might not have even known she had.

“I miss my family … but I really feel foreign when I go (to Canada) just because it’s a different lifestyle,” says Petkova.

“In Bulgaria, there’s this sense of chaos and freedom that there isn’t in Canada…. I have Amelie, which is something I couldn’t have done in Canada or at least I don’t know how I would have…. I don’t know if I could have afforded to do it or if I would have had the courage to do it.”

But she did, and with Amelie, Petkov says, his wife is also a Bulgarian changemaker in her own right.

Faced with sprinklers, New Zealand anti-vaccine mandate protesters dig trenches

Ashleigh Stewart - Global News Yesterday 

New Zealand anti-vaccine mandate protesters have dug mini trenches across parliament grounds, after the sprinklers were turned on overnight in an attempt to force them to leave.

The protest, now entering its fifth day in the capital, Wellington, is modelled on the anti-vaccine protests in Canada that have crippled Ottawa for the last two weeks and have recently blocked the land border crossing in Windsor.

And protesters in New Zealand appear to be drawing heavily on inspiration from their North American counterparts, with Canadian flags being held aloft on parliament grounds and draped across the front of trucks.

"It's very odd to see the Canadian flag being used in protests," New Zealand political scientist Dr. Bryce Edwards tells Global News from Wellington.

"But for some of the protesters, the Canadian flag is now a symbol of anti-vaccination mandates, and so they are embracing it."

New Zealand's protest began with a so-called "trucker convoy" as well — with various travelling through the country's two main islands before meeting up in Wellington — though social media users reported seeing few trucks, and mostly passenger vehicles.

Protesters have been camped out on parliament grounds since Tuesday, despite facing strong resistance from police.

According to local media, at least 122 protesters have been arrested so far, after police on Thursday (NZ time) moved in to remove tents from parliament's lawn and to remove illegally-parked vehicles blocking Wellington streets. Many, however, stood firm and refused to leave.

In a last-ditch effort to get protesters to leave on Friday night, New Zealand's speaker of the house, Trevor Mallard, announced that he would activate the sprinklers on parliament grounds to drench them — despite the fact that it was already raining in Wellington.

Read more:
Premier Doug Ford declares state of emergency amid protests at land border and in Ottawa

“No-one who is here is here legally, and if they’re getting wet from below as well as above, they’re likely to be a little bit less comfortable and more likely to go home," Mallard said in a press release.

“Some people have suggested we add the vaccine in the water, but I don't think it works that way.”

In response, protesters attempted to put orange road cones over the sprinklers, according to videos posted on social media, but when that didn't work, they dug trenches across the grounds in order to divert the water and keep their tents dry.

Edwards, who has visited the protest throughout the week, said the mood on parliament grounds on Friday was a "striking contrast" to Thursday.

"On Thursday it was incredibly tense, and very violent. Both the police and protesters were incredibly physical, and it was uncomfortable for an outsider like myself to be amongst," he tells Global News.

"But on Friday it became incredibly relaxed and festive. It was more like a music festival — a rather hippie one."

Edwards also noted a strong Canada-inspired influence at the protest. He said many people had Canadian flags or were "shouting 'support the truckers!'"

"There are some attempts to import the Canadian convoy politics and style to this protest," Edwards says.

"They have obviously been inspired in terms of the Canadian convoy, and that is how this protest started. But I think most of the protesters probably don't know much about what is happening in Canada."

Edwards said he had also experienced strong reactions from Canadians to videos he had been sharing on social media of the New Zealand protest.

Many Canadians had commented, saying they wished the police in Canada would be as strong-handed as they appeared to be in New Zealand, Edwards says. Others were writing to Edwards to show support for the truckers.

"So it does seem that there's a number of Canadians that are following what's happening in NZ and taking some lessons from it — from both sides," he says.

Police have been brought in from around the country to bolster the capital's forces to deal with the protests, according to local media, as talk of a “second wave” of occupiers circulates on social media, with more due to arrive Friday night and throughout Saturday.

In a news conference on Thursday evening, Wellington police's district commander said the protest was "unprecedented for New Zealand."

“We've never had an occupation of the scale ... It was never going to be a short process. We are conscious of that. It has to be a measured approach, and it will take some time, potentially," Superintendent Corrie Parnell said.

Police say the spread of misinformation among protesters was making it difficult to diffuse the situation.

“Police have identified a range of different causes and motivations among the protestors, making it difficult to open clear and meaningful lines of communication,” Parnell said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

"Misinformation, particularly on social media, has been identified as an issue."

Parnell also said police were concerned over the number of children that were involved in the protest, a concern shared by police in Canada.

"Police are also concerned that people are encouraging children be brought to the protest site to support their efforts," Parnell's statement said.

One protester named Glenn, who did not want his last name used, said more people arrived on parliament grounds Friday night and even more were due to join on Saturday.

He said he had joined with others to "push against police for eight hours" on Thursday, but since then the protest has been "very, very peaceful."

Video: Paris bans French convoy inspired by Ottawa protests from entering city

Glenn started a group called Resistance Kiwi in July 2021, when he believed vaccine mandates could be coming in the future.

Resistance Kiwi now has about 2,500 members and was one of the main groups involved in bringing together the Wellington protest.

"Canada has inspired many groups around the world," Glenn told Global News.

He was also calling on New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to step down.

"This government has brought segregation and discrimination on society. The message down there at parliament is just to end the mandates."

New Zealand turns to Barry Manilow songs and sprinklers to flush out protesters in Wellington

The protests at Wellington's parliament house stretched to a fifth day on Saturday. 

 (AFP: Marty Melville)

Some countries might send in a riot squad to disperse trespassing protesters, but New Zealand authorities turned on the sprinklers and Barry Manilow.

Key points:

Parliament speaker Trevor Mallard says he activated the sprinklers to dampen protests in Wellington

A loop of Barry Manilow songs and vaccine messages further discouraged demonstrators

The protesters responded by playing We're Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister

A demonstration against New Zealand's vaccination mandates and tough COVID-19 restrictions was held outside parliament in Wellington for the fifth day.

The ongoing protests came as the nation recorded a daily record of 454 community COVID-19 cases.

Initial moves on Saturday to try and flush out several hundred protesters with sprinklers had little effect.



The protesters responded to the soaking from the sprinklers by digging trenches and installing makeshift drainpipes to divert the water.

They also brought in bales of straw, which they scattered on the increasingly sodden grounds at parliament.

But by evening, parliament speaker Trevor Mallard had come up with a new plan to make the protesters uncomfortable: using a sound system to blast out vaccine messages, Barry Manilow songs and the Latin hit, Macarena, on a repeat loop.

Protesters responded by playing their own tunes, including Twisted Sister's 1983 rock anthem, We're Not Gonna Take It.

The demonstration began last Tuesday when a convoy of trucks and cars drove to parliament from around the nation, 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.

Police have been taking a more hands-off approach since Thursday, when they arrested 122 people and charged many of them with trespassing or obstruction.

The Wellington protesters oppose mask mandates and ongoing coronavirus restrictions across New Zealand.(AFP: Marty Melville)

But Mr Mallard said he told staff to turn on the sprinklers overnight after running out of patience.

"I ordered them on," he said.

"No one who is here is here legally, and if they're getting wet from below as well as above, they're likely to be a little bit less comfortable and more likely to go home."

"Some people have suggested we add the vaccine in the water, but I don't think it works that way," he joked.

Mr Mallard also acknowledged that he was responsible for the sound system musical loop.

New Zealand's demonstrations are believed to be inspired by the freedom protests in Canada. (AP: Mark Mitchell)

Among the protesters' grievances is the requirement in New Zealand that certain workers get vaccinated against COVID-19, including teachers, doctors, nurses, police and military personnel.

Many protesters also oppose mask mandates — such as those in stores and among children over about age 8 in classrooms — and champion the idea of more "freedom".

What's behind Canada's truck protests?

Canadian officials tell Americans to butt out of Canada's domestic affairs, as Donald Trump and Elon Musk praise truck drivers protesting against vaccine mandates.

Read more

New Zealand was spared the worst of the pandemic after it closed its borders and implemented strict lockdowns, limiting the spread of the virus.

The nation has reported just 53 coronavirus deaths among its population of 5 million.

But some have grown weary of the restrictions. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said last week the country would end its quarantine requirements for incoming travellers in stages as it reopened its borders.

With about 77 per cent of New Zealanders vaccinated, Ms Ardern has also promised she will not impose more lockdowns.

The country's borders are still closed, however, with tens of thousands of expatriate New Zealanders facing being cut off from families and tourism businesses struggling to stay afloat.

Wires/ABC

New Zealand Blasts Barry Manilow, 'Macarena' To Flush Out Anti-Vaccine Mandate Protesters

Demonstrations began when a convoy of trucks and cars drove to Wellington from around the nation, inspired by protests in Canada.

NICK PERRY

02/12/2022 


WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Some countries might send in a riot squad to disperse trespassing protesters. In New Zealand, authorities turned on the sprinklers and Barry Manilow.

Initial moves to try and flush out several hundred protesters who have been camped on Parliament’s grassy grounds since Tuesday had little effect.

The protesters, who have been voicing their opposition to coronavirus vaccine mandates, responded to the soaking from the sprinklers by digging trenches and installing makeshift drainpipes to divert the water.

When a downpour hit Saturday, their numbers only grew. Protesters brought in bales of straw, which they scattered on the increasingly sodden grounds at Parliament. Some shouted, others danced and one group performed an Indigenous Maori haka.

By evening, Parliament Speaker Trevor Mallard had come up with a new plan to make the protesters uncomfortable: using a sound system to blast out vaccine messages, decades-old Barry Manilow songs and the 1990s earworm hit “Macarena” on a repeat loop. Protesters responded by playing their own tunes, including Twister Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”

The protest began when a convoy of trucks and cars drove to Parliament from around the nation, 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.

Police have been taking a more hands-off approach since Thursday, when they arrested 122 people and charged many of them with trespassing or obstruction. Police, who have been wearing protective vests but haven’t been using riot gear or carrying guns, had tried to slowly advance on the protesters.

But that resulted in a number of physical confrontations. A video of two female officers briefly dragging a naked woman by her hair from amid a scuffle went viral.

In a response to questions from The Associated Press, New Zealand police said they did not remove the woman’s clothing as some people had claimed online, and that she had been naked for “some time” before her arrest. Police also said the images and videos didn’t provide the full context of the protest activity or the situation that police faced.

Still, the scuffles seemed to prompt a strategic rethink by police, who appeared more content to wait it out as the week wore on. But by Friday, Mallard, the Parliament speaker, had seen enough, and told staff to turn on the sprinklers overnight

“I ordered them on,” he confirmed to the AP.

“No one who is here is here legally, and if they’re getting wet from below as well as above, they’re likely to be a little bit less comfortable and more likely to go home,” Mallard said, according to news organization Stuff.

“Some people have suggested we add the vaccine in the water, but I don’t think it works that way,” he joked.

Mallard told media he was responsible for the sound system loop as well.

Some of the protesters’ vehicles have remained parked in the middle of streets around Parliament, forcing some street closures. The National Library and many cafes and bars in the area have closed their doors while the protest plays out. Police said one protester had a medical event on Friday evening and an ambulance was unable to reach him because of the vehicles blocking the streets, resulting in a delay before he was treated.

Among the protesters’ grievances is the requirement in New Zealand that certain workers get vaccinated against COVID-19, including teachers, doctors, nurses, police and military personnel. Many protesters also oppose mask mandates — such as those in stores and among children over about age 8 in classrooms — and champion the ideal of more “freedom.”

Parliament’s grounds have often been the site of peaceful protests, although mass campouts are unusual. Typically at least some politicians will come out to listen to the concerns of protesters, but politicians reconvening at Parliament after a summer break were in rare unison by not acknowledging the protesters.

New Zealand was spared the worst of the pandemic after it closed its borders and implemented strict lockdowns, limiting the spread of the virus. The nation has reported just 53 virus deaths among its population of 5 million.

But some have grown weary of the restrictions. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last week said the country would end its quarantine requirements for incoming travelers in stages as it reopened its borders. With about 77% of New Zealanders vaccinated, Ardern has also promised she won’t impose more lockdowns.

An outbreak of the omicron variant has been growing, with New Zealand reporting a record 454 new community cases Saturday. But none of the 27 people hospitalized from the outbreak needed to be in intensive care beds.

Police fire tear gas, fine Paris protest convoy
AFP - 

Paris police fired teargas and issued hundreds of fines on Saturday to break up a convoy of vehicles that attempted to block traffic in a protest over Covid restrictions and rising living costs.

Inspired by the truckers that shut down the Canadian capital Ottawa, thousands of demonstrators from across France made their way to Paris in a self-proclaimed "freedom convoy" of cars, trucks and vans.


© Sameer Al-DOUMYNearly 7,200 officers have been deployed

The police, which had banned the protest, moved quickly to try to clear the cars at entry points to the city, handing out 283 fines for participation in an unauthorised protest.

But over 100 vehicles managed to converge on the famous Champs-Elysees avenue, where police used teargas to disperse protesters in scenes reminiscent of the "yellow vest" anti-government riots of 2018-2019.

The demonstrators oppose the Covid vaccine pass required to access many public venues but some also took aim at rising energy and food prices, issues which ignited the "yellow vest" protests that shook France in late 2018 and early 2019.


© Sameer Al-DOUMYPolice moved quickly to break up the protest

Aurelie M., a 42-year-old administrative assistant in a Parisian company, complained that the health pass meant she could no longer take a long-distance TGV train even if she tested negative for Covid in a home test.


© Sameer Al-DOUMYSaturday's demonstrations come two months ahead of presidential elections, in which President Emmanuel Macron is expected to seek re-election

"There's so much inconsistency and unfairness," she told AFP, noting that commuters could still cram onto a crowded Paris metro without proof of vaccination.

Sixty-five-year-old factory worker Jean-Paul Lavigne said he travelled across the country from the southwestern town of Albi to protest fuel, food and electricity price hikes as well as the pressure on people to get vaccinated.

The demonstrations come two months ahead of presidential elections, in which President Emmanuel Macron is expected to seek re-election.

On Friday, the centrist French leader, who is a figure of hate for the far left, said he understood the "fatigue" linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.

- 'Fatigue leads to anger' -

"This fatigue also leads to anger. I understand it and I respect it. But I call for the utmost calm," he told the Ouest-France newspaper.


© Agnes COUDURIERIMAGES The police use tear gas to disperse demonstrators from the anti-vaccine pass convoys who have gathered on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Nearly 7,200 officers equipped with armoured vehicles and water cannon were deployed to keep the peace in Paris.


© Sameer Al-DOUMYDespite police efforts, over 100 vehicles managed to converge on the famous Champs-Elysees avenue

Police showed off their arsenal on Twitter, publishing photographs of loader tractors for the removal of barricades.


© Sameer Al-DOUMYAn armoured vehicle parked at the Arc de Triomphe

The convoys set out from Nice in the south, Lille and Vimy in the north, Strasbourg in the east and Chateaubourg in the west.

- 'It's a betrayal' -

They are demanding the withdrawal of the government's vaccine pass and more help with their energy bills.

"People need to see us, and to listen to the people who just want to live a normal and free life," said Lisa, a 62-year-old retired health worker travelling in the Chateaubourg convoy, who did not want to give her surname.

Paris police banned the gathering saying it posed a threat to public order and said protesters who tried to block roads would face fines or arrest.

The order prohibiting the assembly of convoys was upheld on Friday by the courts, which rejected two appeals.

"It's a betrayal. The basis of the order is not respectful of the law, of the freedom to demonstrate," anti-vaccine and "yellow vest" activist Sophie Tissier told AFP.

The prime minister defended the clampdown.

"The right to demonstrate and to have an opinion are a constitutionally guaranteed right in our republic and in our democracy. The right to block others or to prevent coming and going is not," he said.

From Paris, some of the protesters plan to travel on to Brussels for a "European convergence" of protesters planned there for Monday.

Phil, a 58-year-old on his way by truck from Brittany, said his refusal to get vaccinated had created "upheaval" in his family and work relations.

"When you join a demonstration you feel less alone," he told AFP.

burs-ao/cb/har

Police fire tear gas as anti-restrictions "Freedom Convoy" enters Paris


By Antony Paone and Leigh Thomas

Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) -French police fired tear gas at demonstrators on the Champs-Elysees avenue and other places in Paris on Saturday after a "Freedom Convoy" protesting against COVID-19 restrictions made it into the capital.


© Reuters/BENOIT TESSIERFrench "Freedom Convoy" arrives in Paris

Vehicles carrying protesters managed to get through police checkpoints in central Paris to snarl traffic around the Arc de Triomphe monument.

Inspired by horn-blaring "Freedom Convoy" demonstrations in Canada, motorists waved French flags and honked in defiance of a police order not to enter the city.

Police also threw tear gas grenades to disperse protestors, who are against a vaccine pass required to enter many public places, near the Arc de Triomphe and sprayed demonstrators in a separate march on the other side of the city.


© Reuters/BENOIT TESSIER French "Freedom Convoy" arrives in Paris

"The vaccine pass is necessary to be able to work or play sports. We can't stand the vaccine pass any more," said Nathalie Galdeano who came from southwest France by bus to participate in the protests.


© Reuters/BENOIT TESSIERFrench "Freedom Convoy" arrives in Paris

"We don't want this injection, we want to have the right to choose," she told Reuters.

Police said that they had arrested 14 people, handed out 337 tickets by mid-afternoon and earlier had stopped 500 vehicles in the morning that were trying to get into Paris.

Meanwhile, 2,000-3,000 people, including some "Yellow Vest" protesters, marched in a separate, authorised demonstration in Paris against COVID-19 restrictions as well as declining standards of living amid surging inflation.

Less than two months from a presidential election, President Emmanuel Macron's government is eager to keep protests from spiralling into large-scale demonstrations like the anti-government "Yellow Vest" protests of 2018.

Separately police also said they had arrested five protesters in southern Paris in possession of sling shots, hammers, knives and gas masks.

Police had mobilised more than 7,000 officers, set up checkpoints and deployed armoured personnel carriers and water cannon trucks in preparation for the protests.


© Reuters/BENOIT TESSIERFrench "Freedom Convoy" arrives in Paris

Canadian truckers protesting a vaccine mandate for trans-border traffic have paralysed parts of the capital Ottawa https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/how-ottawas-anti-vaccine-mandate-protests-are-spreading-globally-2022-02-09 since late January and blocked U.S.-Canada crossing points.

The French protests are against rules requiring a vaccine pass to enter many public places and come after months of regular demonstrations against the pass in Paris and other cities.

The Yellow Vest movement which began as a protest against fuel taxes grew into a broader revolt that saw some of the worst street violence in decades and tested Macron's authority.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas and Antony Paone; Additional reporting by Christian Lowe and Lucien Liberte; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Kirsten Donovan and Angus MacSwan)

BREAKING NEWS

Anti-vaccine demonstrations: Canada police begin clearing protesters blocking key US-Canada bridge

‘Follow the science’: As Year 3 of the pandemic begins, a simple slogan becomes a political weapon

Marc Fisher - Yesterday .

The Washington Post

Two years ago, when science writer Faye Flam launched a podcast to explore why so many Americans were drawn to misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, she settled on a name she figured would steer clear of politics: “Follow the Science.”

The podcast flourished, but its title has posed a constant dilemma for Flam as the phrase “follow the science,” far from uniting Americans, became a weapon, wielded in derision by both sides of the national divide over how to confront the coronavirus.

Like so many Americans, when Flam hears “follow the science” these days, she braces for a statement likely to be anything but scientific: “The phrase became associated with safety-ism and overcaution, like people would use it sarcastically when they saw someone running through a field wearing an N95 mask,” she said. At the same time, “follow the science” also became a taunt deployed by vaccine and mask advocates against those who spurned such mandatory public health measures.

Now, as the torrent of covid-19 cases unleashed by the omicron variant recedes in most of the country, advocates for each side in the masking debate are once again claiming the mantle of science to justify political positions that have as much to do with widespread bipartisan frustration over two years of life in a pandemic as with any evolution of scientific findings.

A slew of Democratic governors in states that have been among the most mask-friendly are moving to scrap indoor mask mandates, even as some counties and school districts in those states promise to maintain those measures — with both factions contending they are following the science.

It’s not just politicians and school leaders making those opposing decisions. An informal network of parents, backed by like-minded scientists arguing for the “urgency of normal,” is pushing for “evidence-based decisions” to rescind in-school mask mandates. At the same time, teachers unions and other advocates for continued masking of students quote from their own roster of medical experts, urging elected officials to “follow the science” and maintain mandates.

At every pivot in the virus’s behavior, with every new set of findings about how the virus spreads and how it can be fought, “one side says, ‘Aha! Now, we’re the ones following the science,’ ” said Michael D. Gordin, a historian of science at Princeton University.

During the pandemic’s most dangerous phases, advocates of shutdowns and masks have used the phrase to belittle resisters. But during lulls in the virus’s spread, it’s those resisters who have snapped the slogan back at the cautious crowd, asking why dramatic drops in case numbers don’t justify a return to a more normal life.

Flam said she has cringed as she watched “people load up the phrase with political baggage. I agonize every day over whether to change the name of the podcast.”

From the early political struggles over confronting the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s to contemporary debates over policy toward transgender people or the NFL’s handling of concussions among football players, pleas to “follow the science” have consistently yielded to use of the phrase as a rhetorical land mine.

Those who urge others to just “follow the science” generally claim to be politically unbiased: They’re just pledging allegiance to the higher power of fact and neutral inquiry.

But as Flam has discovered, “so much is mixed up with science — risk and values and politics. The phrase can come off as sanctimonious,” she said, “and the danger is that it says, ‘These are the facts,’ when it should say, ‘This is the situation as we understand it now and that understanding will keep changing.’ ”

The pandemic’s descent from medical emergency to political flash point can be mapped as a series of surges of bickering over that one simple phrase. “Follow the science!” people on both sides insisted, as the guidance from politicians and public health officials shifted over the past two years from anti-mask to pro-mask to “keep on masking” to more refined recommendations about which masks to wear and now to a spotty lifting of mandates.

Adrian McDaniel, who teaches video production at Gaithersburg High School in Maryland, joins a student walkout Jan. 21, 2022, protesting the school's response to the pandemic. 

(Craig Hudson for The Washington Post)

Early in the pandemic, in 2020, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) pushed for schools to reopen, tweeting, “I wonder where the ‘listen to the science’ people will go when the science doesn’t support their fearmongering?” In 2021, Republicans used “follow the science” to slap the Biden administration for not pushing harder to confront China on the origins of the coronavirus.

The president of Connecticut’s teachers union, Jan Hochadel, this month pressed for continued masking in schools, saying, “We have remained among the safest states throughout this pandemic because elected leaders have heeded the call to ‘follow the science.’ … There is no sound reason to veer off course now.”

Arguments over following the science extend beyond disagreements over how to analyze the results of studies, said Samantha Harris, a Philadelphia lawyer who formerly worked at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a conservative advocacy group. Rather, demands that the other side “follow the science” are often a complete rejection of another person’s cultural and political identity: “It’s not just people believing the scientific research that they agree with. It’s that in this extreme polarization we live with, we totally discredit ideas because of who holds them.”

Harris readily concedes that she often doesn’t know what to make of scientific findings she reads about. She got vaccinated and wears masks because doctors she trusts advised her to, but she’s constantly frustrated by her own inability to figure out the right moves.

“I’m struggling as much as anyone else,” she said. “Our job as informed citizens in the pandemic is to be like judges and synthesize information from both sides, but with the extreme polarization, nobody really trusts each other enough to know how to judge their information.”

Many people end up putting their trust in some subset of the celebrity scientists they see online or on TV. “Follow the science” often means “follow the scientists” — a distinction that offers insight into why there’s so much division over how to cope with the virus, according to a study by sociologists at the University of New Hampshire.

They found that although a slim majority of Americans they surveyed don’t believe that “scientists adjust their findings to get the answers they want,” 31 percent do believe scientists cook the books and another 16 percent were unsure.

Those who mistrust scientists were vastly less likely to be worried about getting covid-19 — and more likely to be supporters of former president Donald Trump, the study found.

A person’s beliefs about scientists’ integrity “is the strongest and most consistent predictor of views about … the threats from covid-19,” said the study conducted by Thomas G. Safford, Emily H. Whitmore and Lawrence C. Hamilton.

When a large minority of Americans believe scientists’ conclusions are determined by their own opinions, that demonstrates a widespread “misunderstanding of scientific methods, uncertainty, and the incremental nature of scientific inquiry,” the sociologists concluded.

Americans’ confidence in science has declined in recent decades, especially among Republicans, according to Gallup polls tracking such attitudes. The survey found last year that 64 percent of Americans said they had “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in science, down from 70 percent who said that back in 1975. Confidence in science jumped among Democrats, from 67 percent in the earlier poll to 79 percent last year, while Republicans’ confidence cratered during the same period from 72 percent to 45 percent.

Yet the popularity of the “follow the science” slogan on both sides of the political and cultural divide does provide some good news, said Gordin, the Princeton historian, who studies the roots and meaning of pseudoscience.

The fact that both sides want to be on the side of “science” “bespeaks tremendous confidence or admiration for a thing called ‘science,’ ” he said. Even in this time of rising mistrust, everybody wants to have the experts on their side.

That’s been true in American debates regarding science for many years. Four decades ago, when arguments about climate change were fairly new, people who rejected the idea looked at studies showing a connection between burning coal and acid rain and dubbed them “junk science.” The “real” science, those critics said, showed otherwise.

“Even though the motive was to reject a scientific consensus, there was still a valorization of expertise,” Gordin said.

That has continued during the pandemic. “Even people who took a horse tranquilizer when they got covid-19 were quick to note that the drug was created by a Nobel laureate,” he said. “Almost no one says they’re anti-science.”

The problem is that the phrase has become more a political slogan than a commitment to neutral inquiry, “which bespeaks tremendous ignorance about what science is,” Gordin said. “There isn’t a thing called ‘the science.’ There are multiple sciences with active disagreements with each other. Science isn’t static.”

But scientists and laypeople alike are often guilty of presenting science as a monolithic statement of fact, rather than an ever-evolving search for evidence to support theories, Gordin said.

And while scientists are trained to be comfortable with uncertainty, a pandemic that has killed and sickened millions has made many people eager for definitive solutions.

“I just wish when people say ‘follow the science,’ it’s not the end of what they say, but the beginning, followed by ‘and here’s the evidence,’ ” Gordin said.

As much as political leaders may pledge to “follow the science,” they answer to constituents who want answers and progress, so the temptation is to overpromise.

President Biden on June 2, 2021, talks about a “summer of freedom” from the coronavirus at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post)

Last summer, President Biden said that “we all know what we need to do to beat this virus — tell the truth, follow the science, work together.” Still, his administration couldn’t resist promising “a summer of freedom. A summer of joy. A summer of reunions and celebrations.”

During the first year of the pandemic, Trump promised dozens of times that the virus would vanish. “It’s going to disappear,” he said in February 2020. “One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.” Four months later, he said that “it’s dying out.” Another four months after that, he said science would prove useful against the virus: “It’s ending anyway … but we’re gonna make it a lot faster with the vaccine and with the therapeutics and frankly with the cures.”

It’s never easy to follow the science, many scientists warn, because people’s behaviors are shaped as much by fear, folklore and fake science as by well-vetted studies or evidence-based government guidance.

“Science cannot always overcome fear,” said Monica Gandhi, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of California at San Francisco. Some of the states with the lowest covid case rates and highest vaccination rates nonetheless kept many students in remote learning for the longest time, a phenomenon she attributed to “letting fear dominate our narrative.”

“That’s been true of the history of science for a long time,” Gandhi said. “As much as we try to be rigorous about fact, science is always subject to the political biases of the time.”

As a rhetorical weapon, “follow the science” has been wielded by NFL commissioners explaining why the league continued to list marijuana as a banned substance for players, by Congress as it instructed the Environmental Protection Agency on how to settle battles over laying oil pipelines, and by people on both sides of debates over the amount of salt in packaged foods, the link between cellphone use and brain cancer, and the causes of crime spikes.

A few years ago, when NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league was maintaining its ban on marijuana use because he was “following the science,” retired player and cannabis entrepreneur Marvin Washington pushed back: “Roger, we don’t want to follow the science,” he said. “We want you to lead the science.” The league stopped suspending players who tested positive for marijuana use in 2020.

For at least three decades, directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been pledging to get back to following the science. In 1993, when David Satcher took over the CDC during the Bill Clinton administration, he said he would return the agency to its original mission, eschewing politics: “We are going to follow the science,’’ he said, by building an AIDS education campaign that promoted condom use — an approach that had been avoided during the Reagan administration.

A study published in September indicates that people who trust in science are actually more likely to believe fake scientific findings and to want to spread those falsehoods. The study, reported in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, found that trusting in science did not give people the tools they need to understand that the scientific method leads not to definitive answers, but to ever-evolving theories about how the world works.

Trust in science alone doesn’t arm people against misinformation, according to the study, whose lead author was social psychologist Thomas C. O’Brien. Rather, people need to understand how the scientific method works, so they can ask good questions about studies.

Overloaded with news about studies and predictions about the virus’s future, many people just tune out the information flow, said Julie Swann, a former adviser to the CDC on earlier pandemics and a systems engineer at North Carolina State University.

With no consensus about how and when the pandemic might end, or about which public health measures to impose and how long to keep them in force, following the science seems like an invitation to a very winding, even circular path.

That winding route is what science generally looks like, Swann said, so people who are frustrated and eager for solid answers are often drawn into dangerous “wells of misinformation, and they don’t even realize it,” she said. “If you were told something every day by people you trusted, you might believe it, too.”

Bomb threat to the wrong Ottawa by U.S. man opposed to Canada's mask mandate

Courtney Greenberg - Yesterday 


© Patrick Doyle/Reuters

Police officers stand in front of trucks as truckers and supporters continue to protest COVID-19 restrictions in Ottawa, February 4, 2022.

An American man who allegedly made a bomb threat to police in Ottawa, Ohio confused it with Canada’s capital, where a group of truckers have been protesting against COVID-19 mandates for weeks.

Ohio police said the 20-year-old suspect meant to target Ottawa, Ontario to waste the time and resources of local authorities.

The man called the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office on Monday and said he was going to set off a bomb in Ottawa, according to Captain Brad Brubaker. After tracing the call, police determined it was coming from the Akron, Ohio area.

“He called back a second time claiming he had been shot. When he found out he was talking to Ohio and not Canada, he said he hadn’t been shot but was simply trying to waste (Canadian authorities’) time and resources because he didn’t agree with their mask mandate,” Brubaker told The Lima News.

He later admitted there was no bomb.

The suspect apparently found the Ohio phone number after an online search for the Ottawa Police Department.

“You’d think with him being from Ohio the ‘419’ area code might have rung a bell,” said Brubaker.

He is writing a report about the call to submit to a prosector to determine whether charges will be laid.

The incident was not the first time the two police departments were mixed up. In a Facebook post , the Ohio department said they received calls from Canadian citizens who had also mistaken them for authorities in the Ontario city. Ohio police wanted to ensure the “messages and concerns are heard by the correct agency,” the post explained.

This comes as the Canadian protests sparked by COVID mandates for truckers continue to make headlines in the United States. Elon Musk and Donald Trump are just a few of the high-profile supporters of the so-called Freedom Convoy and its aftermath.

Hundreds of truckers remain in Ottawa, while blockades across the country have shut down three U.S.-Canada border crossings.

FIRST READING: Should the Americans invade to break the trucker blockades?

CANADA
The COVID Alert app cost millions. Was it of any use?

MobileSyrup- Thursday

The COVID Alert app was presented as the solution to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus when released in July 2020.

But almost two years later, it hasn’t been as helpful as initially thought, policy experts told CBC’s radio show Cost of Living.

“I don’t think the COVID Alert app made much of a difference in our fight against COVID,” Peter Loewen, director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, told the show.

The outlet notes the app cost $21 million to develop and promote. More than 371,000 notifications were sent between its launch and January 31.

The app uses Bluetooth signals to exchange codes with other phones that have the app. Users who spend 15 minutes near another positive user are alerted.

It doesn’t track personal information, like names or locations. It also doesn’t track if those who received a notice of exposure completed any further testing.

“It’s simply impossible to say that the app did anything of significance,” Jason Millar, an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa, told Cost of Living.

“You should be extremely skeptical of anyone who claims they can measure the app’s success in preventing cases or saving lives… There is no data that I’ve seen to support the claim that it did anything of the sort.”

Source: CBC/Cost of Living