- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Odegaard injury has forced Arsenal to be 'different', says Arteta
- Ratcliffe refuses to guarantee Ten Hag's Man Utd future
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Mauritius to hold legislative election on November 10
- Britain qualify for America's Cup final after 60-year wait
- IMF asks Sri Lanka to protect hard-won gains
- Morata returns to Spain Nations League squad after injury
- Irish regulator to probe Ryanair use of facial recognition
- Public allowed to see video evidence in France mass rape trial
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- Under-fire Ten Hag 'together' with Man Utd hierarchy
- Guardiola talks of Man City love affair as financial hearing rumbles on
- De Bruyne out of Belgium Nations League squad
- Japanese trainer Yahagi hopes Shin Emperor achieves 50-year-old Arc dream
- UK's Starmer hails 'landmark' carbon capture funding
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Bosnia floods kill 14 people
- Tennis world number one Swiatek splits with coach Wiktorowski
Ottawa protesters against Covid restrictions dig in for long haul
Seated around a campfire flanked by big rigs, with a view of parliament, bleary-eyed protesters on their 12th day of occupying Canada's capital say they are more determined than ever to stay put -- and defend their "freedom."
"I am here to get my life back and so everyone else can too," said protester Sebastien Beaudoin.
Warming himself by the fire, the 39-year-old carpenter with a long beard said he's struggled during the past two years.
"It feels good to live again, to dance in the evening, to hug each other," he told AFP.
Hundreds of trucks draped with anti-government slogans have clogged the streets of downtown Ottawa, bringing it to a standstill.
The convoy arrived from westernmost Canada in late January demanding an end to vaccine requirements when crossing the US-Canadian border. But their protest has morphed into a broader movement against all Covid health restrictions.
Next to Beaudoin, Sophie Leblanc said she came from Quebec province to join the protest on Sunday and stayed.
"I'm not vaccinated, I don't want a QR code (for vaccine passports) and I want to be able to go shopping," says the 38-year-old woman who stands out in a bright orange coat, with a piercing above her lip.
She said she lost her waitressing job amid the various lockdowns imposed on restaurants and other businesses over the past two years, but found new work in the forestry sector.
"For two years, everyone has been dead, we are not allowed to see our families, our friends, we are not allowed to see anyone," she laments.
Here in Ottawa, she added, she has found comfort and solidarity with the truckers. "We found our humanity," she says.
- Government went too far -
Several Canadian provinces introduced severe restrictions last year to slow the spread of Covid-19. Quebec province in particular imposed what is believed to be the among longest lockdowns in the world, as well as a nighttime curfew.
The truckers have shown their dislike of the measures with loud honking day and night -- until a court ordered them on Monday to stop. Since then, they've taken to revving their engines instead.
A strong smell of diesel fuel now permeates the air.
The government "can't come in and control our lives right down to what we put in our body, or where we can't go," trucker Jay VanderWier of Smithville, Ontario, told AFP.
He parked his truck in front of parliament, right outside the office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
He said Canadians had been told that it "was gonna take two weeks to flatten the curve (of Covid infections), but how many months are we at now?"
He pointed to the crowd of protesters around him, saying they're "ready to do anything it takes for freedom," short of violence.
Sporting a Maple Leafs hockey team jersey and cap, he mused about whether Trudeau is able to sleep at night amid "the job numbers, the suicides" and other tales of hardships brought on by pandemic restrictions.
This has all happened, he said, because of a "callous decision made from the top."
T.Vitorino--PC