- Israel-Hamas war live: ‘real’ chance of ceasefire extension, says Biden; biggest aid convoy since start of war enters Gaza The Guardian
- Israel-Hamas war: Hostage release ‘start of a process,’ Biden says | LiveNOW from FOX LiveNOW from FOX
- WATCH: Biden says putting conditions on military aid to Israel is ‘worthwhile thought’ PBS NewsHour
- Biden: I’ve pushed PM to reduce casualties while advancing ‘legitimate objective’ of eradicating Hamas The Times of Israel
- Biden Says Conditions of All Americans Held in Gaza Aren’t Known The Wall Street Journal
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Tag Archives: Convoy
Gaza: MSF condemns deliberate attack on a convoy transporting staff, resulting in one death and one injury – Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International
- Gaza: MSF condemns deliberate attack on a convoy transporting staff, resulting in one death and one injury Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International
- Gaza: Trapped by days of unrelenting fighting, thousands of civilians are at risk of dying, including over a hundred MSF staff and their families [EN/AR] – occupied Palestinian territory ReliefWeb
- Gaza: Trapped by days of unrelenting fighting, thousands of civilians are at risk of dying, including over a hundred MSF staff and their families Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International
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Convoy, a Bezos-backed trucking tech company valued at $3.8 billion last year, is shutting down: ‘Today is your last day at the company’ – Fortune
- Convoy, a Bezos-backed trucking tech company valued at $3.8 billion last year, is shutting down: ‘Today is your last day at the company’ Fortune
- Bezos-backed freight firm Convoy shuts down after slashing hundreds of jobs. Read the CEO’s memo to employees CNBC
- Convoy collapse: Read CEO’s memo detailing sudden shutdown of Seattle trucking startup GeekWire
- It’s over: Convoy shutting operations, no strategic white knight to the rescue FreightWaves
- Bezos-backed Convoy to lay off staff, close operations The Seattle Times
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Deadly Russian strikes on civilian convoy as Putin proclaims annexation
Washington Post reporters had spoken the day before with men joining the convoy: Some were doctors, crossing battle lines to conduct lifesaving surgeries in hospitals that Russian forces have failed to adequately restock; others were ordinary civilians, trying to rescue loved ones who were too elderly or infirm to make the journey alone.
Around 7 a.m. Friday, three suspected Russian missiles destroyed those plans. Explosions rocked the asphalt. The ground was strewn with bodies and shrapnel.
Ukrainian officials said that at least 26 people were killed and another 85 wounded.
The strikes were part of a wave of Russian missile, rocket and drone attacks launched across the southeast as Putin readied his annexation announcement, Ukrainian officials said. The contrast between the “great liberating mission” Putin claimed to be carrying out in occupied Ukraine and the brutal reality of the war he has inflicted on people here could not have been more stark.
“I’m going to treat people with heart diseases as best I can over there, or I’ll put them in the car and bring them back here myself,” a 69-year old-surgeon, Vitaly, had said the day before, shrugging off the risks with a smile. “I’ll be fine.”
His mustard-colored Lada was there among the wreckage Friday.
Vitaly was one of a handful of shellshocked survivors. His face was a picture of grief. Some of the dead were lying next to their cars, or by bushes where they had searched for safety.
When one of Vitaly’s companions received a phone call, the companion picked up and said, simply, ‘I’m here and I’m alive,” then ended the call.
Friday’s strikes sent shock waves through a city already transformed by Putin’s war. Hospitals swung into action as casualties poured into their emergency rooms. Volunteers who have spent months turning the parking lot of a major supermarket into a welcome point for civilians fleeing occupied areas scrambled to move to another location, fearing that strikes on other humanitarian positions might follow.
At the last checkpoint in Russian-held territory, fear and confusion rippled through a queue of Ukrainian vehicles, full of civilians trying to flee. Russian soldiers walked between the cars and told the drivers that the Ukrainian army was responsible for the strikes, passengers later said.
“I didn’t believe it,” said Pavlo, a 23-year-old from the town of Tokmak. Like others interviewed, he spoke on the condition that only his first name be used, fearing repercussions for family members in Russian-held territory.
“We had to carry on driving. The other option was staying at home and being conscripted by the Russians to fight against my fellow Ukrainians,” he said.
As Putin declares a partial mobilization of Russians at home, Ukrainians in newly annexed lands fear that they may now be forced to fight their countrymen.
Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians have already been killed since Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. The International Criminal Court has launched an investigation into what appear to be war crimes on a massive scale.
In a move that mirrored the stagecraft of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, Russian soldiers and local puppet authorities staged referendums across the territory they control in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, with victories of over 90% being recorded in each.
Some votes were collected at gunpoint, escaped residents say.
At the new welcome point in Zaporizhzhia, no one was watching Putin’s annexation speech. They already knew what he would say, and most families were focused on finding a place to spend the night.
When asked about Putin’s latest declaration — that they were now Russian citizens “based on historical unity”— several residents rolled their eyes. Recent arrivals said they hoped the Ukrainian army, which has rolled back Russian gains in the east in recent weeks, would one day recapture the lands that Putin has claimed as his own.
One of the volunteers, a 17-year-old named Yaroslav, said that he planned to enlist as soon as he reached the legal age of 18. He said that local separatist soldiers allied with Russia were now living in his home in the Zaporizhzhia town of Enerhodar. He had spoken with them before fleeing, he said, and they told him they never believed that Russia’s invasion would take them so far.
“We’ve seen people suffering, we’ve seen people dying because of this war,” Yaroslav said. “For what?”
As night fell in Avtorynok, possessions of the dead were still on the ground. A small photograph was nestled in the long grass. It showed a young couple beaming, and they looked very much in love.
“I miss you so much,” read a note on the back. “Come back to me.”
Serhii Korolchuk in Zaporizhzhia contributed to this report.
Ottawa braced for Canada Day protest by ‘freedom convoy’ supporters | Canada
Residents of downtown Ottawa are bracing for a Canada Day unlike any other, after “freedom convoy” protesters vowed to return to Parliament Hill on 1 July, and maintain a presence over the remainder of the summer.
Every Canada Day, people congregate on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to watch musical performances and fireworks on the anniversary of Canadian confederation. This year, it will probably be difficult for police to distinguish between celebrators and convoy members – which is what protesters are banking on.
In late January, groups opposed to vaccine and mask mandates drove tractor-trailers and other large vehicles into Ottawa’s downtown core and set up camp. The ensuing three-week occupation of the capital city was a traumatic experience for many locals, who faced harassment, incessant noise and other unwelcome encounters, said Ariel Troster, a candidate for city council in Ottawa’s Somerset ward.
“Many people were driven from their homes, many were subjected to harassment, there were at least two cases where people defecated on people’s front steps. There were reports of apartment buildings where convoy people took over the laundry room and wouldn’t leave,” said Troster. “Not to mention the symbols of hatred, which were quite visible not just on the Hill but in the neighbourhoods.”
Group communications on Telegram, YouTube videos and other channels show convoy sympathisers believe in white replacement theory and other conspiracies. QAnon activists and propaganda were often seen at the wintertime occupation.
It ultimately cost the city $36m in policing costs and has resulted in a proposed class action lawsuit against protest organisers.
Now that Canada has dropped most mandates, the convoyers appear to be demanding Justin Trudeau’s resignation as prime minister. They have been gaining traction with Conservative politicians, recently having held a meeting with their “allies” in parliament.
The Ottawa police service (OPS) has pledged to foil any new attempt to occupy the city. The force is under immense pressure to get Canada Day right after its many failures to police the previous occupation.
At a police services board meeting on Monday, the interim OPS chief, Steve Bell, said a heightened police presence and road barricades limiting the number of vehicles permitted downtown may not be able to keep convoyers arriving on foot away, but it will prevent people from setting up camp.
“Canada Day’s a very important day to Canadians. It’s a day where we celebrate our country and all the good things in it. But people, when they come, they need to be lawful. And they need to be respectful of our community,” Bell said.
Canada’s capital braces for biker convoy, fearing repeat of trucker protest
April 29 (Reuters) – Canada’s capital is bracing for hundreds of motorcyclists to parade through town this weekend in a protest broadly against government overreach, less than three months after police arrested dozens of protesters who blocked the downtown core near parliament for several weeks.
Organizers of the convoy, which they call “Rolling Thunder Ottawa,” say it is in support of “freedom” and military veterans, but local media say several of the participants were in Ottawa during the previous protest, which was against a vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers.
In February, the government of Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was forced to invoke seldom-used emergency powers to clear Ottawa. At the time, protesters had also blocked key border crossings to the United States. read more
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This time around, Ottawa police say they will allow no motor vehicles to stop or park on downtown streets, and additional personnel have been brought in to bolster municipal authorities.
The three-week protest earlier this year left businesses with tens of millions of dollars in lost sales and taxpayers with the cleanup costs. read more
“The right to lawful and peaceful demonstrations and events will always be protected by our Service,” Ottawa police said on Twitter, but added that the display of “symbols of hate like swastikas will result in charges”.
A former member of the Canadian Armed Forces, Neil Sheard, is one the protest’s main organizers.
In a video posted to YouTube, Sheard said his plan is to lay a wreath at the National War Memorial in a show of respect for veterans. Other groups that are participating are protesting more generally against the government and government mandates.
Sheard said he supports any group that wants to fight for the freedom of all Canadians, because in his view, freedom of speech was paid for by veterans.
“The rights and freedoms of Canadians are eroding, and we are going to work to sustain lawful, civic action in order to restore those fundamental rights,” Andrew MacGillivray, a member of the Freedom Fighters Canada group that is also participating, told Reuters recently.
The events begin on Friday at 6 p.m. EDT (2200 GMT), with the biker convoy on Saturday morning. It is due to end on Sunday.
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Reporting by Jenna Zucker in Toronto, Additional reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto
Editing by Steve Scherer and Matthew Lewis
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
There is an evacuation convoy moving toward Mariupol, the Donetsk military says
Even as the bombs began to fall, Yevhenia Khomenko didn’t want to leave her home in Kyiv, Ukraine. “I would rather die there,” the 94-year-old said. But eventually, it became too much, and her daughter convinced her to leave the home she had known her entire life.
When Khomenko was a child, she lived through the Great Famine of Ukraine — one that killed millions, driven by Josef Stalin. Years later, she fled her home during World War II as her country was targeted by Adolf Hitler. She’s now had to flee once more over an invasion prompted by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian attacks have reminded Khomenko of the bombing, shooting and violence during World War II, she told CNN.
The bombs then, as they are now, were unpredictable, and she recalled running anywhere to escape them. Khomenko returned to Kyiv after World War II to help rebuild the city’s main square, she said. Now, she’s worried the city may never be the same — and that, given her age, she may never return.
Her 73-year-old daughter, Raisa Makhnovets, is also worried about that fate. Through tears, she told CNN how difficult it was to persuade her mother to leave Kyiv, and how their attempts to do so quickly became a “horror movie.”
They had no other family in the city, and first spent two days in a bomb shelter before trying to flee the country by train. The station was overrun with others trying to do the same.
“I just couldn’t believe it was actually happening. The train station was scary,” Makhnovets said, speaking in Russian, as many Ukrainians do, and translated by CNN. “So many people with their kids and things, just really terrifying. The first train left without us, then the second. It was so cold waiting there overnight. There were even newborn babies.”
Makhnovets said it took roughly 20 hours to get from Kyiv to Lviv, in the western part of Ukraine, and then out of the country altogether. She and her mother were then able to fly to the United States on a visa they had obtained years ago. They reunited in Sacramento with five generations of their family, as a great great grandmother and a great grandmother.
In Sacramento, Khomenko noted the peace in the California air.
“It hurts in my soul, for my home, where I lived. But here it’s quiet, I don’t hear anything. I have a home, and I want to go home. I want to be in my own home. But the circumstances forced us to come here. Just go wherever necessary not to have to see the war,” she said, in Russian.
Her feelings now are familiar to those from a lifetime ago, Khomenko said, but in her youth, she didn’t really understand war in the way she does now.
She then told CNN, “I wish you a good life and to not have to endure what we’ve had to. I hope for friendship between us and all peoples.”
Read more here.
Trucker Convoy Causing Traffic Delays in DC Area – NBC4 Washington
A convoy of truck drivers and others protesting COVID-19 restrictions is causing major traffic delays in D.C. during Monday’s evening rush hour.
The convoy brought traffic to a grinding halt on some roadways as hundreds of trucks and SUVs headed into the District and police and transportation officials blocked exit ramps to limit access to the downtown area.
Backups could be seen at about 4 p.m. along I-695 near the exits for the U.S. Capitol, as well as on the 14th Street Bridge and I-395.
Local authorities say to expect rolling road closures as the People’s Convoy passes through D.C. and heads back to Hagerstown, Maryland.
A line of tractor-trailers with American flags and signs could be seen, including one reading “Freedom.”
After major protests by truckers in Canada, U.S. truckers have threatened protests for weeks. Groups have circled the Capital Beltway without causing major disruptions. Hundreds of National Guard troops were activated to assist with possible traffic impacts before President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
Stay with NBC Washington for more details on this developing story.
Truck convoy loops around Washington DC to protest Covid restrictions | Washington DC
A long line of huge semi-articulated trucks, recreational vehicles and cars was circling Washington DC, on Sunday, in preparation for what their protesting drivers have pledged will be a week of traffic disruption around the US capital aligned around a loose collection of demands, including the end to all coronavirus pandemic-related restrictions.
From its temporary base at a speedway vehicle racing site in Hagerstown, 80 miles north-west in Maryland, organizers of what they term the “People’s Convoy” of around 1,000 vehicles have said they plan to welcome the new work week by driving slowly around Washington on the already notoriously-congested Beltway, or ring road, at the minimum legal speed in an attempt to get their message across to national politicians.
The convoy, a spin-off of trucker protests further north that have snarled Ottawa and disrupted Canadian transport arteries to the US, began assembling in California last week.
As it has made its way east, it has picked up similarly mobile, ideologically-aligned, fellow-travelers along the way.
But America is already rapidly releasing its citizens from a patchwork of pandemic restrictions and Covid mandates as the most recent surge of infections subsides in many states and officials and the public begin talking of the waning pandemic.
The changing circumstances is now prompting convoy organizers to adapt their demands to a more free-ranging basket of aspirations and motives.
Some participants said the destination was reason enough to make the trek. At the speedway on Friday night, one participant who described himself as the lead trucker told a cheering crowd he would drive his truck into the heart of the American capital.
But it remained unclear if the convoy plans to drive into the small area occupied by Washington DC, itself, or snarl masses of government workers and lawmakers on their morning and evening Beltway road commutes across the states immediately neighboring the District of Columbia as they head for their offices where they run the nation’s affairs of state.
US law enforcement agencies are paying attention. A previous mobile protest called Stop the Tires [denoting the US spelling of tyres] morphed into a “Stop the Steal” demonstration supporting Donald Trump’s false claim that he had been fraudulently denied victory in the November 2020 election.
And that in turn became part of the January 6 insurrection riot at the US Capitol by extremist supporters of Trump, the then Republican president, as they tried to overturn the official certification by the US Congress of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory.
“I decided to create a Facebook page where me and my buddies could gather to shoot the s**t about the policies that will be implemented if Trump is no longer the president,” StoptheTires2020 founder Jeremy Rewoldt told The Trucker publication in November 2020.
At the speedway site, the drivers said their frustrations included workplace vaccine mandates and other pandemic measures. The crowds chanted anti-Biden slogans and displayed support for Trump.
The gathering appeared much like a Trump rally, with a giant American flag slung between cranes attached to the beds of semi-articulated trucks.
Many vehicles bore license plates from across the US; many drivers were honking their horns, a tactic that drove Ottawa residents to near distraction and caused an Ontario superior court to issue a 10-day ban on horn blowing.
The US Department of Homeland Security has said it is coordinating with local authorities to prepare for the convoy’s arrival and warning that the truckers could hinder emergency services.
At their Hagerstown meeting point, an estimated 1,000 protesters gathered Sunday to hear details of the plan. Kicking off with a prayer service during which a pastor told them they were “heroes”, the truckers heard from organizer Brian Brase who instructed them to drive between 45 and 55 miles per hour and stay in one line on the roads to and around Washington in order to best show the size of the convoy.
They raised their morning coffees in salute before setting off for the capital, reported The Washington Post.
Brase said the drivers planned to circle the capitol’s ring-road twice on Sunday and repeat that pattern on successive days. “We don’t want to shut DC down,” Brase told the newspaper.
“We’re not anti-vaxxers. We’re not. We just want freedom, freedom. We want to choose. We just want the choice. So tomorrow is a basically a show of just how big we are and how serious we are.” Brase added that it was not clear how long the protest convoy would last.
But he told the drivers, who are mostly white, middle-aged men, to celebrate the distance they had traveled, without instructions about what to do at their destination or what that destination might be.
Without a destination or denouement in mind, the truckers on Sunday appeared destined to circle until further notice.
Above the blare of horns, Brase described the situation as “very fluid”.
Trucker convoy laps Washington, DC, beltway to protest Covid-19 measures
The protests come at a time when many pandemic-related mandates and restrictions — imposed by state and local governments rather than lawmakers in Washington — have already begun being lifted in much of the country.
The group — which included dozens of vehicles, including some eighteen-wheelers, according to footage from CNN affiliate WUSA — planned to drive at least two loops around the beltway before returning to Hagerstown, Maryland, Maureen Steele, an organizer with the “People’s Convoy” told CNN. They did not plan to enter the city proper.
Footage showed trucks and their drivers, led by a police escort, honking at onlookers gathered on an overpass to cheer the vehicles as they drove by.
The convoy, one of several bound for DC this weekend, is following the lead of the Canadian trucker protests that began in late January and continued for weeks as demonstrators protested Covid-19 mandates, crippling US border crossings and the capital of Ottawa.
Organizers of the American convoys, however, have signaled they intend to keep their demonstrations under control.
The “People’s Convoy” organizers previously said the group had no plan to mimic the Canadian protests with blockades or clashes with authorities. While they do want to be noticed, Steele said her group coordinated its demonstration with local law enforcement to prevent any conflicts.
That, however, was just for Sunday. The Washington Post reported organizers plan to repeat the action until their demands are addressed. And there are other convoy groups that have indicated they plan to demonstrate in or near DC, though it remains unclear exactly how many groups, people or vehicles will be participating.
Washington County, Maryland, Sheriff Doug Mullendore told CNN Saturday his agency had had no issues with the convoys so far.
“There are at least four convoys that have converged in Hagerstown and are staying at the Hagerstown Speedway,” he said. “There have been no problems and we are just monitoring things. We are working closely with the Maryland State Police.”
Mullendore added, “They have been very respectful and have caused no problems here.”
Virginia State Police spokesperson Corinne Geller confirmed the agency had “been in contact with various groups’ organizers to ensure their understanding of Virginia traffic laws.” Law enforcement’s goal, she said, was to “mitigate the impact of additional traffic volume on already congested roadways and Northern Virginia communities.”
The common demand emanating from each of the groups is the end of Covid-19 mandates, including mask and vaccine requirements.
In a news release, the “People’s Convoy” pointed to declining Covid-19 cases, vaccines and therapeutics, saying it was “time to reopen the country.”
“To that end, it’s time for elected officials to work with the blue-collar and white-collar workers of America and restore accountability and liberty by lifting all mandates and ending the state of emergency — as COVID is well-in-hand now, and Americans need to get back to work in a free and unrestricted manner,” the release said.
Many cities and states have already started lifting such measures while Covid-19 hospitalizations and new cases drop, including New York state, which lifted this week most mask mandates and requirements to show proof of vaccination for indoor activities.
A growing number of states — the majority of which have Democratic governors — announced in recent weeks they would lift indoor or school mask mandates, including California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Rhode Island.
Under new US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, more than 70% of the country’s population is in a location with low or medium Covid-19 levels, meaning masking is not necessary unless an individual is at increased risk of Covid-19. If so, the CDC recommends talking to your health care provider about wearing a mask. But mandates are also being lifted in places with “high” levels of Covid-19, like California and Illinois.
CNN’s Alaa Elassar and Sarah Fortinsky contributed to this report.