Covidiots

The Express reports: Sir Keir Starmer has been bundled into a police car after being mobbed by a group of anti-vax protesters. Police were forced to quickly intervene after the group hurled abuse at the Labour leader. They booed the Labour leader as they chased him down the street. The activists could be heard screaming “traitor” as they confronted the …

The Toronto Sun reports: Ontario should seize the trucks of protesters who refuse to end the ongoing “occupation” of Ottawa, Liberal Leader Stephen Del Duca says. Attorney General Doug Downey should make it clear that Crown prosecutors will seek forfeiture of any assets used in the commission of a serious offence, he said. Del Duca said the “anti-vax mob” is …

Mass Live reports: David Ferguson Jr., or DJ, has been hospitalized since November with a genetic heart condition that has put him at risk of heart failure, a fundraising page set up to support his family said. Now admitted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Ferguson is ineligible to receive a heart transplant due to his vaccination status. But …

Italian wire service ANSA reports: The anti-vax parents of a boy who has to get blood transfusions during a delicate heart operation have refused to allow him to received blood from COVID-vaccinated donors, the Gazzetta di Modena reported Monday. A judge’s ruling is expected later Monday on the boy, who is at Bologna’s Sant’Orsola Hospital. Meanwhile an appeal to set …

Axios reports: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told employees Sunday that while he strongly condemns past racial slurs used by Joe Rogan, he won’t cut ties with the platform’s most popular podcaster, according to an internal memo obtained by Axios. Spotify has come under fire in recent weeks for anti-vaccination comments made by Rogan — which prompted boycotts from several musicians. …

ABC News reports: Canada’s capital declared a state of emergency on Sunday because of trucker-led protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic-related restrictions. The move by Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson “reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels …

Vancouver Is Awesome reports: Supporters of an anti-vaccine mandate convoy scheduled to drive into Vancouver this weekend have been asked to serve members of the media a document aimed at silencing reporting on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. That document is provided by Action4Canada, a far-right-wing website that endorses several conspiracy theories and peddles misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines. The seven-page …

The Huffington Post reports: A group of fed-up Canadians has filed a $9.8 million class action lawsuit against a mob of anti-vaccine truckers who have packed downtown Ottawa for a week, blasting the ear-piercing air horns of their vehicles day and night. The use of air horns — for up to 16 hours in a 24-hour period — is a …

Reuters reports: Canadian cities, including the financial hub Toronto, faced disruptions on Saturday as protests against vaccine mandates spread from the capital of Ottawa, raising fears of clashes with counter protesters. The so-called “Freedom Convoy” began as a movement against a vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers, but has turned into a rallying point against public health measures and Prime Minister …

Perugia Today reports: Franco Trinca, the 69-year-old biologist who had expressed his no-vax and home therapies against COVID, died in the hospital in Città di Castello. The Perugian biologist and nutritionist had been hospitalized for COVID with bilateral pneumonia. Trinca refused intubation. Trinca had been the protagonist of heated TV clashes with Selvaggia Lucarelli, speaking in favor of alternative therapies. …

Reuters reports: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Saturday it was fraud for GoFundMe to “commandeer” $9 million in donations sent to the Freedom Convoy in support of the truckdrivers and said he would work with his state’s attorney general, Ashley Moody, to investigate. “(T)hese donors should be given a refund.” But hours before DeSantis posted his statement on Twitter, …

The New York Times reports: Missouri’s top health official, a Republican who opposes mask and vaccine mandates but spoke approvingly of the Covid vaccine, was supposed to have been confirmed by State Senate by Friday. Instead, conservative state legislators stonewalled the process earlier this week and Donald Kauerauf resigned on Tuesday, becoming the latest public health leader to be forced …

Reuters reports: Delta Air Lines wants the U.S. government to place passengers convicted of on-board disruptions on a national “no-fly” list that would bar them from future travel on any commercial airline, according to a letter seen by Reuters. Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian, in a previously unreported letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, said the action “will help …

The Guardian reports: The podcast host Joe Rogan has offered “sincere and humble apologies” after footage emerged of him repeatedly using the N-word on his hit show. The comedian said it was the “most regretful and shameful thing” he has ever had to speak about, but stressed the clips were “taken out of context”. “There’s a video that’s out, that’s …

The CBC reports: The crowdfunding platform GoFundMe says it will stop payments to the organizers of Freedom Convoy 2022 because the protest violates its rules on violence and harassment . The company announced its decision in a blog post Friday evening, just two days after it froze disbursements of the fund. “GoFundMe supports peaceful protests and we believe that was …

France 24 reports: Love in the time of Covid is a complicated affair. In France, dating got trickier this week after a “vaccine pass” came into force on Monday. The new pass requires people aged 16 and above to show proof of vaccination (that is, three doses) to enter public places such as bars, restaurants and cinemas. When it comes …

Agence France-Presse reports: Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro tweeted his support for embattled American podcast host Joe Rogan, whose spreading of disinformation about Covid-19 has caused a firestorm of controversy on streaming service Spotify. The leader known as the “Tropical Trump,” who has himself been accused of spreading disinformation on the pandemic, waded into the Rogan row with a rare …

The Daily Beast reports: Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner on Thursday teed up a segment on the Canadian “Freedom Convoy” by seemingly criticizing the notion that such anti-vaccine activists are “fringe,” instead claiming their beliefs have gone “mainstream.” Moments later, the program rolled footage of such demonstrators waving flags and signs boosting the crazed far-right QAnon conspiracy theory, which centers …

MSNBC reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ handpicked state surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, is currently doing the job, but he still needs to be formally confirmed by the Republican-led state Senate. To that end, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement did a routine background investigation. It apparently didn’t go especially well. The Tallahassee Democrat newspaper reports that Ladapo’s former supervisor …

Courthouse News reports: Federal prosecutors have reached a plea deal with a homeopathic doctor accused of peddling unapproved Covid-19 “immunization pellets” and selling phony vaccination cards she falsely claimed would satisfy immunization requirements for California schools. Juli Mazi appeared by video link before U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler on Thursday where she entered an initial plea of not guilty. Assistant …