Category: restrictions

How Xi Jinping Weaponizes Trade as an ‘Aggressive Lever’ Against Any Country That Crosses Him: Anders Corr

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is in China for a four-day visit. Her trip is taking place as several major issues are continuing to unfold: Firstly, the CCP is forming a global bloc against the United States; secondly, it’s pushing other nations to drop the U.S. dollar; and thirdly, it recently put restrictions on key…


Veteran Politician Preston Manning Appointed by Alberta Premier to Chair New Pandemic Panel

EDMONTON—Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced on Jan. 19 that veteran politician and former federal Official Opposition leader Preston Manning has been hired to organize and chair a new pandemic committee. Manning, who founded the Reform Party, said the new pandemic panel, the Public Health Emergencies Governance Review Panel, will examine what legislation was used by…


US Imposes Visa Restrictions Over Opposition Trials in Belarus

WASHINGTON—The United States imposed visa restrictions Tuesday on 25 people including lawmakers for undermining democracy in Belarus with politically motivated trials such as that of exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. Belarus put Tsikhanouskaya on trial in absentia on treason charges on Tuesday, in what the outspoken critic of veteran…


Police Detain 4 in Guangzhou After COVID Protests

TAIPEI, Taiwan—Police in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou have detained at least four people for more than a week after they attended protests against COVID-19 restrictions in late November, according to activists, family members, and friends of the detained. While many who attended protests in cities across China last month were released after being…


China Factory, Services Activities Slide to 7-Month Lows on COVID-19 Curbs

BEIJING—China’s manufacturing and services activities shrank further in November to seven-month lows, official data showed, stung by the country’s strict COVID-19 restrictions and rising infections that analysts said will hurt the economy well into 2023. As the coronavirus has spread in China, Beijing has imposed prolonged lockdowns in several places. The clampdowns have hit production…


Russia Summons Heads of US Media Outlets, Warns of ‘Stringent Measures’

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it was summoning the heads of U.S. media outlets in Moscow to a meeting next Monday to notify them of tough measures in response to U.S. restrictions against Russian media. “If the work of the Russian media—operators and journalists—is not normalized in the United States, the most stringent measures will inevitably…


This US Ruling Could Force Google to Break Up Its Ad Business

A bipartisan group of senators led by Utah Republican Mike Lee introduced legislation targeting conflicts of interest in the advertising technology industry, the Wall Street Journal reports. The legislation could force Alphabet Inc. Google to break up its dominant online-ad business. The Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act would prohibit companies processing over $20 billion in…


Health Experts Support End to Masks, Tests for Air Travel

U.S. airline companies want an end to mask and COVID testing rules for air travel — and many top infectious disease and public health experts agree with them. The chief executives of the country’s largest airlines asked President Joe Biden in a letter this week to let federal mask mandates at airports and on planes lapse next month, along…


South Australian COVID-19 Restrictions Change to Align with Rest of Nation

The South Australian government has announced changes to its COVID-19 restrictions in order to bring the state in line with the rest of the nation. The changes, which came on the back of the first Emergency Management Council meeting on Friday under the new government, were all in effect by Saturday morning and revolve primarily…


Back to the Future: ‘Two Weeks to Flatten the Curve’ Was a Dangerous Mistake From the Beginning

Commentary Editor’s note: COVID lockdowns and restrictions for “two weeks to flatten the curve” began two years ago in late March 2020. At the time, many pundits called it a dangerous mistake, one of whom was law professor Bruce Pardy. Two years later, as restrictions finally begin to ease, the federal government and many workplaces…