Q: Is the scene more or less dystopian than Tokyo 2020, which was also held during the pandemic?
A: There are employees who walk around in full protective gear and it feels like something out of a movie. The big-air venue has caught some attention reut.rs/3gMs9ID
Brenda Sheridan is one of many school-board members across the country to receive death threats amid controversies over COVID-19 protections, anti-racism efforts and bathroom policies 1/4 reut.rs/3HRTBAB
WARNING - OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE: Sheridan, former chair of the Loudoun County, Virginia, school board, received more than 100 hostile messages documented by Reuters, many threatening to kill her or calling for her death 2/4
WARNING - OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE: In June she received a threat saying, ‘Brenda, I am going to gut you like the fat f‑‑‑ing pig you are when I find you.’ 3/4
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau plans to invoke rarely used emergency powers allowing him to tackle protests that have shut some border crossings and paralyzed downtown Ottawa, sources said reut.rs/3LyIpve 1/5
In the western province of Alberta, police said they broke up an armed group that was prepared to use violence to back a blockade at a border crossing with the United States reut.rs/3H1W7mV 2/5
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they arrested 11 people and seized 13 long guns, handguns and a large quantity of ammunition. Those arrested were reported to have 'a willingness to use force against the police if any attempts were made to disrupt the blockade' 3/5
The world's top anti-doping authority will investigate the entourage of 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva who tested positive for a banned drug, plunging her into a doping scandal at the Beijing Winter #Olympicsreut.rs/3sCefOR
Valieva tested positive for a banned heart drug at her national championships last December, but it took more than six weeks for her to be notified, allowing her to compete in #Beijing2022reut.rs/3GFmrTy
The World Anti-Doping Agency @wada_ama said in a statement to @Reuters that it would ask its independent Intelligence and Investigations Department to probe the coaches, doctors and other adults surrounding the athlete reut.rs/3JmNq7X
BREAKING: Canada's Ontario declares state of emergency amid trucker protests that have blocked major border crossings with U.S., affecting trade
Ontario Premier Doug Ford pledges new legal action against protesters, fines and jail time for non-compliance in efforts to end two-week trucker protest
French President Emmanuel Macron refused a Kremlin request that he take a Russian COVID-19 test when he arrived to see President Vladimir Putin this week, to prevent Russia getting hold of Macron's DNA, two sources in Macron's entourage told Reuters reut.rs/3rFYGWZ 1/5
As a result, the visiting French head of state was kept at a distance from the Russian leader during lengthy talks on the Ukraine crisis in Moscow 2/5
Observers were struck by images of Macron and Putin sitting at opposite ends of 4-meter-long table during their talks, with some diplomats and others suggesting Putin might be wanting to send a diplomatic message 3/5