Protester drives at N Zealand police

A man is arrested as police and protesters clash in Wellington, New Zealand on Tuesday. Pic/AP

A protester drove a car toward a New Zealand police line, narrowly avoiding officers, while other protesters sprayed officers with a stinging substance, police said Tuesday, as they tightened a cordon around a convoy that has been camped outside Parliament for two weeks.

The clashes in capital Wellington came a day after police reported that some of the protesters had thrown human feces at them.

Police Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers told reporters the actions of some of the protesters, who oppose coronavirus vaccine mandates, were unacceptable and would be dealt with assertively. "Our focus remains on opening the roads up to Wellingtonians and doing our absolute best to restore peaceful protest," Chambers said. "The behaviour of a certain group within the protest community is absolutely disgraceful."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said protesters had taken things too far and needed to return home. "What's happening in Wellington is wrong," she said.

The latest clashes began after about 250 officers and staff arrived at dawn and used forklifts to move concrete barriers into a tighter cordon around the encampment, where hundreds of cars and trucks block city streets. Police have used the barriers this week to allow protest cars to leave but none to enter.

Canada lawmakers extend emergency powers

Canadian lawmakers voted Monday night to extend the emergency powers that police can invoke to quell any potential restart of blockades by those opposed to COVID-19 restrictions. Lawmakers in the House of Commons voted 185 to 151 to affirm the powers.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier that the powers were still needed despite police ending the occupation of the nation's capital by truckers over the weekend and police ending border blockades before that. Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said the protesters were going for the "lifeblood of this nation, which is trade with the United States."
The emergencies act allows police to freeze truckers' personal and corporate bank accounts and get tow truck companies to haul away vehicles.

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