The officer involved was suspended with pay and charged with assault.

A 95-year-old Australian woman whom police tasered in a nursing home last week has reportedly died from her injuries.

Clare Nowland, who had dementia and required a walking frame to stand up and move, was living at the Yallambee Lodge in Cooma in southeastern Australia.

At about 4:15 a.m. on May 17, police and paramedics responded to a report of a woman standing outside her room with a steak knife.

They encountered Nowland, then reportedly tried to negotiate with her for several minutes, but she didn’t drop the knife.

The five-foot-two, 95-pound woman walked toward the two officers “at a slow pace,” police said at a news conference, so one of them tasered her.

She fell to the floor and reportedly suffered a fractured skull and a severe brain bleed, causing her to be hospitalized in critical condition.

Nowland passed away in a hospital surrounded by her family, the New South Wales police confirmed in a statement today.

After a week-long investigation, the police force also said that the senior constable involved would appear in court next week to face charges of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and common assault.

NSW police procedure states that tasers should not be used against elderly or disabled people absent exceptional circumstances.

Following the incident, community members, activists, and disability rights advocates expressed bewilderment and anger at what they called an unnecessary use of force, and some are now questioning why law enforcement took so long to prosecute the officer involved.

See what others are saying: (Reuters) (The New York Times) (CNN)

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that some of the arrests “raise questions” and “investigations are ongoing.”

The Public Order Act

A controversial protest crackdown law in the U.K. is facing criticism after dozens of anti-monarchy protesters were arrested during the coronation ceremony in London over the weekend.

The law, dubbed the “Public Order Act” was passed roughly a week ahead of the coronation for King Charles III. It gives police more power to restrict protesters and limits the tactics protesters can use in public spaces. It was condemned by human rights groups upon its passing, and is facing a new round of heat after 52 people were arrested over coronation protests on Saturday.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said protesters were arrested for public order offenses, breach of the peace and conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. The group said it gave advance warning that its “tolerance for any disruption, whether through protest or otherwise, will be low and that we would deal robustly with anyone intent on undermining the celebration.”

It is currently unclear how many of those arrested were detained specifically for violating the Public Order Act, however, some of those arrested believe the new law was used against them.

“Make no mistake. There is no longer a right to peaceful protest in the UK,” Graham Smith, the CEO of anti-monarchy group Republic tweeted after getting arrested. “I have been told many times the monarch is there to defend our freedoms. Now our freedoms are under attack in his name.”

An Attempt to “Diminish” Protests

During a BBC Radio interview, Smith also said he believes the dozens of arrests were premeditated. 

“There was nothing that we did do that could possibly justify even being detained and arrested and held,” Smith claimed. 

“The whole thing was a deliberate attempt to disrupt and diminish our protest.”

Yasmine Ahmed, the U.K. Director of Human Rights Watch, also tweeted that the arrests were “disgraceful.”

“These are scenes you’d expect to see in Russia not the UK,” she wrote. 

When asked about the controversy, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters officers should  do “what they think is best” in an apparent show of support for the Metropolitan Police. 

For his part, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he is looking into the matter.

“Some of the arrests made by police as part of the Coronation event raise questions and whilst investigations are ongoing, I’ve sought urgent clarity from Met leaders on the action taken,” Khan tweeted.

See what others are saying: (The Guardian) (CNN) (The Washington Post)

The winter and spring have been marked by a series of large-scale labor protests in rich countries like the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.

The Largest Strike in Three Decades

After the clock struck midnight Tuesday, 155,000 Canadian federal workers launched the nation’s biggest strike in more than three decades.

The government refused to reach a deal amenable to the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), which represents federal workers, by the union’s deadline Tuesday evening. The strike by nearly one-third of all federal workers brings around two years of negotiations over pay hikes and remote work policies to a fever pitch.

The strikers comprise two main groups: 120,000 workers under the Treasury Board and over 35,000 workers from the revenue agency. The latter group wants a 22.5% pay raise over three years, but the Treasury workers only asked for a 13.5% increase over the same period.

The government, however, said in a statement its offer of a 9% wage hike is fair and competitive.

Inflation, which workers say has cut into their purchasing power, peaked at 8.1% last year and has since fallen to about half that percentage.

The union is also seeking to codify its members’ right to work remotely, which many have been doing since the start of the pandemic.

Since March 31, public servants have been required to work in person two to three days per week.

Over the duration of the strike, essential services will remain open but many others may be delayed or shut down, including passport renewals, immigration applications, airports, border crossings, and processing of tax returns, which are due by May first.

The PSAC said in a statement that its work stoppage is the largest one against a single employer in Canadian history.

Workers Willing to Fight

Among the 250 picket lines across the country was a group of workers waving union flags and signs outside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office in Ottawa.

Trudeau acknowledged the need to resolve the dispute but refused to comment publically on negotiations.

“I know that Canadians will not be terribly patient if it continues too long,” he told reporters.

Across the street, several hundred people paraded across the lawn outside parliament.

“Talks are ongoing, but we’re going to stay out here as long as it takes,” PSAC President Chris Aylward told cheering picketers.

The winter and spring have been marked by a series of large-scale labor protests in rich countries like the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.

As prices go up and wages remain the same for many workers, unions are demanding not to be forgotten.

See what others are saying: (BBC) (The New York Times) (Reuters)