Archives for March 2021

Wayne Gretzky delivers emotional eulogy at father’s funeral

BRANTFORD, Ontario (AP) — Walter Gretzky’s family thought the end was coming quickly in the middle of February.

The father of hockey’s greatest player had suffered a serious hip injury and, after battling Parkinson’s disease and other health issues in recent years, his time — something Walter was always willing to give both friends and strangers — appeared to be running short.

“But he had a love for life and he didn’t want to leave,” Wayne Gretzky said during an emotional eulogy Saturday. “We were 21 days sitting with him and just enjoying life. We got a chance and opportunity to tell stories.”

And Walter Gretzky’s life was full of them.

Known as Canada’s hockey dad, Walter Gretzky died Thursday at age 82. His death prompted an avalanche of tributes for a genuine, approachable, authentic person who nurtured Wayne’s incredible talents on the family’s famed backyard rink in Brantford, but also never forgot where he came from.

“He was a remarkable man who loved life, loved family,” Wayne Gretzky said. “We’d be a way better world if there was so many more people like my dad. Very special, we’re all hurting.”

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the funeral service was limited to family. But hundreds of people — including many kids wearing Gretzky jerseys — gathered outside St. Mark’s Anglican Church in this city about 60 miles west of Toronto.

“A tough time,” said Wayne, his voice beginning to crack and tears welling in his eyes. “I’m so proud of the fact that so many people have reached out and given him such great tributes, because he deserves it. He has the heart of gold.”

Walter was there every step of the way as Wayne ascended to a greatness that included four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers and becoming the NHL’s career time leader in goals, assists and points.

An employee with Bell for more than three decades — and long after his son became the sport’s biggest star — Walter remained a loving, blue-caller symbol of devotion.

“A deeply humble man,” said Rev. Dr. Tim Dobbin, who officiated the funeral broadcast live on TSN and streamed on Sportsnet.ca. “He spoke the truth. Wally’s word was his bond.”

A video tribute towards the end of the service included pictures from the early days on the backyard rink, Wayne’s triumphs, Walter on the ice teaching kids, the Gretzky memorabilia in the family home, and highlights from his son’s final games in the NHL.

As the casket was about to be led out of the church and into the sunshine, “The Hockey Theme” song made famous on “Hockey Night In Canada” was played.

And the moment Walter’s funeral procession pulled away from the church — the building’s sign read “We Will Miss You Wally” — some of the jersey-clad kids waiting outside tapped their hockey sticks on the pavement in unison.

A fitting send off for Canada’s hockey dad.

At Dubai airport, travelers’ eyes become their passports

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai’s airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, can already feel surreal, with its cavernous duty-free stores, artificial palm trees, gleaming terminals, water cascades and near-Arctic levels of air conditioning.

Now, the key east-west transit hub is rolling out another addition from the realm of science fiction — an iris-scanner that verifies one’s identity and eliminates the need for any human interaction when entering or leaving the country.

It’s the latest artificial intelligence program the United Arab Emirates has launched amid the surging coronavirus pandemic, contact-less technology the government promotes as helping to stem the spread of the virus. But the efforts also have renewed questions about mass surveillance in the federation of seven sheikhdoms, which experts believe has among the highest per capita concentrations of surveillance cameras in the world.

Dubai’s airport started offering the program to all passengers last month. On Sunday, travelers stepped up to an iris scanner after checking in, gave it a good look and breezed through passport control within seconds. Gone were the days of paper tickets or unwieldy phone apps.

In recent years, airports across the world have accelerated their use of timesaving facial recognition technology to move passengers to their flights. But Dubai’s iris scan improves on the more commonplace automated gates seen elsewhere, authorities said, connecting the iris data to the country’s facial recognition databases so the passenger needs no identifying documents or boarding pass. The unusual partnership between long-haul carrier Emirates, owned by a Dubai sovereign wealth fund, and the Dubai immigration office integrates the data and carries travelers from check-in to boarding in one fell swoop, they added.

“The future is coming,” said Major Gen. Obaid Mehayer Bin Suroor, deputy director of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs. “Now, all the procedures have become ‘smart,’ around five to six seconds.”

But like all facial recognition technology, the program adds to fears of vanishing privacy in the country, which has faced international criticism for targeting journalists and human rights activists.

According to Emirates’ biometric privacy statement, the airline links passengers’ faces with other personally identifying data, including passport and flight information, retaining it for “as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.” The agreement offered few details about how the data will be used and stored, beyond saying that while the company didn’t make copies of passengers’ faces, other personal data “can be processed in other Emirates’ systems.”

Bin Suroor stressed that Dubai’s immigration office “completely protects” passengers’ personal data so that “no third party can see it.”

But without more information about how data will be used or stored, biometric technology raises the possibility of misuse, experts say.

“Any kind of surveillance technology raises red flags, regardless of what kind of country it’s in,” said Jonathan Frankle, a doctoral student in artificial intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. ”But in a democratic country, if the surveillance technology is used transparently, at least there’s an opportunity to have a public conversation about it.”

Iris scans, requiring people to stare into a camera as though they’re offering a fingerprint, have become more widespread worldwide in recent years as questions have arisen over the accuracy of facial recognition technology. Iris biometrics are considered more reliable than surveillance cameras that scan people’s faces from a distance without their knowledge or consent.

Despite concerns about overzealous surveillance in the UAE, the country’s vast facial recognition network only shows signs of expanding. Last month, Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who also serves as Dubai’s ruler, announced the country would begin trials of new facial recognition technology to cut down on paperwork in “some private sector services,” without elaborating.

During the pandemic, the skyscrapper-studded city of Dubai has advanced an array of technological tools to fight the virus in malls and on streets, including disinfectant foggers, thermal cameras and face scans that check for masks and take temperatures. The programs similarly use cameras that can record and upload people’s data, potentially feeding the information into the city-state’s wider biometric databases.

Ledecky wins 800 free, finishes 4-for-4 in Texas meet

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Katie Ledecky won the 800-meter freestyle in Texas on Saturday night for her fourth title in her first national competition in a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Her winning time of 8 minutes, 13.64 seconds at the TYR Pro Swim Series was a whopping 12.3 seconds ahead of Leah Smith, who touched in 8:25.67. Haley Anderson, who already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in open water, was third.

Ledecky also won the 200, 400 and 1,500 freestyles over the four-day meet. She will attempt all four events in Tokyo, and likely some relays, too.

Egypt’s Marwan El Kama won the men’s 800 in 7:58.33 over Jordan Wilimovsky, who has already qualified for the Olympics in open-water competition. El Kama earlier won the 400 free.

Simone Manuel won the 50 free in 24.70 seconds, ahead of Abbey Weitzeil, who touched in 25.00.

“I would’ve liked to swim faster. I’m always going to think that,” Manuel said. “I had some goal times I wanted to hit at this meet that I didn’t hit. I haven’t been to a meet during COVID and that’s a different experience.”

Defending Olympic champion Ryan Murphy won the 100 backstroke in 53.56 seconds.

The women’s 100 back was won by Olivia Smoliga in 59.49. She defeated world-record holder Regan Smith (59.50) and 2016 Olympic silver medalist Kathleen Baker (59.57).

The men’s 50 free went to Santo Condorelli of Italy in 22.49. Nathan Adrian was second in 22.56.

Bidding to make a fifth Olympic team at age 36, Ryan Lochte finished fifth in the 200 individual medley. He was timed in 2:01.71. Michael Andrew won in 1:58.05.

Queen stresses importance of friends, family during pandemic

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II highlighted the importance of staying in touch with friends and families during the coronavirus pandemic in a message broadcast on Sunday.

Britain’s monarch also touched on the role of technology in keeping people connected amid the global pandemic, in her royal address before Commonwealth Day on Monday.

She made no mention of Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan — the Duke and Duchess of Sussex — which is set to air Sunday evening in the U.S., and on Monday in the U.K.

“The testing times experienced by so many have led to a deeper appreciation of the mutual support and spiritual sustenance we enjoy by being connected to others,” the queen said in her audio message.

People have become used to “connecting and communicating by our innovative technology” that allows them to “stay in touch with friends, family, colleagues, and counterparts,” she said. Online communication “transcends boundaries or division, helping any sense of distance to disappear.”

The queen also paid tribute to the front-line workers helping in the fight against COVID-19 in Commonwealth nations.

Her message of unity stood in contrast to the turmoil in the royal family before the interview, which promises to provide an unprecedented glimpse into the couple’s departure from royal duties and the strains it has put them under.

Harry and Meghan departed royal life a year ago over what they described as the intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media toward the duchess, who is biracial.

It’s unclear what public reaction, if any, the queen and other royal family members will have to the interview. The U.K.’s Sunday Times newspaper, citing an anonymous source, reported that the queen wouldn’t watch it.

S Korea, US scale back drills over virus, N Korea diplomacy

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The South Korean and U.S. militaries are scaling back their annual exercises this month due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to support diplomacy focusing on North Korea’s nuclear program, officials said Sunday.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the allies decided to start the nine-day drills on Monday after reviewing factors like the status of the pandemic and diplomatic efforts to achieve denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

It said the drills are defensive in nature and are mostly tabletop exercises and simulations that won’t involve field training.

Last year, the allies canceled their springtime drills after some of their troops were infected with the coronavirus. In recent years, the countries have also suspended or downsized many of their regular training to create more space for the now-stalled U.S.-led diplomatic drive to convince North Korea to denuclearize in return for economic and political incentives.

U.S.-South Korea drills have been a major source of animosities on the peninsula, with North Korea viewing them as invasion rehearsals and responding with its own weapons tests. In January, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged the U.S. to withdraw its hostile policy and South Korea to end drills with the U.S., warning the fate of their relations with North Korea depends on how they behave.

Some experts have said Kim may resume high-profile missile tests and raise tensions if he feels provoked by the upcoming drills, one of the two major military exercises between Seoul and Washington along with their summertime training.

The nuclear negotiations have been stalled for about two years since a February 2019 summit between Kim and then President Donald Trump collapsed due to wrangling over U.S.-led sanctions on North Korea. The government of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, which facilitated the early part of the U.S.-North Korea talks, has been calling for the diplomacy’s restart and greater inter-Korean ties.

A South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff officer said that Seoul and Washington decided to “minimize” the number of troops participating in this month’s drills because of the pandemic.

The officer, who requested anonymity citing a department rule, said the allies have been staging field exercises throughout the year to maintain their readiness, rather than holding them intensively in certain periods, in an apparent reference to the spring and summer drills.

Archives for March 2021

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