Discussion needed before lifting restrictions in Northern Ireland - Swann

Jennifer Garner attends 2019 Baby2Baby Gala Presented By Paul Mitchell at 3LABS on November 09, 2019 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES - Jennifer Garner is in the spotlight for sharing a simple way to give back to those in need. On Wednesday, the actress posted a video on social media explaining an easy way to show a "random act of kindness" using Ziploc bags. In the post, Garner fills up a bag with essential items, including socks, handwipes and money. She is shown giving out the bags to people experiencing homelessness in the community. From small acts of kindness to awe-inspiring events, there were a lot of feel-good moments in 2021.The 49-year-old said she was inspired by her friend to create the bags. "Random act of kindness: gather these essentials in a quart sized ziploc bag and keep them in your car to give away when you see someone in need.

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - One person is in custody Thursday after leading Newport Beach Police on a boat chase that ended with the suspect crashing into a marina.Authorities say they were originally called to the 1200 block of W. Pacific Coast Highway for a vandalism call around 10:30 a.m.

Lecce defends end date for Ontario school mask mandate amid calls for more time That resolution for all students was passed by the board just days after the province announced it would only require students from grades 4 to 12 to wear masks.The province then extended the order to include grades 1 through 3 in August 2021.On Wednesday, the Ontario government announced masking would no longer be required in schools as of March 21.In a statement on Thursday, Upper Grand said it “consulted with several parties to determine next steps and receive clarity” on whether it could still mandate masks in school.“Those consultations concluded that once the province lifts its masking requirements, the school board does not have the independent authority to prescribe public health measures in response to an infectious disease, such as COVID-19,” the board said.“Further, boards of trustees do not have the authority to impose restrictions that the Ministry has directed must be revoked.”Changes to the masking protocol will be on the agenda during a board meeting that had already been scheduled for March 22. Guelph’s top doc to lift own mask mandate put in place months before provincewide policy The board of trustees will have to follow the direction of the government and bring forward a motion to officially rescind the board resolution from August 2022.“We know that the topic of masks can be a divisive one,” director of education Peter Sovran and chair of the board of trustees Linda Busuttil said in a joint statement.“We want to stress that students, staff and visitors are still welcome to wear masks in our schools, and this is their choice.

An ongoing swab testing study that's been under way for the last 2 years to monitor COVID-19 spread in the United Kingdom revealed that, although cases are declining, they remain at a high level, with signs of a potential increase in older age-groups.

Prince William is facing backlash for his comment that the Russian war on Ukraine is “very alien to see,” with many taking to social media to call out the royal for what they deemed a “racist” comment.

B.C. health officials announced Thursday that the province will remove its order requiring masks in all indoor public spaces as of 12:01 a.m. Friday, and that the proof of COVID-19 vaccination requirement will be potentially lifted on April 8.

While Medicare beneficiary hospitalizations for non–COVID-19 diagnoses fell sharply in March and April 2020 and stayed low through September 2021, death rates after hospitalization rose substantially—particularly for Black and Hispanic patients, finds a study yesterday in JAMA Network Open.University of Texas and Johns Hopkins researchers analyzed

mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing adult hospitalizations from the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variants, but three doses are needed to reach the same efficacy against Omicron as two doses offer against the first two strains, suggests an observational test-negative study yesterday in BMJ.

Tatiana Perebeinis and her two children were killed in Irpin, Ukraine during shelling by Russian forces on March 6, 2022. Perebeinis was the chief accountant for Silicon Valley startup SE Ranking.

CAMDEN, N.J. - A New Jersey man is facing charges in a deadly crash that killed a Pennsylvania school principal and injured his young son last fall in Camden County. The Camden County Prosecutor's Office on Thursday charged 54-year-old Azuka Ossai with vehicular homicide and a fourth-degree count of assault by auto in the Nov. 13 crash that killed 51-year-old Sean Hughes. Hughes, who spent more than a decade as an educator in the Lower Merion School District, was the principal of Lower Merion High School.Hughes and his young son were on their way to a soccer game in Windslow Township when investigators believe Ossai sped through a stop sign at the intersection of Fleming Pike and Hays Road and slammed into Hughes' Ford SUV. Hughes suffered serious injuries and died later that morning, prosecutors said.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - The 99-day MLB lockout has come to a close of March 10, according to the Associated Press, as players voted to accept the league's latest labor deal offer, thus salvaging a 162-game regular season.Read More: MLB, players reach agreement, paving way to end months-long lockoutNews of the lockout's end came from a person who spoke with the AP on condition of anonymity as no announcement was authorized.Here's what you should know about the situation.Major League Baseball plunged into its first work stoppage in a quarter-century when the sport’s collective bargaining agreement expired, and owners immediately locked out players in a move that threatens spring training and opening day.Teams decided to force the long-anticipated confrontation during an offseason rather than risk players walking out during the summer, as they did in 1994. Players and owners had successfully reached four consecutive agreements without a work stoppage, but they have been accelerating toward a clash for more than two years."We believe that an offseason lockout is the best mechanism to protect the 2022 season," baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred wrote in a letter to fans.

FILE - An Official Rawlings Major League Baseball sits with a bat, lock and chain to represent the lockout between Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) on Dec. 2, 2021. Players have voted to accept Major League Baseball's latest offer for a new labor deal, paving the way to end a 99-day lockout and salvage a 162-game regular season.The union’s executive board approved the agreement in a 26-12 vote, pending ratification by all players, a person familiar with the balloting said, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because no announcement was authorized.MLB sent the players an offer Thursday and gave them until 3 p.m.

Ciera (Locklair) Breland (Family photo)JOHNS CREEK, Ga. - Family of a missing 31-year-old mother from Indiana last seen in Georgia said they have been going through a torrent of emotions the past couple of weeks.The former sister-in-law of Ciera (Locklair) Breland said that most of the family has accepted the worst after she was last seen by family members 21 days ago.If someone just looked at Ciera Breland, their first impression might be that she was very timid. It is an observation that some have made, but like Lauryn Locklair, they would be quickly proven wrong."Ciera is a firecracker.

Coronavirus infection rates have risen in every part of Greater Manchester for the third day in a row but one borough has the second lowest rate in the entire country.

COVID-19 testing.Christine Elliott made the remarks while speaking to reporters at Queen’s Park Thursday.“Unless we have a rapid surge in cases, it’s not anticipated that we will return to widespread PCR testing because we do have the rapid tests so conveniently available now,” Elliott said. Lecce defends end date for Ontario school mask mandate amid calls for more time But when there last was a rapid surge in cases at the beginning of the Omicron wave, that’s when PCR testing was restricted to higher-risk settings as the system came under immense strain.PCR tests are considered to be more reliable and accurate when compared with rapid tests.Eligibility has expanded slightly since then, but it remains restricted to certain individuals.

last Thursday. LHSC says five or fewer of its COVID-19 inpatients are in Children’s Hospital, while zero are in pediatric critical care. Last week, there were five or fewer COVID inpatients in Children’s Hospital with five or fewer in pediatric critical care.

The USFL is a new, independent American football league controlled by FOX Sports through NSFL HoldCo, LLC, a new business entity. (Source: USFL) We know you're already excited for the inaugural 2022 United States Football League season, kicking off April 16 in Birmingham, Alabama.

COVID-19 data.The province reported 13 COVID-19-related deaths in the seven days ending on March 5, down from the 44 deaths from the previous reporting period.The report said 85 per cent of the deaths were people aged 80 and older. Living with COVID-19 means being vigilant, Saskatchewan researcher says Hospitalizations also dropped, with 339 patients in hospital as of March 9 who have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a joint news conference with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw on Thursday. “(Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to know that the consequences for his actions, already, will be severe.

Lester B. Pearson International Airport, says it is anticipating Friday will be the “busiest travel day” at the airport since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.In a press release issued Wednesday, the airport said preparations are “well underway at Toronto Pearson for the traditionally busy March Break travel season.”The release said officials expect approximately 85,000 passengers will depart or arrive at Pearson on March 11.“This will mark the busiest travel day at the airport since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago,” the release said.

BETHESDA, Maryland - A new study finds schools with mandatory masking during the delta variant surge had far fewer cases of in-school transmission of COVID-19 when compared to schools with optional or partial masking policies. The study, published in Pediatrics and funded by the National Institutes of Health, compared more than 1.1 million students and over 157,000 staff attending in-person schooling across nine states: North Carolina, Wisconsin, Missouri, California, Washington, Georgia, Tennessee, Kansas and Texas.Researchers conducted the study when the delta variant was the dominant strain and found that mask requirements resulted in 72-percent fewer cases. Their study did not obtain data on school masking in preventing the spread of the omicron variant. The study included 61 school districts from kindergarten through grade 12 that provided data from July 26, 2021, through Dec.

Vladimir Putin will “lose” in his war against Ukraine, Justin Trudeau said Thursday as Canada chipped in more funding for humanitarian efforts in the conflict.

Celebrity Big Brother star Chantelle Houghton has opened up about her terrifying heart condition that once caused doctors to stop her heart.The condition, which is called Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) causes the heart to suddenly race up to 400 beats per minute and can happen at any time.The 38-year dubbed the condition “terrifying” and explained that one severe episode caused doctors to stop her heart.Speaking to Daily Star, she said: “I have episodes probably 3 or 4 times per year but different thing can bring it on. If I have like anxiety or stress whatever.“The worse one was a few years ago I was in it for 4 hours and they actually had to stop my heart which was really terrifying.

Grimes unintentionally announced the birth of her second child with Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk via surrogate.In an exclusive interview with Vanity Fair, Grimes said the baby girl, named Exa Dark Sideræl Musk (pronounced sigh-deer-ee-el), was born in December. The couple also refer to their daughter as “Y.”The new child’s name is complex, with Exa being a reference to exaFLOPS (or, the ability of supercomputers to perform 1 quintillion floating-point operations per second).

Coronavirus infections appear to be rising in older adults in England, with cases remaining at a high level despite a broad decline since a peak in January, according to a government-commissioned study published Thursday.The REACT COVID-19 monitoring program, which looked at almost 95,000 home swab tests taken in February, showed that around 1 in 35 people in England was infected with the virus during the period and infections were rising among those aged 55 and older. COVID-19 can cause the brain to shrink, memory loss: U.K.

HARRISBURG, Pa. - All seven Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices issued opinions Wednesday regarding their 4-3 vote last month to pick a new map of the state's congressional districts, disclosing the majority relied partially on how fair the various proposals would be to the two major parties."We conclude that consideration of partisan fairness, when selecting a plan among several that meet traditional core criteria, is necessary to ensure that a congressional plan is reflective of and responsive to the partisan preferences of the commonwealth's voters," wrote Chief Justice Max Baer, joined by three fellow Democrats.He said tools that evaluate partisan fairness can help "avoid vote dilution based on political affiliation."The majority also rejected the argument that the 17 districts, each with nearly 765,000 voters, could not vary by as much as two voters apiece, as does the map they picked.After Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican majority state House and Senate deadlocked on drawing new lines for 17 congressional districts, reflecting the loss of a seat in the 2020 census, the job was left to the courts.The state's population increases over the past decade have been concentrated in the southeast, a stronghold for Democrats, while losses have occurred in the more rural and Republican areas of Pennsylvania's northern tier and western counties.A Republican Commonwealth Court judge, Patricia McCullough, recommended the justices go with the GOP-favored map that Wolf had vetoed.

WARSAW, Poland - U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday embraced calls for an international war crimes investigation of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, citing the "atrocities" of bombing civilians, including a maternity hospital.Speaking alongside Polish President Andrzej Duda at a press conference in Warsaw, where she is demonstrating U.S.

federal government to remove the pre-departure COVID-19 testing requirement for fully vaccinated international travellers, arguing that the measure is no longer necessary at this point in the pandemic.Representatives from several organizations held a press conference in Toronto Thursday morning, saying that removing the restriction is necessary to allow the tourism and business sectors to fully recover.“Businesses are becoming more confident that we are past the need to rely on restrictive measures like lockdowns to manage the virus,” said Lindsay Broadhead, the senior vice-president of communications and public affairs at the Toronto Region Board of Trade. Feds scrapping pre-arrival COVID PCR test requirement for fully vaccinated travellers “To realize the full opportunity, we must, where it is safe to do so, remove restrictions that are no longer needed.

CCL Container designed a new custom aluminum wine bottles that gives wine lovers an option to enjoy their beverage on the go. (Photo: CCL Container) WASHINGTON - While some enthusiasts are still getting used to the idea of wine in a can or corkless bottle, a new aluminum wine bottle has hit the market to offer yet another way to enjoy, and maybe preserve, their wine. CCL Container designed a custom 500-ml aluminum wine bottle featuring a lock-and-twist screw top, which they say allows the wine to be resealed and saved instead of wasted.The company manufactures recyclable aluminum aerosol cans, custom aluminum bottles, and other aluminum packaging, according to their website. CCL Container said their new aluminum bottle also helps to sustain the temperature of the wine by keeping it colder longer compared to wine in a glass or plastic container, claiming they are ideal for wine drinkers who want to bring their favorite beverage with them on a picnic, hike, or outdoor concert. RELATED: Price of wine could soon skyrocket due to climate change, bottle shortagesTo help promote their aluminum wine bottle launch, CCL Container partnered with Bigsby’s Folly, a Denver-based winery.

File: People walk through Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, December 2021. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) WASHINGTON - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is developing guidance that will ease the nationwide mask mandate for public transit next month, according to a U.S.

time may stand still for Geddy Lee and his bandmates, the rest of us will have to rush to our clocks to turn them an hour ahead on Sunday morning.It will mark the shortest day of the year as many Canadians will set their clocks ahead by an hour as most of the country moves to daylight time.The clocks will then fall back on Nov. 6 as we return to standard time.It is a rite of passage that began in Canada in 1908 in two small Ontario towns, Port Arthur and Fort William, which have since merged to form the city of Thunder Bay.

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COVID-19 cases and 260 recoveries in the past 24 hours. While active cases in the country stand at 937, the case positivity rate has reduced to 0.56 per cent. Delhi on Wednesday had reported 208 new Covid-19 cases.Delhi reports 212 fresh #COVID19 cases and 260 recoveries in the last 24 hours.Active cases 937Positivity rate 0.56% pic.twitter.com/V1zOJYNnHZ

COVID-19 pandemic while hospitalizations fell sharply Thursday.A total of 1,162 patients are in hospital with the virus, after 70 people were admitted and 130 left in the last day.The number of intensive care unit cases stood at 68, a decrease of one.The province’s daily tally included 1,267 new novel coronavirus infections. But since PCR testing is limited to certain groups — such as teachers and health-care workers — this isn’t representative of the situation.

A new public photography exhibition that shines a light on mental health awareness has opened in London. From March 9 until April 6, ‘Art of London presents Take a Moment 2022’ at Piccadilly Circus is encouraging people to take time out of their day to check in on their mental health.The exhibition, which was opened by TV doctor Dr Ranj Singh, is made of over 100 celebrity portraits and has been projected onto the Piccadilly Lights - an attraction which is seen by around 56 million people per year.

COVID-19 case as the province continues to loosen restrictions.Dr. Luc Boileau, interim director of public health, said Thursday that within the “new context,” they are comfortable with easing more measures.Anyone who is in close contact with a person who has COVID-19 no longer has to isolate at home for five days — but only if they are not sick or do not test positive for the virus.“They still have to watch for symptoms and have to wear a mask for 10 days and remain prudent, especially with those at risk,” Boileau said.They should also avoid places where they have to remove their mask, such as restaurants.“They do not need to stay at home,” Boileau said.

Janey Godley has revealed that she can't see how she'll "make it through the year" in a very honest social media post.

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COVID on Thursday, with 244 in intensive care units.This is down by nine hospitalizations but an increase of three in ICUs since the previous day. Last Thursday, there were 834 hospitalizations with 267 in ICU.The province recently began distinguishing between those who were admitted to hospital directly because of COVID, and those who were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for the virus.Of the 742 people in hospital with COVID-19, 46 per cent of them were admitted because of the virus, while 54 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.Of the 244 people in ICUs with the virus, 79 per cent were admitted because of COVID, while 21 per cent were admitted for other reasons.

CHICAGO - More than three years after Jussie Smollett told police he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack on a dark, cold Chicago street, all of the questions swirling around the actor — from whether he staged a fake attack to why he would do such a thing — now boil down to two: Will he admit he lied to police and will he be sent to prison?On Thursday, three months after a jury found him guilty of lying to police, those questions will be answered when Smollett, a onetime star of the television show "Empire," returns for sentencing to the courtroom where he was found guilty of lying to police about an attack prosecutors contended he orchestrated himself.JoJo Smollett, brother of actor Jussie Smollett, joins Good Day Chicago ahead of the former Empire star's sentencing in court. JoJo says he will read a statement before the judge Thursday afternoon.Smollett was convicted of five of six felony counts of disorderly conduct — for lying to police.

in the phase 2 study of Omicron-specific bivalent booster candidate, which combines the company’s current Covid-19 vaccine. 

The Saskatchewan government has now dropped all restrictions, but what does living with COVID-19 really mean?

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia police have released new video of a shooting that left a man injured in North Philadelphia earlier this week. The shooting occurred on the 2200 block of West Berks Street around 1:20 p.m.

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Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann has said the resignation of DUP First Minister Paul Givan had removed the opportunity for the Executive to discuss the removal of further Covid-19 restrictions in Northern Ireland.