18,423 community cases; 913 hospitalisations; 28 in ICU; 11 deaths reported today

Ukraine on Sunday demanded crippling new sanctions on Russia from major Western powers over a “massacre” in a town near Kyiv as anger grew in Western capitals and Germany said that those responsible for war crimes should pay.Ukraine said on Saturday that its forces had retaken all areas around Kyiv. The mayor of Bucha, a liberated town 37 km (23 miles) northwest of the capital, said that 300 of its residents had been killed by the Russian army.Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for international war crimes investigators to visit the area to collect evidence and said Kyiv believed the killing of civilians was deliberate.

Following weeks of constant bombardment, the outskirts of Kyiv have gone quiet as Ukrainian forces retake territory around the country’s capital. What’s left, though, is utter devastation.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Oregon transportation leaders want to know how hundreds of stuffed animals ended up on the side of a highway, prompting jokes that it was similar to a scene from the movie "Toy Story.""This #ToyStory was found on SB I-5 at #BurnsideBridge," the Oregon Department of Transportation tweeted Wednesday. "We think they may have been on their way to Pizza Planet, but we're not exactly sure how they got there.

An Afghan farmer cuts into a poppy bulb to extract the sap, which will be used to make opium, in a field May 6, 2002 in the village of Markhanai in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban announced a ban Sunday on poppy production, even as farmers across the country began harvesting the bright red flower that produces the opium used to make heroin.The order warns farmers that their crops will be burned and they can be jailed if they proceed with the harvest.

Vladimir Putin bathes in antler blood because he believes it has health benefits including boosting male potency, reports claim.The Russian president has been a fan of the procedure since the mid-2000s and isn’t the only Kremlin official to enjoy the bizarre ritual.Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin is also said to soak in the rare liquid, which is extracted by painfully hacking off a deer's horns.Defence minister Sergei Shoigu introduced the alternative treatment to Putin who washed in a “bathtub containing an odorant extract from blood-filled deer antlers”.Although there is no evidence for the health benefits, the blood’s alleged impacts also include age reversal, bone and muscle strengthening, and even improvements to eyesight and hearing. It has been a tradition for hundreds of years in Russia and there is also evidence of it taking place in China and Korea.

A new Covid variant has been found in the UK, experts have confirmed. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said it was looking at the XE variant, which is a mutation of the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron strains.

COLOMBO (News 1st); Reports claiming that Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa will resign are untrue and false, Media Secretary to the PM confirms to News 1st.

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lankan authorities used tear gas and water cannons during a protest on Sunday (3) morning by students attached to the University of Peradeniya.The University students were protesting against the present state of affairs in the country and were demanding solutions to the issues faced by fellow students.The protest march by the university students was scheduled to commence from the University of Peradeniya premises and proceed towards Kandy town.However, Sri Lanka Police had installed barricades at the Galaha Junction not far from the university, and a heavy police presence was also witnessed in the area along with the water cannons.Police Special Task Force personnel were also called in for security.University Students accompanied by their lecturers proceeded towards the Galaha Junction, and tensions boiled over when they attempted to remove the barricades set up by the police.Scuffles were also reported during the attempt made by the students to move forward.The protest was organized by the main student body of the University of Peradeniya, and staff from the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital also supported it.Sri Lanka Police and Riot Police decided to use water cannons to disperse the crowd and thereafter fired tear gas.Following the tense situation, the protesting university students decided to sit down on the road as a mark of protest.Once again a tense situation arose, and police fired tear gas at the students for the second time.Despite not being allowed to move ahead to the Kandy town, the university students and their support groups protested at Galaha Town until 3 PM.

On the current Covid outbreak

Xinhua News Agency reported.

Video: Legendary Foo Fighters' drummer Taylor Hawkins has died (USA TODAY)Lady Gaga loves the classics, just ask these legendary entertainersHilaria and Alec Baldwin introduce daughter Lucia with series of Instagram photos'CODA' actor Troy Kotsur is fascinated by his journey to the 2022 OscarsMichelle Carter is released from jail for good behaviorShowbiz Minute: Smith, Oscars, Prince Philip'Justice League' 'evolved emotionally' after tragedyQuinta Brunson talks A+ first semester for 'Abbott Elementary'Judd Apatow gets meta with Netflix pandemic comedy 'The Bubble'Ronnie Wood paints it blackCelebrities react to Will Smith Oscars incidentWill Smith and Chris Rock's confrontation looms over historic wins at the 2022 OscarsOscars best dressed: See the celebrities who stunned on the red carpetLegendary Foo Fighters' drummer Taylor Hawkins has diedSunday night’s ceremony will feature a tribute to Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, organisers have confirmed, following his death aged 50 last weekend. The band were due to perform at the Grammys but pulled out after also scrapping all their upcoming tour dates “in light of the staggering loss”.

COVID-19 cases were reported across the Chinese mainland, compared with 43 in the previous day.

Covid-19 as public anger grows over how authorities in China's most populous city are tackling a record coronavirus surge.

The province’s first cruise season in three years appears to be getting off to a bumpy start after the first vessel scheduled to dock in B.C. since the beginning of the pandemic was delayed as U.S.

Police are investigating a string of suspicious deaths in Calgary. As Michael King reports, the latest death occurred Friday evening in the Crescent Heights neighbourhood where a man in his 20s died.

Calgary animal rescue groups have seen a recent surge in the number of dogs being surrendered by their owners. As Lauren Pullen reports, the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society says it has seen two main reasons why.

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COVID-19 recovery rate remained at 98.76 per cent, the Health Ministry said.

coronavirus cases in the previous day, the national health authority said on Sunday, down from 2,129 a day earlier.

What is XE?

Today we are reporting 8,810 community cases, 690 hospitalisations and 18 deaths.

Smart phone tornado alert warning. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Meteorologists often work overtime during severe weather to make sure local families are safe — including their own. NBC 4 Washington meteorologist Doug Kammerer realized during his weather broadcast Thursday evening that an incoming tornado was headed right for his Maryland neighborhood — and his kids were home alone. "I’m tracking this so closely now, this is going to go, this is gonna go right over my house," he said, zooming in on the area.

A colony of penguins at Edinburgh Zoo have received their yearly vaccinations and check-ups as part of their annual medical.

ANI, Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS) Director Rakesh Mishra said, “The new mutant XE emerged for the first time in mid-January, but I believe there is no need to push a 'panic button'."

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka Police said that personnel attached to essential services, and staff attached to Foreign Missions can report to work during the curfew period by producing their official ID or an e-mail certification.

COVID-19 cases in the UK, which has again reached record levels, with about 1 in 13 people estimated to be infected with the virus in the past week, Britain's official statistics shows. So what do we know about this new Covid variant and how infectious is it? Let's talk about it in details.

NEW YORK - On March 30, the "Wordle" community lit up after participants came up with two different Wordle answers to Wednesday’s puzzle. Confused players chimed in on Twitter asking others why there were two different correct answers. Spoiler alert: Some players came up with the word HARRY, but for others it was STOVE.Jordan Cohen, the New York Times executive director of communications, confirmed Wednesday's Wordle answer had been changed. This means, there were two seemingly correct answers.Woman playing Wordle on her smartphone while travelling on an underground train on 5th March 2022 in London, United Kingdom.

SHANGHAI :

coronavirus at some point in the past two years. In most cases they’ve suffered little more than the equivalent of a nasty bout of flu.But a chilling new study suggests that even a mild case of Covid-19 could cause lasting brain damage.Autopsies of people who have died from Covid have identified irregularities in their brain tissue, but scientists at the Tulane National Primate Research Centre have conducted a series of tests on monkeys known to respond to Covid in a similar way to humans.The research, published in scientific journal Nature Communications, looked at the brain tissue of four rhesus macaques and four African green monkeys deliberately infected with the virus.

COLOMBO (News 1st); 21 people who were arrested for protesting in Mirihana, Nugegoda on Thursday (31) night were released by the Gangogdawila Magistrate on personal bail of Rs. 100,000/- each.Six others were remanded until the 4th of April 2022, and will be produced in an identification parade.Gangodawila Magistrate had noted that the protestors were released as individual offenses were not included in the B report by Sri Lanka Police.The Magistrate also ordered for the remaining 26 arrested protestors (three at the Colombo National Hospital & twenty three at the Kalubowila Hospital) to be directed to the Maligakanda and Mount Lavinia Magistrates.

Investigators have deemed Thursday’s suspicious death in northwest Calgary a homicide. As Tracy Nagai reports, the victim has been identified as 16-year-old Jal Acor Jal.

The absence of festivals has left a hole in many Manitobans hearts over the past two years, but now they’re slowly starting to come back. Marek Tkach reports.

This statement was updated at 5pm on 2 April, after a coding issue impacted some of the figures previously provided for community cases. The issue has now been resolved and only affected the reporting of community cases at a national and regional level.

COVID-19 recovery rate remained at 98.76 per cent, the ministry said.

Today we are reporting 11,560 community cases, 678 hospitalisations and 23 deaths.

The Toronto International Film Festival returns in September with the full cinema experience. Caryn Lieberman reports.

want to be alone on a giant island. A home located within Florida’s Cayo Costa State Park is for sale for $3.5 million and comes with all the amenities you can imagine — except for neighbors. On 1000 Cayo Costa, you’ll find a stately island mansion on a sprawling 1.8-acre property along the Gulf of Mexico. The home gives "resort vibes" and even comes with its own private dock for you to have easy access to your boat, which you’ll obviously need to access the island.Aerial view of 1000 Cayo Costa.

Virginia and Maryland on Wednesday evening, killing one, authorities said.Download the FOX 5 DC News App for Local Breaking News and WeatherLt. Cmdr.

Anna Maria Tolomello, 48 (Bucks County District Attorney's Office)HILLTOWN, Pa. – The owner of a Bucks County pizzeria has been charged with murder after authorities say she shot and killed her longtime partner earlier this month. Anna Maria Tolomello, 48, is accused of fatally shooting Giovanni Gallina, 65, inside a home they shared in the Chalfont section of Hilltown Township.

COVID-19 infections per day last week across Quebec, according to an estimate released Friday by a Montreal-based research centre.The results of the study by CIRANO should make Quebecers take the sixth wave of the pandemic seriously, Roxane Borges Da Silva, a professor at Université de Montréal’s school of public health who worked on the research, said in an interview.The Quebec government, she added, should strengthen its messaging on COVID-19 and reconsider its plan to lift mask mandates in mid-April.“It’s a very significant rise — non-negligible and worrisome — especially for those who are vulnerable to COVID and to health workers,” she said.The exact case counts presented in the study, which looked at the period from March 24-29, are difficult to confirm, she said, but the tendency is clear: the data indicates a rise in cases of between 20 per cent and 40 per cent over the previous week.

RELATED: Democratic Women’s Caucus propose monument honoring Ruth Bader GinsburgOn the high court, her most significant majority opinions were the 1996 ruling that ordered the Virginia Military Institute to accept women or give up its state funding, and the 2015 decision that upheld independent commissions some states use to draw congressional districts."She is instrumental to why we now have women of all backgrounds, experiences and talents serving within our ranks, side by side with their male Sailor and Marine counterparts," Del Toro said in a prepared statement.Ginsburg died Sept. 18, 2020, of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer.

Two teenage boys use their smartphones as they sit on a bench in Vail, Colorado.

Omicron Covid-variant after a recent rise in cases, according to a tracker app. The new symptom has been added to the list after a number of people with the virus made reference to trouble with their ears.A number of Brit sufferers all cited ringing ears as something they have experienced after contracting Omicron.Following these reports, the ZOE Covid tracker app has now added the symptom to its top 20 most commonly reported symptoms, which is released every week.Ear pain has been seen in Omicron cases in the past but only now following reports has it become more common than originally thought.Last year, a study by A team of Stanford University experts and Dr Konstantina Stankovic, found that the Omicron variant could cause problems with the ear.The study reported symptoms including severe earache, ear numbness, and even temporary hearing loss, which can also continue even after the infection has passed.Dr Stankovic also revealed that these symptoms can also appear in those fully-vaccinated.Speaking to the Times Now News Portal, Dr Stankovic said: “Pain is often associated with ringing in the ears.

Three new studies to be presented at the upcoming European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) conference at the end of the month demonstrate benefits of the antiviral molnupiravir against COVID-19 infections, including evidence that Merck's pill reduces symptoms of the SARS-CoV-2 virus by day 3 of administration.All three studies are based on results seen in the MOVe-OUT st

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Police are investigating after a man allegedly shot and killed his daughter's boyfriend after he broke into their home.St.

PHILADELPHIA - Authorities are investigating an armed robbery at a Philadelphia daycare Friday where one of the suspects allegedly pepper sprayed a common where toddlers and staff were gathered. Officer from the Philadelphia Police Department were called to the Munchkins to Masterminds Daycare on the 5400 block of Girard Avenue around 1:30 p.m. for reports of a robbery. Investigators say of 2-3 people stole an iPad from the school and sprayed pepper spray into a room where seven toddlers and two staff members were gathered.Emergency medical responders were called to the school to evaluate the victims, police said.

night sky, according to Sky & Telescope. Keep your binoculars and telescope handy because you just might catch a glimpse of Venus, Mars and Saturn several times this weekend and into next week. About 45 minutes before sunrise on Saturday, set your sights due southeast and look about 10 degrees above the horizon. You should see Venus shining brightly, according to Dr.