Coronavirus mutations may not make it more infectious, says study

DETROIT - The truck blockade by Canadians protesting the country’s COVID-19 restrictions is tightening the screws on the auto industry, forcing Ford, Toyota and General Motors to shut down plants or otherwise curtail production on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.The bumper-to-bumper demonstration entered its fourth day Thursday at the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit, disrupting the flow of auto parts and other products back and forth across the border.The bridge is the busiest U.S.-Canadian border crossing, carrying 25% of all trade between the two countries.RELATED: 'I understand why, but it makes it harder on us': Canadian trucker talks lost time, moneyFord said its Windsor, Ontario, engine plant reopened Thursday after being shut down on Wednesday because of a lack of parts. But the factory and the company’s assembly plant in Oakville, Ontario, near Toronto, are operating at reduced capacity, the automaker said."This interruption on the Detroit-Windsor bridge hurts customers, auto workers, suppliers, communities and companies on both sides of the border," Ford said in a statement.

Wordle game displayed on a phone screen and The New York Times logo displayed in the background are seen in this illustration photo. (Photo illustration by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) NEW YORK - Puzzle fans looking for their fix of gray, yellow and (hopefully) green squares are finding that Wordle has moved, a few weeks after its purchase by the New York Times.Users logging on Thursday and Friday are beginning to be redirected from the familiar plain white website and instead winding up on a similar page hosted by the Times.

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SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk poses on the red carpet of the Axel Springer Award 2020 on December 01, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images) SpaceX’s Elon Musk said Thursday that the first orbital flight of his towering Starship — the world's most powerful rocket ever built — could come in another month or two.While he anticipates failures, he’s confident Starship will reach orbit by the end of this year.Musk provided his first major Starship update in more than two years while standing alongside the 390-foot (119-meter) rocket at SpaceX's Texas spaceport.

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at Germanna Community College in Culpeper, Virginia, on Feb. 10, 2022.

The University of Regina Cougars Women’s Hockey team picked up two key victories last weekend against the Manitoba Bisons, thanks in no small part to the play of winger Lilla Carpenter-Boesch.

Maharashtra in the last 24 hours, the Hindustan Times reported on Friday.

Dustin Lynch’s album "Blue in the Sky" has finally dropped. The country star announced the surprise follow-up to "Tullahoma" in a tweet on Jan. 19 – about a year after releasing the project that included a duo of No.

Two fake companies that fraudulently took £180,000 from Covid-19 financial assistance schemes have been shut down.

Check here all that WHO said on long COVID. Live Q&A on #COVID19 and Omicron sub-variant BA.2 with Dr @mvankerkhove and @DrAbdiMahamud. #AskWHO https://t.co/NVQMa8HHk7

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Barbara Corbo, a former Mercy Career & Technical High School teacher, was accused of engaging in "sexual contact" with a student.  PHILADELPHIA - A former Philadelphia teacher has been charged after being accused of sexually assaulting a student, according to police. On Saturday, Dec. 11, 2021, Philadelphia police arrested 30-year-old Barbara Corbo on the 800 block of Kelly Drive in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. Corbo taught at Mercy Career & Technical High School in Philadelphia.

Covid lockdown was introduced, which means by now most of us are used to testing ourselves to see if we have been infected with the virus.Many people may now associate the phrase ‘positive result’ with a confirmed case of the infectious virus that has caused the pandemic.But, that was not always the case.This was clear when a woman messaged a friend with a picture of her pregnancy test - which gave a positive result.Having snapped a photo of the white stick portraying two red lines, the women wrote “positive” with a neutral face emoji.However, there was a bit of a modern day mix-up.Just like how lateral flow tests show two red lines for a positive result, the friend thought they tested for Covid - not for being pregnant.The confused friend replied: “Damn, I hope you feel better.”Along with a prayer emoji, they added: “Quarantine.”Stunned at the response, the pregnant woman slammed: “Are you stupid?”A screenshot of the text was posted to Facebook by user Amber Lee Clark which has now racked up thousands of likes and 33,000 shares.People were left in stitches at the confusion so tagged their mates with laughing emojis whilst they poked fun at the mix-up.One person chuckled: “I hope she takes all the necessary precautions that the CDC has lined out. Don’t need that s*** spreading”Another added: “Name your kid Covid.”Whilst a third user related: “Remember when I sent you my Covid results and you thought I was pregnant?”Someone else shared: “I laughed too hard at this.” Get all the biggest Lifestyle news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the free Daily Star Hot Topics newsletter

Patty Hajdu says the number of COVID-19 infections in First Nations communities has begun to decline, bringing hope that the worst of the Omicron wave has passed.Hajdu says she understands why Indigenous leaders are sounding an alarm that progress could be lost in regions where provincial governments are rapidly moving to lift public health orders.“Indigenous leaders obviously are concerned,” Hajdu said during a news conference Thursday. High anxiety levels expected in Canadians wary of COVID restrictions lifting - experts Daily active case counts in Indigenous communities have declined 13.2 per cent from last week.

East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow MP, Dr Lisa Cameron, attended a drop in event in the Houses of Parliament to mark Children’s Mental Health Week 2022.

Taking lateral flow tests regularly continues to be an important part of Scotland's fight against the spread of Covid.

Philadelphia police detectives are investigating a carjacking where an Uber driver was shot on Thursday night.  PHILADELPHIA - Investigators with the Philadelphia Police Department are investigating after an Uber driver was carjacked and shot around 11:34 p.m.

PHILADELPHIA - Authorities in Delaware County responded to a gruesome scene Friday morning after they say a man murdered his girlfriend and attempted to decapitate her. Officers responded to the Willow Apartments on the 400 block of Springfield Road in Clifton Heights around 4 a.m. Friday morning.Law enforcement sources tell FOX 29’s Steve Keeley that police found the man using a machete in an attempt to decapitate the victim. The suspect was taken into custody at the scene and the victim was pronounced dead.

Former President Donald Trump speaks during the 'Save America' rally at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds on January 29, 2022 in Conroe, Texas. Trump's visit was his first Texas MAGA rally since 2019.

DOVER, Del. - Delaware’s universal indoor mask mandate ends Friday morning, as their school mask requirements remain in effect through next month.Earlier this week, Gov. John Carney signed a revision of the State of Emergency order that lifted the state’s universal mask mandate, effective at 8 a.m. Also in Monday's revision to the State of Emergency order, Governor Carney temporarily extended the mask requirement in both public and private K-12 schools and child care facilities. As a result, that requirement will expire at 11:59 p.m.

Simon Cowell will miss the next round of auditions for Britain's Got Talent as he has contracted Covid-19.The 62 year old will be unable to judge the latest round of hopefuls on the ITV talent show while he self-isolates. A spokesperson for the music mogul confirmed the news to Mail Online, saying: "Simon was unable to attend filming today as he was isolating at home after testing positive for Covid-19." Current rules for contracting Covid-19 state people need to isolate for ten days but may leave after five if certain conditions are met. Alesha Dixon, David Walliams and Amanda Holden were spotted heading in to film the show and will be left with golden buzzer duties until the show's creator returns.

COLOMBO (News 1st): The foreign exchange shortage experienced in Sri Lanka will be short-lived, said the country’s Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa.Speaking to officials at the Finance Ministry of Friday (11), Rajapaksa said the government expects to minimize the effects the forex shortage might have on the people.On Monday (7) President Gotabaya Rajapaksa instructed the officials to take steps to immediately release the containers containing essential items at the custody of Customs.The President also appointed a committee headed by Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa to ensure that there is no shortage of essential commodities including food, and this committee met for the first time on Friday (11).A statement from the Finance Ministry noted that though there is a shortage of Milk Powder, Gas, Wheat Flour, and Cement in the local market, there are sufficient stocks of all other essential items and there will be no shortage.In addition, the tax reliefs granted by the government for essential food items not being enjoyed by the people were discussed and it was revealed at the meeting that errant traders abuse the concessions granted by the government and sell goods at exorbitant prices.The implementation of a new mechanism to expedite the release of essential commodities including food to the market, and to regulate and oversee this matter, was also discussed.

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia police are investigating after they say six people were stabbed inside if a Kensington home as they slept Friday morning.The incident happened around 4 a.m. on the 3000 block of North Front Street. Police say a family member went from bedroom to bedroom stabbing the six victims with two different knives that were described as kitchen knives.FOX 29’s Steve Keeley reports that all six of the stabbing victims are between the ages of 26 and 46. A 46-year-old woman is in critical condition after suffering stab wounds to the head and neck during the incident.

From symptoms to subvariants, UN health agency explains all that you need to know about Omicron

PARIS :

France will deploy thousands of police in and around Paris and set up checkpoints at toll stations on major roads leading into the capital to keep so-called "Freedom Convoy" motorists out, the city's police force said.

₹9.57 lakh crore for the economy was far sharper than ₹2.12 lakh crore in GDP growth that was lost in 2008-09 global financial crises, yet the government was able to contain consumer price inflation (CPI) to within 6.2% as opposed to CPI ballooning to 9.1% during the global financial crisis.

Britain without taking any coronavirus tests starting Friday after the government scrapped one of the final restrictions imposed over the past two years in response to Covid-19.

COLOMBO (News 1st); Thousands of Sri Lankan health workers continued their strike action for the fifth consecutive day on Friday (11), despite a court issuing an order against a nurses trade union that is also taking part in the strike.Health workers in Sri Lanka have been staging demonstrations and strikes since November 2021 to draw attention to the issue of salary anomalies.Their major demands include the rectification of salary anomalies, higher allowances, and an increase in overtime rates.Supplementary and paramedical services, nursing services, and professionals from 16 health services including medical laboratory technologists, pharmacists, radiologists, public health inspectors, and family health officers are participating in the indefinite strike.Thousands of poor patients who visited government hospitals were turned away, as a result.A Sri Lankan court on Thursday (10) issued two enjoining orders preventing the strike action by the Government Nursing Officer’s Association from continuing.The Attorney General filed an action against the Government Nursing Officer’s Association and its president Saman Rathnapriya, seeking an enjoining order from the court to immediately suspend the trade union action of the said union.The Attorney General appraised the court of the present deplorable conditions in hospitals due to patient care being severely affected.District Court Judge of Colombo Aruna Aluthge issued two enjoining orders preventing the union from continuing the said trade union strike endangering the lives of the patients.As a result of the strike, over this week the activities at the Colombo General Hospital, Kandy General Hospital, 24 Teaching Hospitals, 26 General Hospitals, 46 Base Hospitals, 410 District

Prince Charles getting Covid again should be "ringing royal alarm bells," according to an expert who warns of some "regal whiplash". The 73-year-old is set to snatch an almost 200-year record by becoming the oldest person to be crowned monarch.

Withdrawal of restrictions

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Boris Johnson ending Covid isolation rules is a "distraction" from the PM's lockdown party scandal, according to a Scots health expert.

SYDNEY :

Charli XCX has said that the criticism she’s received on social media lately has taken a toll on her mental health.The singer-songwriter, who releases her fifth album ‘Crash’ on March 18, issued a statement on Twitter yesterday (February 10) to explain that she’s temporarily stepping back from the platform due to the “negativity” surrounding her current campaign.“I’ve always had a pretty open dialogue with you guys and so I just wanna mention a few things that have been on my mind recently,” Charli began.“I have been feeling like I can’t do anything right at the moment.

COLOMBO (News 1st); The new University of Vavuniya was declared open by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Friday (11).The University of Vavuniya is the 17th State University in Sri Lanka and was established with effect from the 1st of August 2021 via an Extraordinary Gazette on the 8th of June 2021 that elevated the Vavuniya Campus of the University of Jaffna, to a separate state university in Sri Lanka.The new state university was established for the purpose of providing, promoting, and developing higher education in the branches of learning of Business Studies, Applied Science, and Technology Studies.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of he World Health Organization (WHO), Buti Manamela, Deputy Dr Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology of South Africa, Dr Joe Phaahla, Minister of Health of South Africa and Meryame Kitir, Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy of Belgium today visit a number of public and private sector partners that are collaborating to develop and build WHO’s global mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub in South Africa.

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Protester numbers outside New Zealand's parliament have increased as police scaled back efforts to clear anti-vaccine demonstrators involved in violent clashes a day earlier.

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry has warned against the use of fake vaccination cards to avoid being vaccinated against COVID-19.Dr. Anwar Hamdani, attached to the Health Ministry said information on all those who have been vaccinated are with the Health Ministry, and it is a futile attempt to evade being vaccinated.“Getting vaccinated is a social responsibility and therefore everyone must get vaccinated against COVID-19,” he said.At the same time, the Deputy Director-General of Public Health Services Dr.

Ottawa police on Thursday provided an update on their ongoing enforcement measures against trucker protests demonstrating against COVID-19 vaccine mandates throughout parts of the city.

Disruptive blockades protesting COVID-19 mandates are escalating in Ontario, prompting more calls for the province to take action. So why has Ontario Premier Doug Ford been mostly absent over the unrest? Eric Sorensen explains the possible strategy behind keeping a low-profile, as concerns grow over potentially politicizing pandemic strategy.

Despite key party figures expressing support and posing for pictures with protesters, the Conservative Party is joining pleas to end disruptive blockades against COVID restrictions.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a meeting with leaders of opposition parties Thursday evening, where he said he briefed them on the latest developments of the trucker convoy protests and blockades.

Unhappy Olympic athletes are calling out organizers of the Beijing Games with a litany of complaints about everything from COVID-19 protocols to inadequate catering.