COVID-19 media update, 18 May

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga was sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday (12) for Indian Rs. 10.75 crores after a closely fought bidding war.The Sri Lankan pair of Hasaranga and Dushmantha Chameera, joined RCB for the second part of IPL 2021.Hasaranga took a hat-trick at last year’s T20 World Cup.

@DrAbdiMahamud pic.twitter.com/hI5Blz64ec

Corrections & Amplifications

After two weeks of the protest convoy occupying Ottawa, questions are rising over whether a better security response could have averted all the disruption sooner.

Norway has lifted its final Covid restrictions, scrapping social distancing and masks in crowded spaces despite a surge in Omicron infections.

Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!

Bob Saget died from an accidental blow to the head, likely from a backwards fall.Saget was found dead Jan. 9 in a Florida hotel room.

Squire Barnes speaks with Toronto-born musician Paul Shaffer while in Vancouver to perform with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

It’s a case of buyer beware: read the fine print. An Edmonton man is sharing his experience trying to sell his SUV, hoping it will help others.

so-called “freedom convoy” that has snarled downtown Ottawa streets is widening its grip on the city, sprawling out in new, smaller encampments scattered around town.And while the police say they’ve negotiated movement of some trucks around the city, there are protesters in various encampments who continue to dig in their heels.“If trucks leave here, they’re going out on a convoy. They’re going to join the rest of the trucks,” said John Bancroft, a coordinator for the encampment site set up on Coventry Road — a short drive from downtown Ottawa.“No one’s leaving here until the mandates are lifted.” Trudeau calls on all parties to denounce ‘illegal’ trucker occupations, blockades But in the days since, that setup has shifted — and Global News has created a map of what the convoy protest’s encampments look like now.The original location of the convoy, Wellington Street, remains lined with trucks and regular vehicles.

Caught on video: A Burnaby business owner and his employee are pepper-sprayed by a man, the latest incident in what they say is an ongoing problem with crime in their neighbourhood. Rumina Daya reports.

Police could soon move in and end the Canada-U.S. border blockade in Windsor Ontario, after a court injunction was granted to remove protesters from the vital Ambassador Bridge crossing.

Covid-19 treatments have been prequalified by WHO, including the three presentations. A prequalification provides assurances to countries that they are purchasing quality health products.

One of Girvan’s most eagerly-anticipated events is set to make a comeback in 2022.

Beijing Winter Games on Saturday.The event made its Olympic debut in Beijing, with pairs of one man and one woman racing back-to-back for a spot on the medal podium.Grondin and O’Dine had already claimed the silver and bronze, respectively, in individual competition earlier in the week.As he was in his earlier event, Grondin was the fastest out of the gate in every round of mixed competition, creating big leads in the earlier rounds. Yet he was finally outpaced in the final and finished third behind American Nick Baumgartner and Italy’s Omar Visintin.That meant O’Dine lost the advantage she had in the quarterfinals and semifinals, as the women started staggered depending on the speed of their teammates.O’Dine battled for second position but fell halfway through her run after colliding with Italy’s Caterina Carpano, yet the Canadian still managed to cross in third position.Baumgartner’s teammate Lindsey Jacobellis brought home her second gold for the U.S.

Olympic officials on Saturday said they would welcome an anti-doping investigation into the Russian doctors, coaches and family members in the entourage of gold medal winning teenage skater Kamila Valieva.Valieva’s future at the Beijing Olympics hangs in the balance after the stunning revelation she had tested positive for a banned substance before winning the team event on Monday, but that the positive drug test report took more than six weeks to be made public.Fans of figure skating, athletes and anti-doping advocates have expressed outrage over a teenager being dragged into the center of an Olympic doping controversy with a positive test for an angina drug. Many have questioned the role of the adults around the 15-year-old skater.On Saturday, International Olympics Committee spokesman Mark Adams said: “Entourage has been overlooked in the past.” Beijing Olympics: Russian skater’s failed drug test confirmed, setting up fight with IOC The delay in Valieva receiving her positive drug test result also loomed large on Saturday as Olympic and anti-doping officials sought to reinstate her ban.Valieva was suspended by the Russian anti-doping body after the positive test report, but the suspension was lifted a day later after she appealed, allowing her to continue to compete.

Justin Trudeau says “everything” is on the table when it comes to ending the blockades paralyzing cross-border trade at multiple locations, and which remain encamped outside Parliament Hill.And he urged anyone still participating in the convoys, which are demanding an end to COVID-19 public health measures, to go home or face “severe” consequences.“Unfortunately, we are concerned about violence, so we’re taking every precaution,” he said.“It’s time to go home – especially if you have kids with you.”Make no mistake: The border cannot, and will not, remain closed. Every option is on the table.

pandemic will end this year, of course with one condition, the 70% vaccination (target is achieved) by mid this year around June, July".

NEWTOWN, Pa. - Council Rock North High School girls basketball team wanted its Senior Night to be special for everyone, including their team manager whose dream was to play in an actual game. The school got together with Academy Park High School on Friday to play a special Senior Night game to help turn Megan Bissol's dream into a reality."She’s definitely our biggest fan we always hear her the loudest on the bench. She comes to all the games home or away and everyone just adores her," Senior teammate Kristen Polinsky said. Bissol scored the first basket of her high school career on the very first shot she put up.

coronavirus cases are being recorded at less than one lakh for the last six consecutive days. The death toll has climbed to 5,07,981 with 804 daily fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.19%. The active cases comprise 1.43% of the total infections, while the national recovery rate has further improved to 97.37%, the health ministry said.

Wendy Williams has filed a temporary restraining order against Wells Fargo in order to access her cash. According to Williams' filings to the court, the bank's move reportedly came after Williams' former financial adviser alleged that Williams "was of unsound mind." On Friday, financial advisers at the bank told Fox News Digital that the company's only goal was to ensure the "Wendy Williams Show" host is able to make payments to entities she "regularly" has made them to, despite what her camp is stating on the record about her being "fine" in response to reportedly being labeled as an "incapacitated person."  "Wells Fargo’s priority is the financial well-being of Ms.

Police say a 31-year-old food delivery driver was making a delivery when he was shot multiple times. PHILADELPHIA - Police say a food delivery driver was caught in a hail of gunfire Friday night in Queen Village.According to investigators, the 31-year-old driver was making a delivery on the 900 block of North 5th Street just after 9 p.m.

Karnataka government had made the RT-PCR test compulsory for people entering its state to contain the virus transmission.

NE Phila Connected is offering free courses to teach responsible gun ownership and safety.  PHILADELPHIA - You don't have to scroll for long on a neighborhood Facebook page to find a post about a carjacking in Philadelphia.A non-profit in Northeast Philadelphia is tired of neighbors becoming victims or hurting themselves and others by trying to defend themselves.Roman Zhukov started NE Phila Connected because he saw his neighbors' frustration over the violence in the city and wanted to help."I have a child and it’s selfish to say, but I want him to grow up in a better environment," Zhukov said. "I want him to be okay walking himself to school, I want him to be okay to feel safe on the playground, I want him to go to school where there are no fights or guns involved."There’s been a rise in carjackings in his area and that prompted him to team up with Roman Kourinnoi, a certified concealed carry instructor, to offer free courses to educate people about gun ownership and how to handle them safely.MORE LOCAL HEADLINESThe first class is about having a plan and how to avoid situations."I won 100% of the fights I wasn’t involved in," Kourinnoi said.

Legislative bureau chief Keith Baldrey looks at some of the other COVID-19 indicators and what they reveal about the direction B.C. is hopefully heading.

The first blurry image captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - NASA’s new space telescope has captured its first starlight and even taken a selfie of its giant, gold mirror.All 18 segments of the primary mirror on the James Webb Space Telescope seem to be working properly 1 1/2 months into the mission, officials said Friday.The telescope's first target was a bright star 258 light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major."That was just a real wow moment," said Marshall Perrin of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.Over the next few months, the hexagonal mirror segments — each the size of a coffee table — will be aligned and focused as one, allowing science observations to begin by the end of June.NASA's James Webb Space Telescope launched successfully early Christmas morning from French Guiana on South America’s northeastern coast, riding a European Ariane rocket into the sky.

FILE - A baby koala is seen at Wild Life Sydney Zoo on Oct. 14, 2021 in Sydney, Australia.

Paddy McGuinness has shared a positive health update as he continues to recover following knee surgery. The 48-year-old Top Gear presenter picked up the injury whilst playing in Soccer Aid 2021 in September, alongside stars such as Usain Bolt, Olly Murs, Chunkz and Jamie Redknapp.He was eventually forced to retire from the charity football competition, joking at the time that the knock was “not something that can be sorted with the magic sponge”.Just last week the father-of-three underwent a procedure on the dodgy knee, having waited a whopping six months before the surgery could take place, reports the Express.

There was a lot of information to digest this week when it comes to COVID-19 and plans to ease restrictions. The decisions are being backed with a lot of scientific claims.

COVID-19 wave, if necessary.Under questioning from opposition health critics during a hearing at the legislature, Dubé suggested the passport could be dropped in the coming weeks.“When I said the vaccine passport was there to stay, will public health recommend that we, I hope in a few weeks, suspend it because it is going better?” Dubé said about the COVID-19 situation in the province. “Could we restore it if we were ever caught with another wave? That’s what you have to think about.”Quebec was the first province to introduce a vaccine passport on Sept.

COVID-19 dashboard available only to Saskatchewan Health Authority leaders no longer includes the number of people who died from the disease.Global News obtained images of the dashboard on several occasions. The latest, from Feb.

The Canadian Armed Forces is now investigating Maj. Stephen Chledowski, after the actively serving army officer released a new video denouncing COVID-19 measures.

Andrei Doroshin PHILADELPHIA - A graduate student in psychology whose COVID-19 vaccine operation got shut down by Philadelphia last year has settled with the state attorney general's office and agreed to destroy all personal health information his start-up gathered.The agreement was filed Friday in Commonwealth Court and requires a judge's approval to take effect.Central to the accusations against Andrei Doroshin, who had almost no public health experience when the city gave him the task, was that he had intended to profit from the vaccine operation run by his start-up, called Philly Fighting COVID.Mayor Jim Kenney says Philly Fighting COVID was a mistake after the Inspector General found no malice, no ill-intent, and no one seeking personal gain.Doroshin denied the allegations by the attorney general's office, including violating the state's nonprofit corporation law.Under the agreement, Doroshin and his associates are barred from managing charitable assets or soliciting charitable donations in Pennsylvania for 10 years.Doroshin also must destroy the personal health information gathered through the vaccine pre-registration service and is barred from receiving any financial benefit from the information or the vaccine.Doroshin must also dissolve Philly Fighting COVID.City officials said they gave him the job because he and his friends had organized one of the community groups that set up COVID-19 testing sites throughout the city in 2020.But they shut the vaccine operation down once they learned that Doroshin had switched his privacy notice to potentially sell patient data.

As protesters dig in their heels at border crossings and the nation’s capital, many truck drivers continue hauling shipments across the province. Shallima Maharaj heard from some of them at a stop north of Toronto.

Many members of Edmonton city council don’t agree with the removal of the provincial Restriction Exemption Program. Friday they decided on how the city will be moving forward measures. Sarah Komadina has the details

Inspiration4 mission commander Jared Isaacman, founder and chief executive officer of Shift4 Payments, stands for a portrait in front of the recovered first stage of a Falcon 9 rocket at Space Exploration Technologies Corp. The charitable sector should hope that billionaire Jared Isaacman keeps seeking new adventures.Isaacman, who turned a payments-processing firm he started as a teenager into a multibillion-dollar company, periodically indulges his passion for aviation with head-turning flights.

LOS ANGELES - It’s time to meet the domino-toppling trios competing in the first-ever season of "Domino Masters." Hosted by Emmy Award-winning actor Eric Stonestreet ("Modern Family"), the series will feature teams of domino enthusiasts facing off in an unbelievable chain reaction tournament. DOMINO MASTERS: The all-new competition series DOMINO MASTERS premieres Wednesday, March 9 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. © 2022 FOX Media LLC. CR: Ray Mickshaw/FOX.

Wendy Williams is firing back at Wells Fargo over claims she's the victim of «financial exploitation,» saying «she is fine» and «she is of sound mind.»In a statement to ET, Williams' lawyer, LaShawn Thomas, said on Friday that «Wendy wants the world to know that she strenuously denies all allegations about her mental health and well-being.» Thomas also offered details as to why Williams is in a legal battle with Wells Fargo.«Wendy had to unfortunately bring this action because Wells Fargo has refused to honor her Power of Attorney, granting her son authority to make inquiries to the bank on Wendy's behalf,» the statement read.

COVID-19 vaccination clinics in districts where rates are well below the Quebec average.Officials are hoping to increase the inoculation levels against COVID-19 in areas like Saint-Léonard and Montréal-Nord, where the vaccination levels are below 75 per cent (according to the latest data) while on average, 82 per cent of the Quebec population is considered adequately vaccinated.The shuttle buses run free of charge and take people to clinics in Saint-Léonard, Montréal-Nord, Ville-Émard and LaSalle. Health-care officials are hoping people with limited mobility and those who may have other appointments will get their first, second or booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Tairāwhiti has reached two vaccination milestones today; their eligible population reached 90% fully vaccinated –the 18th DHB to do so – and it’s eligible Māori population reached 90% first doses.

Premier Doug Ford denounced the protests both in the nation’s capital and on the border in Windsor Friday. While putting measures in place in a bid to move them along, the premier also attracted unwanted attention after a snowmobile trip and a secret recording.

PHILADELPHIA - At The Saul High School traditional learning is only the beginning, students also have the opportunity to participate in real-life farming."This is a dairy science class at Saul High School, it’s an Animal Science Class. We’ve been doing this for 50 or 60 years where we produce our milk, and then it’s been shipped to Land O'Lakes," said Jane Arbasak, Farm Manager with Saul High School.Enejha Dozier is a Senior at Saul High School and said this unique program helped fuel her passion."Yes, it definitely did, for the better.

Police found a 36-year-old man shot inside a Jeep and drove him to the hospital in critical condition. PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia police officers responding to reports of a shooting found a man badly wounded inside a car and rushed the victim to an area hospital. According to investigators, the shooting happened on the 1800 block of East Allegheny Avenue in Kensington around 6:30 p.m.

Legislative bureau chief Keith Baldrey has the daily COVID-19 update on Friday, February 11, and how B.C. officials could be setting the stage to remove restrictions on Tuesday.

Ambassador Bridge border crossing in Windsor, Ont.Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz says the injunction will take effect at 7 p.m.He has asked a lawyer representing the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, which applied for the injunction, to send him a draft of an order.

COVID-19 receiving care in hospital on Friday, with 127 of them in intensive care units.That’s compared to 1,586 in hospital on Thursday, with 126 people in the province’s ICUs. Reality check on Alberta politicians’ statements on schools, COVID-19 transmission and vaccines On Tuesday, Premier Jason Kenney announced his plan to relax COVID-19 measures.

PHILADELPHIA - The Transportation Security Administration at Philadelphia International Airport said it’s "highly concerned" about the number of firearms it took from passengers last year.Federal Security Director Gerardo Spero reports that the agency scanned around eight million passengers in 2021 and confiscated 39 weapons. That figure far outpaces the number of firearms the agency confiscated in the previous two years.Spero said he does not know what motivates people to carry guns to the airport, but he knows "guns and airports don’t mix."The TSA demonstrated for reporters Friday how a pistol can be safely transported by air.

Ontario’s premier has called a state of emergency following days of blockades at the country’s largest border crossing. This move is applauded by federal officials who are asking protesters to go home as police forces expect demonstrations across the country to ramp up over the weekend.