Quebec reports 12 new deaths related to COVID, a drop in hospitalizations

Marquis Graham (Philadelphia Police Department) PHILADELPHIA - A volunteer coach with the Police Athletic League of Philadelphia has been arrested and charged with the rape of a 15-year-old girl, police announced Friday. The alleged incident occurred back on March 9, around 3:30 p.m., after the victim left the PAL center on the 3100 block of Ridge Avenue. Police say the victim was walking from to her place of work when 26-year-year old Marquis Graham offered to give her a ride. She accepted his offer and got into his car. MORE HEADLINES: Once the victim got into Graham’s car, police say she was sexually assaulted by Graham.

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COVID-19 amid another upswing in patients being treated for the disease Friday.Pandemic-related hospitalizations stood at 1,275, a net rise of 37 compared with the previous day. This comes after 177 people were admitted while 140 were discharged.Health authorities say 62 patients were in intensive care units, a drop of four.The province recorded 3,182 new novel coronavirus cases, down from 3,319 the day before.

COVID on Friday, with 167 in intensive care.This is down by three for hospitalizations and up by one in ICUs since the previous day. Some experts have said Ontario is entering a 6th wave of COVID as figures trend upwards.Last Friday, there were 667 hospitalizations with 161 in ICU.Of the 804 people in hospital with COVID-19, 49 per cent of them were admitted because of the virus, while 51 per cent were admitted for other reasons but tested positive for COVID-19.Of the 167 people in ICUs with the virus, 71 per cent were admitted because of COVID, while 29 per cent were admitted for other reasons.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - A New York mobster who killed three people and attempted to kill two others has escaped from federal custody in Florida after recently being moved to a halfway house, according to the Bureau of Prisons.Dominic Taddeo, a hit man from a Rochester-area crime family, escaped on March 28, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.Taddeo, 64, had been imprisoned at a medium-security lockup in Florida before being transferred to a residential halfway house, also in Florida, in February.RELATED: Group of prisoners attack, kill inmate convicted of murdering 2-year-old girl, authorities sayTaddeo pleaded guilty in 1992 to racketeering charges that included the killings of three men during mob wars in the 1980s.A federal judge in western New York denied Taddeo's request for compassionate release last year, rejecting his claim that health problems including hypertension and obesity put him at risk for serious complications from COVID-19.

WHO's Bruce Aylward pointed out, "If more groups move away from the 70% target, we have more #COVID19 transmission in the world, more people that get sick, more people that die & eventually more variants that emerge & possibly frustrate all the progress that's has been made so far"

The trial of a peripatetic guitar teacher accused of sexually assaulting and making sexual remarks to pupils has been halted, because he has caught Covid.

ANI that masks should continue to be worn, especially in crowded or poorly ventilated places.

LOS ANGELES - Oscars producer Will Packer said Los Angeles police were ready to arrest Will Smith after Smith slapped Chris Rock on the Academy Awards stage."They were saying, you know, this is battery, was a word they used in that moment," Packer said in a clip released by ABC News Thursday night of an interview he gave to "Good Morning America." "They said we will go get him. We are prepared. We’re prepared to get him right now.

FILE IMAGE - A large "Now Hiring" advertisement is posted on the windows of the Advance Auto Parts store in Bay Shore, New York on March 24, 2022. (Photo by Steve Pfost/Newsday RM via Getty Images) WASHINGTON - Defying a pandemic and supply chain disruptions, the U.S.

A UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) study recently revealed that currently as many are 3 hybrid COVID variants are circulating.  The two different combinations of Delta and BA.1 are XD and XF. The third is XE.

KYIV, Ukraine - Russian troops left the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site early Friday after returning control to the Ukrainians, authorities said, as residents in parts of eastern Ukraine braced for renewed attacks and awaited blocked supplies of food and other humanitarian relief.Ukraine’s state power company, Energoatom, said the pullout at Chernobyl came after soldiers received "significant doses" of radiation from digging trenches in the forest in the exclusion zone around the closed plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency said it could not independently confirm the exposure claim.In what would be the first attack of its kind, if confirmed, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region accused Ukraine of flying helicopter gunships across the border on Friday morning and striking an oil depot.The depot run by Russian energy giant Rosneft is located about 35 kilometers (21 miles) north of the Ukraine-Russia border.

Albertans have seen their insurance rates skyrocket over the past couple of years. Now, the Opposition NDP wants to know why the UCP government has stopped requiring companies to publicly report their financials. Tom Vernon reports.

PHILADELPHIA - After decades headquartered in Chinatown, the Philadelphia Police Department has a brand-new home in an historic Spring Garden building. FOX 29’s Jennifer Joyce was taken on a tour of the new Philadelphia Public Services Building on Thursday.History has been reborn at 400 North Broad Street, the former home of the Philadelphia Inquirer, built in the 1920s. Several historic features remain intact, like the nod to the Inquirer in what’s referred to as the Historic Lobby. "The building was registered as a historic building back I 1996 and as we completed this renovation we had to maintain that historic integrity of the building," explained Andrew Brown of Talson Solutions. Brown, the project manager, says the three-year project cost $252 million to complete. When you enter the building you’re greeted by a sculpture made up of more than 1,400 real police badges, and an updated seal of the City of Philadelphia shining a light on inclusivity. The entire building is 470,000 square feet and a majority of that space is occupied.

CAMDEN, N.J. - A New Jersey man who conspired with his girlfriend to concoct a feelgood story about a helpful homeless man and then used the lie to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations online is scheduled to be sentenced in a federal court Friday. Last fall, Mark D’Amico pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. An indictment unsealed in January 2020 charged D'Amico with a total of 16 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering.D’Amico, his former girlfriend Katelyn McClure, and a homeless veteran named Johnny Bobbitt were accused of making up a story in 2017 about Bobbitt giving $20 to help McClure when her car ran out of gas in Philadelphia.D'Amico and McClure solicited donations through GoFundMe, purportedly to help Bobbitt, and conducted newspaper and television interviews.

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia’s plastic bag ban goes into effect Friday after delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.The ban will prohibit businesses from using single-use plastic bags for purchases. The ban was originally passed by Philadelphia City Council in December of 2019, and was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

FILE IMAGE - A detailed view of cannabis flowers displayed on a rolling tray in the green room at Jardin Premium Cannabis Dispensary on April 22, 2021, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images) WASHINGTON - The U.S.

ORLANDO, Fla. - More details are expected to be released on Friday about what happened when a 14-year-old fell to his death from the Orlando FreeFall ride at ICON Park.Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. to talk about the horrible accident that has captivated the nation as the state continues to investigate.

COVID-19 containment measures from March 31.

BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Officials with the National Weather Service will be heading out to Bucks County Friday morning to determine if a tornado impacted that area Thursday nights. Tornado warnings were issued for parts of Bucks as a line of showers and severe storms tore through the Delaware Valley late Thursday night.Friday morning, the National Weather Service took to social media to ask residents near Bedminster Township to report any damage associated with those storms. The National Weather Service says they will be surveying an area of damage near Bedminster on Friday.

A Halifax man says he plans to fight a renoviction notice given by the new property owner of an apartment building he’s lived in for seven years. When the state of emergency in Nova Scotia ended March 21, the ban on renovictions was lifted.

Vladimir Putin is “constantly” accompanied by a doctor specialising in thyroid cancer as rumours of his ill health refuse to disappear, a new investigation shows.Surgeon Yevgeny Selivanov, of Moscow's Central Clinical Hospital, has flown to the Russian leader no less than 35 times in Black Sea resort Sochi, his favourite place of residence.The respected doctor’s thesis - showing his area of medical expertise - was entitled: ”Peculiarities of diagnostics and surgical treatment of elderly and senile patients with thyroid cancer".This follows reports that Putin is dying in agony from terminal bowel cancer, according to intelligence from the Pentagon and in Ukraine. His “puffy face” is a sign he is taking chemotherapy drugs or steroids and his unsmiling expression shows he is in constant pain, US sources say.The recent discovery by investigative media Project (or Proekt) media - blocked in Russia and now functioning from abroad - backs recent theories that Putin declared war when he was suffering medical problems hidden from the Russian people.

Vaccinated travellers entering Canada no longer need a pre-entry COVID-19 test.

The government has today issued new rules on how long people with Covid need to isolate for.

The requirements for flying into Canada just took another step towards “normal.” But as Tomasia DaSilva reports, there are still some rules and advice you should follow.

Indian firms could see a contraction in margins and the pace of ratings upgrades is expected to slow. 

Covid-19 pandemic began over two years ago, wearing the mask was our first line of defence against the deadly virus. But two years on, as India witnesses a steep decline in Covid-19 cases, several states have now announced that the Covid-19 masks are no longer mandatory. 

Doctors have noticed a reduction in the number of people contacting them with Covid-related queries, according to the Covid Lead with the Irish College of General Practicioners.

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 09: Chris Rock of 'Fargo' attends the FX Networks' Star Walk Winter Press Tour 2020 at The Langham Huntington, Pasadena on January 09, 2020 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES - A video of Chris Rock detailing the bullying and sexual assault he endured as a child has resurfaced after he was slapped by Will Smith on the Oscars stage. On Wednesday night, Rock performed in front of a sold-out crowd in Boston as part of his comedy tour.

RALEIGH, N.C. - An inmate at a North Carolina prison was assaulted by a group of inmates and killed, state officials said Tuesday.Semajs Short, 24, was attacked in a housing area at Bertie Correctional Institution by a number of other inmates around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday, the N.C.

The government has issued new rules for who will be able to get free Covid-19 tests from today, April 1, as free mass PCR and lateral flow testing is brought to an end. The free testing will continue to be available to a number of groups - and will mostly require those people to have symptoms already, apart from a small list of scenarios where asymptomatic testing will be given.

As First Nations delegates met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday, residential school survivors in Alberta were paying close attention.

While the dollar value may be low–some of the items stolen in a Vancouver break-in are priceless to their young owner. He is pleading for your help to get them back.

Covid-19 cases, India on Friday reported 1,335 new Covid-19 cases, according to Union Health Ministry data. Additionally, the country is witnessing a further drop in active cases, with the active caseload at 13,672 on Friday, the Health Ministry data further revealed.

Texas man was arrested on Wednesday after police found human remains in his home while responding to a wellness call.The remains are believed to be of the man’s son, police say.In a press release, the New Boston Police Department wrote that they received a request for a wellness call from a neighbour.When authorities arrived at the address Wednesday evening, a man named David McMichael answered the door. Trial set for Florida man charged with human smuggling after family found frozen in Manitoba According to the police report, when officers asked McMichael if he knew why they were there, “McMichael advised them it was because he had a body in his kitchen.”McMichael reportedly told police the body belonged to his son, who died in May 2018.

MAPLE SHADE, N.J. - Authorities are searching for a person of interest in possible New Jersey package theft ring who police believe is impersonating as a delivery driver. The investigation started after a Burlington County woman said her purse and a flash drive filled with pictures of her late mother was stolen from her car Thursday night."Completely violated, not being able to get those irreplaceable items back it just weighs on you, it sucks," the woman who asked to remain anonymous said. The thieves allegedly used her stolen credit cards and her home address to order 2 iPhone 13's valued at $1300 each. Home security camera shows a person dressed in a FedEx uniform knock on the woman's door just after the packages were dropped off. The family knew something was wrong, and her son followed the suspected imposter FedEx driver to a van with stolen license plates. "My son questioned him are you really a Fed Ex employee or are you here just to steal these iPhones off my mom," she said.

A new University of Alberta study suggests young kids with pandemic-related reading challenges can catch up quickly with a deliberate and sustained set of lessons. Dan Grummett reports.

Global’s Keith Baldrey on whether the recent increase in new cases in B.C. is a sign of another wave of COVID-19

LEBANON, Pa. - A Pennsylvania police officer was killed and two others injured Thursday during a shooting that occurred while responding to a domestic disturbance call, Lebanon Mayor Sherry Capello said.Police officers went to a home in the city at about 3:30 p.m. for the disturbance call.

EGG HARBOR, Twp. - Authorities in New Jersey say a young boy was tased in the head during "hose play" with a close family friend. Officers from the Egg Harbor Township Police Department were called to a home in West Atlantic City Monday afternoon for reports medical emergency.Police found an unconscious and unresponsive 12-year-old boy who they say had been shot in the head with taser.

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - Investigators in Connecticut believe they've pinpointed a batch of school cafeteria milk tainted with sanitizer that sickened several children in New Jersey this week.The Connecticut Department of Agriculture said its investigating Guida’s Dairy in New Britain regarding its 1% low-fat half-pint milk cartons with a sell by date of APR 11. State investors believe the issue is limited to milk within a specific time range of 4:30 and 7:30 and code stamped on the cartons. They said the batch had "limited distribution in New Jersey." Out of an abundance of caution, Guida’s Dairy has asked all its institutional customers with 1% lowfat half pint milk cartons with a sell-by date of APR 11 to dispose the product. The New Jersey Department of Health’s Public Health on Wednesday encouraged public schools to remove Guida's 1% Lowfat Milk from circulation in their cafeterias.

Today we are reporting 13,475 community cases, 764 hospitalisations and 17 deaths.

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Board of Education will announce Friday which of its three finalists will be the next superintendent of Philadelphia's public schools. Following a six-month search, the School District of Philadelphia narrowed its candidates to John L. Davis Jr., Krish Mohip, and Tony B. Watlington Sr.

CAMDEN - If you’ve driven anywhere in 2022 you may have noticed that the price you’re paying at the pump, is a far cry from what it was just a year ago.In New Jersey, where prices are sometimes less than Pennsylvania, some are reporting gas stations price gouging customers.The division of Consumer Affairs reports that they received more complaints in one month then they've received in the past two years."High prices alone may not constitute a violation, but we encourage consumers who suspect excessive price increases at the pump or any other form of consumer abuse, to file an online complaint," Division of Consumer Affairs Public Information Officer Gema de las Heras said. As of Thursday, the price for a gallon of regular fuel in New Jersey sat around $4.19 which is a tick below the national average of $4.22, per AAA.According to AAA, the average price of a gallon of regular fuel in Pennsylvania was $4.42 on Monday. Driver in New Jersey paid $4.33 per gallon, and Delaware's gas prices sat at $4.21 on average.  "We try to carpool, we try to just keep things local a little bit and just do our best to save from making extra trips," one New Jersey small business worker said. President Biden announced actions today to help Americans at the pump by ordering gas companies to use idle wells or face a fine from the government. "Right now, oil and gas industries are sitting on nearly 9000 unused but approved permits for production on federal lands are more than a million unused acres they have a right to pump on, families can't afford that company sit on their hands," President Biden said.A more immediate step he announced is the releasing of one million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve.

Police said an officer was hit by a suspected drunk driver who was later arrested after he sped away. PHILADELPHIA - Authorities say a driver whose license was suspended last year for drunk driving was intoxicated when he plowed into a Philadelphia police officer Wednesday night. Terrell Lee, 41, was charged Thursday with a number of crimes including aggravated assault and aggravated assault while DUI. Chief Inspector Scott Small told reporters that two officers were walking back to their car during a traffic stop on the 6700 block of Torresdale Avenue when the officer nearest the road was struck by a black Chevy that crossed over the double yellow lines. Small said the 44-year-old officer was launched 10 feet and landed on the northbound side of the road.

RELATED: Study: Wildfires from Washington, other states produced up to half of pollution in western U.S."As cardiologists, we are used to thinking about many traditional risk factors such as smoking, hypertension or diabetes," Moreyra said in a news release. "This study and others suggest maybe we should start thinking about air pollution and noise pollution as additional risk factors for cardiovascular disease."The study is one of the first to look at the link between noise and heart disease in America, but researchers said it aligns with other studies done in Europe. Moreyra said other dense urban areas would likely see a similar pattern.The study didn’t examine the biology behind the link, but noise can cause chronic stress, sleep loss, anxiety and depression, all of which can impact heart health, Moreyra said.

Saskatchewan officials say 1,196 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed by laboratory tests last week.The province also reported 20 new deaths, about 39% lower than in the previous week of 33 deaths. COVID-19: 895 cases in Saskatchewan reported, deaths increase Of the newly reported deaths, seven were in the Saskatoon zone.

A study of COVID-19 patients at clinics in 12 Brazilian cities found that treatment with ivermectin—an antiparasitic drug—didn't prevent hospital admission compared with those in the placebo group.