Rappler case highlights decline of press freedoms globally

COLOMBO (News 1st): The issuance of medicines, laboratory and radiology services at Government Hospitals will not be carried out on Monday (Feb. 14) as well, due to the ongoing strike action of the Health Trade Unions.The health workers are continuing their island-wide trade union action for the 8th consecutive day; the strike was launched citing several issues including salary anomalies.As a result of the strike action, various health services including the vaccinations and services offered by the Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) are no longer available.The trade union action is being carried out against the backdrop of the Colombo District Court issuing an interim order to suspend the strike immediately.According to News 1st correspondents, patients have been severely inconvenienced due to the strike action.

Hindustan Times.

HOUSTON - A Houston couple walked down the aisle Sunday to celebrate both a 20th wedding anniversary and their two-year paired kidney donation.SIGN UP FOR FOX 26 HOUSTON EMAIL ALERTS10 couples made plans to exchange vows during the Heritage Society's 2022 Valentine’s Express Wedding Extravaganza. Ceremonies take place each year in the historic St. John Church in Sam Houston Park. Although many couples share in the picturesque event, Kim and Sean Ballesteros take the cake as the perfect match for more than one reason.Valentine's Day is around the corner and the million-dollar question is: what do women really want? Psychotherapist Mary Jo Rapini shares how and what partners should prepare for the love holiday.They met more than twenty years ago, working at a local Central Market store where she was managing gift baskets, and he was managing the wine department."He was in love with me by date two, that's what he said," says Kim. A year later they married, and the next year, they had their son. MORE HEALTH NEWSOn Sunday, they renewed their vows where Kim used to volunteer with the Heritage Society, two decades down the line."When you’re focusing on this person you love more than anything, of course, you’re going to tear up a little bit," says Sean of the emotional vows he shared at the altar. In 2019, he was diagnosed with stage four renal disease and needed a kidney donor.

Saskatchewan government’s public health order requiring proof of vaccination or proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test to enter most public buildings expires at 12:01 a.m. Monday morning.The measures were put in place last October to stop the disease from spreading.The requirement included venues such as theatres, bingo halls, concerts, gyms, liquor stores and cannabis retailers.

The Big Boost Week continues to see tens of thousands of people going out to get their booster dose each day. Yesterday, 20,739 boosters doses were administered despite the weather.

After another weekend of protests across the country, Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair tells ‘The West Block’ host Mercedes Stephenson that the blockades are hurting Canadians and need to stop.

FILE - Image of study participant during testing. Participants were asked to do three different types of arm workouts which included isometric, concentric or eccentric bicep curls.Isometric means the arm sits stationary, with basically no movement.

Meteorologist Yvonne Schalle has the Saturday, February 12, 2022 forecast for Metro Vancouver and British Columbia.

COVID-19 measures continued into a second day, Surrey RCMP said.Highway 15 remained closed between 1st and 8th Avenue, according to DriveBC, and highway traffic cameras showed access to the route blocked by police vehicles.Surrey RCMP said Sunday the border crossing was closed an all vehicle access to the border area south of 8th Avenue was suspended.“Safety is our priority in this situation, this is a very high emotion protest where we want to do as much as we can to try and keep people calm, even as we move forward with arrests,” Surrey RCMP Sgt. Elenore Sturko said.Police formed a line around 12:30 p.m.

Avocados for sale at the Trader Joe's Upper East Side Bridgemarket grocery store in New York, U.S. Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty Images MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico has acknowledged that the U.S.

Singer Mickey Guyton performs the national anthem before Super Bowl LVI between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on February 13, 2022 in Inglewood, California. (Steph Chambers)LOS ANGELES - Country singer Mickey Guyton kicked off Super Bowl LVI between the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals with a powerful rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner."Guyton, a Grammy-nominated country artist from Texas, performed the anthem in a solid blue gown, representing the colors of the Rams.

WILMINGTON, Del. - Police in Delaware’s biggest city are investigating the vandalism of multiple locations with spray-painted swastikas. The News Journal in Wilmington reports that The Columbus Inn in Wilmington’s Wawaset neighborhood,  a billboard on nearby Union Street and Brandywine Counseling and Community Services are among the spots vandalized.

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Coronavirus infection rates across the region have fallen by almost 40 per cent, figures have revealed.

the blockades that have snarled cross-border traffic and paralyzed the City of Ottawa.“Certainly,” responded Minister Bill Blair when asked Sunday if his government was prepared to invoke the Emergencies Act, rarely-used legislation that grants federal authorities exceptional powers to address national threats.“I want to assure you that we recognize the threat to Canada, to Canadians, to our livelihoods and to our prosperity that these protests represent. This isn’t about vaccines anymore.

Police removed protesters that have been blocking the Ambassador bridge in Windsor, Ont., on Sunday. They also made an arrest when drivers refused to remove their vehicles. Sean O’Shea has the details.

Kamila Valieva of Team ROC skates during a figure skating training session at Winter Olympic Games. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) Russian skater Kamila Valieva will testify by video Sunday at a court hearing about her doping case.Valieva’s right to compete in the women’s event at the Beijing Olympics will be decided at a hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.Both the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Testing Agency — on behalf of the IOC — said Friday they would fight the decision by Russia’s anti-doping agency to allow the 15-year-old Valieva to skate. The Russian agency provisionally banned Valieva Tuesday because she failed a doping test in December.

COVID-19 on Sunday, a drop that comes a day before the province prepares to allow gyms and spas to reopen for business.The Health Department says 2,081 people are in hospital with the disease after 121 patients were admitted in the past 24 hours and 183 were discharged.#COVID19 – En date du 12 février, voici la situation au Québec: https://t.co/pwoUoaBgaF pic.twitter.com/zwEv6UuVP9— Santé Québec (@sante_qc) February 13, 2022It says the number of overall virus-related hospitalizations is down by 62.Officials say 140 patients are listed in intensive care, a drop of 13.The province is also reporting 1,870 new cases confirmed by molecular testing, which is limited to certain higher-risk groups.They say 25,040 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered on Saturday, and 49 per cent of provincial residents have received their third dose.

LOS ANGELES - From pizza to chips and wings to beer, Super Bowl Sunday is known for its food!After Thanksgiving, Americans will consume the most amount of food on Super Bowl Sunday.According to TigerFitness, the average household buys about 6,000 calories worth of snacks per person.RELATED: Super Bowl LVI: Where to eat near SoFi StadiumBelow is a list of Super Bowl food facts from TigerFitness.Get your top stories delivered daily! Sign up for FOX 11’s Fast 5 newsletter. And, get breaking news alerts in the FOX 11 News app. Download for iOS or Android.Tune in to FOX 11 Los Angeles for the latest Southern California news.Advertisement

PHILADELPHIA - A man is in critical condition after a shooting in West Philadelphia.The shooting happened at approximately 1 a.m.

possible Russian invasion within days, saying he had yet to see convincing evidence, even as the U.S. warned Sunday of more Russian troops pressing closer to Ukraine's borders and some airlines canceled or diverted flights there.The White House said President Joe Biden would talk later in the day with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.The Ukrainian leader's repeated statements urging calm among his people — while Russian forces surround Ukraine on three sides in what Russia insists are military exercises — grew this weekend to Zelenskyy questioning strident warnings from U.S.

Liam Payne is sharing an anecdote indicating his 4-year-old son Bear has a bit of a mischievous streak.

Police clear a roadway at the Ambassador Bridge US-Canada border crossing blocked by truckers as they protest anti-vaccine mandates in Windsor, Ontario. (Photo by GEOFF ROBINS/AFP via Getty Images) Police moved in to clear and arrest the remaining protesters near the busiest U.S.-Canadian border crossing on Sunday, trying to end a demonstration against COVID-19 restrictions that has hurt the economy of both nations even as they held back from a crackdown on a larger protest in the capital, Ottawa.Local and national police formed a joint command center in Ottawa, where protests have paralyzed downtown, infuriated residents who are fed up with police inaction and turned up pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.The protests have reverberated across the country and beyond, with similar convoys in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

Around 300 vehicles taking part in a Canada-style protest convoy against Covid regulations have arrived in Lille, northern France.

The UK has recorded another 41,270 coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours - down from 46,025 on Saturday.

PHILADELPHIA - Two people are dead after a late night shooting in the Kingsessing section of the city.The shooting happened shortly after midnight on the 5700 block of Belmar Street. When police arrived on the scene, they found two men shot and killed.

Travelers wait at the check-in counter ahead of their Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) flight to Kyiv at Israel's Ben Gurion airport in Lod near Tel Aviv on February 13, 2022. (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images) Some airlines have canceled or diverted flights to Ukraine amid warnings from the West that an invasion by Russia is imminent despite intensive weekend talks between Moscow and Washington.In an hourlong call Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Joe Biden said an invasion of Ukraine would cause "widespread human suffering" and that the West was committed to diplomacy to end the crisis but "equally prepared for other scenarios," the White House said.

PHILADELPHIA - A man is fighting for his life after he was shot in the back in the head in West Philadelphia. The shooting happened just after 1 a.m. Sunday on the 200 block of North Wanamaker Street. Police say they found the 40-year-old man suffering from the gunshot wound to the head and he was rushed to a local hospital.

Vladyslav Heraskevych of Team Ukraine looks on after sliding during the Men's Skeleton Heat 4 at the Winter Olympic Games. (Adam Pretty/Getty Images) The Ukrainian Olympic team has followed the lead of skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych in calling for peace.Heraskevych held up a sign with a Ukrainian flag and the message "No War in Ukraine" after completing a run in the skeleton competition on Friday at the Beijing Games.

Gold medallist Erin Jackson of Team United States poses with a Bing Dwen Dwen mascot and the winning time during the Women's 500m at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games. (Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) Erin Jackson has become the first Black woman to win a speedskating medal at the Winter Olympics.And a gold one, at that.Jackson won the 500 meters Sunday with a time of 37.04 seconds, giving the American speedskating program its first speedskating medal of the Beijing Games and first individual medal since 2010.But this one meant much more than national pride.The 29-year-old Jackson, a former inline skater who switched to the ice shortly before the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, joined fellow American Shani Davis as the only Black athletes to win speedskating medals at the Olympics.The silver went to Miho Takagi of Japan, while Angelina Golikova of the Russian team took the bronze.Jackson's gold came after the native of balmy Ocala, Florida, slipped at the U.S.

Dr. Dre will be front and center on one of the world’s biggest stages when he performs at the 2022 Super Bowl on Feb. 13. The rapper will be joined by some of his closest friends in the industry — Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar — for a Halftime Show performance that is sure to be remembered. It’s almost impossible to believe that just 13 months ago, Dre suffered an apparent brain aneurysm that left him hospitalized for nearly two weeks. Luckily, Dre was able to recover from the terrifying medical scare. Learn more about it below:

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COVID-19, as the province continues to endure the pandemic.New data released by the province on Sunday suggests 402 people were receiving care in an intensive care unit (ICU), while 244 were on a ventilator. 1,704 people hospitalized in Ontario with COVID-19, 414 in intensive care The hospitalizations and ICU admissions on Sunday mark a drop from numbers reported the day earlier.On Saturday, the province said 1,704 people were hospitalized, with 414 in ICU.However, in a tweet, Ontario’s Health Minister Christine Elliott noted that not all hospitals submit data on weekends.A total of 2,265 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Ontario on Sunday.

James Blunt in their latest effort to repel protesters who are camped outside of parliament.The demonstrators, who are angry at COVID-19 vaccine mandates, have been blocking the streets of the country’s capital, Wellington, since Tuesday (February 8).Tactics used by the local authorities to try and get rid of the protesters have included turning on the water sprinklers on the lawn where they camped. But protesters retaliated by digging trenches and building makeshift drainpipes to re-route the water, according to BBC News.When the sprinkler tactic proved ineffective, police turned to blasting out Barry Manilow‘s greatest hits, which include ‘Mandy’ and ‘Could It Be Magic’, on a 15-minute loop from one of parliament’s loudspeakers, as well as the ’90s Spanish hit ‘Macarena’ and a number of vaccine messages.After catching wind of what was happening, Blunt offered his services to New Zealand authorities via Twitter.

All this week anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate protesters said that if police came they wouldn’t leave their blockade of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., but when push came to shove that’s exactly what they did. Sean O’Shea reports.

coronavirus pandemic declaration, the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) said it will “improve and increase service” on several of its routes beginning Sunday.In a press release issued Wednesday, TTC said 17 routes would be improved “as the agency starts restoring service across the network to pre-pandemic levels.” Ontario on track to remove ‘almost all restrictions’ on businesses ‘very soon,’ Doug Ford says “Throughout the pandemic, the TTC has prioritized service delivery where it is needed the most, protecting service on the busiest routes at the busiest times of day,” the release reads. “Last November, overall service had to be adjusted based on reduced staff availability.”The TTC said it is planning to restore 100 per cent of pre-pandemic service hours over the coming months as ridership increases.“Schedules and service will continue to be based on demand,” the release said.According to the TTC, on Feb.

Josh Hazlewood conceded just five runs in the Super Over as T20 World Cup champion Australia edged Sri Lanka on Sunday after the second game of their series finished in a tie.Australia Innings:Australia was sent in to bat in Sydney and posted 164 for 6, with Josh Inglis scoring 48 from 32 balls to lead the scoring.Dushmantha Chameera took 2 for 30, including wickets with consecutive balls in the 19th over to remove Steve Smith (14) and Marcus Stoinis (19), and Wanindu Hasaranga returned 2 for 33.Sri Lanka Innings:Sri Lanka was always behind in the run chase after losing wickets in the first, third and fifth overs to slip to 25 for 3, but opener Pathum Nissanka’s 73 from 53 deliveries kept the visiting team in contention.Sri Lanka needed 46 from the last 18 balls for victory and, when Hasaranga was run out for 34 on the last ball of the 19th over, still needed 19 off the last over from Stoinis to win the match and level the series.They scored 18 , with Maheesh Teekshana hitting the second ball he faced for six and Chameera hitting a four down the ground on the last ball to level the scores.Super Over :With the Super Over in play Hazlewood, who returned 3 for 22 in his four overs in regulation, bowled two dot balls and a bye, which resulted in Dinesh Chandimal being run out by a direct hit from Glenn Maxwell as Sri Lanka slipped to 1- 1. The Sri Lankans managed to get to 5 for 1 after six balls.Maxwell took a single off Hasaranga from the first ball of Australia’s Super Over and Stoinis did the rest, driving down the ground for consecutive boundaries to secure the victory with three balls to spare.

Ont.’s Ambassador Bridge.Dozens of trucks, cars, pickups and vans have blocked traffic in both directions at Canada’s busiest border crossing to the U.S. for several days.

The Scottish Government has confirmed 5,301 new cases of coronavirus have been identified overnight.

Kate Garraway has said she is discovering a 'new way to be in love' with her husband.

A Rutherglen man has praised a new NHS weight loss programme after shedding a staggering four stone in less than a year.

Active cases: 3,926Today's positivity rate: 1.50% pic.twitter.com/kqjBfJPSBgNever miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!

Those opposed to vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 measures gathered near the Pacific Highway truck crossing Saturday – where police say convoy vehicles broke through RCMP barricades. Paul Johnson reports.

KATE Garraway has revealed the heartbreaking conversations she has with her husband Derek since Covid made him struggle to communicate. The Good Morning Britain presenter admits her other half is still unable to speak, but they still have a "deep connection" and have found a "new way" to love each other. Asked whether they can have conversations, Kate tells You: "Not really.

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NEW DELHI :

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration has offered a muted and belated expression of “concern” over the convictions of two Philippine journalists on criminal libel charges. A one-sentence State Department statement titled “On Press Freedom in the Philippines” and released on Tuesday nearly 48 hours after a Manila court pronounced the convictions may raise new questions about the U.S.