Check out The News for a recap of The Canadian Press stories to help fuel your day. Here’s what’s on our editors’ radar the morning of February 16th … What we’re seeing in Canada …
Check out The News for a recap of The Canadian Press stories to help fuel your day. Here’s what’s on our editors’ radar for the morning of February 16 …
What we see in Canada …
There are new guidelines from Canada’s National Vaccination Advisory Committee that adults from racially motivated communities disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic should have priority over gunshots in the second phase of the vaccination campaign.
Basic workers unable to do their jobs from home moved to the second phase instead of focusing on health workers with lower risk jobs.
The second phase is expected to begin this spring after the provinces vaccinate all care home workers and residents, adults 70 and older, frontline health workers and adults in indigenous communities.
The list of groups who should receive COVID-19 vaccines in the second phase includes people between the ages of 60 and 69, racial adults from groups disproportionately affected by COVID-19, key workers, first-aiders, carers and residents, and staff of gatherings in shared apartments including homeless shelters, prisons and migrant workers’ quarters.
The committee added a third tier to its vaccination recommendations that included those aged 16 to 59 with underlying conditions, those aged 50 to 59 without underlying conditions, and health professionals and key workers who were not shot in earlier rounds.
The new recommendations prioritize racialized adults from groups disproportionately affected by the pandemic over some older non-racialized people.
Health authorities in the provinces and territories decide who will be vaccinated first.
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That too …
After a lawsuit against him was dropped, Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri says he will continue to fight for equality outside the courts.
Ujiri thanked Raptors players, staff, owners and fans in a statement Monday for standing with him throughout the lawsuit that resulted from an argument with a California law enforcement officer at the 2019 NBA Finals in Oakland, California.
The lawsuit, filed by Alameda County’s deputy sheriff’s Alan Strickland and his wife Kelly, was dropped on Wednesday, as was a counterclaim filed by Ujiri.
“I have decided that my fight is not a legal one,” Ujiri said in the statement.
“Now the challenge is this: what can we do to prevent another man or woman from finding themselves in front of a judge or behind bars for having committed no crime other than being black? That’s the work, too to which each of us has to commit, every day. “
A video by Ujiri of the incident, recorded in August when videos of the incident were circulating, was posted on the Raptors’ Twitter feed on Monday.
“When I look at this, I ask: Who are we as humans?” Says Ujiri in the video. “Who are we as humans?
“It depends on human decency.”
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What we see in the USA …
Congress will set up an independent September 11th-style commission to deal with the deadly uprising in the US Capitol.
House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi said in a letter Monday that the commission will “investigate and report on the facts and causes related to the domestic terrorist attack on the United States Capitol Complex on January 6, 2021 – and in relation to the disruption of the peaceful transmission of power. ”
Following the acquittal of former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial against the Senate, bilateral support for an independent commission to investigate the deadly uprising appeared to be growing.
The investigation into the riots was already planned. The Senate hearings in the Senate Committee are scheduled for later this month. Pelosi, D-Calif., Retired Lt. Gen. Russell Honore urged an immediate review of the Capitol security process.
In her letter on Monday, Pelosi said, “From his findings and the impeachment process, it is clear that we need to know the truth about how this happened.”
Legislators from both parties, speaking on Sunday’s news broadcast, signaled that more inquiries were likely. Saturday’s Senate ruling by a 57-43 majority, which was 10 votes below the two-thirds required to convict Trump, sparked debate over the former Republican’s guilty party for the Jan. 6 attack hardly to a standstill.
“There should be a full investigation into what happened,” said Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, one of seven Republicans who voted in favor of Trump. “What was known, who knew and when they knew, all of that, because that forms the basis so that this will never happen again.”
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What we see in the rest of the world …
Passengers arriving at London’s Heathrow Airport were escorted to buses by security guards to take them to nearby hotels on Monday as the newly established British quarantine hotels welcomed their first guests.
Some of the travelers said they tried and failed to get to the UK before Monday to avoid the quarantine that was put in place when the government tried to keep new coronavirus variants from derailing their vaccination campaign.
Zari Tadayon, who had flown from Dubai to Heathrow and was taken to the Radisson Blu Edwardian Hotel near the airport, said she was hoping to be allowed to quarantine at her London home. She said she felt “awful” about the 10 day forced hotel stay.
“How I’ll deal with it I don’t know. It’s going to be difficult,” she said.
The UK has given a first dose of coronavirus vaccine to almost a quarter of its population. However, health officials are concerned that vaccines may not work as well on some new strains of the virus, including one first identified in South Africa.
Under the new rules, UK and Irish residents coming to England from 33 high risk countries must stay in designated hotels for 10 days at their own expense and have meals delivered to their doorstep. In Scotland, the rule applies to arrivals from any country.
International travel has already been slowed down by the pandemic, and Britons are currently prohibited from vacationing overseas.
However, critics say the British quarantine hotels are being set up too late and the South African variant is already in circulation in the UK
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On that day in 1984 …
The Quebec speed skater Gaetan Boucher completed the largest Canadian solo exhibition at the Olympic Games. Boucher added the gold medal over 1,500 meters in Sarajevo to his gold over 1,000 meters and his bronze over 500. Boucher also won the 1,000 silver medal at the 1980 Lake Placid, NY Games
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In conversation …
Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex will be speaking to Oprah Winfrey in a prime time television interview on CBS next month.
It’s the couple’s first major television interview since Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down from royal duties and bought a home in the United States last year
The 90-minute “Oprah With Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special” will air on March 7th, CBS announced on Monday. Winfrey knows the couple well. She attended their wedding in 2018 and lives near her in Montecito, California.
“Winfrey will speak to Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, in a comprehensive interview that will cover everything from entering life as a queen, marriage, motherhood, philanthropic work, to dealing with life under heavy public pressure,” said CBS . “The two are later joined by Prince Harry as they discuss their move to the United States and their future hopes and dreams for their growing family.”
On Sunday, a spokesman for Meghan and Harry confirmed they were expecting a second child. Their first son, Archie, was born in 2019.
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ICYMI …
A vegan version of the legendary KitKat chocolate bar is being developed by Nestle.
The Switzerland-based company didn’t reveal the exact formula for the new treat, which is said to be known as KitKat V, in its announcement on Monday. However, it said it “would soon have a delicious plant-based option that strikes the perfect balance between the two.” crispy waffle and smooth chocolate that people know and love. “
The company has already introduced plant-based alternatives to dairy products made from rice, oats, soy, coconut, peas and almonds, which can be found in non-dairy ice cream, coffee creams and other products.
KitKat V, which will be launched in “several countries around the world” later this year, is vegan certified and uses 100 percent sustainable cocoa.
Because the product is being tested, it is only available in the company’s KitKat Chocolatory stores or online and through select retailers.
It will be available in the UK, where the KitKat was originally developed in York – and where research was carried out on the vegan version – but not in the US, where the KitKat is made under a license agreement with Hershey’s.
Nestle announced that no information is currently being released about other countries participating in the initial rollout.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 16, 2021
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