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COVID-19 ‘steady’ in Canada as world marks third anniversary of pandemic

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

Saturday marks three years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health, says while Omicron subvariants continue to spread, there have been no new variant-driven waves of infection in recent months. Hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths have stabilized and the virus has reached a relatively steady state in this country. Tam says population immunity is high due to an overall high vaccine uptake combined with the immunity people got from infection.She also says it’s possible that Canada could be spared any new major waves in the coming months but cautions that this does not mean that COVID-19 is over.Tam says people who are older or immunocompromised continue to be disproportionately affected by the virus and she urges anyone who has not been vaccinated or had a booster dose to get those shots.The National Advisory Committee on Immunization is recommending an additional bivalent booster dose this spri...

Skier Shiffrin wins slalom for record World Cup win 87

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

ARE, Sweden (AP) — American skier Mikaela Shiffrin set the outright World Cup record for most career victories with 87 by winning a slalom Saturday.Shiffrin broke a tie with Ingemar Stenmark on the all-time overall winners list — between men and women. The Swede competed in the 1970s and 80s.Shiffrin had matched Stenmark’s mark of 86 wins with victory in a giant slalom Friday.Saturday’s result marked the American’s sixth slalom win of the season and the record-extending 53rd career win in the discipline.Shiffrin is set to compete in three more races this season at next week’s World Cup Finals. She has already locked up her fifth overall championship and the discipline titles in slalom and GS.___More AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/skiing and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsThe Associated Press

‘It’s hard to focus’: Schools say American kids are hungry

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — America’s schools say kids are hungry — just as pandemic-era benefit programs have lapsed. There is growing concern about the effects on kids’ ability to learn. Congress temporarily made school meals free to all American schoolkids, but since that ended last fall, the need has only seemed to grow. Soaring food prices are adding strains on families who are seeing reductions in multiple kinds of financial assistance. One federal program that ends this month had given nearly 30 million Americans extra food stamps during the pandemic. School cafeterias typically don’t turn away a hungry kid, but debts for unpaid school meals have been rising — showing the level of need, and raising questions about how schools will keep feeding everyone, without federal money to do it. The neediest kids are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, as before the pandemic, but qualifying for those benefits requires applications that haven’t been necessary for several years. “Pro...

Will it take market crash for Congress to raise debt limit?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — There’s one way to force President Joe Biden and Congress to solve the looming crisis over the debt limit: a financial market crash.That’s a view held by several economists and a former White House official, mindful that Congress rarely acts unless an emergency forces lawmakers to.“For that drama not ending in tragedy, key actors have to play their roles,” said Daleep Singh, who was Biden’s national security adviser for international economics and deputy director of the National Economic Council. “Market participants have a lead role of playing the victim. They have to produce pain. They have to produce a sea of red on their Bloomberg screens because politicians need to look at those screens.”Republicans and Democrats have been dancing around each other about the need to raise the government’s legal borrowing authority. Biden tried to edge closer on Thursday by releasing his budget plan that cuts deficits by $2.9 trillion over 10 years, an o...

Tractor-trolley in Pakistan falls into canal, killing 10

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — A tractor-pulled trolley transporting villagers to a shrine fell into an irrigation canal in eastern Pakistan, killing at least 10 people, a rescue official said Saturday.Ahmed Kamal, the head of the rescue service in the Dera Ghazi Khan district of Punjab province, said 27 of the 46 people onboard the trolley were rescued after the Friday accident by the time the operation was suspended due to darkness. Five bodies were retrieved and some of the rescued were injured, he said. Kamal said another five bodies were retrieved when searchers began again Saturday. He said the dead included three children and seven women. Nine people were still unaccounted for Saturday.Such incidents often take place in Pakistan where transportation infrastructure is often substandard, especially in rural villages, and people largely disregard safety standards. The Associated Press

Peel police officer, 2 others injured in Brampton crash; SIU investigating

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

The province’s Special Investigations Unit has been called in after three people, including a Peel police officer, were taken to hospital following a crash in Brampton. Just after 1 a.m. Peel police said one of its cruisers collided with another vehicle in the area of Main Street North and Vodden Street East in Brampton. The cause of the crash has not been released. Police said the officer sustained minor injuries in the crash and that two people in the other car were taken to a local hospital.In an update Saturday morning, police said one of those taken to hospital had been transferred to a trauma centre but that their injuries were considered non-life threatening. The SIU is a civilian law enforcement agency that investigates incidents involving an official where there has been death, serious injury, the discharge of a firearm at a person or an allegation of sexual assault.

Trump vs. DeSantis: Florida pastors mull conservative issues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

DORAL, Florida (AP) — Several of Florida’s conservative faith leaders have the ear of two early frontrunners for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination – former president Donald Trump, who lives in Palm Beach, and Gov. Ron DeSantis. The clergy’s top political priorities are thus likely to resonate in the national campaign for the religious vote, even as both men’s agendas are still being weighed from the pulpit. The faith leaders’ key issues include education, especially about gender and sexuality, and immigration, a particularly relevant matter in Florida, which is a destination for hundreds of thousands of newcomers and home to politically powerful Latino diasporas. Trump made reducing illegal immigration a strong focus of his previous campaigns, often with strident rhetoric, and has discussed building on his legacy in a second term. DeSantis, who isn’t yet a candidate but is widely expected to run, has taken a more careful approach with immigration de...

Federal agents in Kansas standoff after gunfire exchanged

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Federal law enforcement agents were involved in a standoff at a Kansas apartment complex Friday evening after a suspect and an agent exchanged gunfire while authorities attempted to serve a warrant, police said.John Lacy of the Overland Park Police Department said the U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI attempted to serve a felony warrant around 5 p.m. at the Villa Medici apartments, WDAF-TV reported.Officers barricaded the suspect into the complex and the man fired a gun at agents before running into an apartment, Lacy said.A U.S. Marshal returned fire but it was unclear if the suspect was hit, police said.The man remained inside the apartment as of 7 p.m. Friday, the station reported.Overland Park in Johnson County, Kansas, is about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Kansas City, Missouri.The Associated Press

How to get to, from South by Southwest for 2023 festival

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The 2023 South by Southwest Conference & Festivals kicks off Friday, with a week-and-a-half's worth of keynote speakers, pop-ups, film screenings, concerts and other festivities planned. But with that comes the big question: How do I get to and from the festival?Road closures, impactsSeveral downtown-area roads will be fully or partially closed for the duration of SXSW, per the city's 2023 spring festival season guide. Here's a breakdown of those road closures and impacts, for drivers navigating downtown during the multi-day stint.SXSW shuttle systemSXSW operates a free shuttle route that runs from the Austin Convention Center and most SXSW venues throughout the event series. The shuttle can be picked up outside the Austin Convention Center along Trinity Street.Here are the shuttle run times:Friday, March 10: 10 a.m.-2 a.m.Saturday, March 11: 9 a.m.-2 a.m.Sunday, March 12: 9 a.m.- 2 a.m. (Daylight Savings Time)Monday, March 13: 9 a.m.-2 a.m.Tuesday, March 14: 9 a...

Back on the temperature roller coaster

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:26:39 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- The final day of Central Standard Time is dawning with low clouds and fog reducing the visibility to under a mile at several locations east of I-35. Much warmer air will be felt today as high temperatures this afternoon peak in the upper 80s to some low 90s. The morning clouds will clear to abundant sunshine especially during the middle- to late-afternoon hours. Today's normal high is 72°. The record high for today is 92° first set in 1955 and tied in 1967.The next cold front will slip south during the overnight hours. It comes through with no rain. Winds will come out of the northwest to north after it's departure. Overnight lows will be in the middle/upper 50s to low 60s.Sunday is the first day of Daylight Saving Time. Sunrise Sunday morning will be at 7:44. The sun goes down at 7:37.Scattered clouds and the sun will blend during the day. Many highs will be in the lower to middle 70s. The temperature roller coasts continues on a downward slide with highs in the up...