Prolific Canadian journalist and war correspondent Matthew Fisher has died at age 66.
According to his brother, Tobias Fisher, the reporter had died Saturday shortly after falling ill to liver disease.
Fisher, who first started out as a sports journalist, later became known as one of Canada&#8217;s most well-travelled foreign correspondents &#8212; having visited more than 170 countries and covering over 20 wars and civil conflicts.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://globalnews.ca/news/6602961/coronavirus-asia-daily-life/" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="COMMENTARY: How the coronavirus has changed daily life in Asia" target="_blank">
				COMMENTARY: How the coronavirus has changed daily life in Asia			</a>
		
	
&#8220;Wherever he went, he was always interested in reporting the personal and human side of the story,&#8221; his brother Tobias told Global News in a statement Sunday.
&#8220;He was bold, funny, courageous and kind. We will miss him dearly.&#8221;
He once referred to himself as &#8220;a dinosaur&#8221; and the last of his breed after living abroad for over 43 years. From telegraph to telex to the first &#8220;early trash Radio-Shack computers,&#8221; Fisher had the experience of working across all mediums throughout his career.
Major conflicts the correspondent was on hand for included conflicts like Afghanistan, Iraq, Chenchnya, Rwanda and the Balkans.
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Fisher had on many occasions worked as a commentator for Global News, writing on subjects ranging from Canadian foreign policy and how the COVID-19 pandemic changed life in Asia.
&#8220;I do this sort of like a moth to the flame going back again and again, I don&#8217;t do it as much as I used to but it is not because I feel a great sense of responsibility. So many young journalists say you got the burden of carrying the truth to people and I say &#8216;no, I only have one rule in journalism and that rule is that I must have fun,'&#8221; Fisher had said while <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ueiP0Jy5R4&amp;t=161s" target="_blank" rel="noopener" target="_blank">guest speaking at an event in 2016</a>.
&#8212; With files from Global News&#8217; Nick Logan

Fisher was known as one of Canada’s most well-travelled foreign correspondents, having visited more than 170 countries and covering over 20 wars and civil conflicts. Continue reading →

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Canadian journalist and war correspondent Matthew Fisher dead at 66

Flying Eze

Days after Surrey’s fire chief warned that public safety could be in jeopardy if <a href="https://globalnews.ca/tag/bc-coronavirus/" target="_blank">COVID-19</a> cases continue to rise among his members, Vancouver&#8217;s fire chief is joining the call to reprioritize first responder vaccines in B.C.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7247019/two-vancouver-firefighters-test-positive-for-coronavirus-others-potentially-exposed/" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Two Vancouver firefighters test positive for coronavirus, others potentially exposed" target="_blank">
				Two Vancouver firefighters test positive for coronavirus, others potentially exposed			</a>
		
	
&#8220;Our staff are being compromised,&#8221; Vancouver Fire Rescue Service (VFRS) Chief Karen Fry told Global News.
The service&#8217;s more than 800 employees are already on the front lines of the overdose crisis and since March of last year, every call has come with the added risk of being exposed to COVID-19.
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“We don’t have Plexiglas in front of us,&#8221; Fry said.
&#8220;We&#8217;re hands-on on the streets and we&#8217;re in people’s homes.”
Fry said they are seeing presymptomatic or asymptomatic staff unknowingly bringing the virus into fire halls after being exposed in the community.
“It appears to be getting worse,&#8221; said Fry, who wants to see firefighters and police vaccinated now.
<a href="https://twitter.com/Karen_Fry/status/1380681780928245762" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/Karen_Fry/status/1380681780928245762</a>
“We can’t work from home, this environment is our home.”
At Fire Hall No. 2 on the Downtown Eastside, 11 staff are on duty 24/7 in very tight quarters.
When there are positive COVID-19 tests in the workplace, close contacts must self-isolate — a situation that is currently affecting the organization&#8217;s mechanics shop.
Despite the impacts on staffing, VFRS must maintain its essential service to the public.
“We are doing our best to try and be as proactive as we can to reduce the risk to our staff, but we can never reduce it all,&#8221; Fry told Global News.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/covid-19-cases-whistler-firefighters-call-vaccinations" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="COVID-19 cases among Whistler firefighters prompt call for vaccinations" target="_blank">
				COVID-19 cases among Whistler firefighters prompt call for vaccinations			</a>
		
	
The province&#8217;s plan to give first responders priority access to COVID-19 vaccinations stalled when federal officials halted the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in people under the age of 55 due to concerns over blood clots.
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&#8220;We want to obviously get them immunized,&#8221; B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix told Global News on Saturday.
&#8220;No one could control what happened with the AstraZeneca.”
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Thursday that B.C. is in the process of ramping up its program to immunize workers, with a focus on first responders.
“I know it’s difficult to be patient,&#8221; added Dix.
&#8220;They are high priority for us, first responders, we made that clear several weeks ago and they continue to be high priorities.&#8221;
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/surrey-firefighters-covid-19-vaccinations" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Surrey fire chief calls for first responder vaccinations as COVID-19 cases rise among staff" target="_blank">
				Surrey fire chief calls for first responder vaccinations as COVID-19 cases rise among staff			</a>
		
	
Chief Larry Thomas of the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/tag/surrey-fire-department/" target="_blank">Surrey Fire Service</a> said he hopes the province will resume its program to immunize essential workers.
Eight firefighters and police officers in Surrey have contracted COVID-19 recently while 18 others are in self-isolation, according to Thomas, who is concerned that rising cases could impact staffing levels.
Members of the Vancouver Police Department would also like to see the restart of the priority vaccine rollout. Ralph Kaisers, the president of the union representing more than 1,450 front-line police officers, jail guards and special constables, said only a few have received the shot mostly due to being in the right place at the right time.
Meanwhile, many other workers in the Downtown Eastside are already immunized, according to Fry.
&#8220;There&#8217;s a little bit of a feeling of when’s it our turn?” she said.
Fry said she has no criticism for the B.C. government&#8217;s vaccination plan, she is just asking the province to pivot in order to renew the prioritization for first responder vaccinations.

Chief Karen Fry said they are seeing presymptomatic or asymptomatic staff unknowingly bringing the virus into Vancouver fire halls after being exposed in the community. Continue reading →

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‘Our staff are being compromised’: Vancouver fire chief joins calls for first responder vaccinations

Pharmaceutical giant <a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/pfizer" target="_blank">Pfizer</a> is planning to submit the necessary documents to Health Canada &#8220;in the next couple of weeks&#8221; to seek approval for its <a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/covid-19" target="_blank">COVID-19</a> vaccine to be used in children between the ages of 12 and 15, a company spokesperson has confirmed.
In an email to Global News on Sunday, Pfizer spokesperson Christina Antoniou, said the company is “currently working on our submission supporting the use of the vaccine in 12-15 year olds.”
“We plan to file this submission to Health Canada in the next couple of weeks,” the email read.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/covid-vaccines-children" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="A look at when Canada could start administering COVID-19 vaccines to teens, children" target="_blank">
				A look at when Canada could start administering COVID-19 vaccines to teens, children			</a>
		
	
On Friday, Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech asked vaccine regulators in the U.S. to expand the emergency use authorization of its COVID-19 to include adolescents between the ages of 12 and 15.
Late last month, the drugmakers said their vaccine was found to be safe, effective and produced robust antibody responses in 12 to 15-year-olds in a clinical trial.
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The companies said more than 2,200 adolescents between 12 and 15 participated in the trial.

A total of 18 cases of the coronavirus were identified in the group that was given a placebo shot, but no infections were declared in the group that was given the COVID-19 vaccine.

In a statement, Pfizer chairman and chief executive Albert Bourla said he hoped vaccinations of the group could begin before the next school year.
<h2>What has Health Canada said?</h2>
Health Canada green-lit the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine back in December of 2020. However, it is only approved for use in those aged 16 and older.
According to the agency&#8217;s website, the vaccine&#8217;s &#8220;safety and effectiveness in people younger than 16 years of age have not yet been established.&#8221;
So far, no COVID-19 vaccines have been approved for use in children under 16 in Canada.
According to the Health Canada website, as of Wednesday, a total of 6,550,032 of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines have been delivered across the country.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/pfizer-us-emergency-use-vaccine-adolescents" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Pfizer requests U.S. emergency use for its COVID-19 vaccine in kids aged 12-15" target="_blank">
				Pfizer requests U.S. emergency use for its COVID-19 vaccine in kids aged 12-15			</a>
		
	
In an email to Global News on Sunday, a spokesperson for Health Canada confirmed the agency had “not yet received a submission&#8221; from Pfizer for approval of it&#8217;s COVID-19 vaccine use in kids.
Last month Health Canada’s chief medical adviser Dr. Supriya Sharma, said it is &#8220;likely&#8221; the vaccine from Pfizer, &#8220;if all the data is fine, may be the first&#8221; vaccine approved for use in children in Canada.
Sharma said Health Canada will review all of the data “to make sure that those vaccines are safe, effective and of course, of high quality and can be used in children.”
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As of Friday, a total of 181,770 cases of the novel coronavirus had been reported in those 19 years old and younger.
That means approximately 17.7 per cent of Canada’s total coronavirus infections have been detected in children and teenagers.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/health-canada-covid-19-vaccine-children" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Pfizer&#8217;s COVID-19 vaccine likely to be 1st approved for children in Canada: Sharma" target="_blank">
				Pfizer&#8217;s COVID-19 vaccine likely to be 1st approved for children in Canada: Sharma			</a>
		
	
In a previous interview with Global News, Dr. Zain Chagla, an infectious disease expert with McMaster University in Hamilton, said teens transmit COVID-19 &#8220;largely the same,&#8221; as adults.
&#8220;Yes, they don’t get particularly seriously ill, other than the rare case, but we see places like high schools being places where transmission occurs,&#8221; he said.
Chagla said vaccinating this age group is going to be &#8220;incredibly important&#8221; in the coming months.
&#8220;When we get to 12 to 16-year-olds towards the end of the summertime, getting a single dose of the vaccine into them is going to actually make things much safer for high school re-opening and let them go back to high school the way it was prior to the pandemic, which has been missing so much throughout all of this.&#8221;

In an email to Global News on Sunday, a spokesperson for Health Canada confirmed the agency had “not yet received a submission for this.” Continue reading →

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Pfizer to seek Health Canada approval for COVID-19 vaccine use in kids 12-15 within weeks

In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese <a href="https://globalnews.ca/tag/covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" target="_blank">coronavirus</a> vaccines, the country’s top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to get a boost.
Chinese vaccines “don’t have very high protection rates,” said the director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu, at a conference Saturday in the southwestern city of Chengdu.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/china-urges-public-get-vaccinated" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="China urges relaxed public to get COVID-19 vaccine" target="_blank">
				China urges relaxed public to get COVID-19 vaccine			</a>
		
	
Beijing has distributed hundreds of millions of doses abroad while trying to promote doubt about the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine made using the previously experimental messenger RNA, or mRNA, process.
“It’s now under formal consideration whether we should use different vaccines from different technical lines for the immunization process,” Gao said.
Officials at a news conference Sunday didn’t respond directly to questions about Gao’s comment or possible changes in official plans. But another CDC official said developers are working on mRNA-based vaccines.
Gao did not respond to a phone call requesting further comment.
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“The mRNA vaccines developed in our country have also entered the clinical trial stage,” said the official, Wang Huaqing. He gave no timeline for possible use.
Experts say mixing vaccines, or sequential immunization, might boost effectiveness. Researchers in Britain are studying a possible combination of Pfizer-BioNTech and the traditional AstraZeneca vaccine.
The coronavirus pandemic, which began in central China in late 2019, marks the first time the Chinese drug industry has played a role in responding to a global health emergency.
Vaccines made by Sinovac, a private company, and Sinopharm, a state-owned firm, have made up the majority of Chinese vaccines distributed to several dozen countries including Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, Hungary, Brazil and Turkey.
The effectiveness of a Sinovac vaccine at preventing symptomatic infections was found to be as low as 50.4% by researchers in Brazil, near the 50% threshold at which health experts say a vaccine is useful. By comparison, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been found to be 97% effective.
Health experts say Chinese vaccines are unlikely to be sold to the United States, Western Europe and Japan due to the complexity of the approval process.
A Sinovac spokesman, Liu Peicheng, acknowledged varying levels of effectiveness have been found but said that can be due to the age of people in a study, the strain of virus and other factors.
Beijing has yet to approve any foreign vaccines for use in China.
Gao gave no details of possible changes in strategy but cited mRNA as a possibility.
“Everyone should consider the benefits mRNA vaccines can bring for humanity,” Gao said. “We must follow it carefully and not ignore it just because we already have several types of vaccines already.”
Gao previously questioned the safety of mRNA vaccines. He was quoted by the official Xinhua News Agency as saying in December he couldn’t rule out negative side effects because they were being used for the first time on healthy people.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/covid-vaccine-passport-china" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="China launches COVID-19 vaccine passport for cross-border travel" target="_blank">
				China launches COVID-19 vaccine passport for cross-border travel			</a>
		
	
Chinese state media and popular health and science blogs also have questioned the safety and effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
As of April 2, some 34 million people in China have received both of the two doses required for Chinese vaccines and about 65 million received one, according to Gao.
The Sinovac spokesman, Liu, said studies find protection “may be better” if time between vaccinations is longer than the current 14 days but gave no indication that might be made standard practice.

Health experts say Chinese vaccines are unlikely to be sold to the United States, Western Europe and Japan due to the complexity of the approval process. Continue reading →

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Chinese COVID-19 vaccines don’t have ‘high protection rate’: official

More than a year into the <a href="https://globalnews.ca/tag/covid-19/" target="_blank">COVID-19</a> pandemic, the weight of losing loved ones without being able to grieve normally remains one shouldered by an ever-growing number of Canadians.
The death of <a href="https://globalnews.ca/tag/prince-philip/" target="_blank">Prince Philip</a>, the Duke of Edinburgh, on Friday brought renewed attention to the fact that for both his family and the public, mourning looks very different now than it did before the pandemic.
In an interview with The West Block&#8216;s Mercedes Stephenson, former Canadian prime minister <a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/jean-chretien" target="_blank">Jean Chrétien</a> &#8212; who lost his wife of 63 years, Aline, in September &#8212; reflected on the difficult task of losing a loved one during the pandemic as well as on his personal memories of Prince Philip.
&#8220;She is a very courageous and intelligent and dedicated person,&#8221; he said of Queen Elizabeth II.
&#8220;So she would face the storm and it&#8217;s going to be difficult. I went through that &#8212; to lose your partner. For me, it was 63 years of marriage and five years of friendship. And this is even longer for the queen and Prince Philip. But, you know, with the help of our family and so on, she would have faced the reality.&#8221;
&#8220;She would do it with grace and courage and discretion.&#8221;
READ MORE: <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/7332134/aline-chretien-death/" target="_blank">Aline Chretien remembered as trusted adviser to former prime minister</a>
Prince Philip died the morning of April 9th at Windsor Castle.
He will not be having a state funeral and Buckingham Palace officials have said plans are underway on arranging a &#8220;modified&#8221; plan for his funeral in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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British mourners were asked not to gather in crowds or outside royal residences, and to consider making a donation to a charity rather than come in person to lay flowers at the palace gate.
Online condolence books have been set up for those who wish to participate, rather than the usual practice of queueing to sign physical books laid out for public mourners.
READ MORE:<a class="c-readmore__link" title="Prince Philip, husband to Queen Elizabeth II, has died. Here’s what happens next" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/prince-philip-died-funeral-whats-next" data-track-region="content-read-more" target="_blank"> Prince Philip, husband to Queen Elizabeth II, has died. Here’s what happens next</a>
Chrétien said he plans to share his condolences to the Queen in writing as well.
&#8220;I will tell her that I had great respect for her husband, who was a great public servant,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;He served all his life. He started in the army when he was a kid and he stayed in public for all his life.
<blockquote>&#8220;It is not easy.&#8221;</blockquote>
Chrétien said he last saw Prince Philip at a meeting of the <a href="https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/canadian-honours/directory-honours/order-merit" target="_blank">Order of Merit</a>, an order made up of just 24 living members at a time.
Each member is selected by the Queen for &#8220;exceptionally meritorious service to the Crown.&#8221;
Chrétien is one of just four Canadians who have been named to the order.
&#8220;It was exactly the day that he said that it was over. He was not to do anything in the public service &#8211;that he had done enough,&#8221; Chrétien said.
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&#8220;We had quite a lunch &#8212; for him, he wanted to know my views on what was going on, particularly at that time about President Trump. So it was a very pleasant encounter because I could give him the impression of a Canadian about this unusual president.&#8221;
&#8220;Now I&#8217;m very curious about what the two of you talked about there,&#8221; Stephenson said.
&#8220;Well, it will be improper for me to discuss that but he had some very interesting questions,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You can think of any and if it was to be an unusual question, probably he asked me.&#8221;
Chrétien said Prince Philip was always curious about international affairs, especially as a European himself and a speaker of several different languages.
READ MORE: <a class="c-readmore__link" title="With no governor general, who from Canada might attend a royal funeral?" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/prince-philip-funeral-canada" data-track-region="content-read-more" target="_blank">With no governor general, who from Canada might attend a royal funeral?</a>
He was also known for speaking candidly and Chrétien recalled one such encounter during the first time he met Prince Philip in 1967.
&#8220;I said to him in French, &#8216;Your Royal Highness, you speak very good French for an Englishman,'&#8221; Chrétien described. &#8220;He said, &#8216;Young man, I&#8217;m not an Englishman, and I was speaking French before you were born.&#8217; So I had to shut up.&#8221;
It is not yet clear whether any Canadian dignitaries will be able to attend the funeral.
COVID-19 travel restrictions and the risks of a ferocious third wave of infection have ground most travel to a halt.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister&#8217;s Office told Global News last week that it is not yet clear whether a representative from the Canadian government will attend, and that the decision will be made once the Royal Family decides whether they want to invite foreign guests.
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The death of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, on Friday brought renewed attention to the fact that mourning looks very different now than it did before the pandemic. Continue reading →

Covid-19 Funerals

Funerals During Covid-19

Jean Chretien

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Prince Philip Death

Prince Philip Funeral

Prince Philip Funeral Date

‘It’s going to be difficult’: Chretien on Prince Philip death, the road ahead for the Queen

The death of Britain&#8217;s <a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/prince-philip" target="_blank">Prince Philip</a> has deprived the nation of its grandfather and left a huge void for his wife of 73 years, <a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/queen-elizabeth" target="_blank">Queen Elizabeth</a>, the couple&#8217;s second son said on Sunday.
Prince Andrew described Philip as a &#8220;remarkable man&#8221; after he left a private service in Windsor, where his father died on Friday at the age of 99.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a great loss,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I think the way I would put it is we&#8217;ve lost almost the grandfather of the nation.&#8221;
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/meghan-markle-prince-philip-funeral" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Meghan Markle to miss Prince Philip&#8217;s funeral, Harry planning to attend: reports" target="_blank">
				Meghan Markle to miss Prince Philip&#8217;s funeral, Harry planning to attend: reports			</a>
		
	
He said the family was rallying around his 94-year-old mother, adding she was stoical in the face of a loss that she had described as &#8220;having left a huge void in her life.&#8221;
Andrew has rarely been seen in public since he stepped down from official duties in 2019 over the controversy surrounding his association with the disgraced late U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Prayers were said for Philip at the private service in All Saints Chapel in Windsor Great Park west of London, echoing church services across the country.
At a service at Canterbury Cathedral, the Archbishop of Canterbury prayed for those who found that the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, as Philip was officially known, had left a &#8220;very great gap&#8221; in their lives.
As part of eight days of national mourning, people gathered outside Windsor Castle and other royal palaces to leave flowers, while religious and political leaders expressed support for the queen, the world&#8217;s oldest and longest-reigning monarch.
A note attached to a Royal Navy peak cap left amongst flowers at Windsor, a tribute to Philip&#8217;s service in the navy, read: &#8220;God bless you Sir, you were an example to us all.&#8221;
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<h2>Stirring music</h2>
At Canterbury Cathedral, Edward Elgar&#8217;s stirring Nimrod was played, the piece of music that accompanies many British funerals and memorial services and is played annually at the Cenotaph in London to mark the National Service of Remembrance.
A Greek prince, Philip married Elizabeth in 1947, five years before she ascended to the throne. He helped the monarchy modernize in the post-World War Two period and supported the queen through numerous crises over the years.
His funeral will be held next Saturday, with long-established plans redrawn and scaled down because of COVID-19 restrictions.
The prince will be given a ceremonial royal funeral rather than a state funeral. There will be no public processions, and it will be held entirely within the grounds of Windsor Castle and limited to 30 mourners.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not attend.
<h2>A &#8216;little space&#8217; for the Queen</h2>
John Major, who was British prime minister from 1990 to 1997, said he hoped the queen would be given the time she needs to grieve after she lost her husband of 73 years.
He said being the head of state was a &#8220;very lonely position in many ways,&#8221; and the queen would feel the loss of a man she had relied on for decades.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/prince-philip-funeral" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Funeral for Prince Philip to be held at Windsor Castle on April 17" target="_blank">
				Funeral for Prince Philip to be held at Windsor Castle on April 17			</a>
		
	
&#8220;I know she is the monarch, I know she has responsibilities, but she has earned the right to have a period of privacy in which to grieve with her family,&#8221; he told the BBC.
Union flags will fly at half-mast at royal residences and government buildings until the day after the funeral. The royal family is observing two weeks of mourning.
<h2>Harry and Meghan</h2>
Major, who was guardian to Princes William and Harry after their mother Diana died, said he also hoped the funeral would help reunite the family after it was rocked last month by an interview given by Harry and his wife Meghan to Oprah Winfrey.
During the interview, Meghan said her pleas for help while she felt suicidal were ignored and that an unnamed member of the family had asked how dark their unborn child&#8217;s skin might be.
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Harry will return from the United States, where the couple now live, to attend the funeral while Meghan, who is pregnant with their second child, will not, on her doctor&#8217;s advice.
&#8220;The friction that we are told has arisen is a friction better ended as speedily as possible,&#8221; Major said.

The funeral for Philip, who died at the age of 99 will be held at Windsor Castle on April 17th, Buckingham Palace confirmed on Saturday. Continue reading →

Buckingham Palace

Prince Andrew

Prince Philip Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth

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Windsor Castle

Britain has lost ‘the grandfather of the nation,’ Prince Andrew says

<a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/britain" target="_blank">British</a> authorities have implored people to stay away from royal palaces as they mourn the death of <a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/prince-philip" target="_blank">Prince Philip</a> in this time of <a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/covid-19" target="_blank">COVID-19</a>, but they keep coming. Not just to honour him, but to support <a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/queen-elizabeth" target="_blank">Queen Elizabeth II</a>, who lost her husband of 73 years.
The mix included children, seniors, Sikhs and the children of African immigrants. A cross-section of British society and admirers from abroad descended on Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle on Saturday. They laid bouquets at the gates, offered prayers or just paused for a moment of reflection as they remembered a man who dedicated much of his life to public service.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/prince-philip-funeral" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Funeral for Prince Philip to be held at Windsor Castle on April 17" target="_blank">
				Funeral for Prince Philip to be held at Windsor Castle on April 17			</a>
		
	
Mourners talked about Philip&#8217;s work with some 780 charities and organizations, particularly his Duke of Edinburgh Award, which seeks to build confidence and resilience in young people. But they also recalled his role as the consummate royal consort, supporting the queen at thousands of public engagements and state visits.
&#8220;We had a really hard year all of us and there&#8217;s people uniting in a very special moment,&#8221; said Carolina Przeniewska, originally from Poland, who came to Buckingham Place with her 5-year-old daughter Grace. &#8220;So I wanted her to see it and I wanted to pay respect.&#8221;
At Buckingham Palace, the queen&#8217;s London residence, well-wishers braved a chilly, gray day to line up and snake their way past the black iron gates, where tourists normally wait to watch the changing of the guard. People were allowed to approach the gates one at a time to lay their tributes as police tried to control the crowd amid Britain&#8217;s coronavirus restrictions.
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The crowd was smaller at Windsor Castle, west of the capital, where a steady stream of mourners quietly approached the gates to leave bright spring bouquets on a strip of lawn.
People want to show their respect for both Philip and the queen, who turns 95 this month and will celebrate 70 years on the throne next year, said Nick Bullen, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of True Royalty TV.
&#8220;If the queen wasn&#8217;t already loved enough, this is just going to move it to another level now,&#8221; Bullen said. &#8220;This is a woman who&#8217;s going to bury her husband and then in a matter of days later be celebrating her birthday and stepping into her platinum jubilee year. ? So I think people will just be rallying around the queen as much as they will the Duke of Edinburgh.&#8221;
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/meghan-markle-prince-philip-funeral" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Meghan Markle to miss Prince Philip&#8217;s funeral, Harry planning to attend: reports" target="_blank">
				Meghan Markle to miss Prince Philip&#8217;s funeral, Harry planning to attend: reports			</a>
		
	
Philip, the son of a Greek prince, and the future queen first met as teenagers. They were married in 1947 when she was 21 and he was a 26-year-old naval officer.
Elizabeth became queen when her father died in 1952. At her coronation, Philip swore to be his wife&#8217;s &#8220;liege man of life and limb&#8221; and settled into a life of supporting the monarch.
Philip retired from public life in 2017. At the time, he had conducted more than 22,000 public engagements on his own, given 5,496 speeches and made 637 solo trips abroad, in addition to countless more appearances by the queen&#8217;s side.
&#8220;He was a hero to me because he was the man I could look up to,&#8221; Nurtr Omar, a 20-year-old who was born in Somalia and now lives in Britain, said outside Buckingham Palace. &#8220;He showed me what I can achieve with my life, whether you are royal or not. You need to make hard work to achieve what you want to.&#8221;
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The floral tributes grew throughout the day, even after the Royal Family on Friday asked people not to visit royal residences to pay their respects due to public health concerns. Instead of flowers, the family asked people to consider making donations to charity.
But for Windsor resident Billy Dohil, the day was about history. He took his children to the castle so they could be part of it.
&#8220;As they grow up, we&#8217;ll remember this,&#8221; Dohil, 39, said. &#8220;We&#8217;ll remember the royal family and (it) will be part of their life. So we wanted to come here to pay our respects. My oldest son _ five years old _ wanted to bring some flowers and just put it down himself.&#8221;
___
Associated Press Writers James Brooks and Tom Rayner contributed.

At Buckingham Palace, the Queen’s London residence, well-wishers braved a chilly, gray day to line up and snake their way past the black iron gates. Continue reading →

Prince Philip Covid

Prince Philip Covid-19

U.K public honours Prince Philip, ignoring COVID-19 warning from authorities

<a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/iran" target="_blank">Iran</a>’s underground Natanz nuclear facility lost power Sunday just hours after starting up new advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium faster, the latest incident to strike the site amid negotiations over the tattered atomic accord with world powers.
As Iranian officials investigated the outage, many Israeli media outlets offered the similar assessment that a cyberattack darkened Natanz and damaged a facility that is home to sensitive centrifuges. While the reports offered no sourcing for the evaluation, Israeli media maintains a close relationship with the country’s military and intelligence agencies.
If Israel caused the blackout, it further heightens the tensions between the two nations already engaged in a shadow conflict across the wider Middle East.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/iran-new-advanced-centrifuge" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Iran says nuclear program now testing new advanced centrifuge" target="_blank">
				Iran says nuclear program now testing new advanced centrifuge			</a>
		
	
It also complicates efforts by the U.S., Israel’s main security partner, to re-enter the atomic accord aimed at limiting Tehran’s program so it couldn’t pursue a nuclear weapon if it chose. As news of the blackout emerged, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin landed in Israel on Sunday for talks with Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
Power at Natanz had been cut across the facility comprised of above-ground workshops and underground enrichment halls, civilian nuclear program spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told Iranian state television.
“We still do not know the reason for this electricity outage and have to look into it further,” Kamalvandi said. “Fortunately, there was no casualty or damage and there is no particular contamination or problem.”
Asked by the state TV correspondent if it was a “technical defect or sabotage,” Kamalvandi declined to comment.
Malek Shariati Niasar, a Tehran-based lawmaker who serves as spokesman for the Iranian parliament’s energy committee, wrote on Twitter that the incident was “very suspicious,” raising concerns about possible “sabotage and infiltration.” He said lawmakers were pursuing details of the incident as well.
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors Iran’s program, said it was “aware of the media reports,” but declined to comment.
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Natanz was largely built underground to withstand enemy airstrikes. It became a flashpoint for Western fears about Iran’s nuclear program in 2002, when satellite photos showed Iran building its underground centrifuges facility at the site, some 200 kilometers (125 miles) south of the capital, Tehran.
Natanz suffered a mysterious explosion at its advanced centrifuge assembly plant in July that authorities later described as sabotage. Iran now is rebuilding that facility deep inside a nearby mountain.
Israel, Iran’s regional archenemy, has been suspected of carrying out that attack as well as launching other assaults, as world powers now negotiate with Tehran in Vienna over its nuclear deal.
Iran also blamed Israel for <a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/dubai-iran-united-arab-emirates-nuclear-weapons-israel-28d7c6e4abec1b82f2d2f3ad649bbe01" target="_blank">the killing of a scientist </a>who began the country’s military nuclear program decades earlier. The Stuxnet computer virus, discovered in 2010 and widely believed to be a joint U.S.-Israeli creation, once disrupted and destroyed Iranian centrifuges at Natanz.
Israel has not claimed any of the attacks, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly has described Iran as the major threat faced by his country in recent weeks.
Meeting with Austin on Sunday, Gantz said Israel viewed America as an ally against all threats, including Iran.
“The Tehran of today poses a strategic threat to international security, to the entire Middle East and to the state of Israel,” Gantz said. “And we will work closely with our American allies to ensure that any new agreement with Iran will secure the vital interests of the world, of the United States, prevent a dangerous arms race in our region, and protect the state of Israel.”
The Israeli army’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, also appeared to reference Iran.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/iranian-ship-attacked-red-sea-tehran" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Iranian ship attacked in the Red Sea, Tehran says" target="_blank">
				Iranian ship attacked in the Red Sea, Tehran says			</a>
		
	
The Israeli military’s “operations in the Middle East are not hidden from the eyes of the enemy,” Kochavi said. “They are watching us, seeing (our) abilities and weighing their steps with caution.”
Multiple Israeli media outlets reported Sunday that a cyberattack caused the blackout in Natanz. Public broadcaster Kan said Israel was likely behind the attack, citing Israel’s alleged responsibility for the Stuxnet attacks a decade ago. Channel 12 TV cited “experts” as estimating the attack shut down entire sections of the facility. None of the reports included sources or explanations on how the outlets came to that assessment.
In Tehran, Iranian officials meanwhile awaited the arrival of South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, the first visit by a premier from Seoul since before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. <a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/strait-of-hormuz-dubai-iran-seoul-united-arab-emirates-8adffab3773f7caf1d4af08b8180f6ef" target="_blank">Iran on Friday released a South Korean oil tanker held since January</a> amid a dispute with Seoul over billions of dollars of its assets frozen there.
On Saturday, Iran announced it had launched a chain of 164 IR-6 centrifuges at the plant. Officials also began testing the IR-9 centrifuge, which they say will enrich uranium 50 times faster than Iran’s first-generation centrifuges, the IR-1. The nuclear deal limited Iran to using only IR-1s for enrichment.
Since then-President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, Tehran has abandoned all the limits of its uranium stockpile. It now enriches up to 20% purity, a technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran maintains its atomic program is for peaceful purposes, but fears about Tehran having the ability to make a bomb saw world powers reach the deal with the Islamic Republic in 2015.
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The deal lifted economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for it limiting its program and allowing IAEA inspectors to keep a close watch on its work.



On Tuesday, an Iranian cargo ship said to serve as a floating base for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard forces off the coast of Yemen was struck by an explosion, likely from a limpet mine. Iran has blamed Israel for the blast. That attack escalated a long-running shadow war in Mideast waterways targeting shipping in the region.
___
Ben Zion reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

Power at Natanz had been cut across the facility comprised of above-ground workshops and underground enrichment halls, a civilian nuclear program spokesman said.  Continue reading →

Blackout Iran

Iran

Iran Blackout

Iran Nuclear Deal

Iran Nuclear Site

Iran Nuclear Weapons

Iran Power Outage Nuclear Site

Nuclear Deal Iran

‘Suspicious’ blackout hits Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear site

When <a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/ottawa" target="_blank">Ottawa</a> Public Health officials are trying to decide whether restrictions in the city need to tighten up, they look to the normal markers like positive tests, patients in hospital, and outbreaks. But they are also among the few in the country that take cues from the city&#8217;s sewers.
Using municipal wastewater to look for evidence of the virus behind <a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/covid-19" target="_blank">COVID-19</a> is part of a rapidly expanding body of science. The virus is shed in human waste, often before a patient even knows they are sick.
Wastewater testing initiatives were virtually nonexistent in Canada before COVID-19, but there are now more than two dozen universities researching the method. At least seven cities and the Northwest Territories, meanwhile, are already reporting publicly on the wastewater results.
		
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				COVID-19 vaccine shortages to hit world&#8217;s poorest countries as COVAX halts deliveries			</a>
		
	
Ottawa&#8217;s project, a combined effort from the University of Ottawa and the locally based pediatric health and research centre CHEO, was the first to report the data daily.
A rising &#8220;poop signal&#8221; &#8212; as some on Ottawa&#8217;s social media sites have taken to calling it &#8212; is most often a warning days ahead that cases are about to soar.
It happened most recently over Easter. Rob Delatolla, a civil engineering professor at the University of Ottawa and one of the brains behind the city&#8217;s COVID-19 wastewater project, said the data over the Easter long weekend was not good.
&#8216;They&#8217;re going really high, the data points,&#8220; he said. &#8221;So it&#8217;s not the best story, but it kind of reflects, I think, what&#8217;s really happening in the city.&#8220;
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Sure enough, Ottawa&#8217;s case numbers went from around 150 to 170 a day last week to more than 250 a day on several occasions in recent days.
Bernadette Conant, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Water Network, said the organization created a coalition to help co-ordinate and track all the work that began emerging last spring when the relationship between COVID-19 and wastewater first garnered serious attention.
&#8220;The very immediate goal is can it help public health in Canada,&#8221; she said.
&#8220;We can&#8217;t quantify it but we can say, &#8216;yes it has value.&#8221;
In Ottawa, the signal is quoted by real and armchair epidemiologists alike.
Delatolla said researchers are working closely with Ottawa Public Health, and every day he reports the number to Dr. Monir Taha, an associate chief public health officer in the city.
		
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				Pfizer&#8217;s COVID-19 shot less effective against South African variant: study			</a>
		
	
&#8220;He uses our wastewater data in his daily reports to the (epidemiology) group at Ottawa Public Health, and often times if we&#8217;re late, he&#8217;ll send us an email and say, &#8216;hey, guys is it coming, is everything OK,&#8221; said Delatolla.
Dr. Vera Etches, the city&#8217;s chief public health officer, quotes the signal&#8217;s data it in her tweets, letting Ottawa know it&#8217;s time to buckle back down. In early March, Etches said in media interviews that the wastewater was telling her the third wave was upon us.
But the system is not infallible. As Etches was issuing her warning, the poop signal was erroneously suggesting things were getting a lot better.
&#8220;We definitely saw the snow melt affect the signal for sure,&#8221; said Delatolla.
A combination of factors around the spring melt meant for about two weeks in mid-March the data went all wonky, diluted by extra water, affected by excess salt and sand, and delayed by the city&#8217;s new system which holds back some wastewater during the spring so as not to overwhelm the water treatment plant.
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Delatolla said things are back on track now.
&#8220;What&#8217;s so amazing is we&#8217;re just a small little lab doing this,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You think about the 4,000 tests they do a day in Ottawa to get that line. We took one sample, one small, little lab, and were able to get a very similar line. So it shows you the power of using the wastewater.&#8221;
It&#8217;s also now telling the story of the variants of concern. The team developed a new test to look for the B.1.1.7 mutation first identified in the United Kingdom.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/covid-canada-new-cases-us" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Canada&#8217;s COVID-19 case rate tops U.S. as country continues to lag in vaccinations" target="_blank">
				Canada&#8217;s COVID-19 case rate tops U.S. as country continues to lag in vaccinations			</a>
		
	
Ottawa has screened more than 1,600 cases of variants so far, but it takes days, if not weeks, to confirm which particular variant is in play.
The wastewater signal is showing that more than half the virus in the sewage is the b.1.1.7 variant.
Researchers have completed a test to look for at least one other variant so far, and they intend to share their efforts with other cities too. Vancouver, Calgary, and Ontario&#8217;s Peel region are among the seven other municipalities with wastewater COVID projects.
Conant said the idea for COVID-19 testing grew out of a project in the Netherlands, which pivoted to test for SARS-CoV-2 last winter after already testing waste for other viruses.
An online portal tracking the research run by the University of California Merced shows there are 248 universities studying the idea, along with 70 &#8220;dashboards&#8221; in 50 countries around the world publishing regular data on COVID-19 in wastewater.
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The portal, called &#8220;COVIDPoops19,&#8221; even has it&#8217;s own Twitter account (and an accompanying poop emoji that has come down with a case of the novel coronavirus).
Conant said the future for the research is still being developed, but it is expected it can play a valuable role sussing out trends and outbreaks in high-risk places like long-term care homes and prisons.

Wastewater testing initiatives were virtually nonexistent in Canada before COVID-19, but there are now more than two dozen universities researching the method. Continue reading →

Researchers looking for clues to the COVID-19 pandemic in city sewers

At least 82 people were killed in one day in a crackdown by <a href="http://globalnews.ca/tag/myanmar" target="_blank">Myanmar</a> security forces on pro-democracy protesters, according to reports Saturday from independent local media and an organization that keeps track of casualties since the February coup.
Friday’s death toll in Bago was the biggest one-day total for a single city since March 14, when just over 100 people were killed in Yangon, the country’s biggest city. Bago is about 100 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Yangon. The Associated Press is unable to independently verify the number of deaths.
The death toll of 82 was a preliminary one compiled by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which issues daily counts of casualties and arrests from the crackdown in the aftermath of the Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/myanmar-information-blackout" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Myanmar information blackout worsens with internet limited, satellites seized" target="_blank">
				Myanmar information blackout worsens with internet limited, satellites seized			</a>
		
	
Their tallies are widely accepted as highly credible because cases are not added until they have been confirmed, with the details published on their website.
In its Saturday report, the group said that it expected the number of dead in Bago to rise as more cases were verified.
The online news site Myanmar Now also reported that 82 people had been killed, citing an unnamed source involved with charity rescue work. Myanmar Now and other local media said the bodies had been collected by the military and dumped on the grounds of a Buddhist pagoda.
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At least 701 protesters and bystanders have been killed by security forces since the army’s takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The attack on Bago was the third in the past week involving the massive use of force to try to crush the persistent opposition to the ruling junta.
Attacks were launched Wednesday on hardcore opponents of military rule who had set up strongholds in the towns of Kalay and Taze in the country’s north. In both places, at least 11 people &#8212; possibly including some bystanders &#8212; were reported killed.
		
			Read more: <a class="c-readmore__link" href="https://www.flyingeze.com/p/myanmar-coup-celebrities-arrested" data-track-region="content-read-more" title="Myanmar celebrities arrested for backing anti-coup protests as death toll nears 600" target="_blank">
				Myanmar celebrities arrested for backing anti-coup protests as death toll nears 600			</a>
		
	
The security forces were accused of using heavy weapons in their attacks, including rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, though such allegations could not be independently confirmed by The Associated Press. Photos posted on social media from Bago appeared to show fragments of mortar shells.
Most protests in cities and town around the country are carried out by nonviolent demonstrators who consider themselves part of a civil disobedience movement.
But as the police and military escalated the use of lethal force, a hardcore faction of protesters armed themselves with homemade weapons such as firebombs in the name of self-defense. In Kalay, activists dubbed themselves a “civil army” and some equipped themselves with rudimentary hunting rifles that are traditional in the remote area.
A report by Myanmar Now said residents of Tamu, a town in the same region as Kalay, used hunting rifles Saturday to ambush a military convoy, and claimed to kill three soldiers.
The junta has taken other measures as well to discourage resistance. It recently published a wanted list of 140 people active in the arts and journalism charged with spreading information that undermines the stability of the country and the rule of law. The penalty for the offense is up to three years’ imprisonment. Arrests of those on the list have been highly publicized in state media.
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State television channel MRTV reported Friday night that a military court had sentenced to death 19 people &#8212; 17 in absentia &#8212; for allegedly killing an army officer in Yangon on March 27. The attack took place in an area of the city that is under martial law, and the court action appeared to be the first time the death sentence has been imposed under the junta’s rule.
The U.N. special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, arrived Friday in the Thai capital Bangkok on a regional mission to resolve the crisis in Myanmar. She intends to sound out several Southeast Asian governments for their ideas but has been denied permission to visit Myanmar.

At least 701 protesters and bystanders have been killed by security forces since the army’s takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. Continue reading →

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Canadian journalist and war correspondent Matthew Fisher dead at 66

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Pfizer to seek Health Canada approval for COVID-19 vaccine use in kids 12-15 within weeks

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U.K public honours Prince Philip, ignoring COVID-19 warning from authorities

‘Suspicious’ blackout hits Iran’s underground Natanz nuclear site

Researchers looking for clues to the COVID-19 pandemic in city sewers

Myanmar security forces kill 82 pro-democracy protesters in single day: reports

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