#northeastern ontario daily news

[lifeafterlifeparks]

Smoke and the City: When Canadian Wildfires Shrouded New York City in Smoke

Climate change fueled disasters have a way of transcending geographical boundaries, reminding us of the interconnectedness of our world. On June 7th, 2023, the devastating wildfires that ravaged Canada had an unexpected impact on the bustling metropolis of New York City, located thousands of miles away.

This year, Canada experienced an unprecedented wildfire season, fueled by a combination of dry conditions and high temperatures. These fires rapidly spread across vast forested areas, including provinces such as Quebec and Ontario. The scale and severity of these wildfires prompted widespread concern and emergency response efforts.

As June’s wildfires continued to burn, large plumes of smoke and ash were released into the atmosphere. These plumes were carried by prevailing winds and a unfortunately timed low pressure system across great distances, eventually reaching major metropolises of the northeastern region of North America, including New York City. The air quality in affected areas deteriorated significantly, posing risks to human health and the environment. Parts of the city measured AQI (Air Quality Index) ratings of upwards of 468, which is considered extremely hazardous.

The Life After Life team in NYC experienced the event firsthand, waking up to a skyline veiled in an unusual haze. The smoke particles suspended in the air created an eerie ambiance, obscuring the sun and casting a muted glow over the city. This phenomenon resulted in reduced visibility and a distinct change in the usual appearance of the urban landscape. Our co-founder, Shaily Patil, shares her experience with us about this day:

"At around 2 p.m. when the visibility and air quality were at their worst. Breathing became extremely difficult, and everyone had to wear masks once again. After stepping outside for just 10 minutes, my eyes were burning for about 2 hours upon returning indoors. I am still coughing a couple days out, and I am quite certain it is a result of that brief exposure. I had never witnessed anything like it before in my life."

She continued,

"This may be the first occurrence, but certainly won't be the last. I hope it serves as a wake-up call for people. We must all remember that regardless of who is causing harm to the planet and where it is happening, climate change is not an isolated event. Its repercussions are, and will be, experienced worldwide."

Fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5, is a major component of wildfire smoke and is associated with respiratory problems, cardiovascular issues, and increased susceptibility to respiratory infections. The elderly, children, and individuals with pre-existing respiratory conditions were particularly vulnerable.

The Canadian wildfires and the subsequent transportation of smoke particles to New York City highlighted the far-reaching environmental consequences of such events. The additional carbon emissions and pollutants released into the atmosphere exacerbate climate change, with potential long-term implications for weather patterns, ecosystems, and global warming.

The wildfires in Canada serve as a stark reminder of the interconnectivity of our world. Even though New York City was geographically distant from the disaster, it felt the reverberations through the atmospheric transport of smoke and ash. The impact on air quality and daily life highlighted the vulnerability of urban centers and the urgent need for collective action to address climate change and mitigate the risks posed by natural disasters. Together, we wade further into the climate change disaster slowly with a more tangible realization of exactly how the consequences of such events will extend beyond their immediate locations, necessitating global cooperation and proactive measures to protect our planet and its inhabitants.

[newsbites]

News from Vancouver Island, BC and beyond, 19 June.

Stephen Ewing, a Port Alberney man who was previously sentenced to 16 years in prison for sexual assault, pleaded guilty to new charges of sexual assault with bodily harm and strangulation.

2. The Cameron Bluffs Wildfire near Port Alberni, which has burned 229 hectares of forest, is now under control and suppression efforts have decreased fire behavior.

Highway 4, the only paved road connecting the Island’s west coast communities, is expected to remain closed until at least June 24, and a four-hour long detour route along logging roads remains the only way to reach the west coast.

Helijet is offering a daily round-trip helicopter flight between Nanaimo and Port Alberni starting Monday to circumvent the tricky detour, with a one-way fare costing $175 and booking must be done by calling the airline.

3. The Donnie Creek wildfire in northeastern British Columbia has become the largest individual fire ever recorded in the province's history.

The fire is still out of control and has resulted in evacuation orders for a sparsely populated region primarily used by the forestry and oil and gas industries.

The intensification of wildfire seasons in recent years has been linked to human-caused climate change.

4. BC Health-care unions say new whistleblower protections announced by Adrian Dix for British Columbia won't create conditions for staff to speak freely about the system.

Health-care workers must go through communications departments before speaking publicly or to the press, leading to concerns about narrative control and muzzling.

The new whistleblower protections are welcome, but concerns remain about the complexity of the reporting process and the need to extend protections to workers in private or long-term care facilities.

5. Six of the 10 seniors injured in a bus crash near Carberry, Manitoba, remain in critical condition.

The Canadian Red Cross is providing mobile medical units to displaced people in central Ukraine affected by the war with Russia.

The governments of Ontario and Canada have proposed a $10-billion settlement with the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund over unpaid annuities for using their lands.

[newstfionline]

Sunday, February 6, 2022

Ottawa police weigh crackdown on ‘dangerous’ trucker protest (WSJ) Police in Ottawa, Ontario, are weighing military help or a court order to bring an end to a weeklong protest against vaccine mandates that has forced businesses to close, frayed residents’ nerves and strangled swaths of the city’s core. The protests, led by truckers and their supporters, have clogged Ottawa traffic and disrupted residents’ daily lives. Police said this week their intelligence indicates that more truckers and citizens, perhaps in the tens of thousands, are headed toward Ottawa this weekend. City politicians say the protest, which began Jan. 28, has morphed into an occupation.

Northeast grapples with icy roads as storm blows out to sea (AP) Northeast residents were urged to stay off the roads with temperatures beginning to drop Friday evening as a major winter storm turned already slippery roads and sidewalks into ice-covered hazards. The storm spread misery from the Deep South, where tree limbs snapped and a tornado claimed a life, to the nation’s northeastern tip where snow and ice made travel treacherous Friday. Massachusetts State Police responded to more than 200 crashes with property damage or injuries, including one fatal crash, starting Thursday evening, officials said. New Hampshire State Police reported at least 70 crashes Friday morning. More than a foot (30 centimeters) of snow fell in parts of Pennsylvania, New York and New England. Utility crews were making progress in an area stretching from Texas to Ohio after about 350,000 homes and businesses were in the dark at one point.

Mexican cartels now use IEDs as well as bomb-dropping drones (AP) In the war raging between drug cartels in western Mexico, gangs have begun using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on roads to disable army vehicles. The self-defense movement in the town of Tepalcatepec, in western Michoacan state, said improvised land mines severely damaged an army armored car late last week. The warring gangs already frequently use homemade armored cars and drones modified to drop small bombs. But it would be the first time IEDs have been successfully used by cartels in Mexico. Security analyst Juan Ibarrola, who specializes in the military, said “the worrisome thing is the improvisation that they (criminal groups) are doing with engineering, to create weapons, boobytraps, explosives and so on.” Rather than trying to fight an outright war with the army—which they know they would lose—Ibarrola said that with the IEDs and other devices “more than anything else, what they are trying to do is threaten and take on rival groups.”

Venezuela upholds long jail sentences for US oil executives (AP) A court in Venezuela has upheld long prison sentences for six American oil executives detained in the South American country on corruption charges for more than four years. Venezuela’s supreme court announced the ruling late Friday, disappointing family members who had hoped the surprise decision last fall to hear the appeal, and a recent jailhouse visit by a top State Department official, signified President Nicolás Maduro’s government was looking to release the men as part of a gesture to engage the Biden administration in talks over U.S. sanctions. The men known as the Citgo 6—for the Houston oil company where they worked—were lured to Caracas around Thanksgiving in 2017 to attend a meeting at the headquarters of Citgo’s parent, state-run oil giant PDVSA. Once there, heavily armed masked security officers stormed the conference room where they were gathered and hauled them away. Later they were charged with corruption in connection to a never-executed plan to refinance billions in bonds.

Turmoil as Peru leader sets 2nd Cabinet overhaul this week (AP) Turmoil in Peru’s government boiled even more Friday as President Pedro Castillo announced plans for a fourth Cabinet shakeup in six months, moving just three days after the third overhaul of his ministers that was quickly followed by revelations that his newest prime minister once faced domestic violence allegations. The president’s struggles this week have only added to earlier doubts raised about the political neophyte’s ability to lead a nation. Castillo, a rural schoolteacher in a poor Andean district, was an underdog when he entered the race for the presidency last year and initially campaigned on promises to nationalize Peru’s crucial mining industry and rewrite the constitution to end the historical discrimination against Indigenous people and vulnerable populations. He softened his rhetoric when he advanced to a runoff and shocked everyone when he won.

Macron’s government seeks to reshape Islam in France (AP) The French government on Saturday introduced a new body to reshape Islam in France, part of President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to rid it of extremism. The Forum of Islam in France leadership will be made up of clergy and lay people to help guide the largest Muslim community in western Europe. All of its members will be hand-picked by the government and women will make up at least a quarter of them. With France bloodied by past Islamic extremist attacks and having hundreds of citizens who went to fight with jihadists in Syria in past years, few disagree that radicalization is a danger. But critics also see the efforts as a political ploy to lure right-wing voters to Macron’s centrist party ahead of France’s April 10 presidential election. And critics, including many Muslims who consider the religion a part of their French identity, say the government’s latest initiative is another step in institutionalized discrimination that holds the whole community responsible for violent attacks of a few and serves as another barrier in their public lives.

North Korea Hacked Him. So He Took Down Its Internet (Wired) For the past two weeks, observers of North Korea’s strange and tightly restricted corner of the internet began to notice that the country seemed to be dealing with some serious connectivity problems. On several different days, practically all of its websites dropped offline en masse. At least one of the central routers that allow access to the country’s networks appeared at one point to be paralyzed, crippling the Hermit Kingdom’s digital connections to the outside world. It wasn’t a state-sponsored hacking unit that took it down, but one American man in his living room. Just over a year ago, an independent hacker who goes by the handle P4x was himself hacked by North Korean spies. P4x was just one victim of a hacking campaign that targeted Western security researchers. He felt deeply unnerved by state-sponsored hackers targeting him personally—and by the lack of any visible response from the US government. So after a year of letting his resentment simmer, P4x has taken matters into his own hands. P4x says he’s found numerous known but unpatched vulnerabilities in North Korean systems that have allowed him to singlehandedly launch “denial-of-service” attacks on the servers and routers the country’s few internet-connected networks depend on. Records from the uptime-measuring service Pingdom show that at several points during P4x’s hacking, almost every North Korean website was down. One researcher described the result as “effectively a total internet outage affecting the country.”

Western Australian officials warn of catastrophic bushfire conditions (Reuters) Western Australian officials warned on Saturday of forecast “extreme to catastrophic fire conditions” as a large bushfire burned out of control in the west of the country, forcing families to flee their homes. More than 2,300 hectares (8.9 square miles) have burnt over the past couple of days just west of the tourist town of Denmark, some 420 kilometres (261 miles) south of Perth, on Western Australia’s south coast, fuelled by gusty winds and high temperatures. “Severe heatwave conditions and extreme to catastrophic fire dangers are forecast ... on Sunday,” the Bureau of Meteorology in Western Australia state said on Twitter.

US grants sanctions relief to Iran as nuke talks in balance (AP) The Biden administration on Friday restored some sanctions relief to Iran’s atomic program as talks aimed at salvaging the languishing 2015 nuclear deal enter a critical phase. As U.S. negotiators head back to Vienna for what could be a make-or-break session, Secretary of State Antony Blinken signed several sanctions waivers related to Iran’s civilian nuclear activities. The move reverses the Trump administration’s decision to rescind them. The waivers are ultimately intended to entice Iran back to the 2015 deal that it has been violating since former President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and reimposed U.S. sanctions. In the short term, the waivers will exempt foreign countries and companies that work in Iran’s civilian nuclear sector from American penalties.

Cyclone Batsirai blows across Indian Ocean toward Madagascar (AP) The full force of Cyclone Batsirai is forecast to hit Madagascar Saturday evening, according to weather officials. The cyclone is gaining strength as it blows across the Indian Ocean, with gale-force winds reaching peaks of 235 kilometers (145 miles) per hour, according to the island’s meteorology department. Batsirai is expected to inflict “significant and widespread damage, particularly flooding in the east, the southeast and the central highlands,” said the statement from the weather department. As a precaution, 22,000 people have already been evacuated to gymnasiums, schools or churches, especially around Mananjary, on the east coast.

[ontarionewsnorth]

'Pharmacare Can't Suffer Same Fate As Electoral Reform' Says @CarolHughesMP (Français inclus) @NDP @GovCanHealth #NorthernOntario Version française ci-dessous It's no secret that the cost of just getting by is going up for Canadians. 

[atlanticcanada]

As hazy skies clear in parts of Canada, a warning about what's still to come

The sky cleared across some parts of Canada early Wednesday and conditions were expected to improve further as the day progressed, amid warnings that the wildfire-induced haze will likely return before long.

"I think … the story, for the rest of the summer into August, is 'smoke, smoke, smoke from coast to coast,'" Environment Canada senior climatologist Dave Phillips told CTV's Your Morning.

There were no air quality alerts in place for southern Quebec or southern Ontario as of 9:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday – a starkly different picture than 24 hours earlier, when most inhabitants of both regions were warned of potentially dangerous smoke and haze.

In the East, all of New Brunswick remained under an air quality advisory, with Environment Canada reporting that smoke from the wildfires in northern Ontario should leave the area later Wednesday.

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The situation was very different in the West – though there, too, air quality was generally a little bit better than it was on Tuesday. Advisories remained in place for parts of northwestern Ontario, most of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the Fort Chipewyan area in northeastern Alberta, and Thebacha Region in the Northwest Territories. In B.C., the air quality advisory expanded to include more of the province's interior, including the Fraser Canyon.

"There's still a huge area that is affected by this," Phillips said.

Environment Canada's Air Quality Health Index listed Winnipeg as the only major city in which air quality posed a high risk to human health as of 9:30 a.m. EDT on Wednesday. That category had included Edmonton, Regina, Montreal and Quebec City 24 hours earlier, while Winnipeg was at that time listed under very high risk.

The poor air quality was caused by drifting smoke from forest fires in the West and Ontario. The arrival of southerly winds had done much to improve the air quality situation, Phillips said, by pushing that smoke northward, away from major cities.

Meanwhile, parts of the North were under extreme heat warnings as a warm airmass brought unusually hot weather to some regions. Environment Canada was warning of daily highs just below 30 C for both Wednesday and Thursday in such communities as Old Crow, Yukon and the Northwest Territories' Inuvik Region.

A typical late-July high in Old Crow is barely above 20 C; Wednesday's forecast high of 28 C is higher than any temperature ever recorded in the community on any July 21.

The abnormal heat has also left Yukoners preparing for unprecedented flooding, as snowpacks are melting more quickly than normal under the stress of the sun. Sandbagging operations are underway along the Yukon River in Whitehorse, and evacuation orders have been issued for a handful of low-lying properties elsewhere in the territory.

Projections from Yukon Energy show that by August, water levels in the Southern Lakes Region will be 20 to 80 centimetres above where they were in 2007, which is the record high-water mark.

EXPECT MORE HEAT, DROUGHTS AND SMOKE

In most parts of Canada where smoke and haze continued to fill the sky, Environment Canada forecasts that conditions should clear by Thursday.

Phillips warned, however, that as long as fires continue to burn – there were nearly 900 of them across the country, as of Tuesday night – a change in weather could bring the smoky conditions right back.

"There may be a reprieve in one day, or two days – but hey, it's coming back. You can't extinguish those fires overnight," he said.

More concerning, Phillips said, is how many fires are burning so early in the year. Wildfire activity in Canada tends to peak later in the summer – and with Environment Canada's forecast showing warmer-than-normal temperatures for the rest of July and into August, conditions could be ripe for more fires to be sparked.

"My sense is [that] this is a story that is going to carry on, and we could see it maybe into September," Phillips said.

Of course, heat alone does not cause wildfires or create the conditions for them to spread. There's also the matter of moisture. A forest that has regularly been rained on doesn't burn nearly as easily as one that hasn't had a drop to drink in weeks.

That's why the wildfire season in Western Canada has gotten off to such a busy start: lengthy spring drought left forests tinder-dry. When rain finally arrived, it also brought lightning – the spark that was needed to start the blazes.

The combination of heat and drought has had other consequences, too, including leaving Prairie farmers facing a difficult growing season.

"It's deteriorating here rather quickly … almost to the point of having no production," Brad Erb, a grain farmer in Oak Bluff, Man., told CTV's Your Morning on Wednesday.

Erb said that he has not seen a summer this dry in more than 30 years. Most of his canola crop has been ruined; he hopes there will be enough rain to salvage the corn and soybeans.

Some ranchers have even run out of feed for their cattle, unable to bale a sufficient amount of hay.

"The situation there is pretty dire in terms of getting feed and water to the animals," Erb said.

With files from The Canadian Press

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/3xUZp7r

[watchonlinewds]

Biden Sets New Vaccine Goal: 4,000 Die in Brazil: Virus Update

U.S. President Joe Biden said he wants all American adults to be eligible for a coronavirus vaccine by April 19, two weeks earlier than his previous goal. Brazil surpassed 4,000 Covid-19 deaths in one day for the first time. A study of 33 adults showed antibodies to the virus persist for at least six months after receiving the second dose of Moderna Inc.’s vaccine. The U.K. will add the shot to

Mexico’s health agency Cofepris approved the Covaxin shot from India’s Bharat Biotech for emergency use against the coronavirus, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Twitter. Mexico has now approved six Covid-19 vaccines, Ebrard said, naming AstraZeneca, CanSino, Covaxin, Pfizer, Sinovac and Sputnik V. The country has administered more than 9.6 million shots so far.

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South Korea added 668 new coronavirus cases, the largest daily increase in 13 weeks, raising its total to 106,898. The number of people given a first dose of vaccine topped 1 million, with only 33,000 having received the second shot in a nation of more than 50 million people. The government may tighten social distancing rules when it reviews the measures later this week.

The U.K. will begin rolling out the Moderna vaccine on Wednesday, around two weeks earlier than expected, bolstering Britain’s Covid-19 immunization program amid concerns over AstraZeneca Plc’s shot and a shortfall of doses this month. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the Moderna shot would first be offered in west Wales. It’s the third approved vaccine to be offered in Britain, alongside shots

U.S. cruises could resume by mid-summer with restrictions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday after Carnival Corp., the largest operator, threatened to relocate ships to other markets. The industry has been pressuring the agency, saying it’s restricting their return to the seas even as other hospitality industries like hotels and theme parks reopen. Earlier Tuesday, Carni

Ontario will implement further Covid-19 restrictions soon, with a focus on areas being hardest hit as a deadlier strain of coronavirus surges through Canada’s most populous province. The new measures will aim to curb the spread of the virus in Toronto and suburban regions of Peel and York, which represent about 60% of new infections, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday at a news conference. De

Brazil reported more than 4,000 Covid-19 daily deaths for the first time as the pandemic continues to rage across the nation. The Health Ministry registered 4,195 fatalities on Tuesday, bringing the total since the virus arrived to 336,947, the second-highest globally, trailing only the U.S. “If Brazil keeps the current pace, the country will probably reach 5,000 daily deaths in April,” said Chri

President Joe Biden said he wants all American adults eligible for a coronavirus vaccine by April 19, two weeks earlier than his previous goal. All but two states are already set to meet that goal, with Oregon and Hawaii having planned to open up vaccines to all non-minors on May 1. Biden said there will be no more confusing restrictions. But the president added it’s not time to celebrate yet and

Brown University and Northeastern University on Tuesday joined a group of U.S. colleges that will require students to get a Covid-19 vaccine in order to return to campus in the fall. Both schools will allow religious and medical exemptions. Other schools have made similar vaccination requirements. Rutgers announced in March that students planning to attend the fall semester must be fully innocula

Vaccinations of children in a study of the Covid-19 shot developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford have been paused while the U.K.’s drug regulator investigates rare cases of blood clots in adults. The vaccine researchers are awaiting the results of a review by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, the U.K.’s drug watchdog, “before further vaccinations,” the univers

California officials plan to fully reopen the economy on June 15 -- if the pandemic continues to abate -- after driving down coronavirus case loads in the most populous U.S. state. Capacity limits on restaurants, movie theaters and other businesses will be lifted, Secretary of Health and Human Services Mark Ghaly said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday. Governor Gavin Newsom has been sl

Antibodies to the Covid-19 virus persist for at least six months after patients receive the second dose of Moderna Inc.’s vaccine, according to a new analysis of lab results from 33 healthy adults in the drugmaker’s phase one trial. The finding, by researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Emory University, Moderna and elsewhere, was published as a brief correspond

The U.S. government won’t issue so-called vaccine passports, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, though the Biden administration plans guidance for companies developing the credentials. The administration doesn’t want vaccine passports “used against people unfairly” and will provide guidance “that will look like an FAQ” for private-sector development of the credentials, she said at a brief

Hungary, suffering the world’s highest number of deaths per capita from Covid-19, prepared to relax lockdown restrictions after giving a quarter of its citizens at least one dose of a vaccine. Shops and services can restart from Wednesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a video on Facebook, after reaching the government’s target of at least one dose for 2.5 million people, a level the premie

[techcrunchappcom]

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/coronavirus-whats-happening-around-the-world-on-friday/

Coronavirus: What's happening around the world on Friday

The latest:

WHO reports record daily increase of more than 228,000 coronavirus cases.

WHO officials arrive in Beijing to investigate origins of pandemic.

Canada’s hardest-hit nursing homes lost 40% of residents in just 3 months of the pandemic.

Florida reports its 2nd sharpest daily rise in cases as Disney theme parks prepare to open.

U.K. eases quarantine measures for travellers.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases on Friday, with the total rising by 228,102 in 24 hours.

The biggest increases were in the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. The previous WHO record for new cases was 212,326 on July 4. Deaths remained steady at about 5,000 a day.

There were more than 12.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide as of 5 p.m. ET on Friday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. More than 557,000 people have died, while more than 6.7 million have recovered. The U.S. and Brazil lead case numbers, with a combined total of more than 4.9 million.

Two WHO experts headed to the Chinese capital on Friday to lay the groundwork for a larger mission to investigate the origins of the pandemic.

An animal health expert and an epidemiologist will meet Chinese counterparts in Beijing to set the “scope and terms of reference” for a WHO-led international mission aimed at learning how the virus jumped from animals to humans, a WHO statement said.

WATCH | How did coronavirus become a human infection?

A World Health Organization animal expert is part of a new mission to China to trace the coronavirus’s path from animal to people. 0:23

Scientists believe the virus may have originated in bats and was transmitted to another mammal such as a civet cat or an armadillo-like pangolin before being passed on to people.

A cluster of infections late last year focused initial attention on a fresh food market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, but the discovery of earlier cases suggests the animal-to-human jump may have happened elsewhere.

In an effort to block future outbreaks, China has cracked down on the trade in wildlife and closed some markets while enforcing strict containment measures that appear to have virtually stopped new local infections.

The WHO mission is politically sensitive, with the United States — the top funder of the UN body — moving to cut ties with it over allegations it mishandled the outbreak and is biased toward China.

A man is tested for COVID-19 in Beijing. The World Health Organization has dispatched experts to the Chinese capital to lay the groundwork for a larger mission to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

“China took the lead in inviting WHO experts to investigate and discuss scientific virus tracing,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said Friday.

In contrast, he said, the U.S. “not only announced its withdrawal from the World Health Organization but also politicized the anti-epidemic issue and played a buck-passing game to shift responsibilities.”

More than 120 nations called for an investigation into the origins of the virus at the World Health Assembly in May. China has insisted that WHO lead the investigation and that it wait until the pandemic is brought under control.

Separately on Thursday, WHO acknowledged the possibility that the coronavirus might be spread in the air under certain conditions — after more than 200 scientists urged the agency to do so.

WATCH | Infectious disease specialist on Ottawa paramedics’ N95 mask shortage:

N95 masks are not ‘one-size-fits-all’ and that can create a shortage of masks for some front-line health workers, says Dr. Michael Gardam, chief of staff for Toronto’s Humber River Hospital. 5:59

In an open letter published this week in a journal, two scientists from Australia and the U.S. wrote that studies have shown “beyond any reasonable doubt that viruses are released during exhalation, talking and coughing in microdroplets small enough to remain aloft in the air.”

The researchers, along with more than 200 others, appealed for national and international authorities, including WHO, to adopt more stringent protective measures.

The health body has long dismissed the possibility that the coronavirus is spread in the air except for certain risky medical procedures, such as when patients are first put on breathing machines.

In a change to its previous thinking, WHO said on Thursday that studies evaluating COVID-19 outbreaks in restaurants, choir practices and fitness classes suggested the virus might have been spread in the air.

Meanwhile, Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the U.S., said on Friday the coronavirus is likely spreading through the air to some degree.

“Still some question about aerosol but likely some degree of aerosol,” Fauci said by video during a panel session at a COVID-19 conference organized by the International AIDS Society.

What’s happening with coronavirus in Canada

As of 5 p.m. ET on Friday, Canada had 107,023 confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases. Provinces and territories listed 70,818 of those as recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 8,793.

Newfoundland and Labrador has reported its first new case of COVID-19 in six weeks. The patient is a man in his 50s who had recently returned from the United States, according to the provincial health department.

The department says the man, who lives in the Eastern Health region, is self-isolating and did not travel through other Atlantic provinces.

Meanwhile, Nova Scotia has extended its state of emergency for another two weeks. Emergency measures are now in place until July 26.

The extension was announced as the province reported no new cases of COVID-19 and one more recovery — leaving only three active cases.

Some public health and infectious disease experts are pressing for governments in Canada to shift to minimizing, not eradicating, COVID-19 while allowing society to resume functioning.

The open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and all premiers, dated July 6, says aiming to prevent or contain every case is not sustainable at this stage in the pandemic.

WATCH | Union calls for more protective equipment as mask shortage sidelines paramedics:

Jason Fraser, chair of the Ambulance Committee of Ontario for CUPE, is calling on the provincial government to make sure there is an adequate supply of personal protective equipment available for paramedics. 0:48

“We need to accept that COVID-19 will be with us for some time and to find ways to deal with it,” the 18 experts wrote.

The aim of lockdowns and physical distancing was to flatten the epidemic curve so that health-care systems wouldn’t be overwhelmed with too many cases at once, Neil Rau, an infectious disease physician and medical microbiologist at the University of Toronto said. Stamping out the virus is a different goalpost.

Here’s what’s happening around the world

Florida confirmed its place as an emerging epicentre of the pandemic in the United States on Friday by reporting its second-sharpest daily rise in cases, while Walt Disney Co. prepared to reopen its flagship theme park in Orlando to the chagrin of some employees.

Florida recorded 11,433 new coronavirus cases on Friday, the state health department said, more evidence that the virus is still spreading largely unchecked throughout parts of the country.

The state experienced the surge after initially avoiding the worst of the outbreak that hit New York and other northeastern U.S. states. Friday’s total was just short of the state’s record high for new cases, set last Saturday.

The Walt Disney World theme park in Orlando will open to a limited number of guests on Saturday. To lower the risks, visitors and employees will have to wear masks and undergo temperature checks, and the resort will not hold parades, fireworks displays and other activities that draw crowds.

Around 19,000 people, including workers, signed a petition asking Disney to delay the reopening and the actors’ union that represents 750 Walt Disney World performers has filed a grievance alleging retaliation against its members over the union’s demand that they be tested for the coronavirus.

Disney’s Magic Kingdom theme park is seen empty of visitors in Orlando, Fla., on March 16 after it closed in an effort to combat the spread of COVID-19. (Gregg Newton/Reuters)

Texas is marking its deadliest week of the pandemic, reporting on Thursday a record daily death toll of more than 100, a new high for hospitalizations for the 10th consecutive day, and a nearly 16 per cent positive test rate, its highest yet.

In Arizona, hospitals were at nearly 90 per cent capacity, with a record 3,437 patients hospitalized as of Wednesday, and a record number of those, 575, on ventilators, health officials said. Earlier in the week, a record high number of 871 patients filled intensive care beds.

Meanwhile, officials in Mississippi say the state’s five largest hospitals had no ICU beds available for patients by midweek because of a surge in cases. Four more hospitals had five per cent or less of ICU beds open.

Health-care workers move a patient in the COVID-19 unit at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston. (Mark Felix/AFP/Getty Images)

Quarantine measures for those travelling to the United Kingdom from around 70 countries and overseas territories, including France and Italy, no longer apply from Friday in a boost to the ailing aviation and travel industries hit by COVID-19.

Those arriving from higher-risk countries will still have to self-quarantine for 14 days, but many popular destinations are now exempt, meaning millions of Britons are able to take summer holidays without having to stay at home when they return.

The WHO emergencies chief said the agency believes an unexplained pneumonia outbreak in Kazakhstan is likely due to the coronavirus.

Dr. Michael Ryan says Kazakh authorities have reported more than 10,000 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last week and just under 50,000 cases and 264 deaths as of Tuesday.

“We’re looking at the actual testing and the quality of testing to make sure that there haven’t been false negative tests for some of those other pneumonias that are provisionally tested negative,” Ryan said. He added that many pneumonia cases were likely to be COVID-19 and “just have not been diagnosed correctly.”

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, said on Friday he may fire his cabinet if a second, two-week lockdown fails to curb the coronavirus outbreak in the country. Kazakhstan, which imposed a new lockdown on Sunday, has confirmed almost 55,000 COVID-19 infections, including 264 deaths.

WATCH | Pneumonia in Kazakhstan likely related to COVID-19, WHO says:

Many of the pneumonia cases in Kazakhstan are likely undiagnosed cases of COVID-19, says the World Health Organization’s Dr. Michael Ryan. 2:38

India is reporting another record one-day spike in coronavirus cases, prompting some states to reimpose lockdowns in high-risk areas.

The 26,506 cases reported Friday bring India’s total to 793,802. The Health Ministry also reported another 475 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 21,604.

The ministry said the recovery rate was continuing to improve at more than 60 per cent.

A child reacts as a health-care worker takes a swab from her to test for the coronavirus in Ahmedabad, India, on Friday. (Amit Dave/Reuters)

The eastern state of Bihar reimposed a full lockdown in the state capital Patna and four other districts for a week beginning Friday to curb a surge in cases.

India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh, with nearly 230 million people, announced a weekend lockdown beginning Friday night.

Hong Kong’s Education Bureau on Friday announced the suspension of all schools from Monday after a spike in locally transmitted coronavirus cases that has fuelled fears of a renewed community spread in the city.

Schools in the Asian financial hub have been mostly shut since February, with many having switched to online learning and lessons by conference call. Many international schools are already on summer break.

The city reported 42 new cases on Thursday, of which 34 were locally transmitted, marking the second consecutive day of rising local infections.

[denisehil0]

5 things to know today – that aren’t about the virus

Your daily look at nonvirus stories in the news:

1. ‘THE FIRST STEP TO JUSTICE’ Georgia authorities arrest a white father and son and charge them with murder in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, a black man they had pursued in a truck after spotting him running in their neighbourhood.

2. DOJ ABRUPTLY DROPS FLYNN CASE The prosecution against Trump’s first national security adviser has become a rallying cry for the president and his supporters in attacking the FBI’s Russia investigation.

3. TARA READE GETS A LAWYER Douglas Wigdor, a political donor to Trump’s 2016 campaign, will represent the former Senate staffer who alleged Joe Biden sexually assaulted her 27 years ago.

4. COLD SPRING FAREWELL IN THE OFFING A polar vortex could bring rare May snowfall and record-low temperatures to some areas in the northeastern U.S. over the Mother’s Day weekend.

5. TB12 IN PRIME TIME Networks got their wish from NFL schedule makers when they put Tom Brady’s new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in the maximum five slots in prime time.

The Associated Press

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@CarolHughesMP Canada #foodguide gets makeover/ #guidealimentaire canadien fait peau neuve @GovCanHealth @AlgomaHealth @TBDHealthUnit @OntHSC @PublicHealthON @NDP @Twp_Dub @elliotlake @VisitChapleau @KapuskasingEDC The long awaited update to the Canada Food Guide has arrived and it bears little resemblance to its predecessor. 

[toldnews-blog]

New Post has been published on https://toldnews.com/world/polar-vortex-claims-eight-lives-as-us-cold-snap-continues/

Polar vortex claims eight lives as US cold snap continues

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionChicago is using fire to melt snow on the railway and keep the trains running

At least eight people have died in the US Midwest as the region shivers in the grip of its worst cold snap in decades.

An Iowa student found dead outside a college building is among victims of the deadly freeze.

Hospitals have been treating patients reporting frostbite as life across a swathe of the nation grinds to a halt.

The iciest blasts may still come on Thursday. Ninety million people – a third of the US – have seen temperatures of -17C (0F) or below.

Some 250 million Americans overall have experienced the “polar vortex” conditions, but southern states such as Florida have escaped the brutal chill.

How did the fatalities occur?

University of Iowa student Gerald Belz, 18, was found unresponsive behind a campus building before dawn on Wednesday and later died in hospital. Officials said weather was a factor

A 70-year-old man in Detroit, Michigan, was found dead in front of a neighbour’s home on Wednesday

Another Michigan man in his 70s was found frozen to death in his neighbourhood. Officials said he was “inadequately dressed for the weather” and was probably disoriented

On Tuesday, 55-year-old Charley Lampley froze to death in a garage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, having “apparently collapsed after shovelling snow”, according to a medical examiner

An 82-year-old man in Pekin, Illinois, died from hypothermia after apparently falling outside his home on Tuesday

A 75-year-old man was fatally struck by a snow plough near Chicago on Monday. The driver has since been placed on paid leave pending an investigation, according to WGN9 News

In northern Indiana, a young couple died after a collision on icy roads

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Snow and cold weather hits New York City

What’s the forecast?

Thursday could see America’s third largest city of Chicago breaking its 1985 record low of -32C (-25F), according to meteorologists.

The chill is drifting eastward on Thursday, bringing sub-zero temperatures to Northeastern cities such as Boston.

Areas downwind of the Great Lakes are expected to be buried by intense lake-effect snow lakes into Thursday night.

Image copyright NOAA/BBC

In pictures: Polar vortex strikes

How to survive extreme cold

The region near Buffalo, New York, should see the heaviest snowfall. Snow could fall at rates of 3in-5in (7cm-12cm) per hour.

The icy cold is expected to loosen its grip on Friday.

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionSo what actually is a polar vortex…?

With wind chill factored in, the Midwest and Great Lakes have felt temperatures closer to -40C (-40F) and -53C (-63F), which is enough to cause frostbite in under five minutes.

But by the end of the weekend, Chicago could see temperatures as high as 10C (50F).

“It’s going to be at least a 60-degree swing for Chicago,” David Hamrick, a National Weather Service forecaster, told Reuters news agency.

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionMuch of Chicago River has frozen over

How is the cold snap affecting daily life?

The Arctic weather could cost the US billions of dollars. In 2014, a similar polar freeze cost the country an estimated $5bn (£3.8bn), CBS News reported.

In Minnesota, residents have been asked by natural gas company Xcel Energy to reduce their home thermostats to 17C (63F) in order to help the company handle heating demands.

A guide to surviving a polar vortex

Michigan residents have had similar requests from their utility companies as providers struggle to keep the states warm.

Detroit, Michigan, has had more than two dozen water mains freeze over this week. A city spokesman told the Associated Press the pipes were installed up to 1.8m below the frost line, but with such drastically low temperatures, the ground has still frozen through.

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionHow to keep warm? Tips from cold countries

The US Postal Service has suspended all mail deliveries for the second day to parts of six states.

Over 2,300 flights have been cancelled and another 3,500 delayed due to the polar vortex.

As ice and snow continue to build up, roads have become increasingly dangerous across the northern US.

At least two people were critically injured in a 27-car pile-up on icy roads in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.

Twenty-one vehicles, including a lorry, were involved in a pile-up in Buffalo, New York, during a snow storm on Wednesday. Officials have not released details on any injuries, WKBW News reported.

It is reported that the lorry should not have been on the road at the time, due to a weather-related ban.

Image copyright The Washington Post via Getty Images

Image caption A sole individual walks down State Street in Madison, Wisconsin

In Minnesota, prison visits were cancelled over the cold, according to the New York Times.

How cold is Chicago?

The Illinois city became a frozen ghost town after temperatures fell to -30C (-22F), colder than parts of Antarctica. But as Chicago is forecast to warm up to a balmy -6C (43F) later on Thursday, many residents will have to prepare to return to work.

A Good Samaritan paid for 70 homeless Chicagoans to stay in a hotel as temperatures dropped.

Salvation Army spokeswoman Jacqueline Rachev told the Washington Post: “It’s a deadly situation for anyone. We’re thrilled that someone was in a position to be able to do this.”

Most of the thousands of cancelled flights this week were coming out of Chicago’s airports – O’Hare International is ranked as one of the top 10 busiest airports in the world.

Amtrak also cancelled all trains into Chicago on Wednesday, affecting 55 trains, and said most would be cancelled on Thursday as well.

As the Midwestern city is one of the company’s hubs, train service nationwide could also be impacted.

The chill was even too much for Chicago’s Disney on Ice show, which cancelled its Wednesday performance.

More than 600 local schools have shut, keeping 360,000 students at home.

What about Canada?

Most of Canada was under some sort of weather warning – from extreme cold in the Prairies, Quebec and Ontario to heavy snows in Alberta and Nova Scotia.

In Toronto, where winters tend to be milder compared to cities such as Montreal and Ottawa, temperatures had plummeted to -18C (0F). Icy roads and several transit delays made for a hellish commute for millions of the city’s residents.

Environment Canada issued extreme cold warnings for most parts of Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba, urging residents to limit their exposure to cold and keep pets indoors.

“If it’s too cold for you to stay outside, it’s too cold for your pet to stay outside,” the weather agency warned.

Advocates expressed concern for homeless people living in cities hit by the extreme temperatures.

In Winnipeg, the capital of Manitoba, temperatures were a frigid -40C (-40F), with wind chill factors making it feel like -50C (-58F).

“If you don’t get it in December, you will get it in January or February or March. What do you expect? It’s ‘Winterpeg’,” Caroline Rodriguez told the CBC, in reference to the city’s nickname.

In Calgary, Alberta, temperatures were a relatively balmy -3C (27F), but were expected to plummet overnight and through the weekends.

In parts of rural northern Alberta, 15in of snow were expected to fall.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 12.9

480 – Odoacer, first King of Italy, occupies Dalmatia. He later establishes his political power with the co-operation of the Roman Senate. 536 – Gothic War: The Byzantine general Belisarius enters Rome unopposed; the Gothic garrison flee the capital. 730 – Battle of Marj Ardabil: The Khazars annihilate an Umayyad army and kill its commander, Al-Jarrah Ibn Abdallah Al-Hakami. 1425 – The Catholic University of Leuven is founded. 1531 – The Virgin of Guadalupe first appears to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City. 1688 – Glorious Revolution: Williamite forces defeat Jacobites at Battle of Reading, forcing flight of James II from the country. 1775 – American Revolutionary War: British troops lose the Battle of Great Bridge, and leave Virginia soon afterward. 1793 – New York City's first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is established by Noah Webster. 1824 – Patriot forces led by General Antonio José de Sucre defeat a Royalist army in the Battle of Ayacucho, putting an end to the Peruvian War of Independence. 1835 – Texas Revolution: The Texian Army captures San Antonio, Texas. 1851 – The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal. 1856 – The Iranian city of Bushehr surrenders to occupying British forces. 1861 – American Civil War: The Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War is established by the U.S. Congress. 1872 – In Louisiana, P. B. S. Pinchback becomes the first African-American governor of a U.S. state. 1892 – English football club Newcastle United is founded 1897 – Activist Marguerite Durand founds the feminist daily newspaper La Fronde in Paris. 1905 – In France, the law separating church and state is passed. 1911 – A mine explosion near Briceville, Tennessee, kills 84 miners despite rescue efforts led by the United States Bureau of Mines. 1917 – World War I: Field Marshal Allenby captures Jerusalem, Palestine. 1922 – Gabriel Narutowicz is elected the first president of Poland. 1931 – The Constituent Cortes approves a constitution which establishes the Second Spanish Republic. 1935 – Student protests in Beiping (now Beijing)'s Tiananmen Square, dispersed by government. 1935 – Walter Liggett, American newspaper editor and muckraker, is killed in a gangland murder. 1935 – The Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, later renamed the Heisman Trophy, is awarded for the first time. The winner is halfback Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago. 1937 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Battle of Nanking: Japanese troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Asaka Yasuhiko launch an assault on the Chinese city of Nanjing (Nanking). 1940 – World War II: Operation Compass: British and Indian troops under the command of Major-General Richard O'Connor attack Italian forces near Sidi Barrani in Egypt. 1941 – World War II: The Republic of China, Cuba, Guatemala, and the Philippine Commonwealth, declare war on Germany and Japan. 1941 – World War II: The American 19th Bombardment Group attacks Japanese ships off the coast of Vigan, Luzon. 1946 – The "Subsequent Nuremberg trials" begin with the "Doctors' trial", prosecuting physicians and officers alleged to be involved in Nazi human experimentation and mass murder under the guise of euthanasia. 1946 – The Constituent Assembly of India meets for the first time to write the Constitution of India. 1948 – The Genocide Convention is adopted. 1950 – Cold War: Harry Gold is sentenced to 30 years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. His testimony is later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. 1953 – Red Scare: General Electric announces that all communist employees will be discharged from the company. 1956 – Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810, a Canadair North Star, crashes near Hope, British Columbia, Canada, killing all 62 people on board. 1958 – The John Birch Society is founded in the United States. 1960 – The first episode of Coronation Street, the world's longest-running television soap opera, is broadcast in the United Kingdom. 1961 – Tanganyika becomes independent from Britain. 1962 – The Petrified Forest National Park is established in Arizona. 1965 – Kecksburg UFO incident: A fireball is seen from Michigan to Pennsylvania; witnesses report something crashing in the woods near Pittsburgh. 1965 – A Charlie Brown Christmas, first in a series of Peanuts television specials, debuts on CBS. 1968 – Douglas Engelbart gave what became known as "The Mother of All Demos", publicly debuting the computer mouse, hypertext, and the bit-mapped graphical user interface using the oN-Line System (NLS). 1969 – U.S. Secretary of State William P. Rogers proposes his plan for a ceasefire in the War of Attrition; Egypt and Jordan accept it over the objections of the PLO, which leads to civil war in Jordan in September 1970. 1971 – Indo-Pakistani War: The Indian Air Force executes an airdrop of Indian Army units, bypassing Pakistani defences. 1973 – British and Irish authorities sign the Sunningdale Agreement in an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. 1979 – The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first of only two diseases that have been driven to extinction (rinderpest in 2011 being the other). 1987 – Israeli–Palestinian conflict: The First Intifada begins in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. 1988 – The Michael Hughes Bridge in Sligo, Ireland, is officially opened. 1992 – American troops land in Somalia for Operation Restore Hope. 1996 – Gwen Jacob is acquitted of committing an indecent act, giving women the right to be topfree in Ontario, Canada. 2003 – A blast in the center of Moscow kills six people and wounds several more. 2008 – The Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, is arrested by federal officials for crimes including attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. 2012 – A plane crash in Mexico kills seven people. 2013 – At least seven are dead and 63 are injured following a train accident near Bintaro, Indonesia. 2015 – The start of the thirty-sixth GCC summit in Riyadh business. 2016 – President Park Geun-hye of South Korea is impeached by the country's National Assembly in response to a major political scandal. Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn becomes Acting President, later declining to run for a full term. 2016 – At least 57 people are killed and a further 177 injured when two schoolgirl suicide bombers attack a market area in Madagali, Northeastern Nigeria in the Madagali suicide bombings. 2017 – The Marriage Amendment Bill receives royal assent and comes into effect, making Australia the 26th country to legalize same-sex marriage.

[nofomoartworld]

Hyperallergic: A Soon-To-Be-Hidden Artwork in NYC Spells Out the Realities of Native American Life

Works by Ethel Linklater, the grandmother of Duane Linklater, on loan to 80SWE by the Thunder Bay Art Gallery (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)

When Duane Linklater’s exhibition closes this weekend, one of the works will join a growing list of hidden artworks in New York City. These hidden works by artists live on mostly in lore rather than as visible things — they include the hidden Richard Serra at MoMA PS1, the Maurizio Cattelan in the floor of the Whitney Museum, and the REVS diary written on the walls of the city’s subway tunnels. Linklater has spelled out “What Then Remains” in red metal studs embedded in the walls of the galleries at 80WSE. The phrase echoes the words of US Justice Sonya Sotomayor in the case of Dollar General v Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians concerning the abuse of a 13-year-old tribal member by a non-Indian employee at a shop on tribal land. The case highlighted that the sovereignty of American Indian reservations and their lands are often caught up in a byzantine legal system involving different jurisdictions for civil and criminal matters. The words are tragic, pointing out that even the most liberal justices are tools of empire, erasing the first peoples of this continent through violence and the enforcement of laws that benefit the ruling elites.

Linklater often tackles issues of transmission and legacy in his work, especially how things are disseminated and circulate. “What Then Remains” (2017) will become part of the bones of the gallery, hiding out of sight even though it will undoubtedly be there. It’s hard not to see this piece as part of the larger history of Native American culture in the region. For instance, Manhattan’s Broadway is built on the Wickquasgeck Trail (which means “birch-bark country” in the Algonquian language), yet that history is lost of the vast majority of those who travel the avenue daily. The ghost-like presence of Linklater’s work will undoubtedly permeate the space.

A general view of the Linklater show from the first gallery looking into the back

That notion of the heritage of a space, or its history, is further explored through the inclusion of works by other artists in his family. Linklater has invited his son, Tobias Linklater, to show an animation in one of the rooms, and he’s arranged the loan of various wearable art pieces by his grandmother, Ethel Linklater, which are in the collection of the Thunder Bay Art Gallery in Northern Ontario. The inclusion of these pieces highlights his interest in seeing how something may be conveyed from one generation to another. Generations of creators in his family have found comfort in different media. Are any of them more “indigenous” because of their work? Are our expectations challenged by seeing how each generation embraces different symbols and media to express their ideas? And how do the economic systems that sustain their practices — whether governmental, academic, or social — influence their production and circulation? It should be mentioned that Ethel Linklater’s works were the most difficult to include, since they are made of restricted materials, including caribou, and required additional paperwork to pass through customs.

Part of the wall work that spells out “What Then Remains” — here you see “HEN” from “THEN” — and will be buried into the walls as a hidden artwork during future exhibitions.

Another work by Linklater, this one a film he created with artist Brian Jungen, Modest Livelihood (2012), was screened by the gallery on Thursday, February 2. Created for dOCUMENTA (13), the film is titled after a court action that took place in Canada and concerned an indigenous man’s rights to fish for eel on his land. The ruling reinforced the man’s rights, but with the shocking stipulation that he could fish so long as it allows him a “moderate livelihood.” In a land where corporations regularly rape the land for natural resources, the term raises questions about who the legal system serves. The artists tweaked the phrase to be more poetic, and the resulting work is a meditation on landscape and tradition. The film challenges the traditions of documentary filmmaking, which began with Robert J. Flaherty’s troubling ethnographic film Nanook of the North (1922), considered the first great film of the genre — even though the true documentary nature of the work is questioned today — and one that focuses on an Inuk man.

In Modest Livelihood, the artists join Jungen’s uncle and go hunting in the area covered by Treaty 8 in northeastern British Columbia, where Jungen hails from. We follow them on their silent journey, which lingers on the landscape. The silent film terminates with the killing of a moose and the stripping of its skin and flesh. (Full disclosure: I joined the artists for a public conversation about the film after the screening at 80WSE.)

The stripping of things to their essence is what I most associate with Duane Linklater. He shows us the bones of things — in a sparse, minimal aesthetic — to both reveal and obscure their meaning. Contemplating his work, I can’t help but think of natural history museums, where we are provided with the illusion of proximity to something — whether dinosaurs or other creatures — simply by being presented with their skeletal frames. Art objects can be equally allusive, manufacturing a sense of knowing, even if they often act as containers for ideas from own culture that we pour into them in our fumbling attempt to understand and control what they might have to say.

The word “REMAINS” is spelled out in the wall of the back gallery with platforms displaying freshly cut flowers and art objects made by Duane Linklater’s grandmother.

A view of the armatures and objects, including fresh cut flowers purchased and placed by the curator of each iteration of the show.

Another view of one of the platforms

A work by Ethel Linklater

Another view of the platform

A platform with works by Duane Linklater’s grandmother, Ethel Linklater, and his son, Tobias Linklater. The accession paper for his grandmother’s work is hanging on the wall.

The accession certificate for Ethel Linklater’s works

Light box images of the artist’s studio, which is in an open storefront in downtown North Bay, Ontario, are enlarged and displayed on Washington Square East.

Duane Linklater’s From Our Hands with Ethel Linklater (Trapper) and Tobias Linklater continues at the 80WSE galleries at NYU (80 Washington Square East, Greenwich Village, Manhattan) until February 18.

The post A Soon-To-Be-Hidden Artwork in NYC Spells Out the Realities of Native American Life appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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[techcrunchappcom]

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/coronavirus-whats-happening-around-the-world-on-sunday-2/

Coronavirus: What's happening around the world on Sunday

The latest:

P.E.I. now has five active cases after being free of COVID-19 since April 28.

India reports another record 24-hour jump in coronavirus cases.

Mexico overtakes France for 5th-highest death toll in the world.

U.S. holiday weekend adds to virus worries as case counts grow.

South Africa records more than 10,000 new cases in a day for 1st time.

1st glimpse of Canada’s true COVID-19 infection rate expected mid-July from immunity testing.

The United States has dipped under 50,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time in four days, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, but experts fear celebrations for the July 4th Independence Day weekend will act like rocket fuel for the nation’s surging outbreak.

Johns Hopkins counted 45,300 new coronavirus infections in the U.S. on Saturday after three days in which the daily count reached as high as 54,500 new cases. The lower figure on Saturday does not necessarily mean the situation in the U.S. is improving, as it could be due to reduced reporting on a national holiday.

In Florida, health officials say the state has reached a grim milestone: more than 200,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19.

State statistics released Sunday show about 10,000 new people tested positive. Saturday’s numbers — more than 11,400 cases — marked a record new single-day high. More than 3,700 people have died.

Cars wait at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site in Miami Gardens on Sunday. (Wilfredo Lee/The Associated Press)

About 43 per cent of the cases are in three counties: Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said Sunday on ABC’s This Week that the high numbers of positive tests both in his county and the state are “extremely worrisome.”

Suarez, who had the virus in March, said it’s clear the growth is “exponential at this point,” and officials are closely monitoring hospitalizations. They’re also closely watching the death rate, which “give us the impression” that “much stricter” measures have to be taken.

In Arizona, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego is pointing to a “crisis” involving coronavirus testing shortages in her city due to surging cases in the state, which leads the U.S. in new coronavirus cases per capita.

Gallego, a Democrat, said some residents over the weekend had to line up for eight hours by car to get COVID-19 tests and that the federal government has been slow to help.

WATCH | Independence Day celebrations a concern in U.S. cases on the rise:

As new daily cases in the U.S. hit a record, concerns abound that July 4th celebrations will lead to an explosion of COVID-19 cases as people scoff at masks and physical distancing. 2:01

She told This Week on Sunday that Arizona went from “zero to 60” by being one of the first states to reopen after it was among the last to implement stay-at-home orders.

That led to an explosion of cases, Gallego said, citing crowded nightclubs with free champagne and people unwittingly spreading the virus at large family gatherings.

She faults mixed public messaging after U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent visit to Phoenix. Gallego said while she was urging people to stay at home and avoid gatherings of more than 10 people, Trump undercut that by holding large events and not wearing a mask.

A person wearing a protective face mask is seen in Denver on Sunday. (David Zalubowski/The Associated Press)

The U.S.  has the most infections and virus-related deaths in the world, with 2.8 million cases and nearly 130,000 dead, according to Johns Hopkins. Experts say the true toll of the pandemic is significantly higher, due to people who died before they were tested and missed mild cases.

To show just how steep the current infection curve is in the U.S., the country was reporting under 20,000 new infections a day as recently as June 15.

Despite warnings by health experts to limit gatherings, Trump went ahead with a speech at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota on Friday and an evening of tribute and fireworks Saturday on the National Mall in Washington.

What’s happening with COVID-19 in Canada

P.E.I. reported two new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total active cases in the province to five.

The two new cases are both men in their 20s. They are residents of P.E.I. and close contacts of one of the three cases reported Saturday.

Quebec reported an increase of 79 cases and eight deaths. The government says seven of those newly reported deaths took place before June 27.

A person leaves a COVID-19 testing clinic in Montreal on Sunday. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press )

In Ontario, the province reported 138 new cases, marking the sixth straight day the tally is below 200.

As of 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Canada had 105,536 confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases. Provinces and territories listed 69,239 of the cases as recovered or resolved. A CBC News tally of deaths based on provincial reports, regional health information and CBC’s reporting stood at 8,728. 

Here’s what’s happening around the world

More than 11.3 million people around the world are known to have been infected since the pandemic began, according to the Johns Hopkins University data. With shortages of testing materials, the real number of cases is unknown. More than 531,000 people have died.

In the Americas, Mexico overtook France for fifth-highest death toll in the world with more than 30,000 fatalities.

Brazil remains the epicentre in South America, with more than 1.5 million cases and more than 64,000 deaths.

In Bolivia, the rising death toll is overwhelming the city of Cochabamba. Police Col. Ivan Rojas told a news conference that the city is collecting “about 17 bodies a day. This is collapsing the police personnel and funeral workers” in the city of some 630,000 people.

The body of a person relatives say died with COVID-19 symptoms is seen wrapped in a plastic bag on a street in Cochabamba, Bolivia, on Sunday. (Dico Solis/The Associated Press)

In Asia-Pacific, India reported another record 24-hour jump in coronavirus cases, with more than 24,000 new infections.

The hard-hit Australian state of Victoria has recorded 74 new coronavirus cases after announcing a record 108 new infections on Saturday.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said those who do not wear masks will be denied state services, and workplaces that fail to comply with health protocols will be shut for a week.

People wearing protective face masks pray at a mosque in Zanjan, Iran, on Sunday. (Vahid Salemi/The Associated Press)

In Africa, a third head of state in the space of a week and a half is self-isolating after someone close to him tested positive for the coronavirus.

Ghana’s information ministry said President Nana Akufo-Addo has tested negative but decided to isolate himself “out of an abundance of caution.” Senegal’s President Macky Sall late last month isolated himself after a similar situation, and Botswana’s government on Thursday said President Mokgweetsi Masisi had gone into self-isolation yet again after a close official tested positive. This is the fourth time he has done so since March.

In South Africa, the country is for the first time reporting more than 10,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases in a single day. Officials have said beds in public hospitals are filling up, and nurses have expressed alarm.

Military personnel have their temperatures taken as they arrive at an air force station in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on Sunday. (Michael Sheehan/AFP via Getty Images)

In Europe, police at roadblocks warned motorists they were entering a lockdown zone as Spain’s northeastern region of Catalonia reimposed restrictions on more than 200,000 people following several new coronavirus outbreaks.

Slovenia says 15 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus at a nursing home for the first time in weeks as the country faces a spike in cases.

After five straight days of small increases, the number of day-to-day confirmed cases in Italy has dipped.

[graciedroweuk]

How Cities Are Making Their Residents More Active

It’d use a whistle around its throat and activity a shoes if Atlanta were an individual. It’d inform Atlantans togo have a panel.

Atlanta, just like a great number of America’s main cities and cities that are moderate, will measures that are unparalleled to ensure that their top doorways may start, benefit from the breeze and proceed split a perspiration. This really is most obviously illustrated by the city’s impressive, and fundamentally huge, BeltLine path—a 14-foot-wide, 22-mile-long provided fun path that, when finished in 2030, may encompass the whole town primary in a pear shaped cycle. The project is emblematic of what’s today a nationwide motion to character and completely knit the outside right into concrete and a town’s concrete.

“Being inside your vehicle numerous hours daily isn’t great,” claims a charitable established in 2005 using the Rob Brawner manager of Partnership and assistance for that task. “We believe individuals have a need to get outside.”

The first achievement of the BeltLine—largely an accumulation of modified train corridors—has impressed the major metro area to get healthy. In 2015, more than 1000000 people utilized the BeltLine’s currently finished (but nonetheless moderate) 2.25-kilometer Eastside Path on foot, bike, and scooter. There’s a skate park and possibilities that are normal to consider yoga boot-camp, and exercise lessons. 4.8 million BeltLine is completed, it will provide use of roughly 2,000 and link 45 Atlanta communities miles of parkland that was surrounding. The New York Times lately named the task “potentially transformative.”

“The BeltLine will supply basic modifications to how individuals reside,” claims Brawner. “Biking to college. Strolling to stores.”

Atlanta is not alone. Additional towns, equally big and little, are starting on projects that are comparable. Groundbreaking for Miami’s proposed 10-kilometer Underline linear park—which may inhabit presently abandoned property underneath the city’s raised Metrorail—will probably occur next year. Ny City’s partly constructed Freshkills Playground, on Staten Island, was once the world’s greatest dump, and certainly will calculate 2,200 miles when finished in 2036. And lately, the tiny town of Whitefish, Montana (year round population: 6,500), started building on the massive 55-kilometer path constructed mostly by as well as for its occupants. Bozeman to D.C., Fe, you’ll discover amazing and similarly formidable tasks. The pattern of cities and towns prioritizing organic locations to play is even deliberate or significantly more than accidental. It’s imperative. 

Towns are flourishing. Based on a urbanism research performed this season by Wa D.C.’s George Washington Faculty of Company, the nation’s 30 biggest U.S. cities host 46 percentage of the nation’s populace and produce 54 percentage of America’s major domestic merchandise. Millennials are flowing into metropolitan facilities, that are experiencing leasing-price rates 90-percent greater than their alternatives. The current-evening problem for town authorities and organizers doesn’t problem mass exodus towards the ‘burbs. Alternatively, from departing for additional towns cities wish to maintain folks. One method to include attractiveness: building kick-ass paths and areas.

“We’re within the greatest amount of improvement and playground growth because the 1930s’ WPA [ Works Management] period says conservationist representative of town playground improvement for that Confidence for Public Property, Benepe. “Cities are contending to determine who are able to develop the largest, the best.”

The staff that is youthful nevertheless desires a number of what they may have developed with-in  like green-space, the suburbs and locations to experience bicycles, says Benepe, who formerly offered as a commissioner of Ny City’s Division of amp & Areas; Entertainment. “Millennials wish to have tradition and the-art of the town, plus suburban features are wanted by them like prolonged pathways and football areas,” he claims. “So town authorities came to comprehend that standard of living is simply today described by areas and fun facilities.”

Enhanced access is also meant by It can to downtown places and internal towns, says Brawner of the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership. “More varied transport options are progressively critical.”

Bicycle friendliness particularly is becoming very important to towns. Within the last many years, large metros—including Washington D.C., Fort Lauderdale, Nyc, and Seattle—have championed an agenda called “Eyesight Zero,” a Remedial idea created within the 1990s stating that each simple traffic-associated demise (individuals and normally) is preventable if authorities utilize smart policy and metropolitan planning. The high minded idea, that has been applied in various European nations for many years, has currently resulted in better and greater town driving in the USA.

Oregon, Portland, features a stretch of new, somewhat elevated bicycle pathways to higher determine limitations between bicycle and vehicle lanes; Washington and Detroit D.C. location destinations and curbs between individuals and cars; and Colorado locations car parking areas between traffic along with individuals. Ny City’s Pulaski Link, which operates between Brooklyn revealed bicycle lanes divided from vehicles via tangible obstacle earlier this season.

In taking care of their energetic occupants and towns take satisfaction. Minneapolis boasts about having first cycle freeway.” Portland gives town individuals that are “America’s a telephone number to demand bicycle- repairs and path preservation. And featured that 2 yrs after the launch of its Zero, 2015 was the best year within the background in the town.

To apply ideas that individuals may really utilize, several town organizers are embracing social press, that has lately performed an intrinsic part in helping shape the look of towns and just how we interact with them. In 2014, Strava—the social networking application that monitors and catches the GPS information of its members’ eight million-plus regular swims, bicycle trips, and runs—created something named Strava Metro. City anonymizes activity information and harnesses, after which offers it to government and towns in harvesting details about their individuals and people mesh with structure organizations interested. In Strava decades of lifestyle, groups have and over 85 cities employed it.

“We possess a wide selection of locations like Ontario claims Metro spokesperson Devaney.

In 2014, Queensland, Sydney (inhabitants: two million), employed Strava Metro to greatly help it develop current bicycle paths in addition to create new types. Brisbane may be the money of Queensland, which within the last 13 decades has invested over $1-billion building cycling structure to, among different reasons of northeastern state .

Metro demonstrated that town organizers were about the right track. In September 2015, employees finished a brand new portion of Brisbane’s Enoggera Creek Bikeway to redirect individuals from traffic indicators and dangerous commercial districts. The almost half mile route, which moves under a six-street freeway and required about six weeks to complete, sparked more individuals to obtain on the bikes. Soon following the fresh stretch of sidewalk exposed, Strava showed that rides inside a one-distance distance of the additional bikeway elevated by 23 percent. Beyond the main one-distance distance towards the west, 57 percent got.

Much more and “More towns are employing City information to comprehend the way the conduct of people and individuals alter,” claims Devaney, who notices that its own customers and his organization are capable just two is represented by to correlate some journey -to- . An element of the environment can alter after which follow the ripple-effect 15 or five blocks away he claims.

Strava promises that almost 50% of all of the trips it catches in more busy metropolitan city locations are commutes. Such info that is useful implies that in-coming decades and weeks, Strava Metro’s impact and reach on the probably that is city’s commuters will just increase.

However it isn’t simply large city places that are currently trying to improve how energetic their citizens are. “Towns that others contemplate outlying are understanding how to better handle their belongings that are public,” claims the Confidence for Public Benepe.

The moderate town of Sandpoint, California (inhabitants: 7,500) includes an especially wealthy story round the idea of mixed assets, populace, and exercise. Sandpoint, that will be the biggest town within sparsely filled Bonner Region (40,500), confronted two substantial obstacles for making its citizens more energetic: over one-quarter of person Idahoans are overweight, and 15-percent of Bonner State citizens reside in poverty. Although property conservationists efficiently preserved Bonner County’s open-space within the title of forestry wildlife passages, as well as entertainment, there is one irritating problem—the residents weren’t utilizing the assets.

“We determined when we can’t discover methods to link and property and individuals, we possibly may aswell not be performing land safety,” claims executive manager for Sandpoint’s charitable Land Trust, Grace. “No use within birding if 99-percent of the folks below don’t view birds.”

In September 2015, Grace networked his business to work well with eight nearby doctors and 70 individuals in a course named ParkRx, a brought by businesses such as the National Adventure and Playground Affiliation and also the National Park Service. ParkRx is its type of medication: via the program, physicians actually recommend particular outside workout for their people. The effort it has absolutely impacted people in towns like Pennsylvania D.C., and increases exercise in addition to understanding for areas and open-space.

Grace’s business originally led simply by directing a drip of individuals toward the very best locations to exercise—like Ponderay, and areas or paths present in small Dover. But towards the end of the eight- pilot plan, the master plan exposed to far of Bonner populace, and more nearby doctors. Nearby doctors recommended a larger caseload of sufferers to some-hundred meters of jogging or walking; or maybe 000 actions of operating, to 10. The Land Trust turned more concerned, to the stage that it’s today handled countless Sandpoint residents’ lifestyles.

Grace claims he no further requires without any consideration residing the energetic lifestyle. Don’t possess the way to get them fresh, although their business is in touch with nearby music shops for ParkRx sufferers who may require a good work out coat or footwear. He understands they can’t reach the available areas due to function needs, or that some individuals don’t have vehicles, or gasoline cash. Some additionally don’t have community sidewalks, that could assist them to press within their routines.

Eye -starting it has visited me. My entire life I’ve been informing individuals to enjoy open-space,” claims Elegance. “Now we’re working to create sidewalks that are greater. A property confidence, and that’s what we’re requesting for.”

Whether a is huge or small, social leaders nowadays are realizing that a well-put, wellintentioned sidewalk—be it a few blocks in length or 22 miles change public-health towns, and outlooks on existence. The pleased pattern toward actually- destinations and greater metropolitan parkland demonstrates which you truly never might have way too many people, in way too many metropolitan areas, who lust for a nice and unfettered place along with many sunlight to extend thighs that are one’s.

“I reside in a community,” claims the manager of the Partnership, Brawner. “I’m some of those individuals who really wants to walk-around, too.”

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Crime of the Week: Bell Store Break and Enter (video incl.)

#CrimeOfThe Week: @Bell Store Break&Enter (w/video) @SSMCrimeStopper @SaultPolice @CanStopCrime @CitySSM @LawEnforceToday @OPP_NER

SAULT STE. MARIE, ON– Crime Stoppers and the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service are asking for your assistance in identifying a suspect in a break and enter. On the 10th of March 2018 at approximately 3:55 am an unidentified male entered the Bell store located on Bruce Street by smashing a door. The unidentified male went to the back…

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Historic Level of Funding for Science North to Benefit Northern Ontario

Historic Level of @ONgov Funding for @ScienceNorth to Benefit #NorthernOntario @GlennThibeault @GreaterSudbury @TourismNorthOnt @NorthernPolicy @ExploreON

SUDBURY, ON – Science North’s growth of programs and activities throughout all of Northern Ontario received significant support with a $16 million funding package from the Ontario Government. The historic level of funding was announced today by Sudbury MPP and Minister of Energy Glenn Thibeault. The funding will be instrumental for Science North to deliver on the five key strategic priorities and…