The latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada for Aug. 3

The latest numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 4:05 p.m. on August 3, 2020:There are 117,031 confirmed cases in Canada._ Quebec: 59,722 confirmed (including 5,683 deaths, 50,886 resolved)_ Ontario: 39,449 confirmed (including 2,778 deaths, 35,539 resolved)_ Alberta: 10,843 confirmed (including 196 deaths, 9,261 resolved)_ British Columbia: 3,641 confirmed (including 195 deaths, 3,168 resolved)_ Saskatchewan: 1,359 confirmed (including 18 deaths, 1,089 resolved)_ Nova Scotia: 1,071 confirmed (including 64 deaths, 1,005 resolved)_ Manitoba: 428 confirmed (including 8 deaths, 337 resolved), 14 presumptive_ Newfoundland and Labrador: 266 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 259 resolved)_ New Brunswick: 170 confirmed (including 2 deaths, 166 resolved)_ Prince Edward Island: 36 confirmed (including 36 resolved)_ Yukon: 14 confirmed (including 11 resolved)_ Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)_ Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 resolved)_ Nunavut: No confirmed cases_ Total: 117,031 (14 presumptive, 117,017 confirmed including 8,947 deaths, 101,775 resolved)This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 3, 2020.The Canadian Press

Government-sanctioned safe supply not enough to get some off fentanyl-laced street drugs

In the morning, David Keeler starts off with a dose of methadone dispensed by a pharmacist. A few hours later, he swallows 28 prescription pills of hydromorphone, a synthetic opioid prescribed by a doctor. By late afternoon, the 44-year-old Victoria man is turning to his own stash of drugs he bought from a dealer. "It just doesn't reach my addiction," Keeler said of the hydromorphone pills he takes every day, which were prescribed through the province's safe supply program.Back in March, new provincial guidelines were issued that gave physicians the go-ahead to more widely prescribe opiates and other substances to those struggling with addiction.In order to qualify for the medication, which is covered by B.C's Pharmacare plan, people have to be at risk of developing a COVID-19 infection and at high risk of overdosing or going through withdrawal. The change was made because of concerns that the pandemic could disrupt the drug supply, along with a desire to have those at risk self-isolate. However four months on, there has been a spike in the number of deadly overdoses and repeated calls for the government to do more to confront the opioid crisis, which was first declared a health emergency in B.C. in 2016.Some, including B.C.'s premier, John Horgan, and the head of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police have been calling for drug decriminalization while others want to see people legally prescribed the same substances they are addicted to. Prescription opioidsKeeler is one of nearly 2,000 people now on hydromorphone in the province, most of whom have been given prescriptions since the safe supply program was rolled out. He started using heroin when he was 14, and at first, he said, the hydromorphone seemed to be reducing his cravings for more drugs, but now, he doesn't think it's having much effect.Some days, he doesn't even take the pills, which is why a stockpile is building up in the supportive housing unit he lives in."Maybe more than half of the people that I know that are on these are looking to sell them," he said. Keeler, who works with the Society of Living Illicit Drug Users (SOLID), equates giving hydromorphone to a serious addict with giving Tylenol to someone who has just had major surgery: It is nowhere near strong enough.He would like to be prescribed heroin."Give people what they need, because if they don't get what they need they are going to go after it."Increased toxicityExperts say the drugs available on the streets have become even more deadly in recent months. In June, 175 people died of overdoses in B.C., which was the highest number in a single month since the province started tracking overdoses. Before that, May set a similarly dismal record with 171 deaths.  According to B.C.'s Coroners Service, fentanyl is detected in more than 80 per cent of deadly overdoses, and toxicology tests between April and June found there was an increase in the number of deaths where "extreme fentanyl concentrations" were found in the bloodstream.  The drug supply, which experts speculate comes by way of the U.S. and China, has been disrupted by the pandemic border closures to non-essential traffic and has become more toxic with not only higher levels of fentanyl but additional substances being added in. Drug testingAllen Custance, a technician and harm reduction worker  with the organization Get Your Drugs Tested, said he normally sees samples of what are called "down" drugs that are powerful depressants and can be a combination of fentanyl, heroin as well as other chemicals. Normally, he sees fentanyl concentrations between five to 10 per cent, but in recent months, he has been seeing some samples of "down" drugs with fentanyl at 20 to 30 per cent. "To most people, that is enough to overdose — even a seasoned user with a higher tolerance," said Custance.He analyzes samples using a piece of equipment called an FTIR spectrometer, which employs an infrared laser to detect the chemical make-up of drugs. Most of the samples come from users and dealers who drop them off at the group's location in east Vancouver, but about a quarter are mailed in from other locations in Canada. In addition to fentanyl, he has been seeing more drugs that have benzodiazepines, tranquilizers that depress the central nervous system.  WATCH | Allen Custance explains what he found when he tested the quality of street drugs:On Vancouver Island, a team from the University of Victoria is also testing drugs and seeing similar trends. Bruce Wallace, an associate professor and scientist with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, said they test about 100 samples a month. The service isn't just about showing which drugs are more potent; it's also about quality control, he says.  "Just as when we go to the grocery store, we want the label to show the product that we are buying."Having the overdose crisis worsen during the global pandemic has caused the province to move urgently on a number of fronts, such as introducing safe supply and moving people living in tent encampments into hotels. However,  Wallace wishes Canada would move toward decriminalization. "[COVID-19] has really shone a light on a lot of the inequities that we have in society and a lot of what hasn't been working in public health" Wallace said.  The drive to decriminalizeDecriminalization would have to be done at a federal level, and Ottawa has not said what it thinks of the push to decriminalize illicit drugs, just that it is committed to harm reduction and treating substance use as a health issue.While the safe supply guidelines are seen as a significant step in B.C., some say there are still widespread challenges. Many of the narcotics being prescribed have to be picked up every day at a pharmacy and while some offer delivery, Dr. Ashley Heaslip believes there are still barriers to access.She says people living in smaller communities may have more difficulty finding a doctor willing to write that kind of prescription, and if somebody is staying in shelters or on the street, it can be difficult to connect with the pharmacy every day. The province was unable to provide data for how many people who signed up for the program are still on it, and Heaslip said those who typically quit taking the prescriptions are without access to housing and additional support. Heaslip, who works with the PHS Community Services Society, says several ideas are being discussed about how to make it easier for people to get and stay on their prescriptions, but she says it is essential that those who use drugs are involved in any decisions.As for Keeler, he is still taking street drugs but said he always tests them first. After speaking with CBC, he was on his way to a memorial for three people who had died of overdoses in Victoria. "175 people in one month. It's ridiculous," he said. "It's your kids, it's your family, it's your friends."WATCH | Keeler would prefer to have safe access to heroin than the government-approved alternatives:

Conservation groups raise concerns about Ontario hunt of cormorants this fall

Conservation groups say they are concerned about an Ontario government decision to allow a hunt of double-crested cormorants across the province this fall.The Ontario ministry of natural resources and forestry announced the hunt on Friday, calling it a "fall harvest," and said it will allow a hunter with an outdoors card and small game licence to kill up to 15 birds a day from Sept. 15 to Dec. 31. Hunters will be allowed to shoot the birds from stationary motorboats.According to the ministry, the rationale for the killing of the birds is that they reduce fish stocks and their droppings damage natural habitat. It says they hurt the livelihoods of commercial fishermen and property owners, hunters and anglers have all complained."The harvest will help address concerns about impacts to local ecosystems by cormorants, a bird that preys on fish, eating a pound a day, and that can damage trees in which they nest and roost," the ministry said in a news release on Friday.Liz White, a director of the non-profit Animal Alliance of Canada and leader of the federally registered Animal Protection Party of Canada, said the alliance and party are opposed to the hunt.White said the hunt is unethical because the birds are not eaten, cruel because many birds will be wounded and will suffer, and scientifically unsound because the birds do not deplete commercial fish stocks."The problem is that the issues that they talk about as justification for the hunt are simply not held up in science," White said.White said cormorants are found where fish are plentiful."What we find out is that where there are a lot of birds, like a lot of cormorants, and other colonial nesting birds, the reason that they are there in great quantities is there is also a very healthy fish population," she said.While cormorants do destroy foliage, with their acidic droppings, known as guano, killing the leaves of trees and changing the composition of vegetation, she said: "The question is, what difference does that make?" White said the hunt, while "pared down" from a 2018 government plan, could devastate a recovered native wildlife species that has been driven to near extinction twice in the past 200 years."We know that is a perilous activity and we believe it is put forward because people don't like the birds," White said.According to the ministry, hunters will have to have "adequate means" to retrieve any bird that is shot, including those injured, and White says it will be impossible for hunters to retrieve birds with damaged beaks and wings because of where they live. They nest on the ground or in trees on islands and peninsulas.White said if every hunter who has a licence is allowed to take 15 birds a day and if only 20,000 do so, the population of cormorants could be wiped out. There are 197,000 holders of small game licences in Ontario.As well, she said the ministry will not be able to enforce its own rules to control the hunt."It begs the question, who hold the controls?" she said.The ministry said it and its partner agencies surveyed cormorant colonies across the Great Lakes and certain inland lakes in Ontario last year. Based on nest counts, it estimates there are a minimum of 143,000 breeding cormorants in 344 colonies."Combined with historical data, trends suggest that cormorant populations are increasing in Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, and Lake Superior and are stable on the St. Lawrence River and Lake Huron," it said in the news release.Steven Price, president of Birds Canada, a non-profit charitable organization that calls itself "Canada's voice for birds," agreed with White that the hunt raises questions and concerns.Price said the hunt is more of a cull. What the province initially planned two years ago was more widespread, of longer duration and during breeding season, he said."While I don't like it in particular, it's better than it was," Price said. "It's at least outside of the breeding season, which makes it consistent with all other hunts, you don't normally hunt during breeding season of an animal, and it will be outside of main cottage country time and boating."But Price said he is concerned because the province has not specified its "conservation objective," the size of what would be considered a reasonable cormorant population. "The question is, if it were a cull, then what is the population size that you're trying to reduce it to and how will you hire experts in order for that to happen? And that's not the case here."The cormorant came close to being endangered over 100 years ago, when birds of all kinds were shot without any control, he said."Cormorants are a success story in the 100 years since then with the elimination of that kind of illegal hunting and the decline in pesticide use. The birds have come back. They have come back in large numbers. Not everyone is happy seeing these large black birds over Lake Ontario, over Lake Erie and cottage country. I happen to enjoy them. Others don't," he said.Price agreed that some people just don't like the bird.Ministry 'taking steps' to help hunters, anglers, fishersThe ministry, for its part, has not yet responded to an email for comment, but John Yakabuski, natural resources and forestry minister, said in the release: "We've heard concerns from property owners, hunters and anglers, and commercial fishers about the kind of damage cormorants have caused in their communities, so we're taking steps to help them deal with any local issues."Yakabuski added: "In large amounts, cormorant droppings can kill trees and other vegetation and destroy traditional nesting habitats for some other colonial water birds, so it's critical that we take action to strike a healthy balance in local ecosystems."Lauren Tonelli, resource management specialist of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters, said the group was pleased to hear the news of the hunt. The federation has 100,000 members, subscribers and supporters."We've been asking the government to do something about overabundant cormorants for almost two decades now," Tonelli said on Sunday. "We're very pleased to see that they acknowledged that overabundant cormorants is an issue and they are finally taking some initial steps in dealing with them."But she said the scale of the hunt is not extensive, despite what animal protection groups say."It's a pretty minor hunt, to be honest. The season lines up with pretty much every other waterfowl species in Ontario," she said. "We really don't think that this hunt will have a huge impact on the population. We really see this as a starting point and a way to recognize that something needs to be done and it gives individuals a means to begin to reduce their own local concerns."Toronto's Tommy Thompson Park is said to have one of the largest populations of cormorants in North America.

What you need to know about COVID-19 in Ottawa on Monday, Aug. 3

Recent developments: * The Heron Road care clinic, one of the city's COVID-19 testing sites, is closed Monday.What's the latest?Ottawa has four new confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to numbers published by Ottawa Public Health on Monday.The last time Ottawa Public Health reported numbers in the single digits was on July 17, when there were seven new cases. The care clinic on Moodie Drive and the centre at the Brewer Arena are open Monday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for people seeking a COVID-19 test. The clinic on Heron Road is closed.How many cases are there?There have been 2,559 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa since the pandemic began. The number of deaths is at 264, with the first in more than a month announced Tuesday. The person who died was in their 40s.The majority of cases in the city — 2,083 — are classified as resolved.In all, public health officials have reported more than 3,950 cases across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, and more than 3,300 cases are resolved.COVID-19 has killed 102 people in the region outside Ottawa: 52 in Leeds, Grenville and Lanark counties, 17 in other parts of eastern Ontario and 33 in the Outaouais.What's open and closed?Ottawa is now in Stage 3 of Ontario's reopening plan, which means many more businesses are allowed to reopen, including dine-in restaurants and movie theatres.Quebec has similar rules, with its distanced gathering cap going up to 250 people in public venues next week. More national museums are opening to the public. The Canada Agriculture and Food Museum opened Saturday.Elementary students in Ontario will be heading back to school full time come September, while most high school students will split their time between the classroom and online learning. Quebec's back-to-school plans will bring students to classrooms again this fall.WATCH | Ontario school plan missing key recommendations from experts, teacher saysDistancing and isolatingThe coronavirus primarily spreads through droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. People don't need to have symptoms to be contagious.That means physical distancing measures such as working from home, meeting others outdoors as much as possible and keeping distance from anyone they don't live with or have in their circle, including when you have a mask on.Indoor gatherings of up to 50 people and outdoor gatherings of up to 100 are now allowed in Ontario. People should still keep their distance from people not in their circle.Masks are now mandatory in indoor public settings in all of eastern Ontario and Quebec, where transit officials and taxi drivers are now required to bar access to users over age 12 who refuse to wear a mask.Masks are recommended outdoors when you can't stay the proper distance from others.Ottawa's medical officer of health said in mid-July people should be ready for COVID-19 social restrictions well into 2021 or 2022.WATCH | Which Canadians would get the COVID-19 vaccine first?Anyone who has symptoms or travelled recently outside Canada must self-isolate for at least 14 days.Specifically in Ottawa, anyone waiting for a COVID-19 test result must self-isolate at least until they know the result.The same goes for anyone in Ontario who's been in contact with someone who's tested positive or is presumed to have COVID-19.Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health strongly urges self-isolation for people with weakened immune systems and Ottawa Public Health (OPH) recommends people over 70 stay home as much as possible. What are the symptoms of COVID-19?COVID-19 can range from a cold-like illness to a severe lung infection, with common symptoms including fever, a dry cough, vomiting and the loss of taste or smell. Less common symptoms include chills, headaches and pinkeye. The Ontario government says in rare cases, children can develop a rash.If you have severe symptoms, call 911.Where to get testedIn eastern Ontario:In Ottawa any resident who feels they need a test, even if they are not showing symptoms, can now be tested at one of three sites.Inuit in Ottawa can call the Akausivik Inuit Family Health Team at 613-740-0999 for service, including testing, in Inuktitut or English on weekdays.Testing has also expanded for local residents and employees who work in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit area.There is a drive-thru centre in Casselman that can handle 200 tests a day and assessment centres in Hawkesbury and Winchester that don't require people to call ahead.Others in Alexandria, Rockland and Cornwall require an appointment.In Kingston, the Leon's Centre is now hosting the city's test site. Find it at Gate 2.Napanee's test centre is open daily for people who call for an appointment.The public health unit in the Belleville area is asking people to call it, their family doctor or Telehealth if they have symptoms or questions.You can arrange a test in Bancroft, Belleville or Trenton by calling the centre and in Picton by texting or calling.The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark unit asks you to get tested if you have a symptom or concerns about exposure.It has a walk-in site in Brockville at the Memorial Centre and testing sites in Smiths Falls and Almonte which require an appointment.Renfrew County is providing pop-up testing in five communities this week and home testing under some circumstances.Residents should call their family doctor and those without access to a family doctor can call 1-844-727-6404 to register for a test or if they have health questions, COVID-19-related or not.In western Quebec:Outaouais residents now can get a walk-in test in Gatineau five days a week at 135 blvd. Saint-Raymond and at recurring clinics in communities such as Maniwaki, Val-des-Monts and Fort-Coulonge.The clinic is closed Monday.They can call 1-877-644-4545 if they have other questions or to make an appointment.First Nations:Local communities have declared states of emergency, put in a curfew or both.Akwesasne has had 14 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Ten of them are active as of Monday, most linked back to a gathering on an island with a non-resident who wasn't showing symptoms at the time.It has a mobile COVID-19 test site available by appointment only. Anyone returning to the community on the Canadian side of the international border who's been farther than 80 kilometres away is asked to self-isolate for 14 days. It's 100 miles or 160 kilometres away on the American side.Anyone in Tyendinaga who's interested in a test can call 613-967-3603 to talk to a nurse. Face coverings are now mandatory in its public buildings.People in Pikwakanagan can book an appointment for a COVID-19 test by calling 613-625-2259.Kitigan Zibi is planning for an Aug. 29 election with changes depending on the status of the pandemic at that time. It plans on starting to open schools and daycares next month.For more information

North Korea has 'probably' developed nuclear devices to fit ballistic missiles, U.N. report says

North Korea is pressing on with its nuclear weapons program and several countries believe it has "probably developed miniaturized nuclear devices to fit into the warheads of its ballistic missiles," according to a confidential U.N. report. The report by an independent panel of experts monitoring U.N. sanctions said the countries, which it did not identify, believed North Korea's past six nuclear tests had likely helped it develop miniaturized nuclear devices. Pyongyang has not conducted a nuclear test since September 2017.

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  North Korea likely has miniature nuclear warheads, UN report finds

  The Telegraph
• NORTH KOREA CONTINUES TO DEVELOP NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM, SAYS CONFIDENTIAL U.N. SANCTIONS MONITORS REPORT SEEN BY REUTERS

  Reuters

Rival drugmakers launch joint trial of medicines for COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is an "all hands on deck moment," David Reese, Amgen's research and development chief told Reuters. "We wanted a trial to be able to quickly sift through multiple agents and prioritize." The study is a collaboration among pharmaceutical industry members of the recently-formed COVID Research & Development Alliance, Quantum Leap Healthcare Collaborative, a partnership of medical researchers and investors, and the Food and Drug Administration.

Norway suspends cruise ship arrivals with 100+ people on board after virus outbreak

Norway stopped all cruise ships with more than 100 people on board from disembarking at its ports from Monday, after an outbreak of COVID-19 was reported late last week on a ship that had already disembarked at the port of Tromsoe. At least 41 passengers and crew who were on board the cruise ship MS Roald Amundsen, operated by Norwegian company Hurtigruten, have so far tested positive for the coronavirus, while hundreds more on board were told to self-isolate for 10 days, local public health officials said on Sunday.

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  Fresh blow for cruise industry as passenger on ship in the South Pacific tests positive

  The Telegraph
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  UK cruises cancelled after coronavirus outbreak on Norwegian ship

  The Telegraph

First cancer diagnosed in dinosaur fossil hints at communal life

EDMONTON — It's a diagnosis that took 75 million years.Canadian researchers who included specialists from surgeons to paleontologists have identified what they say is the first known cancer in a dinosaur. The conclusion not only sheds light on the history of what is still one of humanity's most feared diseases, but also hints at how the ancient lizards may have lived with — and protected — each other."Dinosaurs might seem like these mythical creatures, larger than life and powerful," said the Royal Ontario Museum's David Evans, one of the co-authors of a paper on the finding published in The Lancet."But they were living, breathing animals that were afflicted with some of the same injuries and diseases that we see in animals and humans today."The Centrosaur fossil was originally collected in the 1970s from a bone bed in Alberta's badlands. The area has provided hundreds of samples of the horned dinosaur.Paleontologists originally assumed a growth on a leg bone was evidence of a break. That's where it stayed until a chance conversation between Evans and Mark Crowther, chairman of McMaster University's medical faculty and a dinosaur enthusiast.The two got talking about evidence of dino diseases. That led to an expedition to Alberta's Royal Tyrrell Museum, which has hundreds of fossils that show signs of injury.The team eventually focused its attention on one fossilized leg bone.It was examined by cancer specialists, subjected to microscopic analysis and a high-resolution CT X-ray scan."This is a bone-forming lesion — it's laying down bone," said co-author Seper Ekhtiari, an orthopedic surgery resident at McMaster."(That) eliminated infection right away because infection doesn't form new bone."It wasn't a repaired break either. New bone around fractures forms in predictable layers. "The bone is very disorganized and doesn't have any clear pattern," Ekhtiari said. The growth extended all the way down the bone, which a fracture scar wouldn't do. Holes in the fossil suggested large, disorderly blood vessels, which cancerous tissues are known to develop.Finally, the fossil was compared to a human leg bone with bone cancer."It's striking how similar the microscope slides are," said Ekhtiari. The conclusion? Osteosarcoma, a cancer that still afflicts more than three out of every million humans today.Ekhtiari said the dinosaur was very sick."A tumour that had extended this far in a human would almost certainly have metastasized elsewhere. It's very likely the individual would have been in pain."Ekhtiari found himself feeling for his ancient patient."We all share a similar body plan and we all share a common ancestor. This would have been a gentle herbivorous animal trying to keep up with the herd."And yet, cancer didn't kill it. Nor did a hungry meat-eating dinosaur preying on the slow and the weak. Because the fossil was found with so many others, Evans is confident the sick dino died with large numbers of its fellows in a natural event such as a flood, which raises an intriguing possibility."We know these dinosaurs were highly social," he said. "Many horned dinosaurs lived in big herds. They were often living with members of their extended family."There's a benefit to living with those groups. It wouldn't be surprising to me that the herd would have protected these sick and weak and lame individuals."It would be completely speculative," Evans said. "But it wouldn't be impossible."This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2020— Follow @row1960 on Twitter Bob Weber, The Canadian PressNote to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version misspelled Seper Ekhtiari's last name.

COVID-19 sparks new Ottawa business to keep chefs, DJs employed

A new Ottawa business born out of the COVID-19 pandemic is finding ways to help people like DJs and chefs stay employed, as restaurants remain restricted and large gatherings are postponed.Andrew Carter, one of the creators behind Room Service, says his company provides a range of event services so customers can order anything from dinner and drinks on their stoop to a mini-wedding reception in their backyard."We wanted to give people options," Carter told CBC's Ottawa Morning host Robyn Bresnahan last week."We kind of looked at it as a concierge service. Someone that would assist people with their events."Carter, who has been a DJ in Ottawa for 20 years and previously owned a food truck, said he saw a number of friends and colleagues in the city struggle during the shutdown."They went from having a lot of things to do, to having zero things to do. So to be able to help them in the process as well, that was a must," he said.Room Service provides a portal for customers to hire DJs and event planners, order meals for delivery or curbside pickup, rent a pop-up bar and even get ideas for gifts, decorations and website design. When COVID hit, Carter was working with Think Lunch, which — in addition to running a number of retail locations —provides corporate catering and cafeteria services to Ottawa offices. As business dried up for corporate catering, Carter co-founded Room Service, and was able to use the Think Lunch kitchen space on City Centre Drive to launch the project. One of the main goals, Carter said, was to help out the chefs that weren't employed during the pandemic. He reached out to some he knew —including Nick Berolo, previously at Sur-Lie, and Razmon Poisson, a former chef at Navarra — and proposed a profit-sharing model. They accepted. About six chefs have rotated through the kitchen so far, and the service proved popular with Ottawans longing for the restaurant experience at home."We're constantly looking for new chefs and for new relationships to form," he said. "We really tried to make it a model where we include everyone who's kind of affected."While business has become a bit quieter since restaurants reopened, Carter said he sees the potential for Room Service to continue. If there is a second wave of the pandemic, he said, "We'd be more than prepared."

Book Review: Hank Phillippi Ryan teeters on the improbable

“The First to Lie,” by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Forge)The first liar we meet in Hank Phillippi Ryan’s “First to Lie” is Nora, a pharmaceutical representative whose job is to push Monifan, a drug that can increase fertility in women who have difficulty conceiving. But Nora is secretly pursuing her own agenda.Next come Ellie, an investigative reporter, and Meg, her ethically-challenged assistant. Ellie thinks Monifan causes permanent infertility in some patients and that the manufacturer, Pharminex, has been covering it up.Then, in a series of flashbacks, we meet Brooke, a pregnant teenage girl who can’t forgive her mother, husband of Pharminex’s owner, for tricking her into swallowing a pill that induces abortion. And Lacy, the wife of Brooke’s brother, who is having trouble conceiving and is persuaded to try Monifan—with devastating results.By the time we are introduced to Nora’s and Ellie’s boyfriends, the reader realizes that nearly every character is lying about something and that some them are not who they pretend to be.The story turns darker when women with knowledge of Pharminex’s deception die in suspicious accidents. As Ellie’s investigation reaches a climax, the true identities and motives of the characters are revealed in a series of improbable twists, some of which readers nevertheless are likely to see coming.In the closing chapters, the tale teeters on the preposterous, but Ryan, a veteran thriller writer with five Agatha Awards to her credit, holds things together most of the way with her fine prose, vivid characterizations, and an uncanny ability to keep all the balls in the air.A working investigative reporter herself, Ryan skillfully explores the consequences of deception and the dangers inherent in violating journalistic ethics. In the end, however, readers are likely to find the last few twists preposterous.___Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including “The Dread Line.”Bruce Desilva, The Associated Press

How museums can play a role in the fight against future pandemics

The doors of The Exploration Place in Prince George are still closed to the public, but its CEO says the COVID-19 pandemic is a reminder that museums play an important role in preparing society for similar challenges in the future. Tracy Calogheros, who is also president of the Canadian Association of Science Centres, says when such facilities get involved with kids at an early age, it can steer them toward careers in the STEAM fields — that's science, technology, engineering, arts, and math."I do think that our museums and our science centres, our galleries, our zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, those are the places that children are getting those first experiences with cultural institutions that are setting them up for a lifetime of success," Calogheros told Daybreak North host Wil Fundal this week. It may seem like a huge leap to make from a six-year-old thinking about dinosaur bones to research scientists trying to find a cure for a virus, but Calogheros says even something as simple as The Exploration Place's slime-making activities can lead kids to view life through a scientific lens. "Once you've caught that bug, it's pretty hard to get rid of it," she says. "And that is where you see kids going into medical fields or becoming an astronaut."Calogheros says The Exploration Place has been unable to reopen so far because of its status as a Class A museum. That means the facility's air handling system is a closed unit that maintains stable heat and humidity levels to protect the museum's artifacts. "That means I don't have a single window in that building that opens. And when you're talking about the novel coronavirus, you have to consider the fact that it is passable through the air," says Calogheros. The hands-on interactive exhibits are another potential source of virus transmission, she says. So until they solve the problem of how to open the physical building safely, museum staff are looking at how to keep people engaged in other ways. "We're spending a lot of time out there in the digital world and we're now expanding that into offering physical programming in other communities and hopefully in schools this fall," she says. "We've engaged more with people online than we normally would see through our doors in a year since we closed the physical building on March 13."Calogheros says she's learned that such online offerings are something people in Prince George and further afield are hungry for."I do think that we will continue to find ways to offer those individualized and personalized digital experiences," she says.She encourages people to check out the centre's YouTube channel, where they have been doing live videos with experts. The Exploration Place is still planning to go ahead with its Rotten Pumpkin Festival in person on November 1, barring any unforeseen changes."You'll be able to fling your rotten pumpkins from our giant catapult," she says. "And hopefully you'll see us in your classes this fall when kids do get back to school."

A different race: Regatta committee holds run in lieu of cancelled rowing event

For the first time in 80 years. there will be no crowds, vendors or races at Quidi Vidi Lake in St. John's on the first Wednesday of August, as the annual Royal St. John's Regatta is cancelled amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But organizers haven't called it quits entirely. This year, things are moving to dry land to keep the spirit of healthy living alive. The Beyond the Pond Royal Regatta Run started on Friday and ends on Wednesday, challenging registered athletes to run, walk or bike a one, five or 10 kilometre route."It's a solo event to keep people in their bubbles," Noelle Thomas-Kennell, the Royal St. John's Regatta Committee's vice-president and captain of the course told CBC Radio's Newfoundland Morning.  "We really just wanted to keep people engaged in our community, in the rowing community, give them something active to do and a bit of a fundraiser as well to keep us afloat."Financial hitThe Royal St. John's Regatta Committee is a non-profit organization, and like many others, it hasn't been immune to the financial strain caused by the global pandemic, said the organization's president, Brad Power.Because of the event's long-standing tradition, the strength of the organization itself and the continued support of their sponsors, some staff were able to be kept on board this summer at a reduced capacity, Power said. "Unfortunately, we didn't entirely [bring] back our outside staff. Typically at this stage we'd have between eight and 10 people working at Quidi Vidi Lake for the duration of the summer," he said."Right now we have one, and one other individual that just works a couple hours a week. We've taken a major hit like everyone else in the sector."  And while the annual holiday was moved to Monday by the city of St. John's this year, Power said he still plans to be pond-side on Wednesday to take part in the run.All told, there are 541 entrants into this year's Beyond the Pond Royal Regatta Run.On deckMeanwhile, Power said the boathouse at Quidi Vidi Lake may reopen later in August under the same provincial public health regulations as gyms and fitness centres. The plan is to offer a training program to rowers who are missing out on their laps on the lake this season."We'll be able to have some type of land-based training program later this summer, but unfortunately, we won't get in the boats because of the inability for us to socially distance seven people in a small rowing shell."Read more articles from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador

White House adviser Navarro suggests Microsoft divest China holdings

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro suggested on Monday that Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O> could divest its holdings in China if it were to buy the Chinese owned short-video app TikTok. "So the question is, is Microsoft going to be compromised?" Navarro said in an interview with CNN. President Donald Trump has agreed to give China's ByteDance 45 days to negotiate a sale of popular short-video app TikTok to Microsoft, three people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

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  Trump could ban more apps after TikTok fallout, Secretary of State hints

  The Independent
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  Snap Stock Falls As Microsoft Considers TikTok Acquisition

  Investor's Business Daily