Meteorologist Jessie Uppal has the details.
Hello, royal watchers. This is a special edition of The Royal Fascinator, your dose of royal news and analysis. Reading this online? Sign up here to get this delivered to your inbox. The revelations just kept coming Sunday night as Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, gave Oprah Winfrey — and a worldwide television audience — their view on why they had to leave the upper echelons of the Royal Family. The reasons were many, but amid all they had to say, there was one statement that stood out and seems particularly serious for the House of Windsor: Meghan's declaration that a senior member of the Royal Family had worries about the colour of the skin of their first child before he was born. In an interview Monday on CBS This Morning, Winfrey said Harry told her neither Queen Elizabeth nor Prince Philip were part of conversations about Archie's skin colour. "I think it's very damaging — the idea that a senior member of the Royal Family had expressed concern about what Archie might look like," Carolyn Harris, a Toronto-based royal author and historian, said in an interview late Sunday night. Meghan told Winfrey the concern had been relayed to her by Harry, and when questioned further on it, Harry refused to offer more specifics, saying it's a "conversation I'm never going to share." And that, Harris suggests, speaks to the seriousness of the matter. "It's very clear that Harry didn't want to go into details feeling that it would be too damaging for the monarchy." WATCH | Royal Family expressed concerns about son's skin colour, Meghan tells Oprah: It will take time to digest the impact of all that Harry and Meghan had to say to Winfrey. But some early comments in the British media this morning suggest Harry and Meghan's account will have a profound impact. "They have revealed the terrible strains inside the palace. They have drawn a picture of unfeeling individuals lost in an uncaring institution. They have spoken of racism within the Royal Family. This was a devastating interview," the BBC's royal correspondent, Jonny Dymond, wrote in an online analysis. "But Harry describing his brother and father as 'trapped,' and Meghan revealing that she repeatedly sought help within the palace only to be rebuffed is a body blow to the institution." 'A damning allegation' The Guardian reported that Harry and Meghan telling Winfrey of conversations in the Royal Family about Archie's skin colour is "a damning allegation that will send shockwaves through the institution and send relations with the palace to a new low." Many themes and issues developed over the two-hour broadcast, which sprinkled lighter moments — they're expecting a girl, they have rescue chickens and Archie, age almost two, has taken to telling people to "drive safe" — with much more serious concerns, including the lack of support they say they received, particularly as Meghan had suicidal thoughts. WATCH | Meghan had suicidal thoughts during royal life: "A theme that emerges again and again, and it's something that Harry explicitly states in the interview, is the Royal Family being concerned with the opinion of the tabloid press," said Harris. "This may very well have influenced decisions not to speak out about the way Meghan was being treated and that may have influenced some other decisions as well." One of those might be the question of security, something that was of considerable concern to the couple when they learned royal support for it would be withdrawn. "The Royal Family has frequently in the past received bad press regarding minor members ... receiving security,"said Harris. 'Negative headlines' "There were a lot of negative headlines regarding Beatrice and Eugenie continuing to receive security and their father's [Prince Andrew's] insistence they receive security despite being comparatively minor members of the Royal Family who do not undertake public engagements representing the Queen." There was also a sense out of Sunday's interview that issues that troubled the Royal Family in the past may still be a worry now. "Even in the 21st century after all of the problems that the Royal Family encountered in the 1990s with the breakdowns in the marriages of Prince Charles and Prince Andrew … there still doesn't seem to be a consistent means of mentoring new members of the Royal Family," said Harris. Meghan said she had to Google the lyrics for God Save the Queen, and was filled in at the last minute about having to curtsy to Elizabeth just before meeting her for the first time. Queen Elizabeth, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, pose for a picture at a Buckingham Palace reception following the final Queen's Young Leaders Awards ceremony in London on June 26, 2018. Both Meghan and Harry spoke warmly of the Queen during the interview Sunday night.(John Stillwell/Reuters) Throughout the interview, Harry and Meghan repeatedly expressed respect and admiration for the Queen, if not for how the Royal Family as an institution operates. But there is considerable murkiness around just who may be responsible for some of the more serious issues they raised. "We know they respect the Queen and have a good personal relationship with the Queen. We know that Meghan had a conflict with Kate but says Kate apologized and Meghan forgave her and she doesn't think Kate's a bad person," said Harris. Lacking 'specific details' "But when it comes to who made racist comments about Archie's appearance or who was dismissive directly of Meghan's mental health, [on] that we don't have specific details." High-profile royal interviews such as this — particularly one by Harry's mother Diana, in 1995 — have a track record of not turning out as the royal interviewees may have intended, and it remains to be seen the lasting impact of this one. Harris sees parallels with Diana's interview, as she "spoke frankly" about a lack of support from the family, and felt that she had been let down by Prince Charles. Meghan spoke with Winfrey before they were joined by Harry.(Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese/Reuters) Harry talked of hoping to repair his relationship with his father — "I will always love him but there's a lot of hurt that happened" — but said he felt really let down, and noted a time when his father wasn't taking his calls. Harris expects the interview will prompt further critical scrutiny of Charles, and Harry's older brother Prince William. The relationship with William has already been under intense scrutiny, and is clearly still a delicate matter for Harry, who hesitated noticeably before responding as Winfrey pressed him on it. "Time heals all things, hopefully," Harry said. How Buckingham Palace responds to all this remains to be seen. Generally, the public approach in matters such as this is silence, and a determination to be seen as carrying on with regular duties. Whether a member of the family might make a more informal comment — say in response to a question from someone at a public event — also remains to be seen. WATCH | Meghan says Royal Family failed to protect her and Prince Harry: But from what did emerge Sunday evening, there is a sense that whatever efforts the House of Windsor has made to put a more modern face on the monarchy, they appear not to have yielded the fruit that might have been hoped. "There's been some elements of modernization, but it's very clear that the institution has difficulty adapting to the needs of individuals who marry into the Royal Family," said Harris. "It's clear that Meghan came away from her experiences feeling that she was not supported or mentored in her new role." Sign up here to have The Royal Fascinator newsletter land in your inbox every other Friday. I'm always happy to hear from you. Send your ideas, comments, feedback and notes to royalfascinator@cbc.ca. Problems with the newsletter? 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When Elon Musk's Tesla became the biggest name to reveal it had added bitcoin to its coffers last month, many pundits were swift to call a corporate rush towards the booming cryptocurrency. Yet there's unlikely to be a concerted crypto charge any time soon, say many finance executives and accountants loath to risk balance sheets and reputations on a highly volatile and unpredictable asset that confounds convention. "When I did my treasury exams, the thing we were told as number one objective is to guarantee security and liquidity of the balance sheet," said Graham Robinson, a partner in international tax and treasury at PwC and adviser to the UK's Association for Corporate Treasurers.
Sunday's Games(All Times Eastern) NHLN.Y. Islanders 5 Buffalo 2 Tampa Bay 6 Chicago 3 Carolina 4 Florida 2New Jersey 1 Boston 0Washington 3 Philadelphia 1Pittsburgh 5 New York Rangers 1Nashville 4 Dallas 3 (SO)Ottawa 4 Calgary 3 (SO)---NBAAll-Star GameTeam LeBron 170 Team Durant 150---AHLHershey 4 Binghamton 3Rockford 4 Iowa 3Bakersfield 5 Ontario 1---MLB Spring TrainingPittsburgh 13 Baltimore 1Minnesota 8 Tampa Bay 4Detroit 5 Toronto 1St. Louis 8 Houston 5Atlanta 5 Boston 4N.Y. Yankees 4 Philadelphia 0Miami 4 N.Y. Mets 4Colorado 1 Chicago White Sox 0Oakland 9 Cleveland 4San Francisco 9 Cincinnati 4Texas 4 L.A. Dodgers 3Arizona 5 Chicago Cubs 4Kansas City 4 San Diego 3L.A. Angels 6 Seattle 2 The Canadian Press
WATERFORD, Pa. — Jill Biden sees a teachable moment in the depths of the coronavirus pandemic. The first lady sat in a socially distanced circle in the library at Fort LeBoeuf Middle School in Pennsylvania, listening and taking notes as parents expressed relief that the school had reopened and their kids were back in the classroom. One mother talked about the “bumpy patches” of online learning and said reopening “has been so to the T” that she doesn't worry about her son and daughter. Another mom said the district included parent input and she was comfortable her children were in a “safe environment.” A teacher herself, Biden praised the small circle of parents, teachers and administrators for working together to help reopen Fort LeBoeuf. And she repeated a message she had delivered earlier that day while visiting Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Meriden, Connecticut. “We've been through really tough, hard times, but I think the one good thing about educators that I love — and that includes the cafeteria workers, the bus drivers, the teachers, everyone involved — is we’ve all learned from this," Biden said of the pandemic and its emotional, social and human toll. “We’re all going to take everything that we’ve learned and are going to turn it into opportunity to make things better for students as we move forward," she said. ___ The first lady seems intent on turning every aspect of her new job into an opportunity, for that matter, especially anything related to her triple passions for education, fighting cancer and supporting military families. A few days after she became first lady, Biden told governors' spouses during a virtual meeting at the White House that her new platform is “one that I would never let go to waste.” She's long been focused on education, having taught at a high school, a psychiatric hospital and community colleges for more than three decades. She's still teaching, virtually from the White House, and pining for the day she can go back to the classroom. Finding a cure for cancer also motivates her and President Joe Biden. The couple lost son Beau to brain cancer in 2015 at age 46. Her parents died of cancer and one of her sisters had a stem cell transplant. Doctors also gave the dreaded breast cancer diagnosis to four of her girlfriends within a one-year period in the 1990s. The Bidens also advocate for service members and their families, an appreciation that stems from Beau Biden's service in the Delaware Army National Guard, including a deployment to Iraq. Jill Biden intends to revive a military family support program that she led with former first lady Michelle Obama when Biden's husband was President Barack Obama's vice-president. Jill Biden quickly set her agenda as first lady by highlighting all three of her longtime causes in her first weeks. She has been busy with virtual meetings, teaching her community college English class, official travel, running errands in the Washington area and moving the family’s dogs into the White House. Even the light blue scrunchie she wore in her hair has gone viral. Biden, known for springing surprises and practical jokes, also is intent on injecting some levity into things as her husband faces daunting crises: She woke him up to show him giant hearts she had displayed on the White House front lawn for Valentine's Day. “She’s off to a fast start, and I think a very solid one,” said Myra Gutin, author of “The President’s Partner: The First Lady in the Twentieth Century.” ___ The first lady is also keeping a robust travel schedule despite the pandemic. Her first official outing was to a non-profit community health centre in Washington to highlight services for cancer patients. From there, she made a detour to personally deliver chocolate chip cookies to National Guard troops stationed at the U.S. Capitol. She recently travelled to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond to tour its Massey Cancer Center, where researchers study the socioeconomic and cultural factors that contribute to disparities in cancer outcomes. In the coming days, Biden plans to visit U.S. military installations in Washington state and California and hear from families about their needs. Biden also met virtually with the leaders of teachers’ unions, the spouses of defence officials and governors, military kids and their teachers, and government cancer researchers, among others. She sent prerecorded remarks to several conferences, and taped a public service commercial with Champ and Major, the family German shepherds, urging people to wear face masks. Tammy Vigil, author of “Melania & Michelle: First Ladies in a New Era,” said Biden's experience as the spouse of a longtime U.S. senator and vice-president was an asset that helped her quickly put together a staff. She also didn't need time to figure out the issues she wanted to focus on. ___ There apparently are no incognito errand runs for Jill Biden. Unlike some recent first ladies who tried to hide their identities on unofficial outings in the Washington area, as Michelle Obama once did on a shopping run to Target, Jill Biden goes out as herself. Stephen Bota said he knew a VIP visit was in the offing when plainclothes U.S. Secret Service agents showed up unannounced at his DuPont Circle newsstand in late January, but they left him to guess about who it would be. Hours later, Jill Biden walked through the door. “I was kind of, ’Oh my God, it’s the first lady,” Bota, an immigrant from Kenya who owns The Newsroom, recalled in an interview. He and his employees — just his wife and sister-in-law — are featured in a photo with the first lady now on display in the store. “I told her that we are so grateful that she came to see us,” Bota said. Biden also bought coffee at Brewer's Cafe in Richmond and confections at The Sweet Lobby on Capitol Hill, both of them Black-owned. The president, for his part, stopped his motorcade after church one Sunday for son Hunter Biden to pick up a bagel order. “She seems more inviting,” Vigil said, noting that everyone can relate to running errands. With the purchases, the Bidens appear to be encouraging support for small businesses, which generate most of the jobs in the U.S. but are struggling to survive the pandemic. They also seem to be signalling that they will be participants in city life. Former President Donald Trump went only to his hotel near the White House or his golf club in northern Virginia. For dinner in a city with a robust restaurant scene, he opted to dine exclusively at the hotel restaurant. His wife, Melania Trump, never made a show of outings in the Washington area in an unofficial capacity. ___ After Jill Biden released a photo of herself at the counter of The Sweet Lobby, the boutique bakery wasn't the only thing that became an instant hit. The powder blue scrunchie holding up the first lady's hair went viral. Biden said she had no idea until daughter Ashley called to tell her. “I said, ‘What scrunchie?’ I didn't know what she was talking about,” the first lady told talk-show host Kelly Clarkson during an interview at the White House. “I still don't understand it.” Darlene Superville, The Associated Press
Lebanon's president told the army and security forces on Monday to clear roadblocks after a week of protests over a collapsing economy and paralysed government, but the army chief warned that troops should not get sucked into the political deadlock. President Michel Aoun issued the call to open up the roads across the country after a meeting with top officials while the army's top commander held a separate meeting with military commanders at which he stressed the right to peaceful protest. Army chief General Joseph Aoun also berated Lebanon's sectarian-based politicians for their handling of the crisis, warning of an unstable security situation.
Née en 1892 à Lisbon, dans le Maine, soeur Marie-Raphaël (Amélie Bérubé) des Soeurs dominicaines de l’Enfant-Jésus décède à l’âge de 87 ans. Le parc de la rue Le Mercier à Matane rappelle son nom. En 1935, elle fonde le premier hôpital dans l’ancien Hôtel Belle Plage vacant depuis 1933 avec 30 chambres meublées. Elle l’a dirigé jusqu’en 1943. Rappelée à Québec Alors que sont entreprises des démarches pour la construction de ce qui deviendra, en 1950, l’actuel hôpital, soeur Marie-Raphaël est rappelée à Québec pour occuper le poste d’économe générale de sa communauté. À travers ses occupations, elle trouve le temps de fonder, en 1956 à Québec, le Pavillon Saint-Dominique des Soeurs dominicaines, un centre de soins de longue durée. Tant de bonheur Le 6 décembre 1975, à l’occasion d’une cérémonie soulignant le 40e anniversaire de l’arrivée des Soeurs dominicaines à Matane, soeur Marie-Raphaël déclare : « Nous avons goûté tant de bonheur dans ce milieu choisi (…) Si les premières heures ont eu des souffrances, elles ont été submergées par la bienveillance et l’aide de ceux qui nous facilitaient la tâche ». En 1824, augmentation d’une lieue de front du territoire de la seigneurie par le comte Dalhousie, gouverneur du Canada, en faveur de Jane McCallum, et de ses enfants issus de Simon Fraser. Donc à trois lieues et demie de front. En 1892, élection générale au Parlement de Québec; le conservateur Edmund James Flynn (1847-1927) s’empare du comté de Matane. Lorsque le premier ministre du Québec, Louis-Olivier Taillon démissionna de ses fonctions en juin 1896, il est désigné premier ministre et commissaire des Travaux publics du 11 mai 1896 au 24 mai 1897. Né à Percé, il est le fils de James Flynn, pêcheur, et d’Elizabeth Tostevin. Réélu dans Gaspé en 1897 puis en 1900, élu dans Nicolet. Il ne s’est pas représenté en 1904. Chef de l’Opposition de 1897 à 1904, il a été, enfin, candidat conservateur défait dans Dorchester aux élections fédérales de 1908. En 1909, engagement de Luc Duret comme constable spécial à 10 $ par mois pour remplacer Félix Desrosiers et Charles Bouffard révoqués. En 1992, le traversier Camille-Marcoux parvient à quitter le port de Matane après avoir été immobilisé 9 jours par la présence d’une banquise de 7 mètres d’épaisseur. Romain Pelletier, Initiative de journalisme local, Monmatane.com
Ontario pharmacists start a COVID-19 vaccine program this week at 330 locations to provide the AstraZeneca vaccine to customers aged 60 to 64 as lockdown restrictions ease in two major regions.
The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd was delayed until at least Tuesday morning as the judge contended with a last-minute order by a higher court to reconsider adding an additional murder charge. Chauvin appeared in court dressed in a navy blue suit and tie, a white shirt and a black face mask, jotting notes in a yellow legal pad on the table before him. Judge Peter Cahill of the Hennepin County district court has set aside three weeks for jury selection alone, mindful of the difficulties finding impartial Minneapolitans in a case that has convulsed a nation and in which an image of the victim — a selfie of Floyd faintly smiling — has become an international icon of racial justice.
CALGARY — Drake Batherson scored the game-winning goal in a four-round shootout to give the Ottawa Senators a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary. Connor Brown, Ryan Dzingel and Colin White each scored a goal for the Senators (9-17-1) in regulation. Tim Stutzle also scored a shootout goal. Mark Giordano, Johnny Gaudreau, and Noah Hanifin scored for Calgary (11-12-3). Matthew Tkachuk added a shootout goal of his own in the loss.Matt Murray made 30 saves for Ottawa. Jacob Markstrom made 18 saves for Calgary. Brown scored the first goal of the game with 6:12 to play in the first. He fired the puck from behind the right face off circle. The puck redirected off a Flames defenceman before sliding through Markstrom's legs. Dzingel scored for the second consecutive game to give his team a 2-0 advantage before the intermission. He finished a two-on-one play, taking a pass from Chris Tierney before tapping the puck past Markstrom. Ottawa Senators forward Austin Watson and Calgary Flames forward Zac Rinaldo fought each other within the opening three minutes of the second period, in the hopes of sparking their respective teams. It worked, briefly, for the Flames. Giordano scored his third of year 88 seconds later, firing a shot that deflected off Senators' forward Josh Norris before beating Murray.But the Senators would restore their two-goal advantage thanks to Colin White's seventh goal of the season less than four minutes later. Gaudreau scored in the third period to bring the Flames, once again, within a goal. It was his 11th of the season. The Flames would finally even the scoreline thanks to a goal from Hanifin with over eight minutes to go in regulation. It was the second goal in two games for the Flames defenceman.Calgary thought they had the game won later in the third as Brown tried to give the Senators the lead with his second of the night. With Markstrom out of position, the puck struck the right leg of Flames defenceman Juuso Valimaki and away from the goal. The Flames and Senators hoped overtime would decide things, but to no avail. Batherson's shootout winner would give the Senators two points and leave the Flames with just one. NOTES: The Flames had eight power play opportunities Sunday night, but only scored once with the man advantage....This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2021. The Canadian Press
Earlier this month, Loren Hughes, a longtime resident of the U.S. Virgin Islands, noticed specks of an oily substance covering his home, as well as those owned by his neighbors. For Hughes, 46, it brought back memories of the last time St. Croix's long-idled refinery was operating, roughly a decade earlier. The refinery restarted last month, bringing back hundreds of jobs - but for nearby residents, they say it also brought difficulty breathing, headaches and watery eyes.
NEW YORK — It’s sleepy by Donald Trump’s standards, but the former president's century-old estate in New York's Westchester County could end up being one of his bigger legal nightmares. Seven Springs, a 213-acre swath of nature surrounding a Georgian-style mansion, is a subject of two state investigations: a criminal probe by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and a civil inquiry by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Both investigations focus on whether Trump manipulated the property's value to reap greater tax benefits from an environmental conservation arrangement he made at the end of 2015, while running for president. Purchased by Trump in 1995 for $7.5 million, Seven Springs drew renewed scrutiny as he prepared to leave office and was on the cusp of losing legal protections he had as president. Vance issued new subpoenas in mid-December, and a judge ordered evidence to be turned over to James' office nine days after Trump departed Washington. Other Trump legal woes, such as inquiries into his attempts to influence election officials and payments made on his behalf to women alleging affairs, have dominated the headlines. But former Manhattan prosecutor Duncan Levin said white-collar investigators go wherever the paper trail leads. “While a tax issue related to a conservation arrangement might not be as sexy as a hush-money payment, prosecutors are likely to focus on any violation of law that they find,” Levin said. “Remember, the authorities got Al Capone on tax evasion.” Seven Springs is an outlier in a Trump real estate portfolio filled with glossy high-rises and gold-plated amenities. It is listed on his website as a family retreat, although Trump hasn’t been there in more than four years. At the heart of the estate is the mansion built as a summer getaway in 1919 by Eugene Meyer, who went on to become Federal Reserve chairman and owner of The Washington Post. In 2006, while pushing a plan to build luxury homes on the property, Trump floated the idea that he and his family were going to move into the mansion, but that never happened. Brand new, the 28,322-square-foot dwelling featured more than a dozen bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool, a bowling alley and a tennis court. Meyer's daughter, the late Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham, was married at Seven Springs in 1940. In her memoir “Personal History,” Graham described ambivalent emotions about going there, writing: “The older I got, the more I disliked the loneliness of the farm, but in my childhood days, it was, as I wrote my father when I was 10, ‘a great old Place.’” At one point, Meyer owned about 700 acres. A philanthropic foundation established by him and his wife, Agnes, gifted 247 acres to the Nature Conservancy and the remaining land and buildings that made up Seven Springs to Yale University in 1973, after Agnes Meyer's death. The estate changed hands again when the foundation took it back from Yale and operated a conference centre there before passing the real estate holdings to Rockefeller University, which eventually sold it to Trump. Trump paid about $2.25 million under the list price for Seven Springs, acquiring the land as part of an effort to jumpstart his fortunes after a series of failures in the early 1990s, including casino bankruptcies and the sale of his money-losing Trump Shuttle airline. Trump envisioned transforming it into his first championship-calibre golf course, with an exclusive clientele and lofty membership fees. He hired an architecture firm to plot fairways and greens but abandoned the effort when residents voiced concerns that lawn chemicals would contaminate neighbouring Byram Lake, a local source of drinking water. Trump’s then tried building houses. He proposed putting up 46 single-family homes, and after that plan also met community opposition, 15 mansion-sized dwellings which he described in 2004 as “super-high-end residential, the likes of which has never been seen on the East Coast.” The project was held up by years of litigation and no homes were ever built. In 2009, Trump made a splash by allowing Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to pitch his Bedouin-style tent on the Seven Springs property north of New York City because he had no other place to stay for a U.N. visit. Trump initially suggested he didn’t know Gaddafi was involved, but later conceded he “made a lot of money” renting the land to the Libyan leader. Local officials halted work on the tent and Gaddafi never stayed there. His development plans dashed, Trump opted for a strategy that would allow him to keep the property but reduce his taxes. He granted an easement to a conservation land trust to preserve 158 acres (60 hectares) of meadows and mature forest. Trump received a $21 million income tax deduction, equal to the value of the conserved land, according to property and court records. The amount was based on a professional appraisal that valued the full Seven Springs property at $56.5 million as of Dec. 1, 2015. That was a much higher amount that the evaluation by local government assessors, who said the entire estate was worth $20 million. Michael Colangelo, a lawyer in the New York attorney general's office, outlined the central question involving the Seven Springs easement at a hearing last year regarding a dispute over evidence. “If the value of the easement was improperly inflated, who obtained the benefit from that improper inflation and in what amounts?” Colangelo said. “It goes without saying that the attorney general needs to see the records that would reflect the value of that deduction, as it flowed up to intermediate entities, and ultimately to Mr. Trump, personally.” A message seeking comment was left with Trump’s spokesperson. In the past, the Republican ex-president has decried the investigations as part of a “witch hunt.” Seven Springs caught investigators’ attention after Trump’s longtime personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen told a congressional committee in 2019 that Trump had a habit of manipulating property values — inflating them in some cases and minimizing them in others to gain favourable loan terms and tax benefits. Cohen testified that Trump had financial statements saying Seven Springs was worth $291 million as of 2012. He gave copies of three of Trump's financial statements to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform during his testimony. Cohen said the statements, from 2011, 2012 and 2013, were ones Trump gave to his main lender, Deutsche Bank, to inquire about a loan to buy the NFL's Buffalo Bills and to Forbes magazine to substantiate his claim to a place on its list of the world's wealthiest people. Trump, on his annual financial disclosure forms while president, said the property was worth between $25 million and $50 million. New York's attorney general was first to act. James issued subpoenas to commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield for records relating to its assessment work on Trump’s behalf; to law firms that worked on the Seven Springs project; and to Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, for records relating to its annual financial statements and the conservation easement. James also subpoenaed zoning and planning records in 2019 from the three towns Seven Springs spans. Vance followed with his own subpoenas in December. One town clerk said investigators were given “boxes and boxes of documents” in response. They included tax statements, surveying maps, environmental studies and planning board meeting minutes. James’ investigators have interviewed Trump’s son, Eric Trump, an executive vice-president at the Trump Organization and the president of the limited liability company through which it owns Seven Springs; Trump’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg; and lawyers Trump hired for the Seven Springs project who specialize in land-use and federal tax controversies. The investigators have yet to determine whether any law was broken. Vance, who like James is a Democrat, hasn’t disclosed much about his criminal probe, in part because of grand jury secrecy rules. The district attorney's office has said in court papers that it is focusing on public reports of “extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization.” Documents filed in connection with the criminal investigation — buoyed by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month granting Vance access to Trump’s tax records — have listed Seven Springs among possible targets. Along with the mansion, Seven Springs has a Tudor-style home once owned by ketchup magnate H.J. Heinz, and smaller carriage houses that Trump’s adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, have said served as “home base” when they visited the estate to hike and ride ATVs. During his presidency, Trump himself opted for higher-profile properties like his Bedminster, New Jersey golf course and his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, where he’s been living since leaving the White House. The New York Times reported last year that Trump’s tax records showed he classified the estate not as a personal residence but an investment property, enabling him to write off more than $2 million in property taxes since 2014. ___ Follow Michael Sisak on Twitter at twitter.com/mikesisak Michael R. Sisak, The Associated Press
Deliveroo announced plans to launch what could be the biggest London listing in more than seven years on Monday, after the British food delivery firm's business surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, although it still posted a loss for 2020. The initial public offering (IPO) is expected to value Deliveroo at more than $7 billion, based on a $180 million private funding round completed in January with backers including minority shareholder Amazon, the world's most valuable company. That would make it the biggest London IPO by market cap since Royal Mail in 2013.
LOS ANGELES — In a wide-ranging interview aired Sunday, Harry and Meghan described painful palace discussions about the colour of their son’s skin, losing royal protection and the intense pressures that led the Duchess of Sussex to contemplate suicide. The interview with Oprah Winfrey was the couple’s first since they stepped down from royal duties and the two-hour special included numerous revelations likely to reverberate on both sides of the Atlantic. Harry told Winfrey that he felt trapped by royal life and was surprised that he was cut off financially and lost his security last year. He also said he felt his family did not support Meghan, who acknowledged her naivete about royal life before marrying Harry, as she endured tabloid attacks and false stories. Meghan, who is biracial, described that when she was first pregnant with son Archie, there were “concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.” The statement led Winfrey to incredulously ask “What?” While Winfrey sat in silence, Meghan said she struggled to understand why there were concerns within the royal family about her son’s skin colour. She said it was hard for her to “compartmentalize” those conversations. Meghan, the actor formerly known as Meghan Markle who starred in the TV drama “Suits,” said she grew concerned about her son not having a royal title because it meant he wouldn’t be provided security. Meghan said processing everything during her pregnancy was “very hard.” More than the “prince” title, she felt the most troubled over her son’s safety and protection. “He needs to be safe,” a teary-eyed Meghan recalled. “We’re not saying don’t make him a prince or princess, whatever it’s going to be. But if you’re saying the title is going to affect their protection, we haven’t created this monster machine around us in terms of click bait and tabloid fodder. You’ve allowed that to happen, which means our son needs to be safe.” The interview was broadcast in the United States a full day before it will air in Britain. The revelations aren’t over: Winfrey teased unaired bits of the interview would be shown Monday morning on CBS. In a rare positive moment in the interview, Harry and Meghan revealed their second would be a girl. The interview opened with Winfrey gushing over Meghan’s pregnancy and lamenting that COVID-19 protocols kept them from hugging. Winfrey at various points in the interview ran through headlines about Meghan and at one point asked about the mental health impact. Meghan responded that she experienced suicidal thoughts and had sought help through the palace’s human resources department, but was told there was nothing they could do. “I was really ashamed to say it at the time and a shame to have to admit it to Harry, especially because I know how much loss he suffered,” she said. “But I knew that if I didn’t say it that I would do it. And I just didn’t, I just didn’t want to be alive anymore.” Harry, too, said there are lasting impacts about Meghan’s treatment and his relationship with his family. “There is a lot to work through there,” Harry said about his relationship with his father. “I feel really let down. He’s been through something similar. He knows what pain feels like. And Archie is his grandson. I will always love him, but there is a lot of hurt that has happened.” Harry said the royal family cut him off financially at the start of 2020 after announcing plans to step back from his roles. But he was able to afford security for his family because of the money his mother, Princess Diana, left behind. In response to a question from Winfrey, Harry said he wouldn’t have left royal life if not for his wife. He said their relationship revealed the strictures of royal life. “I wouldn’t have been able to, because I myself was trapped,” Harry said. “I didn’t see a way out. “I was trapped, but I didn’t know I was trapped,” Harry said, before adding, “My father and my brother, they are trapped.” Harry acknowledged that he does not have a close relationship presently with his brother William, who is heir to the throne after their father, Prince Charles. Harry disputed rumours that he intentionally blindsided his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, with his decision to split. He suspects the rumours came from the institution. “I’ve never blindsided my grandmother,” he said. “I have too much respect for her.” Meghan, too, was complimentary toward the queen, despite saying at one point she realized some in the palace were willing to lie to “protect other members of the family.” “The queen has always been wonderful to me,” Meghan said. Sunday's interview special opened with Meghan describing how naïve she was about the ground rules of royal life before she married her husband, Harry, nearly three years ago. “I didn’t fully understand what the job was,” she said. She also noted that she did not know how to curtsy before meeting Queen Elizabeth II for the first time, and didn't realize it would be necessary. “I will say I went into it naively because I didn’t grow up knowing much about the royal family,” Meghan said. “It wasn’t something that was part of conversation at home. It wasn’t something that we followed.” Meghan said she and Harry were aligned during their courtship because of their “cause-driven” work. But she did not fully comprehend the pressure of being linked to the prestigious royal family. “There was no way to understand what the day-to-day was going to be like,” she said. “And it’s so different because I didn’t romanticize any element of it.” The couple married at Windsor Castle in May 2018, and their son, Archie, was born a year later. Harry and Meghan’s departure from royal duties began in March 2020 over what they described as the intrusions and racist attitudes of the British media toward the duchess. At the top of the interview, Winfrey said no topic was off limits and that Meghan and Harry were not being paid for the special. In Britain, the interview is seen as poorly timed. It will air while Harry’s 99-year-old grandfather Prince Philip remains hospitalized in London after undergoing a heart procedure. It is unclear what public reaction, if any, the queen and other royal family members will have to Sunday’s interview. The U.K.'s Sunday Times newspaper, citing an anonymous source, reported that the queen would not watch it. ___ Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this report. Jonathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press
Marcellin Gbazaï n’est pas un Bleuet comme les autres. Unique chauffeur de taxi d’origine africaine de Saguenay, fier de l’être, il se joue de ses clients pour casser la peur des différences. « Le taxi, c’est un autre genre de clientèle, ce sont des vieilles madames, ce sont de vieux monsieurs, raconte-t-il, le sourire en coin. Une fois, une madame est montée dans mon taxi. Avant de monter, ça a pris dix minutes ! Elle regardait par la fenêtre, pas certaine. D’abord, elle voit les tresses rastas. Elle voit les piercings. Elle voit le noir. Elle voit mon masque. Moi… je riais sous mon masque ! Je me disais, “toi, je vais t’avoir, t’inquiète”. Elle prend de longues secondes à ouvrir la porte et, finalement, monte dans le taxi. Je lui dis “bonjour”. Elle ne me répond même pas. “Madame, vous avez passé une belle journée ?”. Elle ne me répond pas. “Vous savez quoi, aujourd’hui, il fait beau, c’est malade !” Rien. Là, on arrive, je gare le taxi et je dis : “Alléluia ! Vous êtes arrivée saine et sauve !” Et là, elle rit, incapable d’arrêter. À un moment donné, j’avais presque peur tellement elle riait. Elle me dit : “Monsieur, vous savez quoi, vous avez réussi à m’enlever ce que j’avais dans ma tête.” » Ces moments de rire, de bonheur et de légèreté, c’est le véritable salaire de Marcellin Gbazaï. « C’est ça qui montre qu’au Saguenay, il y a de l’espoir. Un client qui est satisfait, c’est une âme gagnée pour le vivre-ensemble. » Avec un clin d’œil, il confie tout de même obtenir d’excellents pourboires. « Mon boss me dit : “Comment tu fais ?” J’ai pas le choix. Je suis en mission pour dire aux gens qu’on va vivre ensemble. » Également chauffeur d’autobus, l’Ivoirien d’origine carbure à ce vivre-ensemble. « Quand je parle du vivre-ensemble, il n’y a pas de blanc, il n’y a pas de noir, il n’y a pas de vert. C’est une seule personne. Nous sommes des êtres humains condamnés à vivre ensemble. » Depuis son arrivée à Saguenay « sur un coup de tête », il n’a cessé d’aimer son nouveau pays. « L’accueil des Saguenéens, c’est incomparable. Moi, je les appelle les Africains blancs. C’est la même énergie. Ils ne te connaissent même pas et ils te disent d’aller visiter leur maison. Monte ! Va où tu veux ! Vas-y !, dit-il en feignant l’incrédulité. Quoi ? Je suis passé par Nice. En France, même si je suis chez des amis, je reste au salon ! » C’est au Saguenay qu’il trouve d’ailleurs l’amour. Les yeux pleins de vie, il dit « voir ses enfants grandir dans le monde que Martin Luther King avait rêvé ». Et n’allez pas lui parler de vivre ailleurs que dans le royaume qu’il fait sien. « Moi, je ne me vois pas comme un Noir. Je me vois comme un Bleuet pure laine. Ma couleur là, non. C’est Marcellin le Saguenéen. Ça s’arrête là. » À pleins gaz Pour remplir sa mission vers le vivre-ensemble, Marcellin Gbazaï ne s’arrête pas à son taxi, qu’il nomme « son bureau de sensibilisation ». Lorsqu’il est arrivé dans la région, il y a 11 ans, il a ouvert la première épicerie africaine de la région. Même si elle est maintenant fermée depuis six ans, les gens lui en parlent encore. « Parmi ma clientèle, 60 % n’était pas africaine, elle était saguenéenne », rappelle-t-il. Peu après, il a publié un magazine sur l’immigration nommé Terre d’accueil, que des difficultés financières ont contraint à la fermeture. Qu’importe, il travaille maintenant sur un projet d’organisme, nommé « Vivre-ensemble ». « Quand on parle du racisme aujourd’hui, c’est tous les jours. N’attendons pas que les gens meurent pour se souvenir de l’importance de la sensibilisation et du vivre-ensemble. Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir. Tous les jours, il faut chercher à faire des projets. Les gens oublient vite. » Il aura fallu une pandémie pour qu’il « reprenne son souffle ». En temps normal, il ajoute à son horaire déjà surchargé des visites dans toutes les écoles de la région. De Baie-Comeau jusqu’à Dolbeau-Mistassini, il y instille le vivre-ensemble. Conte, exposition, musique, danse : tout peut servir à ouvrir les perspectives. « Tout ce que je fais, ce n’est pas anodin, c’est ma manière de sensibiliser. » Par exemple, devant une classe difficile, il se remémore avoir donné un devoir sur les origines du café. « Le lendemain, une des élèves me revient en me parlant de son père. Parce que son père n’aimait pas les Noirs, elle-même me dit ça. La professeure me dit que ça a changé la vie de son père. Son père a appelé à l’école. Il voulait s’excuser. Il ne savait pas d’où venait son café du matin. Ça vient de la Côte d’Ivoire, du Brésil, du Ghana. La petite fille, elle a été ma messagère. » Tout cela ne se fait pas sans récolter quelques insultes au passage. C’est le destin de ceux qui innovent se dit-il. « Une personne ouvre la porte, et les autres rentrent. » Ses concitoyens le traitent parfois de fou, mais rien ne l’ébranle. « Il faut te calmer. On est au Saguenay ici. Tu sais, les gens, ils n’aiment pas les trucs de Noirs », lui a-t-on dit un jour. Pas démonté du tout, Marcellin Gbazaï réplique. « De quoi vous parlez, là ? Je le vois quand je donne des cours de danse africaine. Ils adorent ça ! » Sa persévérance a certainement fait évoluer les mentalités à Saguenay. Il dit avoir vu de nouvelles épiceries ethniques ouvrir, les noms de famille se diversifier, les politiques évoluer. « Il faut apprécier le peu qu’on a d’abord et, ensuite, on passe à autre chose. » Jouer au trait d’union Il n’y a pas que la méfiance des locaux qu’il doit désarmer, mais celle des nouveaux arrivants aussi. « Des fois, quand il y a des Africains qui me voient dans mon taxi, ils ont peur d’ouvrir la portière, fait-il en riant. La sensibilisation, c’est pas juste chez les Saguenéens. Non ! C’est aussi les Africains, les immigrants. Il faut leur faire comprendre que, si tu restes dans ton coin en pensant que c’est tout blanc, le Blanc va aussi penser que c’est tout noir. Si tu ne penses pas que tu n’es que noir, si tu penses que tu as le droit d’être ici, que tu respectes ce qu’on te demande, que tu fais ton travail et que tu n’emmerdes personne, parle aux gens et tu verras qu’ils sont ouverts. » Pour atteindre sa cible du vivre-ensemble, Marcellin Gbazaï fait flèche de tout bois. Il organise aussi en temps normal quantité d’événements pour croiser les parcours. Les immigrants ne sont pas que des travailleurs, concède-t-il, mais des humains avec des besoins sociaux. « On veut des immigrants pour travailler en région. Mais ils viennent et puis ils partent ! Ils font ça tout le temps. Le gouvernement paye des millions, des billets d’avion pour venir visiter. Oui, c’est beau. Ils viennent deux ans, trois ans et après repartent. Il manque quelque chose. Il manque l’accompagnement. Il manque les activités pour qu’ils se sentent ici chez eux. C’est sur ce truc-là que je veux travailler. Je ne m’arrêterai pas. » Pour tous ceux qui sont intéressés, Marcellin Gbazaï les attend les bras ouverts. « Envoie-moi un message ! Je vais te montrer que le premier jour quand tu viens, tu es chez toi. Le deuxième jour, tu es chez toi. Toute la vie que tu passes au Saguenay, tu es chez toi. » Jean-Louis Bordeleau, Initiative de journalisme local, Le Devoir
The latest numbers on COVID-19 vaccinations in Canada as of 10:30 p.m. ET on Sunday March 7, 2021. In Canada, the provinces are reporting 57,567 new vaccinations administered for a total of 2,387,189 doses given. Nationwide, 565,719 people or 1.5 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated. The provinces have administered doses at a rate of 6,298.772 per 100,000. There were 316,360 new vaccines delivered to the provinces and territories for a total of 2,938,570 doses delivered so far. The provinces and territories have used 81.24 per cent of their available vaccine supply. Please note that Newfoundland, P.E.I., Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the territories typically do not report on a daily basis. Newfoundland is reporting 4,472 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 24,757 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 47.279 per 1,000. In the province, 1.61 per cent (8,427) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were 5,850 new vaccines delivered to Newfoundland for a total of 41,470 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 7.9 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 59.7 per cent of its available vaccine supply. P.E.I. is reporting 1,105 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 13,281 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 83.724 per 1,000. In the province, 3.32 per cent (5,273) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were 1,170 new vaccines delivered to P.E.I. for a total of 15,885 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 10 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 83.61 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Nova Scotia is reporting 6,657 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 38,676 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 39.631 per 1,000. In the province, 1.48 per cent (14,395) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were 11,700 new vaccines delivered to Nova Scotia for a total of 73,680 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 7.5 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 52.49 per cent of its available vaccine supply. New Brunswick is reporting 7,424 new vaccinations administered over the past seven days for a total of 33,741 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 43.255 per 1,000. In the province, 1.56 per cent (12,142) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were 9,360 new vaccines delivered to New Brunswick for a total of 56,135 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 7.2 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 60.11 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Quebec is reporting 16,124 new vaccinations administered for a total of 548,136 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 64.06 per 1,000. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Quebec for a total of 638,445 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 7.5 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 85.85 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Ontario is reporting 30,192 new vaccinations administered for a total of 890,604 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 60.63 per 1,000. In the province, 1.85 per cent (271,807) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were 183,460 new vaccines delivered to Ontario for a total of 1,086,745 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 7.4 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 81.95 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Manitoba is reporting 2,106 new vaccinations administered for a total of 89,728 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 65.162 per 1,000. In the province, 2.20 per cent (30,334) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to Manitoba for a total of 124,840 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 9.1 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 71.87 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Saskatchewan is reporting 1,428 new vaccinations administered for a total of 91,884 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 77.924 per 1,000. In the province, 2.38 per cent (28,011) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were 18,540 new vaccines delivered to Saskatchewan for a total of 93,145 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 7.9 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 98.65 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Alberta is reporting 7,717 new vaccinations administered for a total of 290,391 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 65.967 per 1,000. In the province, 2.07 per cent (90,937) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were 51,480 new vaccines delivered to Alberta for a total of 326,445 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 7.4 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 88.96 per cent of its available vaccine supply. British Columbia is reporting zero new vaccinations administered for a total of 311,208 doses given. The province has administered doses at a rate of 60.646 per 1,000. In the province, 1.69 per cent (86,865) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were zero new vaccines delivered to British Columbia for a total of 385,080 doses delivered so far. The province has received enough of the vaccine to give 7.5 per cent of its population a single dose. The province has used 80.82 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Yukon is reporting zero new vaccinations administered for a total of 21,097 doses given. The territory has administered doses at a rate of 505.547 per 1,000. In the territory, 18.75 per cent (7,826) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were 16,100 new vaccines delivered to Yukon for a total of 35,000 doses delivered so far. The territory has received enough of the vaccine to give 84 per cent of its population a single dose. The territory has used 60.28 per cent of its available vaccine supply. The Northwest Territories are reporting zero new vaccinations administered for a total of 19,775 doses given. The territory has administered doses at a rate of 438.285 per 1,000. In the territory, 10.10 per cent (4,558) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were 16,200 new vaccines delivered to the Northwest Territories for a total of 35,300 doses delivered so far. The territory has received enough of the vaccine to give 78 per cent of its population a single dose. The territory has used 56.02 per cent of its available vaccine supply. Nunavut is reporting zero new vaccinations administered for a total of 13,911 doses given. The territory has administered doses at a rate of 359.216 per 1,000. In the territory, 13.28 per cent (5,144) of the population has been fully vaccinated. There were 2,500 new vaccines delivered to Nunavut for a total of 26,400 doses delivered so far. The territory has received enough of the vaccine to give 68 per cent of its population a single dose. The territory has used 52.69 per cent of its available vaccine supply. *Notes on data: The figures are compiled by the COVID-19 Open Data Working Group based on the latest publicly available data and are subject to change. Note that some provinces report weekly, while others report same-day or figures from the previous day. Vaccine doses administered is not equivalent to the number of people inoculated as the approved vaccines require two doses per person. The vaccines are currently not being administered to children under 18 and those with certain health conditions. In some cases the number of doses administered may appear to exceed the number of doses distributed as some provinces have been drawing extra doses per vial. This report was automatically generated by The Canadian Press Digital Data Desk and was first published March 7, 2021. The Canadian Press
BEIJING — China’s foreign minister warned the Biden administration on Sunday to roll back former President Donald Trump’s “dangerous practice” of showing support for Taiwan, the island democracy claimed by Beijing as its own territory. The claim to Taiwan, which split with the mainland in 1949, is an “insurmountable red line,” Wang Yi said at a news conference during the annual meeting of China’s ceremonial legislature. The United States has no official relations with Taiwan but extensive informal ties. Trump irked Beijing by sending Cabinet officials to visit Taiwan in a show of support. “The Chinese government has no room for compromise,” Wang said. “We urge the new U.S. administration to fully understand the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue” and “completely change the previous administration’s dangerous practices of ‘crossing the line’ and ‘playing with fire,’” he said. President Joe Biden says he wants a more civil relationship with Beijing but has shown no sign of softening Trump’s confrontational measures on trade, technology and human rights. Surveys show American public attitudes turning more negative toward China, which is seen as an economic and strategic competitor. Wang gave no indication how Beijing might react if Biden doesn't change course, but the ruling Communist Party has threatened to invade if Taiwan declares formal independence or delays talks on uniting with the mainland. The State Department later reiterated that the Biden administration's support for Taiwan was rock-solid and that the U.S. stood with its regional friends and allies, including “deepening our unofficial ties with democratic Taiwan.” “We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected representatives," said the statement issued late Sunday in Washington. Wang’s comments in a wide-ranging, two-hour news conference reflected Beijing’s increasing assertiveness abroad and rejection of criticism over Hong Kong, the northwestern region of Xinjiang and other sensitive topics. Wang defended proposed changes in Hong Kong that will tighten Beijing's control by reducing the role of its public in government. He dismissed complaints that erodes the autonomy promised to the former British colony when it returned to China in 1997. The changes announced Friday follow the arrest of 47 pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong under a national security law imposed last year following months of anti-government protests. Beijing needs to protect Hong Kong’s “transition from chaos to governance,” Wang said. The proposal would give a pro-Beijing committee a bigger role in picking Hong Kong legislators. That would be a marked reduction of democracy and Western-style civil liberties in Hong Kong. Mainland officials say they want to make sure the territory is controlled by people deemed patriots. “No one cares more about the development of democracy in Hong Kong than the central government,” Wang said. He said the changes will protect the “rights of Hong Kong residents and the legitimate interests of foreign investors.” Also Sunday, Wang rejected complaints Beijing’s treatment of predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang amounts to genocide. Human rights researchers say more than 1 million people, many of them members of the Uyghur minority, have been sent to detention camps. Chinese officials say they are trying to prevent extremism. “The so-called existence of genocide in Xinjiang is absurd. It is a complete lie fabricated with ulterior motives,” Wang said. He blamed “anti-China forces” that he said want to “undermine the security and stability of Xinjiang and hinder China’s development and growth.” Joe McDonald, The Associated Press
VICTORIA — Health authorities across British Columbia announced locations for COVID-19 vaccine centres Sunday, the day before some of the province's oldest residents could start booking appointments to get their first shots. Vaccine call centres are set to open Monday morning to make COVID-19 vaccine appointments for people 90 and older, and Indigenous people 65 or older, as well as those who identify as Indigenous elders. Island Health officials said Sunday 19 community sites across Vancouver Island have been identified to administer COVID-19 vaccines and 25 community sites in the Vancouver Coastal Health region will be used as clinic locations. The Interior, Northern and Fraser health authorities say they will confirm vaccination sites with people when they book a COVID-19 appointment. "We recognize that there's lots of people that are eager to call in and get going (Monday), so just another reminder that please, unless you are in that category of over 90 or Indigenous over 65 or you identify as an elder, please don't call next week so we can get through this important population,'" said Victoria Schmid, Island Health's pandemic planner. "Your turn will come," she said at a news conference Sunday. "We just need everyone to be patient right now." People can contact their health authority and book appointments for themselves or their spouse, and family members or friends are permitted to schedule an appointment on someone else's behalf, Schmid said. People will be asked to provide the person's first and last name, date of birth, postal code and personal health number and will be asked for an email address or text number to confirm the COVID-19 vaccine appointment, she said.. People born in 1936 or earlier can start calling for appointments on March 15 and those born in 1941 or earlier can start scheduling their shots on March 22. Schmid said she expected the appointments to last about 30 minutes, which includes a 15-minute waiting period following the administration of the vaccine. She suggested people wear short sleeves to make it easier to give the vaccine and not to forget a mask. A support person to can accompany people to the vaccine clinic, she said. Schmid said sites for the community clinics were chosen for their accessibility and comfort and familiarity for Indigenous people. "Ease of access was really important to us," she said. "We really tried to keep a travel time to no more than 15 minutes within urban areas. We want to make sure these sites are accessible for individuals with mobility challenges." Immunization clinics will also be held at Indigenous friendship centres in Victoria, Port Alberni and Port Hardy, Schmid said. Vancouver Coastal Health said in a news release its clinics will be located cross Metro Vancouver and the Squamish and Whistler areas and the Sunshine Coast. The clinics will be held at community, friendship, senior and cultural centres and other regional sites. The health authorities plan to have B.C.'s population of elderly people, ranging in age from 80 to more than 90 years and Indigenous people 65 and older and elders, vaccinated against COVID-19 by April 12, Schmid said. She said a person 90 years and older who calls next week for a COVID-19 vaccination will get their appointment within one week. "They have a week to register for the following week's vaccination appointment," said Schmid. "After that, we're going to move to register those over 85 and then moving down the week after to those over 80." Island Health's Dr. Mike Benusic said he's optimistic about the vaccination rollout. "The announcements we're giving right now provide me with such a sense of hope," he said. "The fact is right now we have 25 times the number of people vaccinated within Island Health than people who have had COVID-19 within Island Health, and we're only going to see that number sky rocket in the next few weeks and months." This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2021. Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press
As pandemic restrictions loosen in Toronto and neighbouring Peel Region, businesses across the personal care services industry say they’re being left behind. Several professionals and proprietors who spoke to the Star on Sunday complained they’re being treated unfairly as they continue to be barred from opening under the “grey” lockdown category. Outcry from the sector, which includes salons, barbershops and other cosmetic services, comes on the heels of the province announcing Friday that it was lifting the strict stay-at-home orders in those jurisdictions. Michele Bonnick, the owner of Amani Hair Studio in Toronto, said anticipation built as dozens of people were on a waiting list, expecting to get the green light to book hair appointments this month. Bonnick instead had to tell them she was remaining closed indefinitely. She slammed the provincial rule book for what she sees as favouritism towards big-box stores and other retailers, while struggling entrepreneurs are left to bear the brunt of the restrictions. “It’s just garbage,” she said. “The standards that they’ve set for us are so high.” Her salon has been closed for more than three months, since the November lockdown. “The problem is the ongoing shutting down and opening up, shutting down and opening up,” she said. “It’s so inconsistent.” Bonnick dipped into her savings to stay afloat during last spring’s lockdown. She’s now relying on government loans to stave off closure, but says it’s not sustainable. Bonnick pivoted last year to offer online services like consultations and product sales. “I’ve been feeling like trying to find something outside of my field in order to survive,” she said. Toronto and Peel, along with North Bay—Parry Sound, were the last ones still under the stay-at-home order imposed in December amid surging cases of COVID-19. Most of the province transitioned back to the government’s colour-coded pandemic response framework last month. Toronto and Peel will be placed in the strictest “grey lockdown” category of the framework starting Monday, as was recommended by public health officials in the two areas. That will allow more retailers to open, with restrictions, but leaves gyms, personal care services and indoor dining closed. Social gatherings remain banned indoors, and are capped at 10 people outdoors. The province said Friday it opted to place Toronto and Peel in the lockdown category because the two regions are making progress but their case rates remain high. Anosha Swalah, the creative director of Saboohi’s Salon & Spa in Mississauga, is part of a collective of about 30 salons and spas across Peel Region that have been lobbying local politicians and sharing the plight of the industry. “We’ve only operated for about three months of the entire year,” she said, adding that there was at least an 80 per cent decline in business due to closures and the crash of the wedding industry in 2020. Swalah defends the industry, saying that there is no evidence, to her knowledge, that salons have been drivers of outbreaks in Peel. She says people in the profession are feeling undermined even when they follow strict protocols, including proper sanitization, which she says is typical of the industry before the pandemic. “I feel degraded in some form,” she said. “That’s the anger that our industry is feeling.” She said the laser treatment part of the industry has taken a huge hit because they were unable to do any work during the peak winter season. Reeya Tanna, a registered nurse and owner of the Etobicoke-based Plumpitupp, a medical spa offering cosmetic injections, medical facials and esthetic treatments, said, “It has been difficult to stay motivated and hopeful when there is no end to the lockdown in sight.” Tanna worked in the industry for a few years before deciding to open her own clinic. She was on verge of opening her own private clinic on Jan. 1, but those plans were halted by ongoing restrictions. After months of not being able to offer her services in 2020, Tanna is now grappling with the uncertainty of when her clinic can get up and running. “I have little hope of opening any time soon as the government has put our industry (as cosmetic nurses) in the personal care services sector on hold,” she said. When asked why salons and other personal care services are not yet being allowed to reopen, Toronto Public Health referred to the province’s general COVID-19 response framework, which establishes thresholds based on criteria such as case counts and test positivity rates for when regions are allowed to ease restrictions on certain sectors. Peel’s medical officer of health, Dr. Lawrence Loh, told the Star in a statement on Sunday: “Given the nature of the service provided, with a recognition that precautions cannot be consistently maintained (e.g., distancing) and are not always foolproof, many jurisdictions have targeted these settings for closures. “There have also been notable outbreaks in these settings reported in other areas of the province, notably a large nail salon outbreak in Kingston. This resultant evidence and data have been built into the framework set by the provincial government.” The debate over the science behind the lockdown was front and centre during Mississauga council meetings last week. Coun. Ron Starr criticized the provincial and regional rationale for extending the closure of the personal care industry. “What is the empirical data?” he asked. “What is the rationale, in certain areas, when we don’t have that data? Yet, this is the way medical people are saying it’s going to happen?” Starr said that women, many of whom own businesses in the industry, are feeling the brunt of pressure from the uncertainty surrounding the closures. “I don’t think our message from Peel is going through,” he said during a council meeting. “Why are they shut down,” Carr asked. “Yet, we’re opening up other areas." In responding to Mississauaga council on Wednesday, Loh said the region has not achieved the critical mass of vaccinations needed to achieve herd immunity. In spite of public fatigue over restrictions, Loh said he’s avoiding prematurely reopening then having to close again. Loh said there needs to be an uptick in vaccination to lower the chance of severe outcomes for vulnerable segments of the community. “Until that time, this still remains a novel threat,” he said, adding, “There is still the storm of the century that is raging out there.” He cautioned that while some people question the science behind his decisions, “the reality is, we’ve seen what happens in other countries where they get this wrong.” “We’re so close to the vaccine,” he said. “We’re so close to warmer weather, where we can start to open with confidence again.” With files from The Canadian Press Jason Miller is a Toronto-based reporter for the Star covering crime and justice in the Peel Region. His reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. Reach him on email: jasonmiller@thestar.ca or follow him on Twitter: @millermotionpic Jason Miller, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Toronto Star
PARIS — Marseille's chaotic season took its latest turn for the worse when it lost 2-1 at fourth-tier Canet-en-Roussillon in the French Cup on Sunday. Marseille was eliminated from the Champions League in last place in its group. It has struggled in the French league with an interim coach after the previous one resigned and with a new coach having just arrived. On top of all that, angry fans are facing court cases after smashing up the club's training complex. Considering all these problems, Marseille needed a morale-boosting win against an amateur side to reach the last 16. But it went badly wrong in Perpignan. “I’m ashamed. There are no words to describe it, we played like (expletive),” Marseille defender Boubacar Kamara told broadcaster Eurosport moments after the final whistle. “It’s a fair result, there are no excuses. We are a professional team and we've made a huge mistake.” A superb free kick from midfielder Jeremy Posteraro on his 30th birthday put the minnows ahead after 20 minutes. He was about 25 metres out and to the right of the penalty area when he floated a magnificent shot into the top left corner, with No. 2 goalkeeper Yohann Pele rooted to the spot as the ball sailed in. Marseille equalized before halftime when playmaker Dimitri Payet sent forward Valere Germain free down the right flank, and his cross was headed in by Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik for his third goal since joining on loan from Italian side Napoli. That should have settled Marseille down, but Posteraro was not finished and his astute pass sent midfielder Yohan Bai clean through in the 71st. He neatly clipped the ball over Pele for the winner against Marseille, a club which still proudly boasts of being the only French side to win the Champions League, back in 1993. Those days are long gone. Marseille fell apart in the last 10 minutes, with five simple passes going astray and with one corner from the left taken so badly it didn't even enter into play. It was a bad Sunday all around for the Payets, too, with younger brother Anthony Payet also on the losing side. He played up front for fourth-tier Romorantin against fellow amateurs Chateaubriant but failed to score in a 3-1 home defeat. Elsewhere, Canada striker Jonathan David scored late on again as Lille won 3-1 at fourth-tier Corsican side GFC Ajaccio to advance to the last 16. Four days ago, he netted in the last minute and then in injury time to help Lille stay on top of the French league. This time his goal was less vital as Lille was already 2-0 up when he struck a low shot in the 84th. The home side grabbed a consolation goal shortly after. First-tier Angers had little trouble beating amateur side Club Franciscain 5-0, with midfielder Ibrahim Amadou grabbing two goals. ___ More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Jerome Pugmire, The Associated Press
A new food delivery service offers an alternative selection of fresh food right to your door. Orangeville Vegan Meals provides healthy vegan and gluten-free meals. This includes green curry, baked orange tofu with broccoli and rice, chunky lentil stew, vegan cookies and brownies and more. “One of my favourite things is to cook,” said Blake Speers, owner of Orangeville Vegan Meals. “I wanted to do that on a wide scale. I was inspired by catering companies, but I knew that wasn’t what I wanted to do.” With Orangeville Vegan Meals, families can buy ready-made meals or freeze them and not spend time cooking in a kitchen. Those interested can visit orangevilleveganmeals.com, view a menu and check out products worth trying. Orders should be in by Wednesday at noon for delivery on Thursdays between 4 and 8 p.m. The menu changes every week. Delivery to Orangeville, Alton and Mono is complimentary, while a $50 order minimum is required for Erin, Hillsburg, Elora, and Fergus residents. Speers has been vegan for six years now. She does not miss cheese or meat. She became a vegan after noticing there was a lot of cholesterol in eggs and meat that can clog arteries. “In vegan meals, there’s no cholesterol at all,” said Speers. “Your cholesterol is monitored by your own body.” Foods that are high in saturated and trans fats increase blood cholesterol levels, she said adding it may increase one's risk of developing heart disease. She developed the business at the end of August 2020, working with two to three cooks and two delivery drivers who dropped off her food to families in Dufferin Country. “It was like a dream come true because I was doing social media for other people, but then I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do for it, if I wanted to have a company,” said Speers. “Once I thought about the idea, I was inspired to create the social posts and websites. I find it fun, mostly.” She rents out a commercial kitchen in Orangeville to make all the food, saying that the business has been good so far. “It keeps growing,” said Speers. “The most popular items have been the green curry and banana bread.” Other menu items include vegan cheeses, cookies, soups and burrito bowls. She previously cooked healthy meals for families with a busy lifestyle working as a nanny for five years. Speers plans to attend farmers markets in the summer to showcase her palette of food. “I went to one last year called the Mom’s Market at Hockley Valley, and I also went to one at GoYoga last summer.” When not in the kitchen or practising yoga, Speers can be found at one of her favourite Mexican or Thai restaurants. Joshua Santos, Local Journalism Initiative reporter, Orangeville Banner
