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Feds mull stopgap plan for formula shortage before overhauling approval process: docs

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:11 GMT

OTTAWA — The federal government is looking for ways to bring more infant formula products to Canada while it overhauls regulations to prevent future shortages, an internal memo shows. Many parents still struggle to find the right formula for their babies at a reasonable price, after last year’s temporary shutdown of a U.S.-based manufacturing plant caused a major shortage of shipments to Canada.The bare shelves illustrated just how fragile Canada’s supply chain is when it comes to vital infant formula, which Canada does not produce domestically. The government is expected to reveal its long-term plans to deal with the problem this fall as part of an overhaul of outdated rules that govern how Canada approves infant formula products.Those changes could take years, though, so the government is considering a stopgap that would see the health minister exempt products from certain requirements.“This would allow harmonization with other jurisdictions before the comprehens...

Six St. Louis inmates face charges stemming from abduction of jail guard

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:11 GMT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Six inmates at the downtown St. Louis jail are facing charges related to the abduction last week of a 73-year-old jail guard.Charging documents released Monday by the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office offered insight into how the guard was taken hostage around 6 a.m. on Aug. 22. He was freed by a police SWAT team more than two hours later and treated at a hospital for minor injuries.Two inmates jailed on first-degree murder charges, Eric Williams and Anthony Newberry, were outside their cells helping the guard deliver breakfast trays to other inmates, charging documents stated. Williams allegedly began punching the guard, knocking him to the ground. The document said Newberry joined in the attack and the men pulled the guard to a shower area.Newberry allegedly took the guard’s cell keys and began unlocking “all the cells in the pod,” charging documents stated. Dozens of inmates left their cells.Inmates Paul Mondaine and Earnest Lyons moved the guard to...

An off-duty Oklahoma officer fired a shot that wounded a man at a high school football game

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:11 GMT

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An off-duty Oklahoma police officer fired a shot that critically wounded a man during a shooting at a high school football game that left a teenager dead, authorities said Monday.The officer did not shoot the teenager, according to Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson III, whose agency is investigating the officer’s shooting.The teen was killed in a shooting that followed an argument between two males during the third quarter of Friday night’s game between Del City High School and Choctaw High School, said Choctaw police Chief Kelly Marshall, whose department is leading the investigation into the death. She did not know what the argument was about or whether the 42-year-old man who was shot by police was involved in the dispute.The Del City officer “perceived some sort of threat,” said Johnson, adding that could not comment further on what the officer perceived because of the ongoing investigation.No arrests have been made in the teen’s death, but a pers...

Suspicious package investigation closes The Great Hall at Union Station

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:11 GMT

Toronto police say they’ve closed The Great Hall at Union Station as they investigate a suspicious package.TTC service is not impacted at this point.Police were called to the station at around 2:38 p.m., and the Emergency Disposal Unit was called in.Police say one person is in custody, but it’s not yet clear if they are facing charges or what the package contains.GO Transit is advising customers to use the doors to the York and Bay concourses to access Union Station.POLICE INVESTIGATION:Union Station2:38 pm– police o/s investigating a suspicious package– area is being kept clear– 1 person in custody– EDU (Emergency Disposal Unit) is on the way– TTC is not affected at this time– will update when more info is available#GO2007761^sc— Toronto Police Operations (@TPSOperations) August 28, 2023More to come

Libya’s foreign minister suspended, flees country after meeting with Israel’s chief diplomat

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:11 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Libya’s foreign minister on Monday was suspended and fled the country, a day after Israel revealed that its chief diplomat met with her last week — news that prompted scattered street protests in the chaos-stricken North African nation.Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who heads one of Libya’s rival governments, said he suspended Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush and referred her for an investigation over the meeting, which was the first ever between top diplomats of Libya and Israel. Dbeibah did not clarify on what grounds Mangoush would be investigated. However, it is illegal to normalize ties with Israel under a 1957 law in Libya, which has long been hostile toward Israel. Mangoush fled to Turkey following the Israeli announcement of the meeting, according to a Libyan Foreign Ministry official.Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Mangoush met in Rome last week. It was a small breakthrough for Israel’s government, whose hard-line policies toward the Pale...

Okanagan, B.C., transitions to fire recovery, as tally of burned properties hits 189

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:11 GMT

KELOWNA, B.C. — Officials say the number of properties around Lake Okanagan destroyed or suffering significant wildfire damage has increased to 189, up from 181, as the region in Britiosh Columbia’s southern Interior moves from response to recovery.West Kelowna Fire Chief Jason Brolund has told a briefing that the destructive McDougall Creek fire is still burning out of control, but the battle against the blaze is now in the hills above the community, “not in the streets and neighbourhoods.”The Central Okanagan Emergency Operations Centre says the properties newly assessed as destroyed or badly damaged are all in West Kelowna or a nearby rural area.Brolund says damage is especially severe in West Kelowna Estates, where many homes have been lost and the entire power supply system will likely need to be rebuilt after most power poles were destroyed.He says other neighbourhoods may have suffered less structural damage to properties, but they remain off-limits to evacu...

Police say deadly Montreal fire last March now a criminal investigation

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:11 GMT

MONTREAL — Police say a fire last March that killed seven people in a heritage building in Old Montreal has turned into a criminal investigation.Montreal police Insp. David Shane says traces of fire accelerants were found at the site, which can help explain why the flames spread so quickly.Shane says experts have found out where the fire started, and have ruled out an accidental cause. Seven people died in the March 16 blaze, including a long-term resident of the building and six people who were staying in short-term rentals. Inspectors had reported multiple fire code violations during visits in the years leading up to the fire in the building.Shane says a coroner’s inquest into the deaths has been suspended while the criminal investigation follows its course.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 28, 2023.The Canadian Press

Guatemala arrests former UN anti-corruption commission representative

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:11 GMT

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Guatemalan prosecutors on Monday arrested the former representative of a United Nations-backed anti-corruption commission that was expelled from the country several years ago. The arrest of Claudia González is the latest chapter in the government’s systematic pursuit of those who worked with the U.N. anti-corruption mission, best known by its Spanish initials CICIG. Interviewed outside the courthouse after her arrest, González said the charges were strange. She said she was charged with abuse of authority by a public servant, when in fact she was not a government employee when she served as legal representative of the CICIG. González has most recently been acting as defense attorney for some of the dozens of former anti-corruption prosecutors and officials facing legal action from the current administration.President Alejandro Giammattei’s administration has been accused by civil society organizations and foreign governments of systemically pursuing those...

Kansas college reaches settlement in lawsuit alleging discrimination against Black athletes

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:11 GMT

HIGHLAND, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas community college that was accused of trying to reduce the number of Black student-athletes has agreed to a settlement, the Justice Department announced Monday. The department said in a news release that the agreement requires Highland Community College to make its disciplinary proceedings more fair, to provide more training and to improve its procedures for responding to student complaints. A university spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a phone message or email seeking comment. The agreement resolves the department’s investigation into complaints that Black students were targeted for searches and disciplined more severely than their white peers, resulting in their unfair removal from campus housing, or even expulsion, the department said in the release.“No college student should have their educational experience marred or disrupted by discrimination based on their race,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, of the Justi...

UN envoy warns resumption of war remains threat in Yemen unless parties reach new cease-fire deal

Published Wed, 25 Dec 2024 18:13:11 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations’ top official in Yemen warned Monday that the Arab world’s poorest country will remain a powder keg for renewed war unless its rival factions work out a new cease-fire deal. Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special representative for Yemen, told The Associated Press the situation in the conflict-stricken country is fragile nearly a year after the internationally recognized government and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels failed to renew a U.N.-brokered cease-fire.The conflict has been restrained since then, with only sporadic clashes, but Grundberg said a resumption of all-out fighting is a threat.“The risk of a flare-up is always there,” he said. “The situation remains fragile and will remain fragile until we have reached an agreement that offers a cease-fire agreement.”The end to the cease-fire arrangement was a blow to U.N. efforts to find a negotiated settlement to the conflict, which has devastated the country and created one of the world’s wo...