Wednesday, March 21, 2007

In a Public Safety Bulletin released March 20, 2007, a coroner in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, warns on the dangers of purchasing pills from online companies.

Rose Stanton, Regional Coroner for the Vancouver Island area, has linked the purchase of pills on the Internet to the recent death of a British Columbia woman.

The woman, a 57-year old from the Campbell River area, died from poisoning, according to preliminary test results. The precise cause of death is still being investigated by police and the coroners service, according to Stanton.

In late December 2006, the woman had told friends of feeling unwell with flu-like symptoms, and had experienced hair-loss and blurred vision. She died a few days later.

Pills found in the possession of the dead woman were traced back to a purchase the woman made on a health-related website. The death is thought to be the first in Canada caused by pills purchased on the Internet.

Analysis of the pills by the Provincial Toxicology Centre revealed that some contained an anti-anxiety drug, obtained normally with a prescription in Canada. In addition, the pills contained a sedative not legally sold in Canada, which has been linked to overdose deaths in other countries.

On further testing, the pills were found to contain a non-medicinal filler and revealed the presence of heavy metals, some of which can cause serious illness, according to the Bulletin.

“We cannot impress upon the public strongly enough the dangers of buying medications online from a company you don’t know,” said Stanton. “There is just no way of knowing what you are getting.”

The website in question belonged to a group of companies which, according to the coroner’s investigation, change websites and Internet addresses every few days.

The B.C. Coroners Service is recommending that if someone has purchased drugs over the Internet that they are uncertain about, they should bring them, in the original packaging, to a pharmacy for proper disposal.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Assuming the role of Rene Oswin, spokesperson for United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in New Orleans, Louisiana, a member of The Yes Men gave a satirical 15-minute speech claiming that HUD had reversed its decision to demolish four serviceable public housing complexes — a controversial action, suspected by many former residents and the NAACP as a policy intended to drive out poor black families. The media coordinator for the Survivors Village, Annie Chen, applauded Oswin.

Alternatively, Oswin proposed for Wal-Mart “to withdraw from areas near low-income New Orleans neighborhoods and to help nurture local businesses to replace them,” “partnership with health departments and the CDC” to “insure there is at least one well-equipped public health clinic for every public housing development,” and “that Exxon and Shell have agreed to finance the rebuilding of the protective wetlands from part of their 60 billion dollars in profits this year.”

From Washington, D.C., HUD spokeswoman Donna White confirmed the speech as a hoax and that no one named Rene Oswin works for the department. She said, “I’m like, who the heck is that?”

Sunday, March 14, 2021

On Thursday, United States President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act, a USD 1.9 trillion stimulus relief package that provides a maximum of $1400 in direct payments to individuals making no more than $75 thousand annually. The bill was passed in the United States House of Representatives with a 220–211 vote on Wednesday and in the United States Senate with a 50–49 vote along party lines through budget reconciliation.

The bill includes $300 billion in unemployment benefits through September and expands the tax credit per child to $3600. The bill also supplies $350 billion to state as well as local governments and $14 billion for distributing vaccines. The bill offers a funding of $130 billion in schools, which would help them reopen safely. Small businesses will get $50 billion, and the Paycheck Protection Program will get $7 billion. Small and mid-sized restaurants, which have been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, will be given $25 billion in relief.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said US citizens will begin receiving a first round of direct deposits in their bank accounts by the weekend. Additionally, Biden gave a primetime address to discuss how the country will continue fighting COVID-19 after it was proclaimed as a pandemic by the World Health Organization the previous year. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are to travel Atlanta, Georgia and promote the legislation across the country on Friday.

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda has appointed Timothy W. Casgrain as the new chairman of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

“Mr. Casgrain’s credentials will bring strong leadership to the CBC,” said Oda. “I am confident that his experience and sound judgement will greatly benefit the CBC.”

Casgrain was born in Montreal, Quebec and studied at McGill University. In 1969, he served as a teacher in a small African town in Chad for two years. Some years later, he became an accountant. In 1976, he was chairperson of Skyservice Investments Inc., a Canadian aviation company and was Executive Vice President of the Brascan Financial Corp. In 1988, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of NBS Technologies.

Since then, Casgrain has served many other positions and has many other honours in his name. Casgrain has been a member of the Order of Chartered Accountants of Quebec since 1976 and is the president of the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame.

Friday, September 5, 2014

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reported harsh economic collapse in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, calling for its reconstruction. In a statement to the press, the organizations said that the data included in the report doesn’t take into consideration the outcomes of the recent conflict with Israel.

According to the Conference’s annual report, the economic growth in Gaza has dwindled from 11% between 2010-2012 to only 1.5% in the past year, and the cost of rebuilding it is estimated at about 1.8 billion dollars. The UNCTAD warns of disastrous outcomes if the situation isn’t addressed immediately.

Beyond foreign support, the organization recommends taking steps that would allow the Gazan economy to stabilize and eventually stand on its own and decrease its dependence on foreign economies.

“The situation in reality is graver than what is mentioned in the report, as it was prepared before the latest Israeli offensive operation on Gaza strip,” said Economic Affairs officer in the Assistance to the Palestinian People Unit in UNCTAD Mutasim Elagraa.

Furthermore, UNCTAD’s coordinator for the Palestinian Territories, Mahmoud Elkhafif, told reporters that now, following the damages caused by the conflict, rebuilding Gaza would require more than 4 billion dollars.

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

An infectious superbug spreading in the United States is to “emerge in force” in Canada, doctors fear. The bacteria have been reported popping up in day care centers and locker rooms across the U.S. Usually elderly or very ill hospital patients get the disease.

More than 2 million U.S. residents are infected every year, the Centers for Disease Control estimates.

An article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) on Tuesday said that Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are “spreading with alarming rapidity.” The bacteria can cause boils, pimples, or in extreme cases, flesh-eating disease, and more.

“The resistant bacteria is an old foe with new fangs: a pathogen combining virulence, resistance and an ability to disseminate at large,” wrote Dr. John Conly, medical professor and an infectious disease specialist at the University of Calgary.

British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario are the provinces which already have had MRSA in hospitals.

A 30-year-old Calgary, Alberta man died last year of lung abscesses associated with the infection, as well as a three-month old toddler in Toronto, Ontario.

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios, last summer, suffered from an infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus in his leg. Pitcher Ty Taubenheim had a similar infection on his foot.

Doctors are currently investigating some Calgary residents, who could be one of the first Canadian reports of MRSA outside of a hospital setting.

Saturday, November 4, 2006

On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is Don Valley East (Ward 33). One candidates responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include Zane Caplan, Shelley Carroll (incumbent), Jim Conlon, Sarah Tsang-Fahey, and Anderson Tung.

For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.