Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Britain is extending its COVID-19 booster vaccine program to millions more people as part of efforts to tackle the spread of the new omicron variant, which is feared to be more contagious and vaccine-resistant.
The British government said Monday that it would accept in full the revised recommendations from the independent body of scientists that has been advising it, chief of which is that everyone aged between 18 and 39 should be offered a booster shot. Up until now, only people aged over 40 as well as those deemed particularly vulnerable to the virus were eligible.
The change in advice means around 13 million more people will be eligible for the vaccine. So far, the U.K. has given around 17.5 million booster shots.
In addition to extending the rollout down the age range, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation also said booster doses for all age groups should be given no sooner than three months after a second dose. That shaves three months off the current wait.
In further advice, the JCVI said young people aged 12 to 15 should be offered a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine, no sooner than 12 weeks after their first.
“With this new variant on the offensive, these measures will protect more people more quickly and make us better protected as a nation,” Health Secretary Sajid Javid told lawmakers when accepting the new advice.
The major revision of the booster rollout comes after six more cases were reported in Scotland and two in England. That takes the U.K.'s total to 11.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said not all the cases identified in Scotland were linked to travel to countries in southern Africa, suggesting “some community transmission.”
The spread of the omicron variant, which has substantially more mutations than previous strains, has stoked fears that the coronavirus pandemic will find fresh legs over the coming months. It will take scientists a few weeks to get a greater understanding of how the new variant is spreading.
“We've always said we will get a variant that gives us heightened concern,” said England's deputy medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam. “We are at that moment with omicron. It is the new kid on the block for now.
Already, the British government has tightened rules on mask-wearing and testing of arrivals in the country. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday it was necessary to take “targeted and precautionary measures” in England.
The other nations of the U.K. have had more stringent rules in place over the past few months following the lifting of most lockdown restrictions. Sturgeon said she and her Welsh counterpart, Mark Drakeford, had written to Johnson asking for all people arriving in the U.K. to self-isolate for at least eight days. Johnson has said arrivals will need to take a high-standard PCR test by the end of their second day in the country and to self-isolate until they get a negative result.
The new rules for England, which will see mask-wearing made compulsory in shops and on public transport on Tuesday, though not in pubs and restaurants, are expected to be reviewed in three weeks. High school students in England are also being advised to wear masks in communal areas, such as corridors, but not in classrooms.
Van-Tam urged people to take up the boosters and laid out his hope that the vaccines will continue to keep a lid on serious disease even if they reduce the impact on infections.
“I'm asking people not to panic but I'm not asking them either to completely ignore the weather forecast,” he said.
Jill Lawless contributed to this report.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
The erstwhile group of senators and MPs studying the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act over the "Freedom Convoy" was supposed to present its findings in December. December of 2022, that is.
The Ukrainian village of Ocheretyne has been battered by fighting, drone footage obtained by The Associated Press shows. The village has been a target for Russian forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
A delegation of the Palestinian militant group Hamas was in Cairo on Saturday as Egyptian state media reported "noticeable progress" in ongoing cease-fire talks with Israel while an Israeli official downplayed the prospects for a full end to the war.
Saing Chhoeun was locked out of his Charlotte, N.C., home on Monday as law enforcement with high-powered rifles descended into his yard and garage, using a car as a shield as they were met with a shower of gunfire from the direction of his neighbor's house.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.