Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
When we think of medieval friars, we may well picture Robin Hood's jolly Friar Tuck, known for his rotund figure and love of food and drink.
But it turns out some of these monks were full of more than just cakes and ale.
According to a study released on Friday, Augustinian friars in medieval England were nearly twice as likely to suffer from intestinal parasites as other people, despite most monasteries being equipped with washing facilities -- a rarity for ordinary citizens.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge's Department of Archaeology excavated the remains of 19 friars from the grounds of a former Augustinian friary in Cambridge, England.
By comparing soil samples taken from around the pelvises of the friars and 25 townspeople of low socioeconomic status from the same 12th-14th-century era, the researchers were able to compare the prevalence of parasites in people with vastly different lifestyles, according to the study, published in the International Journal of Paleopathology.
The analysis revealed that 11 of the friars (58%) were infected with worms, compared with just eight of the locals (32%).
The percentage of parasitic presence in locals was as expected, similar to that found in previous studies on European medieval burials, but the researchers said the infection rates from the former friary remains are high.
"The friars of medieval Cambridge appear to have been riddled with parasites," Piers Mitchell, the study's lead author, said in a press release.
It's the first time anyone has tried to work out how common parasites were in people with different lifestyles from the same medieval town, he added.
Researcher Tianyi Wang, who did the microscopy to find the parasite eggs, said the most common species found was roundworm, followed by whipworm, both of which are spread by "poor sanitation."
Although the friars had access to latrines and washing facilities -- usually with running water, though this has yet to be confirmed at the Cambridge site -- the researchers suggest the stark difference in the infection rate must be due to differences in dealing with human waste.
"One possibility is that the friars manured their vegetable gardens with human faeces, not unusual in the medieval period, and this may have led to repeated infection with the worms," Mitchell explained.
Compared with the privy -- pretty fancy by medieval standards -- to which monks were accustomed, ordinary people had to make do with a cesspit, a simple hole in the ground.
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.