BREAKING Iran fires air defence batteries in provinces as sound of explosions heard near Isfahan
Iran fired air defence batteries early Friday morning after reports of explosions near the city of Isfahan, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
The end of Canadian COVID-19 border restrictions means it's back to business as usual for Major League Baseball and the Toronto Blue Jays, just in time for the playoffs.
The pandemic rules, which expire on Oct. 1, kept unvaccinated players from facing Canada's only MLB team at home.
"The previous vaccination laws did prevent numerous teams from bringing their entire rosters to Toronto, which did benefit the Blue Jays in that other teams had to either rely on inexperienced players in a full-time role or opposing teams had to restructure their rotations accordingly," Tyson Shushkewich, co-editor of the Jays Journal fan site, told CTVNews.ca.
Affected players were put on the restricted list, essentially meaning they were excused from games but not paid. While this usually only impacted a few players for most teams during the 2022 season, the Jays' advantage was clear in July when 10 members of the Kansas City Royals skipped a four-game series in Toronto, which the Jays won 3-1.
Unlike the Blue Jays, the Royals are not contenders in this year's playoffs, which begin Oct. 7. The Jays, who currently lead the race for an American League wild-card spot, were MLB champions in 1992 and 1993. They last won a post-season game in 2016.
"There are a few unvaccinated players on playoff teams who wouldn't have been able to come to Toronto under the previous rules," Cameron Lewis, editor-in-chief of the Blue Jays Nation fan site, told CTVNews.ca. "The only one who's really a stand-out player is Robbie Ray of the Seattle Mariners."
The left-handed pitcher was with the Jays for part of 2020 and all of the 2021 season, when he won the Cy Young award as the American League's top pitcher. In the subsequent offseason, Ray signed a five-year deal with the Mariners; Lewis believes his vaccination status may have played a role. As a Mariner, Ray skipped a three-game series in Toronto in May; the Jays won two games. When the teams met again in Seattle in July, the Mariners swept the Jays in four games.
"Having to face Ray would be challenging, as he has become one of the Mariners' top arms amongst a very strong rotation," Shushkewich explained. "Ray also spent the past 1.5 seasons with the Jays, which would be an excellent matchup to see but one that might be difficult for the Jays hitters given his familiarity with the Jays roster and having pitched very well at the Rogers Centre."
Because of Canadian pandemic restrictions, the Blue Jays also spent 2020 and much of 2021 playing home games in Dunedin, Fla., and Buffalo, N.Y., before returning to their Rogers Centre roost on July 30, 2021 – 670 days after their last game in Toronto.
"This was a disadvantage in that the club could not play in front of a home crowd compared to their counterparts and oftentimes had a healthy amount of opposing fans at their dedicated home ball games," Shushkewich added.
The lifting of restrictions also means the Jays could have more freedom to both sign and trade for players who aren’t vaccinated going forward.
"Many have said that the border rules have been an advantage for the Blue Jays all season because some teams have to leave some players behind, but it's actually been somewhat of a disadvantage to them because it added another obstacle to who they can acquire," Lewis explained. "With the rule gone, the Blue Jays will be able to go about signing free agents, trading for players, etc., normally without worrying about who can and can't cross the border."
Iran fired air defence batteries early Friday morning after reports of explosions near the city of Isfahan, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Nearly half of China's major cities are suffering 'moderate to severe' levels of subsidence, putting millions at risk of flooding especially as sea levels rise.
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
The judge presiding over the trial of a man accused of fatally running over a Toronto police officer is telling jurors the possible verdicts they may reach based on the evidence in the case.
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
Colin Jost, who co-anchors Saturday Night Live's 'Weekend Update,' revealed who he thinks is one of the best hosts on the show.
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball's highest scorer Caitlin Clark's first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Sophie Kinsella, the best-selling author behind the 'Shopaholic' book series, has revealed that she is receiving treatment for brain cancer.
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.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.