2-hour wildfire evacuation notice issued for some Fort McMurray neighbourhoods
A wildfire evacuation alert for some Fort McMurray residents has been updated to a two-hour evacuation notice.
IOC Vice President John Coates arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday, the same day that organizers and the International Olympic Committee were set to roll out the third and final edition of their so-called Playbooks.
Coates is the International Olympic Committee's official in charge of overseeing the Tokyo Games. He has been a controversial figure in Japan, saying the postponed Olympics would go ahead even if the country were under a state of emergency.
Organizers confirmed Coates' arrival from Australia. Officials last week said he would be quarantined for three days, followed by 11 days of restricted activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coates arrives with Tokyo and other parts of Japan under a state of emergency until June 20, but with reported new cases falling and a slow vaccine rollout finally speeding up.
Less than 5% of Japanese have been fully vaccinated.
The IOC says more that 80% of those staying in the Olympic Village will be fully vaccinated, although it did not provide details how it reached that conclusion.
The Japanese medical community has largely opposed holding these Olympics in Tokyo, arguing the risks are too great. The government's main medical adviser Dr. Shigeru Omi has said it's "abnormal" to hold the Olympics during a pandemic.
The Playbooks are COVID-19 rule books for athletes and all others entering Japan to participate in the Olympics.
The second version, published in April, was criticized last month in an editorial by The New England Journal of Medicine that said, among other things, that the Playbooks "are not built on scientifically rigorous risk assessment."
The final version is not expected to deliver major changes, but likely more small details for everyone from athletes to media, broadcasters, and tens of thousands of support staff.
The April version specified:
Since the second edition was published, organizers have said participants' movement will be monitored by GPS, and that they must sign a pledge to follow the rules. In addition, athletes must sign a waiver in regard to any harm suffered by COVID-19.
Fans from abroad have been banned, and organizers say a decision on having any local fans at Olympic venues will be announced by the end of the month.
The IOC is pushing ahead, partly because it gets almost 75% of its revenue from selling broadcast rights. That income flow has been stalled during the postponement of the Tokyo Games. In addition, Japan has officially spent $15.4 billion or organize the Olympics, although government audits say the figure is much larger.
Organizers say, including 15,400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes, the total number of people expected to enter Tokyo for the Olympics is about 93,000.
A wildfire evacuation alert for some Fort McMurray residents has been updated to a two-hour evacuation notice.
Saskatchewan RCMP have revealed that a historic sexual assault investigation has led to the discovery of crimes against children dating back to 2005.
Canadian LifeLabs customers who filed an application for a class-action settlement began receiving their payments this week, though at a much lower amount than initially expected.
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
An American accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said, 'So I raped you,' has been detained in France after a three-year search.
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.
The Israeli flag is flying at Ottawa City Hall today to mark the country's national day, with plans to hold a private ceremony to mark Israel's Independence Day. There is a significant police presence at City Hall, including security barriers outside the main doors.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.