Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
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.
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.