Quebecers out in the streets after 8 p.m. on Saturday can expect to be questioned by police as a month-long curfew comes into effect to control the spread of COVID-19.
The province announced earlier this week that the curfew will be in place from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., except for those who fall into certain exempted categories, such as essential workers.
It’s a state of affairs Premier François Legault is defending as unpleasant but necessary. In an open letter on his Facebook page, Legault said, “I consider the situation critical, and it requires a shock treatment.”
With hospitals in many areas, including greater Montreal, reaching the breaking point, the government is making a desperate effort to stop COVID-19 from spreading in the community. The point, Legault writes, “is to prevent gatherings, even the smallest ones.”
Je m’adresse à l’ensemble de la nation québécoise.<br>J’ai besoin de chacune et de chacun d’entre vous.<br>On a besoin d’un effort collectif, de tout le monde, pendant un mois.<br> <br>Voici ma déclaration: <a href=”https://t.co/HhaYYy3vOa”>https://t.co/HhaYYy3vOa</a> <a href=”https://t.co/3v8CFzPOXZ”>pic.twitter.com/3v8CFzPOXZ</a>
The province will send out an emergency alert this afternoon to remind Quebecers of the curfew and that police will be more visible on the streets over the weekend.
The curfew comes as Quebec’s COVID-19 cases and deaths continue to rise and hospitals say they’re filling up and risk becoming overwhelmed.
The province reported 3,127 new cases on Saturday and 41 more deaths. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 226,233 confirmed cases and 8,647 people have died.
The curfew will last at least four weeks, until Feb. 8, and violators could face fines ranging from $1,000 to $6,000.
Meanwhile, federal Public Services and Procurement Minister Anita Anand said Ottawa will do “whatever it takes” to get more vaccine doses delivered to Canada faster.
But she said there has not yet been any change in the number of doses the government is expecting to receive this winter, and approvals for additional vaccines are still at least several weeks away.
WATCH | Ottawa promises more COVID-19 vaccines to come next week:
As some provinces begin to run low on doses, Prime Minister Trudeau promises to ‘scale up’ COVID-19 vaccine deliveries. 1:38
Anand said Canada has already put a number of offers on the table to vaccine-makers to get more deliveries faster, including upping the price per dose.
Canada has approved two vaccines and is currently scheduled to receive four million doses from Pfizer-BioNTech and another two million from Moderna before the end of March.
That is the same delivery plan that has existed since November.
Fewer than 250,000 people have received doses in Canada.
What’s happening across Canada
As of 12:15 p.m. ET, Canada had reported 650,918 cases of COVID-19, with 82,202 cases considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 16,788.
Ontario reported 3,443 cases on Saturday, including 1,070 in Toronto, 548 in Peel Region, 303 in York Region, 282 in Windsor-Essex County and 179 in Ottawa.
The education minister said Saturday the province is expanding the list of essential workers eligible to receive free child care during the time school is taught remotely. Stephen Lecce says Canada Post staff, workers with the RCMP and the Canada Border Services Agency, and workers with homeless shelters and children’s aid societies are among those on the expanded list.
WATCH | Alberta and Ontario differ on schools despite similar COVID-19 numbers:
Two provinces with similar COVID-19 infection numbers have made opposite decisions on school going forward. Alberta is sending kids back to the classroom next week, while Ontario is keeping most students at home. 2:00
Manitoba announced 222 new COVID-19 cases and nine new deaths on Friday. Chief public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin said there has been a spike in cases related to gatherings over the holidays.
Saskatchewan reported 336 new cases on Friday — the second day in a row that officials in the province recorded more than 300 new cases — and it announced seven additional deaths.
Alberta reported 1,183 new COVID-19 cases and 24 deaths on Friday. Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, announced the province has detected its first case of a variant of COVID-19 first found in South Africa.
WestJet announces cuts affecting the equivalent of 1,000 full-time positions and says the government hasn’t done enough to help a flailing but necessary industry. Meanwhile, Canada lost 63,000 jobs over the last month. 2:31
British Columbia health officials announced 617 new cases of COVID-19 and 18 more deaths. In a written statement, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said 358 people are in hospital, 75 of whom are in intensive care.
In the Northwest Territories, Indigenous leaders say the territorial government must address vaccine hesitancy if it wants to reach target immunization levels. The territory received 7,200 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine last week and unveiled its vaccination strategy on Tuesday.
In Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick reported 18 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, while Nova Scotia reported two new cases..
With case numbers rising in New Brunswick, health officials urged people to follow the rules, be honest with contact tracers and support people who are in isolation because of a positive test or a contact.
Nova Scotia announced that it is tightening border restrictions with New Brunswick. As of 8 a.m. on Saturday, everyone coming into Nova Scotia from New Brunswick will have to self-isolate for 14 days. There are exceptions for those who are crossing the border due to work, a medical appointment, child-custody arrangements or legal reasons.
What’s happening around the world
As of 12:20 p.m. ET Saturday, more than 89.1 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, with more than 49.5 million of those considered recovered or resolved, according to Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 case tracking tool. The global death toll stood at more than 1.9 million.
In the Americas, Mexico on Friday posted its third straight day of a new high for coronavirus infections, with 14,362 newly confirmed cases and a near-record of 1,038 more deaths. The country has now topped 1.5 million total infections and over 132,000 deaths so far in the pandemic. The country’s extremely low testing rate means that is an undercount, and official estimates suggest the real death toll is over 180,000.
WATCH | Florida allows COVID-19 vaccine access to snowbirds:
Canadian snowbirds have early access to COVID-19 vaccines in Florida because the state has put all people over age 65 at top priority. 2:04
In Europe, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, royal officials said Saturday. The couple are in their 90s and therefore eligible for Britain’s earliest waves of vaccinations.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis said on Saturday he planned to have a COVID-19 vaccination as early as next week and urged everyone to get a shot, to protect not only their own lives but those of everyone else.
“I believe that ethically everyone should take the vaccine,” the Pope said in an interview with TV station Canale 5. “It is an ethical choice because you are gambling with your health, with your life, but you are also gambling with the lives of others.”
WATCH | U.K. sees 68,000 new COVID-19 cases three days into national lockdown:
Record-high COVID-19 counts were reported in the United Kingdom on the third day of a national lockdown that includes school closures. More than 68,000 new cases were recorded and another 1,325 deaths. 1:55
In the Asia-Pacific region, several regional governments in Japan have asked for a state of emergency declaration like the one issued by the prime minister to the Tokyo area to stem the surging rise in coronavirus cases. The heads of Osaka, Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures in central Japan relayed their request Saturday. There was no immediate decision, but the government panel of medical experts will study the situation. Japan’s state of emergency, which kicked in Friday for Tokyo and nearby Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba, centres around asking restaurants and bars to close at 8 p.m. It lasts for a month but can be extended.
WATCH | What scientists know about the new coronavirus variant:
The B1-17 coronavirus variant, first discovered in the U.K., is now in at least 40 countries, including Canada. It has 23 mutations, including one that attaches to healthy cells like a key going into a lock. 1:56
In China, authorities are asking residents in two cities south of Beijing to stay home for seven days as they try to stamp out a coronavirus outbreak in which more than 300 people have tested positive in the past week. According to official notices on social media, the cities of Shijiazhuang and Xingtai in Hebei province are restricting people to their communities and villages and have banned gatherings.
India will start its COVID-19 vaccination drive on Jan. 16, with priority given to about 30 million health-care and front-line workers, a government statement said on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the preparedness for the COVID-19 vaccination program on Saturday. India hopes to inoculate 300 million of its 1.35 billion people free of charge in the first six to eight months of this year.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An Alaska man accused of sending graphic threats to injure and kill six Supreme Court justices and some of their family members has been indicted on federal charges, authorities said Thursday.
Panos Anastasiou, 76, is accused of sending more than 465 messages through a public court website, including graphic threats of assassination and torture coupled with racist and homophobic rhetoric.
The indictment does not specify which justices Anastasiou targeted, but Attorney General Merrick Garland said he made the graphic threats as retaliation for decisions he disagreed with.
“Our democracy depends on the ability of public officials to do their jobs without fearing for their lives or the safety of their families,” he said.
Anastasiou has been indicted on 22 counts, including nine counts of making threats against a federal judge and 13 counts of making threats in interstate commerce.
He was released from detention late Thursday by a federal magistrate in Anchorage with a a list of conditions, including that he not directly or indirectly contact any of the six Supreme Court justices he allegedly threatened or any of their family members.
During the hearing that lasted more than hour, Magistrate Kyle Reardon noted some of the messages Anastasiou allegedly sent between March 2023 and mid-July 2024, including calling for the assassination of two of the Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices so the current Democratic president could appoint their successors.
Instead of toning down his rhetoric after receiving a visit from FBI agents last year, Anastasiou increased the frequency of his messages and their vitriolic language, Reardon said.
Gray-haired and shackled at the ankles above his salmon-colored plastic slippers, Anastasiou wore a yellow prison outfit with ACC printed in black on the back, the initials for the Anchorage Correctional Facility, at the hearing. Born in Greece, he moved to Anchorage 67 years ago. Reardon allowed him to contact his elected officials on other matters like global warming, but said the messages must be reviewed by his lawyers.
Defense attorney Jane Imholte noted Anastasiou is a Vietnam veteran who is undergoing treatment for throat cancer and has no financial means other than his Social Security benefits.
She told the judge that Anastaiou, who signed his own name to the emails, worried about his pets while being detained. She said he only wanted to return home to care for his dogs, Freddie, Buddy and Cutie Pie.
He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for each count of making threats against a federal judge and up to five years for each count of making threats in interstate commerce if convicted.
Threats targeting federal judges overall have more than doubled in recent years amid a surge of similar violent messages directed at public officials around the country, the U.S. Marshals Service previously said.
In 2022, shortly after the leak of a draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, a man was stopped near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh with weapons and zip ties.
ROME (AP) — Canadian and Italian dignitaries on Thursday marked the successful recovery of a photo portrait of Winston Churchill known as “The Roaring Lion,” stolen in Canada and recovered in Italy after a two-year search by police.
At a ceremony at the Canadian Embassy in Rome, Italian carabinieri police handed over the portrait to the Canadian ambassador to Italy, Elissa Goldberg, who praised the cooperation between Italian and Canadian investigators that led to the recovery.
The 1941 portrait of the British leader taken by Ottawa photographer Yousuf Karsh is now ready for the last step of its journey home to the Fairmont Château Laurier, the hotel in Ottawa where it was stolen and will once again be displayed as a notable historic portrait.
Canadian police said the portrait was stolen from the hotel sometime between Christmas 2021 and Jan. 6, 2022, and replaced with a forgery. The swap was only uncovered months later, in August, when a hotel worker noticed the frame was not hung properly and looked different than the others.
Nicola Cassinelli, a lawyer in Genoa, Italy, purchased the portrait in May 2022 at an online Sotheby’s auction for 5,292 British pounds. He says he got a phone call from the auction house that October advising him not to sell or otherwise transfer the portrait due to an investigation into the Ottawa theft.
Cassinelli, who attended Thursday’s ceremony, said he thought he was buying a regular print and quickly agreed to send the iconic Churchill photograph home when he learned its true story.
“I immediately decided to return it to the Chateau Laurier, because I think that if Karsh donated it to the hotel, it means he really wanted it to stay there, for the particular significance this hotel had for him, and for his wife too,” Cassinelli told The Associated Press.
The famous image was taken by Karsh during Churchill’s wartime visit to the Canadian Parliament in December 1941. It helped launch Karsh’s career, who photographed some of the 20th century’s most famed icons, including Nelson Mandela, Albert Einstein and Queen Elizabeth.
Karsh and his wife Estrellita gifted an original signed print to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in 1998. The couple had lived and operated a studio inside the hotel for nearly two decades.
Geneviève Dumas, general manager of the Fairmont Château Laurier, said on Thursday she felt immensely grateful.
“I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to everybody involved in solving this case, and ensuring the safe return of this priceless piece of history.”
Police arrested a 43-year-old man from Powassan, Ontario, in April and have charged him with stealing and trafficking the portrait. The man, whose name is protected by a publication ban, faces charges that include forgery, theft over $5,000 and trafficking in property obtained by crime exceeding $5,000.
CULIACAN, Mexico (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blamed the United States in part on Thursday for the surge in cartel violence terrorizing the northern state of Sinaloa which has left at least 30 people dead in the past week.
Two warring factions of the Sinaloa cartel have clashed in the state capital of Culiacan in what appears to be a fight for power since two of its leaders were arrested in the United States in late July. Teams of gunmen have shot at each other and the security forces.
Meanwhile, dead bodies continued to pop up around the city. On one busy street corner, cars drove by pools of the blood leading to a body in a car mechanic shop, while heavily armed police in black masks loaded up another body stretched out on a side street of the Sinaloan city.
Asked at his morning briefing if the U.S. government was “jointly responsible” for this violence in Sinaloa, the president said, “Yes, of course … for having carried out this operation.”
The recent surge in cartel warfare had been expected after Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, landed near El Paso, Texas on July 25 in a small plane with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
Zambada was the cartel’s elder figure and reclusive leader. After his arrest, he said in a letter circulated by his lawyer that he had been abducted by the younger Guzmán and taken to the U.S. against his will.
On Thursday afternoon, another military operation covered the north of Culiacan with military and circling helicopters.
Traffic was heavy in Culiacan and most schools were open, even though parents were still not sending their children to classes. Businesses continue to close early and few people venture out after dark. While the city has slowly reopened and soldiers patrol the streets, many families continue to hide away, with parents and teachers fearing they’ll be caught in the crossfire.
“Where is the security for our children, for ourselves too, for all citizens? It’s so dangerous here, you don’t want to go outside,” one Culiacan mother told the Associated Press.
The mother, who didn’t want to share her name out of fear of the cartels, said that while some schools have recently reopened, she hasn’t allowed her daughter to go for two weeks. She said she was scared to do so after armed men stopped a taxi they were traveling in on their way home, terrifying her child.
During his morning press briefing, López Obrador had claimed American authorities “carried out that operation” to capture Zambada and that “it was totally illegal, and agents from the Department of Justice were waiting for Mr. Mayo.”
“If we are now facing instability and clashes in Sinaloa, it is because they (the American government) made that decision,” he said.
He added that there “cannot be a cooperative relationship if they take unilateral decisions” like this. Mexican prosecutors have said they were considering bringing treason charges against those involved in the plan to nab Zambada.
He was echoed by President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who said later in the day that “we can never accept that there is no communication or collaboration.”
It’s the latest escalation of tensions in the U.S.-Mexico relationship. Last month, the Mexican president said he was putting relations with the U.S. and Canadian embassies “on pause” after ambassadors criticized his controversial plan to overhaul Mexico’s judiciary by requiring all judges to stand for election.
Still, the Zambada capture has fueled criticisms of López Obrador, who has throughout his administration refused to confront cartels in a strategy he refers to as “hugs not bullets.” On previous occasions, he falsely stated that cartels respect Mexican citizens and largely fight amongst themselves.
While the president, who is set to leave office at the end of the month, has promised his plan would reduce cartel violence, such clashes continue to plague Mexico. Cartels employ an increasing array of tactics, including roadside bombs or IEDs, trenches, home-made armored vehicles and bomb-dropping drones.
