Trend-setting interest rate and something stinks; In The News for March 4

But that was before COVID-19, as the virus is named, spread to more countries outside of China, disrupting global supply chains and shaving forecasts for economic growth in Canada and elsewhere.

Economists are widely forecasting the bank will cut its rate today following an unexpected 0.5 percentage point cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday to its rate as an emergency economic measure.

The central bank is expected to cut its rate by one-quarter of a point and leave open the possibility of mirroring the American cut of half a percentage point.

Markets had already baked in at least one rate cut this year, but now forecasts peg today’s decision as the first of what could be multiple reductions to the central bank’s key interest rate target, which stands at 1.75 per cent.

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Also this …

VANCOUVER — Handshakes are out and nodding, smiling and tapping elbows or feet are in to reduce the risk of spreading the novel coronavirus as 33 cases have now been reported in Canada.

Some Roman Catholic churches are asking parishioners to replace the social nicety of shaking hands during mass by acknowledging others in a different way, perhaps just by making the peace sign.

Archdiocese of Vancouver spokeswoman Melissa Godboutsays staff are in contact with the Health Ministry multiple times a day for advice on any recommendations for large gatherings.

The archdiocese of Toronto says many churches stopped the practice of shaking hands in 2003 during the SARS outbreak and the focus is now on making sure people wash their hands before and after distributing communion.

British Columbia’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says she has stopped shaking hands, as she did when she responded to Ebola in Uganda in 1999 as tapping feet became a typical way to greet people.

She says such gestures in solidarity are a recognition that traditional norms should change as an infectious illness spreads quickly.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

WASHINGTON — A resurgent Joe Biden scored sweeping victories from Texas to Massachusetts on Super Tuesday, revitalizing a presidential bid that was teetering on the edge of disaster just days earlier.

But his rival, Bernie Sanders, seized the biggest prize with a win in California that ensured he would drive the Democrats’ nomination fight for the foreseeable future.

Suddenly, the Democratic Party’s presidential field, once featuring more than two dozen candidates, transformed into a two-man contest.

Biden and Sanders were battling for delegates as 14 states and one U.S. territory held a series of high-stakes elections that marked the most significant day of voting in the party’s 2020 presidential nomination fight.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

ANKARA — Turkey says that two more of its soldiers have been killed in a Syrian government attack in northwestern Syria, as steady clashes between the two national armies continued to rack up casualties.

Turkey has sent thousands of troops into the area to support Syrian insurgents holed up there, but hasn’t been able to stop the Russian-backed Syrian government offensive to retake the Idlib province.

The assault came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to depart for Moscow where he says he aims to broke a ceasefire in Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow has sought to lay the blame for the escalation on Ankara.

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ICYMI (In case you missed it) …

OTTAWA — Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien scoffs at the notion that Canada’s national unity is threatened by Indigenous protests and Western alienation.

Chretien says the unity of the country was in much greater peril back in the 1960s and 70s, when radical Quebec separatists set off bombs, kidnapped the British trade commissioner and killed a Quebec cabinet minister.

The former Liberal prime minister says the country survived that episode and he says Canadians are still together and more united than ever.

Chretien says Canada won’t break up over the blockades that paralyzed train traffic across the country in support of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs fighting a natural gas pipeline in northern B.C.

Nor does it make sense, in his view, for Alberta to separate over its inability to get crude oil to coastal waters for export overseas.

Separation, Chretien notes, won’t move Alberta any closer to the Pacific.

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Weird and wild …

MADISON, Wis. — This next story stinks.

The largest technical cheese, butter and yogurt competition in the world has started in Wisconsin, with a record 3,667 entries from 26 nations.

The 55 judges taste, sniff and inspect the 132 classes of dairy products during the biennial World Championship Cheese Contest.

The judges include cheese graders, cheese buyers, dairy science professors, and researchers from 19 nations and 14 states.

The last time the competition was held in 2018, a hard sheep’s milk cheese called Esquirrou made in France at Mauleon Fromagerie won top honours. It is imported by Savencia Cheese USA. This year’s winner will be announced Thursday.

One judge and 30 people from a Japanese university could not attend because the university didn’t allow international travel due to the new coronavirus, says Rebekah Sweeney, spokeswoman for the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, which organizes the event.

There will be extra hand-washing stations and hand sanitizers for the judges “out of an abundance of good intention,” she says.

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Know your news …

Canadian country music star Brett Kissel says a tornado narrowly missed his condo in Nashville, but left much of the surrounding neighbourhood in ruins. Tornadoes killed at least 22 people across Tennessee early Tuesday morning. Where in Canada is Kissel’s from?

(Keep scrolling for the answer)

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On this day in 1966 …

A political sex scandal involving a senior Ottawa official and a prostitute named Gerda Munsinger became known to Parliament and the country. Liberal Justice Minister Lucien Cardin revealed that Pierre Sevigny, associate minister of defence in the Conservative government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, had an affair in the late 1950s and early 1960s with Munsinger. After being warned that Munsinger was a security risk, Diefenbaker reprimanded Sevigny but kept him in the cabinet. A later inquiry found no security breach, but said Diefenbaker was too lenient.

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Your health …

Doctors say patients undergoing surgery for early-stage stomach and intestinal cancer are recovering faster and going home sooner because of a new surgical approach in Calgary.

The Peter Lougheed Centre is the first on the Prairies to adopt the minimally invasive method for removing cancerous tissue from the gastro-intestinal tract.

Doctors use a small video camera, called an endosope, which is inserted through an orifice of the body.

It then visualizes and removes cancerous tissue from the esophagus, stomach, small intestine or rectum.

Patients can be discharged within 24 hours, unlike other surgeries which could keep them in hospital for several days.

The procedure was originally developed in Japan, and is also being performed in Vancouver, Toronto, Kingston, London, Ottawa and Montreal.

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Entertainment news …

TORONTO — Avril Lavigne is among the latest musicians to postpone international tour dates in response to the growing number of novel coronavirus cases.

The Canadian pop singer has posted a message to fans on social media saying she would no longer be touring Asia in April and May.

She says her band and crew are “completely bummed out” by the decision, but everyone to take care of themselves in the meantime.

Lavinge adds that she hopes to announce rescheduled shows soon.

The decision comes as other acts pull back on their touring plans.

Montreal rockers Wolf Parade told ticketholders it would be “globally irresponsible and potentially risky” to carry on with their European and U.K. tour, while U.S. bands Green Day and the National are among the other performers who’ve sidelined plans for overseas.

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Know your news answer …

Flat Lake, Alta. Kissel and his wife have lived in Nashville since 2012 but spend a lot of time back home in the rural area northeast of Edmotnon.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2020.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Trend-setting interest rate and something stinks; In The News for March 4

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