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breaking news tonight
Canadians detained in Ethiopia the group
of volunteers and workers being held and
the allegations against them Canada's
newest kovat 19 cases she was doing the
right thing and staying away from others
as an American state declares an
emergency
Democrats campaigning with confidence in
South Carolina I think I'm going to do
well here well I think you're gonna make
me the next president to the United
States how tonight's state primary could
influence voters across the US and she
rocks the Canadian student Wow in the
science world with her astronomical
accomplishments
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global national with Robin Gil
good evening and thank you for joining
us we begin with breaking news tonight
from Ethiopia Global News has confirmed
a group of volunteers and staff with the
Alberta based charity Canadian
humanitarian is being detained in
Ethiopia
Liam Nixon is tracking this Global News
exclusive from our Lethbridge newsroom
tonight Liam
yes Robin Global Affairs is aware and
has consular officials on the ground now
working to ensure the well-being of the
13 detainees now originally there were
18 Canadians being held but Global News
has confirmed that five were released on
Friday Canadian humanitarian
spokesperson Justin steed says there are
now those 13 to Taney's three staff
members and ten volunteers and they're
being held at a police station in the
city of Gondar 600 kilometers north of
the capital addis ababa two Ethiopian
staff are also currently being held
steve says the group is being
investigated on allegations they were
accused of practicing medicine without
permission and had dispensed expired
medication now in a statement issued to
Global News Steve says in part just like
all of our trips our team and
organization followed all necessary
steps and protocols to ensure our group
had all permits needed to provide
medical support and care while in
Ethiopia while we cannot comment on the
specifics of the expiry of the
medication we can say with confidence
that all medicine and care offered by
our team was safe it goes on to say in
collaboration with Global Affairs Canada
and the Canadian embassy in Ethiopia we
are working hard to resolve this as
quickly as possible ensure the fair and
humanitarian treatment of our team in
accordance with internationally
recognized laws and expedite their safe
return to Canada Canadian humanitarian
is a non-political organization that has
sent hundreds of volunteers to Ethiopia
over the last 15 years Steve says the
organization does not engage in any
activity outside of their humanitarian
efforts and this is actually a long
weekend in Ethiopia so the detainees
aren't expected to be back in court
until at least Tuesday Robben Global's
Liam Nixon in Lethbridge Alberta let's
bring in our Ottawa bureau chief
Mercedes Stevenson Mercedes what are
your
government sources saying about this
case well Robyn just two weeks after
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau returned
home from a warm-and-fuzzy visit with
the Prime Minister of Ethiopia these
Canadians find themselves detained and
tonight the Canadian government is
confirming they are aware of the
detention although they wouldn't give us
a lot of details because there are
privacy rules they did say that the
Canadians who have been detained are
receiving full consular access we also
talked to and received a statement from
Rob olifant he's the parliamentary
secretary for Foreign Affairs which
means it's his job in Justin Trudeau's
government to help Canadians who are in
trouble overseas
he said something interesting in
addition to confirming that they were
aware of the Canadians detention and
that they are getting access to and help
from the embassy he said thus far the
Ethiopian government has been open and
cooperative so that may give some hope
to those who are concerned about the
status of these Canadians we also spoke
with an international affairs expert who
has worked with UNICEF in the past as
well as well as other large
international organizations about the
use of expired medications and whether
that would be highly unusual here's what
he had to say I consider Ethiopia one of
the more developed African nations and I
understand that it had to do with them
not being properly registered but also
the factor was using expired
pharmaceuticals I can tell you that from
working with UNICEF and four-for-one for
deputy organization I have seen actually
expired medication used quite widely but
in very remote areas now Robyn that
recent visit from Prime Minister Trudeau
may be helpful in this situation the
Ethiopian and Canadian governments
agreed that they wanted to do more trade
together and the Canada wanted to do
more to help Ethiopia the Prime Minister
of Ethiopia is Abby ah Hamed he is seen
as a progressive who has tried to move
the country away from its past with
human rights abuses in fact while it is
still illegal to be gay in Ethiopia he
has been
moving forward so much so that he
received the Nobel Peace Prize for his
efforts on international security last
year that relationship may help here
here's what our expert had to say about
where things stand between Canada and
Ethiopia relations between Canada and
Ethiopia are very good Canada has quite
a big presence there in a number of ways
our not only diplomatically but also in
terms of trade and investment so I think
it should be fairly smooth process the
there are a lot there are a lot worse
governments on the African continent
than in Oh Theo Pia and although the
country has faced some allegations of
human rights abuses that sort of thing
things work pretty well there for the
most part so Robin obviously we will be
staying tuned but the Canadian
government is aware of the situation a
relatively good relationship between
Canada and Ethiopia and a good
relationship between the two prime
ministers which might help here if
needed
Robin Mercedes Stevenson in Ottawa the
world is scrambling to stop the spread
of covin 19 more and more cases are
popping up in countries far from the
epicenter of the outbreak tonight there
are more than 85,000 confirmed cases
around the world more than 2,000 people
have died mostly in China but the scare
is how quickly cases are multiplying at
least 56 countries now have confirmed
cases of Kovan 19 Iran has the world's
highest death toll outside of China and
cases spiked again today in the US the
man in Washington State has died from
the virus prompting the governor to
declare an emergency here in Canada
woman in her 60s who traveled from
Tehran to Vancouver has contracted the
illness there are 20 confirmed cases in
our country and as David akin reports
right now it's all about slowing the
spread morning my name is adrian dickson
a saturday morning press conference a
new confirmed case of kovin 19 it's a
significant situation obviously there
are Canadians in now in Quebec in
Ontario and in British Columbia who have
tested positive and a common link to all
the
Canadian cases the infected patients had
recently traveled often to Iran this
demonstrates how the situation is
evolving around the world and now our
response has to continue to evolve but
in the United States at least four cases
have been confirmed with no travel
connection evidence authorities say of
person-to-person local transmission and
in Washington State
the first Cova 19 death the Trump
administration announced new travel
restrictions on those coming from Iran
and warned all Americans not to travel
to certain parts of Italy or South Korea
new federal funds will also be made
available to state and local health
authorities for testing containment and
treatment we've taken the most
aggressive actions to confront the
corona virus they are the most
aggressive taken by any country but the
president's claim is an arguable point
the province of Ontario for example has
administered more tests than have been
done in all of the United States same
thing in BC where a thousand individuals
have already been tested we test some
individuals multiple times less 1,425
tests which is well over twice as many
have been done in the entire United
States early and comprehensive testing
is one of the key ways public health
authorities can contain transmission of
the disease it is a concern that they're
not they don't have the testing
available in the States yet it all has
to be done in Atlanta meanwhile some
frontline health care workers are
pressing the public health agency of
Canada to improve the protocol used when
assessing potential kovat 19 patients
they want to be issued respirators in
addition to visors and surgical masks we
need to talk about the precautionary
principle which is simple when the
science is not clear we have to have the
best protection now whether it's
President Trump or Canada's chief public
health officials they all say the risk
to public health remains low but there
is work being done in Canada and
elsewhere to learn more about the virus
its incubation period and how it gets
transmitted from person to person
and that work is important to keep the
risk low robin david aiken in ottawa
thanks David
a third day of talks is underway between
hereditary Chiefs and government
ministers they're trying to reach a
resolution over a natural gas pipeline
running through it so attend territory
in northern BC Canada's crown indigenous
relations minister says the relationship
between indigenous people and the
government needs to improve but it's
complex it's a hundred and fifty years
of broken promises and have cynicism and
it is completely understandable about
where will the government do what they
said they're gonna do The ministers
wouldn't get into specifics about the
meeting but they will say the talks are
constructive and productive the US has
signed a peace deal with the Taliban
aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan
America's longest-running war the US and
its NATO allies went into Afghanistan in
2001 in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist
attacks today's historic agreement was
signed by chief negotiators from the
Taliban Afghanistan's government and the
u.s. under the new peace deal America
will withdraw all of its forces over the
next 14 months but it depends on the
Taliban meeting on its commitments to
prevent terrorism renounce al Qaeda and
stop any group from using Afghan soil to
plot attacks on the US and its allies
today is an historic day for the United
States of America and the American
people today we have taken a decisive
step toward peace real peace in
Afghanistan to the Afghan people this is
your moment Wars have tortured your
country since 1979 no more violence no
more chaos the war in Afghanistan was
Canada's longest running war to the last
eighty four Canadian soldiers left the
country in March of 2014 and in Canada's
12-year military presence in Afghanistan
another flood of refugees and migrants
from Syria is headed toward Europe
Turkey already hosting millions of
Syrian refugees has relaxed border
controls saying the refugees are now the
world's problem today Greek police fired
tear gas at groups of migrants throwing
stones on its border with Turkey
thousands of refugees gathered trying to
cross nearly a million refugees and
migrants crossed from Turkey to Greece s
Islands in 2015
setting off a crisis over immigration in
Europe
it all comes amid a military escalation
in Syria's inland province turkey
pounded soldiers of the Syrian regime
Friday its retaliation for Syrian air
strikes that killed 33 Turkish soldiers
the Syrian military offensive backed by
Russian airstrikes has emptied entire
towns close to 1 million people have
fled their homes the presidents of
Turkey and Russia spoke by phone Friday
the two will reportedly meet in Moscow
next week in an effort to prevent an
all-out war
it's decision day for Democrats in South
Carolina
coming up the latest date to vote in a
primary plus finding 17 new planets and
Counting a Canadian university students
remarkable track record
on this Saturday night in South Carolina
voters are on pins and needles that's
where the Democratic Party is holding
its latest primary and the ballots are
being tallied tonight Jennifer Johnson
looks at how these results could be a
big factor in how the rest of this race
for the presidential nomination plays
out all eyes are on former Vice
President Joe Biden as he banks on a win
in South Carolina to jumpstart his
campaign going into Super Tuesday Biden
believes a critical win will lead to
victories in several other states that
hold votes March 3rd
I think I'm gonna do well here and I
think that's gonna put me in a position
to do well in North Carolina in other
states polls in South Carolina opened
early and there was a steady stream of
voters ready to cast their ballots some
still undecided I'm in a really big
dilemma about what I'm gonna do
but some experts believe South
Carolina's diverse population will help
undecided voters make their decisions
next Tuesday South Carolina is really
the first primary in the nation that
really reflects the base of the
Democratic Party largely African
American voters as a new Fox News poll
shows every Democratic candidate beating
President Donald Trump in November the
president also campaigned in South
Carolina Friday night so who is easier
to be crazy birdie
or sleepy Joe the COBIT 19 crisis
becoming a campaign issue as the
president called it the Democrats new
hoax current Democratic frontrunner
Bernie Sanders fired back one might
think that in the midst of a major
healthcare crisis the President of the
United States would be assembling
doctors and scientists and researchers
not Donald Trump Sanders headed to Super
Tuesday State Massachusetts to campaign
while others still push for a strong
showing in South Carolina well I think
you're gonna make me the next president
to the United States but all the
candidates have their sights on next
week with voters casting ballots in big
states like Texas and California 14
states will hold votes on Tuesday and
the candidates are hoping the wins will
be split up putting the brakes on Bernie
Sanders momentum Robin Jennifer Johnson
in Washington still ahead
animal experts sound the alarm on
preventing the next outbreak
you are watching global national from
MERS to SARS h1n1 to copa 19 the
epidemics all started with animals the
diseases eventually spread to humans and
tonight experts warn that until the
focus shifts to prevention there's no
stopping the next outbreak
regi Cecchini explains as Kobe at 19
escalates into a global emergency this
is no joke animal welfare experts are
sounding an alarm that enough isn't
being done to stop future outbreaks this
issue has elevated to the issue of
Public Health biosecurity national
security and global economy this novel
coronavirus traces its origins to
interactions between humans and animals
in a so-called wet market in central
China where wildlife both dead and alive
is sold and traded I saw this billboard
which has 70 species and over a hundred
items for sale these animals are often
caged and stressed making them
susceptible to infections increasing the
chances for human transmission we are
accessing emerging viruses as we get
more in contact with these animal
species
kovat 19 is believed to have links to
the Pangolin a protected species in
China whose scales and meat often wind
up on the black market to slow down the
spread
China has temporarily banned trading and
consuming wildlife including cats and
dogs it did the same after SARS
but these bands may not work allowing
people basically to farm wildlife to put
onto the market and that makes
preventing these diseases from emerging
in the first place an almost impossible
task unless we change those cultural
practices of people eating wild animals
and coming in contact with them on a
regular basis in their natural setting
we will always have the potential for
new outbreaks recent epidemics have ties
to the consumption of wild animals and
the encroachment of humans on wild
habitats eating and selling bush meat
led to a deadly Ebola outbreak in 20
13 the same year h7n9 or bird flu was
linked to live poultry markets in China
a nature and wild animals there's a
myriad of different pathogens
circulating all the time and people are
now going into new environments and
getting exposed directly that way or
we're bringing wild animals into a
domestic setting experts worry the more
wildlife is exploited for economic gain
the more chances there are for health
crises to emerge the problem here is
that we focus our efforts after the
disease emerging humans meaning the
cycle of virus transmission from animals
to people becomes harder to predict and
stop regi Cecchini global news up next
the star student who made an amazing
discovery to join the centenarian Club
you have to be a hundred years old but a
Toronto man is in a unique situation on
this February 29th Bob wood jokes that
he is celebrating his 25th birthday
he's one of roughly 5.3 million leap
year babies around the world and on this
special milestone birthday he received a
special message Justin Trudeau thought
you're very special too
and that's not the only piece of paper
this senior is celebrating seat building
on backup I have to go and get my
license renewed
happy birthday Bob into all the other
leaf links as they're called their day
only gets added every four years to make
up for the extra hours it takes the
earth to orbit the Sun beyond the 365
days in a calendar year students are
often told to shoot for the stars but
one from Vancouver has gone above and
beyond that the 26 year old has
discovered 17 new planets thousands of
light-years away and as Nadia Stewart
explains is just the latest
accomplishment on her remarkable
resume amidst a sea of students michelle
canoe auto blends in on campus but the
UBC physics and astronomy PhD candidate
is known for making extraordinary
discoveries her latest is no exception
as part of my PhD dissertation I did a
search of about two hundred thousand
stars that were observed by NASA's
Kepler mission and as a result of that
search I rediscovered about four
thousand of the known Kepler planets in
addition to 17 new exoplanet candidates
by all accounts it's a remarkable
discovery exoplanets exist outside of
the solar system thousands of
light-years away engine start one zero
and liftoff of the Delta two rocket with
Kepler it all started when Cunha moto
began digging through data from NASA's
2009 Kepler mission over the course of
nine and a half years the Space
Telescope helped researchers find 2681
planets to be exact which is why Komodos
discovery of 17 new exoplanets is
garnering so much attention but she says
one revelation is particularly
noteworthy this one that I mentioned
about the potentially rocky planet in
the how doable zone this has really
important implications for the search
for life in the universe and also helps
us understand the potential for
exoplanet habitability Kepler was so
sensitive that we started finding
smaller and smaller planets this was
always the aim of the mission but NASA
could not have predicted that years
later a PhD student in Vancouver would
mine their data
her research landing her on the Forbes
30 under 30 list in 2017 can emoto's
latest discovery was published in the
astronomical journal well this has
definitely been the labor of love we'll
just have to wait and see what kumamotos
next big discovery is not Ian Stewart
Global News what a remarkable woman that
is global national for this Saturday I'm
Robin Gill tonight your Canada is White
Rock British Columbia thank you for
watching and I'll see you back here
tomorrow have a great night
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