News

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Ontario and Quebec have rainfall warnings in effect on Thursday, with heavy precipitation and thunderstorms expected in some areas, according to Environment Canada.In Ontario, the rainfall warnings cover communities north of the Toronto area and Orillia, as well as outside Ottawa. It is expected that the area covering Parry Sound, Rosseau and Killbear Provincial Park is expected to see between 40 and 60 millimetres of rainfall that will continue through the afternoon. In Quebec the municipality of Saint-Donat and the Mont-Tremblant Park area could receive between 40 and 60 mm of rainfall until this evening.

There are a pair of power outages in Belleville today.The first is a large outage in the northeast corner of Belleville ward, near the Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre with traffic lights in that area being effected.Restoration is anticipated by noon. The other disruption is around Charlotte and Wellington Streets.

Powerful Hurricane Erick made landfall in Mexico’s western state of Oaxaca early Thursday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.The hurricane’s centre was located about 20 miles (30 kilometres) east of Punta Maldonado. Its maximum sustained winds were clocked at 125 mph (205 km/h). It was moving northwest at 9 mph (15 km/h), the hurricane center said.The storm was downgraded slightly before making landfall, from a powerful Category 4 to a Category 3. Erick is expected to rapidly weaken as it crashes into the coastal mountains of southern Mexico, and the system is likely to dissipate late Thursday or early Friday, the hurricane center said.

Israel’s defence minister overtly threatened Iran’s supreme leader on Thursday after the latest missile barrage from Iran damaged the main hospital in southern Israel and hit several other residential buildings near Tel Aviv. Israel meanwhile struck a heavy water reactor that is part of Iran’s nuclear program.At least 240 people were wounded by the Iranian missiles, four of them seriously, according to Israel’s Health Ministry. The vast majority were lightly wounded. Israel carried out strikes on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, in its latest attack on the country’s sprawling nuclear program. The conflict began last Friday with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting military sites, senior officers and nuclear scientists.A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 639 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 1,300 wounded. In retaliation, Iran has fired over 400 missiles and hundreds of drones, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds.

Finland’s parliament voted overwhelmingly to pull out of a major international treaty on antipersonnel land mines Thursday as the Nordic country seeks to boost its defences against an increasingly assertive Russia next door.Finland shares a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) land border with Russia and joined NATO in 2023. Finland says land mines could be used to defend its vast and rugged terrain in the event of an attack. Finnish lawmakers voted 157-18 to move forward on a government proposal to leave the Ottawa Convention.The Nordics and Baltics have been sounding the alarm on a potential Russian incursion since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Sports

Secondary School student and member of the Belleville Beast Swim Team Francis Brennan has been selected to the Canadian team that will compete at the World Aquatics Junior Championships in Otopeni Romania.Brennan qualified at last week’s Canadian Time Trials in Victoria B.C.where he won five medals ( 3 silver and two bronze) in the Backstroke, Individual Medley, and Freestyle competition.Brennan also set an Ontario record for 17 year olds in the 200 metre backstroke.Last summer Brennan represented Canada at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Canberra Australia as a member of the bronze-medal-winning 4 x 100 relay team.

The Stanley Cup is a little banged up, thanks to the Florida Panthers’ celebration of back-to-back titles.The bowl of the famous trophy is cracked and the bottom is dented. Not for the first time and likely not the last.The Panthers won their second consecutive championship on home ice Tuesday night, beating Edmonton in six games. A spokesperson for the Hockey Hall of Fame said the keepers of the Cup are taking the appropriate steps and plan to have it repaired by the celebration parade on Sunday.

The Ottawa Senators have signed restricted free agent forward Fabian Zetterlund to a three-year, $12.825 million contract, according to multiple reports.The deal carries an average annual value of $4.275 million, making Zetterlund the team’s fifth highest-paid forward behind Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, Dylan Cozens and Drake Batherson.

And Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin and Mackenzie Hughes are all on the course today for the first round of the Travellers championship as a star studded field takes to TPC River Highlands.ste your sports here