Tag: Canada

  • Johnson & Johnson to stop selling baby powder in the US

    Johnson & Johnson to stop selling baby powder in the US

    Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson will stop selling its talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder in the US and Canada. The firm faces many thousands of lawsuits from consumers who claim that its talc products caused their cancer.

    The move comes after years of trial where Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay out billions of dollars in compensation. The company has constantly defended the safety of its talc products.

    Johnson & Johnson said it would wind down sales of the product, which makes up about 0.5% of its US consumer health business, in the coming months, but that retailers would continue to sell existing inventory.

    The firm faces more than 16,000 consumer charges alleging that its talc products were contaminated with asbestos, a known carcinogen (a substance capable of causing cancer).

    The firm said that demand for Johnson’s Baby Powder had been declining in North America “due in large part to changes in consumer habits and fuelled by misinformation around the safety of the product”. It said it had faced “a constant barrage” of lawyers advertising for clients to sue the firm.

    “We remain steadfastly confident in the safety of talc-based Johnson’s Baby Powder. Decades of independent scientific studies by medical experts around the world support the safety of our product,” it said.

    The firm added that the move was part of a reconsideration of its consumer products prompted by the coronavirus pandemic. It said in October that its testing had found no asbestos in its Baby Powder after tests conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration discovered trace amounts.

    The firm is appealing against a 2018 order to pay $4.7bn in damages to 22 women who alleged that its talc products caused them to develop ovarian cancer.

  • Canada’s Calgary Zoo to return two pandas to China due to shortage of bamboo

    Canada’s Calgary Zoo to return two pandas to China due to shortage of bamboo

    The Calgary Zoo in Canada is sending two giant pandas back to China due to a shortage of bamboo. A lack of flights due to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused issues with shipments of high-quality bamboo imported from China, forcing the zoo to make the difficult decision.

    “When you’re looking after the welfare of animals, you need to put the politics and business aside,” said Calgary Zoo president Dr Clement Lanthier. “It is too much of a risk for the health and welfare of (the pandas).”

    Er Shun and Da Mao have been in Calgary since March of 2018 and were expected to remain through 2024 as part of a 10-year agreement between Canada and China. The pair spent their first five years at the Toronto Zoo.

    The facility had originally been importing bamboo from China to Calgary directly but when those flights were cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis, they began receiving the bamboo via Toronto. However, when flights from China to Toronto were scaled back, it affected the regularity of their shipments. Delivery times were also slower than normal causing poor quality bamboo.

    They began bringing bamboo in from the United States but Er Shun and Da Mao refused to eat it, preferring the taste of Chinese bamboo instead.

    According to Dr Doug Whiteside, a senior veterinarian at The Calgary Zoo, this can happen because giant pandas have a specific taste and smell for bamboo and are selective eaters.

  • Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ can’t have Prince Harry – report

    Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ can’t have Prince Harry – report

    Prince Harry doesn’t want Netflix’s ‘The Crown’ to cover his life and has said that he will stop the production of the series before they cover his life. According to the Daily Express, Royal biographer Angela Levin revealed that Harry had told her about his plans when she had met him at Buckingham Palace.

    “Well Harry, when I went to interview him at the palace, the first thing he said to me when he shook my hand was ‘Are you watching The Crown?’… “And I had been at the time and I felt very embarrassed,” she added.

    “I got up and he said, ‘I’m going to make sure I stop it before they get to me,” she said.

    Prince Harry and his wife Meghan and son Archie are no longer working members of the Royal Family

    There are rumours that Netflix would be interested in working with Harry and Meghan. According to The Daily Mail, when Netflix’s chief content officer, Ted Sarando was asked if they would be interested in working with the couple, he said, “Who wouldn’t be interested?”

    READ MORE: Ahmed Ali Butt criticises Meghan, Harry for their decision to ‘step back’ from royal duties

    On the other hand, there are also reports that Netflix will not be covering present day royals. According to The Sun, Suzanne Mackie the executive producer of ‘The Crown’ said it’s unlikely it will ever cover today’s royals. She said: “To be honest, whatever the life of The Crown is after where we are now, I doubt we’ll ever go as far into the present day.”

    The Crown is currently chronicling Prince Charles life, who is Harry’s father

    ‘The Crown’ is a Netflix series that chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth II and is in it’s third season.

    Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have given up their royal titles to live an independent life in Canada. Latest pictures show Meghan hiking with baby Archie and Harry recently attended an event where he said that he was ‘sad‘ about the way things turned out.

    Meghan Markle, all smiles as she hikes in Canada with her son and dogs
    Harry returns to Canada after two weeks of being in England for the last of his royal engagements
  • Trying to get a travel-friendly passport? Canada, US no longer hotspots

    Trying to get a travel-friendly passport? Canada, US no longer hotspots

    If you’re thinking about applying for a US or Canadian passport, then you might have to think again.

    According to the Henley Passport Index, which ranks countries based on the power of their passports, Japan and Singapore have topped the list of the world’s most travel-friendly passports. Both countries’ passports allow access to 189 countries.

    South Korea, Finland and Germany are in the second tier, with citizens of all three countries able to visit 187 countries around the world without a prior visa. Finland has recently benefited from changes to Pakistan’s formerly highly restrictive visa policy which now offers an ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) to citizens of 50 countries, including Finland, Japan, Malta, Spain, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.

    Denmark, Italy and Luxembourg are on third place in the index, with visa-free/visa-on-arrival access to 186 countries, while France, Spain and Sweden are in the fourth slot, with a score of 185.

    The US and the UK have slipped down to the 6th place, the lowest position either has held since 2010.

    Meanwhile, at No. 106, Pakistan is one of the worst passports in the world considering its citizens need a prior visa for all but 30 destinations worldwide. Afghanistan is at the bottom of the rankings, with its citizens needing a prior visa for all but 25 destinations worldwide.