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A charity that rescues LGBTQ2S+ refugees facing violence and discrimination internationally is calling on the Canadian government to partner with them to facilitate a way out for the hundreds of Afghans who have reached out to them in desperation. Source

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea said Friday that nearly 10 per cent of its 26 million people have fallen ill and 65 people have died amid its first COVID-19 outbreak, as outside experts question the validity of its reported fatalities and worry about a possible humanitarian crisis. Source

NEW HAMBURG, Ont. - Hungry for some uplifting news, a man from western Canada stumbled across a story about a painting up for auction. The work by acclaimed Nova Scotia folk artist Maud Lewis had been traded in the 1970s for some grilled cheese sandwiches. Source

NEW YORK - U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said Thursday she's engaged to her longtime partner Riley Roberts, a marketing professional she met over a decade ago while they were undergraduates at Boston University. The pair got engaged last month in her family's hometown in Puerto Rico, the Democratic congresswoman confirmed to Insider and later on social media. Source

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers ordered all female presenters on TV channels to cover their faces on air, the country's biggest media outlet said Thursday. The order came in a statement from the Taliban's Virtue and Vice Ministry, tasked with enforcing the group's rulings, as well as from the Information and Culture Ministry, the TOLOnews channel said in a tweet. Source

The flood fight continues in parts of western Manitoba. And with a rainfall warning in place due to a weather system expected to bring 30 to 40 millimetres by Friday morning, people in the southwestern town of Minnedosa were frantically sandbagging and pumping water throughout a downpour Thursday, as the Little Saskatchewan River inched higher. Source

United Conservative Party MLAs are meeting in Calgary today to plot next steps after Premier Jason Kenney announced his intention to resign as party leader. On Wednesday night, Kenney said he'd asked the party to call a leadership race after he earned a sliver more than a majority of votes in a party leadership review. Source

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney will remain at the helm of the United Conservative Party until a new leader is chosen, the UCP caucus said on Thursday. "We have affirmed Premier Jason Kenney's continued leadership of our caucus and government until such time as a new leader is chosen, the timing of which will be determined by the United Conservative Party," caucus chair Nathan Neudorf said in a statement released late Thursday afternoon. Source

For a few days this month, Jessica Watson's kitchen table in Hagersville, Ont., was covered with thousands of spiny, black caterpillars. It's not an infestation, or as icky as it might sound at first, because the wriggling, worm-like creatures are destined to become painted ladies. Source

Britain's Metropolitan Police told Prime Minister Boris Johnson he faced no further action over lockdown-breaching gatherings at his official residence and other government sites, after the force said Thursday it has concluded its investigation into politicians' parties that violated the country's coronavirus restrictions. Source