UN: Polio remains global emergency, eradication at risk

A 39-year-old woman has been charged after police say a retail theft attempt led to a knife being used against a security guard at a store on Portage Avenue.

The Winnipeg Police Service said Central District General Patrol officers arrested the woman at about 5:30 p.m. on Thursday in connection with a robbery at a retail store in the 300 block of Portage Avenue.

Police said the woman entered the store shortly before 2 p.m. and attempted to steal merchandise before being confronted by store security. Police said the suspect then brandished a knife and assaulted a security guard.

Security was able to gain control of the suspect, and police were contacted.

LONDON - The World Health Organization says the ongoing attempt to eradicate polio remains a global emergency amid an increase in cases for the first time in years and a worrying number of outbreaks sparked by the vaccine.

After an expert meeting convened by the U.N. health agency this week, experts said Friday that failing to wipe out polio in the next few years could lead to a resurgence of the crippling disease. An international initiative to eradicate polio began in 1988 but efforts have stalled in war-torn countries and WHO and its partners have missed repeated deadlines to stop the virus.

WHO said the polio epidemics in Afghanistan and Pakistan were particularly worrying. The number of cases in Afghanistan has almost doubled this year and polio is increasingly being found in the environment.

BRANDON — A 35-year-old man from The Pas was sentenced to 90 days in jail after he admitted to smashing a garage window in the ambulance bay of the Brandon hospital while intoxicated.

James Constant pleaded guilty in Brandon provincial court on Thursday to mischief under $5,000 and breaching a probation order that prohibited him from possessing weapons. Two additional charges, involving failing to comply with a probation order and possessing a dangerous weapon, were stayed.

On July 15, Constant was taken to the Brandon Regional Health Centre by ambulance after he overdosed and became “aggressive” and “unco-operative” with paramedics, says an agreed statement of facts read in court by Crown attorney Rich Lonstrup.

“He took a piece of wood and smashed the garage-door window within the ambulance bay,” Lonstrup said.