Lowe's Buying Rona
Both players involved in a major business deal announced today say the merger will create the Canadian market leader among home-improvement retailers.
The U-S-based Lowe's home-improvement chain is buying Quebec-based Rona in a deal valued at $3.2-billion.
The transaction is supported by management of both companies, although it would require various approvals.
Lowe's first approached Rona several years ago, but that takeover attempt was opposed by the Quebec government and several of Rona's independent dealers.
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Human Transmission of Zika in US
The US has its first instance of transmission of the Zika virus amid the current outbreak in Latin America.
Officials report a person in Texas has become infected through sexual relations with someone who'd returned from Venezuela and fallen ill with Zika.
The virus, linked to birth defects, is primarily spread through mosquito bites.
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Research on Nuclear Fusion
Scientists in Germany are hoping today to take a step toward harnessing nuclear fusion, producing energy similar to how the sun does.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute plan to inject a tiny amount of hydrogen and heat it until it becomes a super-hot gas known as plasma.
Advocates acknowledge that the technology is probably decades away, but argue it could cleanly replace fossil fuels and conventional nuclear plants.
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Illegal and Dangerous Smoking
Health officials say a growing number of people, mostly seniors, are suffering serious burns from smoking while on long-term, home oxygen therapy.
A burn-treatment expert at University of Alberta Hospital says injuries can include blistered skin and burns to the face, airways, hands and body and can be fatal in some cases.
Dr. Edward Tredget says it's illegal for someone on oxygen therapy to smoke, but some do anyway.
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Diabetes Expo
Diabetes can come with other health complications, and the upcoming Parkland Diabetes Expo will include information on how to prevent such problems.
Kelly Lambkin, community engagement and events manager for the Canadian Diabetes Association, says every year has a different theme and the focus this time around is the secondary prevention of diabetes.
"Thirty per cent of diabetes can cause strokes, one of the big things is vision and blindness as well. Diabetes is a progressionary disease, so when you're diagnosed with diabetes, your diabetes can be very different, you know, two to five to ten years down the road."
Lambkin says you want to make sure you're looking after yourself with healthy eating and physical activity, right from new diagnosis, as well as if you are diagnosed with pre-diabetes as well.
The Parkland Diabetes Expo takes place 10-1 February 27 at the Dauphin Multi-Purpose Senior Centre.
***this story has been modified for accuracy. We apologize for the mistake.
