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Canada’s Inflation Climbs to 2.4% as Gas Prices Surge to Record High

  Canada’s inflation rate accelerated to 2.4% in March , up from 1.8% in February, as the Iran war triggered the largest monthly gasoline price increase on record . Statistics Canada reported that gas prices surged 21.2% month‑over‑month , a supply‑shock response to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz and broader Middle East instability.  Energy costs were the dominant driver of March inflation, with overall energy prices rising 3.9% year‑over‑year after a sharp decline the month before. Excluding gasoline, inflation would have eased to 2.2% , highlighting how concentrated the price shock was.  Food inflation offered mixed relief: grocery prices rose 4.4% , while fresh vegetables jumped 7.8% due to difficult growing conditions. Restaurant inflation cooled sharply as last year’s tax‑holiday distortions fell out of the annual comparison.  Economists note that while headline inflation spiked, core measures remained relatively tame , giving the Bank of Canada ro...

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China’s recent surge in respiratory illnesses caused by flu and other known pathogens, not COVID-19

 

According to the Chinese health ministry, the recent surge in respiratory illnesses across the country is caused by the flu and other known pathogens, and not by COVID-19. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has asked China for more data on the respiratory illness spreading in the north of the country, urging people to take steps to reduce the risk of infection . The surge in respiratory illnesses such as flu and RSV has been reported in some parts of China, in the first winter since the country eased its COVID-restrictions. Mycoplasma, which can cause walking pneumonia, is among the bugs that Chinese officials say are behind an outbreak of pneumonia, flu, and COVID-19 in kids.


 


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