Global National: Jan. 31, 2021 | Concerns over provinces easing COVID-19 restrictions

In our top story: Canada hit a grim milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday as the number of deaths surpassed 20,000. Daily numbers have gone down over the past few weeks, but Canada’s top health officials say the risk remains high. The new highly infectious variants pose a danger to numbers rising once again. Despite this, some provinces are beginning to lift restrictions. Mike Drolet reports.

There’s a new concern emerging from this pandemic. Emergency room doctors in many parts of Canada say they’re seeing more cases of child abuse. They believe it’s a result of the lockdowns and the restrictions. As Morganne Campbell explains, there are fears if these cases go under-reported and help isn’t found for these families, there could be another health crisis.

In the U.S., it’ll be a tough week for President Joe Biden, whose administration is facing a huge battle to get a $1.9-trillion COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress. Democrats say they will get it done with or without Republican support. The bill is critical because in addition to financial relief it also will provide much needed funding for vaccinations as the country sees more than 400,000 American deaths, with the death toll growing daily. Jennifer Johnson reports.

The Canadian government is condemning the detention of thousands of protesters in Russia. Ottawa is now calling for Moscow to respect human rights and release them. For weeks now, supporters of the country’s opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, have been protesting his arrest. Navalny has accused the Kremlin of poisoning him and is a staunch critic of President Vladimir Putin. Ross Lord has more on the unrest rattling Russia.

The days of web giants like Facebook resisting content regulation seem to be over. The company says it would welcome regulations, including rules for what kind of content should or should not be allowed on social platforms, to win back trust from the public. But it’s unclear exactly how Canada will do that in a way which will be acceptable to the social media site. Mike Le Couteur reports.

Monday marks the beginning of Black History Month. It’s an opportunity to celebrate the identity and culture of the Black community. Black American Sign Language has been the subject of research projects, books and now, viral videos. As Nadia Stewart reports, the increased visibility is prompting calls for a deeper understanding of the Black Deaf community in Canada.

There’s no arguing that online debates can get heated these days. Scrolling through social media, it’s easy to find fights with strangers, family members and celebrities. One Montreal, Quebec man has turned that online trash talk into treasure on TikTok. Dan Spector reports.

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