Daily News Roundup

Catherine, wife of Prince William, smiled and waved as she left hospital on Monday after giving birth to a boy who is now fifth in line to the British throne.

The baby was born at 11.01am and weighed 3.8 kg. William was present for the birth at St Mary’s Hospital in west London where their other two children, George and Charlotte, were also born, reported the ABC.

Kate, wearing a red dress, smiled at hundreds of well-wishers and assembled journalists as she left the hospital clutching her baby just seven hours after the birth. William later put the boy, strapped into a car seat, into a waiting car.

“Thrice the worry now,” William told reporters, holding up three fingers with a smile, as he got into a Land Rover to take his wife and newborn back to Kensington Palace. “We didn’t keep you waiting too long this time.”

“Very happy, very excited, thank you,” he said. When asked about a name for the boy, William said: “You’ll find out sooner or later.” Bookmakers have made Albert, Arthur, Jack and Fred the favoured names for a boy.

Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, the baby’s grandfather, and other members of the royal family and Kate’s family have been informed and “are delighted with the news”, Kensington Palace said.

The baby is the queen’s sixth great-grandchild and is behind his grandfather and heir Prince Charles, father William, and siblings George and Charlotte in line to the throne.

A 2013 change to the law means that for the first time in British history, a new prince will not supplant his older sister in the order of succession. Previously younger males would take precedence over older female siblings.

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Police say nine people have been killed after a rented white van mounted a curb in Toronto and struck pedestrians.

The incident occurred just before 1.30pm as large crowds of office workers were on lunch breaks. At least one witness described the driver as appearing to deliberately target victims on his roughly mile-long rampage. The driver was in custody, police said.

Police in Canada’s largest city initially said eight to 10 people had been injured but later said it was unclear exactly how many had been hurt or the extent of their injuries.

A Reuters witness said there were at least two bodies at the site of the incident. At least seven people were taken to nearby Sunnybrook Health Services Centre’s trauma centre, the hospital said on Twitter.

It was not immediately clear if the incident was a deliberate act by the driver or a traffic mishap in a mixed commercial and residential area.

Canada’s public safety minister, Ralph Goodale, told a news conference there had been casualties but provided no further details.

“The investigation is at a stage where no further information can be confirmed at this point,” Goodale said. “The police are conducting obviously their thorough investigation to determine what happened and why it happened, the motivations involved.”

The United States and Europe have seen a string of deadly attacks in which vehicles were used to mow down pedestrians, including an October 31 attack in New York that killed eight. Toronto is hosting a G7 foreign ministers meeting about 30km away.

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Australian violinist Christian Li has become the youngest winner to take home the first prize in on of the world’s most prestigious violin competitions — the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition.

Ten-year-old Li from Melbourne took out joint first in the Junior First Prize category alongside Singapore’s Chloe Chua, 11, at the 2018 competition at Victoria Hall in Geneva, Switzerland.

Li has been playing the violin since he was five years old, studying under Dr Robin Wilson, the Head of Violin at the Australian National Music Academy in Melbourne.

In 2017, he won first prize in the violin category of the Young Artist Semper Music International Competition in Italy and was also selected to perform at Carnegie Hall Isaac Stern Auditorium in NY in the American Protege Showcase 10-year Anniversary concert.