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Stories we’re watching: Tylenol doesn’t work for back pain

Also: Wreckage of Air Algerie flight may have been spotted and Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk resigns

Shutterstock

Shutterstock

Here are five of the top stories making headlines this afternoon:

Back pain? Take a placebo. Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol (also known as paracetamol in the U.K.), is no better at relieving lower back pain than a placebo, according to a new Australian study published in the Lancet. The study used two groups with back pain, giving one the placebo and one the drugs. On average, the placebo group took 17 days to recover and the group getting the medicine took 16 days.

5 Canadians on Air Algerie flight that “probably crashed.” A flight carrying 116 passengers disappeared while flying through a rainstorm over Mali Thursday and it “probably crashed,” according to French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. Two French military aircraft were deployed to look for any wreckage in the northern portion of Mali. Recent reports say something may have been spotted.

Ukraine Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk resigning. Interim PM Yatsenyuk announced his resignation Thursday, in a move that will allow for free elections in the country where former President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in February. The country won’t be leaderless in Yanukovych’s absence. President Petro Poroshenko was elected on May 25. Yanukovych’s decision comes as the country continues to battle Russian separatists in the east, who are suspected of downing a Malaysia Airlines passenger plan carrying 298 people last week.

Air Canada resumes flights to Tel Aviv after two days of cancellations. A rocket strike that landed close to the Tel Aviv airport was enough for Air Canada, and a host of other airlines, to cancel flights into Israel for two days. However, Air Canada announced its flights to Tel Aviv were back on Thursday. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration also lifted a ban on flights into Tel Aviv late Wednesday. But the flights don’t mean fighting between Israel and Hamas is over. At least 16 people died in an explosion at a United Nations shelter for displaced Palestinians Thursday. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the blast.

Kamloops mops up after flash flood. Parts of the B.C. interior were hit with up to 25 mm of rain in 20 minutes Wednesday afternoon, leading to flash floods and lingering power outages Thursday. Streets became rivers and cars were damaged as they floated away. Flooding and power outages were also reported in Kelowna. By Thursday morning, 2,800 people in the interior were listed as being without power. However, the storm brought much-needed rain to the interior, where forest fires forced evacuations in Kelowna last week.

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