News for Wednesday July 13th 2016

LOCAL // By Saturn De Los Angeles

The head of Montreal's Anglican Church will allow same-sex marriages to happen in her diocese.

According to CBC News, Bishop Mary Irwin-Gibson says she will not allow the institution to dictate how a union between two people should be.

Her statement comes as a vote for marriage reform was made among members at its Toronto headquarters, the week of July 13th.

With the results in a narrow margin - a recent error in the vote-counting led the outcome to be overturned in favor of same-sex marriage.

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NATIONAL // By Catlin Spencer

While Pokemon Go has officially been released in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States; excited Canadians been downloading unofficial mirrored versions of the game.

According to CTV News, the augmented-reality app has become an international hit, topping the charts on both Apple and Android platforms.

Canadians who download the unofficial Pokemon Go Android installer from third-party sites are advised to take caution, as reports are on the rise of malware copies that can hijack personal information from their smartphones.

CEO John Hanke of Niantic, the game's co-creator, says an official Canadian release has also been put on hold for now, as they deal with overloaded servers.

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INTERNATIONAL // By Patricia Petit Liang

A Journal of Pediatrics study suggests that children who suck on their thumbs and bite their nails have a lower risk of developing allergies.

According to BBC News, researchers studied a thousand people in New Zealand to test the hypothesis that being exposed to germs would strengthen a child’s immune system.

However, the findings suggest that the relationship between germ exposure and allergies is purely correlational, meaning that there is no cause-and-effect relationship between both variables.

Other studies have found that having pets, older siblings and living on a farm may also help children avoid developing allergies.