Axworthy, Rock call on foreign affairs minister to do more to safeguard arms exports

OTTAWA - Former senior Liberal cabinet ministers say they have "deep concern" about the federal government's decision not to pass legislation aiming to close what they consider a regulatory gap in arms exports.

Former Liberal foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy and former justice minister and ambassador to the United Nations Allan Rock recently wrote a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand urging more stringent rules and safeguards.

Legislation introduced by NDP MP Jenny Kwan sought to change rules that allow Washington to send Canadian arms to countries that would otherwise be blocked. The private member's bill she tabled in September followed attempts by Washington to purchase Canadian weapons for Israel, despite a Canadian ban on exports of various types of weapons to that country.

MPs voted to defeat the bill in March, with Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, six NDP MPs and 15 Liberal MPs supporting it.

Magyar wants to take over as Hungary’s prime minister as early as May 5

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s election winner, Péter Magyar, called Monday on the country's president to convene the parliament to form a new government “as quickly as possible," in hopes that he can take over from Viktor Orbán as prime minister as early as May 5.

With an overwhelming new mandate, Magyar pledged to cooperate with other European countries, ending Orbán-era obstruction of Europe-wide policies, while also representing Hungarians’ wishes.

At a news conference Monday in Budapest, he promised to restore rule of law and overhaul government structures to make them more independent and able to fight corruption, and to create new ministries to address acute problems in areas like public health, environmental protection and education.

He said he opposes fast-track EU membership for Ukraine while the country is still in a war. But he suggested he wouldn’t veto a 90-billion-euro EU loan for Ukraine, as Orbán did, and instead wants Hungary to ″opt out″ of participating in the loan because of its own financial struggles.

US military is poised to blockade Iranian ports, while Tehran threatens ports in the Mideast

CAIRO (AP) — The U.S. military vowed to blockade all Iranian ports starting Monday, part of efforts to force Tehran into agreeing to open the crucial Strait of Hormuz and accepting a peace deal. Iran responded with threats on all ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, taking aim at U.S.-allied countries.

That set the stage for an extraordinary showdown that contains serious risks for the global economy and raises the specter that a ceasefire that is currently holding could collapse and the war could resume. Talks aimed at permanently ending the conflict — which began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran — finished without an agreement this weekend, and there has been no word on whether negotiations will resume.

Iran’s effective closure of the strait, through which 20% of traded oil passes in peacetime, has sent oil prices skyrocketing, pushing up the cost of gasoline, food and other basic goods far beyond the Middle East. Tehran has allowed some ships perceived as friendly to pass while charging considerable fees, leading to accusations it is holding the global economy hostage.

Some analysts are doubtful that the U.S. can restore normal shipping through force alone — and it’s not clear how a blockade would work or what the dangers might be to U.S. forces. The question is essentially who can endure the most pain: Could a blockade make Iran’s economic situation untenable and force it to concede? Or will it drive global oil and other prices so high that U.S. President Donald Trump is forced to back down?

Manitoba students’ science projects aimed at eye health, wildfire prevention take top marks

An everyday conversation at home inspired twin sisters Miriam and Ruth Turk to design and trial a 3D-printed device aimed at preventing a serious eye condition.

The Grade 9 students and their ophthalmologist father, William Turk, were reflecting on their day at school or work months ago, when the elder Turk discussed seeing patients with scarring of the conjunctiva, a thin membrane that covers the white of the eye and underside of the eyelids.

“When this condition happens, you need a symblepharon ring to prevent the eyelid from adhering to the eye,” Miriam Turk said.

“We asked, ‘What do these rings look like?’ We got to designing and we were intrigued at how these symblepharon rings are shaped, and how currently they’re just little rings and they’re not the ideal shape or the best we can do for the patients.”

Not responsible for senior’s death, WRHA claims in court papers

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority argues it can’t be held responsible after a senior died in hospital days after she fell at a city care home.

Help arrives in Peguis to help gird for expected flood

Dozens of volunteers called upon by the federal government are already on the ground to help Peguis First Nation residents battle rising levels on the Fisher River as the province’s flood forecast worsens.

Members of Team Rubicon Canada, a veteran-led humanitarian organization that includes military veterans, retired First Responders, and other volunteers, are already at the reserve while up to 100 others are rushing here through the weekend from seven provinces, one territory and seven different American states, to assist in protecting homes and infrastructure along the Fisher River.

Jim Sutton, a Winnipegger who has volunteered with the organization for three years, and who is part of the Peguis operation, said on Saturday “it is an all-hands-on-deck situation.

“We need a lot of hands on the ground really quickly to mitigate what is about to happen.”

Ignite Volunteerism by getting involved in passion project

National Volunteer Week kicks off next week, and the theme — Ignite Volunteerism — is a call to action encouraging Manitobans to “find your thing” and discover ways to contribute to the community.

The campaign comes during a decline in volunteerism rates across the country.

In 2018, 41 per cent of Canadians participated in volunteer activities for charitable and non-profit organizations, Statistics Canada data show. That decreased to 32 per cent in 2023.

The reduction can be attributed to a few factors, including challenges wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, high inflation and the rising cost of living.

From ‘who’s that?’ to household name

Sudarshan Yellamaraju has gone from the little kid swinging a club inside Winnipeg’s Golf Dome to a big deal on the PGA Tour.

In the process, he’s become an inspiration to supporters young and old thanks to a unique personal journey to the highest level of his sport, while giving golf fans around here their first true local product to cheer for since Selkirk’s Glen Hnatiuk was a regular more than a quarter-century ago.

“I feel like I’m so focused on what I’m doing that I maybe don’t realize the impact,” the 24-year-old told the Free Press in a telephone interview.

“But I’ve got a lot of messages from people and kids and it kind of brought a different perspective of what I do. The idea that you could be inspiring others, it gives a different perspective for sure. It’s very cool.”

Two plights unfold, two stories told in new Yann Martel novel

It’s been 10 years since Yann Martel’s last book, The High Mountains of Portugal, hit bookstore shelves, and 25 since Life of Pi, his breakout novel which sold millions of copies and was made into an Oscar-winning film (and stage production).

Rory McIlroy goes back-to-back at the Masters to join Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Rory McIlroy is the Masters champion again, this time without falling to his knees on the 18th green and sobbing over finally achieving his lifelong dream.

That didn't make Sunday at Augusta National any easier.

McIlroy coughed up a six-shot lead in the third round. He fell two shots behind two players, Cameron Young and Justin Rose, in an electric final round. And then he delivered two big birdies around Amen Corner to join more elite company.

A year ago, his playoff victory over Rose made McIlroy only the sixth player with the career Grand Slam. With another green jacket, McIlroy joined Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo and Jack Nicklaus as the only repeat winners of the Masters.

Laser’s blue light gives green light to enter world of pure imagination

Before the humans take the stage at the beginning of Glitch, the audience’s senses are already activated.

Throughout the Manitoba Theatre for Young People, it’s cloudy. Over the sound system, pipes drip. Through squinted eyes, one can almost make out a staircase and the downward swoop of a curtain. “I have a question,” a young girl asks her grandmother before the matinee production begins. “Why is it so foggy?”

The fog is a stand-in for the plumes of dust that one might find in the basement of an abandoned theatre, where four friends — Carlos Mendoza, Léa Noblet Di Ziranaldi, Chloé Ouelle-Payeur & Marie-Ève Dion — stumble onto a world of balletic make-believe.

As they head down the staircase, the friends cross flashlight beams. When the quartet takes its first collective steps, each member is reluctant: what transpires is a testament to the transformative power of a performative green light — a signal to go where you’ve never gone before.