Your forecast
Cloudy, with risk of freezing drizzle; fog patches dissipating this morning. Wind from the south at 20 km/h becoming light this morning. High -1, wind chill near -9.
What’s happening today
The Bank of Canada is set to make its first interest rate announcement of the year this morning. Economists widely expect the central bank will continue holding its key interest rate steady at five per cent. The Canadian Press reports.
(Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press files)
The Winnipeg Jets face the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena, starting at 6 p.m.
Today’s must-read
A Winnipeg firefighter says crews are being forced to “babysit” some suspected impaired drivers — sometimes for hours — until police arrive, preventing them from responding to other calls.
The firefighter said the lengthy waits are wasting taxpayer-funded fire resources at a time when the city’s limited emergency services personnel are already stretched. Chris Kitching reports.
(Boris Minkevich / Winnipeg Free Press files)
On the bright side
A stadium in Somalia’s violence-prone capital is hosting its first soccer tournament in three decades, drawing thousands of people to a facility that had been abandoned for years and later became a base for military — and even extremists — amid civil war.
Somali authorities have spent years working to restore the national stadium in Mogadishu, and on Dec. 29 Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre inaugurated the national soccer tournament. The competition is a milestone in efforts to revive public life even as al-Qaida’s East Africa affiliate, based in Somalia, remains a threat. The Associated Press reports.
Hirshabele players pose for a team photo prior to the soccer league match between Jubaland at a stadium in Mogadishu, Somalia, Tuesday. (Farah Abdi Warsameh / The Associated Press)
On this date
On Jan. 24, 1946: The Winnipeg Free Press reported the seven-person crew of an RCAF Dakota training plane, including two Winnipeg men, was believed to have perished when the twin-engine aircraft crashed into Mount Ptolemy in Alberta. In Winnipeg, the minister of veterans affairs predicted swift action by the federal government to address the housing shortage, particularly with regards to returning ex-servicemen following the end of the Second World War. The Canadian Navy acquired its largest ship, and its first aircraft carrier, with the commissioning of the H.M.C.S. Warrior. Read the rest of this day’s paper here. Search our archives for more here.
Today’s front page
Get the full story: Read today’s e-edition of the Free Press.
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