Interpol clamps down on cybercrime and arrests over 1,000 suspects in Africa

Sharp script worthy of legendary large-nosed lead at Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s Cyrano de Bergerac

Cyrano de Bergerac can pick his nose, but he didn’t get to choose it.

Even if given the option of rhinoplasty, would the dashing, witty and macro-schnozzed 17th-century Frenchman (played with ardent panache by Jack Davidson) go under the knife? How about you?

Regardless of his preference that his work — his rapier wit, his legendary bravery and his mastery of swordplay — should earn him renown, it’s a bulbous bit of extra cartilage that obscures his inherent qualities.

For Cyrano de Bergerac, it’s not only a chip on the shoulder that shapes his self-perception and thus his erratic and entertaining behaviours, the nose is the leading sentence to a timeless underdog story written in playwright Jessy Ardern’s indelible ink.

Dozens of Uber, Lyft drivers switched to cheaper insurance coverage: MPI probe

Ride-service drivers have been defrauding Manitoba Public Insurance by improperly insuring their vehicles as for personal use.

The public insurer and the City of Winnipeg, which regulates ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, discovered the widespread fraud after MPI conducted a review in December last year.

“When a driver changes their coverage from ride-share insurance to a personal vehicle coverage and continues to operate as a ride-share driver, that is fraud, plain and simple,” said MPI chief executive officer Satvir Jatana at a news conference Thursday.

MPI’s review looked at a random sample of 408 ride-hailing vehicles and found 108 were operating without the proper vehicle-for-hire insurance coverage. In order to register with the city as a ride-service driver, a vehicle must have such insurance and proof must be provided to the ride-booking company.

PCs renew calls for CFS inquiry

The Progressive Conservatives renewed calls to put Manitoba’s child and welfare system under the microscope Thursday, tabling a motion that urged the province to appoint a commissioner to lead a public inquiry.

Families critic Jodie Byram’s opposition day motion, which was ultimately defeated by the NDP majority, reiterated demands for an inquiry into the systemic failures of Child and Family Services, more than 20 years after the death of Phoenix Sinclair first prompted demands for answers.

“We have seen far too many children die under the care of CFS, and we need to determine where the gaps are in the system in order to make the system a safer place for children,” Byram told reporters before the motion was defeated in the legislature.

Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine said in an interview that her department, CFS agencies and authorities are “doing good work” and won’t call an inquiry.

Orphaned polar bear cub has new home at Winnipeg zoo

It’s a grey September afternoon and a small group is gathered for a special behind-the-scenes visit with Assiniboine Park Zoo’s newest resident.

“Heeeeere, bubba,” animal-care specialist Caitlin Gordon-Hall hollers from between a double layer of chain-link fencing.

After a beat, a small white face appears at the entrance of the private enclosure. The polar bear cub sniffs the air before trundling toward the fence, where his keepers have been working to encourage calm behaviour around humans ahead of his public debut on Thursday.

Gordon-Hall offers sing-song affirmations while the cub, who is nearly 200 pounds and 10 or 11 months old, observes the fawning strangers with guarded curiosity.

Dog feces vandalism shuts down food pantry

A few shelves set up beneath a West End community notice board were meant to offer a place where neighbours could leave food for anyone who needed it.