Vaccines group Gavi says U.S. has not confirmed it will end funding

Vaccines group Gavi says U.S. has not confirmed it will end funding

GENEVA (AP) — The head of leading vaccines group Gavi alliance said Thursday it has not received confirmation from the U.S. government that it might be losing more than $1 billion in pledged funding as part of a reported proposal by U.S. authorities to cut support for international aid groups.

According to a leaked 281-page spreadsheet issued by the United States Agency for International Aid this week, the U.S. plans to terminate 5,341 awards to dozens of groups it had previously supported, including the Gavi alliance, a global vaccines group that helps immunize more than half the world’s children against infectious diseases. The spreadsheet was first reported by The New York Times.

“We have not received a termination notice from the U.S. government,” said Dr. Sania Nishtar, Gavi’s Chief Executive. In a statement on Thursday, Nishtar said Gavi was “engaging with the White House and Congress,” hoping to secure the $300 million approved by Congress for their activities this year, as well as longer-term funding.

Nishtar said that a cut to Gavi’s funding would be “disastrous,” potentially resulting in more than 1 million deaths from preventable diseases.

Federal Court awards OCN $27M, 62 years after construction of hydro dam

The Federal Court has ordered Ottawa pay Opaskwayak Cree Nation $27 million over damages suffered due to the construction of the Grand Rapids hydro dam in the 1960s.

In a decision dated Sept. 3, Federal Court Justice Sébastien Grammond says the federal government had a fiduciary duty to protect the community from the impacts of the dam.

“When the Crown exercises a discretionary power over an Indigenous interest, it has a fiduciary duty and it must exercise the discretion in the best interests of the Indigenous group,” the ruling said. “Canada breached its fiduciary duty to OCN because it approved the (project) without ensuring that the impacts of the Grand Rapids dam on OCN’s traditional way of life were mitigated or compensated.”

The First Nation took the federal government to court in February over impacts on the community after the dam, located about 145 kilometres southeast of Opaskwayak Cree Nation, was installed on the Saskatchewan River in 1964. The case was heard over 14 days in a judge-alone trial in Winnipeg.

Lauded Manitoba author chronicled life in the Interlake

Longtime Manitoba author, editor and professor David Arnason died on Monday at age 86.

Winnipeg chamber chair seeks to get creative

Could Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre tickets be the next company-wide perk?

It’s a question Bob Somers is posing. He’s slated to take the reins as Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce board chair on Oct. 1.

“There’s just such a barrier to engagement with the creative sector,” said Somers, a principal landscape architect at Scatliff + Miller + Murray.

He’s attended chamber events over the past 20 years. Many videos shown at luncheons come without local music or a credit to the filmmaker, Somers said.

What to watch as puck drops on Jets training camp

Welcome to a Winnipeg Jets training camp like no other — one where the on-ice storylines and battles threaten to be trumped by what’s happening away from the rink.

Yes, the dark cloud that is the Connor Hellebuyck situation looms over the organization as it prepares to try and turn the page on a terrible 2025-26 campaign which ended with a 26th-overall finish.

It’s not going to be easy, especially in a highly competitive Central Division and Western Conference and with such a major unresolved issue.

But the work starts now, and Free Press hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe get you set for what to expect ahead of the 84-game regular season, which begins Oct. 2.