2026 Oscars broadcast will include all 24 awards, including new casting prize

Council candidate calls out vandalism after campaign signs defaced in Waverley West

Waverley West council candidate Nafiya Naso said she will not be “intimidated” after 16 of her campaign signs were vandalized this week.

Jasmine Brar, who is also running for the ward seat, had some her signs vandalized earlier this month.

Naso’s signs, located along Waverley Street near Tim Sale Drive and across from École South Pointe School in southwest Winnipeg, were spray-painted with derogatory words written across her name and photograph.

The Winnipeg Police Service confirmed Naso reported the vandalism, but provided no other details.

Doctor pays $500K to revamp courtyard at care home where he works

Fifty years after Dr. Pravinsagar Mehta began caring for residents at Actionmarguerite, a courtyard he had long watched deteriorate is getting a new life after he and his wife committed $500,000 to its redevelopment and long-term maintenance.

Advocate assembles gift bundles for Trans Day of Remembrance

In a world rife with chaos and division, there’s never been a better time for kindness, joy… and a cookie.

Kalyn Falk is on a mission to provide all three.

Falk founded the Trans Day of Remembrance Care Package Project in 2020 as a way to mourn those lost and to ensure that trans and non-binary people in the community feel valued, seen and cared for.

Trans Day of Remembrance is observed every year on Nov. 20 to honour the memory of transgender, two-spirit and non-binary people who lost their lives to acts of anti-transgender violence and systemic oppression.

At the city’s busiest fire and paramedic hall, first responders face a relentless workload

As a soft rain begins to fall between the concrete walls of “Hope Alley,” little feels further away than the place’s namesake.

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service crews have been called to the narrow downtown passage, named by Al Wiebe, a formerly homeless man turned advocate. People regularly pass through here, moving between the shelters, drop-ins and resource centres clustered around Main Street between Logan and Higgins avenues.

Against a wall, as the sky switches into night mode, a man sits bleeding from his nose, seemingly unaware of how he ended up with blood running down his T-shirt.

His situation has already set Winnipeg’s emergency response network in motion.

2026 Oscars broadcast will include all 24 awards, including new casting prize

The Oscars are making room for one more award on their live broadcast in 2026. The new prize for achievement in casting will be part of the 98th Academy Awards in March, the academy told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

That brings the total award count to 24 for the Oscars broadcast on March 15, where statuettes for best picture, best actor and actress will be among the others awarded.

The board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the addition of the new prize last year, though it was not confirmed if it would be part of the official broadcast. Not counting the short-lived “ popular film Oscar ” which never came to be, the addition of the casting prize marked the first time the academy has added a category since best animated feature film was established in 2001. Earlier this year, the organization also revealed plans to add a stunt design award, starting with the 100th Oscars in 2028.

Members of the casting directors branch will help narrow the field to 10 shortlisted films, a process that a handful of other categories use including documentary, international film, makeup & hairstyling, score, song, sound, visual effects and the three short film categories. Shortlists will be announced Dec. 16 before final nominees are revealed on Jan. 22.