8 skiers killed in avalanches in Austria

Winnipeg man among those missing in Nepal flash flood

A Winnipeg man on a pilgrimage in Nepal is among nearly 2,000 people missing after a deadly flash flood devastated a popular tourist region along the Himalayan border earlier this week.

Mohit Kaushik, 49, was travelling with a tour group taking part in the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, a sacred, days-long pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in neighbouring Tibet, according to social media posts.

“Our friend and neighbour, Mohit Kaushik, a resident of Winnipeg, Canada, has been out of contact since yesterday while travelling from Timure during his pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar,” Swikriti Pokhrel wrote in a social media post. “If you have seen him or find his name on any hospital list, please let us know. Thank you.”

Kaushik has not been heard from since Wednesday, when a glacier collapse in the nearby Himalayas triggered catastrophic flooding and landslides, sending a torrent of ice, rock and debris roughly 100 kilometres downstream.

Of frogs, roses, kings and a Great Lake

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, as the saying goes. Basically, if you change something’s name, you don’t actually change the nature of the thing.

That being said, if even 15 years ago an American president had called an entire news conference to announce he was renaming one of the Great Lakes by writing on a map with a red pen and issuing an executive order purporting to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” all and sundry would question his mental health.

Maybe, after witnessing so much from Donald Trump, we’ve all just been hardened off and the foolish is now expected daily. Perhaps it’s the political equivalent of the fable of the boiling frog.

As the fable goes, drop a frog into a pot of boiling water and it will jump right out. But put the frog in room temperature water and bring the pot to a boil, the frog will stay until its death. (It’s unlikely the frog would actually wait.)

Carney’s defence of Lake Ontario carries enormous weight

For centuries on Turtle Island (North America), explorers, map makers, and political leaders have erased Indigenous place names and substituted them — more often than not — with political, ethnocentric, and self-aggrandizing names.

In recent years, a few places on the continent have had Indigenous names re-established, but as of today, few of the original names are “official.”

So, it was no surprise when U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order directing the U.S. Department of the Interior and Board on Geographic Names to take steps within 30 days to officially rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America.”

The move may have been a result of the Canada-U.S. trade war and Trump’s pettiness and ego, but it also fits in perfectly with his career.

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.

Impact of Winnipeg hoops giant Laping went well beyond coaching

In life, few connected with others like Jeff Laping.

A legendary high school basketball coach and influential educator for more than 30 years, he was a figurative giant in Winnipeg’s hoops community with an innate ability to resonate with anyone he met.

Laping was a best friend to many, a confidant to others, and a mentor to even more.

He died on Monday, one week after suffering from cardiac arrest.

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.