In pictures: Runners participate in the 48th annual Manitoba Marathon By: Free Press staff Posted: 11:22 AM CDT Sunday, Jun. 21, 2026 Last Modified: 3:38 PM CDT Sunday, Jun. 21, 2026 Updates

‘People count on this place’: Pembina Hwy. Giant Tiger latest location slated to close

Another Giant Tiger store in Winnipeg will shutter next year, leaving some area residents concerned about a lack of affordable groceries in the neighbourhood.

Red papers taped to the front doors of the Canadian retail chain’s location at Pembina Highway and Southpark Drive indicate it will close Feb. 27.

Doreen Yanchuk, a self-described bargain hunter, shook her head when she saw the signs Monday. The 67-year-old said she’s a regular customer at the location because it’s a five-minute drive from her home.

“They have very good sales here, which draws people to the shop because everything is expensive,” Yanchuk said.

Man pleads guilty to five sex assaults at, near HSC

A Winnipeg man previously found not criminally responsible for a violent assault on his father has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting four women and a teen girl in and around the Health Sciences Centre last year.

Donovan Mohammed, 29, admitted responsibility for the attacks, on Friday in Winnipeg court. He remains in custody and will be sentenced at a later date following the completion of a court-ordered pre-sentence report.

Mohammed admitted to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and four women — all strangers to him — within the span of an hour on July 2, 2025.

Court heard three of Mohammed’s victims were nurses and three of the assaults were captured on security video.

Police, street groups looking to extend co-ordinated outreach-first approach to drug-use, trafficking crackdown

Winnipeg police and street outreach groups are discussing how to extend an initiative that tries to link people with addictions and homelessness services, while targeting open drug use and dealing.

Lobster Trap wins Dafoe book prize

Greg Mercer’s The Lobster Trap: The Global Fight for a Seafood on the Brink has won the 2026 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize.

The $12,000 award, named after John Wesley Dafoe, the former editor of the Manitoba Free Press and Winnipeg Free Press, is presented annually to the best book on topics including “Canada, the West, and Canadians, as well as the Canadian nation in international affairs.”

Published by McClelland & Stewart in August 2025, The Lobster Trap examines the multi-billion dollar lobster industry and the impacts of climate change, trade wars and overfishing. The Lobster Trap is Mercer’s first book.

The award will be presented later this fall.

Comparing the Iran and Vietnam Wars

The other day I asked my students in U.S. foreign policy to think about the relevance of the Vietnam War in relation to the ongoing war in Iran. More specifically, I wanted them to identify the similarities and differences between the two wars.