Pink boots are everywhere at the World Cup as the color becomes a soccer star

Gio Reyna scored an iconic goal. Kylian Mbappé scored twice to become France's career goals leader. Harry Kane got two of his own goals. What do they all have in common? Pink, of course.

Stopping AI ‘slop shots’ in modern politics

Welcome to the new frontier of AI campaign advertising. It is real, even if the content it produces is not.

Greed outshines ‘the Beautiful Game’

Utter greed is at the heart of this World Cup, and it has shown up as utter stupidity on the part of FIFA to think that it could treat the 104 matches of this tournament as “104 Super Bowls.”

Difference between having voice, having your way

One of the most important transitions a leader makes when moving into a senior management role is learning the difference between contributing to a decision and owning the final decision.

How Canada can continue to lead on news policy

As a proud Dane, I have long admired the warm relations and respect between my country and our close, like-minded friends in Canada.

At the end of the Second World War, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill wanted to stop the Red Army’s westward advance. The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was sent to do the job. Canadian troops encountered the Red Army in Wismar, located on Germany’s Baltic coast. The Canadians effectively blocked a Soviet advance into the Kingdom of Denmark — while that was long ago, it will never be forgotten.

We share a 3,000 km border, which has not been without controversy, but the issue has always been based on good humour and friendship. From 1973 to 2022, we “fought” over Hans Island, which is located between Ellesmere Island and Greenland and measures just 1.2 square kilometres. We were, however, able to resolve the dispute not with weapons, but with whiskey.

For many years, I was CEO of JP/Politiken Media Group, one of the largest media companies in the Nordics. As the employer of 3,000 people, I had a responsibility to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Danish news media ecosystem. Now, as CEO of WAN-IFRA (World Association of News Publishers), that responsibility is global, and it is one I take very seriously.

Summer debut of Open Corydon

More patio space, live music and pizza slices to-go are slated for Corydon Avenue this summer — but cars aren’t invited.

Only on Sundays, starting July 5, Corydon will be closed to vehicles between Daly and Lilac streets from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Taking up the road and sidewalks, Winnipeg organizers hope, will be pedestrians and businesses showcasing their wares.

It’s a first-of-its-kind initiative for the Corydon Avenue Business Improvement Zone. Open Corydon, as it’s called, is set to run until Sept. 6.

Youth concern powers Futurpreneur applications

Groups offering support to young Manitoba entrepreneurs have clocked an uptick in traffic amid economic uncertainty.

Karen Greve Young is watching the applications roll in at Futurpreneur. The national non-profit offers loans and mentorships to Canadians ages 18 through 39 who are starting businesses.

Greve Young, Futurpreneur’s chief executive, expects a 50 per cent increase in applications this year over last. It follows growth of 15 per cent in 2025.

That year, Futurpreneur worked with more than 1,000 businesses.

What prediction market trading is and why it’s gaining popularity

Financial services company Wealthsimple announced Thursday that it will start offering a new form of investment based on real-world events.

The product is called prediction market trading and it's gaining increasing popularity around the world.

Here's a breakdown of how it works, what's driving its growth and what investors should beware of.

What are prediction markets?

Eager to work, teens find a frustrating summer job search

NEW YORK (AP) — Jaelyn Chester will wait your tables or stock your shelves. She’ll wash your dishes or scrub your toilets. If only someone would give the 17-year-old a chance.

“I’ve been looking everywhere,” says Chester, an A+ student, high school basketball star and aspiring engineer who has blanketed her community with dozens of applications. “I’m not unemployed because I’m incompetent. I’m unemployed because nobody’s hiring.”

The summer job, a rite-of-passage for generations of American teenagers, isn’t so easy to come by.

About one-third of 16- to 19-year-olds in the U.S. were employed last summer, federal data show, down from a peak of about 60% in the late 1970s. Experts’ pessimistic forecasts are combining with reports from frustrated jobless young people around the country to form a seasonal outlook far from bathed in sunshine.

Vehicle repair assistance startup creates practical, community-minded solution to real problem: Manitoba Innovates CEO

A mechanic fixed James Penner’s automobile last month in Ontario, but a Manitoba-made app connected him to the service.

When Penner’s vehicle needed a jump start after work, the Brampton, Ont., resident called his insurance provider’s roadside service program. They told him it would take more than two hours for help to arrive. It was late, so while he waited, Penner went online to search for alternatives.

That’s when he found Road Ally, a roadside assistance app that connects users to nearby mechanics.

Penner downloaded the app, requested help and received a quote for the job. A mechanic called to confirm an estimated time of arrival, Penner paid for the job via the app and the mechanic arrived shortly thereafter.

Quilters to unite at national event

Holly Clarke gets a kick out of putting a modern touch on a traditional craft.

Clarke said she spends an average of three weeks putting together colourful geometric patterns to create a quilt with a more modern design.

“I find working with my hands brings me fulfilment,” she said. “It’s such a joyful hobby and it brings joy to so many people.”

She is thrilled a national quilting convention, which will showcase local work alongside pieces from across the country, is coming to Winnipeg for the first time in 22 years.

AI threatens relationship between writers, readers

If an author is not who they say they are, if their work does not spring from human experience and creativity, then how can there be any authentic relationship between the writer and reader?

WeCook meals service expands to Winnipeg

The company sells ready-to-eat meals, from small to family portions.

Directors Desk enters child care HR spotlight

A Manitoba company has released what is believed to be the first sector-specific human resources software for early learning centres and child care operations in Canada.

Ottawa’s new surveillance pricing rules not likely to take effect before 2028

OTTAWA - The federal government wants to be "super careful" as it tackles surveillance pricing, Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon said after tabling the government's new privacy bill.

Under the plan outlined by Solomon, those rules on surveillance pricing are unlikely to be in place before 2028.

"It's very easy to say just ban using personal information to give personal pricing, because we have to be super careful that we don't want to penalize people who are members of a rewards program," Solomon said Monday in an interview with The Canadian Press.

The government introduced the bill Monday — its third attempt to update decades-old privacy laws covering the private sector.

Competition Bureau to examine food supply chain practices amid high grocery prices

OTTAWA - The Competition Bureau is looking to investigate how competition along the food supply chain affects grocery prices for consumers.

The bureau says it will look for potential issues in three key areas: production and processing, transportation and distribution, and retail pricing practices.

That means tracking competition along the way, as seeds are sown at farms or livestock are raised at ranches, to getting them processed as raw input or ready-to-eat items and loading them onto trucks to reach wholesalers and distributors.

The bureau will also investigate how these items are priced on store shelves and how consumers buy them using tools such as loyalty programs. The retail pricing investigation will include examining algorithmic pricing, shrinkflation, and skimpflation, which refers to reducing the quality for the same price.

Division undertakes close to $1M in security upgrades after sex offender gets into two schools

Selfies are now standard protocol for all visitors to public schools in St. Vital.

CRTC gives Bell and Telus until Wednesday to drop fees or risk compliance actions

The CRTC has again issued warnings to Bell Canada and Telus Corp. over recently introduced fees the regulator says could be in violation of its new policy prohibiting telecoms from charging customers when they activate, change or cancel plans.

Shopify board fighting shareholder push to create AI policy

Shopify Inc. shareholders will vote Tuesday on whether the tech company should create an artificial intelligence policy.

Downtown vintage shop offers up sweet fashions piping hot, fresh from the dryer

In a sartorial era defined by the destructive environmental impacts of cheaply made, microplastic-laden garments, two Winnipeg clothing entrepreneurs are taking fast-fashion competition to the cleaners one cycle at a time.

Every week, Cholo Barachina and Carj Delera pack several trash bags full of hand-picked, second-hand garments to wash, dry and fold before rebagging and tagging each piece to retail at Clothing Bakery, their Exchange District storefront at 70 Arthur St.

For the two Filipino businessmen, most Monday mornings — the shop’s one-day weekend — are spent at Blondies in the Maples: crisp clothing doesn’t happen without frequent visits to their old neighbourhood laundromat.

“It’s insane how interesting a Tide pod is to us,” jokes Barachina, whose family ran an industrial laundry in Cabuyao Laguna before moving to Winnipeg. “We just switched over to the XL and all we do is smell the clothes once they’re out of the laundry. That’s no lie.”