A Palestinian describes 15 minutes of terror trying to get food in the new Gaza distribution system

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Shehada Hijazi woke at dawn. It was his best chance, he thought, to get his hands on a package of food at a new distribution site run by a U.S.- and Israeli-backed foundation in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of others, equally desperate to feed their hungry families, had the same idea.

By the time Hijazi walked the 7 kilometers (4 miles) to the southern tip of the territory, a militarized zone that has been evacuated of its residents, it was chaos. People pushed and shoved for hours as they restlessly waited outside the site, surrounded by a barbed-wire fence, earth berms and checkpoints. When it opened, the crowd charged, rushing toward hundreds of boxes left stacked on the ground on wooden pallets.

Hijazi described what he called 15 minutes of terror Thursday at the center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the private contractor that Israel says will replace the U.N. in feeding Gaza's more than 2 million people.

Israeli soldiers opened fire in an attempt to control the crowd, he and other witnesses said. His 23-year-old cousin was shot in the foot. They quickly abandoned hope of getting any food and ran for their lives.

Residents, advocates say trust issues, strict rules, red tape keep encampments up

Tents, tarps, and makeshift shelters line the beaten path along the Assiniboine River near Balmoral Street in West Broadway — a community hidden in plain sight.

‘Soup Nazi’ actor dips ladle for victims of Vancouver festival attack

VANCOUVER - "Soup Nazi" actor Larry Thomas, best known for his guest role as a strict soup seller on the sitcom "Seinfeld," will be picking up his ladle again to raise money for victims of last month's attack on Vancouver's Lapu Lapu Day festival.

The Los Angeles-based actor said he will be serving at the Greens And Beans Deli in New Westminster, B.C., on Sunday as part of the restaurant's fundraising efforts.

Thomas said the April 26 attack that killed 11 people was a "terrible thing," prompting him to reprise his fundraising relationship with the deli that stretches back 20 years.

Leona Green, owner of the deli, first reached out to Thomas to ask him to serve soup at a fundraiser for the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

Celebrating 50 years, Winnipeg's downtown Keg steakhouse takes pride in its endurance

The Keg Steakhouse + Bar at 115 Garry St. — commonly referred to as the Garry Street Keg, or simply Garry Street — turns 50 years old in June.

Gord Howard, the owner of Winnipeg’s three Keg restaurants including the downtown locale, intends to mark the milestone in some manner, though he admits it will be difficult to match the goings-on that occurred there 40 summers ago.

Howard was a manager at the Garry Street Keg in June 1985 when his then-supervisor Griffin Tripp suggested they throw a shindig to toast the popular dining spot’s 10th anniversary. The pair arranged to have Garry Street closed to vehicular traffic between Broadway and York Avenue to facilitate a daylong block party featuring live music and free Keg-size victuals. And because George Tidball, the chain’s founder, was flying in from Vancouver to attend, Tripp suggested they present their boss with a gift upon his arrival.

“George was a horseman originally from Alberta, so Griff thought it would be a good idea to get him a commemorative saddle,” Howard says, seated in the attractive 255-seat spot that, since the outset, has boasted brick walls, oak tables and well-situated fireplaces.

36 jours en mer : récit des naufragés qui ont survécu aux hallucinations, à la soif et au désespoir

FASS BOYE, Senegal (AP) — Un mois s’est écoulé lorsque les quatre premiers hommes ont décidé de sauter.

D’innombrables cargos sont passés à côté d’eux, pourtant personne n’est venu à leur secours. Ils n’avaient plus de carburant. La faim et la soif étaient insoutenables. Des dizaines de personnes sont déjà mortes, dont le capitaine.

Le voyage de Fass Boye, petit village de pêche sénégalaise en difficulté économique, jusqu’aux îles Canaries en Espagne, porte d’entrée de l’Union européenne où ils espéraient trouver du travail, était censé durer une semaine. Mais plus d’un mois plus tard, le bateau en bois transportant 101 hommes et garçons s’éloignait de plus en plus de la destination prévue.

Aucune terre n’est en vue. Pourtant, les quatre hommes croient, ou hallucinent, qu’ils peuvent nager jusqu’au rivage. Rester sur le bateau «maudit», pensaient-ils, était une condamnation à mort. Ils ont ramassé des récipients d’eau vides et des planches de bois, tout ce qui pouvait les aider à flotter.

As elites arrive in Davos, conspiracy theories thrive online

NEW YORK (AP) — When some of the world’s wealthiest and most influential figures gathered at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting last year, sessions on climate change drew high-level discussions on topics such as carbon financing and sustainable food systems.

But an entirely different narrative played out on the internet, where social media users claimed leaders wanted to force the population to eat insects instead of meat in the name of saving the environment.

The annual event in the Swiss ski resort town of Davos, which opens Monday, has increasingly become a target of bizarre claims from a growing chorus of commentators who believe the forum involves a group of elites manipulating global events for their own benefit. Experts say what was once a conspiracy theory found in the internet’s underbelly has now hit the mainstream.

“This isn’t a conspiracy that is playing out on the extreme fringes,” said Alex Friedfeld, a researcher with the Anti-Defamation League who studies anti-government extremism. “We’re seeing it on mainstream social media platforms being shared by regular Americans. We were seeing it being spread by mainstream media figures right on their prime time news, on their nightly networks.”

Pandemic isolation impacted our relationship with food, self-image

Food has been a global preoccupation during the pandemic. Home cooking became a necessary lockdown pastime and sourdough bread became shorthand for the many food trends that tore through social media. At the same time, one Winnipeg dietitian has seen a rise in emotional and disordered eating over the last year and a half.

“A lot of the things that people use to cope have changed,” says Raschelle Sabourin, a registered dietitian who runs a virtual nutrition counselling practice locally. “People were more isolated and there’s a lack of routine… and people’s relationships changed, so that caused more stress and people are sometimes using food to fill that void.”

Sabourin says that while using food as a coping mechanism can be a quick fix for quelling difficult emotions, the comfort of binge eating doesn’t last.

“For the short term, they might feel really good, but in the long term they’re not feeling good after emotional eating,” she says.

Cordova: petits plats pour grands moments

Ouvert au début de l’été par Grégoire Stevenard et Gaël Winandy, le bar tapas de la rue Albert a déjà conquis une clientèle d’habitués séduits par cette bodega qui fleure bon l’authentique. Un succès qui ne doit rien au hasard, mais bien à la réflexion menée depuis deux ans par ces amis qui se sont rencontrés sur les bancs de l’Université de Saint-Boniface.

“Et si on ouvrait notre propre bar?” Qui n’a jamais lancé cette phrase, emporté par la grisante euphorie d’une soirée étudiante, lorsque les petits bonheurs de la vie se comptent au nombre d’amis rassemblés autour de quelques verres et de petits plats en équilibre sur la table du salon?

Grégoire et Gaël sont en passe de donner vie à ce vieux rêve qui, bien souvent, ne survit jamais aux lendemains difficiles. Une concrétisation qui leur a demandé tout de même deux années de préparation intensive, de recherches, et un plan d’affaires solide.

Un rapport alarmant

LA situation de l’accessibilité au logement à Winnipeg est alarmante, surtout pour les nouveaux arrivants, révèle le premier rapport réalisé à ce sujet par l’École de service social de l’Université de Saint-Boniface (USB).

“Il y a une crise du logement évidente qui sévit partout au Canada, et Winnipeg est l’une des grandes villes avec le plus bas taux d’inoccupation de logements au pays,” explique le professeur à l’USB David Alper, un des co-auteurs du rapport.

“Plusieurs études ont été effectuées dans les dernières années pour démontrer comment cela touchait différentes tranches de la société, alors on a voulu étudier la problématique dans la communauté francophone, surtout chez les nouveaux arrivants.”

Pour ce faire, les auteurs ont interrogé une douzaine de familles francophones venues d’Afrique.

La passion de bien manger

QUAND elle était jeune, la Franco-Manitobaine aujourd’hui âgée de 38 ans et mère de trois enfants, Joanne Gobeil, ne cuisinait pas. Mais quand à 21 ans, son père a clamé qu’elle ne saurait pas même faire bouillir de l’eau, elle a relevé le défi.

“J’ai fait à souper à mon père la semaine suivante pour la première fois,” se souvientelle, “et il a aimé donc il est revenu manger chez nous de plus en plus souvent. Ça s’est avéré naturel pour moi de savoir cuisiner. J’ai alors reçu de plus en plus de monde à manger, jusqu’à créer ma propre entreprise de traiteur en 2010, Fried Green Tomatoes.”

Joanne Gobeil se dit artiste de la cuisine.

“Comme l’artiste qui voit une image en regardant un canevas blanc, moi je vois une recette en regardant dans mon frigo,” confiet- elle. “Juste en voyant des aliments ou en lisant une recette, je suis capable de la goûter dans ma tête et d’y ajouter une sauce ou des ingrédients qui iraient bien avec. J’aime essayer de nouvelles choses.”