Human-caused climate change made Spanish, French fires much more likely, scientists calculate

Climate change's fingerprints are all over the extreme fire weather that sparked this week's devastating wildfires in Spain and France and has spiked Southern Europe's burning the past eight years, two new studies conclude.

Human-caused climate change made the hot and dry conditions responsible for Spain's record-sized inferno 20 times more likely to happen, and it doubled the chances of extreme fire conditions for the flames in France, scientists at World Weather Attribution calculated in a rapid analysis Thursday, conducted while fires were still burning. Warming in the past 26 years has tripled the odds of the severe fire risk conditions in Spain and increased the chances in France 40%, the same report found.

At the same time, researchers published a separate study on Thursday — written and edited long before this week's fires began — that found the number of days that Southern Europe's weather reached extreme fire-prone levels has more than doubled compared to decades ago.

Both studies examined changes in the weather that creates fire-prone conditions. The measurements factor in air temperature, drought conditions, humidity and wind.

Poll suggests some Liberal supporters concerned about climate policy are leaning NDP

OTTAWA - A new online poll from the Angus Reid Institute suggests that one in six 2025 Liberal voters now say they would support the NDP.

The pollster found that half of these voters cite climate change as the issue that concerns them most. The poll also found that these voters are three times more likely to be concerned about inequality, with 34 per cent of red-orange switchers listing it as a priority compared to 10 per cent who are staying in the Liberal tent.

Angus Reid reports that 21 per cent of respondents nationally say that climate change is a top concern, an increase from the 14 per cent recorded just four months ago. The pollster said that wildfire season is a "stark reminder" of the threat climate change poses in a write up of its findings.

NDP Leader Avi Lewis told The Canadian Press Tuesday that he's been hearing from Liberals in Montreal are now looking to support his party.

Shoppers flock to the frozen aisle as fresh vegetable prices soar: Loblaw

Consumers are looking for savings in the frozen vegetable aisle at Loblaw banners as prices of fresh produce have spiked in recent months.

"It's more than (five percentage points) growth in the frozen veg in our hard discount banner," Loblaw Cos. Ltd. chief executive Per Bank told analysts on a second-quarter earnings call on Thursday. Hard discount largely refers to the company's No Frills and Maxi chains.

"Those customers who shop there, they are trying to mitigate their inflation."

Affordability continues to drive buying decisions as consumers contend with high gasoline and food prices.

Between prices and a diarrhea-causing parasite, lettuce is causing hard times at some restaurants

It’s been a choppy year for restaurants that lean into lettuce.

Lettuce prices rose sharply in the first half of 2026 due to hot weather in Arizona, where about one-third of America’s lettuce is grown. Now, restaurants are dealing with the fallout from a cyclospora outbreak linked to shredded lettuce that has sickened thousands of Americans.

Yum Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell, said Thursday that Taco Bell's U.S. same-store sales are down 2% so far in the July-September period due to customers' concerns over the outbreak. That compares to a 7% same-store sales increase in the April-June period.

Federal health officials first tied the diarrhea-causing outbreak to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. Later, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said customers in Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania were also affected.

Toba Centre here to help kids who’ve suffered the unimaginable

The abuse of a child is one of the most horrific things imaginable. And for the victims of such a nightmare, facing time being questioned repeatedly by multiple people in an emergency room about what happened makes a traumatic situation even more unbearable. That’s exactly what kids and youth had to deal with before the Toba Centre for Children and Youth existed.

Formerly known as Snowflake Place, the Toba Centre was created in 2013 to provide a safe, child-friendly setting for children aged two to 17 who have been impacted by abuse or have witnessed violence. Services expanded in 2020 with the addition of case navigation support services aimed at ensuring the well-being and recovery of children and their families.

In 2023, the move to the current location in Assiniboine Park made things better for everyone. There, police, social workers, medical and other support services work together to serve children and families with a co-ordinated response, in a building that is welcoming in a child-centred way.

Dr. Megan Cooney, pediatrician in the field of child maltreatment, sees children and adolescents where disclosures of physical and/or sexual abuse have been made. The section head of the Child Protection Centre, a division within the Department of Pediatrics with Shared Health, she’s worked at a satellite clinic at the Toba Centre since 2024.

New graphic images are rolling out on cigarette packs in Canada. Could more be done?

TORONTO - A baby swarmed by smoke. A toilet of bloody urine. A cancerous colon.

These are among the new series of 13 graphic images that are required to be printed on cigarette packages across Canada by Aug. 1.

This is the fourth set of warnings mandated by Health Canada since 2000, aiming to reduce tobacco use to less than 5 per cent by 2035.

According to the federal health agency’s latest projections, Canada appears on track to reach that goal. Tobacco use was down to an estimated 13 per cent in 2024, compared to 29 per cent in 2001. Approximately 300,000 Canadians who smoked in 2023 quit in 2024.

Easing the transition: Newcomer fair helps people find community, belonging

Under a hot Saturday sun at Freight House Field in Winnipeg’s Centennial neighbourhood, children bounced on inflatable castles, families lined up for food, and the sounds of cultural performances carried through the crowd as newcomers to Winnipeg gathered for an annual celebration.

“We’re all trying to build a relationship together.”

That was the message from Clayton Sandy on Saturday at Winnipeg’s Newcomer Welcome Fair, where he shared Indigenous teachings and helping newcomers better understand the history of the land they now call home.

Hosted by Immigration Partnership Winnipeg and community partners, the fair, now in its 10th year, brought together more than 30 settlement organizations, employers and community groups to help newcomers access services, explore job opportunities and connect with their new community.

Drug court helps break addiction’s bleak cycle

BRANDON — Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta often finds herself scanning the court docket to see who could be a candidate for the Westman drug treatment court.

“We have quite a revolving door in terms of substance abuse and addiction, criminal behaviour, incarceration and then the cycle repeats,” she said.

The drug treatment court aims to break that cycle.

“The best chance of long-term protection of the public is the rehabilitation of offenders, and at the end of the day, I think that’s what this is all about — trying to get down to those root causes of crime and hopefully, helping people break the cycle,” she said.

Hundreds of economists say ‘we must act now’ on AI’s economic impact and job displacement risks

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hundreds of economists say in an open letter that institutions “must act now” to address how artificial intelligence could transform the economy and could put many people out of work.

The statement released Monday was signed by top economists, along with computer scientists and some executives at tech companies including Anthropic, Google and OpenAI.

“AI may become radically more powerful over the next 10 years,” says the letter organized by Stanford University's digital economy lab. “This could drive an unprecedented transformation of our economy, larger than the Industrial Revolution, but unfolding over a vastly shorter time frame. It could bring risks, including large-scale job displacement, as well as opportunities such as major gains in living standards.”

The letter, which has only four sentences, says leaders must “build the incentives, guardrails, and institutions needed to steer AI in a direction that complements humans and benefits society.”

‘Not a fun time’: Quebec video game industry in limbo as studios cut back

MONTREAL - At 10:30 a.m. last Monday, about a dozen employees at Bethesda Game Studios in Montreal learned they would be laid off.

The group, part of a larger team of 120 at the Xbox-owned company, had been riding high with the ongoing success of action role-playing video game “Fallout 76” and another one called “The Elder Scrolls VI” in the works.

Instead, roughly 10 per cent of them were told via video conference by a director in Maryland they would be laid off in two months and locked out of company systems until then, said one worker who was present.

The Canadian Press is not naming the source because they were not authorized to speak publicly and feared it would harm their future job prospects. Xbox and Bethesda did not respond to questions on the layoffs.

Sports gambling marketing during World Cup raises concerns about negative influence on susceptible audiences

It’s just a game. And in the case of the World Cup over the last few weeks, it’s a beautiful game — dozens of them, in fact.

Yet interspersed amongst the exciting broadcast play on the pitch, advertising for sports gambling has raised concerns fun and games may come at too high a cost for some.

A recent New York Times feature pointed to a bonanza for the gaming industry globally, with one analyst stating the flow of bets amounts to as many as 10 Super Bowls.

Billions are likely to be made by online gambling platforms from what has been called the biggest gambling event in history. The other side of that coin is billions of dollars will be lost by sports fans willing to wager on a game’s outcome.

FIFA World Cup, youth job gains gave the labour market a lift in June

OTTAWA - The FIFA World Cup and a better summer jobs market for young workers appeared to drive steady gains in Canada's labour market last month.

Employers added 18,000 jobs in June, Statistics Canada said Friday, mostly in part-time and private sector work.

That pushed the unemployment rate down a tenth of a point to 6.5 per cent, back to where it stood in January.

Employment gains narrowly topped economists’ expectations heading into the release but mark a slowdown from the 88,000 jobs added in May.

Emergency responders overburdened

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service’s first comprehensive annual report offers an uncomfortable but necessary reality check. Winnipeg’s emergency responders are being asked to do more than ever, while the public is waiting longer than it should when every minute matters.

A record 136,198 incidents in 2025, including nearly 115,000 medical calls, reflects a system under relentless strain. Much of that pressure is being driven by the ongoing addictions crisis, which now generates roughly 27 emergency calls every day related to drugs or alcohol.

Opioid overdoses, alcohol intoxication and mental health emergencies have become routine parts of the workload for firefighters and paramedics, even as they continue responding to fires, traffic collisions and countless other emergencies.

The report should serve as a call to action for both city hall and the Manitoba government.

Vaping: a clear and present danger

The numbers are startling. According to a recent Free Press story, nearly one-fifth (18.4 per cent) of Manitoba teens in grades 7 to 12 reported using ‘vapes’, known more formally as e-cigarettes, within the month prior to answering a Health Canada survey in 2023-24.

WFPS responded to record number of medical calls in 2025, annual report shows

Firefighters and paramedics in Winnipeg responded to a record number of medical calls in 2025 as the city’s struggle with addictions-related calls persisted, according to a first-of-its-kind annual report published Thursday.

There were 136,198 total incidents and 114,700 medical-related incidents attended to by the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service in 2025, the highest number on record, said the WFPS report.

Out of those medical incidents, 61,356 resulted in response from both fire and emergency medical services, another 26,732 were handled by ambulance-based paramedics and 22,586 by firefighter-paramedics without assistance from an ambulance.

“We’ve got rising demand. It’s recognized, we’re working on plans for the future here, in terms of future budgets and what is needed to protect our city,” WFPS Chief Christian Schmidt said Thursday.

Do online influencer posts count as news? Younger Canadians more likely to say yes

OTTAWA - Younger Canadians are more likely to say posts from influencers and online memes count as news, while the amount of news content on social media has dropped, a new report says.

"News organizations have long acted as information gatekeepers, determining which information reaches the public," says the report from McGill University’s Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy, released Tuesday.

"However, Canadians are now exposed to a wide variety of content producers, from influencers to citizen journalists, memes, and AI-generated posts, blurring the boundaries of what counts as ‘news’ and making perceptions of newsworthiness increasingly subjective."

Respondents were asked to rate different types of content that described a major political event on a scale from "definitely not news" (zero points) to "definitely news" (10 points).

Seven of city’s 10 best-paid employees work for police

The City of Winnipeg’s 2025 compensation disclosure document, released Friday, shows seven of the top 10 highest paid employees are police officers.

Winnipeg Police Service Chief Gene Bowers earned $313,467 during his first year in the position, coming second only to an unnamed police superintendent who took home $491,926.

Collectively, WPS members earned $2.1 million of the total $2.9 million paid to the city’s highest earners, equivalent to about 72 per cent. That includes a constable ranked No. 8 in the top 10 after earning $260,234 — more than outgoing Winnipeg Fire Paramedic chief Christian Schmidt (No. 9) at $255,036.

Schmidt’s successor, Ryan Sneath, who was appointed chief this week, earned $247,432 last year.

Berry farms brave storms, eye opening days

Despite the unprecedented downpour, berry season is on in Manitoba.

Bright red strawberries have begun sprouting at Boonstra Farms — just two weeks after the Stonewall-area patch was hit by 11 inches of rain during a storm.

“Hopefully, it’ll still be an OK season,” said co-owner Danielle Boonstra. “We’re still hoping to open, probably after Canada Day.”

Torrential rain and cold temperatures have pushed strawberry picking season back to, likely, the first week of July. Haskap picking may start this weekend.

Farmers just one link in long supply chain

Farmers are hardly front and centre in newly released federal and provincial reports analyzing why food has become less affordable for many Canadians.

The word “farmers” doesn’t even appear in the Manitoba government’s Grocery Price Strategy report until Page 7.

That’s a good thing, because it signals a new level of awareness in how we collectively view the food system. The focus is shifting from front-line farmers to the largely invisible and complicated supply chain connecting field to table.

It might even change how farmers see themselves.

Most Canadian teens have seen violence, gore online: survey

As Canada edges toward legislation meant to protect youths online, a new survey suggests most teens in the country have encountered real violence or gore on the internet.

Eighty-five per cent of the 1,007 teens who participated in an online survey in January commissioned by scholarly organization DIY: Digital Safety and the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, reported seeing either form of brutality online.

More than 70 per cent had seen videos of physical fights, 65 per cent had viewed police violence, and 52 per cent watched someone being injured or killed in a war. Ten per cent reported seeing child sexual abuse material.

Half of respondents said they had watched footage of late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk being assassinated on stage at Utah Valley University last September, while 33 per cent had viewed mass or school shooting videos.

Bruce Oake Recovery Centre staff lead participants from darkness, despair of addiction

The Bruce Oake Recovery Centre is awash in summer light. Sun streams through the tall windows at the end of each hallway; through the glass walls of the group rooms, where the men here to recover from addiction are meeting; and through the entry atrium, where an urn holding the ashes of the centre’s namesake rests inside a glass case.