French Open 2025: Jannik Sinner returns to Grand Slam tennis after his doping ban

PARIS (AP) — Jannik Sinner passed his first test back on tour after a doping ban — a run to last weekend's final at the Italian Open, where his tennis felt good and looked good, and the statistics he studied afterward backed that up.

Now comes a whole new set of challenges for the 23-year-old Italian at the French Open, which begins Sunday: a crowd that could be pulling for his local opponents instead of for him; the extra rigors of best-of-five-set matches instead of best-of-three; the added pressure and importance of a major tournament.

“We have seen a couple of things where I can improve, and Grand Slams are just different. You have to be mentally ready. Physically, too, trying to use the right energy. It’s all about being consistent and solid,” Sinner said at a news conference at Roland-Garros on Friday.

“Yeah,” he added. “Let's see if I can do that.”

Getting river rehab rolling: Other cities' success in stemming effluent offer splashes of hope for Winnipeg's waterways

From giant cisterns to rain gardens, storage tunnels and parks, cities across Canada — and the rest of the world — have shown there are plenty of options to stop the overflow of sewage into freshwater.

Innovative horse simulator helps riders with disabilities get in the saddle

VICTORIA - "Do you want to go faster?"

Jayne Imeson already knew the answer she was going to get from her six-year-old son, Casey, sitting astride his new steed in a park in Central Saanich, B.C.

He nodded with a smile. "Always faster -- this kid loves his speed," Imeson said.

Casey's usual ride is a Fjord horse named Valla, but on Thursday, he became the first official user of the MiraColt horse-riding motion simulator developed for the Victoria Therapeutic Riding Association.

Nearly one in three non-profit workers burnt out and food insecure, survey suggests

A survey of 1,116 employees at non-profit organizations across Canada indicates more than one-third of workers regularly feel burnt out and exhausted.

The Changemaker Wellbeing Index, published Thursday, says 36 per cent of workers said they were struggling with issues such as anxiety, poor job satisfaction and insufficient household incomes.

The survey was conducted between Feb. 21 and March 14 by Toronto-based Environics Research on behalf of media company Future of Good.

Thirty-four per cent of respondents at community non-profits said they were food insecure, and 20 per cent said they were likely to quit in the next six months.

Increase in sextortion cases prompts call for legislation to combat predators

The spike in online sextortion cases in Winnipeg has alarmed police and augmented advocates’ calls for Canada to begin regulating social media platforms to help protect children from predators.

Little pictures, big ears, and bad examples

One of the pillars of a thriving democratic society is exemplified through the civil conduct of our elected political leaders. The ethos of honesty, humility, and empathy are becoming increasingly relinquished in lieu of posturing public vitriol and moral indifference.

Global extremism, as close as your keyboard

An arrest in Winnipeg has provided yet another reminder of just how much extremist attitudes have spread across the world.

Le water-polo séduit les jeunes francophones manitobains

À l’occasion de la Ligue d’hiver, le club Vortex a reçu les équipes de water-polo de la Saskatchewan les 25 et 26 janvier derniers, qui n’étaient pas venues en territoire manitobain depuis deux ans.

La Liberté est allée à la rencontre de l’équipe des moins de 14 ans dont presque la moitié des joueurs est en école d’immersion.

Jayden Del Campo, l’un des coachs du club, a notamment accepté de réaliser avec nous une entrevue en français. Il nous a confié ce qu’il appréciait dans cette activité aquatique.

“C’est l’un des meilleurs sports d’équipe. On se voit très souvent pour les entraînements donc nous sommes comme des frères. C’est ma deuxième famille. Le water-polo c’est aussi beaucoup de fun!”

Les Aces de Saint-Anne lancent une soirée francophone

Le Comité culturel de Sainte-Anne lance sa première soirée de hockey francophone. Le 7 décembre à 19 h, les Aces de Sainte-Anne affronteront les Hawks de Notre Dame à l’aréna Maurice-Chaput.

L’idée vient de la “voix des Aces” Marc Connelly, s’inspirant des soirées thématiques dans les sports professionnels. “C’est une manière d’encourager les gens à venir à nos parties,” explique-t-il.

Peu après avoir proposé l’évènement à sa mère, Diane Connelly, secrétaire au Comité culturel, un nouveau sous-comité a vu le jour pour organiser la soirée.

“On veut essayer de mettre autant de français qu’on peut dans la fête, ajoute Diane Connelly. Une grande soirée est planifiée, car on veut que la ville sache, qu’au rural, on fait des choses!”

Manitoba bans cellphones for K-8 students

Manitoba has announced a ban on cellphones in elementary schools and strict rules to silence devices and keep them out of sight during Grade 9-12 lessons next month.

Kindergarten to Grade 8 students will be barred from using phones at any point in the school day, including during lunch and recess.

High schoolers will be asked to leave their phones in their locker, with a teacher or at the principal’s office when classes are in session.

Teenagers can access their devices on breaks and when a classroom teacher approves usage for educational purposes.

Four-week program injects staff into city’s home-care ranks

Efforts to bolster the roster of professionals who work in the city’s home-care sector are paying off as the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority celebrates the addition of hundreds of new employees.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said Monday that 256 health-care aides have been hired by WRHA since February, when the city had a 24 per cent vacancy rate among home care workers.

“Home care is about providing dignified, compassionate services to the folks who need it most,” Asagwara said in a news release.

“The WRHA has put in a huge effort to recruit home-care workers and it’s paying off. It’s all good news: fewer vacancies, more visits and less frustrating cancellations for people.”

Satirical musical tackles health-care woes in bite-sized chunks

They say laughter is the best medicine. Throw a little song-and-dance into the mix and you get Larry Saves the Canadian Healthcare System — an 11-part web microseries that humorously addresses Canada’s ailing medical system through music and satire.

Sara Kreindler, a professor of community health sciences at the University of Manitoba, spearheads the show, drawing from her extensive research.

“It’s about starting a conversation,” says writer-composer Kreindler, who has a PhD in social psychology. “Whether you’re a health-care provider or just someone curious about the system, I want viewers to come away feeling empowered to hold our elected leaders accountable for addressing the underlying issues.”

Through the character of Larry, played by Winnipeg actor Toby Hughes, viewers embark on a journey navigating the complexities of health-care policy.

Some doctors sneak education into their online content to drown out misinformation

TORONTO - When Dr. Siobhan Deshauer makes online videos, her primary goal is to demystify medicine. Her secondary goal?

"I call it 'smuggling in education,'" said the physician and YouTuber, who boasts nearly a million subscribers on the platform. "You're coming for this mystery and this excitement, but I'm smuggling in some topics that I think are really important and that I'm passionate about."

Some experts say one of the best ways to fight a rising tide of medical misinformation on social media is to drown it out with captivating content backed by science, and Deshauer, an Ontario-based internal medicine and rheumatology specialist, is among a growing cohort of doctors and researchers doing just that.

Take one of her medical mystery videos, for example. In it, Deshauer tells the story of a woman who had lead poisoning. Doctors took ages to figure out what was causing her symptoms, but ultimately realized they were a result of lead in the Ayurvedic supplements she was taking.

Classrooms don’t have to be smartphone-free zones, tech-fluent educators tell province

A group of tech-savvy teachers is calling on the province to create guidelines on cellphone use in schools and offering to help get it done.

The Manitoba Association of Education Technology Leaders has taken a firm stance against introducing a sweeping ban of personal wireless devices in kindergarten-to-Grade 12 buildings.

Manitoba Education has no policy in place. School divisions create their own appropriate use policies, while most buildings allow teachers to make rules for their own classrooms.

Tuxedo’s Laidlaw School, Collège Béliveau in Windsor Park and West Kildonan Collegiate are among Winnipeg facilities that have imposed stricter measures this year.

Frustrated educators disconnecting distracted students from devices

More school leaders across Manitoba are asking students to unplug themselves entirely during lesson times and requesting staff to be role models around positive phone-use.

Tuxedo’s Laidlaw School, Collège Béliveau in Windsor Park and West Kildonan Collegiate are among those that have announced stricter guidelines surrounding personal devices in 2024.

“Ultimately, we want our kids to disconnect with their devices and reconnect with their classmates and teacher,” said Adam Hildebrandt, principal of West Kildonan Collegiate. “We think this really is the best thing for their learning.”

Hildebrandt began his career at the high school in 2004. It was around 2010 when it became commonplace for his students to carry personal devices everywhere they went, and his classroom was no exception.

Study shows ‘striking’ number who believe news misinforms

NEW YORK (AP) — Half of Americans in a recent survey indicated they believe national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public to adopt a particular point of view through their reporting.

The survey, released Wednesday by Gallup and the Knight Foundation, goes beyond others that have shown a low level of trust in the media to the startling point where many believe there is an intent to deceive.

Asked whether they agreed with the statement that national news organizations do not intend to mislead, 50% said they disagreed. Only 25% agreed, the study found.

Similarly, 52% disagreed with a statement that disseminators of national news “care about the best interests of their readers, viewers and listeners,” the study found. It said 23% of respondents believed the journalists were acting in the public's best interests.

The joke’s on us as social media capitalizes on our base impulses in race to the bottom

The most important thing we can teach ourselves, and our children, about how to navigate social media is this: the algorithms want you to be angry. They want you to be angry, because it is good for business.

Teenage artist finds creative process helps her tap into emotions, find sense of self

Faiza Malik found more than peace and safety when she and her family arrived in Canada from Afghanistan nine years ago — she also found art.

The 16-year-old credits art and creativity with helping her transition to a new life. Now she wants to work with local kids to give them access to resources she never had growing up.

“I started painting when I first arrived in Canada when I was in Grade 2 or Grade 3. We had those little art projects in school and I was always excited to do those things because I was using my hands and creating something new,” Malik says. “Art wasn’t really a thing that was available in Afghanistan.”

She admits the culture shock was all-consuming when she and her family, including her mom, dad and three siblings, first arrived here.

Nature prescription could be just what the doctor ordered

Take a hike in the forest and call me in the morning.

Instead of prescribing just a pill or ointment, doctors could soon tell patients to head to the great outdoors.

PaRx, a national nature prescription program, has launched in Manitoba to help address mental and physical health problems and to encourage people to get outside to exercise.

Anna Cooper Reed, a social worker and doctoral student who is helping bring the program to this province, said she grew up being able to go to the family cottage in a provincial park in Manitoba so she knows first-hand the benefits of spending time outdoors.

Greenhouse sprouts in inner-city neighbourhood

AN inner-city greenhouse will soon burst with plants and people, and tackle food insecurity and unemployment.

The Spence Neighbourhood Association unveiled its community greenhouse at 689 Maryland St. Wednesday.

“In our neighbourhood, food access is a big issue,” said Mandalyn Unger, a co-ordinator with the non-profit.

The group regularlys accepts input from locals about their vision for the neighbourhood.

Falling for a splash of colour

How silently they tumble downAnd come to rest upon the groundTo lay a carpet, rich and rare,Beneath the trees without a care,Content to sleep, their work well done,Colors gleaming in the sun.

Leaves, by Elsie N. Brady

The autumn equinox has come and gone, leaving a fully-fledged landscape to show off its finery every day. The luminescent yellow aspen leaves tip back and forth, back and forth. Maples slip into deep burgundy coats. And in the north, the delicate tamaracks blaze with gold. Fall foliage is in full swing. Time to grab a camera and hit the road.

Hecla Island Provincial Park promises a variety of landscape, offering plenty of diversity in not only its resident trees — including tamarack and birch — but also its stands of phragmites (common reeds) and cattails. You also have a great chance of spotting migrating bald eagles and plenty of waterfowl too.

Biking to the Viking (statue) a great way to burn off tasty local treats

GIMLI — There are many things I enjoy about travel: learning about different cultures, seeing historic sites, experiencing varieties of natural beauty and meeting people from around the world, to list just a few.