Archaeologists find huge Viking textile production site in Denmark

SØFTEN, Denmark (AP) — Archaeologists have discovered a huge Viking Age textile production site in Denmark that dates back more than 1,000 years and underlines the sophistication of Viking society.

Experts from the Moesgaard Museum said this week that the sprawling 100,000-square-meter (more than 1 million-square-foot) site features an area for processing flax as well as more than 80 pit houses — semi-buried huts that were used as workshops and dwellings in Viking times.

It's located in Søften, 10 kilometers (6 miles) north of Denmark’s second-largest city, Aarhus, on the Jutland peninsula. The site dates back to the late Iron Age and early Viking Age, sometime between A.D. 600 and 950.

Archaeologist Liv Stidsing Reher-Langberg, who led the 10-month dig, said that “we have a clear focus on textile production, which makes this settlement different from other kinds of settlements of this period.”

Overhauled Transit system rollout ‘a nightmare,’ public works chair says

The introduction of Winnipeg Transit’s long-awaited network overhaul last June — designed to provide faster, more reliable service and increase ridership — got off to a rocky start.

“Honestly, it was a nightmare…. A lot of people couldn’t connect, they couldn’t get the (bus) times (right), we couldn’t get data,” Coun. Janice Lukes, chairwoman of public works, said Tuesday after the city released a “state of the system” report on the new network’s first year.

“That was a big hump to start and I think it was very unfortunate because I think it set a very bad tone.”

Instead of convincing more Winnipeggers to leave their vehicles at home and take the bus, the changes were one of several factors that led to a sharp decline in ridership and revenue, and has the people behind the redesign proposing improvements.

Daycare, community hub answer to church’s prayers

A dwindling congregation that owns a red brick church building in South Osborne has found a creative way to keep its doors open while meeting a vital need in the neighbourhood.

If all goes according to plan, the sanctuary of Churchill Park United Church will be echoing with the cries and laughter of children by next fall.

The $4.4-million construction project will transform the main floor of the church, at the corner of Beresford Avenue and Nassau Street, into a 112-space daycare centre, while the second floor will become a community hub with meeting space for congregants and other community groups.

A few years ago, the aging congregation — which averaged 30 or 40 people on a Sunday — came to the painful conclusion that they wouldn’t be able to keep managing their building much longer.

Winnipeg Transit needs funding boost, additional staff to follow new provincial accessibility regulations: city report

Winnipeg Transit says it will need millions of dollars in new funding and additional staff to comply with Manitoba’s new Accessible Transportation Standard Regulation, which takes effect on Jan. 1.

Plan to buy B.C. condos might be more about stabilizing sector than housing: expert

VICTORIA - A government plan to buy empty condominiums and turn them into affordable housing in British Columbia might be more about stabilizing the financial sector than housing, an urban planning expert says. 

Some have criticized the federal and B.C. government's plan to convert unsold condos in a plan that Prime Minister Mark Carney said would use "innovative financial tools" as the most efficient ways to increase housing supply.

Carney said last week that effectively "what you're doing is buying them at a price, spreading out the financing," but details, including whether the condos would ultimately be rented out or resold, would not be released until the fall.

Carney and B.C. Premier David Eby said the plan would involve converting 2,200 unsold condos as part of a larger housing plan worth $5 billion over the next decade.

Report urges city council to make high-priority repairs to downtown library parkade, then explore sale

Winnipeg’s public service is urging the city to reconsider a plan to restore the Millennium Library parkade, with a new report suggesting it could instead complete high-priority repairs and then explore selling the 52-year-old structure.

The recommendation, set to be tabled during a public works committee meeting next week, follows previous public service reports suggesting the parkade requires repairs in the tens of millions of dollars.

While the public service once recommended footing the bill, an updated cost-to-benefit analysis “now shows selling the parkade has the best long-term value over 20 years when balancing costs and service delivery,” the new report says.

“The world has changed, prices have dramatically increased,” Coun. Janice Lukes, chair of the public works committee, said Tuesday. “Personally, I don’t know how many people are in the market for a parkade in downtown Winnipeg, (but) I don’t know, maybe there is a hot market.”

A submarine economic boom is just around corner. So are the challenges.

OTTAWA - As Ottawa inches closer to deciding who will supply the navy's next fleet of submarines, both the benefits and challenges involved in replacing Canada's four rusting antiques are coming to the surface.

While the industrial benefits from the submarine project will start to flow once contract details are hammered out, experts say major questions still need to be answered about long-term maintenance and staffing of the complex war machines.

Both qualified bidders offered multiple partnerships with Canadian companies in their heated, high-stakes race for the multi-billion dollar contract to manufacture up to 12 submarines.

Secretary of State for Defence Procurement Stephen Fuhr said Monday Ottawa has been squarely focused on the economic benefits that would flow from either bid, since both of the boats on offer meet all the navy's requirements.

California intends to sue Trump administration over deal to end offshore wind project

California intends to sue the Trump administration over its deal to end an offshore wind project proposed off the state's central coast.

State officials said they are combating the administration's attacks on their offshore wind industry by sending a notice of their intention to sue to the Department of the Interior on Tuesday. Tuesday’s action is focused on the administration buying back the lease for Golden State Wind, a floating offshore wind project off California’s central coast.

California has made a major commitment to offshore wind because of its potential to generate vast amounts of clean electricity from strong, consistent winds off its coast. Its strategy calls for the state to develop 25 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2045, enough to power roughly 25 million homes and provide about 13% of the state’s electricity supply.

These energy and climate goals are now in jeopardy, and that's why California will fight vigorously, said California Energy Commission Chair David Hochschild. He called the administration's strategy of buying back offshore wind leases “a strategic mistake of colossal proportions" that is especially stunning at a time when fossil fuel prices have been spiking due to the Iran war.

Snide spat between Alberta premier, Calgary mayor escalates into Stampede standoff

CALGARY - A dispute that began with snarky social media posts between Alberta's premier and Calgary's mayor escalated Tuesday into a full on government-to-government standoff.

Calgary city councillors voted to reject proposed changes to noise rules ahead of the upcoming Calgary Stampede festival despite a warning letter from Premier Danielle Smith that if changes weren't made by June 30, the province would intervene.

The city has reduced hours and decibel levels for mid-week Stampede events out of respect for residents who must live within earshot.

Smith's government wanted those hours and decibel maximums eased, citing a concern it could affect the fun and profitability of the Stampede and the businesses that rely on it.

How a heat dome is formed and why experts blame one for Europe’s baking temperatures

Europe is sizzling under an early heat wave this week, with millions of people experiencing extremely high temperatures, and experts say a phenomenon known as a heat dome is to blame. Here's what to know.

40 mayors worldwide endorse a pact to shape data center development

Forty mayors from around the world have signed onto a pact announced Tuesday to try to shape how urban data centers are built and operated.

It's their vision for how urban data center development can be done sustainably — and not at the expense of their cities' natural resources, energy prices or climate targets. C40 Cities, an alliance of nearly 100 cities seeking to impact climate change, launched it during London Climate Action Week.

Many new data centers are coming to rural areas for cheap land. Experts at C40 say metropolitan areas are under tremendous pressure too, with about 1,700 data centers located in their network of cities so far. Development of data centers is expected to grow by over 40% in 50 of those cities.

C40 got involved because the mayors of Phoenix and Melbourne, Australia, came together over worries about data centers using a lot of their cities' electricity and water, and competing with housing developers for available land.

AI companies should release environmental impact, commit to clean energy, says UN chief

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday called on artificial intelligence companies to release information about the carbon pollution they create, along with the water and land used to power their operations.

While urging action in an address at London Climate Action Week, Guterres proposed the AI Environmental Transparency Initiative, arguing AI companies should measure and disclose the impact of their increasingly in-demand technology — impact which has been cited by opponents as reasons to curb the rapid growth of data centers. These companies have faced mounting pressure, both from governments and locally in areas with data centers that support AI, for increased transparency and more standardized reporting across the industry.

Guterres said AI companies should also commit to powering their facilities with electricity produced with renewable technologies, such as wind and solar, by 2030.

“No more hidden costs,” Guterres said at Europe’s largest independent climate conference. “No more shifting the burden onto those least able to bear it. It is time to come clean.”

Several First Nations sign deal with Ottawa, Ontario to own part of a nuclear reactor

Several Ontario First Nations are set to become owners of a new nuclear reactor after striking a commercial partnership with the federal and provincial governments.

Ottawa tabs $21.6M for Sayisi Dene energy projects

A remote northern Manitoba community has solar panels stocked — and now, it’s creating the province’s first integrated renewable energy microgrid led by a First Nation.

MMF suing governments over hunting, fishing rights

The Manitoba Métis Federation has filed two lawsuits against the provincial and federal governments over where in the province its citizens have the right to hunt and fish.

In separate statements of claim filed in the Court of King’s Bench earlier this month, the federation seeks declarations from a judge that the Métis have harvesting rights in several regions of Manitoba, despite current restrictions there, and that those restrictions on Métis hunting and fishing have unjustifiably infringed on their Aboriginal rights under Section 35 of the Constitution.

“The Métis, the Red River Métis, without a doubt have Section 35 rights … equal, side by side with the First Nations and Inuit,” said MMF president David Chartrand in an interview.

One of the claims is over game hunting areas 5, 7 and 7A around Manigotagan and Grass River, north of The Pas, and areas 17A and 26 on the southeast of Lake Winnipeg.

May food inflation outpaces overall inflation as fruits and vegetables get pricier

Rising food prices continued to outpace headline inflation for the 16th straight month, Statistics Canada data showed, with no relief in sight for consumers as higher gas prices weigh on grocery bills.

Manitoba government unveils findings of grocery price study

On Monday, Finance Minister Adrien Sala unveiled a report and three new measures government is taking, including restoring a food basket tool to regularly measure the cost of food per region and introducing legislation to mandate unit pricing in grocery stores.

Many hands feed many mouths at Siloam Mission

It takes many willing hands to prepare the quantities of food required to serve community members accessing Siloam Mission’s meal services.

One of these hands belong to Kishwar Mirza, a recently retired nurse who has been volunteering every Tuesday morning for the 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. breakfast shift in Siloam’s kitchen.

Led by Siloam Mission’s kitchen staff, Mirza and the volunteer crew — who number between 12 to 16 — prep 700 pieces of toast, 576 eggs, 150 pounds of fruit, 120 litres of soup and 80 pounds of meat daily for the approximately 600 people who turn up for breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Princess Street drop-in.

Breakfast is served from 9 to 10 a.m., plated up assembly-line style as community members queue to receive their food through the service window.

Iran war ripple effects drive inflation to its highest level since 2023

OTTAWA - Inflation accelerated to its highest level in more than two years in May as price pressures from the war in Iran started to crop up outside the gas pumps.

But most economists weighing in Monday saw little cause for panic in Statistics Canada's latest consumer price data with oil prices already receding and the Bank of Canada unlikely to move from the sidelines anytime soon.

Statistics Canada said Monday that the annual rate of inflation jumped to 3.2 per cent in May, up from 2.8 per cent in April and notching the highest headline inflation rate since December 2023.

StatCan said gas prices rose 33.2 per cent year-over-year last month as conflict in the Middle East continued to shutter the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers. The agency said last month marks the most consumers have paid for gasoline since June 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drove supply uncertainty.

‘This is nuts’: The hard-fought race to build Canada’s next submarine fleet

From a massive ad blitz featuring Canadian broadcast icon Peter Mansbridge to a cabinet minister calling on shipbuilders to cough up a car plant, the brief race to replace Canada’s aging submarine fleet turned heads in more ways than one.