The world of extreme pogo is an eye-popping blend of artistry, courage and ‘mystical zest’

The greatest day of Michael Mena's life as a professional athlete ended with a pair of world championships that the 33-year-old had spent the better part of two decades chasing.

A soothing cup of herbal tea can begin in your garden

Drink a fragrant cup of herbal tea, and the intoxicating scent of steeped herbs might calm your mind before you even take a sip. Even better is when they come from your own backyard herb garden.

Mine includes several ingredients for my daily cup, and they’re all easy to grow and prepare.

Herbal teas are distinct from true teas — such as black or green — which comes from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. (You can grow that in your garden, too.) Brew herbal teas with either freshly harvested or dried herbs.

Either way, settling in with a cup of homegrown herbal tea — hot or iced — can be a relaxing ritual.

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.”

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.

Art show features paintings created as therapy

Having watched Bob Ross’s painting lessons on TV for years, Maxine Utsunomiya finally decided to take a lesson herself.

Now, after signing up for Art in the Garden — a painting workshop at Victoria Hospital for patients in the mental health services program — she’s one of 15 people whose work is being featured in an exhibit at Studio Central in Portage Place.

The annual art program, now in its fifth year, is held at the hospital’s Will and Mavis Tishinski Tranquility Trail.

“It’s very relaxing, it’s very stimulating and I really enjoyed this,” said Utsunomiya, 69.

Merlin the duck steals the spotlight at President Sheinbaum’s news briefing

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Wearing the green jersey of Mexico’s national soccer team and a FIFA tie, he waddled into the room ahead of President Claudia Sheinbaum, took a seat facing reporters and quickly became the star of her Monday morning news briefing.

Merlín the duck — Mexico’s unofficial World Cup mascot — didn’t take any questions; his owner, Carla Gómez, did that for him.

Gómez, a street vendor who sells water and soft drinks, introduced her family with pride and determination, presenting them as representative of countless other working-class Mexicans. “We are the working part” of Mexico, she said.

Sitting beside the lectern, with Merlín at the center, were her sons, Carlos, 22, and Cristian, 14, who “doesn’t rest after school” and helps her every day by selling goods and carrying packages.

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.

As school year ends, thank an educator

As the long days of summer approach, many Manitobans are preparing to hit the out-of-office button. But before the school year fades into memory, I’d like you to take a moment to thank the more than 17,000 Manitoba public school educators who have gone above and beyond to support kindergarten to Grade 12 students across our province.

Thousands celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day

Drums and song filled Winnipeg’s downtown Sunday as thousands gathered at The Forks to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day and while festivities continued late into the evening, some in attendance said the event’s importance spans generations.

Braiding her daughter Sofia Ducharme’s hair in preparation for the Wáhkóhtowin Powwow — one of the day’s numerous celebrations — Alea Elliott said the powwow was one of the first for the 11-year-old. Watching his daughter get ready was Derek Ducharme, who is originally from the Waywayseecappo First Nation.

“It’s nice she gets to do this, because Derek didn’t get to learn about his culture,” said Alea, saying the family came into the city from Landmark.

Wearing a stunning jingle dress that shines in the summer sun, both Alea and Derek said they were proud to see their daughter participate in Sunday’s celebration, as Derek’s father was a victim of Canada’s colonial systems that separated Indigenous families from their children.

‘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.

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.

Happy feet: Students get outfitted with donated running shoes ahead of Manitoba Marathon

About 250 kids from remote and inner city communities were fitted for happy feet Saturday afternoon ahead of Sunday’s Manitoba Marathon events.

Zoe Yanke, 16, bused from her home community of Gillam to run in the Manitoba Marathon 10-kilometre race Sunday morning. She and about a dozen of her peers are participating in several of the events and were gifted a new pair of shoes ahead of race day through the Soles4Souls program.

The program hosts events across North America and donates shoes, socks and active wear to kids in need.

At the University of Manitoba’s student centre, not far from Sunday’s starting line, students trickled in by the busload and were met by a volunteer who fitted them for shoes. From there, a “runner” volunteer fetched a few options for them to try on for size, fit and style.

Rise in female chiefs ‘a beautiful resurgence’

BRANDON — One month after Birdtail Sioux First Nation member Tréchelle Bunn was elected chief of her community, she was described on the Matriarch Movement podcast as a woman “who truly embodies what this movement is all about.”

“At just 25 years old, Tréchelle is making history while balancing law school, community leadership and national advocacy,” wrote podcast host and founder Shayla Oulette Stonechild. “Her journey reminds us that the next generation isn’t just preparing to lead — they are leading.”

Bunn was the first woman and youngest person to be elected chief of the First Nation in western Manitoba. It was a historic moment in her community and part of a larger story of the changing role of women in First Nations today.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak noted earlier this year that a record number of female chiefs — 164 — were leading First Nations across the country.

Daniel Lavoie, entre racines et liberté

Le 6 juin, au Centre national des Arts, à Ottawa, Daniel Lavoie a reçu le Prix de la réalisation artistique 2026, catégorie musique populaire, des Prix du Gouverneur général pour les arts du spectacle.

Close encounters of the amphibian kind

Frogs, snakes and horses, oh my!

Liam Peterson, an 11-year-old outdoor enthusiast, encountered all of those during summer camp last year at Circle Square Ranch.

“There were always frogs hopping around our cabin, and I let one in because I wanted it to have company because it was bored — it was just sitting there,” recalled Liam.

“And then my friend freaked out because it was on top of (his foot) in the morning. Everyone in the cabin woke up and he woke up with a red bump on his head after hitting his head on his bunk.”

Significance of soil, water management

The day six inches of rain fell one early July afternoon is etched in my memories of growing up on a southern Manitoba grain farm in the mid-1960s.

While we merrily played in the overflowing ditches, our parents watched helplessly as the surrounding fields went under. Within days, it became clear that the crop of 1966 was a write-off.

Rather than watching it rot, Dad went to work retrofitting the family van so all six of us could sleep in it, and we set off on an extended camping trip to the mountains. We didn’t see much of him that winter, however. He commuted 50 kilometres to Winnipeg with the grain truck to make department store deliveries to help pay the bills.

Excess rainfall of that magnitude happened once in their 40 years of farming, but it informed lasting changes to how fields were drained and soil was managed.

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.”

Booth University College continues program for emergency shelter residents

Shelter U has found a permanent home in inner-city Winnipeg.

Following a pilot that produced 50 certificates and inspired multiple recipients to pursue further studies, Booth University College will continue an alternative program that makes higher education more accessible in Manitoba.

“It is the best of what education can be,” said Rev. Rob Fringer, president of the Christian post-secondary institute.

In January 2025, Booth’s Aaron Klassen launched the first of a series of humanities courses — a project he dubbed Shelter U — out of the Salvation Army’s Winnipeg Centre of Hope.

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.

Manitoba appoints Canada’s first judge of reconciliation

The Manitoba government has appointed provincial court Judge Jerilee Ryle as associate chief judge of reconciliation, the first appointment of its kind in Canada.

Inuit could pursue foreign partners if relationship with Ottawa sours: ITK leader

OTTAWA - Canada's national Inuit organization is calling on the federal government to be better partners, saying Canada must respect Inuit rights to governance and self-determination.

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami wrapped up a two-day Arctic sovereignty conference in Ottawa on Friday.

In a statement following the summit, ITK says it firmly rejects what it calls "outdated, colonial approaches to Arctic policy that repeat Canada’s past mistakes of marginalizing" Inuit.

"We call on the federal government to partner with Inuit in advancing a more ambitious vision for its Arctic territory by prioritizing improved coordination with Inuit rights holders in decision-making, and the investments in the infrastructure and services needed to create prosperity and bring the entirety of Inuit Nunangat into the rest of the country," ITK said in a statement.

Kinew’s political brand appears unstoppable

If Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives were hoping Premier Wab Kinew’s popularity would fade midway through his first term, the latest polling numbers offer little encouragement.

In fact, there are growing signs the Manitoba NDP may be positioning itself for a lengthy stay in government, one that could resemble the long stretches of governing enjoyed by former NDP premiers Gary Doer and Greg Selinger from 1999 to 2016, or former Progressive Conservative premier Gary Filmon from 1988 to 1999.

That may seem like a bold prediction less than three years into the NDP’s first term in office. Politics can change quickly. Governments make mistakes. Economic conditions shift. Scandals can emerge. Voters get restless.

However, at some point, it becomes difficult to ignore what the numbers tell us.