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MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES Ethics Commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor found that former premier Heather Stefanson, then deputy premier Cliff Cullen and then economic development minister Jeff Wharton, violated the province’s Conflict of Interest Act.

Inquiry must be called to get answers on sand mine scandal

Tom Brodbeck 4 minute read Preview

Inquiry must be called to get answers on sand mine scandal

Tom Brodbeck 4 minute read Friday, May. 23, 2025

It’s pretty clear by now that an inquiry should be called into the Sio Silica scandal.

Ethics Commissioner Jeffrey Schnoor released his long-awaited report into the matter this week. He found that former premier Heather Stefanson, then deputy premier Cliff Cullen and then economic development minister Jeff Wharton, violated the province’s Conflict of Interest Act by attempting to approve a licence for a controversial silica sand mining project after their government was defeated in the Oct. 3, 2023 provincial election.

All three ministers pushed to have a Class 2 licence under the Environment Act approved for Sio Silica, days before the new NDP government was sworn into office.

They did so even though they knew, or ought to have known, that it violated the “caretaker convention,” a longstanding constitutional principle in Canada that prohibits governments from making major policy decisions once a general election is called (unless it’s related to an urgent matter of public importance).

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Friday, May. 23, 2025
A man uses a computer keyboard in Toronto in this Sunday, Oct. 9, 2023 photo illustration. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

Cohere asks U.S. court to toss complaint from media alleging copyright infringement

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Cohere asks U.S. court to toss complaint from media alleging copyright infringement

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

TORONTO - Cohere is asking a U.S. court to throw out complaints from media outlets that have accused the artificial intelligence company of infringing on their copyright.

In a dismissal motion filed in a New York court on Thursday, Cohere accused publishers including the Toronto Star, Condé Nast, McClatchy, Forbes Media and Guardian News of deliberately using its software to "manufacture a case."

The Toronto-based company said the outlets must have "stylized" prompts they entered into Cohere's software to elicit portions of their own work, which sometimes included inaccuracies.

It argued nothing in the complaint filed by the outlets suggests that any real customer has ever used the company's software to infringe on the publisher's copyright.

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Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025
FILE - Mayor Ras Baraka speaks to supporters and media after a court appearance in Newark, N.J., Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Trump administration sues 4 New Jersey cities over ‘sanctuary’ policies

Mike Catalini, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Trump administration sues 4 New Jersey cities over ‘sanctuary’ policies

Mike Catalini, The Associated Press 3 minute read Friday, May. 23, 2025

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The Trump administration sued four New Jersey cities over their so-called sanctuary city policies aimed at prohibiting police from cooperating with immigration officials, saying the local governments are standing in the way of federal enforcement.

The Justice Department filed the suit Thursday against Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Hoboken in New Jersey federal court. The lawsuit seeks a judgment against the cities and an injunction to halt them from enacting the so-called sanctuary city policies.

“While states and local governments are free to stand aside as the United States performs this important work, they cannot stand in the way,” the suit says.

It's the latest case from Republican President Donald Trump's administration against sanctuary policies. The administration also sued Chicago, Denver, the state of Colorado, and Rochester, New York.

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Friday, May. 23, 2025
Firefighters work on the smouldering remains of houses in Slave Lake, Alta., on May 16, 2011. Slave Lake is one of six communities receiving funding to have an urban wildland firefighting team. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ian Jackson

Alberta, Ottawa spending $7 million to fund six new urban wildfire teams

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Alberta, Ottawa spending $7 million to fund six new urban wildfire teams

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Friday, May. 23, 2025

STRATHMORE - Nearly $7 million in provincial and federal spending will create six teams of urban wildfire crews, Alberta's public safety minister announced Friday.

Speaking in Strathmore, Alta., Mike Ellis told a news conference that having six more teams means Alberta will have up to eight specialized crews that can respond to fires threatening communities.

"We've witnessed the immense destruction wildfires can cause at home and in other parts of the world," Ellis said.

"That's why we're focused on building more skilled, specialized and ready to deploy teams that can work to ensure communities, businesses and critical infrastructure are protected in the event of a wildfire."

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Friday, May. 23, 2025
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES The Manitoba Teachers Society building in Winnipeg.

Leadership issues dominate opening session of teachers’ union AGM

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Preview

Leadership issues dominate opening session of teachers’ union AGM

Maggie Macintosh 5 minute read Friday, May. 23, 2025

Manitoba teachers want answers about how their top union officials plan to bring about stability at their Portage Avenue headquarters after “a rough year.”

More than 330 delegates are registered to take part in the 106th annual general meeting of the Manitoba Teachers’ Society this week.

Formal proceedings kicked off Thursday morning with an impromptu debate related to the organization being without a permanent executive director to oversee the day-to-day operations of supporting 16,600 members.

Three different people have served in that role over the last 18 months, a period during which MTS has grappled with infighting and low morale among support staff, as well as multiple workplace investigations.

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Friday, May. 23, 2025
The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) logo is seen on a player's training camp jersey at TD Place in Ottawa, Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

PWHL’s Vancouver expansion team names Cara Gardner Morey first general manager

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

PWHL’s Vancouver expansion team names Cara Gardner Morey first general manager

The Canadian Press 3 minute read Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

VANCOUVER - Vancouver's new Professional Women's Hockey League team has named Cara Gardner Morey its first general manager.

The league made the announcement Friday.

"Cara brings exceptional experience at all levels of the game, a deep understanding of player development, and an unwavering passion for advancing women’s sports,” Jayna Hefford, the PWHL's executive vice president of hockey operations, said in a release.

"Cara becoming general manager of PWHL Vancouver is a powerful addition to our league.”

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Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025
FILE - Musician Billy Joel performs during his 100th lifetime performance at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, July 18, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Billy Joel cancels touring after being diagnosed with a brain disorder

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Billy Joel cancels touring after being diagnosed with a brain disorder

The Associated Press 2 minute read Friday, Oct. 3, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — Billy Joel has canceled all his upcoming concerts across North America and England after being diagnosed with fluid buildup in his brain that has affected his “hearing, vision and balance.”

Joel revealed on Instagram that he has Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, “a brain disorder that can affect brain-related abilities, including thinking and concentrating, memory, movement and more,” the Cleveland Clinic says.

“This condition has been exacerbated by recent concert performances, leading to problems with hearing, vision and balance,” according to a statement from Joel’s team. “Under his doctor’s instructions, Billy is undergoing specific physical therapy and has been advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period.”

In an accompanying statement, Joel said, “I’m sincerely sorry to disappoint our audience, and thank you for understanding.”

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Friday, Oct. 3, 2025
FILE - A Publix grocery store is seen, Aug. 9, 2023, in Neptune Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark Long, File)
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Publix recalls baby food pouches after testing finds elevated levels of lead

Jonel Aleccia, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview
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Publix recalls baby food pouches after testing finds elevated levels of lead

Jonel Aleccia, The Associated Press 3 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

The supermarket chain Publix has recalled fruit and vegetable baby food sold in eight states because product testing found elevated levels of lead, according to federal health officials.

Publix recalled 4-ounce Greenwise Pear, Kiwi, Spinach & Pea Baby Food pouches sold at more than 1,400 stores.

The pouches were produced by Bowman Andros, a French company with a manufacturing plant in Mount Jackson, Virginia, according to the company's website. Publix issued the voluntary recall on May 9, but it wasn't added to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recall list until late Thursday.

The potential contamination was flagged by officials in North Carolina, the state that first identified a 2023 lead poisoning outbreak linked to tainted applesauce pouches that sickened more than 500 U.S. children.

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025
FILE - U.S. Marshals patrol outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in Chevy Chase, Md., June 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Man gets 10 years for trying to carjack car with 2 members of Justice Sotomayor’s security detail

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Man gets 10 years for trying to carjack car with 2 members of Justice Sotomayor’s security detail

The Associated Press 2 minute read Friday, May. 23, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — A 19-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for trying to carjack a car occupied by two U.S. Marshals Service deputies who were members of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s security detail.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, in handing down the sentence Thursday, also ordered Kentrell Flowers to have five years of supervised release after his prison term.

Flowers pleaded guilty in February to using a firearm during a crime of violence.

Around 1 a.m. on July 5, 2024, two deputies dressed in Marshals Service shirts were on duty in an unmarked government car in Washington when Flowers exited a minivan, approached the vehicle and pointed a loaded gun at one of the deputies through a window. The deputy fired four shots at Flowers, hitting him in the mouth.

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Friday, May. 23, 2025
Bloc Québécois candidate Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné speaks in the Foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Thursday, May 15, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

Bloc Québécois files legal challenge of Terrebonne riding results after one-vote loss

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Bloc Québécois files legal challenge of Terrebonne riding results after one-vote loss

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Friday, May. 23, 2025

TERREBONNE - The Bloc Québécois says it has filed a Superior Court challenge to overturn the election results in the federal riding of Terrebonne after losing by one vote.

In a news release, the party says there is doubt about who won the riding in the April 28 federal election because a mail-in vote from a Bloc supporter was returned to the sender.

Elections Canada has admitted that a misprint on an envelope used to mail a special ballot from Terrebonne led to one Bloc voter's ballot being returned to her.

Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste initially won the riding, but it flipped to Bloc candidate Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné after the votes went through a validation process.

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Friday, May. 23, 2025
Josef Newgarden drives into the first turn during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Friday, May 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Josef Newgarden fastest in final Indy 500 practice. Takuma Sato and other contenders have problems

Dave Skretta, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Josef Newgarden fastest in final Indy 500 practice. Takuma Sato and other contenders have problems

Dave Skretta, The Associated Press 4 minute read Monday, Oct. 6, 2025

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Josef Newgarden spent the final 2-hour practice for the Indianapolis 500 on Friday carving through a track full of cars.

He'll have to do the same thing when it counts on Sunday.

The two-time defending Indy 500 winner, who will start in the last row as punishment for an illegally modified part found during qualifying, had the fastest lap of the 2-hour final practice on Carb Day at 225.687 mph. Teammate Will Power, who will also start at the back, was fifth while fellow Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin was just 27th on the chart.

“We have the tools and the people to battle to the front,” Newgarden said, “which is what we plan to do.”

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Monday, Oct. 6, 2025
South African businessman Johann Rupert, standing right, watches a video during a meeting between President Donald Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

South Africa police minister says Trump ‘twisted’ facts to push baseless genocide claims

Gerald Imray And Michelle Gumede, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

South Africa police minister says Trump ‘twisted’ facts to push baseless genocide claims

Gerald Imray And Michelle Gumede, The Associated Press 5 minute read Monday, Sep. 22, 2025

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s top law enforcement official said Friday that U.S. President Donald Trump wrongly claimed that a video he showed in the Oval Office was of burial sites for more than 1,000 white farmers and he “twisted” the facts to push a false narrative about mass killings of white people in his country.

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu was talking about a video clip that was played during the meeting between Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House on Wednesday that showed an aerial view of a rural road with lines of white crosses erected on either side.

“Now this is very bad,” Trump said as he referred to the clip that was part of a longer video that was played in the meeting. “These are burial sites, right here. Burial sites, over a thousand, of white farmers, and those cars are lined up to pay love on a Sunday morning."

Mchunu said the crosses did not mark graves or burial sites, but were a temporary memorial put up in 2020 to protest the killings of all farmers across South Africa. They were put up during a funeral procession for a white couple who were killed in a robbery on their farm, Mchunu said.

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Monday, Sep. 22, 2025
FILE - A sculler rows down the Charles River near Harvard University, at rear, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)

Harvard has long been the world’s top college. Trump’s sanction puts its allure at risk

Collin Binkley And Michael Casey, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Harvard has long been the world’s top college. Trump’s sanction puts its allure at risk

Collin Binkley And Michael Casey, The Associated Press 7 minute read Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — For students around the world, an acceptance letter to Harvard University has represented the pinnacle of achievement, offering a spot among the elite at a campus that produces Nobel Prize winners, captains of industry and global leaders.

That allure is now in jeopardy. In its intensifying fight with the White House, Harvard was dealt its heaviest blow yet on Thursday, when the government blocked the Ivy League school from enrolling foreign students. The move threatens to undermine Harvard’s stature, revenue and appeal among top scholars globally.

Even more than the government’s $2.6 billion in research cuts, the administration's action represents an existential threat for Harvard. The school summed it up in a lawsuit seeking to block the action: “Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard.”

Within hours of the decision, the consequences started becoming clear. Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth, who just finished her first year in a Harvard graduate program, is waiting to find out if she can return next year, the palace said. The Chinese government publicly questioned whether Harvard’s international standing will endure.

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Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025
A black bear is seen near Lake Louise, Alta., in June, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Picking buffaloberries and electric fences: how wildlife is being managed ahead of G7

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Preview

Picking buffaloberries and electric fences: how wildlife is being managed ahead of G7

Nick Murray, The Canadian Press 3 minute read Friday, Oct. 3, 2025

OTTAWA - There surely won't be lions or tigers at the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., next month, and officials are doing their best to keep bears away, too.

As many as 5,000 participants are set to descend on the area in a few weeks, and officials are already working to install security barriers and clear out the area of anything that might attract bears to keep both people, and the animals, safe.

Earlier this week more than 200 local kids began plucking buffaloberry bushes around Kananaskis in an effort to detract bears from venturing into the area.

The bright red berries are quite popular with bears.

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Friday, Oct. 3, 2025

Leader of neo-Nazi “murder cult” extradited to the US from Moldova

Jake Offenhartz, The Associated Press 3 minute read Tuesday, Sep. 23, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — The leader of an eastern European neo-Nazi group has been extradited to the United States from Moldova following his arrest last summer for allegedly instructing an undercover federal agent to dress as Santa Claus and hand out poisoned candy to Jewish children and racial minorities, prosecutors said.

Michail Chkhikvishvili, a 21-year-old from the republic of Georgia, was arraigned Friday before a federal judge in Brooklyn on multiple felonies, including soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence.

He pleaded not guilty through an attorney, Samuel Gregory, who requested his client receive a psychiatric evaluation and be placed on suicide watch while in custody. Gregory did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Prosecutors described Chkhikvishvili, who also goes by “Commander Butcher," as the leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, an international extremist group that adheres to a “neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology and promotes violence and violent acts against racial minorities, the Jewish community and other groups it deems ‘undesirables.’”

This image released by HBO Max shows Paul Reubens in a scene from the documentary

Paul Reubens tells his story in ‘Pee-wee as Himself.’ Here’s how it came together after his death

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Paul Reubens tells his story in ‘Pee-wee as Himself.’ Here’s how it came together after his death

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press 5 minute read Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

Paul Reubens did not tell his director that he was dying.

On July 31, 2023, the news of Reubens' death came as a shock to documentary filmmaker Matt Wolf, who had spent a year trying to convince him to make the ambitious two-part documentary “Pee-wee as Himself,” now streaming on HBO Max, and over 40 hours interviewing him on camera.

But in 2023, the project was in danger of falling apart: The two had been at an impasse for a while over the issue of creative control and they’d finally found a way forward. He had one last interview scheduled, set for the first week of August. Then the texts started coming in. Wolf sat there shaking.

They’d spoken about everything — Reubens' childhood, his complicated relationship with fame, his ambitions, his commitment to his alter-ego Pee-wee Herman, his sexuality, his arrest — except the fact that he’d been battling cancer for the past six years. But after the initial shock, a renewed purpose set in.

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Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

Brazil great Ronaldo sells stake in Valladolid

The Associated Press 1 minute read Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

MADRID (AP) — Brazil great Ronaldo is selling his controlling stake in Valladolid, the Spanish soccer club said on Friday.

Valladolid, which will play in the second division next season, said in a statement that Ronaldo informed it of a deal to sell to a “North American investment group with backing from a European fund.”

The club said it would offer more details in the coming days.

Ronaldo acquired 51% of Valladolid in 2018.

Germany's Alexander Zverev reacts during his match against France's Alexandre Muller in their round of 16 tennis match of the Hamburg tournament against, in Hamburg, Germany, Wednesday May 21, 2025. (Frank Molter/dpa via AP)
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Alexander Zverev says lightning struck his flight to Paris for the French Open

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview
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Alexander Zverev says lightning struck his flight to Paris for the French Open

The Associated Press 2 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

PARIS (AP) — German tennis player Alexander Zverev said Friday his plane was hit lightning on the way to Paris for the French Open and had to turn around, delaying his arrival for the clay-court Grand Slam tournament.

He wound up getting in at about 3 a.m.

“We were supposed to fly yesterday evening at 6:45 p.m., and we took off from Hamburg,” said Zverev, last year's runner-up at Roland-Garros and seeded No. 3 this year. “We got struck by lightning. We had to do an emergency landing back in Hamburg.”

By the time he got on a different flight, his journey resumed at 1 a.m.

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025
Rihanna, left, and A$AP Rocky pose for photographers upon departure from the premiere of the film 'Highest 2 Lowest' at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Monday, May 19, 2025. (Photo by Lewis Joly/Invision/AP)

The Cannes Film Festival is over. Here’s some key things that happened

The Associated Press 8 minute read Preview

The Cannes Film Festival is over. Here’s some key things that happened

The Associated Press 8 minute read Thursday, Sep. 18, 2025

CANNES, France (AP) — This year's Cannes Film Festival is over, ending in dramatic fashion with a power outage ahead of the closing ceremony that bestowed the Palme d'Or trophy to Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi's film, “It Was Just an Accident.”

This year's festival included a strong slate as Cannes has become increasingly important to the Oscars’ best picture hopefuls. As the festival drew to close Saturday, it was clear that filmmakers are reckoning with geopolitical doom, climate change and other calamities that closely resemble current events.

This year's festival was an attention-grabbing affair since its start — from new rules for its red carpets, nerves about potential U.S. tariffs and the return of Tom Cruise.

Even in a normal year, Cannes is a lot to keep up with. Here's a handy guide of what's happened so far, what's left and what it may mean.

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Thursday, Sep. 18, 2025
President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Lawyer challenging Trump’s trade war says tariffs are ‘illegal and abusive’

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

Lawyer challenging Trump’s trade war says tariffs are ‘illegal and abusive’

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, May. 23, 2025

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump's global trade war is an "illegal and abusive" use of power, said a lawyer representing small businesses who are challenging the tariffs.

George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin, along with the Liberty Justice Center, represents five American small businesses who had a hearing before the U.S. Court of International Trade last week in an effort to block Trump's sweeping "reciprocal" tariff agenda.

"He's sort of breaking various precedents and doing things which are highly illegal and obviously our contention is that this is highly illegal," Somin said in an interview Thursday.

The president is facing at least seven lawsuits that argue Trump has acted beyond his powers by wielding tariffs through the International Economic Emergency Powers Act of 1977.

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Friday, May. 23, 2025