Manitoba mineral production set to triple, premier says

Premier Wab Kinew said Tuesday Manitoba plans to triple mineral production in the next five years “to unlock a new era of wealth creation and growth.”

“We’re going to make sure that opportunity is spread throughout the province,” he told a news conference at the Canada investment summit in Toronto.

The province is working with industry and Indigenous governments to send a message to investors that “we’re going to do mining right in Manitoba,” the premier said.

For too long, Manitoba has lagged behind neighbouring provinces, Kinew said.

Carney heads to France seeking deeper ties with EU on defence, trade and people

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney is heading to France on Tuesday ahead of his address to the European Parliament, where he hopes to secure deeper ties with the European Union.

Carney was invited by Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament — a role similar to parliamentary Speaker — to address the 720 representatives of the EU's 27 member states in Strasbourg, France.

Carney's visit comes as he attempts to craft what he calls "a unique alliance" with Europe based on shared values and priorities.

"We're having pretty broad-ranging conversations across a number of sectors," Canada's Ambassador to the EU Jonathan Wilkinson told The Canadian Press on Tuesday.

Trade war fuelling spike in city costs

A trade war between the U.S. and Canada could cost the City of Winnipeg millions of dollars more than was anticipated during the budget process for this year’s expenditures and beyond.

An artist captures how summer’s heat waves hit Paris and its homeless so hard

PARIS (AP) — As Paris emerges from months of oppressive heat, cooler autumn temperatures are welcomed back like a long-lost friend. But images of France's hottest summer remain etched in memories — and in the artwork of illustrator Marina Antonova.

Paris is admired worldwide for aesthetic beauty, but the city kept hitting the news for another reason in recent months as record-breaking highs climbed beyond 40 C (104 F) on the roasting streets.

In a series of drawings called “Chronicles of a Heating Planet," Antonova has captured a city under intense heat stress, and how this impacted the homeless in particular.

“The heat wave made it so much worse," Antonova told The Associated Press in a recent interview at the Paris apartment where she drew much of her work. "Usually winter is the hardest part for homeless people; now we have a situation where both winter and summer are horrific.”

Microsoft commits to sweeping AI privacy rules for students. Will other tech giants follow?

Millions of students every day turn to AI chatbots for help with schoolwork, emotional support and personal advice — often unaware of where their conversations and other personal information end up.

How that data is used — and schools' role in protecting it — is a growing concern for educators, parents and kids as artificial intelligence becomes a ubiquitous part of the school day, embedded in many of the classroom tools students are required to use.

As the school year started, the country's two largest school districts, New York City and Los Angeles, announced they were putting the brakes on student use of AI for one year, as they study how to best incorporate the technology into education.

In response to a growing AI and screentime backlash, Microsoft announced last week it had agreed to adopt guardrails and privacy standards for its AI in schools, as negotiated with the American Federation of Teachers, the country’s second-largest teachers union.

Everlayer seeks to add new chapter to textile growth story

Sanjay Agarwal wants people to think twice about towels.

“You wouldn’t consider towels as a fashion item, but we do,” he said. “We think it can add a lot of colour and personality to the bathroom. So that is what we wish to present to our customers.”

The Winnipeg businessman is the founder and president at Everlayer, which sells luxury bedding, bath linens and home decor. The products are designed in Canada and manufactured in Europe.

Last week, the two-year-old company launched its newest collection of towels, with designs and colour compositions that Agarwal said approach the towel “less like a commodity and more like a considered piece of textile design.”

Online etiquette, dangers part of new Manitoba health curriculum

Students will learn about everything from emoji etiquette to internet scam artists, as well as the difference between sexting and sextortion, as part of a provincewide overhaul of health class.

Manitoba’s new phys-ed and health curriculum pilot puts an emphasis on a child’s online habits and experiences.

“It is really good to see online privacy being recognized as a health and wellness skill,” said Matthew Johnson, director of education at MediaSmarts, a national charity that designs resources for teachers to build digital literacy.

“It has an effect on so much of our lives. At the bare minimum, the content that we see online is determined by data that companies have on us… the algorithmic shadow we cast.”

Northern style: WAG-Qaumajuq, CBC series partner for runway show

Award-winning TV series North of North by Inuit filmmakers Stacey Aglok MacDonald (Qanurli, The Grizzlies) and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (Angry Inuk, The Grizzlies) made a return to the small screen last week on APTN, CBC Gem and CBC TV with its second season première.

North of North is partnering with the Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq to celebrate the way it has propelled authentic northern fashion into the global spotlight at the gallery’s special edition of Crafted on the Catwalk Tuesday night, featuring fashion and design from Manitoba, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Nunatsiavut and Nunavik.

Arnaquq-Baril and series stars Anna Lambe and Zorga Qaunaq spoke to the Free Press ahead of Tuesday’s catwalk show.

Free Press: The fashion in Season 1 set the bar so high. We’re barely into Season 2 and have already seen so many covetable, stunning looks. What story do the clothes tell the viewers?

Politicians, CEOs pitch Canada’s fundamentals in bid to attract investment

TORONTO - Business leaders and politicians say an investment supercycle is taking hold in Canada as investors from around the world flock to Toronto this week for a summit pitching the country as an attractive investment for foreign money.

Speaking at Global Dialogues Toronto, hosted by the Milken Institute think tank, TD chief executive Raymond Chun said he is seeing a more streamlined approval process for strategic projects and is encouraged by the progress thus far.

"The investment supercycle is beginning to take shape," he said.

Chun's comments come as TD Bank announced it's committing $150 billion over five years to accelerate investment in the country. The other major banks have made similar announcements in recent days outlining their own lending plans for Canadian projects.

Finding fulfilment as canines’ companion

Tim Campbell loves dogs. He loves them so much that as soon he retired from his job at Panasonic Canada in early 2024 he began volunteering in earnest at the Winnipeg Humane Society (WHS).

He’d started his voluntary career five years prior with another local dog rescue organization. The work was rewarding, he says but the call-outs were unpredictable.

He was looking for a voluntary role which had a bit more structure to it, something he could build a routine around, while spending time with the animals he truly adores.

“In the summer, I’m there two mornings a week, and when the weather turns a little colder, I’m there anywhere from three to four mornings, depending on what’s going on,” Campbell, 59, explains.

Menstruation, consent move up in sex-ed lesson plan

Manitoba’s newest curriculum introduces the menstrual cycle earlier and repeatedly calls for explicit lessons on how students can give, seek, and decline to provide their consent.

The education department has released its sweeping proposal to overhaul how exercise, nutrition and sexuality are taught between kindergarten and Grade 12.

Grade 5 has long served as a key turning point for “the talk,” said J Fiedler, a sexual and reproductive health educator who provided input on the new curriculum.

“There’s no ‘the talk’ anymore. Now, there’s continuations of multiple ‘talks,’ which can hopefully reduce stress for students and stigma that people experience talking about sexuality.”

Global customers crave texture, challenging companies to make crispier, gooier, chewier foods

Texture is having a crunchy, gooey moment in the food and beverage industry.

For many people, the way a menu item or packaged snack feels in the mouth has become as big a draw as flavor, although consumers don't always recognize the part texture plays in their cravings for crispier takeout, frothier coffees and juicier candies, according to industry experts.

The importance of “mouthfeel,” a food science term for oral sensation, has inspired new products like Starbucks’ Aerocano, an air-whipped iced espresso; PowerCrunch, a waferlike protein bar; and Trolli Gummi Pops, which are frozen but still soft and chewy.

“Texture drives consumer behavior. It plays a key emotional role in the eating experience, shaping satisfaction, perception and repeat interest,” Ingredion, an Illinois-based ingredient provider, said in a recent report.

Muslim region in Philippines votes in its first parliamentary election after decades of insurgency

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A predominantly Muslim region in the southern Philippines held its first parliamentary election on Monday, seen as a crucial step in the long quest for self-rule after decades of insurgency and violence.

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was established under a 2014 peace deal in which the largest Muslim rebel group gave up its goal of a separate Muslim state in the south of the largely Roman Catholic country in exchange for broader autonomy. The group’s 40,000 fighters promised to demobilize and join civilian life.

4 killed in violence

Officials said that the election was largely peaceful despite a person being killed following commotion in a polling station in the main city of Cotabato on Monday. Some supporters of a political party also damaged two vehicles belonging to a rival politician using steel bars.

Quebec prayer restrictions reshape rules at transit agency, universities

MONTREAL - Quebec’s new restrictions on prayer are changing the rules at public workplaces and university campuses, with employees and students facing new limits on where they can pray.

New rules under Quebec’s secularism law took effect Sept. 1, including a ban on prayer rooms in public institutions such as universities, colleges and transit agencies.

The law, adopted by the Quebec legislature in April, also prohibits collective religious practices on public roads and in public parks unless a municipality grants an exception on a case-by-case basis.

The measures have drawn opposition from religious and civil-liberties groups, which have raised concerns about freedom of religion and assembly.

Mayoral candidate denounced for online comments

A Winnipeg mayoral candidate is facing criticism after he posted derogatory comments about immigrants and used the word “gay” as an insult online.

Port of Churchill expansion could chase belugas away, U of M researcher says

As plans to expand the Port of Churchill into a four-season trade corridor gathers momentum, a University of Manitoba researcher has published a report on what ship traffic could mean for the beluga whales that gather in the Churchill River estuary each summer.

Veronica Coppolaro said more vessels in the waterways bring a risk that belugas will stop using the estuary for migration, which would impact the ecological landscape, tourism and communities that rely on the animals for food and cultural purposes.

“There are studies showing that (noises) change the way they swim, they change the way (the whales) are vocalizing, they change their main activity, and so this (expansion) can have consequences at different levels,” she said.

The Churchill river estuary is a marine habitat where the Churchill River empties into Hudson Bay. During the summer months belugas gather in the area to feed and give birth.

Drug recovery centre opens office in ‘heart of the city’

Richard Halverson found his freedom from addiction through Adult & Teen Challenge and, six years later, he hopes a new Winnipeg location will bring hope to the city.

Citizen reports help highlight connectivity issues across southwest Manitoba

A southwestern Manitoba man has created a map to document cell service blackout spots in an effort to push for better access in rural areas.

Mark Custance compiled more than 300 citizen reports over the last few months to document where service in southwest Manitoba is strong, spotty or doesn’t exist at all.

“I’ve heard people complain and say, ‘cell service sucks’ or ‘this is not working.’ But what does the data actually say?” Custance said from his office in Melita, where he has installed a cell-service booster to maintain connectivity with the rest of the world.

Analyzing where service is good and poor, he cross-references it with the location of cellphone towers across the region.

Where have all the Atlantic hurricanes gone? El Nino might bring record slow storm season

The Atlantic is quiet — record quiet — this hurricane season thanks to an enormous El Nino that crushes storms before they get going.

No Atlantic hurricanes have formed yet this year and none are likely to form for at least another week, even though this would normally be the peak of the season, according to the National Hurricane Center. Only five relatively weak and brief tropical storms have spun up this season.

On Saturday, 2026 set a record for the longest a season has begun without a storm that has reached winds of 74 mph (119 kph) to qualify as a hurricane — at least in the satellite era, said Nick Novella, a meteorologist at the government's Weather Prediction Center. Before the 1950s there were a few years where no hurricanes were recorded this late in the season, but meteorologists don't trust those records because ocean monitoring wasn't complete.

Overall hurricane activity using a measurement that factors in the number of storms, their strength and how long they last is also at a post-1950 record low, according to Colorado State University hurricane expert Phil Klotzbach. Storm activity in the Atlantic is only 7% of normal for this time of year.