Reported Germany-Canada LNG deal would bolster investment case for Ksi Lisims: Eby

A deal to supply Canadian liquefied natural gas to Germany would be a key step toward the partners behind the Ksi Lisims project deciding to go ahead with their $10-billion West Coast plant and export terminal, British Columbia Premier David Eby said Tuesday.

Eby made his remarks after multiple outlets reported German firm SEFE is poised to buy gas shipped from Ksi Lisims and a day before federal Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson is scheduled to make an announcement about international energy exports in Vancouver.

The B.C. premier said his government has long been supportive of the project being pursued by the Nisga'a Nation alongside Houston-based Western LNG and Rockies LNG, a group of Canadian natural gas producers. The companies and the First Nation declined to comment on Tuesday.

"We look forward to celebrating the formal announcement of this with the Nisga'a, with the federal government. It's an example of the work we're doing together and we're super proud of it," Eby told reporters after a meeting with western premiers in Kananaskis, Alta.

NASA lays out moon base plans with landers, buggies and drones at the top of the list

NASA is already ordering landers, rovers and drones for a sprawling moon base, less than two months after the Artemis II's record-breaking lunar flyaround.

System to address violence in schools a no-brainer

For too long, violence in Manitoba classrooms has been treated as an uncomfortable problem discussed quietly in staff rooms, but rarely confronted publicly.

That silence is beginning to crack.

As more teachers come forward with stories of classroom evacuations, physical assaults and workplaces increasingly defined by fear and disruption, the province can no longer dismiss these incidents as isolated or unavoidable.

Far more needs to be done to provide teachers — and students — with safe learning and working environments.

Inclusion groups sign open letter calling on Ottawa to halt MAID for mental illness

OTTAWA - Ninety disability advocacy and mental health organizations have signed an open letter urging the federal Liberals to permanently exclude people with mental illness from eligibility for medical assistance in dying.

Inclusion Canada is leading the effort, which includes Disability Without Poverty, the Schizophrenia Society of Canada and the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Under current law, people whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness will become eligible to apply for MAID assessments beginning in March 2027.

The letter, which is addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Health Minister Marjorie Michel and Justice Minister Sean Fraser, says that would be "a significant and misguided expansion."

What tastes like a Korean pancake and is purple all over? An Oreo inspired by K-pop group BTS

Oreo is teaming up with K-pop supergroup BTS for a bit of marketing dynamite that capitalizes on consumers’ growing interest in global flavors.

Mondelez, Oreo’s parent company, said Tuesday that BTS-themed Oreos will go on sale June 1 online and June 8 in stores. The cookies, which feature purple wafers in a nod to the band’s signature color, will be sold in more than 80 markets around the world, making the partnership the brand's biggest to date.

The band also designed 13 embossments for the wafers, including the names of the seven members and an outline of the light stick that fans hold at BTS concerts.

The white-and-tan creme center of the sandwich cookies was formulated to taste like hotteok, a warm, brown sugar-stuffed pancake that’s a popular Korean street food.

You should be dancing, yeah. Moving to music offers all kinds of benefits as you age

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Carol Ross can’t stop smiling at dance practice as she shouts out the steps of a routine to members of her tap and jazz troupe for women age 50 and older.

“I’ve been dancing my whole life, it’s the best,” said Ross, who founded the Rodeo City Wreckettes group 23 years ago at an age when many people are getting ready for retirement.

Now 87, Ross and her husband and lifelong dance partner John, also 87, have long known what more older adults are now discovering: Moving to music is one of the best ways to stay healthy. Medical professionals say it doesn’t matter if it’s Western line dancing, ballroom steps, salsa, tap, Zumba at the gym, or with a group like the Wreckettes.

“Dancing is one of the most powerful activities for older people,” said Julio Loya, a nurse and geriatric program coordinator at the Tucson Medical Center.

Winnipeg pair look to launch EyeMirage device for sale in Canada in fall, with eyes to follow on international markets

By winter, a pair of Winnipeg entrepreneurs aim to have portable vision and concussion-screening products circulating Canada.

“Designing a device that is portable, affordable and AI-based and smartphone-based is a puzzle,” Dr. Behzad Mansouri said, a prototype of the device on the desk in front of him at the Brain, Vision and Concussion Clinic off St. Anne’s Road on Monday.

He’s a neuro-ophthalmologist at the clinic. He’s also the co-founder of Neuroptek, the medical technology company behind headsets meant to help diagnose concussions and other vision and neurological injuries and disorders.

The products look like virtual reality headsets. Instead of games, users take visual tests they’d find at a doctor’s office. They might try to read letters or identify colours.

FarmerTitan app rolls into agriculture equipment tracking field

Katie Friesen is used to playing games.

The Manitoban’s prowess on the volleyball court led to a scholarship to Florida International University in Miami, where she competed on the Division 1 school’s beach and indoor volleyball teams.

But seven years after graduation, Friesen is playing a different game.

The 29-year-old, who divides her time between Manitoba and Austin, Texas, is the founder of FarmerTitan. The platform allows farmers to manage their equipment and employees using QR codes and a mobile app.

Two more 7-Eleven locations bite the dust

Outside of one of two 7-Eleven locations to abruptly close in the last three days, a small gathering forms Monday morning.

The store at Notre Dame Avenue and Arlington Street shut its doors a day early, despite signs on the windows listing its last day as Tuesday. Its lights had been turned off and shelves were stripped bare.

Customers who were turned away begin to discuss the closure amongst themselves outside of the building; when a manager walks out and is asked why the store is being closed, he says “no comment” before walking back inside.

Shoppers told the Free Press the location was a frequent spot for petty robbery and several said they had tried to intervene in incidents where staff were not able to stop thieves.

Camryn Thomas shooting for title with golf season in full swing

Being a dual-sport athlete allows Camryn Thomas the opportunity to experience the best of both worlds.

Following a strong season with the Rink Hockey Academy U18 Prep team that included a trip to the league semifinal, Thomas has shifted her attention to the links and is ready to attack the golf season.

“I like that it’s competitive, but it’s very different from hockey,” Thomas said on Monday at Pine Ridge Golf Club, where Golf Manitoba held its third annual media day. “(Golf) is very individual and you kind of have to rely on yourself. And you can push yourself as hard as you want to push.

“It provides a good balance. It’s nice to get outdoors. I really enjoy it.”

Museum diorama detailing marshland, rye farm decommissioned owing to pest infestation

What was designed as a triumph of taxidermy has instead become a buffet for pests.

Manitoba Museum has been forced to decommission the Delta Marsh and Rye Farm two-part diorama in the Parklands Gallery after discovering the extent of the devastation wrought by mice, clothes moths and beetle larvae. The open-air exhibition, completed in 2003, represents the province’s most important wetlands and the challenges faced by early farmers, including Ukrainian immigrants in the 1920s.

“Pests are a major issue,” says Amelia Fay, the museum’s director of research, collections and exhibitions. “All museums have pests and use discreet pest-management systems, but this specific diorama was particularly vulnerable because of how authentically it was constructed, using real plant materials and organic elements that various types of critters like to consume.”

Pests can enter the museum when the doors open; clothes moths drift in with foot traffic, mice can get in through tiny gaps and dermestid beetles can hitch a ride with visitors or via tiny cracks, laying eggs in areas close to food sources for future larvae.

Brazilian government commits $617.5M to Amazon ecological investment

SAO PAULO (AP) — The Brazilian government said Monday it has committed 3.1 billion reais ($617.5 million) to foster ecological investment in the Amazon region, as part of a plan to expand a federal program known as Eco Invest that was announced during last year’s COP30 — the annual United Nations climate summit it hosted last year.

The resources are expected to go toward businesses that support sustainable tourism, improve infrastructure in the Amazon and expand the “bioeconomy” — the so-called economic activity based on natural resources that preserves the forest.

The model uses a blended finance approach in which the National Treasury lends funds to banks at an annual rate of 1%. In return, banks must mobilize at least four times that amount in private investment, with foreign investors accounting for at least 60%. So far, the program has committed 140 billion reais ($28 billion) in combined public and private resources.

The National Treasury allocated 3.1 billion reais ($617.5 million) Monday and eight banks committed another 10.1 billion reais ($2 billion) in the latest auction of the Eco Invest program, the Ministry of Environment said.

Anand says Israel’s ‘mistreatment’ of Canadians in flotilla violated UN treaty

OTTAWA - Israel’s mistreatment of Canadians participating in a flotilla trying to reach Gaza violated the Vienna Convention, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Monday.

In a social media post, Anand said she spoke with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar about the issue on Monday morning.

"I raised that denying Canadian citizens access to consular services while they were detained violates the Vienna Convention and must never happen again," she said. "Canada is providing Israeli authorities with evidence of this mistreatment. We have asked for and expect an independent investigation and those responsible to be held to account."

Twelve Canadians were among 420 people on 41 boats intercepted by Israel on May 18 and 19 as they attempted to bring a symbolic amount of aid to Gaza in the midst of Israeli restrictions.

Manitoba doctors support provincial government’s proposed social media ban

WINNIPEG - The negative effects social media has on children and youth's mental and physical health is outweighing other health concerns like substance use and injuries prompting some Manitoba doctors to support a ban on these sites, a new report has found.

Doctors Manitoba, the organization representing roughly 5,000 physicians and students in the province, surveyed its members and found that social media and excessive screen time pose significant risks to the mental health, sleep and robust development in children and youth.

Of the 242 physicians who completed the survey, 90 per cent supported a ban on social media sites and artificial intelligence chatbots for children.

"The findings are quite clear. Doctors believe social media, screen time and chat bots are among the top risks to children's health and well-being, ranking higher than even smoking, drinking, injuries and sedentary lifestyles," Dr. Alon Altman, president of Doctors Manitoba, told reporters on Monday.

Carney points to Brexit, warns Alberta separation push could be ‘dangerous bluff’

OTTAWA - Prime Minister Mark Carney said Monday the Alberta referendum on separation could be a "dangerous bluff," while Alberta Premier Danielle Smith cautioned it's a decision for Albertans to make, not the federal government.

Carney, who was the governor of the Bank of England during and immediately after the Brexit referendum campaign, warned that people in the United Kingdom are still trying to undo the damage caused by that decision a decade later.

"In these separation issues, it is often advanced that, 'Vote for this and it's a free option. Vote for this and we will strengthen our hand in a future negotiation.' That is a very dangerous bluff," Carney told a news conference in Ottawa on Monday.

Smith said last week her government will pose a question in the referendum planned for October asking Albertans if they think the province should remain part of Canada or should begin the legal process for a separation referendum.

Logistics expert guides the way — for nearly 30 years

Melissa Lopushniuk has been a member of Girl Guides Canada for nearly 30 years.

She started at age six and worked her way through all five branches of the program — from Sparks to Embers to Guides to Pathfinders to Rangers. She became a volunteer adult guider when she turned 18.

Her first role as an adult volunteer was with a Spark and Ember unit comprising elementary school-aged children.

It was there when Lopushniuk’s leadership skills came to the forefront: organizing activities for weekly meetings and planning events and excursions for the younger guides.

Jensen’s Nursery & Garden Centre celebrates 60 years of sowing community connections

RURAL MUNICIPALITY OF MACDONALD — It’s been 60 years since the seeds that became Jensen’s Nursery & Garden Centre were planted — and 10 years since its owners faced one of their biggest challenges.

At around 8 p.m. one day in July 2016, a thunderstorm hit the family-run garden centre and gift shop at 2550 McGillivray Blvd., beyond the southwest edge of Winnipeg. Susan Jensen Stubbe and Susan MacPherson, two members of the company’s ownership group, watched as it did major damage over the next 30 minutes.

The storm destroyed the main greenhouse, tore the tops off a few smaller greenhouses and damaged part of the gift shop’s roof.

“These windows were actually bowing in from the pressure of the rain,” Jensen Stubbe recalls as she sits at a table in the gift shop, recounting the storm.

For the patient, where does the buck stop?

The word “fiduciary” did not begin in medicine. It began in law.

For centuries, lawyers have refined a doctrine that is now woven through corporate governance, trust administration, securities regulation and pension oversight.

A fiduciary acts solely in the interest of the beneficiary. The duty is loyalty, prudence and full disclosure.

Implicit in all of these is the duty of competence and the requirement that the beneficiary’s interest comes before the fiduciary’s own. Where the duty is breached, courts intervene.