Physical Education/Health Education

Please review each article prior to use: grade-level applicability and curricular alignment might not be obvious from the headline alone.

The US Open dating show: How Grand Slam tennis tournaments are shooting for a Gen Z audience

Alyce Brown, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

The US Open dating show: How Grand Slam tennis tournaments are shooting for a Gen Z audience

Alyce Brown, The Associated Press 4 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — Over the course of the past week across the U.S. Open's grounds, eight couples went on their first dates — on camera.

They were all part of the tournament’s newest content creation venture, “Game, Set, Matchmaker,” the most recent play for Gen Z attention from the world of Grand Slam tennis. From Wimbledon to Flushing Meadows, the sport is starting to take risks in pursuit of a new generation of fans.

“We’re always looking for new ways to engage new audiences,” said Jonathan Zipper, the senior director of social media for the U.S. Tennis Association. The USTA governs tennis in the United States and runs the U.S. Open. "In particular, Gen Z and Millennials are a focus for us to bring into the sport of tennis. So we think about the different types of content that those demographics typically engage with and enjoy watching.”

The eight-episode YouTube series that made its debut Sunday comes amidst an explosive moment for dating shows. “Love Island,” “Love is Blind” and “The Bachelor” are just a few shows in the genre that have dominated young American audiences in the past year.

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

Game Set Matchmaker's Prianca and Saad are filmed on a date at the 2025 US Open on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Flushing, NY. (Kent Edwards/USTA)

Game Set Matchmaker's Prianca and Saad are filmed on a date at the 2025 US Open on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in Flushing, NY. (Kent Edwards/USTA)
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Weekend Muslim conference attracts young adults from across Canada

John Longhurst 3 minute read Preview
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Weekend Muslim conference attracts young adults from across Canada

John Longhurst 3 minute read Monday, Jul. 28, 2025

Muslim youth from across Canada gathered in Winnipeg on the weekend for a conference, the first of its kind in the country.

About 60 young adults travelled here for the event, which was sponsored by the Islamic Social Services Association of Winnipeg, to discuss a variety of issues, including legal and civil rights when dealing with the police, gender diversity, finding allies in the fight against Islamophobia and dealing with trauma and mental-health concerns.

Association board member and conference moderator Jamie Carnegie said there was a discussion about understanding how the media reports about Islam, and how to find reliable sources of information online.

“Muslim youth, like other youth, have many sources of information today,” Carnegie said. “Our goal was to help them find trusted sources and to understand what is being reported.”

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Monday, Jul. 28, 2025

JOHN LONGHURST / FREE PRESS

Lila Mansour, who travelled from Ontario to attend the conference, says mental health is ‘a very serious issue for Muslim youth now.’

JOHN LONGHURST / FREE PRESS
                                Lila Mansour, who travelled from Ontario to attend the conference, says mental health is “a very serious issue for Muslim youth now.”

There is no innovation without social accountability

Marwa Suraj 5 minute read Preview

There is no innovation without social accountability

Marwa Suraj 5 minute read Monday, Jul. 21, 2025

“Can a country call itself innovative if its founding wounds remain open?” That’s a question I’ve been sitting with for a while.

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Monday, Jul. 21, 2025

FILE

Modernizing health care involves much more than AI and new technology. Innovation doesn’t move forward in isolation.

FILE
                                Modernizing health care involves much more than AI and new technology. Innovation doesn’t move forward in isolation.
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From science experiments to ordering dinner, trying new things can pay valuable dividends

Reviewed by Bob Armstrong 4 minute read Preview
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From science experiments to ordering dinner, trying new things can pay valuable dividends

Reviewed by Bob Armstrong 4 minute read Saturday, Jul. 5, 2025

Among the many technical terms from fields such as neuroscience, artificial intelligence, applied mathematics and genetics found in this fascinating new book by bestselling Canadian science writer/distance runner/physicist Alex Hutchinson, the reader discovers “prediction error.”

It’s a term that comes from studies of how the brain makes sense of the impressions presented to it by the senses. The brain doesn’t simply receive sensory data; rather, it continually makes predictions based on partial sense data and feeds these back to the senses. When we get lost, the predictions we make tend to be errors.

We also carry a variant of the gene DRD4 that gives us a happy endorphin boost when our rate of prediction error declines. That genetic variant, Hutchinson writes, emerged 40-50,000 years ago, “right around the time when our ancestors began their long, multi-pronged march to the farthest corners of the globe. It was a march, the findings hinted, spurred in part by dopamine.”

Appropriately enough, The Explorer’s Gene will be picked up by many readers as a result of a prediction error. Judging by the title and the historic mountaineering photo on the cover, readers may assume the book is a story of outdoor adventure.

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Saturday, Jul. 5, 2025

Associated Press files

Despite the book’s title, Alex Hutchinson’s latest is about much more than investigating far-flung and remote corners of our planet.

Associated Press files
                                Despite the book’s title, Alex Hutchinson’s latest is about much more than investigating far-flung and remote corners of our planet.

Tech industry group sues Arkansas over new social media laws

Andrew Demillo, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Tech industry group sues Arkansas over new social media laws

Andrew Demillo, The Associated Press 3 minute read Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A tech industry trade group sued Arkansas Friday over two new laws that would place limits on content on social media platforms and would allow parents of children who killed themselves to sue over content on the platforms.

The lawsuit by NetChoice filed in federal court in Fayetteville, Arkansas, comes months after a federal judge struck down a state law requiring parental consent before minors can create new social media accounts. The new laws were signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders earlier this year.

“Despite the overwhelming consensus that laws like the Social Media Safety Act are unconstitutional, Arkansas elected to respond to this Court’s decision not by repealing the provisions that it held unconstitutional but by instead doubling down on its overreach,” NetChoice said in its lawsuit.

Arkansas is among several states that have been enacting restrictions on social media, prompted by concerns about the impact on children's mental health. NetChoice — whose members include Facebook parent Meta and the social platform X — challenged Arkansas' 2023 age-verification law for social media. A federal judge who initially blocked the law struck it down in March.

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Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025

FILE - Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs a bill requiring age verification before creating a new social media account as Sen. Tyler Dees, R-Siloam Springs, looks on during a signing ceremony, Wednesday, April 12, 2023, at the state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark. (Thomas Metthe/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP, File)

FILE - Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs a bill requiring age verification before creating a new social media account as Sen. Tyler Dees, R-Siloam Springs, looks on during a signing ceremony, Wednesday, April 12, 2023, at the state Capitol in Little Rock, Ark. (Thomas Metthe/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette via AP, File)

Long-awaited Winnipeg Transit network overhaul goes live Sunday

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Preview

Long-awaited Winnipeg Transit network overhaul goes live Sunday

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2025

Winnipeg’s bus network will undergo a massive one-day transformation on Sunday that alters virtually every route.

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Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2025

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press

Student Winner Nnah at the bus stop on Portage Ave. at Polo Park Tuesday. Winnipeg’s bus network will undergo a massive one-day transformation on Sunday that alters virtually every route.

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
                                Student Winner Ninah at the bus stop on Portage Ave. at Polo Park Tuesday. Winnipeg’s bus network will undergo a massive one-day transformation on Sunday that alters virtually every route.

Botterill gets call from Hockey Hall

Ken Wiebe 8 minute read Preview

Botterill gets call from Hockey Hall

Ken Wiebe 8 minute read Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2025

That Jennifer Botterill found herself enjoying a beautiful summer day at the family cottage at West Hawk Lake when the call from the Hockey Hall of Fame came seems rather appropriate.

As Botterill returned from a boat ride, the Winnipegger noticed that someone was trying to get in touch with her.

“I got back and checked my phone and I had all of these misssed calls. I was looking at my phone and the same number came through, moments after I got off the boat. I answered it and it was Lanny McDonald and Ron Francis,” Botterill said Tuesday afternoon after the news became official that she was part of the 2025 Hockey Hall of Fame induction class.

Other inductees include Winnipeg-born and Fort Frances, Ont. raised Duncan Keith, Brianna Decker, Zdeno Chara, Joe Thornton, Alexander Mogilny, Jack Parker and Daniele Sauvageau.

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Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2025

PHIL HOSSACK/ Free Press Files

Jennifer Botterill competes against Slovakia in Women’s Hockey in the 2010 Olympic games.

PHIL HOSSACK/ Free Press Files
                                Jennifer Botterill competes against Slovakia in Women’s Hockey in the 2010 Olympic games.

Brandon man taking on punishing 3,500-km cycling route for cancer research

Aaron Epp 8 minute read Preview

Brandon man taking on punishing 3,500-km cycling route for cancer research

Aaron Epp 8 minute read Monday, Jun. 23, 2025

A Brandon cyclist is gearing up for the ride of a lifetime in support of cancer research.

Grant Hamilton is heading to Europe this week to join Tour 21, an annual event that sees a team of amateur cyclists ride the full Tour de France route, one week ahead of the professionals.

The team will pedal more than 3,500 km in 21 days, including climbs and summits in the Pyrenees mountains and the French Alps. It’s part of an effort to raise nearly $2 million for Cure Leukaemia, the official charity partner of the Tour de France.

Cure Leukaemia funds clinical trials, driving global advancements in blood cancer treatment and impacting those affected by the disease.

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Monday, Jun. 23, 2025

Grant Hamilton of Brandon is cycling in this weekend’s Manitoba championships, the Tour de Riding Mountain. The event will begin at the Northgate Trailhead before venturing south through the national park on Highway 10. (Matt Packwood / The Brandon Sun)

Grant Hamilton of Brandon is cycling in this weekend’s Manitoba championships, the Tour de Riding Mountain. The event will begin at the Northgate Trailhead before venturing south through the national park on Highway 10. (Matt Packwood / The Brandon Sun)

Graham Avenue stretch to get pedestrian, bike-only trial when buses vanish

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Preview

Graham Avenue stretch to get pedestrian, bike-only trial when buses vanish

Joyanne Pursaga 4 minute read Friday, Jun. 20, 2025

The city will turn a four-block stretch of Graham Avenue into a living lab when Winnipeg Transit’s network overhaul pulls buses off the downtown street.

It will be cyclists and pedestrians only between Carlton and Garry streets in an indefinite pilot project scheduled to begin after June 29.

“In July 2025, buses will be removed from four blocks, creating a rare opportunity to transform the street into a safer, pedestrian-first space. With a focus on recreation, public gathering areas, and cultural programming, Graham Avenue can become a dynamic hub of activity in the heart of downtown,” a city document states.

Without changes, the area risks becoming a neglected corridor with minimal foot traffic once buses leave, it warns.

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Friday, Jun. 20, 2025

SUPPLIED

A rendering of Graham Avenue between Donald and Smith Streets.

SUPPLIED
                                A rendering of Graham Avenue between Donald and Smith Streets.

Hockey hero coming home: Jonathan Toews to make comeback with Jets

Ken Wiebe 6 minute read Preview

Hockey hero coming home: Jonathan Toews to make comeback with Jets

Ken Wiebe 6 minute read Friday, Jun. 20, 2025

The homecoming is happening for Jonathan Toews. The St. Vital product has decided to make his NHL comeback with the Winnipeg Jets, agreeing to terms on a one-year contract as he returns to the league after a two-year absence related to his health.

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Friday, Jun. 20, 2025

Jonathan Toews (Jeffrey T. Barnes / The Associated Press files)

Jonathan Toews (Jeffrey T. Barnes / The Associated Press files)

Racing in her blood: Rookie rider knows she has ‘big shoes to fill’ as she follows in jockey dad’s footsteps

Mike McIntyre 24 minute read Preview

Racing in her blood: Rookie rider knows she has ‘big shoes to fill’ as she follows in jockey dad’s footsteps

Mike McIntyre 24 minute read Friday, Jun. 20, 2025

Ciera Pruitt had pictured the scene since she was a little girl running wild on the grounds of Assiniboia Downs — her backyard, really — while her parents were hard at work nearby. Back then, she was the wide-eyed Winnipeg kid peering over the paddock railing, watching the colourful parade of jockeys from faraway places like Bermuda, Venezuela and Mexico leading majestic thoroughbreds toward the track while the bugle call to the post played over the loudspeakers.

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Friday, Jun. 20, 2025

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
The jockeys and their horses walk out to the gate for the last race of the evening.
Ciera Pruitt, 23, is currently the only female rider at Assiniboia Downs (ASD) and just won in the 7th race of her career. Her parents Jerry and Lise both have long ties to the ASD.
Reporter: Mike McIntyre
250611 - Wednesday, June 11, 2025.

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
The jockeys and their horses walk out to the gate for the last race of the evening. 
Ciera Pruitt, 23, is currently the only female rider at Assiniboia Downs (ASD) and just won in the 7th race of her career. Her parents Jerry and Lise both have long ties to the ASD.
Reporter: Mike McIntyre
250611 - Wednesday, June 11, 2025.

Growing up Bombers: Football increasingly a family affair in Winnipeg

Taylor Allen 8 minute read Preview

Growing up Bombers: Football increasingly a family affair in Winnipeg

Taylor Allen 8 minute read Wednesday, Jun. 18, 2025

Nine months after a serious knee injury put his career in jeopardy, an emotional Chris Streveler stood before reporters, searching for words to describe what it meant to lead the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to a season-opening victory last week.

He could’ve started with what it felt like to suit up in front of 32,343 Blue and Gold supporters again after a gruelling rehab, or spoken about his three touchdown passes and how they helped his team prevail 34-20 over the B.C. Lions.

Instead, the first place the quarterback went was his daughter, Sunny, and how much it meant to him to play in front of her for the first time.

“I think it’s just really different having a daughter now, and after the injury, I just think my perspective is really different on the game, and life in general, and I have more appreciation for these moments,” Streveler told the Free Press earlier this week as the Bombers prepare to meet the Lions in a rematch on Saturday at BC Place.

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Wednesday, Jun. 18, 2025

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Winnipeg Blue Bomber Chris Streveler with fiance Taylor and their daughter Sunny.

SUPPLIED

Winnipeg Blue Bomber Chris Streveler with fiance Taylor and their daughter Sunny.
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‘Elio’ is an intergalactic tale — but for Toronto’s Domee Shi, it hits close to home

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview
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‘Elio’ is an intergalactic tale — but for Toronto’s Domee Shi, it hits close to home

Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

TORONTO - For Domee Shi, making a movie about an introverted kid getting abducted by aliens felt oddly familiar.

Not because she’s had any close encounters, but because she remembers being a teenager longing to be taken away to a world where her weirdness was understood.

The Toronto native co-directs “Elio,” a Pixar animated sci-fi film about an 11-year-old orphan who yearns to be snatched by extraterrestrials to escape his loneliness — and gets his wish when an interplanetary organization mistakes him for Earth’s ambassador.

“He's this lonely artsy kid who just wants to belong somewhere. I definitely felt that way growing up,” says the Oscar-winning animator behind 2022’s coming-of-age Toronto-set hit “Turning Red.”

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

A scene from “Elio,” a Pixar animated sci-fi film about an 11-year-old orphan who yearns to be snatched by extraterrestrials to escape his loneliness — and gets his wish when an interplanetary organization mistakes him for Earth’s ambassador, is shown in this handout image. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Disney/Pixar *MANDATORY CREDIT*

A scene from “Elio,” a Pixar animated sci-fi film about an 11-year-old orphan who yearns to be snatched by extraterrestrials to escape his loneliness — and gets his wish when an interplanetary organization mistakes him for Earth’s ambassador, is shown in this handout image. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Disney/Pixar *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Graduates far from home ‘grateful’ for honour at school powwow

Scott Billeck 4 minute read Preview

Graduates far from home ‘grateful’ for honour at school powwow

Scott Billeck 4 minute read Monday, Jun. 16, 2025

Grade 12 Tataskweyak Cree Nation student Jonah Wavey was among several wildfire evacuees honoured Monday during a special celebration of Indigenous graduates at the University of Winnipeg’s Duckworth Centre.

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Monday, Jun. 16, 2025

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press

Jonah Wavey, a grade 12 graduate from Tataskweyak Cree Nation, with his mom, Abbie Garson-Wavey, at the special graduation ceremony held by Winnipeg School Division in partnership with Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, for graduates from northern Manitoba communities evacuated due to wildfires.

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
                                Jonah Wavey, a grade 12 graduate from Tataskweyak Cree Nation, with his mom, Abbie Garson-Wavey, at the special graduation ceremony held by Winnipeg School Division in partnership with Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, for graduates from northern Manitoba communities evacuated due to wildfires.

Community groups join forces to help the hungry

Aaron Epp 8 minute read Preview

Community groups join forces to help the hungry

Aaron Epp 8 minute read Monday, Jun. 16, 2025

A handful of community groups are coming together this week for a campaign to benefit hungry Manitobans.

The food drive in south Winnipeg kicks off Monday and runs until Saturday. People are invited to drop off donations of non-perishable food items at Align, a student housing building at 2537 Pembina Hwy.

All donations will go to Harvest Manitoba, the non-profit charitable organization committed to ensuring no one in the province goes hungry.

Participating in the food drive is a way for the Winnipeg Chinese Senior Association to turn its values into action, says Songyan Liu.

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Monday, Jun. 16, 2025

Participating in the food drive is a way for the Winnipeg Chinese Senior Association to turn its values into action, says Songyan Liu. (Mike Deal / Free Press)

MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
                                Songyan Liu (he/him, 67), co-founder and executive vice president of the Winnipeg Chinese Senior Association. The WCSA is one of a handful of faith groups organizing a food drive June 16-21 that will benefit Harvest Manitoba. Reporter: Aaron Epp 250613 - Friday, June 13, 2025.

Like mother, like daughter: Sunshine Fund camp experience runs in the family

Kevin Rollason 3 minute read Preview

Like mother, like daughter: Sunshine Fund camp experience runs in the family

Kevin Rollason 3 minute read Friday, Jun. 13, 2025

Peyton Toth is weeks away from graduating from Grade 3 and heading to summer camp for the first time.

And the bubbly outgoing eight-year-old will soon be on her way to Camp Arnes, on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg north of Gimli, thanks to the Sunshine Fund.

Peyton’s mom, Lindsay, said she knows firsthand the type of experience her daughter will get. Three decades ago, when she was eight years old, she went to camp for the first time — at Camp Arnes.

“I wanted her to go to camp so I began looking at the camps out there,” she said. “But I didn’t realize (camping fees) would be that much. It costs $800 for the week.

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Friday, Jun. 13, 2025

BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS

Peyton Toth (left) is heading off to the same summer camp her mother Lindsay went to three decades ago.

BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS
                                Peyton Toth (left) is heading off to the same summer camp her mother Lindsay went to three decades ago.

The bully is a person in our neighbourhood

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

The bully is a person in our neighbourhood

Editorial 4 minute read Friday, Jun. 13, 2025

A new kid moves into your neighbourhood. A loudmouth, pretty darned full of himself; “I’m the best, the bigly-est, the smartest person ever,” but you’re used to all sorts, even windbags, so you don’t pay him much mind.

And then one day as you’re walking by, he punches you in the face.

Later, he’s all smiles, and says “Let’s let bygones be bygones, we could be the bestest of friends.” And things get better for a bit, though he’s still insufferable.

Not long after, as you’re walking by, he comes up and punches you in the face, saying that you were mean to him.

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Friday, Jun. 13, 2025

Demetrius Freeman / The Washington Post

U.S. President Donald Trump

Demetrius Freeman / The Washington Post
                                U.S. President Donald Trump

Your generosity can make a kid’s summer

Kevin Rollason 3 minute read Preview

Your generosity can make a kid’s summer

Kevin Rollason 3 minute read Saturday, Jun. 7, 2025

In a few short weeks, children will be able to trade school books and assignments for the possibility of jumping in a kayak, getting on a horse, or racing down a zip line.

That means it’s also time to help needy families give their kids a camping experience they will never forget.

For the 45th summer, the annual Free Press Sunshine Fund is kicking off with the hope that thousands of generous readers will help children who deserve a break from their studies in an outing that normally would be out of reach financially for their families.

“The Free Press is again counting on our readers to help make the Sunshine Fund a reality for as many children in our province as possible,” Free Press editor Paul Samyn said.

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Saturday, Jun. 7, 2025

SUPPLIED

L to R: Audrey Hicks (manager, training & risk management True North Youth Fdn), Kim Scherger (executive director MCA), Kayla Yakielashek (community outreach coordinator, MCA), Nancy Paschke (Standards & Accreditation Coordinator, MCA), Lexi (RRBC staff) and Duane Goertzen (executive director RRBC)

SUPPLIED 
                                L to R: Audrey Hicks (manager, training & risk management True North Youth Fdn), Kim Scherger (executive director MCA), Kayla Yakielashek (community outreach coordinator, MCA), Nancy Paschke (Standards & Accreditation Coordinator, MCA), Lexi (RRBC staff) and Duane Goertzen (executive director RRBC)

Pragmatic — not political — Dynacare decision benefits Manitobans

Tom Brodbeck 4 minute read Preview

Pragmatic — not political — Dynacare decision benefits Manitobans

Tom Brodbeck 4 minute read Friday, May. 30, 2025

The Manitoba NDP government did something this week that will surprise a few people — and probably frustrate some of its more ideological supporters.

It renewed a contract with Dynacare — a private, for-profit company — to provide lab services in the province.

This is the same Dynacare the NDP vocally criticized when it was in opposition. The same private provider it said would erode public health care when the former Progressive Conservative government outsourced community lab services.

But here we are in 2025, with the NDP now in charge, and instead of ripping up the contract or scrambling to repatriate services into the public system, the government has chosen to renew the deal.

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Friday, May. 30, 2025

This week the provincial government signed a new, five-year contact with Dynacare to provide lab services in Manitoba. (Winnipeg Free Press files)

This week the provincial government signed a new, five-year contact with Dynacare to provide lab services in Manitoba. (Winnipeg Free Press files)

Every Floridian should have a plan for this year’s hurricane season, DeSantis says

Mike Schneider, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Every Floridian should have a plan for this year’s hurricane season, DeSantis says

Mike Schneider, The Associated Press 3 minute read Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Two days away from the start of hurricane season, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state’s top emergency manager joked Friday that they didn't want to encounter each other again until the storm season ends in late November. Forecasts suggest that’s unlikely.

While the upcoming season, which starts Sunday, isn't expected to be as topsy-turvy as last season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there's a 60% chance it will be above normal, a 30% chance near normal and just a 10% chance it will be quieter than average. Relentless storms, including Debby, Helene and Milton, which landed in Florida last year, made for the third-costliest hurricane season on record last year.

“You just have to prepare and plan that we are going to have impacts,” DeSantis said at a news conference in front of shelves of generators at a Home Depot store in Jupiter, Florida. “If you plan and it doesn't happen, you're never going to have regrets. If you don't plan and it happens, you're going to immediately be saying, ‘Why didn’t I do this?'”

Ahead of any hurricanes headed toward the peninsula, Floridians should be prepared to have seven days of food, water and supplies for their households, including pets. If they need to evacuate, they don't have to travel hundreds of miles when traveling just a few miles inland to a hotel or shelter works, officials said.

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Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

FILE - Debris from destroyed homes and structures floats in a canal in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Aug. 31, 2023, one day after the passage of Hurricane Idalia. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

FILE - Debris from destroyed homes and structures floats in a canal in Horseshoe Beach, Fla., Aug. 31, 2023, one day after the passage of Hurricane Idalia. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)

Shiffrin says in essay she feels ‘like myself again’ after recovering from ski racing crash, PTSD

Pat Graham, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Shiffrin says in essay she feels ‘like myself again’ after recovering from ski racing crash, PTSD

Pat Graham, The Associated Press 4 minute read Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

Two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin finally feels “like myself again” after recovering from a ski racing crash last season and lingering post-traumatic stress disorder.

Shiffrin described in an essay for The Players’ Tribune released Friday the physical and mental hurdles she needed to clear after her serious spill during a giant slalom race in Killington, Vermont, on Nov. 30. In the crash, something punctured Shiffrin’s side and caused severe damage to her oblique muscles.

“Everyone knows what it feels like to have a bad cough. But PTSD … it’s not like that,” the 30-year-old from Edwards, Colorado, wrote. “It comes in all shapes and sizes. Everyone experiences it in their own way, and no two cases are exactly alike.”

Shiffrin was leading after the first run of the GS that day in Killington. With the finish line in sight on her final run, she lost an edge and slid into a gate, flipping over her skis. The all-time winningest Alpine World Cup ski racer then slammed into another gate before coming to a stop in the protective fencing. To this day, she doesn’t know what led to the puncture wound, only that it was "a millimeter from pretty catastrophic,” she told The Associated Press.

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Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

Mikaela Shiffrin, U.S. World Cup alpine skier, is interviewed at a NBCUniversal and U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee press preview event to promote the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Mikaela Shiffrin, U.S. World Cup alpine skier, is interviewed at a NBCUniversal and U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee press preview event to promote the upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Olympic boxing champ Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to fight for new governing body

Greg Beacham, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Olympic boxing champ Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to fight for new governing body

Greg Beacham, The Associated Press 4 minute read Friday, Oct. 3, 2025

Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif must undergo genetic sex screening to participate in upcoming events with the sport's new governing body.

World Boxing announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes Friday. The governing body specifically mentioned Khelif when announcing the policy, saying the Algerian gold medal winner must be screened before she will be approved to fight at any upcoming events, including the Eindhoven Box Cup next month in the Netherlands.

“The introduction of mandatory testing will be part of a new policy on ‘Sex, Age and Weight’ to ensure the safety of all participants and deliver a competitive level playing field for men and women,” World Boxing wrote in a statement. The fighters' national federations will be responsible for administering the tests and providing the results to World Boxing.

Khelif won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics last summer amid international scrutiny on her and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, another gold medal winner. The previous governing body for Olympic boxing, the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association, disqualified both fighters from its 2023 world championships after claiming they had failed an unspecified eligibility test.

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Friday, Oct. 3, 2025

Algeria's Imane Khelif poses after defeating China's Yang Liu to win gold in their women's 66 kg final boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

Algeria's Imane Khelif poses after defeating China's Yang Liu to win gold in their women's 66 kg final boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

Winds push smoke from Canadian wildfires south into US and worsen air quality

Corey Williams And Sarah Raza, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Winds push smoke from Canadian wildfires south into US and worsen air quality

Corey Williams And Sarah Raza, The Associated Press 5 minute read Monday, Oct. 6, 2025

Air quality in some parts of the United States is worsening as smoke from dozens of wildfires in Canada travels south, pushed by winds high in the atmosphere.

Through parts of Minnesota and into Wisconsin, the air quality is deemed unhealthy for people and animals sensitive to pollution and other airborne particles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency's AirNow page.

As of Friday afternoon, the interactive air quality map showed a strip of orange moving northwest to southeast across Wisconsin. Most of the state showed moderate air quality as did all of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Eastern Iowa and northwestern Illinois also showed moderate air quality on the AirNow map.

Over the next day or so, particulates from the burning trees, leaves and other vegetation could reach further south into Oklahoma, Tennessee and Arkansas, said Patrick Ayd, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Duluth, Minnesota.

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Monday, Oct. 6, 2025

This photo provided by the Manitoba government shows wildfires in Flin Flon, Man., on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Manitoba government via AP)

This photo provided by the Manitoba government shows wildfires in Flin Flon, Man., on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Manitoba government via AP)
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A show inside a cathedral featured raw chickens in diapers. The German president was in the audience

Stefanie Dazio, The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview
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A show inside a cathedral featured raw chickens in diapers. The German president was in the audience

Stefanie Dazio, The Associated Press 2 minute read Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

BERLIN (AP) — A performance inside a Catholic cathedral in Germany earlier this month that featured raw, plucked chickens wrapped in diapers onstage — and the country's president and the local archbishop in the audience — has prompted the church and municipal leaders to apologize that the show “hurt religious feelings."

The show, "Westphalia Side Story,” was part of a May 15 celebration to mark the 1,250th anniversary of Westphalia, a region in northwestern Germany.

Video footage shows one woman and two shirtless men singing “Fleisch ist Fleisch” (“Meat is meat”) — apparently spoofing Austrian band Opus' 1984 pop song “Live is Life” — with scythes and dancing with the dead chickens on a stage in front of Paderborn Cathedral's altar.

Performance company bodytalk said in a statement Friday that the show featured work-in-progress excerpts from “Westphalia Side Story" — which references the American musical "West Side Story."

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Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

This grab taken from video shows performers dancing as they hold raw, plucked chickens wrapped in diapers, inside Paderborn's cathedral, Germany, Friday May 16, 2025. (RTL via AP)

This grab taken from video shows performers dancing as they hold raw, plucked chickens wrapped in diapers, inside Paderborn's cathedral, Germany, Friday May 16, 2025. (RTL via AP)