A Palestinian describes 15 minutes of terror trying to get food in the new Gaza distribution system

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Shehada Hijazi woke at dawn. It was his best chance, he thought, to get his hands on a package of food at a new distribution site run by a U.S.- and Israeli-backed foundation in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of others, equally desperate to feed their hungry families, had the same idea.

By the time Hijazi walked the 7 kilometers (4 miles) to the southern tip of the territory, a militarized zone that has been evacuated of its residents, it was chaos. People pushed and shoved for hours as they restlessly waited outside the site, surrounded by a barbed-wire fence, earth berms and checkpoints. When it opened, the crowd charged, rushing toward hundreds of boxes left stacked on the ground on wooden pallets.

Hijazi described what he called 15 minutes of terror Thursday at the center run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the private contractor that Israel says will replace the U.N. in feeding Gaza's more than 2 million people.

Israeli soldiers opened fire in an attempt to control the crowd, he and other witnesses said. His 23-year-old cousin was shot in the foot. They quickly abandoned hope of getting any food and ran for their lives.

Many survivors of Myanmar’s devastating quake in March still live in leaky tents

BANGKOK (AP) — Two months after a deadly earthquake ravaged much of central and northeastern Myanmar, recovery is just inching along, with huge numbers of people living in temporary shelters while facing the heavy rainfall and strong winds of monsoon season.

The 7.7 magnitude March 28 quake caused significant damage to six regions and states, including the capital Naypyitaw and Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city. The confirmed death toll from the disaster has reached 3,740, with 5,104 injured, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Friday.

Bodies are still being found

As the task of rebuilding grinds along, the grim work of recovering the dead is continuing.

‘Time is now’ for new Cereals Canada HQ

Scientists have baked bread, created noodles and processed flour in a tower above the iconic Portage and Main intersection for years.

However, Cereals Canada has been calling for a new, modernized research facility for nearly two decades. As of Thursday, the long-sought project is one step closer: the Manitoba government injected $13 million as a “down payment.”

“If all goes well, we’re going to be there for one-third of this,” Premier Wab Kinew promised.

He stood inside Cereals Canada’s 11th-floor pilot bakery. Delegates from Japan, Britain and Italy, among other countries, have walked through the site, observing how Canadian cereal grain crops could work in their products.

Sweeping tariffs could be 3% hit to Canadian economy, even with carve-outs: report

TORONTO - A CIBC report says sweeping tariffs imposed by the U.S. could cost the Canadian economy as much as 3.25 per cent, even factoring in possible exemptions for the oil and gas sector.

An analysis published Tuesday examined four potential scenarios in which U.S. President Donald Trump slaps new taxes on goods imported from Canada, ranging from 10 to 20 per cent and with possible carve-outs for key industries.

Speaking with reporters on Monday evening, Trump said he's thinking about hitting Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent tariffs on Feb. 1.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said Canada would respond and that "everything is on the table."

A risky solution to a complex issue

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been widely criticized outside of her province, and widely praised within it, for her stance on how Canada should respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats against Canada.

Urban housing groups fear federal funding will vanish after sooner-than-expected election

Manitoba housing organizations are scrambling to lock in funding for projects because of fear the cash will dry up if there is a change in government in Ottawa.

Since Parliament has been prorogued until late March, there is a little breathing space, but far less than there would have been until the fixed election date in October.

The election is likely to take place well before the fall because of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s resignation on Jan. 6.

Whether it is the Housing Accelerator Fund capital grant program announced in 2023 — expected to bring $122.4 million to Winnipeg to fast-track the development of 3,166 housing units — or the Reaching Home project to combat homelessness, programs created by the Liberals could be on the chopping block.

First Nation out as partner in Manitoba’s first potash mine

A western Manitoba First Nation that had a one-fifth ownership stake in Manitoba’s first potash mine company near the town of Russell is no longer a stakeholder.

Rupert’s Land inhabitants blindsided by Canada’s purchase of their homeland in 1869

When the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) reached an agreement to sell Rupert’s Land to Canada in the spring of 1869, it came as a complete surprise to the people living in what is today Western Canada. They were neither consulted on the proposed annexation nor given any details about how it would affect their lives.

Winnipeg to consider study to phase out natural gas

The city could soon study how to phase out natural gas heat at all Winnipeg buildings and swap in greener alternatives.

A new motion seeks a city staff report to spell out tools and methods to ultimately replace fossil fuel use in existing and planned buildings, suggesting grants, bylaws and new zoning/permitting rules could be included in the plan.

The city’s Climate Action and Resilience Committee will debate the motion on Oct. 28.

“We have ambitious targets about cutting down our building heating use of natural gas but we don’t seem to be doing anything yet, so let’s do something,” said Coun. Brian Mayes, the committee’s chairman.

Building a city to keep the next generation here

The inability of Winnipeg to retain its young people has always been a problem, but in the face of changing demographics, it’s an issue that has today become even more pressing.

Nova Scotia group wants a court to declare a First Nation’s lobster fishery illegal

HALIFAX - A commercial lobster fishing group in southwestern Nova Scotia is seeking a court to have a lobster fishery run by a First Nations community declared illegal.

The United Fisheries Conservation Alliance says it also wants the court to define the scope and limits that should apply to a fishery operated by the Sipekne’katik First Nation in St. Mary’s Bay.

The group’s lawyer, Michel Samson, says a notice of action was filed Thursday with the Nova Scotia Supreme Court.

Samson says the alliance is suing because a separate court case — filed by Sipekne’katik First Nation against the federal and Nova Scotia governments — was paused in order to mediate a resolution.

Kindness crops up in harvest for hungry

NEAR LANDMARK — Grain dust billowing in their wake, eight combines drove back and forth across a 100-acre field near Landmark on Tuesday to bring in a harvest for hungry people around the world. The combines were there to take off a crop of wheat for the Landmark Canadian Foodgrains Bank growing project — the first fall harvest for 41 such projects across Manitoba communities. “The field looks good,” said growing project organizer Randy Plett, who farms oilseeds and grains near Landmark. NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS Foodgrains regional representative Gordon Janzen (centre right) and Landmark growing project coordinator Randy […]

Fossil fuel fouls clean-grid future

Despite its reputation as one of Canada’s cleanest electric grids, Manitoba Hydro used more natural gas-fuelled electricity in the last 12 months than it has in a decade.

A perfect storm of drought conditions and high electricity import costs resulted in the province firing up its backup natural gas power earlier and significantly more often to keep up with demand.

From 2013 to 2023, the utility has run its natural gas generators for an average 54 gigawatt-hours of power; this year, the province has used 122 GWh, according to data provided by Manitoba Hydro.

The drought conditions took a toll on the province’s hydroelectric reserves this year, prompting the utility to import electricity as well as running its backup thermal generators.

Cloud seeding catching on amid Rocky Mountain drought

LYONS, Colo. (AP) — Garrett Cammans and his brothers sometimes don't talk about their toughest moments on the job in the cloud seeding business, like the time when one of them got stuck in deep mountain snow and had to hike out alone in the dark.

“They're going out into some pretty remote and rural areas," Cammans said. "And there have been a few close encounters with wildlife we don’t like to discuss at the family dinner table.”

But snow — as much as possible — is at the heart of the Cammans family business, Utah-based North American Weather Consultants, which holds cloud seeding contracts throughout the U.S. West, centered in the Rocky Mountains.

Lately, business is up. Amid two decades of drought, cloud seeding — using airplanes or ground equipment to waft rain-and-snow-making particles into clouds — is on the rise in the Rockies.

Manitoba hog industry continues to grow

Manitoba hog producers face global trade uncertainties, disease prevention issues, increasing environmental concerns and sky-high input costs — all of which are affecting producers’ margins — but the Manitoba hog industry continues to grow.

Leaving the vulnerable to struggle in the cold shames this city

An open letter, to the man I saw on Selkirk Avenue, on a recent Thursday afternoon just before 2 p.m.

Broader perception of downtown seems mired in time

One of the most jarring signs that you’re getting older, perhaps, is when youth of the next generations start asking what you remember about the past. It’s been happening more to me, lately. It’s a strange feeling, to realize your memories are making the transition from a living description of your time, to an artifact of history; at least, it puts time into perspective.

Save our Seine ensures long-neglected river preserved for generations to come

Have you ever stopped to notice how you feel while gazing at a river’s waves and ripples, or while looking up at majestic trees as they seem to touch the sky? Increasing data shows a direct correlation between spending time in nature and overall better health, with benefits to both physical and mental well-being. One good thing resulting from the pandemic was a resurgence of an appreciation of nature — especially for urban dwellers.

For over 30 years, Save Our Seine River Environment Inc. (SOS) has been working to increase access to green space by preserving, protecting, restoring, repairing and caring for the entire length of the Seine River within Winnipeg and the land around it.

Believed to be originally named Tchimâhâgânisipi in Cree (Tchimâhâgâni meaning “seine net” and sipi meaning “river”), the Seine River’s historical significance underwent a major transformation over time.

Over the years it had become a foul-smelling place to dump everything from lumber, concrete and chemicals to appliances, machinery and vehicles. Some years the river, reeking of chemicals, was impassable by canoe.

Reserve files suit over logging in western Manitoba

A second Manitoba First Nation is taking the province and lumber giant Louisiana-Pacific Canada Ltd. to court over commercial logging activity in western Manitoba.

Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation filed a lawsuit Wednesday that seeks a moratorium on all logging and forestry development activities in Porcupine Mountain Provincial Forest and Kettle Hills, and an order that the province complete “a process of meaningful consultation” with the First Nation before it can resume.

Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation’s two reserves are located north of Birch River and along the western shore of Swan Lake.

The province extended its licence agreement with Louisiana-Pacific in December, allowing it to build more roads, harvest more timber “and further erode the rights” of its members,” the first nation said in a news release Wednesday.

First Nation seeking review into logging practices

WINNIPEG - A First Nation in Manitoba says it has not been properly included in sustainable forest management practices and is asking for a judicial review into commercial logging in a provincial park.

Minegoziibe Anishinabe, also known as Pine Creek First Nation, is asking Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench to quash the government's decision to extend a timber-cutting licence to Louisiana-Pacific Canada.

"Manitoba did not consult with Pine Creek before authorizing Louisiana-Pacific to continue logging in the Duck Mountain Park forest and surrounding areas," said Jeremy McKay, a policy analyst for the community.

The U.S.-based building company submitted a 20-year forest management plan in 2006 to obtain logging rights for an area in Duck Mountain Provincial Park near the Saskatchewan boundary.