Meta buys startup Manus in latest move to advance its artificial intelligence efforts

DETROIT (AP) — Meta is buying artificial intelligence startup Manus, as the owner of Facebook and Instagram continues an aggressive push to amp up AI offerings across its platforms.

The California tech giant declined to disclose financial details of the acquisition. But The Wall Street Journal reported that Meta closed the deal at more than $2 billion.

Manus, a Singapore-based platform with some Chinese roots, launched its first “general-purpose” AI agent earlier this year. The platform offers paid subscriptions for customers to use this technology for research, coding and other tasks.

“Manus is already serving the daily needs of millions of users and businesses worldwide,” Meta said in a Monday announcement, adding that it plans to scale this service — as Manus will “deliver general-purpose agents across our consumer and business products, including in Meta AI.”

Advocates push for advance MAID requests two years after Parliament recommendation

OTTAWA - Sandra Demontigny knew something wasn't right when she couldn't remember buying herself a new pair of boots. They were a splurge — a little out of character for the mother of three — and she had been excited about bringing them home.

"I saw them near the door and I asked my kids, 'Who bought these boots? I've never seen them,'" she said.

"The kids were saying, 'No, (they're) yours. You bought them and you really like them."

Sliding her feet inside, she realized she couldn't remember buying them. "I started crying," she said.

Another Conservative MP crosses the floor to join Liberal caucus

OTTAWA - Toronto-area MP Michael Ma left the Conservatives to join the Liberal caucus on Thursday, leaving Prime Minister Mark Carney just one seat shy of a coveted majority government.

Ma, who represents the Markham-Unionville riding in the Greater Toronto Area, issued a statement via the Liberal Party of Canada shortly after the House of Commons rose for the Christmas break. Ma said he had informed both Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of his decision after listening to his constituents, and "reflecting" with his family on the direction of the country.

"This is a time for unity and decisive action for Canada's future," Ma said, adding he believed Carney offered that.

"I entered public service to help people — to focus on solutions, not division," Ma said. "I look forward to working with Prime Minister Carney to make sure that Markham-Unionville, and all of Canada, can move forward with confidence and build a stronger, safer, and more prosperous future."

Canada responsible for ensuring safe First Nations housing, Federal Court rules in $5-B class-action suit

A Federal Court judge has recognized Canada is responsible for ensuring safe housing on First Nations in a $5-billion class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of two reserves in Manitoba and Ontario.

Danielle Smith becomes first Alberta premier in 90 years to face citizen recall

EDMONTON - Danielle Smith has become the second Alberta premier – and the first in almost 90 years – to face a citizen-led petition drive to get her removed from her seat in the legislature.

Smith and two more of her United Conservative Party caucus members saw recall campaigns officially approved and launched Wednesday by Elections Alberta.

In total, 20 in the 47-member UCP caucus are facing recall petitions. A formal signature-gathering drive has also been launched against one Opposition NDP member, Amanda Chapman.

Heather VanSnick is leading the petition drive in Smith’s southern Alberta riding of Brooks-Medicine Hat. VanSnick needs to collect just over 12,000 signatures to move the process forward.

Canada wraps up G7 tech ministers’ meeting after signing EU, U.K. deals

OTTAWA - Canada ended a two-day meeting of G7 industry, digital and technology ministers Tuesday after signing agreements with European partners that are taking a tougher stand on regulating artificial intelligence than the United States.

The memorandums of understanding with the European Union, Germany and the U.K. focused on digital issues, including artificial intelligence. While the U.S. sent representatives to the meeting, no such deal with the United States was announced.

During the closing press conference, Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon said Canada has a robust trade relationship with the U.S. but it is deepening its relationship with European countries.

"What we want to do strategically as well, as we move from reliance to resilience, is expand our trade. And we did that this past number of days," he said.

Métis federation launches second class action over ’60s Scoop

The Manitoba Métis Federation has launched a second court action over the apprehension of Métis children during the ’60s Scoop.

The federation and Albert Beck, a Métis man who was adopted by a non-Indigenous family, filed a proposed class action lawsuit against the Manitoba government in the Court of King’s Bench last week.

The proposed class action seeks damages over the harm suffered by Métis kids who were taken into care and placed with non-Indigenous families in Canada and the United States over several decades.

“The (‘60s) Scoop caused significant, irreparable harm to the Red River Métis children that were removed from their homes and communities. They suffered trauma and physical, sexual, and psychological abuse,” reads the proposed class action.

Gull-Masty signals go-slow approach to changing First Nations status eligibility

OTTAWA - Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty says the Assembly of First Nations sent a strong signal to her government to end the second-generation cutoff in the Indian Act, but her government won't make that change without broad consultations with leaders.

At a special assembly in Ottawa last week, First Nations chiefs voted to support Senate amendments to a government bill that would expand eligibility under the Indian Act by eliminating the second-generation cutoff — which prevents individuals from registering for status under the law if they have a parent and a grandparent who did not have status.

The resolution, which passed by consensus during the Assembly of First Nations gathering in Ottawa, also calls on Ottawa to commit to increased funding to offset the cost to their communities of absorbing new members.

The AFN works as an advocacy body for 600 First Nations chiefs who attend biannual meetings to discuss issues and pass resolutions directing the executive committee on how to lobby governments.

Indigenous artifacts from the Vatican collection return to Canada

MONTREAL - First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders welcomed back dozens of Indigenous artifacts released from the Vatican collection at Montreal's airport Saturday.

The 62 items will ultimately be returned to their communities of origin as an act of furthering reconciliation.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said it was an important and emotional moment for all First Nations, and she hoped it would be important for all Canadians.

"We've come a long way, and we have a long way to go," she said at the airport.

Beleaguered parents of young children with diabetes ask province for help in schools

Parents of children in elementary school with Type 1 diabetes pleaded for help from the province Tuesday at the legislature.

Two mothers — one who has to leave her job at lunch, the other who had to quit her job altogether — in order to get to their children’s schools in time to make insulin-pump adjustments say other provinces, including B.C. and Nova Scotia, have trained school staff to help.

“It’s heartbreaking to have to gauge whether or not I can maintain my livelihood or my child’s health care,” said Christy Peterson, whose five-year-old daughter Lillian is on an insulin pump.

The pumps support better blood-glucose management, help reduce the risk of long-term diabetes complications and their use results in fewer insulin injections.

City considers restrictions on Bois des Esprits tree carving

It started out as something quirky, a bit like hide-and-seek in the Bois des Esprits forest.

First came Woody, a large mythical troll-like carving in the trunk of a diseased tree marked for removal, off of the main trail. Several years later, another carver came forward requesting permission to produce a series of smaller carvings on dead trees and branches tucked away in the forest that hugs the Seine River in south Winnipeg. They were hidden gems to be found by the sharp-eyed walker.

But since 2020, there’s been a significant uptick in unauthorized carvings, including on living trees, often accompanied by small dedication plaques and in much more visible locations. Nearby Royalwood residents have raised concerns about the proliferation and the disruption to the natural setting.

Although there is no formal policy, the city continues to receive requests to allow carvings in both Bois des Esprits and other parks.

Hydro to cut down more than 260 trees on stretch of Selkirk Avenue

Manitoba Hydro is cutting down 262 mature trees growing near power lines along a north Winnipeg street, drawing objections from the city and disappointment from canopy advocates.

News publishers’ copyright lawsuit against OpenAI cleared to go ahead in Ontario

OTTAWA - An Ontario court has decided a copyright lawsuit filed by Canadian news publishers against OpenAI will proceed in that province.

OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, had put forward a jurisdictional challenge and argued the case should be heard in a U.S. courtroom instead.

OpenAI said the company isn’t located in Ontario and doesn’t do business in the province, and that the alleged conduct — the AI model training and crawling of web content — took place outside of Ontario.

But the decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice concludes the court does have jurisdiction to hear the case.

Australia will enforce a social media ban for children under 16 despite a court challenge

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Australian government said young children will be banned from social media next month as scheduled despite a rights advocacy group on Wednesday challenging the world-first legislation in court.

The Sydney-based Digital Freedom Project said it had filed a constitutional challenge in the High Court on Wednesday to a law due to take effect on Dec. 10 banning Australian children younger than 16 from holding accounts on specified platforms.

Communications Minister Anika Wells referred to the challenge when she later told Parliament her government remained committed to the ban taking effect on schedule.

“We will not be intimidated by legal challenges. We will not be intimidated by Big Tech. On behalf of Australian parents, we stand firm,” Wells told Parliament.

One of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre’s last survivors, Viola Ford Fletcher, dies at age 111

DALLAS (AP) — Viola Ford Fletcher, who as one of the last survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in Oklahoma spent her later years seeking justice for the deadly attack by a white mob on the thriving Black community where she lived as a child, has died. She was 111.

Her grandson Ike Howard said Monday that she died surrounded by family at a Tulsa hospital. Sustained by a strong faith, she raised three children, worked as a welder in a shipyard during World War II and spent decades caring for families as a housekeeper.

Tulsa was mourning her loss, said Mayor Monroe Nichols, the first Black leader of Oklahoma’s second-largest city. “Mother Fletcher endured more than anyone should, yet she spent her life lighting a path forward with purpose.”

She was 7 years old when the two-day attack began on Tulsa’s Greenwood district on May 31, 1921, after a local newspaper published a sensationalized report about a Black man accused of assaulting a white woman. As a white mob grew outside the courthouse, Black Tulsans with guns who hoped to prevent the man’s lynching began showing up. White residents responded with overwhelming force. Hundreds of people were killed and homes were burned and looted, leaving over 30 city blocks decimated in the prosperous community known as Black Wall Street.

U.S. directs its embassies in Western nations to scrutinize ‘mass migration’

WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department has directed its embassies in Canada and other Western nations to scrutinize the impacts of "mass migration" — the Trump administration's latest push to reshape the geopolitics of America's longtime allies.

Last week's dispatch to embassies directed diplomats in Ottawa, New Zealand, Australia and countries in western Europe to report on the human rights implications and public safety impacts of large-scale mass migration, calling it an "existential threat to Western civilization."

In a Friday social media post shared by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the department said officials will "urge governments to take bold action and defend citizens against the threats posed by mass migration."

Officials will also report "policies that punish citizens who object to continued mass migration and document crimes and human rights abuses committed by people of a migration background," the department said.

First Nations sue over oil-rich land

A pair of First Nations are suing the provincial and federal governments, claiming land and mineral rights to a swath of land in southwestern Manitoba that generates more than $1.3 billion annually from oil and gas production.

Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation and Dakota Tipi First Nation filed a statement of claim in Court of King’s Bench on Thursday calling for a declaration of title and subsurface rights over Manitoba’s portion of the Williston Basin.

The oil-rich basin stretches from southwestern Manitoba into southern Saskatchewan and over the U.S. border. The Manitoba portion hosts at least 14 identified oil fields and is home to all the current oil production in the province, the lawsuit states.

The plaintiffs are claiming rights over the entirety of the basin in Manitoba, including the “right to economically participate in the extraction, development and production of subsurface minerals.”

Immigration minister extends pause on new private refugee sponsorships to 2027

OTTAWA - Immigration Minister Lena Diab has extended the pause on new applications through the Private Sponsorship for Refugees Program for another 12 months as the department works to clear its backlog.

New ministerial instructions were published in the Canada Gazette on Friday, along with a notice on the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website.

The pause was to be lifted at the end of December but will now be in place for another year, until Dec. 31, 2026.

This pause applies to refugee sponsorships submitted by community organizations or groups of five or more individuals. These sponsors have to support the refugee for one year after they arrive or until they can support themselves, whichever comes first.

Child advocates urge government to bring back online harms legislation

OTTAWA - The dangers children face online constitute a national emergency, a coalition of child advocates and medical organizations said Thursday as they called for the federal government to take action.

"Unlike every other industry that affects children, from cars to pharmaceuticals to toys to food safety, the tech industry has been allowed to self-regulate with tragic consequences," said Andrea Chrysanthou, chair of the board for Children First Canada, at a press conference on Parliament Hill.

The advocates say children are being exploited, extorted, bullied — and in some cases, kids have died as a result of online harms.

Dr. Margot Burnell, president of the Canadian Medical Association, said doctors see the negative health impacts of social media use firsthand.

Senators amend legislation to make it easier to pass on First Nations status

OTTAWA - Senators have passed sweeping amendments to a bill that would simplify the transfer of First Nations status between generations, rejecting the federal government's advice to limit its scope.

Bill S-2, introduced in the Senate with support by the Liberal government, was drafted to eliminate some gender inequities in the Indian Act and allow some 6,000 people to become eligible for First Nations status.

Some senators and Indigenous community leaders said the bill didn't go far enough.

On Tuesday, senators changed the legislation to eliminate what is known as the "second-generation cutoff," opting instead for a one-parent rule that would allow First Nations status to be transferred to a child if one of their parents is enrolled.

Encampment residents defiant as new policy takes effect

As the sun broke through the gap between two high-rise apartments on the north side of the Assiniboine River Monday morning, the large encampment tucked behind the Granite Curling Club lay quiet.

Monday marked the first day of the city’s new encampment policy, which bans such dwellings from more than a dozen areas — including anywhere within 50 metres of a nearby child-care centre, which parts of Mostyn Park are.

According to a recent email obtained by the Free Press from Greg MacPherson, the city’s senior co-ordinator of community development, the Mostyn Park encampment will be among those prioritized for dismantling in the coming weeks.

“I’ve been staying here for five years,” said Peter, who didn’t give his last name. “Why are they going to try to evict me now? And evict me from what? There’s no reason I should have to live like this in my own country.”

UN approves the Trump administration’s plan for the future of Gaza

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Trump administration’s blueprint to secure and govern Gaza won strong approval at the United Nations on Monday, a crucial step that provides international support for U.S. efforts to move the devastated territory toward peace following two years of war.

The U.S. resolution that passed the U.N. Security Council authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security in Gaza, approves a transitional authority to be overseen by President Donald Trump and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.

“This will go down as one of the biggest approvals in the History of the United Nations, will lead to further Peace all over the World, and is a moment of true Historic proportion!” Trump posted on social media.

The vote endorses Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan and builds on the momentum of the fragile ceasefire he helped broker with allies. It marks a key next step for American efforts to outline Gaza’s future after the Israel-Hamas war destroyed much of the territory and killed tens of thousands of people.

Almost Armageddon: a personal history

The fear that’s been buried for a couple of decades, albeit not very deeply, resurfaced with the bizarre demand from U.S. President Donald Trump to his military that nuclear testing be resumed. “Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis.”