Life & Style – Winnipeg Free Press

Mask mandate for most health-care workers to end

Kevin Rollason 4 minute read Yesterday at 7:29 PM CDT

The province is lifting the mask requirement for most health-care staff who interact with patients.

In a memo sent to the province’s health-care workers Thursday, Monika Warren, chief operating officer of provincial health services and chief nursing officer for Shared Health, said the new rules will be in effect starting May 1. Only health-care workers who assist patients with respiratory symptoms will still be required to mask up.

The mandate had been in place for more than six months.

“Others may choose to continue wearing a mask (extended use) if they wish and medical masks and N95 respirators will remain available,” Warren said in the memo.

Advertise With Us

Weather

Apr. 27, 6 AM: 6°c Light rain with wind Apr. 27, 12 PM: 4°c Cloudy with wind

Winnipeg MB

7°C, Light rain

Full Forecast

At least 70 people killed by flooding in Kenya as more rain is expected through the weekend

Evelyne Musambi, The Associated Press 2 minute read Yesterday at 12:21 PM CDT

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Flooding and heavy rains in Kenya have killed at least 70 people since mid-March, a government spokesperson said Friday, twice as many as were reported earlier this week.

The East African country has seen weeks of heavy rains and severe flooding in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, as well as in the country's western and central regions.

Kenya's government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura on Friday refuted claims that hundreds of people have died in the ongoing flooding and said the official tally now stands at 70.

Five bodies were retrieved Friday from a river in Makueni county, east of the country, after a lorry they were traveling in was swept off a submerged bridge, local station Citizen TV reported. Another 11 were rescued.

Muslim groups claim double standards in police handling of two high-profile stabbings in Sydney

Keiran Smith, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Muslim groups claim double standards in police handling of two high-profile stabbings in Sydney

Keiran Smith, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 2:04 AM CDT

NEWCASTLE, Australia (AP) — Muslim groups in Australia on Friday criticized the disparity in the police response to two stabbing attacks in Sydney this month, saying it had created a perception of a double standard and further alienated the country's minority Muslim community.

The Australian National Imams Council said an attack at a Bondi Junction shopping center was “quickly deemed a mental health issue” while the stabbing of a Christian bishop at a Sydney church two days later was “classified as a terrorist act almost immediately.”

“The differing treatments of two recent violent incidents are stark,” the council's spokesperson, Ramia Abdo Sultan, said in a statement with the Alliance of Australian Muslims and the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network.

“Such disparities in response create a perception of a double standard in law enforcement and judicial processes,” she said.

Read

Updated: Yesterday at 2:04 AM CDT

Father Daniel Kochou, right, gestures as he speaks with people, across the road from the Christ the Good Shepherd church in suburban Wakely in western Sydney, Australia, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Australian police say a knife attack in Sydney that wounded a bishop and a priest during a church service as horrified worshippers watched online and in person, and sparked a riot was an act of terrorism. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)

Tornadoes collapse buildings and level homes in Nebraska and Iowa

Josh Funk, Margery A. Beck And Heather Hollingsworth, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Tornadoes collapse buildings and level homes in Nebraska and Iowa

Josh Funk, Margery A. Beck And Heather Hollingsworth, The Associated Press 6 minute read Yesterday at 11:33 PM CDT

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tornadoes wreaked havoc Friday in the Midwest, causing a building to collapse with dozens of people inside and destroying and damaging hundreds of homes, many around Omaha, Nebraska.

As of Friday night, there were several reports of injuries but no immediate deaths reported. Tornado warnings continued to be issued into the night in Iowa.

Three people were hurt in Nebraska’s Lancaster County when a tornado hit an industrial building, causing it to collapse with 70 people inside. Several were trapped, but everyone was evacuated and the injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.

One of the most destructive tornadoes moved for miles Friday through mostly rural farmland before chewing up homes and other structures in the suburbs of Omaha, a city of 485,000 people with a metropolitan area population of about 1 million.

Read

Yesterday at 11:33 PM CDT

Families sift through the destruction from a tornado, Friday, April 26, 2024, near Omaha, Neb. (Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

15-year hunting ban and $10K penalty for man who baited, killed B.C. grizzly

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

15-year hunting ban and $10K penalty for man who baited, killed B.C. grizzly

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Yesterday at 6:23 PM CDT

ELKFORD - The B.C. Conservation Officer Service says a man has been fined $10,000 and banned from hunting for 15 years for illegally killing a grizzly bear near Elkford, B.C.

The service says in a social media post that a decision from a provincial court judge in Fernie, B.C., this week also ordered the man's rifle be forfeited.

It says officers launched an investigation in the spring of 2020 after receiving a tip from the public about a man hunting bears using bait near the community of Elkford.

The service says the investigation took a year, but in 2021 conservation officers apprehended the man shooting a decoy black bear at the site where bait had been placed.

Read

Yesterday at 6:23 PM CDT

This Aug. 12, 2009 photo shows a grizzly bear traveling across the Porcupine River Tundra in the Yukon Territories, Canada. The B.C. Conservation Officer Service says a man has been fined $10,000 and banned from hunting for 15 years for illegally killing a grizzly near Elkford, B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Rick Bowmer

Most drivers will pay $15 to enter busiest part of Manhattan starting June 30

The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Most drivers will pay $15 to enter busiest part of Manhattan starting June 30

The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:43 PM CDT

NEW YORK (AP) — The start date for the $15 toll most drivers will be charged to enter Manhattan's central business district will be June 30, transit officials said Friday.

Under the so-called congestion pricing plan, the $15 fee will apply to most drivers who enter Manhattan south of 60th Street during daytime hours. Tolls will be higher for larger vehicles and lower for nighttime entries into the city as well as for motorcycles.

The program, which was approved by the New York state Legislature in 2019, is supposed to raise $1 billion per year to fund public transportation for the city’s 4 million daily riders.

“Ninety percent-plus of the people come to the congestion zone, the central business district, walking, biking and most of all taking mass transit," Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO Janno Lieber told WABC. "We are a mass transit city and we are going to make it even better to be in New York.”

Read

Updated: Yesterday at 6:43 PM CDT

FILE - Recently installed toll traffic cameras hang above West End Ave. near 61st Street in the Manhattan borough of New York, Friday, Nov. 16, 2023. The start date for the $15 toll most drivers will be charged to enter Manhattan's central business district will be June 30, transit officials said Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)

Google plans to invest $2 billion to build data center in northeast Indiana, officials say

The Associated Press 2 minute read Yesterday at 1:22 PM CDT

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) — Google plans to invest $2 billion to build a data center in northeastern Indiana that will help power its artificial intelligence technology and cloud business, company and state officials said Friday.

The data center planned for Fort Wayne was announced in January. But Google disclosed the project's cost Friday and said it is expected to create up to new 200 jobs, including data center technicians and support services, The Journal Gazette reported.

The data center in the city about 120 miles (190 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis will help power Google's “AI innovations and growing Google Cloud business for customers across the world,” Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office said in a news release.

Google said the new data center will join a network of Google-owned-and-operated data centers across the globe that “keep the internet humming" and power digital services such as Google Cloud, Gmail, Search and Maps.

Learn more about Free Press Advertising solutions

Animal groups are urging tourists not to visit Wyoming after a man hit a wolf then took it to a bar

Mead Gruver, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Animal groups are urging tourists not to visit Wyoming after a man hit a wolf then took it to a bar

Mead Gruver, The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 2:34 PM CDT

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — As Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming opens for the busy summer season, wildlife advocates are leading a call for a boycott of the conservative ranching state over laws that give people wide leeway to kill gray wolves with little oversight.

The social media accounts of Wyoming's tourism agency are being flooded with comments urging people to steer clear of the Cowboy State amid accusations that a man struck a wolf with a snowmobile, taped its mouth shut and showed off the injured animal at a Sublette County bar before killing it.

While critics contend that Wyoming has enabled such animal cruelty, a leader of the state’s stock growers association said it's an isolated incident and unrelated to the state's wolf management laws. The laws that have been in place for more than a decade are designed to prevent the predators from proliferating out of the mountainous Yellowstone region and into other areas where ranchers run cattle and sheep.

"This was an abusive action. None of us condone it. It never should never have been done,” said Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and a Sublette County rancher who has lost sheep to wolves. “It’s gotten a lot of media attention but it’s not exemplary of how we manage wolves to deal with livestock issues or anything.”

Read

Updated: Yesterday at 2:34 PM CDT

FILE - In this April 15, 2008, file photo, a bison makes its way across the historic gate to Yellowstone National Park at Gardiner, Mont. As Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming opens for the busy summer season, wildlife advocates are leading a call for a boycott of the conservative ranching state over laws that give people wide leeway to kill gray wolves with little oversight. (James Woodcock/The Billings Gazette via AP, File)

Berkshire Hathaway’s real estate firm to pay $250 million to settle real estate commission lawsuits

Alex Veiga, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Berkshire Hathaway’s real estate firm to pay $250 million to settle real estate commission lawsuits

Alex Veiga, The Associated Press 4 minute read Yesterday at 1:10 PM CDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A real estate company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to pay $250 million to settle lawsuits nationwide claiming that longstanding practices by real estate brokerages forced U.S. homeowners to pay artificially inflated broker commissions when they sold their homes.

HomeServices of America said Friday that the proposed settlement would shield its 51 brands, nearly 70,000 real estate agents and over 300 franchisees from similar litigation.

The real estate company had been a major holdout after several other big brokerage operators, including Keller Williams Realty, Re/Max, Compass and Anywhere Real Estate, agreed to settle. Last month, the National Association of Realtors agreed to pay $418 million.

“While we have always been confident in the legality and ethics of our business practices, the decision to settle was driven by a desire to eliminate the uncertainty brought by the protracted appellate and litigation process,” the company said in a statement.

Read

Yesterday at 1:10 PM CDT

FILE - A for sale sign is posted in front of a home in Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, March 3, 2022. HomeServices of America, a real estate company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, has agreed to pay $250 million to settle lawsuits nationwide claiming that longstanding practices by real estate brokerages forced U.S. homeowners to pay artificially inflated broker commissions when they sold their homes. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

T. Rex an intelligent tool-user and culture-builder? Not so fast, says new research

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview

T. Rex an intelligent tool-user and culture-builder? Not so fast, says new research

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 3:24 PM CDT

EDMONTON - Science recently proposed a truly horrifying thought — that T. Rex, perhaps the most fearsome predator to walk the earth, was also smart enough to use tools, hunt in packs and pass down knowledge.

Yikes.

But a new paper throws cold water on those dinosaur fever dreams.

"They were very bold claims that needed a second look," said Cristian Gutierrez, a University of Alberta neuroscientist and co-author of a paper in The Anatomical Record that takes a skeptical view of the intelligent Tyrannosaurus theory.

Read

Updated: Yesterday at 3:24 PM CDT

A representation of a Tyrannosaurus Rex stands in the

Pope to bring his call for ethical artificial intelligence to G7 summit in June in southern Italy

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Pope to bring his call for ethical artificial intelligence to G7 summit in June in southern Italy

The Associated Press 2 minute read Yesterday at 12:22 PM CDT

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is taking his call for artificial intelligence to be developed and used according to ethical lines to the Group of 7 industrialized nations.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced Friday that Francis had accepted her invitation to attend the G7 Summit in Puglia in June. The Vatican confirmed the news.

Meloni, who currently heads the G7, is hosting the June 13-15 summit of leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United States.

In a video statement Friday, Meloni said Francis would be the first pontiff to attend a G7 summit and would participate in the session devoted to artificial intelligence.

Read

Yesterday at 12:22 PM CDT

Pope Francis arrives for an audience with Azione Cattolica (Catholic Action) pilgrims and faithful in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Help is coming for a Jersey Shore town that’s losing the man-vs-nature battle on its eroded beaches

Wayne Parry, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Help is coming for a Jersey Shore town that’s losing the man-vs-nature battle on its eroded beaches

Wayne Parry, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 1:37 PM CDT

NORTH WILDWOOD, N.J. (AP) — A long-running sandstorm at the Jersey Shore could soon come to an end as New Jersey will carry out an emergency beach replenishment project at one of the state's most badly eroded beaches.

North Wildwood and the state have been fighting in court for years over measures the town has taken on its own to try to hold off the encroaching seas while waiting — in vain — for the same sort of replenishment projects that virtually the entire rest of the Jersey Shore has received.

It could still be another two years before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection begin pumping sand onto North Wildwood's critically eroded shores. In January, parts of the dunes reached only to the ankles of Mayor Patrick Rosenello.

But the mayor released a joint statement from the city and Gov. Phil Murphy late Thursday night saying both sides have agreed to an emergency project to pump sand ashore in the interim, to give North Wildwood protection from storm surges and flooding.

Read

Updated: Yesterday at 1:37 PM CDT

FILE - This Jan. 22, 2024, photo shows a severely eroded section of sand dune in North Wildwood N.J. On April 25, 2024, North Wildwood and the state of New Jersey announced an agreement for an emergency beach replenishment project there to protect the city until a full-blown beach fill can be done by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that may still be two years away. Winter storms punched a hole through what is left of the city's eroded dune system, leaving it more vulnerable than ever to destructive flooding. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry, File)

Surging auto insurance rates squeeze drivers, fuel inflation

Damian J. Troise, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Surging auto insurance rates squeeze drivers, fuel inflation

Damian J. Troise, The Associated Press 4 minute read Yesterday at 12:16 PM CDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Relentlessly rising auto insurance rates are squeezing car owners and stoking inflation.

Auto insurance rates rose 2.6% in March and are up 22% from a year ago. Premium costs have been marching steadily higher since 2022, even as inflation at the consumer level steadily cooled from its 9.1% peak in the middle of that year. Consumers have had some relief as the rate of cost increases for food and energy, two key components of most budgets, has eased greatly.

But auto insurance and car ownership costs have become a sticking point for consumers and the Federal Reserve in its battle to rein inflation back to its goal of 2%.

Typically, individuals would see a noticeable increase in their premiums because of speeding tickets and other moving violations. Adding new drivers or a general increase in claims in the area were other reasons.

Read

Yesterday at 12:16 PM CDT

FILE - Heavy traffic is seen at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Monday, April 15, 2024. Relentlessly rising auto insurance rates are squeezing car owners and stoking inflation. Auto insurance rates rose 2.6% in March and are up 22% from a year ago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

Tech CEOs Altman, Nadella, Pichai and others join government AI safety board led by DHS’ Mayorkas

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Tech CEOs Altman, Nadella, Pichai and others join government AI safety board led by DHS’ Mayorkas

The Associated Press 2 minute read Yesterday at 11:41 AM CDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The CEOs of leading U.S. technology companies are joining a new artificial intelligence safety board to advise the federal government on how to protect the nation's critical services from “AI-related disruptions.”

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the new board Friday which includes key corporate leaders in AI development such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.

AI holds potential for improving government services but "we recognize the tremendously debilitating impact its errant use can have," Mayorkas told reporters Friday.

Also on the 22-member board are the CEOs of Adobe, chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices, Delta Air Lines, IBM, Northrop Grumman, Occidental Petroleum and Amazon's AWS cloud computing division. Not included were social media companies such as Meta Platforms and X.

Read

Yesterday at 11:41 AM CDT

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at the Business, Government and Society Forum at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Cenovus fined $2.5 million for biggest oil spill in Newfoundland and Labrador history

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Preview

Cenovus fined $2.5 million for biggest oil spill in Newfoundland and Labrador history

The Canadian Press 2 minute read Yesterday at 11:17 AM CDT

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Cenovus Energy has been ordered to pay a $2.5-million fine for its role in the largest offshore oil spill ever recorded in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The fine was handed down in provincial court this morning, and the company has 30 days to pay up.

The 2018 spill from a flowline connector in the White Rose oilfield released about 250,000 litres of oil into the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast east of St. John’s. N.L.

The spill happened when the field was operated by Husky Energy, which merged with Cenovus in 2020.

Read

Yesterday at 11:17 AM CDT

Cenovus Energy must pay a $2.5 million fine for its role in the largest offshore oil spill ever recorded in Newfoundland and Labrador. Cenovus logos are displayed at the Global Energy Show in Calgary, Tuesday, June 7, 2022.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Paris crowns a new king of the crusty baguette in its annual bread-baking prize

The Associated Press 2 minute read Preview

Paris crowns a new king of the crusty baguette in its annual bread-baking prize

The Associated Press 2 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 9:21 AM CDT

PARIS (AP) — Paris has a new king of the crusty baguette.

Baker Xavier Netry was chosen this week as the 31st winner of Paris' annual “Grand Prix de la baguette” prize.

His long loaf beat 172 others.

Competing baguettes were evaluated for taste, look, texture, airiness and the quality of the baking. The jury included a deputy mayor, industry representatives, journalists and six Parisians that City Hall said were drawn at random.

Read

Updated: Yesterday at 9:21 AM CDT

April 27, 2024

Notification Settings

Breaking News

Recommended Reads