Dozens of kittens and several adult cats have been rescued by police after an investigation into allegations of animal cruelty.

The investigation began April 1 when Peel Regional Police received information from Animal Welfare Services (AWS) about multiple incidents in which kittens were sold in “distressing conditions” and later died from their injuries after being taken to their new homes.

Investigators with 11 Division Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) executed a search warrant on April 23 in collaboration with Animal Welfare Services.

A total of 57 kittens and eight adult cats were rescued during the search and taken to an animal rescue centre. The animals received urgent veterinary care.

A 38-year-old man from Mississauga has been arrested and charged with 134 counts of causing unnecessary suffering to animals. The person was being held in custody pending a bail hearing.

Police said the rescued animals are now in the care and custody of the animal shelter, where they will remain pending judicial outcome.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 905-453-2121 ext. 1133. Anonymous information can also be provided to CrimeStoppers.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The family of an Ontario man is taking part in a spring search in Mont-Tremblant this weekend, more than a year after he went missing on a ski trip in Quebec.

The search for Liam Toman started yesterday and continues today with volunteer teams and SARCAN K9, trained search-and-rescue dog units.

Toman disappeared in February 2025 while on a ski trip in Mont-Tremblant; his wallet was found in a nearby parking lot in March 2025.

The family is also launching a blue wristband campaign, inviting people to wear the bracelets as a visible sign of support and to help keep attention on Toman’s disappearance.

In a press release, Toman’s family wrote that the initiative is meant to bring community support together and encourage anyone with information to come forward.

A $50,000 reward remains in place for information that leads to locating Toman, though it is set to expire on Wednesday.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

The Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres will play Game 7. The Sabres were absolutely dominant in a 8-3 win on Saturday night, forcing the Canadiens to a deciding game for the second time in their 2026 playoff run.

Wilde Horses 

Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff started Saturday’s game with Alex Lyon in net. That call went extremely poorly for Ruff and for Lyon, who looked like he didn’t want to be in the net for play of this intensity. On the first shot he faced, Arber Xhekaj let go of a simple wrist shot to get it deep. Lyon whiffed.

Lyon had no chance on the second shot that came his way. The Canadiens power play threw the puck around beautifully. It was Cole Caufield to Lane Hutson to Ivan Demidov, who absolutely wired it just under the bar for his second goal in two games.

Hutson picked up his 13th playoff point with an assist, and he is moving into some lofty company in Canadiens history. Larry Robinson holds the record for the most points in single playoff season at 21.
Only Robinson, Chris Chelios, J.C. Tremblay, Eric Desjardins and P.K Subban have had more than the 13 Hutson now holds.

Lyon also let in the third shot he faced. It was weak, too. Jake Evans didn’t get all of it on a two-on-one, and Lyon again didn’t move well at all. He got the hook. Lyon with a Goals Saved Above Expected of -2.74. It actually seems a bit unfair as there was no way he was stopping Demidov’s shot, but he should have had the other two.

Lyon was pulled for Akko-Pekka Luukkonen and the Canadiens never scored again.

Wilde Goats 

The Canadiens had come out flat in previous games where they had a chance to take hold of a series. Nick Suzuki said that he felt the club didn’t match the urgency in the Tampa series when they were leading, nor in game four of the Buffalo series.

It was almost as if they over-reacted to that feeling on Saturday. Their energy was so high that the entire proceedings were absolutely frantic. On the first goal against, Juraj Slafkovsky was so wound up that he couldn’t complete a dump-in on the first shift.

Slafkovsky wanted so desperately to block Rasmus Dahlin’s effort that skated right on past him and into the corner on one knee while Dahlin went to the net to score. Slafkovsky had such a difficult night that it is assumed he was injured at some point.

Mike Matheson took an uncharacteristic penalty of four minutes for high-sticking on a play that was behind the action. Matheson never behaves like this after the play is moved up the ice. The Sabres scored on the subsequent power play.

The Canadiens tried to find that sweet spot between flat and overly excited. However, if a player hasn’t been in this moment before, it can be difficult to find it. Think back to the Florida Panthers last playoffs, and their textbook control all over the ice. It was predictable and effective in their championship wins. They never seemed rattled ever.

The Canadiens are trying to find that controlled exuberance. Only one way exists to find the right chemistry — play the important games. This one will serve as a reminder through the upcoming years of what not to do.

Chaos also decides so much in hockey. The bounces can cause so much damage. Bowen Byram threw the puck at the net with no power on it, but just in front of the goal it hit Matheson. That caused Jakub Dobes to lose track of the puck, and Zach Benson had an easy tap-in for 3-3.

And even though the score was tied at the halfway mark, the truth was that the game was an absolute rout in favour of the Sabres. The Expected Goals was 4.55 to 1.59, and the shots on goal were 21-8. When Buffalo took the lead at 4-3 on the power play with a Jack Quinn blast, it felt inevitable.

The Sabres kept piling on. It was a night that the Canadiens broke down defensively completely. It’s difficult to know what Buffalo did to figure it out, but the Canadiens have only until Monday night to come up with a game plan, or the season is over.

This one feels a little different than Tampa. Game 6 of that series was close and it felt like anyone’s to win in Game 7. This one feels like Montreal has to get some momentum back and to figure out large swaths of hockey where they are getting dominated.

Game 7 does not look in their favour at the moment. This is the ultimate test for head coach Martin St. Louis. He has to get his team prepared to turn around an Expected Goals night of 7.50 to 2.05 favouring the Sabres. That was the worst the Canadiens have looked since November. They turned it around then. They have one game to turn it around now.

Wilde Cards

Before the Sabres series began, it said here that the entire narrative would change from the Tampa Bay Lightning series. The Lightning came to play defence in a highly-structured style. They always tried to be on the proper side of the puck.

The Lightning line-up was top heavy, but not deep. Their best players were among the best in the world, such as Nikita Kucherov. Their best line was one of the only lines to have a 100-goal season, but their roster very much fell off by the third line. That’s what happens when the top players demand The Canadiens depth players had to carry them, and they did. It also meant the Canadiens top line had to be content to simply eat minutes and try to keep the game neutral during their difficult matchup.

This led to a lot of criticism for the top line against Tampa, and a lot of praise for the most dominant line of the first series of Kirby Dach, Alexandre Texier and Zachary Bolduc.

Against the Sabres, the matchups have altered completely. Before the Sabres changed their lines for Game 6, Montreal was winning the top line battle in a massive way. The Suzuki line has 16 points in the series.

The top line of Buffalo was destroyed for five games. Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs had four points. The Sabres top line had an Expected Goals share of 31 per cent. Thompson was -7. Tuch was -8. Krebs was -5.

Tuch didn’t have a single point all series after getting seven against Boston. Krebs also had no points. Success is all about the level of competition a player faces, and the top line was overmatched, until they changed it on Saturday night.

In the meantime, it was the Sabres depth that took the series to seven games. Zach Benson, Josh Doan and even Konsta Helenius have enjoyed the Canadiens depth players as opposition.

This is why it’s important to remember that, over the course of a series or even a season, the best team is the team where every player is in his proper seat. He looks across from him at the face-off circle and says to himself “I’m better than this guy”.

With three wins each, this is still not decided. Whether Montreal wins the round or not, the battle for the organization doesn’t change. The fight all through the line-up remains — that every player is in their proper seat.

 

Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

As the Andes version of hantavirus continues to cause concern among health officials, the music industry is monitoring what’s being called “blue dot fever.”

It’s nothing biological, nor will it be the cause of the next lockdown, but it is of concern.

The condition gets its name from online Ticketmaster seating charts for concerts at venues across North America. A blue dot indicates an unsold seat, and a quick survey of summer concerts features a lot of gigs that look like a bad case of Smurf measles.

For the couple of years immediately following COVID, business for the touring end of the music industry surged as we made up for lost time during the shut-in period in 2020-21. We called it “funflation,” a wave of spending on things that hadn’t been able to do.

Concert revenues exploded, with 145 million people attending gigs in 2023, compared to 98 million in 2019, before the pandemic. Last year, the global market for concert tickets was worth US$25.4 billion as stadiums and arenas worldwide were filled to capacity. And as 2026 started, predictions were that this would be another banner year.

Instead, we have blue dot fever, which, in some cases, has proven not just debilitating but fatal.

The Post Malone-Jelly Roll tour has been scaled back due to poor ticket sales. Pussycat Dolls pulled all their North American dates on their reunion tour. Zayn Malik abandoned all the American arena dates he had booked. Meghan Trainor cancelled her entire Get In Girl Tour. Kid Rock’s Freedom 250 tour hasn’t met expectations.

We may yet hear of more tours collapsing. What’s going on? Weren’t we just complaining that no one could get a ticket to a show?

The economy

When prices spike and inflation roars, the first thing that gets cut is discretionary spending. Gas prices are way up, consumer confidence is down, employment remains shaky, and geopolitics make it impossible to predict where things are going from week to week. Corners have to be cut.

The cost of concert tickets

According to Pollstar, the bible of the touring industry, the average ticket price to see a top 100 touring artist in North America is US$134.23. That’s down 1.6 per cent from last year, but it’s still expensive. Globally, the average price is US$132.62. And if we look at stadium shows, the average price is US$216.13, a whopping 18.3 per cent higher than last year and 29 per cent higher than in 2023.

When the economy was cooking, you could make a case for spending that kind of money. Today, not so much. And once again, Ticketmaster does not set the price of concert tickets. The face value of a ticket is determined by the artist and the artist alone, basing it on how much the tour will cost to stage and how much money they hope to make.

The only way Ticketmaster makes any money is by charging a fee for its service. It gets nothing from the base price of a ticket. Hate them all you want, but Ticketmaster is not the problem here.

Thinning profit margins

Despite high ticket prices, margins that were razor thin to begin with are getting thinner, thanks to the high cost of touring. Energy prices aren’t helping. It costs a lot to keep a fleet of trucks on the road and diesel is in a worse spot than gasoline. When promoters, managers, and artists run profit and loss projections, they’re finding that dates need to be trimmed and venues downsized. In extreme cases, it’s better to just call off the entire tour.

Take the case of Welsh band, Los Campesinos!, who offered a recent accounting lesson in touring. They played 11 shows in America, selling out all but one, averaging around US$21,000 per gig. Gross revenue was US$127,729.53, but after costs, commissions, taxes, visa fees, and unbudgeted expenses were deducted, the band returned home to Wales US$2,824.98 in the red. And this is a band that didn’t suffer from blue dot fever.

Over-optimistic promoters, talent buyers, and managers

Every tour is a gamble. When 2026 tours were being planned, there was no US-Iran war, gas prices were stable, inflation wasn’t too bad, and employment was steady. So why wouldn’t the upward trends of 2023-25 continue? Swing for the fences!

But the moment world affairs began to get wonky, the economics of these tours changed. Jam up the Strait of Hormuz and what seemed like a sure thing during the planning stages in September-October-November of last year suddenly looks like a losing proposition. Do you tough it out and hope for the best? Scale back? Cancel?

Stiff competition

A lot of acts are once again on the road this year, but given the current state of economics, people are picking and choosing their spots. If, for example, you’re a superfan, you’ll still find a wait to scrape together $1,000 for a premium seat to see your favourite artists. That doesn’t leave much to spend on other shows. Maybe the World Cup and its 104 matches across North America is hurting concert ticket sales. I mean, have you seen what you have to shell out to get into some of these games? Then again, there are reports of blue dots there, too, thanks to high prices, the steep cost of transportation and hotels in host cities, and uncertainty about overseas fans navigating ICE in America.

The big acts will do fine. They always do because fans will always, always find the money. But below that upper crust, things are definitely looking very blue. At least so far.

 

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The World Health Organization declared the Ebola disease outbreak caused by a rare virus in Congo and neighboring Uganda a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday, after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths.

The WHO said the outbreak does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency like COVID-19, and advised against the closure of international borders.

The WHO said on X that a laboratory-confirmed case has also been reported in Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, which is about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the outbreak’s epicenter in the eastern province of Ituri, suggesting a possible wider spread. It said the patient had visited Ituri and that other suspected cases have also been reported in North Kivu province, which is one of Congo’s most populous and borders Ituri.

Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted via bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and often fatal.

The WHO’s emergency declaration is meant to spur donor agencies and countries into action. By the WHO’s standards, it shows the event is serious, there is a risk of international spread and it requires a coordinated international response.

The global response to previous declarations has been mixed. In 2024, when the WHO declared mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency, experts at the time said it did little to get supplies like diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines to affected countries quickly.

It’s hard to treat a variant of Ebola

Health authorities say the current outbreak, first confirmed on Friday, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines. Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda, this is only the third time the Bundibugyo virus has been detected.

Congo accounts for all except two of the cases, both of which were reported in Uganda, the WHO said.

The Bundibugyo virus was first detected in Uganda’s Bundibugyo district during a 2007-2008 outbreak that infected 149 people and killed 37. The second time was in 2012, in an outbreak in Isiro, Congo, where 57 cases and 29 deaths were reported.

Conflict and migration complicate effort to track outbreak

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya said Saturday that a high number of active cases remain in the community, particularly in Mongwalu, where the first cases were reported, “significantly complicating containment and contact tracing efforts.”

Violent conflict with militants, some backed by the Islamic State group, as well as constant population movement due to mining, both within Congo and across the border in Uganda, have also posed a major challenge to response efforts.

Officials first reported the spread of the disease in Ituri province, close to Uganda and South Sudan, on Friday. On Saturday, the Africa CDC reported 336 suspected cases and 87 deaths in Congo.

“There are significant uncertainties to the true number of infected persons and geographic spread associated with this event at the present time. In addition, there is limited understanding of the epidemiological links with known or suspected cases,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

The two cases in Uganda include one person whom officials said had traveled from Congo and died at a hospital in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, and another the WHO said had also traveled from Congo.

The WHO said the high percentage of positive cases among samples tested, the spread to Kampala and Uganda and the clusters of deaths across Ituri “all point toward a potentially much larger outbreak than what is currently being detected and reported, with significant local and regional risk of spread.”

Congo outbreak killed 50 before it was detected

Kaseya said slow detection delayed the response and gave the virus time to spread.

“This outbreak started in April. So far, we don’t know the index case. It means we don’t know how far is the magnitude of this outbreak,” Kaseya said, using a term for the first detectable case of an epidemic.

The earliest known suspected case, a 59-year-old man, developed symptoms on April 24 and died at a hospital in Ituri on April 27.

By the time health authorities were first alerted to the outbreak via social media on May 5, 50 deaths had already been recorded, the Africa CDC said.

The WHO said at least four deaths have been reported among healthcare workers who showed Ebola symptoms.

Diagnostics and vaccines have been a major problem for Africa

Shanelle Hall, principal adviser to the head of Africa CDC, told reporters Saturday that there were four therapeutics under consideration for the Bundibugyo virus, but no vaccine was being actively considered.

A bigger issue is that even existing vaccines and therapeutics for other Ebola viruses are not manufactured in Africa. Africa’s struggle to get vaccines from richer countries during the COVID-19 pandemic spurred different efforts to accelerate its capacity to manufacture shots, but resources remain scarce.

Kaseya said the demand for a vaccine for a rare virus like Bundibugyo, which is not as deadly as the Ebola Zaire prominent in Congo’s past outbreaks, has been the recurring issue in discussions with pharmaceutical companies over vaccine manufacturing,

“If we are serious in this continent, we need to manufacture what we need,” he said. “We cannot every single day look for others to come to tell us what they are doing.”

© 2026 The Canadian Press

A drone strike targeted the United Arab Emirates’ sole nuclear power plant on Sunday, sparking a fire on its perimeter. There were no reports of injuries or radiological release, but it highlighted the risk of renewed war as the Iran ceasefire remains tenuous.

No one immediately claimed responsibility, and the UAE did not blame anyone. It has however accused Iran of launching multiple drone and missile attacks in recent days as tensions have risen over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy waterway that Iran still has in a chokehold.

The United States is blockading Iranian ports and diplomatic efforts aimed at a more durable peace have repeatedly faltered. The UAE has meanwhile hosted air defenses and personnel from Israel, which joined the U.S. in the Feb. 28 attack that sparked the war.

U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested hostilities could resume, and Iranian state television has repeatedly aired segments with anchors holding Kalashnikov-style rifles in an effort to prepare the public for war. Fighting has also heated up between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon despite a nominal ceasefire there, further straining the wider truce.

Barakah plant provides can provide a quarter of UAE’s energy

The $20 billion Barakah nuclear power plant was built by the UAE with the help of South Korea and went online in 2020. It is the first and only nuclear power plant in the Arab world and can provide a quarter of all the energy needs in the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms.

The UAE’s nuclear regulator said the fire didn’t affect plant safety. “All units are operating as normal,” the organization wrote on X.

The UAE statement didn’t blame any party for the attack. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, said the strike caused a fire in an electrical generator and that one reactor was being powered by emergency diesel generators.

IAEA director-general Rafael Mariano Grossi expressed “grave concern” about the incident and said military activity that threatens nuclear safety is unacceptable, the agency said in a statement.

Sunday’s strike marked the first time the four-reactor Barakah plant has been targeted in the war. It is near the border with Saudi Arabia, some 225 kilometers (140 miles) west of the UAE’s capital city, Abu Dhabi.

Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, whom the UAE have battled as part of a Saudi-led coalition, claimed to have targeted the plant while it was under construction in 2017, something denied at the time by Abu Dhabi.

A different program than Iran’s or Israel’s

The UAE signed a strict deal with the U.S. over the power plant, known as a “123 agreement,” in which it agreed to give up domestic uranium enrichment and reprocessing of spent fuel to halt any proliferation fears. Its uranium comes from abroad.

That’s very different from the nuclear program in Iran, which is at the heart of its long-running conflict with the United States and Israel.

Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes, but it has enriched its own uranium close to weapons-grade levels and is widely suspected of having had a military component to its program until at least 2003. It has also often restricted the work of U.N. inspectors.

Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed country in the region, but has neither confirmed nor denied having atomic weapons. Iran struck near Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility during the war.

Nuclear plants have increasingly been targeted in wars in recent years, including during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. During the Iran war, Tehran repeatedly claimed its Bushehr nuclear power plant came under attack, though there was no direct damage to its Russian-run reactor or any radiological release.

Ceasefire appears increasingly shaky

There have been several instances of attacks around the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf countries in recent weeks. Talks between Iran and the U.S. are at a standstill as the ceasefire threatens to collapse and tip the Middle East back into open warfare, prolonging the worldwide energy crisis sparked by the conflict.

Two people familiar with the situation, including an Israeli military officer, said Israel is coordinating with the U.S. about a possible resumption of attacks. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing confidential military preparations.

Speaking to his Cabinet on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “our eyes are also open” when it comes to Iran. He said he planned a chat with Trump later in the day to discuss the president’s trip to China and “perhaps” other things. “We are prepared for any scenario,” he said.

On Iranian state TV, presenters on at least two channels appeared armed during live programs.

In one program, Hossein Hosseini received basic firearms training from a masked member of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. After being shown how to prepare the weapon, Hosseini mimed firing a shot at the flag of the UAE.

On another channel, female presenter Mobina Nasiri said a weapon had been sent to her from a gathering in Tehran’s Vanak Square so she could appear armed on camera. She said: “From this platform, I declare that I am ready to sacrifice my life for this country.”

—Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

Canadian aid groups are deliberating how to respond to American policies that block U.S. aid for virtually any group in developing countries that provides abortion, science-based sexual health information or LGBTQ+ advocacy.

The rollback of feminist aid has those groups calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to assemble a coalition of like-minded nations to defend sexual health programming.

“People are more likely to die because they’re not receiving this kind of assistance,” said Erin Kiley, director of international programs at Oxfam Canada.

Since 1985, Republican administrations have implemented what they call the Mexico City policy, which blocks American funding for groups that provide abortion counselling or referrals.

Democrat administrations have repeatedly rescinded the policy, then see Republican administrations reinstate it. Some call it the “global gag rule” because it limits advocacy for decriminalizing or expanding abortion services.

Some studies have suggested the policy leads to a rise in unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions in various countries.

In 2010, the Conservative government of Stephen Harper took a similar approach by boosting funding for maternal health while blocking those funds from being used for abortion services.

Aid groups found ways to circumnavigate those American and Canadian policies. They used funding from other nations to fund abortion services or dipped into their budgets to construct sexual health facilities adjacent to general clinics.

But U.S. President Donald Trump drastically expanded the policy in February by barring more types of U.S. funding from going to any groups receiving funding from other sources for abortion services. His policy also withholds funds from groups advocating for LGBTQ+ issues or gender-affirming medical care.

The changes came after drastic cuts to American foreign aid and as Trump’s government signed deals with socially conservative governments abroad to fund national health systems in partnership with religious groups opposed to abortion and gay rights.

Kiley said Oxfam’s partners in places like southern Africa are facing some tough choices. Some still champion gender rights, she said, while other groups avoid those topics — including some which don’t receive American aid but might one day apply for it.

“Coalitions that work in this space (are) becoming a bit fragmented, because some are trying to align with U.S. government policy and others are trying to be outspoken,” Kiley said.

“In Zimbabwe in particular, they referred to a chilling effect on rights and advocacy.”

Kiley said her organization takes virtually no U.S. funding, giving Oxfam more ability to speak out than some of its peers. Other charities declined to be interviewed for this article, citing the risk of American blowback.

The debate within the sector came up at an April conference of aid groups in Ottawa. The Canadian branches of well-known, globally federated charities told the conference their organizations had internal rifts over how to respond.

The conference heard that branches in Canada, Europe and developing countries had different views on whether it was ethical for organizations which don’t work on maternal health or LGBTQ+ rights to take funds from Washington.

Jessica Stern, appointed by former U.S. president Joe Biden as a special envoy on LGBTQ+ rights, told conference participants they should take the money when they are able to comply with the Trump policy.

“U.S. taxpayers are contributing significant dollars and we should make sure that some of that money goes to good work,” she said on April 22.

“I am very afraid of a scenario — which could happen — where the U.S. government is actively funding (anti-gay) conversion therapy and is actively funding programs to get women to stay with their batterers, and all kinds of other ugly, anti-rights initiatives.”

Erica Belanger, the interim Canada head of MSI Reproductive Choices, said her organization has seen a 20 per cent increase in demand for sexual health services since Trump returned to the White House and slashed aid spending.

In Zambia, the charity stepped in to distribute contraceptives in rural areas because no other groups had funding to bring supplies from city depots.

“Canada’s soft power really, really matters in this moment,” Belanger said. “We need strong government leadership that will stand up for these issues.”

The Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health is also urging Canada to assemble a coalition to preserve sexual health services and advocacy for reproductive rights.

“It’s completely trying to break and fragment the global health system to essentially ring-fence partners who do provide access to safe abortion and comprehensive sexual reproductive health and rights programming, and those who do not,” said the coalition’s CEO Caitlin Goggin.

“They are trying to completely change the way in which comprehensive health services are provided around the world and asking partners — all the way down to local small organizations — to make impossible choices about whose money they receive and take in a moment of global scarcity.”

She said Washington is asking Malawi and Zambia to split the work of medical workers, so that those working in sexual health cannot do general medicine, and vice versa.

“This is a health rights issue for women and families. And without full access to the comprehensive slate of services, women don’t have full bodily autonomy around the world,” said Goggin.

Randeep Sarai, secretary of state for international development, was not available for an interview. His office said in a media statement that it’s engaging with Canadian organizations “to assess possible impacts on their operations and service delivery as a result of the U.S. administration’s changes” to foreign aid.

“Gender equality has been a part of Canada’s development programming for decades, and it will remain a core part of our international assistance going forward,” wrote spokeswoman Shanti Cosentino, listing projects Canada has supported on sexual health and gender gaps in labour markets.

“We continue to advocate for and believe in the importance of gender equality and inclusion as core principles for achieving sustainable development outcomes,” Cosentino wrote, adding this includes work through the G7, the G20 and the United Nations.

The aid sector is hoping Canada renews its 10-year commitment to funding health services through a gender lens, which expires in 2030.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

MONTREAL – The Buffalo Sabres have made four goalie swaps, including mid-game switches in each of their last two playoff games, and still remain in position to win the second-round, best-of-seven series against the Montreal Canadiens.

After falling behind 3-1 early in Saturday’s Game 6, and then storming back to win 8-3 at the Bell Centre, the Sabres can dismiss all the goaltending chaos as irrelevant as they prepare for a winner-take-all Game 7 at KeyBank Center on Monday night.

“There’s no difference in preparation,” said netminder Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen, who stopped all 18 shots he faced in relief of starter Alex Lyon on Saturday. “You prepare the same way every game. You have to be ready to go. That’s why there’s two goalies.

“I feel like that’s been the story of the whole year. As a team, everybody, when their chance comes or when they’re needed, they have stepped up.”

Lyon, who started the first three games of the series before losing the net to Luukkonen for Games 4 and 5, allowed three goals on just four shots through the opening 10:14 of the game before he was given the hook.

“In a game like this, it just felt Al wasn’t seeing it,” said Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff. “I just turned to UPL (Luukkonen) to see if he can help us out and he did. From that point, he probably made four or five really good saves that kept them off the board.”

Luukkonen felt confident as he entered the game, believing he didn’t have a whole lot to lose.

“When you get put in, it doesn’t really matter how many shots you see,” said Luukkonen. “You just try to find a way to get comfortable in the net and be ready for the next shot. I feel like, as a goalie, you kind of have to think that you’re almost playing with house money at that point.

“You kind of want to just do your best to help your team win. You can’t overcomplicate things. You have to go just one shot at a time.”

Luukkonen started the first two games of Buffalo’s first-round playoff series with the Boston Bruins, but was yanked 16 seconds into the third period of Game 2 with his team trailing 4-0.

The Espoo, Finland native rode the pine for seven straight games until being called upon in Game 4 of this series last Tuesday. The 27-year-old made 29 saves in his team’s 3-2 win that night, but was pulled in favour of Lyon after two periods in Game 5.

It was, therefore, Lyon starting Saturday’s Game 6, an outing that was short-lived.

“You have to be able to kind of just never get too low, never get too high,” said Luukkonen. “Every game is different and a new one. You can’t really drag those games along. You need to know what you did wrong and what you need to do better.”

Despite the goalie change early in the game, Ruff was not dissatisfied with his team’s overall play to start the game.

“I thought we played a hell of a first period,” said Ruff. “We just didn’t win the scoresheet battle.”

While the Sabres may have been trailing 3-1 at the time of Luukkonen’s entry into the game, forward Jason Zucker believed his team was a victim of a couple unlucky breaks.

“They (Montreal) had one goal on a power play, another off the faceoff,” said Zucker, who scored the first of seven unanswered goals for the Sabres after the goalie switch. “Overall, we kind of liked what we were doing. We needed to keep it going, stay on our toes and we did that.”

The Sabres have already started turning their sights to Game 7.

While Buffalo has won just two of their six home games these playoffs, they remain confident in their ability to close out the series in front of their fans and book their spot in the Eastern Conference final against the rested Carolina Hurricanes.

“It’s going to be awesome,” said Tage Thompson, who collected four points in his team’s Game 6 win. “It’s a new experience for a lot of guys in this room and something you dream of growing up. We knew, going into this series, it was going to be a long one. They’re a good team. I think it’s just something that gets you excited. It’s another game that we get to embrace.

“I think if you would have asked every guy in here, in September, if they would have taken being in Game 7 of Round 2, we all would have signed up for that. We’re in a great spot and now it’s just one game. It’s all that matters.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

LAVAL – Maggie Flaherty saw five Ottawa Charge players headed toward the side boards, and made a beeline toward the slot screaming for Marie-Philip Poulin to get her the puck.

The pass from the Montreal Victoire captain, as it often does, landed right on Flaherty’s tape and she one-timed the shot over the glove of netminder Gwyneth Philips.

Flaherty’s second goal of the playoffs came 14:12 into overtime to give the Victoire a 2-1 win over the Charge in Game 2 of the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s Walter Cup final on Saturday at Place Bell.

The win gives Montreal a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Ottawa will host Game 3 on Monday as the Charge face elimination for the first time in this post-season.

Turns out, though, that Flaherty may not have had to yell. Poulin, who leads the PWHL in playoff scoring, said she saw her teammate out of the corner of her eye.

“She’s Pou,” said Victoire defender Kati Tabin, who also scored for Montreal, when asked about how she made the play before adding that she has eyes in the back of her head. Flaherty then added that she has eyes all around her head.

Sarah Wozniewicz scored for the Charge, who had a chance to win the game just before the play went the other way. Alexa Vasko’s shot was stopped by Ann-Renee Desbiens seconds before the winning goal. Desbiens made 20 saves on the night as Montreal outshot Ottawa 29-21.

The Charge were unhappy with the overtime winner, feeling defender Emma Greco was tripped in the defensive zone just before Flaherty was wide open.

“At the end of the day, we probably put too many players in toward the puck, but our net-front D is going to be net front but if she gets her feet wiped out from under her right before that play, it’s pretty hard to get back to where you need to be,” said Charge head coach Carla McLeod.

Ottawa was held without a shot for the first eight minutes of the game but opened the scoring on its first opportunity.

After a shot hit the post behind Desbiens, Wozniewicz found the puck in the crease and tucked it in the net.

Montreal outshot the Charge 11-5 in the opening frame, despite killing the period’s only penalty. During the kill, both teams had scoring chances.

Montreal’s Laura Stacey had a breakaway but was unable to get a shot off, while Ottawa’s Rebecca Leslie fired a one-timer off the post. Philips made big saves on Catherine Dubois and Hayley Scamurra at even strength.

“It’s a long game,” said Poulin. “We were happy with the way we came out in the first 20 minutes. Sometimes, it isn’t always reflected in the score but for us it was to continue, put in the work and keep digging.”

The Victoire tied the game 32 seconds into the second period.

Off the faceoff, Tabin picked up a loose puck and roofed a backhand on Philips. It was the defender’s first goal of the playoffs.

It was the only goal of a physical middle period, with Ottawa outshooting Montreal 6-4. The best chance was a Stacey breakaway attempt when her wrist shot hit the crossbar. Both teams had unsuccessful power plays in the first half of the third period.

The Charge, who have now lost five straight games in the final dating back to last season, are down 2-0 despite being the only team to lead the series in regulation time. Montreal’s only leads have come on their overtime winners.

“Welcome to sport,” McLeod said. “You just keep going. We’re finding ways to score goals, we’re finding ways to win games throughout the playoffs. We believe in what we do.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2026.

© 2026 The Canadian Press

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Most of us get squeamish at the idea of any creepy crawler on our body, but bugs like ticks are more than just an outdoor nuisance. They also carry serious diseases and other pathogens that can transfer to their unlucky prey.

There are over 40 tick species in Canada but the primary tick-borne disease of concern, Lyme disease, is contracted from the blacklegged tick. These annoying arachnids can be difficult to detect — a full-grown adult is about half a centimetre long, approximately the size of a sesame seed, whereas a nymph can be as small as a poppy seed.

According to the Government of Canada, there were more than 5,239 cases of Lyme disease reported in 2024 and blacklegged ticks are spreading to new areas due to climate change. Prevention methods are thus critical to avoiding tick bites and preserving health.

Where to find ticks

“Blacklegged ticks are likely to be in cool, damp environments,” said Justin Wood, founder at Geneticks, a private lab in Canada that tests ticks for Lyme disease. They may hide out in low shrubberies and grassy and wooded areas as well as in leaf litter, wood piles, and any protected areas where they’re not going to get too hot from the sun or get too cold when temperatures dip, he said.

Ticks will wait for their hosts to walk by—detecting CO2, body odours, body heat, moisture, and vibrations—then will reach out to latch on.

How to prevent tick bites

“Mostly what we recommend to people is, if you’re going to be in tick areas, try to wear light coloured clothing that covers as much of your body as possible” so that you can more easily see them and remove them, said Wood. It’s also recommended to tuck your pants into your socks to prevent ticks from getting underneath clothing.

Bug sprays that contain ingredients like icaridin, also known as picaridin, work really well so it’s generally recommended people use those as well on any exposed skin, he said. “Some people will use permethrin-soaked or permethrin-sprayed clothes which is a repellent that you don’t put on your skin but tends to repel ticks,” said Wood.

When you come back from the outdoors, Wood recommends putting your clothes in the dryer for 15 to 20 minutes on high, which will kill ticks. Then be sure to do a very thorough tick check in a full body mirror to ensure ticks aren’t embedded or crawling anywhere. It can be helpful to have a loved one help look in areas not easily visible such as the scalp, back, armpits and groin area.

What to do if a tick bites

“The first thing to do is to not panic. That’s number one because when people panic, they tend to remove them incorrectly and removing ticks incorrectly can actually increase the chances that they transmit pathogens to the host,” said Wood.

Stay calm, and then safely remove the tick. “The best way to do that is with a pair of fine-tipped tweezers,” said Wood. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible — trying not to squeeze the body — and pull it up and straight out of the skin. He explains it can be a tricky process because ticks can embed themselves so some pressure may be needed while trying not to shear off its mouthpieces or leave any remnants of the tick behind.

Once the tick is removed, you can place it in a sealable plastic bag or container. You may consider consulting a physician, who can administer medical treatment such as antibiotics, or you can have the tick tested for pathogens to determine if treatment is necessary. Wood said that turnaround for testing ticks at Geneticks is typically 24 to 48 hours.

Repellents

DEET is an effective chemical ingredient used in traditional bug sprays. Ben’s spray contains the recommended 30 per cent concentration of DEET to be effective against bugs. Be mindful when using it as it can damage synthetically made clothing.[/product_listing]

 

 

A plant-based alternative for folks who may be sensitive to chemicals found in traditional repellents. This Health Canada-approved product is Canadian-made and safe for the whole family (from infants 6 months and older) and can help repel ticks for up to 5 hours.[/product_listing]

 

Tools

This tick remover kit includes a stainless steel tick remover, fine-tip tweezers, a leather case, and a free tick identification card for safely handling ticks on people or pets. It’s designed for outdoor use and helps remove both small and embedded ticks while also supporting tick and Lyme disease awareness research.[/product_listing]

Pets

These TriOak flea and tick prevention chewable treats are daily soft chews made with natural ingredients to help repel fleas and ticks while supporting your dog’s skin, coat, and immune health. They are flavoured like chicken and coconut, making them easy to give to dogs of all sizes, including puppies, as part of regular parasite prevention.[/product_listing]

Clothing

Stay tough and bug-free. This long sleeve tee from Mark’s Dakota WorkPro Series is built with permethrin-based repellent technology to keep ticks and mosquitoes at bay, while delivering breathable, all-day comfort.[/product_listing]

 

Who says you can’t be snug as a bug without the bugs? This ultra-fine mesh bug jacket with hood keeps mosquitoes, ticks, and others out while staying lightweight, breathable, and easy to wear – with a zippered neck, elastic cuffs, and a roomy unisex fit up to 300 lbs.[/product_listing]

You may also like:

ParaGuard, Parasite Cleanse for humans – $49.99

Women’s Coghlan’s Bug Jacket

Solar Bug Zapper – $41.95

Bug Zapper Racket – $39.99

OFF! FamilyCare Insect and Mosquito Repellent – $10.74

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