Sobr Market, a Winnipeg-based company selling non-alcoholic drinks, will unroll bottle shops in Walmarts across Canada.

The first five locations will open in spring 2026 in Winnipeg, Calgary, Saskatoon, Surrey, B.C., and London, Ont.

Sobr Market launched in 2022, and operates a storefront at 484 Academy Rd. It has a warehouse in Winnipeg and brick-and-mortar shops in Toronto.

— Free Press staff

Proposed legislation aims to make Manitoba’s manufacturing sphere more competitive.

The NDP government on Tuesday announced plans to convert part of the Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit into a retail sales tax exemption on new machinery and equipment.

The exemption would apply at the time of purchase (for qualifying items). The tax credit’s one per cent non-refundable portion would be retained.

“This gives businesses the opportunity to reinvest those savings to create more good jobs and strengthen Manitoba’s economy,” Business Minister Jamie Moses said in a news release.

U.S. airlines began canceling hundreds of flights Thursday due to the Federal Aviation Administration’s order to reduce traffic at the country’s busiest airports starting Friday because of the government shutdown.

More than 500 flights scheduled for Friday were already cut nationwide, and the number of cancellations climbed steadily throughout Thursday, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks flight disruptions.

The FAA order to cut flights at 40 of the busiest airports across the U.S. includes New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, according to a list distributed to the airlines and obtained by The Associated Press. But the impact will disrupt travel at many smaller airports too.

The FAA seeks to reduce service by 10% across “high-volume” markets to maintain travel safety as air traffic controllers exhibit signs of strain during the shutdown. The move also comes as the Trump administration is ramping up pressure on Democrats in Congress to end the shutdown.

BANGKOK (AP) — It often starts with a text message asking if you are available on weekends, looking for a part-time job or you get a simple “hello” from an unknown number. Halfway across the world, a laborer is usually pulling in 12-16 hour days, sending non-stop messages, hoping someone will take the bait.

The ultimate goal is always to take your money — victims have lost tens of billions to scams and hundreds of thousands of people are in forced labor to keep the schemes going. These workers are often housed in massive complexes scattered across southeast Asia, where the industry has flourished.

Here is why rooting out the scamming industry is such a complex issue:

The crackdown in Myanmar