Flooding forces evacuation in parts of Manitoba after rains
Flooding has forced evacuations in some parts of Manitoba after heavy rains caused rivers to swell.
The Manitoba government said some regions in the province's south received four to six times the normal amount of precipitation in April, much of it in the form of snow that was melting at the same time as heavy rains on the weekend.
The Peguis First Nation, about 150 kilometers (93.2 miles) north of Winnipeg, was placed under a mandatory evacuation order after ice jams on the Fisher River drove up water levels.
`'We have probably 480 someodd homes that are completely surrounded by water and roads have been breached,” Chief Glen Hudson said Monday.
Close to 900 people were evacuated. Residents were sent to hotels in nearby communities, including Selkirk, Gimli and Winnipeg.
Tribes' awarding of mineral rights to be challenged
North Dakota is challenging the federal government's awarding of lucrative mineral rights under a Missouri River reservoir to the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, otherwise known as the Three Affiliated Tribes.
The state attorney general's office said Friday that it filed notice with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., that it plans to intervene in the tribes' lawsuit against the federal government.
The Interior Department ruled in February that the tribes own the mineral rights, in what has been a long-running dispute. An Obama appointee affirmed the tribes' ownership of the rights in 2017, but a Trump appointee ruled in the state's favor in 2020 before the Biden administration scrapped that ruling last year.
At stake is an estimated $100 million in unpaid royalties held in trust and future payments certain to come from oil drilling beneath the river.
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Suu Kyi charged with bribery as new trial is set to open
Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi went on trial Monday in a new corruption case against her, alleging she took $550,000 in bribes from a construction magnate.
She is charged with two counts under the country's the Anti-Corruption Act, with each count punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a fine.
Suu Kyi has been detained since the army ousted her elected government in February 2021 and has not been seen or allowed to speak in public since then. She is being tried in closed sessions and her lawyers cannot speak publicly on her behalf or about her trial because of a gag order placed on them.
She has already been sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment after being convicted of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, sedition and another corruption charge.