A new program is being launched in the St. John’s region to help people reverse their body’s march toward type 2 diabetes.

About 2.5-million Canadians live with prediabetes, but the program “Small Steps for Big Changes” can help reverse the trend through lasting exercise and dietary change.

The 4-week program is available at YMCAs across Canada including the Ches Penney Family Y in St. John’s.

Dr. Katie Wadden, who is with the Faculty of Human Kinetics and Recreation at Memorial University, is the program’s Eastern Canada Regional Research Lead. She says prediabetes is a condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not yet high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Wadden says without intervention, people with prediabetes are at increased risk of progressing to type 2.

BEIRUT (AP) — A prominent Lebanese politician held talks on Sunday with the insurgent who led the overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar Assad, with both expressing hope for a new era in relations between their countries.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt was a longtime critic of Syria’s involvement in Lebanon and blamed Assad’s father, former President Hafez Assad, for the assassination of his own father decades ago. He is the most prominent Lebanese politician to visit Syria since the Assad family’s 54-year rule came to an end.

He held talks with Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who led the Sunni Islamist rebels who swept into Damascus earlier this month and forced the younger Assad from power.

“We salute the Syrian people for their great victories and we salute you for your battle that you waged to get rid of oppression and tyranny that lasted over 50 years,” said Jumblatt, a key figure in Lebanon’s Druze minority and the former leader of a leftist party.

He expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

Jumblatt’s father, Kamal, was killed in 1977 in an ambush near a Syrian roadblock during Syria’s military intervention in Lebanon’s civil war. The younger Jumblatt was a critic of the Assads, though he briefly allied with them at one point to gain influence in Lebanon’s ever-shifting political alignments.

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon,” he said, pledging that it would respect Lebanese sovereignty.

Al-Sharaa also repeated longstanding allegations that Assad’s government was behind the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which was followed by other killings of prominent Lebanese critics of Assad.

Last year, the United Nations closed an international tribunal investigating the assassination after it convicted three members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah — an ally of Assad — in absentia. Hezbollah denied involvement in the massive Feb. 14, 2005 bombing, which killed Hariri and 21 others.

“We hope that all those who committed crimes against the Lebanese will be held accountable, and that fair trials will be held for those who committed crimes against the Syrian people,” Jumblatt said.

Iran’s leader predicts trouble for new Syrian rulers

Separately, Iran’s supreme leader said that young Syrians will resist the new government emerging after Assad’s overthrow as he again accused the United States and Israel of sowing chaos in the country.

Iran had provided crucial support to Assad throughout Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, which erupted after he launched a violent crackdown on a popular uprising. Syria had long served as a key conduit for Iranian aid to Hezbollah.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in an address on Sunday that the “young Syrian has nothing to lose” and suffers from insecurity following Assad’s fall.

“What can he do? He should stand with strong will against those who designed and those who implemented the insecurity,” Khamenei said. “God willing, he will overcome them.”

He accused the United States and Israel of plotting against Assad’s government in order to seize resources, saying: “Now they feel victory, the Americans, the Zionist regime and those who accompanied them.”

Iran and its militant allies in the region have suffered a series of major setbacks over the past year, with Israel battering Hamas in Gaza and landing heavy blows on Hezbollah before they agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon last month.

Khamenei denied that such groups were proxies of Iran, saying they fought because of their own beliefs and that the Islamic Republic did not depend on them. “If one day we plan to take action, we do not need proxy force,” he said.

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Associated Press writer Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.

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Follow AP’s Syria coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/syria

Sally Abou Aljoud, The Associated Press

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith will be in Washington, D.C., for Donald Trump’s inauguration in January, attending a series of events over six days including the swearing-in at the Capitol building and state society balls. In the months ahead, her office says there will be numerous other trips to the United States, too.

She will be making the case that affordable raw products from Canada, including oil imports from her province, allow for trillions of dollars in American wealth creation. She believes Mr. Trump’s promise of a 25-per-cent tariff on all Canadian goods is not an idle threat and will be put in place – even for a short period, in some form – after the incoming president takes office.

Food bank executive director Marjorie Bencz said about 45,000 people are being served through the organization's hamper program, roughly 10,000 more than at this time two years ago.

Over the holiday season, Mission to Seafarers says it will deliver gift bags to more than 1,500 ship crew members passing through Vancouver, as a gesture of gratitude for their work and effort to ease the loneliness seafarers may experience while far from home over the Christmas season.

When James Whittingham's children began to learn how to drive, he played up the dangers. He wanted them to know life is precious and driving was likely the most dangerous thing they’d ever do, next to getting a tattoo.

Balatro, a card-based video game, was made by a single developer from Saskatchewan. It took home the best independent and best mobile game at this year's Game Awards, and was nominated for game of the year. The CEO of the Saskatchewan ESports Association also reviews other games that made their mark.

The area of low pressure that brought a messy mix of rain, ice, and snow to the Island Saturday and a blizzard to southeast Labrador Saturday into this morning continues to spin and impact the Provincial weather. The animation below shows this very well.

via GIPHY

As of early Sunday morning, Wind Warnings were still in effect for portions of central, northeastern, and eastern Newfoundland, and a Blizzard Warning is in effect for southeast Labrador. A Blowing Snow Advisory is also in effect for the mid-coast. Travel conditions along the Great Northern Peninsula and into Southern Labrador aren’t good right now as many roads are closed. Vist 511NL.ca for details.

As the low-pressure area departs today, the wind speeds will slowly calm down, and the winter storm and blizzard conditions along the Labrador Coast will improve.

The West Coast will see periods of snow all day, enhanced by onshore winds. Snowfall in the lower elevations will be light to moderate at times, but significant amounts are likely in higher terrain. Keep that in mind if you travels take you that way. The forecast below shows the snowfall forecast for the area through tomorrow morning.

We are also looking at colder temperatures today and for the next few days. On top of that the weather for Christmas Week seems very quiet for the upcoming week, which will be helpful for any travel across, through or into the Province.

A local woman has written a children’s book about the loss of a loved one to help young kids navigate grief. Speaking from her own experience, Deborah Dickson explores themes of love and loss and how to navigate grief within the family.

Private security system footage is going viral for all the wrong reasons today in Moose Jaw.

The video, posted on social media, shows three unidentified individuals jumping out of a red pick-up truck and proceeding to throw themselves at a PVC fence at a resident property in Moose Jaw. Towards the end of the video, one individual manages to kick out a panel of the fence before all three flee.

The Moose Jaw Police Service told Discover Moose Jaw that they've "received multiple calls this week regarding broken or damaged fences in the Northwest area of Moose Jaw."

The MJPS added that "all the files are currently under investigation to try and identify the individual(s) who are responsible for this."

Anyone with information can reach out to the police service via their non-emergency phone line at 306-694-7600, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit tips online at p3tips.com or their mobile app.

Born from a shared love of music and singing, the Musica Singers of Manitoba is a Filipino choir that sings in multiple languages, including Tagalog, Italian and Maori.

The wife of a man with dementia who disappeared a year ago says she was denied access to a federal pension plan because it requires paperwork to prove his death. 

Vancouver city council voted to explore holding cryptocurrency in reserve and accepting payments in the virtual currency. But even with that support, there's still a lot of confusion surrounding it. Jarrett Vaughan, adjunct professor with UBC's Sauder School of Business, explains.

A Grade 12 student has won awards for his invention that makes it easier for deaf and blind people to communicate.

A second man has been arrested in connection with the disappearance of a 36-year-old Cape Breton man that police have called a homicide.

Charlottetown Police say they used the E-watch camera system to locate two suspects recently after getting a report of two people going through vehicles in the area of Dresden Court and Hawthorn Avenue.  The E-watch cameras led police to the suspects in the area of Fitzroy Street and Esher Street, where they were arrested.  The initial investigation pointed officers to several other locations where similar offences had taken place.  A 42 year old Charlottetown woman has been charged with a single count of theft under $5000.   A 40 year old Charlottetown man has been charged with 6 counts of Theft under 5-thousand dollars; 5 counts of Breach of probation; and 2 counts of Trespass at Night.  Police remind residents to always keep vehicles locked and don’t leave valuables in vehicles.

Santa is just one member of a global family of winter gift-givers that include angels, fairies, human-sized crows and even a pooping Yule log.

There will be no mill rate increases in the town of Botwood in the coming year.

The town adopted its municipal budget for 2025 a few days ago.

Residential property tax rates will be maintained at 8 mils.

Capital works projects for the coming year include water infrastructure on Church Road, Valley Road and Commonwealth Drive.

This is one of the busiest weekends of the year in terms of social interaction in the leadup to the Christmas holidays, and while many people wind down, some step up their activity in the name of public safety.

The RNC and RCMP will patrol the roads to look for distracted and impaired drivers. RNC Cst. James Cadigan says the two police forces also partner with MADD, and rely on people in the community to report anyone they suspect of getting behind the wheel in a compromised manner.

Random checkpoints are also a key component of law enforcement activity this time of year.

That includes spreading resources to all parts of the province including metro, the Corner Brook area and Labrador West. Essentially, they’ll stop any vehicle which they believe deserves a closer look.

The Opposition Leader says he’s already identified a number of questions to raise when the House of Assembly opens for a special debate on the MOU reached with Quebec on the Upper Churchill.

Tony Wakeham wants to know how the price of 4 cents per kW hour was reached, and what the annual rate Hydro Quebec will pay for electricity generated at the existing Churchill Falls powerhouse will be.

Wakeham says the premier quoted 5.9 cents per kilowatt hour, while officials in Quebec are saying they will have to pay less than that. In the meantime, says Wakeham, NL Hydro CEO Jennifer Williams has said that the price will start at 1.6 cents per kW hour.

He also wants to know how much revenue the provincial treasury will receive annually.

The Brandon Regional Health Centre Foundation continues their capital campaign A Foundation for Care, to support the Brandon Regional Health Centre (BRHC) expansion project that is currently underway.

A Foundation for Care has the goal of raising $2 million to support the construction of the BRHC’s new Critical Care building, along with needed equipment.

Once completed the project will feature:

• A new 16-bed Intensive Care Unit on the main level.
• Approximately 30 additional medical beds on the 2nd level.
• Mechanical space on the 3rd level. 
• And the 4th level will be shell space for potential future expansions.

“There is going to be a floor that's going to have our new and expanded ICU unit and then another floor is going to have new medical beds on it," shares BRHC Foundation Communications & Development Coordinator, Jessica Saler. "So, it's going to help increase the capacity that we have for those who are in-patients here."

The expansion project will provide healthcare staff with additional space and better equipment to meet the increasing demands of our healthcare system in Westman and will improve overall patient care. Any additional funds received over the campaign goal will be allocated to the areas of greatest need, as determined by the BRHC Foundation Board of Directors.

"It's very exciting," says Saler. "At some point or another every person is going to need medical care and so we really just try and make sure that when the time comes that you or someone you love needs medical care at the BRHC that they can have the best care possible."

The A Foundation for Care campaign is expected to go until the end of 2025, although the expansion project is anticipated to be completed and turned over to Prairie Mountain Health by July 2025.

"We're hoping that by early 2026 everything will be fully operational for patients in that wing.  So that's the current status for that new wing, but we all know a lot can happen in a year and so we like to update people through our website," explains Saler. "As we get more information on the status of the build and where our fundraising efforts are at, we update that webpage because we know that things can change over time."

Through the generous support of their donors the BRHC Foundation has provided $1,497,544.41 in equipment and program support in the 2023-2024 fiscal year.   Funds raised in the 2024-2025 fiscal year to date as of November is $999,453.

For more regular updates, please subscribe to the BRHC Foundation e-newsletter. You can find more on at on their website.

Please listen to more with Jessica Saler below!  Check out their website for more information and donation details HERE!