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A 36-year-old man is recovering in hospital after being attacked in his home early Christmas morning.

The Winnipeg Police Service says they responded to a townhouse in the 1700 block of St. Mary’s Road just after 3 a.m.

East District Patrol officers, with the assistance of the K9 Unit, attended and located the lone victim suffering from serious injuries as a result of being assaulted with an edged weapon during the home invasion.

Police say that the victim fled before police arrived.

This Christmas, many of us will sing our favourite carols. But how often do we ask where they come from?

Very rarely, if ever.

Some of these songs trace back centuries, each with its own story to tell. Take “In the Bleak Midwinter,” for instance — Christina Rossetti’s 1872 masterpiece brings together winter’s chill, the arrival of Christ and a gentle portrayal of the nativity. It culminates in that poignant moment of quiet reflection: The poem-turned-carol invites a depth of contemplation that resonates long after the last note fades.

The Manitoba government is set to receive $337 million more in equalization payments from the federal government in the next fiscal year.

The total of more than $4.6 billion is a 7.7 per cent increase over this year's level and follows a 24 per cent jump from last year.

Equalization is a federally-funded program that gives money to poorer provinces so that they can offer similar services to richer provinces at comparable tax rates.

A major investigation by the Winnipeg Police Service has resulted in the seizure of approximately 3 million contraband cigarettes and the arrests of five individuals connected to an illicit smuggling operation from Ontario to Winnipeg.

The WPS says that the seized cigarettes are estimated to have a street value of $1.2 million.

The investigation, led by the Property Crime Unit and Guns & Gangs Unit, with assistance from the Major Crimes Unit, began earlier this month, focusing on the trafficking of illegal cigarettes and firearms.

One person is dead and another in hospital following a house fire in the Shaughnessy Park area.

The blaze broke out just before 11 p.m. Monday in a two-and-a-half storey duplex in the 1400 block of Selkirk Avenue.

Heavy smoke and flames were coming from the home when crews arrived. 

Some people evacuated before firefighters arrived. However,  those residents reported that there was still someone in the house.

Firefighters quickly located the person and rescued them. They were treated on scene and transported to hospital, where they died.

Immigration measures announced as part of Canada's border response to president-elect Donald Trump's 25 per cent tariff threat are starting to be implemented, beginning with a ban on what's known as "flagpoling."

This is when someone who was in Canada on a temporary visa leaves for the U.S. then quickly re-enters Canada to access immigration services at a port of entry. 

The restriction on providing work and study permits to flagpolers takes effect today.

Canada appears to be barrelling toward a spring election now that the NDP is vowing to vote down the government early next year — whether Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stays on or not.

Political watchers are abuzz over the possible scenarios that could play out in the coming year following last week's drama that rocked Trudeau's government, and a springtime national campaign is the one that's solidifying the fastest.

It’s a holiday tradition unlike any other here in the city of Winnipeg, one that has sparked the joy of the season in audiences for decades.  

For the artists performing in the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker this week, that joy is the key driver behind the magic that they capture on stage.  

Thanks to a program run by Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI), anyone needing a ride in Winnipeg on New Year's Eve will have a free ride home. 

All Regular and Transit Plus services on Tuesday, Dec. 31, will be free thanks to MPI and the City of Winnipeg. 

The Manitoba government's plan to replace paper health cards with more durable and modern plastic ones is running a bit behind schedule.

Premier Wab Kinew has said on a few occasions, including in a social media video last month, that people would be able to start applying for the new cards in December.

He now says the process is to get underway in mid-January and that it was pushed back in part by the postal workers' strike.

"We had existing (paper) health cards going out the door, just kind of starting to pile up," Kinew said in an interview.