Three provincial New Democrat ministers have announced they won't seek re-election in British Columbia's fall vote. Harry Bains, Bruce Ralston and Rob Fleming were all first elected in 2005 and have served five terms in the legislature, but say they will not stand on Oct. 19. Bains, who represents the Surrey-Newton riding, says in a statement it was the honour of a lifetime to represent his constituents and serve as B.C.'s labour minister. Transport Minister Fleming says it's been a privilege to have served the constituents of Victoria-Swan Lake for "the better part of two decades." Ralston, w

A B.C. chicken named Lacey has earned a Guinness World Record for being able to correctly identify the most objects in one minute. Lacey's owner, veterinarian Emily Carrington, says the world record shows that chickens are intelligent, and Lacey now has bragging rights as one of the world's smartest hens. In a video of Lacey setting the record of six identifications, Carrington shows the hen a series of letters, numbers and coloured objects, before Lacey correctly pecks them out from among similar objects. Carrington, who lives with Lacey on Gabriola Island, says Guinness officials sent a lett

The well-funded Conservative Party of Canada spent more than $8.5 million on advertising last year, substantially exceeding what its political rivals dropped to get their message out. The Liberals spent just a fraction of that at around $381,000, while the NDP spent only about $42,000. The numbers are detailed in federal parties' annual financial returns for 2023, which Elections Canada posted online this week. The Conservative statement shows the party held $16 million in cash at the end of 2023, an increase of more than $3.2 million from the start of the year. The Liberal Party of Canada was

The parliamentary budget officer estimates that staffing up the new regulators in the Liberals' Online Harms Act will cost around $200 million over five years. The federal government wants to establish a Digital Safety Commission to regulate social-media companies and force them to limit harmful content online. The online harms bill also proposes creating a Digital Safety Ombudsperson for Canadians to take their concerns to, as well as a Digital Safety Office. In a new report, the PBO says the Heritage Department estimates those new entities will have 300 employees when they're fully up and ru

Amidst the ongoing dharna of farmers on the Punjab-Haryana border, Haryana farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni has announced that the farmers' political organization formed by him will contest all 90 seats in the next Haryana assembly elections. Chaduni has recently formed the United Struggle Party. Addressing the media, Chaduni said that all the political parties have abandoned the farmers, due to which they have formed a political party to contest the elections. He said that no person or section of the society can stay away from politics.

The Lebanese Hezbollah group says it has launched over 200 rockets at several military bases in Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed one of its senior commanders. The attack by the Iran-backed militant group on Thursday was one of the largest in the monthslong conflict along the Lebanon-Israel border, with tensions boiling in recent weeks. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack. It acknowledged on Wednesday that it had killed Mohammad Naameh Nasser, who headed one of Hezbollah's three regional divisions in southern Lebanon, a day earlier. Hours later, Hezbolla

Amritpal Singh, who won the election from Punjab's Khadur Sahib Lok Sabha seat, is being given parole with several conditions to take oath as a member of Parliament. During parole, they are not allowed to go anywhere other than Delhi. They can neither go to their homes nor to their Lok Sabha constituency. Meanwhile, his family has demanded that Amritpal be allowed to come to Punjab so that he can thank the voters of Khadur Sahib Lok Sabha constituency and listen to their problems. It is to be noted that the Punjab Police arrested Amritpal Singh from Moga district on April 23 last year, after

Senior BJP leader LK Advani's health has once again deteriorated. He has been admitted to Delhi's Apollo Hospital at 9 pm local time on Wednesday. They are under the supervision of doctors. Currently, his condition is said to be stable. Let us tell you that this is the second time within 10 days that Advani has been admitted to the hospital. Earlier on June 26, he was admitted to AIIMS in Delhi. Meanwhile, he was discharged from the hospital after a day. Doctors had said that Advani was facing age-related health problems.

Police in southeastern British Columbia say a ranch owner is dead after the helicopter they were piloting crashed on Tuesday evening. Columbia Valley RCMP say they got the call at about 7 p.m. They say search and rescue crews were sent to the crash site south of Invermere, B.C., and found the pilot, who was dead. The Mounties say the privately-owned helicopter was also carrying two passengers who were taken to hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. They have not released the name of the pilot or any further details about the crash. The RCMP say they are assisting the BC Coron