The Vancouver Bandits and Connect FM are proud to announce the continuation of their groundbreaking partnership to broadcast select 2025 Bandits home games in Punjabi, marking the second straight season of inclusive, community-driven basketball storytelling on air. In 2024, the Bandits and Connect FM made history by becoming the first team in Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) history to deliver a live Punjabi radio broadcast on June 1, 2024. This milestone moment resonated with fans across the Lower Mainland and the global South Asian diaspora, creating space for representation, access,

Prime Minister Mark Carney has faced his first question period in the House of Commons. Carney is among the roughly one-third of the M-Ps in the House of Commons who were elected in April. Today, PM Carney faced some questions at the hands of interim opposition leader Andrew Scheer. It's also the first time presiding over question period for newly-elected Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre (PWAH'-lee-ehv) is absent from the House of Commons after failing to win re-election in his riding.

Warm temperatures have arrived across much of British Columbia, with Environment Canada issuing a special weather statement in the North Thompson. It says "above seasonal temperatures" are expected throughout the day in the Interior region where a ridge of high pressure is ushering in warm air from the south. The bulletin says that air will linger throughout the day, causing temperatures to rise to more than 30C, before cooler air arrives Thursday, lowering temperatures to near seasonal values. Temperatures are meanwhile expected to hit 24C in Vancouver, 23C in Victoria and 30C in Abbotsford,

The BC Wildfire Service has announced open fire bans that will prohibit most burning activities in most coastal areas of the province, with exceptions for Haida Gwaii. The ban on Category 2 and Category 3 open fires in the Coastal Fire Centre comes into effect at noon Friday, and the service says it's being imposed to reduce the risk of wildfires. The service says the ban will remain in place until Oct. 31 or until it is rescinded. Category 1 campfires that are no more than half a metre high by half a metre wide will still be allowed, as well as cooking stoves. The bans cover west of the Coast

The Edmonton Oilers are just one victory away from clinching the N-H-L's Western Conference playoff series and moving on to a second straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. After dropping the series opener to the Dallas Stars, the Oilers have won the last three games, including last night's 4-1 victory before hometown fans at Rogers Place. Edmonton could send the Stars packing with a Game-5 win tomorrow night in Texas.Tonight, the defending champion Florida Panthers will try to wrap up the Eastern final tonight as they take a 3-1 lead into Game 5 against the host Carolina Hurricanes.

Defence Minister David McGuinty says that Canada still doesn't know what it would cost to join U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed "Golden Dome" missile defence program. On Tuesday, in a social media post, Trump said it would cost Canada $61 billion to join as a sovereign country but nothing at all if it became a U.S. state. Trump claimed that Canada is "considering the offer." When asked about Trump's comments, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he won't negotiate in public. Trump announced plans for a complex missile defence system modelled after Israel's "Iron Dome" earlier this month and c

British Columbia's Labour Ministry says the province's lowest paid workers are getting a pay bump as of Sunday. It says the minimum wage will increase from $17.40 to $17.85 an hour. The ministry says the 2.6 per cent increase also applies to pay rates for resident caretakers, live-in home-support workers, live-in camp leaders and app-based delivery and ride-hail services workers. The government says it has made regular, gradual increases to the minimum wage to provide certainty for workers and predictability for businesses. It says this is the fourth year of the government's ongoin

Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, one of the stalwart leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal, has passed away. He was 89 years old. According to the information received, he had been ill for some time and was undergoing treatment in a hospital in Mohali, where he breathed his last today. He was honored with the Padma Bhushan award in 2019. Dhindsa has had a long political journey with the late Parkash Singh Badal. He entered the Punjab Vidhan Sabha after winning the election as an independent candidate in 1972, after which he joined the Shiromani Akali Dal under the leadership of Harchand Singh Longowal. H

Two men are to be sentenced today for their role in a human smuggling operation that saw a family of four freeze to death on the Canada-U.S. border south of Winnipeg. Harshkumar Patel and Steve Shand were convicted last fall on four charges related to bringing people illegally into the United States and transporting them. Court was told during one operation in January of 2022, a couple from India and their two children were left to walk across the border in an overnight blizzard on the bald prairie, as temperatures dropped below -20 C. Prosecutors say Patel organized the logistics while Shand