More than 30 people have died and dozens are missing in Germany and neighboring Belgium as heavy flooding turned streams andstreets into raging torrents that swept away cars and toppled houses. German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed shock at the scope of the flooding and the number of deaths, adding: ``We still don'tknow the number. But it will be many.'' Police said 18 people died in Ahrweiler county, south of Euskirchen, with up to 70 reported missing after several homes collapsed in the village of Schuld, southwest of Cologne. Authorities in the western German region of Euskirchen said r

Hundreds of people in parts of B-C are being told to pack a to-go bag and their most precious belongings in case they must leave dueto wildfires.Residents in about one thousand properties south of 100 Mile House and 482 properties around Canim Lake have been placed onevacuation alert. The entire community of Cache Creek has also been put on notice that residents may have to leave. More than 300 wildfires are burning in the province and over two dozen of those are considered either highly visible or a threat topublic safety.

The petrol prices were hiked in India on July 15 while diesel rates also followed a similar trend.The petrol prices touched Rs 100 mark in several cities of the country.Commuters urged government to provide some relief as fuel prices continue to soar.Petrol price in the national capital rose to Rs 101.54 per litre on Thursday. Diesel sold at Rs 89.87 per litre.In Mumbai, the retail price of both petrol and diesel stood at Rs 107.54 and 97.45 respectively. As for Bhopal, petrol price stood at Rs 109.89 per litre and diesel cost Rs 98.67 per litre. Kolkata reported Rs 101.74 per litre for petrol

B.C. is reporting 41 new cases of COVID-19, including four epi-linked cases, for a total of 148,228 cases in the province.There are 639 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 145,817 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 65 individuals are currently in hospital and 11 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. In the past 24 hours, no new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 1,760. Province has administered 5,872,611 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines. As of Wednesday, Jul

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is shrugging off renewed international calls to re-open our border to international travel. He says Canadians don't want to go back into lockdowns again that could result from re-opening too quickly. Today, legislators from across the U-S Midwest voted to formally ask the White House and Ottawa to re-open the border to fully vaccinated travelers, immediately. The Midwestern Legislative Conference passed a formal resolution at its annual meeting. The Canada-US border has been closed to all but essential travel and trade since March of last year.

The Province is strengthening B.C.'s ambulance system to ensure it is faster and more responsive to British Columbians, a better place to work for paramedics and dispatchers, and able to rapidly meet changing demands and needs through focused and direct leadership."When we call for help, we need to know help is on the way, and that it will arrive quickly," said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. "Immediate action on operations, as well as stronger leadership and increased investment at BC Emergency Health Services, will deliver a more effective ambulance service for patients and families who depe

Vancouver police say they are certain someone has information about a fatal stabbing on Easter Sunday, and they are urging those witnesses to share their details. 37 year old Robinson Russ, originally from Haida Gwaii, had lived in Vancouver for more than a decade when he was attacked as he stood on a corner in the city's Downtown Eastside. Police say dozens of people were nearby and those people can help give Russ's family, including his three young children, some closure about their father's murder. Police made the appeal for information this morning, joined by Russ's father, who travelled

The Cariboo Regional District says residents of nearly 500 properties east of 100 Mile House are now in ``an immediate danger to life safety'' from the 17-square kilometre wildfire south of Canim Lake, one of more than 300 blazes currently burning in BC. The district has issued evacuation orders for properties spread over almost 263 square kilometres of backcountry in the Cariboo region. An evacuation was also ordered this morning for more than one thousand properties on both sides of Highway 97 south of 100 Mile House as flames near Flat Lake have scored more than 10 square kilometres. The s

Canadian boxer Mandy Bujold has officially punched her ticket to the Tokyo Olympics. Bujold was named to the Canadian boxing team on Wednesday, a week after she won her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland to compete at the Games. The 11 time national flyweight champion was forced to appeal after her Olympic trials in Buenos Aires were cancelled earlier this year due to rising COVID-19 cases in Argentina. The International Olympic Committee's Boxing Task Force determined athletes would earn berths based on rankings, but Bujold had missed the three events they decided to