Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who reached Punjab, visited the flood-affected areas of Amritsar district on Thursday. During this, he met the local people and farmers and listened to their problems and took stock of the damage to crops due to flooding in the fields. Apart from Amritsar, Union Minister Chouhan also planned to visit Kapurthala and Gurdaspur districts, after which he was to hold a meeting with the officials in Amritsar. The Union Minister said that I want to assure my farmer brothers and sisters and other flood-affected people that the Central Government is

Finance Minister Francois Philippe Champagne says ``adjustments'' are coming to the public service as Ottawa looks to trim its spending in the fall budget. Champagne is in the Greater Toronto Area today for the second day of meetings with Prime Minister Mark Carney and the rest of cabinet ahead of Parliament's return in less than two weeks. Champagne says he has received responses from his colleagues to his request earlier this summer for cuts of 15 per cent in day-to-day spending over the next three years. While Canadians will have to wait for the fall budget to see where those c

The union representing thousands of British Columbia public service workers says it is escalating job action in the dispute. The BC General Employees' Union says pickets are being expanded today to include the Ministry of Finance office in downtown Vancouver. It's the third day of job action by the union after a strike deadline expired on Tuesday morning. The union is seeking improved wages and says there's no indication the provincial government's Public Service Agency is willing to get back to negotiations with an improved offer. The BCGEU, which represents about 34,000 public service worker

Giorgio Armani, the iconic Italian designer, has died at 91, his fashion house confirmed. Armani, known for his understated elegance, missed Milan Fashion Week in June 2025 due to an undisclosed condition. He was planning a major event for his fashion house's 50th anniversary this month. Armani revolutionized Italian ready-to-wear fashion in the late 1970s with his relaxed silhouette. His empire, worth over $10 billion, included clothing, accessories, and more. Armani's influence extended to Hollywood, dressing stars like Richard Gere and Anne Hathaway.

The death toll in the crash of a famous Lisbon streetcar popular with tourists has risen to 17 after two of the 23 injured people died from their injuries while in hospital care. A Portuguese emergency services official said Thursday that the dead were all adults. The head of Lisbon's Civil Protection Agency declined to provide their names or nationalities. The official said that their families would be informed first. She said that another 21 people were injured in Wednesday's crash. More than half were foreigners. The cause of the crash was under investigation.

RCMP say 17 people, including self-proclaimed ``Queen of Canada'' Romana Didulo, have been arrested in southwestern Saskatchewan. Followers of Didulo, who has promoted various conspiracy theories, set up a ``Kingdom of Canada'' compound in an old school in Richmound, west of Regina, in 2023. Insp. Ashley St. Germaine says a warrant was executed Wednesday morning at the property and four replica handguns were found. She says police continue to collect evidence and conduct interviews, but that so far, no charges have been laid. Mounties charged the owner of the property earlier thi

Prime Minister Mark Carney and his cabinet will meet behind closed doors for a second day in a row today, as the Liberal government prepares for Parliament's return in a little under two weeks. Cabinet is discussing efforts to spur industrial investment, refocus Ottawa's spending priorities for the coming fall budget and counter U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs. The federal government is expected in October to table Carney's first budget since taking office. Carney billed the budget on Wednesday as both an austerity plan and one that will ramp up investments to bolster the economy. Conser

Residents in parts of northern Vancouver Island are without landline and cellphone service due to what telecom provider Telus says was damage to infrastructure caused by vandalism. The company's service status map shows both Port McNeill and Port Hardy without home phone, mobile, internet and 911 landline service due to what it says is "damage inflicted upon Telus infrastructure." Other communities on Vancouver Island, including Alert Bay, Campbell River and Port Alice, have also been affected. Emergency Info B.C. says on social media that residents should still try to call 911 if they have an

Federal investigators are looking into a train derailment in British Columbia's Kootenay region near the Alberta boundary. The Transportation Safety Board says in a statement that a team is being deployed to the site near Elko, B.C., where investigators will gather information and begin to assess what caused the derailment. A spokesman with rail operator Canadian Pacific Kansas City has confirmed the derailment at about 8 p.m. Tuesday, where multiple cars left the tracks. CPKC says the 12 cars involved were empty and no one was injured as a result of the derailment. It says its crews responded