BCAug 14, 2025
BC Ferries under fire over Chinese contract for 4 new ships
BC Ferries is under fire over a contract with a Chinese company for 4 new ships. Now, Canada’s largest and oldest shipyard has condemned it.
Davie Shipyard CEO James Davis said it was “very unfortunate” that BC Ferries had contracted with a Chinese company. Davis said BC Ferries prioritized low prices.
He said the Chinese shipyard receives heavy subsidies, has to pay cheap labor, and no Canadian or Western shipyard can reasonably compete with it.
No other company, including Canada's Davie Shipyard, got a chance to bid for the contract, with BC Ferries saying it would have cost $1.2
IndiaAug 14, 2025
Punjab Cabinet approves withdrawal of land pooling policy
The Punjab Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann today approved the formal withdrawal of the land pooling policy. The state government had announced the withdrawal of this policy a few days ago amid protests by farmers.
Under this, 65,533 acres of land were to be acquired in 164 villages of the state. The state’s farmers’ organizations had announced to continue the struggle until the notification was cancelled in the cabinet meeting. This policy was brought by the Bhagwant Mann government in May.
The government had claimed that this policy would make farmers partners
CanadaAug 14, 2025
Largest wildfire in eastern Newfoundland has destroyed up to 100 homes: officials
Officials say the largest wildfire burning in Newfoundland and Labrador may have destroyed up to 100 homes and structures.
However, Premier John Hogan says it is still too dangerous for crews to get into the area to complete an accurate tally.
The fire burning along the northwestern shore of Conception Bay began on Aug. 3 near Kingston, N.L., and Hogan says it now measures more than eight square kilometres.
Meanwhile, Forestry Department spokesman Jamie Chippett says improving weather has helped slow the wildfire burning near St. John’s, but it is still burning in the ground and considered o
IndiaAug 14, 2025
Death toll in Kashmir flash floods rises to at least 32, Indian officials say
At least 32 people are dead in flash floods caused by torrential rains in a remote, mountainous village in Indian-controlled Kashmir, a top disaster management official said Thursday.
Mohammed Irshad said rescue teams scouring the devastated Himalayan village of Chositi brought at least 100 people to safety. He said initial estimations suggested at least 50 others were still missing.
India’s deputy minister for science and technology, Jitendra Singh, said the floods were triggered by a cloudburst in Jammu and Kashmir’s Chositi area and “could result in substantial casualty.”
Chositi is
BCAug 13, 2025
Charges laid Coquitlam homicide investigation
On August 1, 2025, at approximately 6:19 a.m., Coquitlam RCMP responded to a report of an assault with a weapon in the 400 block of Midvale Street, Coquitlam. Upon arrival, police located a man suffering from serious injuries. The man was transported to hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Coquitlam RCMP secured the scene, and a suspect was taken into custody. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) took conduct of the investigation and worked in collaboration with Lower Mainland Forensic Identification Services (LMD IFIS) and BC Coroners Service.
On August 1, 2025, th
CanadaAug 13, 2025
Carney, world leaders meet ahead of Trump-Putin summit on Ukraine war
Prime Minister Mark Carney met today with the "Coalition of the Willing," a group of nations who've agreed to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian invasion, ahead of the ceasefire negotiations set for Friday.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Alaska on Friday to talk about ending the war.
Today's meeting was chaired by the leaders of the U.K., France and Germany and also involved Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
Zelenskyy is not invited to Friday's summit, though Trump has said he wants to meet w
CanadaAug 13, 2025
CUPW to hold two says of talks with Canada Post, overtime ban remains in effect
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers says it will hold two days of talks with Canada Post.
The union, which represents about 55,000 postal workers, says both sides met with federal mediators on Tuesday and it has agreed to meet with Canada Post on Friday and Monday.
The talks come after workers rejected Canada Post's latest proposal, which would have seen wage hikes of about 13 per cent over four years and restructuring to add part-time workers to the deal.
The union says its national overtime ban remains in effect.
Negotiations for a new collective agreement have been ongoing for more than a
BCAug 13, 2025
Oliver woman faces three impaired and dangerous driving charges for 2024 collision that killed a man
On July 31, 2025, exactly one year after a collision that killed a 39-year-old man in the South Okanagan, an Oliver woman has been arrested for the fatal crash.
On July 31, 2024, just before 8:00 a.m., a grey Toyota Echo and a white Ford Explorer collided on Highway #97 near Road 21 in Oliver, BC. The driver and lone occupant of the Toyota Echo was killed.
After nine months of investigation, BC Highway Patrol – Keremeos forwarded a report to the BC Prosecution Service (BCPS) who approved the following charges against 30-year-old Vanessa Lameiras:
Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causin
BCAug 13, 2025
B.C. residential unit sales up in July but down year-to-date, association says
Sales of homes in British Columbia grew in July compared with the same month last year, but year-to-date numbers show transactions remain slower.
The British Columbia Real Estate Association says there were about 7,000 residential unit sales in the province last month, up 2.2 per cent from the numbers reported in July 2024.
Just under 43,000 homes sold in B.C. in the first seven months of this year, down 5.7 per cent from 2024 levels during the same period.
The association's chief economist Brendon Ogmundson says the numbers show markets in the province building momentum through the summer, wi