Author: Press Room

The Okanagan single-family home market appears to be feeling the impact of higher interest rates. The Association of Interior Realtors released data for January, showing that benchmark home prices were down in January throughout the region.Prices dropped between five and nearly eight per cent compared to January 2022.“Last year when a client could afford a purchase of let’s say $380,000, at an income of $80,000 for their year, this year it is only about $340,000 so it is a big difference,” said Deb White, owner of White House Mortgages in Vernon.While the detached home prices are down, they haven’t plummeted…

First lady Jill Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff shared a kiss ahead of President Biden’s second State of the Union address Tuesday evening at the national Capitol.The moment immediately went viral on Twitter.Biden is expected to tout the progress made under his administration in his speech, specifically with regard to the economy and COVID-19.CLICK HERE FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE SPEECH “The story of America is a story of progress and resilience…We are the only country that has emerged from every crisis stronger than when we entered it. That is what we are doing again,” Biden is expected to say, according to…

The Harlem man accused of fatally shooting off-duty NYPD officer Adeed Fayaz was charged with murder on Tuesday hours after the cop was declared dead at the hospital, authorities said. Randy “Popper” Jones, 38, allegedly shot the 26-year-old father of two in the head during a botched robbery in East New York on Saturday night after Fayaz and his brother-in-law arranged to purchase a Honda Pilot on Facebook Marketplace, police and sources said. The pair had $24,000 in cash on them at the time. Jones lured the pair down a dark alley and allegedly opened fire “almost immediately,” striking Fayaz…

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says she won’t “criticise the RBA” for the 3.35 per cent interest rate rise as the Labor government “fails to recognise the pain its economic policy is causing”.“These institutions in Australia have stood us in good stead – the independents of the Reserve Bank,” Ms Ley told Sky News Australia.She said Labor had failed to acknowledge “broken promises” since their election.“They made these promises that you would have cheaper mortgages, you would have cheaper power prices, that no Australians would be left behind.“Under Anthony Albanese, everything is going up except your wages.” Source: Sky News

Even for a famously frugal nation, Chinese people saved a lot last year. Stuck at home due to Covid restrictions, they socked away a record $2.6 trillion. Now that life is returning to normal, hopes are high that consumers will spend with a vengeance, providing a much-needed boost to the world’s second largest economy, the impact of which would be felt around the world. Household savings at banks surged by a record high of 17.84 trillion yuan ($2.6 trillion) in 2022, up 80% from 2021, according to the People’s Bank of China. That’s more than one third of households’ total…

The Teen Mom franchise kicked off with 16 and Pregnant in 2009 and has since evolved into numerous iterations — and numerous feuds among the cast. While there have been significant cast changes through the years, one constant has remained: the drama. While the stars of the franchise have frequently fought with the fathers of their children, their parents and more, the spats that have garnered the most attention are the ones between the cast members themselves. Kailyn Lowry and Briana DeJesus have had the one of the longest-running feuds in the franchise, which kicked off in October 2017 when…

Critics of Brazil’s planned sinking of the decommissioned Sao Paulo aircraft carrier described it as a ‘state-sponsored environmental crime’.Brazil has sunk a decommissioned aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean despite concerns expressed by environmental groups that the ageing warship was packed with toxic materials. The “planned and controlled sinking occurred late in the afternoon” on Friday, some 350 km (220 miles) off the Brazilian coast in the Atlantic Ocean, in an area with an “approximate depth of 5,000 meters [16,000 feet]”, Brazil’s Navy said in a statement. The decision to scuttle the six-decade-old aircraft carrier “Sao Paulo” came after Brazilian…

The New Orleans Saints will reportedly be welcoming Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr for a visit Wednesday, according to NFL Network. Carr is in a unique situation with the Raiders. He’s still under contract, but Las Vegas has already made it known that he won’t be on the roster come training camp. This means they will either find a trade partner for him or eat the $5.625 million in dead cap space by releasing him, which would save the Raiders $29.25 million toward the cap. The Raiders have granted Carr permission to speak with teams interested in his services, and the…

Ottawa is spending $2 million for an international organization to provide First Nations with options around identifying possible human remains buried near residential schools. A statement from the office of Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller says it is signing a technical agreement with the International Commission on Missing Persons.Based out of The Hague, the organization works in different countries to help identify the remains of those who have disappeared or been killed in conflicts and disasters, including after the 2013 Lac-Megantic rail disaster in Quebec.Miller’s office says the organization will undertake a “cross-country outreach campaign” with Indigenous communities interested in…

Sky News Business Reporter Ed Boyd says yesterday saw “a bit of a change-up” from Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe as the RBA delivered a 25-basis point hike to the cash rate, bringing it up to 3.35 per cent.“Governor Lowe changed his sort of outlook on the economy yesterday and basically said ‘we need to keep lifting interest rates this year’,” he said. Source: Sky News