Author: Press Room

In the city of Batac in the neighbouring province of Ilocos Norte, several patients spent most of the night outside a government hospital after the ceiling collapsed on several rooms and damaged equipment, hospital staff said. Boulders rolling down a hillside temporarily blocked a road linking Batac to the nearby town of Banna, but rescue officials said the landslide had since been cleared. A number of old churches in Abra and Ilocos Norte also sustained damage, the civil defence office said. Ilocos Norte governor Matthew Manotoc declared a school holiday and government workers were told not to report for work…

The owner of over 100 budgies that were surrendered to the BC SPCA two months ago has surrendered three dogs. Lee Counsell of West Kelowna, B.C., had around 150 budgies and six dogs in his home during the summer.“I feel distraught and very upset suddenly,” said Counsell.“Two months ago, all this happiness for me and my wife has been shattered. They took all of my budgies and 50 per cent of my dogs — I still have three.”According to the SPCA, back in August the birds were surrendered following an animal protection investigation in West Kelowna. “The guardian was not…

A dog lover says she likes to take her eight Staffordshire Bull Terriers for coffee and throw them birthday parties – where they even play games of ‘doggy pass the parcel’A proud pet owner has boasted of throwing birthday parties and putting on café trips for her eight pampered pooches. Bethany Stokoe, 27 from Consett, County Durham, works at a kennel and dog day care centre – but still can’t get enough of her canine friends. She owns eight Staffordshire Bull Terrier mixes, including Kira, 7, Rio, 7, Ziggy, 7, Ziva, 7, Max, 9, Dexter, 9, Misty, 10, and Mitzey,…

Tuesday’s drowsy Colorado Senate debate between incumbent Democrat Senator Michael Bennet and Republican challenger Joe O’Dea could be the sleeper race to determine which party wins the majority in Congress’ upper chamber.Compared to the fiery Pennsylvania Senate debate Tuesday evening between Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz and Democrat John Fetterman, Bennet and O’Dea’s debate was calm.However, the Centennial State’s Senate race could prove to be the lynchpin in either party’s control of Congress’ upper chamber. Colorado has trended to the left for decades and supported Joe Biden for president by a 13-point margin. But O’Dea surprised the political world by remaining more…

Jean-Drapeau, Jeanne-Mance, Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine are all famous historical figures who have a park named after them to recognize their achievements. And now Joshua Ezekiel Alexander has been added to the list.He might not be as famous but for many residents of Emerald Avenue in Côte Saint-Luc, Alexander’s achievements are meaningful.It’s why a park in the area now bears his name.Alexander grew up on Emerald avenue and played often at the local park, whenever his health permitted.“I’m very proud because Joshua deserves it, he’s been through a lot,” said his mother Victoria Wignal.Alexander underwent a heart transplant when he was only one…

Family offices in Asia are buying into cryptocurrencies, despite months of market turmoil, as weak returns from their traditional portfolios make digital assets attractive.The interest from investment managers suggests there are still new buyers of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ether, after a boom in digital asset prices during 2020 and 2021 turned to a bust. Several family offices and wealthy individuals in Hong Kong said this year’s decline in digital asset prices had to be set against the poor performance of local equity and property markets.After experiencing volatility in the first half of the year, cryptocurrency prices have recently…

Gov. Kathy Hochul stunningly said she didn’t know why it’s “so important” to lock up criminals when confronted by Republican challenger Lee Zeldin over the state’s controversial bail reform law during their first and only debate Tuesday night. Zeldin, who’s pledged to declare a crime emergency and suspend cashless bail if elected, brought up the issue midway through the televised face-off. “My opponent thinks that right now there’s a polio emergency going on but there’s not a crime emergency — different priorities than I’m hearing from people right now,” the outgoing congressman from Long Island said. “They’re not being represented…

Washington CNN  —  Former President Donald Trump took Blake Masters to task after the Arizona Republican Senate nominee said in a debate this month that he hadn’t seen evidence of election fraud in Arizona. During a phone call between Trump and Masters captured in a Fox documentary at some point after the debate, the former President can be heard encouraging Masters to lean into his unfounded election fraud claims. “If you want to get across the line, you’ve got to go stronger on that one thing. That was the one thing, a lot of complaints about it,” Trump told Masters…

The Montreal Canadiens, surprisingly, are in the middle of the pack in the NHL standings after a half-dozen games. At home, they’ve been enjoyable to watch, and in this rebuilding year it is more about how much the young guns can entertain than it is the results.On Tuesday night, it was the Minnesota Wild at the Bell Centre, and it was another entertaining game with the Wild winning 3-1.Wilde Horses The Canadiens play an exciting up-and-down-the-ice brand of hockey. They get a lot of chances, and as Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said, Montreal is one of the best teams…

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says there is “never any shortage” of worthy and well-meaning offers or ideas on where the government might spend more money. “And that temptation becomes a lot stronger when you see people hurting. As a Labor government, as Labor people, we feel that, we care about that, it keeps us awake,” he said while addressing the National Press Club in Canberra.“We see what rising prices means for families taking more from hip pockets and pushing people closer to the edge. “And whether it’s food, whether it’s electricity, whether it’s rent, inflation is public enemy number one. Inflation…