Author: Press Room

Thousands of Agriculture Department employees who were fired last month must be reinstated in their old positions for at least 45 days, a board that handles federal worker disputes ordered on Wednesday.The fired employees were on probationary status and relatively new in their positions, swept up in the Trump administration’s push to rapidly reduce the size of the federal work force in part by targeting those types of workers. Probationary employees have fewer Civil Service protections than other government workers who have been in their jobs longer, and have been seen by President Trump and Elon Musk, the tech billionaire…

Descrease article font size Increase article font size West Kelowna city council is vowing to do better after its new city hall build went way over budget. The new city hall opened last May and, according to city staff, West Kelowna’s bill is $24.17 million. That’s up from an estimated $18 million in 2021, a difference of $6.17 million.The city said that despite the overrun taxpayers will be unaffected.“We’re using some money from various sources to make up the difference of the $6.17 million overage. So, in a way, we’re using some of our reserves and over time we will…

Perhaps no vote was as agonizing for Senator Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican and medical doctor, than his vote to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President Trump’s health secretary. Mr. Cassidy wondered aloud for days how Mr. Kennedy, the nation’s most vocal and powerful critic of vaccinations, might handle an infectious disease crisis.Now, as a measles outbreak rages in West Texas, Mr. Cassidy has found out. It all comes down, he said, to “the gestalt.”On Monday, days after the Texas outbreak killed an unvaccinated child, Mr. Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Health Committee, was clipping down a Capitol corridor…

Whitetop, a 27-year-old llama who works at Victory Junction camp, was declared the world’s oldest llama in captivity by the Guinness World Records last week.Victory Junction is a year-round, free camp in North Carolina designed for chronically ill and disabled children. It was founded by NASCAR star Richard Petty and his family.Whitetop is known for his relaxed, sweet and empathetic personality. He comforts campers by lying still while they pet him.A bucktoothed llama that spends his days comforting chronically ill children at a North Carolina camp founded by NASCAR royalty has been crowned the world’s oldest llama in captivity.At 27…

Just off Interstate 94 in Collegeville, Minnesota, is a striking architectural wonder that was brought to life by renowned architect Marcel Breuer: Saint John’s Abbey Church at Saint John’s University.”He was from Hungary, originally studied at the Bauhaus in Germany in the 1920s and 30s, and then when Hitler took over the Bauhaus, he moved to London,” said abbey monk Brother Alan Reed. “Eventually, he moved to the United States.”The Oscar-winning film “The Brutalist” — a fictional story about a Holocaust survivor and immigrant architect — was inspired by the abbey’s church, thanks to a book written by a monk…

Over the last month, the U.S. government has worked quickly to pause, disband and dismantle the U.S. effort to fight foreign meddling in elections, raising concern among federal lawmakers and election officials across the country who rely on the federal cybersecurity agency and its counterparts to warn them about attacks on election systems. First came a flurry of notices forcing out Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency personnel who are tasked with stopping foreign interference in U.S. elections — at least a dozen have been put on leave or fired over the past month. Then, on Attorney General Pam Bondi’s first day…

TV host, content creator and author of the book “Tieng Anh Khong Kho, Dung Nhan Nho (English is not tough, so don’t frown)” Tran Khanh Vy shares her favorite places to hang out in Vietnam’s most populous city.Vietnam is renowned for its coffee culture. From the high-end cafes to street stalls equipped with iconic low stools and tiny tables, coffee in Vietnam – usually brewed with Robusta beans – packs a punch.However, the most accessible way to get your caffeine fix in the country is cà phê bệt, which literally translates to “coffee while sitting on the ground.” Coffee sellers…

Police are investigating a crash where two cars collided near the driveway of a brewery in Perth’s south, leaving a driver fighting for his life.Emergency services rushed to the scene on King Road near King Road Brewing Co — north of the Mundijong Road intersection — in Oldbury about 3.10pm on Wednesday.Police said a black Nissan Navara was travelling south before it collided with a blue Ford Focus, also in the southbound lane, as it was turning into a driveway.“Both vehicles left the road, further colliding with a brick wall and trees,” a spokeswoman said.The 39-year-old man driving the Ford…

United States President Donald Trump has escalated his war of words with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, hinting at rocky negotiations as Canada seeks to deescalate a growing trade war. On Wednesday, Trump turned to his social media platform Truth Social to give his version of a midday phone call he held with Trudeau. “The call ended in a ‘somewhat’ friendly manner,” Trump said, without offering specifics. The Republican leader did, however, accuse Trudeau of doing too little to address fentanyl trafficking, an issue experts say is of minor concern along the Canadian border. Trump also openly questioned Trudeau’s role…

Democrat Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico went off in a curse-laden tirade against the Trump administration and Republicans during a House Oversight Committee hearing on sanctuary cities, calling the hearing “absolute bulls–t.”Testifying at the hearing were mayors Eric Adams of New York City, Michelle Wu of Boston, Brandon Johnson of Chicago and Mike Johnston of Denver, all of whom are Democrats and lead cities with migrant “sanctuary” policies.These laws ban or restrict law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities to deport illegal immigrants, including those with criminal charges.Stansbury, who represents a heavily blue border state, came to the…