The National Advisory Committee on Immunization has expanded eligibility guidelines for booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines.The committee now recommends mRNA boosters to people who received two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, adults over the age of 70, front-line health-care workers with a short interval between their first two doses, and people from First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities.The latest recommendation says the emerging evidence suggests vaccine effectiveness against asymptomatic infection and mild COVID-19 disease may decrease over time, and a booster could help resto

B.C. is reporting 758 new cases of COVID-19, including two epi-linked cases, for a total of 204,330 cases in the province.There are 4,961 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 196,858 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 434 individuals are in hospital and 155 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.In the past 24 hours, 10 new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 2,147.The new deaths include:Fraser Health: fourInterior Health: fourNorthern Health: twoFrom Oct. 13-26, they accounted for 74.0% of hospi

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company is rebranding itself as Meta, an effort to encompass its virtual-reality vision for the future. Experts point out that it also appears to be an attempt to change the subject from the Facebook Papers, a document trove that has revealed how Facebook ignored or downplayed internal warnings of the negative and often harmful consequences its algorithms wreaked across the world. Zuckerberg insists that the metaverse, what you might think of as the internet rendered in three dimensions, represents the next technological horizon for humanity. And he th

Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to Aryan Khan in the Mumbai cruise drugs seizure case.Bombay High Court also granted bail to Arbaz Merchant and Munmum Dhamecha in the case.At present, Aryan is lodged at the Arthur Road Jail along with another accused Arbaaz Merchant. Whereas, Munmun Dhamecha is at Byculla women prison.Aryan Khan was arrested on October 3. An NCB team busted an alleged drugs party on the Cordelia Cruise ship which was on its way to Goa at mid-sea on October 2. A total of 20 people, including two Nigerian nationals, have been arrested so far in the case.

A judge has reserved his sentencing decision in the case of Edmonton police Constable Michael Partington, who was found guiltyof assault during an arrest in 2019. Court heard another officer had stopped an Indigenous man for riding a bike without a bell on a sidewalk. Video of the arrest shows the man on the ground in a prone position, and Partington driving his knee into the man's back.The Crown says Partington should serve jail time _ 60 to 90 days _ followed by 12 to 18 months of probation, but his lawyer says jailtime isn't required.

British Columbia Premier John Horgan says he will have biopsy surgery on Friday because of a growth in his throat. Horgan says he's been in and out of the hospital for a number of weeks. He says he noticed a lump and a later test revealed the growth in his throat. The premier says he won't step down and he plans to retain his position as the head of the Council of the Federation. As a precaution, Horgan says Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth has been appointed deputy premier to support him. Horgan, who is 62 and had bladder cancer when he was in his 40s, says that he has been in this spot

A 28-year-old Calgary man faces multiple charges including child luring, extortion and counselling suicide following a cross-countryinvestigation. Calgary police co-ordinated with Ontario Provincial Police in the investigation after an Ontario girl reported she was sexually extorted and harassed online. She says she received violent and sexual messages on several social media platforms over a five-year period starting when she was 11 -- including threats to kill her and her family and also coercing her to commit suicide.Police say the investigation identified an Alberta-based suspect and Bradl

A Calgary man who pleaded guilty to murdering his girlfriend but denies killing her daughter has told his trial that his efforts to cover up their deaths was ``misdirection.''Robert Leeming has testified that he killed Jasmine Lovett in 2019 after finding her 22-month daughter already dead -- and outlined efforts to hide the deaths under cross-examination. Leeming says that included dismantling the girl's crib and disposing of her stroller to make it appear the pair had moved out of his home and sending texts to Lovett's phone after her death. When he described the efforts as misdirection, Cro

The Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation says it would be ``deeply meaningful'' to welcome Pope Francis to Kamloops when the pontiff visits Canada on yet-to-be-determined dates. The Vatican announced yesterday that the pope will willing to visit this country as part of the process of reconciliation with Indigenous people. But Tk'emlups Chief Rosanne Casimir says in a statement issued this morning that if the only objective is reconciliation, and there's no concrete action associated with the visit, the visit will miss the ``hard truths'' First Nations are confronting as they recover from the g