The wildfire situation is continually evolving, and the information below is current as of 7 p.m. (Pacific time) on Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2021. Fires:Wildfires currently burning in B.C.: 243Since April 1, 2021:1,551 wildfires861,523 hectares of area burnedActive fires by fire centre:Cariboo: 26Coastal: 18Kamloops: 82Northwest: 5Prince George: 52Southeast: 60Resources:Firefighters and other personnel currently fighting the fires: 3,450Out-of-province firefighters: 464Helicopters and planes supporting ground crews: 138Evacuations:Evacuation orders: 46 (-2)Evacuation alerts: 90 (-6)Properties:Numbe

The Canadian Armed Forces is confirming that all of its members still in Afghanistan are safe and accounted for after two suicide bombers and gunmen targeted crowds gathered near the Kabul airport. Most Canadian soldiers left the country on the last of Ottawa's evacuation flights earlier in the day, leaving behind an unknown number of Canadian citizens and Afghans who assisted the Canadian military. Russian officials are reporting the attacks killed at least 13 people and wounded 15 others. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid says his group strongly condemns the attack, which he pointed out

Emergency Management BC says the number of active wildfires in the province has fallen below 250.The agency says in a news release that the number of active wildfires in B.C. is about 240 and 22 of those fires are considered of note, which means they are highly visible or pose a potential threat to public safety. It says more than 3,400 firefighters from B.C. and more than 400 from out-of-province are helping fight the fires.The BC Wildfire Service says some of the major blazes _ such as White Rock Lake, Tremont Creek and Lytton Creek _ are still classified as out of control.The province has a

Russian officials says twin suicide bombings have struck outside Kabul's airport, killing at least 13 people.Large crowds of people trying to flee Afghanistan have massed at the airport.Western nations had warned earlier in the day of a possible attack at the airport in the waning days of a massive airlift. Suspicion for any attack targeting the crowds would likely fall on the Islamic State group and not the Taliban, who have been deployed at the airport's gates. Russia's Foreign Ministry gave the first official casualty count, saying 13 people had died and 15 were wounded. U.S. officials sai

An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.0 on the Richter Scale hit 106km WSW of Jodhpur, Rajasthan at 11.15 IST on Thursday, the National Centre for Seismology informed."Earthquake of Magnitude:4.0, Occurred on 26-08-2021, 11:15:52 IST, Lat: 25.83 & Long: 72.06, Depth: 10 Km ,Location: 106km WSW of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India," the National Centre for Seismology tweeted.On August 24, the Hanley district of Jammu and Kashmir was also hit by an earthquake of 4.5 magnitudes on the Richter Scale. The epicentre, with a depth of 10 km was determined to be at 32.29 degrees latitude and 78.81 degrees lo

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal on August 25 stated that the only party who speaks for Punjab and fights for the right of Punjab is Akali Dal party. "We are fighting the fight for the people of Punjab, they believe that there is only one party for Punjabis - Shiromani Akali Dal. Only that party speaks for Punjab and fights for the right of Punjab," said Badal. "Congress' state chief and Capt Amarinder Singh have been fighting with each other. What are they (people in the state) saying? That Captain didn't say or do anything. People in Punjab are saying that he's the mos

B.C. is reporting 698 new cases of COVID-19, including five epi-linked cases, for a total of 161,969 cases in the province.There are 5,356 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 154,669 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 139 individuals are in hospital and 75 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.In the past 24 hours, one new death (Fraser Health) has been reported, for an overall total of 1,802. There have been two new health-care facility outbreaks at Brock Fahrni (Vancouver Coastal Health) and Spring Valley Ca

The RCMP say one person is believed to be dead and another is in hospital after part of a building collapsed in North Vancouver on Wednesday. Sgt. Peter DeVries says fire and rescue personnel determined that one person sustained "catastrophic" injuries, but it was still too dangerous to remove debris within the construction site in order to recover the body. The coroners service has yet to officially confirm the death, he says, while BC Emergency Health Services says the second person is in stable condition. DeVries says police don't believe anyone else was trapped. He says it looked like a "d

BC's police watchdog has cleared Vancouver officers involve in a fatal shooting in the city's Downtown Eastside earlier this year. A report from the Independent Investigations Office says the officers' use of force in the January 5th shooting was, quote, ``justified, necessary and proportionate'' because ``they had no choice.'' It says the officers feared the man, who was not named by the oversight agency, would either stab them or bystanders with a sword he was carrying. The watchdog's report says the officers were not carrying a stun gun and fired a total of five shots from their firearms f