A long time member of British Columbia's legislative assembly and former cabinet minister, Rich Coleman, has announced he will not seek re-election.Coleman was first elected as the B.C. Liberal MLA for Fort Langley-Aldergrove in 1996 and was re-elected five more times, most recently as the MLA for the newly created Langley East riding in 2017.Coleman wrote on Facebook that he chose Feb. 29 to announce the decision because it's the 24th anniversary of his original nomination as a candidate.Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson thanked Coleman, saying he was ``instrumental'' in the accomplishments of

Health officials in Washington state say a second person had died from the coronavirus.Researchers said earlier the illness may have been circulating for weeks undetected in the greater Seattle area.The victims are two men, one in his 70s and another in his 50s.Both had underlying health conditions, and both were being treated at a hospital in Kirkland, Washington, east of Seattle.Washington state now has 12 confirmed cases.

Canada's coronavirus case count is now up to 24. Ontario health officials say there are four more infections.The latest diagnoses bring the number of cases of COVID-19 in Ontario to 15, though three have since been resolved. Officials say the four patients are all from the Greater Toronto Area, and all had recently travelled overseas. British Columbia has reported eight cases and Quebec, so far, has one.

A Wet'suwet'en hereditary chief and senior government ministers say they have reached a proposed arrangement in a pipeline dispute that has prompted solidarity protests across Canada in recent weeks.Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett and British Columbia Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser would not give details on the proposal, saying it first has to be reviewed by the Wet'suwet'en people.Fraser says that while the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline at the heart of the dispute is already approved and underway, the talks have helped develop a protocol to deal

Former U-S vice-president Joe Biden has won South Carolina's Democratic primary. It was his first victory in three tries at the Democratic nomination, and it came during the fourth Democratic primary contest of the 2020 election season.Biden's win could work to blunt front-runner Bernie Sanders' momentum heading into Super Tuesday, when 14 states and American Samoa weigh in on the race.Bernie Sanders has won second place in South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary, a respectable showing in a state dominated by Joe Biden.

Four new cases of the virus were reported in Canada today. The infections- three in the Greater Toronto Area and one near Vancouver- bring the total number of confirmed or presumed cases to 20. The United States also reported the country's first death from COVID-19. Washington state authorities say the man who died was in his 50s and had underlying health conditions. The governor has declared a state of emergency. In Ontario, York Region health authorities say in one case the patient was not wearing a mask when she flew to Pearson Airport from Iran, with transfers in Qatar and Copenhagen. They

Delhi Police PRO MS Randhawa on February 28 informed that the police have registered 123 FIRs so far, and around 630 people have been arrested/detained. At least 42 people, including a police head constable, died while around 200 people sustained serious injuries in the violence that raged for three days in parts of the national capital. Two Special Investigation Teams (SITs) have been constituted under the Crime Branch, Delhi Police, to investigate the violence.

Police in Surrey say an operation targeting distracted drivers led to the seizure of drugs, counterfeit cash and two arrests. The RCMP says when officers pulled over the driver of a Nissan Sentra yesterday afternoon for allegedly using a cell phone while driving, one passenger was spotted trying to conceal items while another ran away. Police say a search of the vehicle turned up suspected methamphetamines, drug paraphernalia and a small amount of counterfeit Canadian currency. The driver and passenger were arrested but the Mounties say the investigation continues and charges have not yet bee

Via Rail says most of its services will be progressively back in operation, including routes between Toronto and Montreal and Toronto and Ottawa as of Tuesday. Furthermore, it says a train will run from Toronto to Vancouver on Wednesday and return in the opposite direction two days later, on March 6. The company adds that all current reservations on those segments will be protected and further departures will be announced in the coming days. Blockades across the country, especially in eastern Ontario, have impacted the passenger rail company's service over the past few weeks.