Vancouver Police say a man has been taken into custody following an hours-long barricade situation at a hotel in the city’s downtown core that prompted a large emergency response and temporary safety concerns along Granville Street. Police were called to the Regal Hotel shortly after 11:30 a.m. Tuesday following reports that a person was throwing objects from a third-floor window onto the sidewalk below. Officers say the situation escalated when the individual barricaded himself inside a hotel room after police arrived. More than 50 Vancouver Police officers were deployed during the incident

British Columbia is facing a widening gap between the number of seniors needing long-term care and the availability of publicly funded spaces, according to a new report from the province’s seniors advocate. The findings raise concerns about whether the health care system is prepared for the rapid growth of the aging population. Seniors Advocate Dan Levitt says demand for long-term care has risen far faster than capacity since 2019. His office’s 2025 Long-Term Care and Assisted Living Directory shows the number of long-term care beds has increased by about five per cent over that period, wh

Surrey Police Service, working alongside the RCMP Surrey Provincial Operations Support Unit, is asking for the public’s assistance in locating a 38-year-old man who has been reported missing. Huy Tien Nguyen, also known as Tommy Nguyen, was last seen around 8:30 a.m. on January 23 in the 15500 block of 109 Avenue in Surrey. Police say there has been no contact with him since that time, and his current whereabouts remain unknown. Nguyen is described as an Asian male, standing approximately five feet five inches tall and weighing about 140 pounds. He may have been wearing a blue and black camo

A man was restrained and removed from a public meeting in Minneapolis after allegedly spraying an unknown substance toward U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar during a town hall event Tuesday evening. Video from the scene shows the individual being tackled to the ground by attendees as Omar was speaking to constituents. Witnesses in the audience reacted with alarm, with one person heard saying the man had sprayed something toward the congresswoman. Omar was not visibly injured and continued with the town hall after the man was escorted out of the room. The incident occurred shortly after Omar sharp

The Bank of Canada has decided to hold its key interest rate at 2.25 per cent, a move that economists had largely anticipated as the central bank continues to assess the pace of economic recovery. This marks the Bank of Canada’s first rate decision of the year, following a pause in interest rate cuts announced in December. Governor Tiff Macklem said economic conditions have developed broadly in line with the bank’s expectations since that pause was put in place. New economic projections released alongside the decision indicate Canada’s economy showed little growth in the final quarter of

A South Korean court has sentenced former first lady Kim Keon Hee to 20 months in prison after finding her guilty of corruption, marking a significant development in a series of high-profile cases involving the country’s former leadership. The Seoul Central District Court ruled that Kim accepted bribes from the Unification Church in exchange for business-related favors, according to court findings released Wednesday. Prosecutors argued that the transactions undermined public trust and violated South Korea’s anti-corruption laws governing public officials and their immediate family members.

A privately operated aircraft carrying Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar crashed in an open field in western India on Wednesday, killing all five people on board, according to India’s aviation authorities. There were no survivors. The mid-size Learjet 45 was travelling from Mumbai to Pawar’s home city of Baramati when it went down about 254 kilometres from the financial capital. Television footage aired nationally showed flames and heavy smoke rising from the wreckage. The cause of the crash was not immediately known, and an investigation has been launched by the Directorate Gen

Two men are facing firearm-related Criminal Code charges following an early-morning police investigation in Surrey that began after officers reported hearing a suspected gunshot. Surrey Police Service officers assigned to Project Assurance were patrolling the area of 129 Street and 84 Avenue around 3:50 a.m. when they heard what they believed was a shot fired. Police located a suspect vehicle shortly afterward and took the driver and a passenger into custody. A loaded handgun was seized during the arrest. Project Assurance is a proactive policing initiative focused on neighbourhoods and busine

Air travel across Central Canada began stabilizing Tuesday as airport crews worked to clear the aftermath of a record-breaking snowstorm, though thousands of passengers continued to face delays and cancellations. Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows Toronto Pearson International Airport recorded 46 cancelled flights by late morning, representing about 11 per cent of scheduled departures. That marked a sharp improvement from Monday, when cancellations were roughly ten times higher as airlines grappled with buried aircraft and congested runways. Environment Canada says Pearson received