The union representing employees at a BC prison say six members were sounding the alarm about the spread of COVID-19 among inmates five days before health officials formally declared an outbreak. The BC Government and Service Employees Union says six employees at the Fraser Regional Correctional Centre refused to take part in unsafe work last week. A WorkSafe BC inspection of the facility was triggered by the employees refusing to work. Inspection report concluded that some of the concerns raised were outside of the inspection's scope while others did not constitute an undue hazard. Union pre

American pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson says its vaccine is very good at preventing people from being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19.The vaccine is the first to use just a single dose and can be stored in a fridge for up to three months, making it a potential game changer in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.The results aren't quite as good as those seen in the two vaccines Health Canada has already approved, with both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna saying their vaccines showed 95 per cent efficacy against severe illness.Johnson and Johnson says it's single-dose vaccine is 85 per

A tense situation prevailed at Singhu border after scuffles broke out on Friday between protesting farmers and local people who were demanding that the area be vacated. Stone-pelting incidents were also reported from the area after which the police had to resort to lathicharge and fire tear gas shells to disperse the crowd.Police barricades were also reportedly broken. Some people were seen raising slogans against farmers and asked them to vacate the protest site. The local people who were protesting against the farmers demanding the site to be vacated raised slogans like --''Khalistan Murdaba

President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday condemned the violence that broke out during the farmers' tractor rally on the occasion of Republic Day. Addressing a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament, President Kovind mentioned that the national flag and the national day were insulted in the past few days, adding that while the constitution provides freedom of expression to all, it also teaches people to follow rules and regulations seriously."The national flag and a holy day like Republic Day were insulted in the past few days. The constitution that provides us Freedom of Expression, is the s

A huge crowd of people gathered at Ghazipur border amid the ongoing farmers' protest on January 29. RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary arrived at the site to meet Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait and other farmers. Local administration asked farmer unions to vacate the border area. The police took stringent action following the violence in Delhi during farmers' tractor rally. Farmers are protesting against the Centre's three farm laws.

Vancouver Coastal Health says 288 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Whistler from the start of the year through Tuesday. It says most of them are young people in their 20s and 30s who live, work and socialize together. The health agency is urging Whistler residents and potential visitors to continue to follow public health restrictions to lower the rising number of COVID-19 infections. It says Whistler experienced a similar spike in cases in November, which was resolved in early December. B.C. reported 546 new cases, including five epi-linked cases, for a total of 66,265 cases. There a

A new report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation shows the rental market vacancy rate in this country's largest cities reached 3.2 per cent last year, while the rate in Metro Vancouver more than doubled to 2.6, the highest it has been in more than two decades. CMHC chief economist Bob Dugan says the pandemic cut into rental demand for several reasons including lower international migration, fewer student renters and a sagging employment market. But the report says rents continue to creep up in large cities. Report suggests Vancouver is leading the pack at just under 1,800 dollars per

Fashion mogul Peter Nygard's lawyers have told a judge they've hired a security company that will ensure their client follows rules for release if he is granted bail. The 79 year old was arrested last month in Winnipeg under the Extradition Act and is facing nine charges of sex trafficking and racketeering in the United States. Federal lawyers want Nygard to remain in custody and want to know how he'll pay for the security firm if his finances are in dire straits, as he has suggested. Peter Nygard will remain in jail for another week, despite his lawyers laying out an updated bail plan. Just

Two men found guilty of killing six people in British Columbia's most notorious gang slayings will be allowed a hearing to argue their claims of abuse of process, but their guilty verdicts stand. The British Columbia Court of Appeal has upheld the first-degree murder verdicts for Matthew Johnston and Cody Haevischer in the so-called Surrey Six killings in October 2007. The court denied their request for a new trial, but it did quash their convictions and send the matter back to court for a hearing on their applications for a stay of proceedings over the abuse of process claims. The Appeal Cour