B.C. is reporting 661 new cases of COVID-19, including two epi-linked cases, for a total of 176,480 cases in the province.There are currently 5,791 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 168,459 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 288 individuals are in hospital and 137 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. In the past 24 hours, seven new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 1,873.The new deaths include:Vancouver Coastal Health: twoInterior Health: threeIsland Health: two From Sept. 7-13, people no

US gymnasts Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney, Maggie Nichols and Aly Raisman are testifying before Congress about what they say were failures in FBI's handling of the sexual abuse case against former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar. Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles cried this morning as she told a Senate committee that the FBI and gymnastics officials turned a blind eye to USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar's sexual abuse of her and hundreds of other women. Biles says USA Gymnastics and the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee knew that she was abused by their official team doctor

Higher gasoline and housing prices, compared with last year's pandemic-related lows, fuelled a leap in the national inflation rate to 4.1 per cent in August, up from 3.7 per cent in July. Statistics Canada says the hike is the largest year-over-year jump in inflation since March 2003, but if gasoline prices had been excluded, the August rate would have been 3.2 per cent. The cost of living in BC also climbed last month to 3.5 per cent, up four-tenths of a point from July. Inflation in Victoria was 3.2 per cent, an increase of half a point since July and Vancouver's rate nudged up 2 basis poin

A body has been found in a rural area of the southern Interior and police say the death is suspicious. A statement from Merritt RCMP says its members and major crimes investigators were called to an area near Nicola Lake, outside Merritt, at around 8 yesterday morning. Police haven't released the sex or age of the victim or what caused the death. They say their priority is identifying the body and notifying relatives.

Vancouver Coastal Health says a care home will be renamed because its namesake lobbied against the rights of racialized people in the 1940s. The health authority says it will consult with local community partners and stakeholders this fall to give the George Pearson Centre a more culturally appropriate name. It says Pearson's beliefs and actions do not align with its core values and the renaming process over the next few months will be transparent and respectful. The facility in Vancouver's Marpole neighbourhood opened in 1957. Vancouver Coastal Health on Twitter: Starting this fall, Vancouve

A popular passenger ferry that travels between Victoria and Seattle will be sailing into the BC city's harbour for the first time in 18 months as it gets back to business this week. FRS Clipper is the company that operates the Victoria Clipper V vessel, and its CEO says operations were expected to be halted until spring of next year due to staffing issues. He says federal unemployment benefits in the United States ran out on September 3rd for many people and if the company couldn't recall its staff, it risked losing key personnel. Starting Friday, Clipper will operate a four-day schedule over

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis raised concern after Delhi Police busted a Pakistan-organised terror module on September 14. He said, "The arrest of terrorists in the country and especially in Mumbai is a major danger alert. It is very important to find such people because we do not want serious incidents to happen. Such people should be eliminated".

Federal leaders are united in their commitment to fight sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces, but not on how to do it. Campaigning in southwestern Ontario today, Jagmeet Singh promised a New Democratic government would act on the recommendations of retired Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps, who in 2015 called for an independent centre to hold the military accountable on sexual misconduct. Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole has committed to creating an independent watchdog, and to a freeze on promotions for senior leaders until the issue is addressed. Trudeau would not commit to an

The question of who will make life more or less affordable for Canadians hits the federal campaign trail as new figures show the pace of price increases is at its highest in two decades.The country's headline inflation figure registered an annual increase of 4.1 per cent in August, fuelled by rising demand as more parts of the economy reopened and eased supply-chain constraints for many goods.NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh speaking this morning in Essex, Ont., says he's concerned about inflation rates and that bringing down housing prices is one way to address it.In Halifax an hour later, Liberal Le