Two people in Metro Vancouver are accused of colluding with foreign nationals to make fraudulent claims for refugee protection in Canada. The Canada Border Services Agency says Roger Bhatti of Delta and Sofiane Dahak of Vancouver face more than two dozen charges, including forgery, counselling misrepresentation of facts and use of forged documents. The agency alleges the offences involved people originating from Central Europe and took place between 2002 and 2014.It says in a news release that Bhatti, who is 61, practised as a lawyer and Dahak, who is 52, was an interpreter when the alleged of

Authorities in Belgium and another three countries have dismantled a criminal drug trafficking network that allegedly relied on corrupt police officers to ship hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cocaine into Western Europe. The investigation, which started when a container with 2.8 tons of cocaine was found last year in the port city of Antwerp, uncovered an international network with connections in at least four different European countries and South America. Officials said Thursday that, including the Antwerp seizure, police have confiscated a total 3.5 tons of cocaine imported by the

BC NDP candidate Ravi Kahlon has written a letter to B.C. Liberal Leader Andrew Wilkinson on Thursday, to seek clarity on BC Liberal candidate from Surrey-Fleetwood, Garry Thind’s role in his campaign’s alleged plan to illegally request mail-in ballots on behalf of other people. Talking to journalists over telephone, Kahlon said that Wilkinson avoided a direct question about Thind’s knowledge of the plan on Wednesday.Kahlon said that the BC Liberals have fired the campaign worker involved, but have not disclosed any information on Thind’s involvement. The letter seeks the information t

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were arrested on Thursday afternoon near Yamuna Expressway, after the former was allegedly shoved and pushed to the ground by Uttar Pradesh Police, while on his way to Hathras to meet the family of the gang-rape victim who died on September 29.Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was roughed up by police on his way to Hathras at Yamuna Expressway, earlier today. He has been arrested by police under Section 188 IPC. Rahul Gandhi, who has been stopped at Yamuna Expressway on his way to Hathras, asked police, "I want to walk to Hathras alone. Please

The NDP is promising to increase a British Columbia government student grant program up to $4,000 for eligible students to help them pay tuition, textbook and supply costs. New Democrat Leader John Horgan says a re-elected NDP will also add 2,000 more technology spaces in post-secondary programs across B.C. Horgan says the NDP will provide more details about its post-secondary education plans when it releases its election platform next week. He says the grant program will be expanded to allow more middle-class and low-income students access to receive up to $4,000 each. Liberal Leader Andrew

The Green Party of Canada says the amount of money accidentally deposited with the party rather than Glen Murray's leadership campaign adds up to less than $10,000. Murray says he is not yet convinced the damage stops there but credits the party with doing what it can to fix the problem. He says the damage to his campaign has been done, preventing his team from doing some planned work because it didn't think it had the money. The party says in a statement today it has forwarded $9,630 from 35 donors to Murray's campaign, and added under 10 people to the membership list whose memberships weren

Canadian troops involved in the six-year-old war against ISIL risk being caught in the middle of escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iraq. The dispute between Washington and Baghdad revolves around the rising threat posed by Iranian-backed militia groups in Iraq, which have stepped up their attacks against U.S. targets in recent weeks. That includes several rocket attacks against the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and a strike on Wednesday targeting an American military base that is also home to dozens of Canadian soldiers. U.S. military officials say the rockets did not hit the base located ne

The Canada Infrastructure Bank plans to invest $10 billion in projects that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls a win-win. The investments are expected to create 60 thousand jobs while contributing to the fight against climate change. The bank will invest $1.5 billion in agricultural infrastructure in Western Canada, $2.5 billion in clean power projects and $1.5 billion to buy zero-emission buses. Another $2 billion will be spent to expand access to high-speed Internet service across the country.

British Columbia has confirmed 125 new cases of COVID-19 in the past day. The number of active cases ticked up by 16 to 1,284, including 72 people who are in hospital. In a joint statement, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and deputy health minister Stephen Brown say public health workers are monitoring more than 3,200 people who were exposed to a known case. They say outbreaks are ongoing at 14 long-term care or assisted-living homes and three acute-care facilities. B.C. has recorded 9,138 cases of COVID-19 so far and 7,591 people who tested positive for the illness have recovered.