A human rights defender who graduated from the University of BC has been freed from prison in Saudi Arabia. Loujain al-Hathloul has been in a Saudi prison for the last three years and says she was tortured, assaulted and abused while in custody. She returned to Saudi Arabia after graduating from UBC and was charged with spying for foreign parties and conspiring against the kingdom when she spoke up on behalf of women and demanded an end to the male guardianship system there. Although she has been released, al-Hathloul is still prevented from leaving Saudi Arabia and Amnesty International is c

One person has died and RCMP say there is an "undetermined number" of injuries in a crash just outside Hope, B.C. Cpl. Mike Halskov with RCMP Traffic Services says the multi-vehicle crash happened just before 10 a.m. The statement says an investigation is just beginning, but it appears road conditions were a major factor. Highway 5 northbound to the Coquihalla is closed at the junction with Highway 3 and there is no word when the route will reopen. Halskov urges drivers to consider delaying travel plans or to take an alternate route. DriveBC, the provincial government website providing detail

As one of the fastest growing cities in Canada, building new transit infrastructure is a massive priority for the City of Surrey. When it comes to new rapid transit, Surrey has been lagging behind for decades. That is why I wholeheartedly applaud this morning’s announcement by Prime Minister Trudeau. His commitment of $14.9 billion to public transit projects over the next eight years makes good sense. Despite the current malaise of the COVID pandemic, it will not last forever, and things will eventually return to normal. When that happens, people will once again turn to public transit to get

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says his country "will do its best" to help Canada get COVID-19 vaccines but stopped short of making any specific guarantee that India would ship doses to Canada.Canada is also not among 25 countries cleared by the Indian government to receive exported doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine this month, though federal officials indicated last week Canada's shipments weren't expected to start arriving until at least April.The Serum Institute of India has a contract with AstraZeneca to make at least one billion vaccine doses, and Health Canada is currently reviewing th

Ski resorts across BC are stepping up enforcement to reduce the surge of COVID-19 in places like Whistler, where provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry says social gatherings are a major concern. Christopher Nicolson, who heads the Canada West Ski Areas Association, says work has been underway with various levels of government and community groups as part of a plan to avoid getting shut down by BC's top doctor. Nicolson says the messaging is clear for people to follow public safety orders because so much is at stake if the industry is forced to shut down. Whistler recorded 547 cases be

Snowfall warnings have been issued for parts of British Columbia's inner south coast as much of the province shivers through a deep freeze and forecasters call for the coldest day, yet. Environment Canada is warning of heavy flurries dumping as much as five centimetres of snow on Vancouver Island between Courtenay and Campbell River, as well as a section of the Sunshine Coast. The weather office says rapidly accumulating snow could make travel difficult in some locations, but it says conditions should stabilize as another system approaches Thursday. Extreme cold, arctic outflow and special we

In response to the ''legal requests'' from the Central government, Twitter on Wednesday informed that it has taken multiple enforcement actions -- including permanent suspension of over 500 accounts for clear violations of Twitter's rules. The social media giant in a statement said, "Separate to our enforcement under the Twitter Rules, over the course of the last 10 days, Twitter has been served with several separate blocking orders by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act." "We took a range of e

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will provide nearly $15 billion for public-transit projects across the country — though most of the money won't arrive until later in the decade.Trudeau says the promised $14.9 billion in new public-transit funding will be spread over eight years, though most of the money won't start flowing until 2026.The government says the new funds will provide cities with predictable funding to plan for their long-term needs while helping Canadians move around easier and fight climate change.Trudeau announced the new funding during a teleconfere

British Columbia health officials say progress is being made in the efforts to push back the COVID-19 virus and get to the days of fewer restrictions in the province. Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry say in a joint statement Tuesday that there are 435 new cases of the virus, for a total of 4,393 active cases. Some 241 people are in hospital, of whom 68 are in intensive care, and the remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self-isolation. There have been four new COVID-19-related deaths, for a total of 1,263 fatalities linked to the viru