China has reported new deaths by a viral outbreak have risen by 73 in the past 24 hours. That brings the number of confirmed cases to 28,018, an increase of 3,694. The little-understood new coronavirus has spread fear around the world, along with the shunning of any suspected to have a link to the outbreak that appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December and has revived fears of the deadly 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS. SARS had killed almost 800 people.

Kirk Douglas, the muscular actor with the dimpled chin who starred in ``Spartacus,'' ``Lust for Life'' and dozens of other films and helped fatally weaken the Hollywood blacklist, has died at 103, his family announced. Douglas was nominated three times for Oscars _ for ``Champion,'' ``The Bad and the Beautiful'' and ``Lust for Life.'' He later received an honorary award for ``50 years as a creative and moral force'' in the movie industry. His son Michael won Oscars as producer for ``One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' and as actor for ``Wall Street.''

Two people have been killed in a crash along Highway 5 north of Kamloops, B.C. Police say both occupants of a passenger vehicle died in a head-on collision with a transport truck on Wednesday. RCMP Traffic Services Cpl. Mike Halskov says the investigation into the cause of the crash is in its early stages but recent snow and road conditions are being considered as possible contributing factors. Halskov says Highway 5 remains closed in both directions as the investigation continues and drivers can monitor the DriveBC website for updates. Mounties are reminding people that road and weather cond

The US Senate has acquitted President Donald Trump on both impeachment charges against him. The first vote on abuse of power was defeated 52-to 48. The second on obstruction of justice went down to defeat 53-to 47. US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts made the announcements. The vote against impeachment was never in doubt, since the Republicans have control of the Senate.

Talks that were meant to de-escalate a dispute over a natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia have ended early, with one hereditary chief saying he fears RCMP enforcement of an injunction is imminent. The talks are between the provincial government and the hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en nation. Indigenous Relations Minister Scott Fraser says the meetings were respectful but he couldn't tell the chiefs that the BC government would pull the approvals it gave to the project.

Foreign Affairs Minister Francois Philippe Champagne says that the first charter flight from Wuhan will bring 211 Canadians home. Addressing a media briefing he said that a second charter flight is being considered. Champagne informed that weather complications delayed the flight to Wuhan by 4 hours. The 211 people on the manifest have been asked to reach the airport by 5PM local time. 308 Canadians had applied to be evacuated from the infected area in China, out of which 280 are Canadian citizens. China has maintained that only the people with foreign passports will be allowed to fly out of C

RCMP confirm the body of a third man has been pulled from a river on southern Vancouver Island, west of Victoria. A statement from Staff Sgt. Brett Sinden says the body was recovered Tuesday afternoon along the banks of the Sooke River. Sinden says criminality is not suspected.Three 20-year-old men, identified by police last week as Cory Mills, Eric Blackmore and AJ Jensen, set out Friday night from a home in the community of Sooke during a torrential rainstorm that led to flood warnings and watches over several parts of Vancouver Island.The truck carrying the trio was found battered and empt

A cruise ship carrying 251 Canadians has been quarantined off the coast of Japan following a confirmed outbreak of the new coronavirus on-board.A statement from Princess Cruises says 10 people have tested positive for the virus, but none of those are Canadians.It says the ship, with 2,666 guests and 1,045 crew on-board, will remain under quarantine for 14 days in Yokohama.It says Princess Cruises will continue to fully co-operate with and follow the instructions of global medical authorities and the Japanese government.The viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 24,500 peopl

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Bhagwant Mann on Monday said that voters in Delhi will vote for 'Vikas' (development) and not for 'Vinash' (destruction) in the ensuing assembly elections. "The statement of Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister) on 'Kanwariyas' is a part of hatred politics of the BJP," Mann told ANI, adding that politics of polarisation is not good for Delhi. "People in Delhi have decided that they will vote for 'Vikas' and not 'Vinash'. AAP has requested the Election Commission to put a ban on Adityanath from campaigning," he added. On being asked whether there will any impac