India reported 40,715 new COVID-19 cases on March 23 and the total tally mounted to 1,16,86,796. Union Health Ministry reported 29,785 recoveries in the last 24 hours. With new numbers, total recoveries reached 1,11,81,253. Currently there are 3,45,377 active cases in the country. With 199 new deaths due to COVID virus, death toll stood at 1,60,166. According to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 23,54,13,233 samples tested for COVID-19 up to 22nd March 2021.

British Columbia's provincial health officer says an increasing number of younger people are becoming infected with COVID-19 and some are dying, just as vaccines are protecting older populations. Dr. Bonnie Henry says younger patients who are ending up in intensive care units need more time there, in part because of clusters of cases in some communities. She says cases are rising among people between the ages of 20 and 39, and up to age 59, sometimes due to crowded housing and transmission in workplaces. The province has recorded 1,785 new cases of COVID-19 since Friday, along with 16 deaths.

A lawyer for Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou says a retired Mountie's refusal to testify in the extradition case adds weight to an argument that the officer shared information about her devices with U.S. investigators. Scott Fenton told a B.C. Supreme Court judge that former staff sergeant Ben Chang is the "most important witness" on the issue of whether electronic serial numbers were improperly shared with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The court has heard Chang was asked by the FBI for information about Meng's devices in order to enter a legal request to obtain them, although there is n

A man faces several charges following two allegedly unprovoked attacks on women in Victoria, plus an assault of a police officer. A statement from Victoria police says the man was held by bystanders after a woman in the city's downtown core was punched Friday. Police say the suspect assaulted the officer while in custody for the first attack and during the ongoing investigation police also learned a pregnant woman had been punched shortly before the incident that led to the man's arrest. No one was seriously hurt in any of the assaults but police say the man was convicted of a similar attack

Seniors aged 78 and up in Vancouver Coastal Health, Fraser Health, Island Health and Interior Health can begin calling to book their COVID-19 vaccine appointments today. BC announced a revised schedule last week that means everyone who is eligible for a vaccine in the province will be able to receive a first dose before July 1st. People over 77 can start booking tomorrow, while those over 76 can start calling on Thursday and seniors over 75 and Indigenous people over 55 become eligible Saturday. Eligibility varies by community in the Northern Health authority, and some smaller communities in

Cases of COVID-19 variants are on the rise, with Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec reporting the highest numbers of the new, more contagious strains. Chief public health officer Doctor Theresa Tam says there have been more than 5,100 confirmed variant cases, the majority involving the strain first identified in the United Kingdom. The majority of those cases involve the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the United Kingdom, which Tam says is responsible for 638 of the 655 cases of variants confirmed since March 18. The growing number is prompting concerns of a third wave of the p

Debbie Baptiste says she was never going to let the RCMP's response to the 2016 shooting death of her son be swept under the rug. A police watchdog's report into the death of the 22 year old Indigenous man on a Saskatchewan farm determined officers treated Baptiste so insensitively when they notified her of his death that it amounted to discrimination. Colten Boushie died in August of 2016 when the SUV he was riding in went onto farmer Gerald Stanley's property near Biggar, Saskatchewan. A review of the RCMP response by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission found officers discriminat

There is silence out of Beijing on what happened to Canadian Michael Kovrig when he was put on trial on spying charges. The day ended with no announcement about the status of the proceedings, which are being held behind closed doors. Canadian Embassy officials were barred from the courthouse, as they were on Friday for the trial of Michael Spavor. Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau says the government is deeply troubled by the total lack of transparency. He also thanked diplomats from 26 countries who turned up at the courthouse to show their solidarity with Canada. Marc Garneau on Twitter

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal termed the passage of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in the Lok Sabha as "an insult to the people of Delhi".Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of cheating the people of Delhi, Kejriwal alleged that the bill effectively takes away powers from those who were voted by people and gives powers to those who were defeated.The bill was brought in parliament last week, three years after a constitution bench of the Supreme Court ruled on the dispute between Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the Lieutena