While addressing the 47th session of UNHRC, First Secretary at India's Permanent Mission to United Nations Pawan Badhe expressed concern on the forced religious conversions in Pakistan. "Forced conversions have become a daily phenomenon in Pakistan. We've seen reports of minor girls belonging to religious minorities being abducted, raped, forcibly converted and married," said First Secretary. "More than 1,000 girls have been forced to convert their religion in Pakistan every year," he added.

British Columbia's provincial health officer is encouraging anyone who is offered a different COVID-19 vaccine than the one they first received to take it. Dr. Bonnie Henry says fluctuating vaccine supply means if you received Pfizer-BioNTech, you may be offered Moderna for your second shot, or vice versa, and she says health officials are confident both vaccines are safe, effective and interchangeable. Dr. Henry made the comment as she announced a sustained drop in new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and clusters. She says 56 new infections were confirmed Tuesday and there were no new death

A British Columbia official whose job it is to tackle racism is condemning threats of violence that led to the postponement of an anti-racism rally on Vancouver Island over the weekend. Rachna Singh, parliamentary secretary for anti-racism initiatives, says a partner with the province's anti-racism network in Nanaimo and Ladysmith decided to cancel the car rally after organizers received threats of physical violence. She says the threats came ``from individuals'' whose behaviour will not be tolerated. Singh says in a statement the incident is further proof of why it's so important to oppose r

A 26 year old man is facing several charges after police say a stolen vehicle rammed two police cruisers in Abbotsford, injuring one officer. Police say the van rammed a police vehicle to get away from officers responding to a theft on Saturday night and then rammed another cruiser nearby before it came to a stop after fleeing into Langley. An officer injured while outside the second police vehicle was taken to hospital for treatment and released. Jordan Buskink has been charged with offences including two counts of assaulting a police officer with a weapon, possession of stolen property and

A Quebec town just north of Montreal is cleaning up today after a tornado tore through the community Monday afternoon. A man died after taking shelter in his shed in Mascouche, Que., while two other people were injured when the tornado touched down. Environment Canada says a thunderstorm cell around 3:45 p.m. generated a tornado in a residential neighbourhood, causing injuries and destruction. Meteorologists who surveyed the damage Monday evening say their preliminary findings suggest the tornado's maximum wind speeds clocked in between 180 kilometres per hour and 200 km/h, consistent with an

Hearing officers of the Parole Board of Canada took about an hour before denying parole to teen killer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo. The parents of two of his victims recounted the enduring pain of his twisted crimes and warned he should never be released. Bernardo has been serving a life sentence for kidnapping, torturing and killing Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ontario. Their decision came after Bernardo said he was a changed person who now has his sexual deviancy under control. One of the officers told Bernardo that his understanding and ins

BC Hydro says it is more than able to deliver electricity to its customers in BC, no matter how hot it gets in the coming days. Environment Canada is predicting unseasonable heat by this weekend for most of the province. Hydro says, unlike the blackouts and other difficulties seen in the US during a heat wave currently underway there, the Crown utility is ready to handle all demands on its resources. It says it has even been selling surplus power to energy-strapped US states and funds from those sales will be used to keep electricity rates affordable in BC. BC Hydro on Twitter: It’s going t

Nine patients at Eagle Ridge Hospital in Metro Vancouver have tested positive for COVID-19, prompting Fraser Health to declare an outbreak at the Port Moody facility. A statement from the health authority says all the patients are on a single unit. The unit has been temporarily closed. Contact tracing and enhanced cleaning is underway to limit further spread of the virus. Fraser Health says the emergency department at Eagle Ridge remains open and all other areas of the hospital are operating as normal.

Canada is another step closer to producing home-grown vaccines. Construction is complete at the Biologics Manufacturing Centre in Montreal, which will be able to produce about 24-million COVID-19 vaccine doses a year. The National Research Council of Canada is working with Novavax to produce a vaccine there. Equipment is still being installed and the site is not yet fully licensed and operational. Federal Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne made the announcement today regarding the Biologics Manufacturing Centre, which is located on the National Research Council of Canada's Royal