British Columbia's Health Minister warned those planning on holding large parties and events this upcoming weekend to expect visits from officials to ensure COVID-19 guidelines are being followed. Adrian Dix says parties may not be immediately shut down but there would be consequences for those found flaunting the rules. The pronouncement comes as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in B.C., particularly among young adults between the ages of 20 to 29. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says those infections have been seen after exposure events, such as parties where young adults have bee

A judge has found a man from Surrey, B.C., guilty of second-degree murder, ruling that Tejwant Danjou intended to kill his partner or at least knew his violent actions could lead to her death. Rama Gauravarapu was killed at a hotel in West Kelowna on July 22, 2018. Competing explanations of Danjou's state of mind were presented to Justice Allison Beames of the B.C. Supreme Court during closing arguments last month at his trial for second-degree murder. The Crown said Danjou was an abusive and violent man. The defence asked for a manslaughter conviction and described Danjou as suffering from d

The BC Conservation Office Service says a man is recovering after he was seriously hurt by a bear while camping in a remote area near Lillooet over the weekend. Deputy Chief Chris Doyle says the man and his hiking partner were camping on Mount McLean on Sunday, when the man was awoken by a noise outside his tent. The noise was a black bear, which attacked him, leaving the man with serious injuries to his arm. Doyle says the bear was surprised when the man came out of his tent and appeared to have attacked defensively. The man and his hiking partner were able to get away and were later airlift

A five-month investigation in B.C. has resulted in charges against a man in what Ridge Meadows RCMP say is the largest seizure of drugs, weapons and cash in the detachment's history. The RCMP say the drug investigation began in March with a focus on so-called blue fentanyl, which they say is believed to be linked to multiple overdose deaths in the Lower Mainland. On July 15, police say they executed search warrants at homes in Maple Ridge and Mission. The RCMP say more than $114,000 was seized, as well as about 3.5 kilograms of what was suspected to be fentanyl _ which police estimate is abou

The RCMP says there has been an increase in the number of threats made against the prime minister and cabinet ministers. From January to July 2019, protective policing opened 100 investigations into threats, while from January to last month it launched about 130 investigations. That doesn't include the investigation police launched this week into an incident where a man yelled obscenities at a staff member at Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna's Ottawa office. Ottawa MPP Lisa MacLeod was reportedly put under police protection this week when she was threatened after speaking out against

WE Charity is scaling back its operations, making dozens of layoffs in Canada and the United Kingdom and looking to sell some of its real estate holdings in Toronto. WE Charity's U-K operations will be centralized in Canada, which means 19 full-time and contract employees in London will be laid off. At its global headquarters in Toronto, 16 full-time employees will be laid off and another 51 employees working on fixed-term contracts won't have them renewed. All this follows the uproar over the Liberal government's decision to award WE a sole-source contract to manage its student jobs program,

With the highest single-day spike of 66,999 cases, India's COVID count approached 24 lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry on Thursday. The Health Ministry said that India has recorded the highest-ever recoveries of 56,383 in a single day. The total coronavirus cases stand at 23,96,638, of which there are 6,53,622 active cases and 16,95,982 patients have been cured, discharged, or migrated, said the Ministry of Health. In the last 24 hours, 942 patients have succumbed to the virus, taking the death toll to 47,033 in the country.With 8,30,391 samples on August 12, the highest in a s

President Donald Trump says the United Arab Emirates and Israel will establish diplomatic ties in a deal halting the planned annexation of occupied land sought by the Palestinians for their future state. The announcement by Trump came in a tweet on Thursday. It means the UAE, which is home to the cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, would become the first Gulf Arab state to have ties to Israel. Among Arab nations, only Egypt and Jordan have active diplomatic ties with Israel. Egypt made a peace deal with Israel in 1979, followed by Jordan in 1994.

The Bank of Canada has cut its benchmark five-year mortgage rate to 4.79 per cent, the second cut in three months. The central bank in May had trimmed the rate to 4.94 per cent from 5.04 per cent. Three-year rates now dropped to 3.75 per cent and one-year rates remained unchanged at 3.09 per cent. The Big Six banks had already cut their advertised five-year fixed mortgage rates to the same level, though some special offers reduce rates to as little as 2.19 per cent. Lower rates risk propelling housing demand higher. The Bank of Canada's governor, Tiff Macklem, indicated about a month ago that