The law extending the federal government's emergency wage subsidy for employers hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic has passed the Senate.The package passed by the House of Commons last week also includes one-time payments for people with disabilities facing higher expenses, and extensions to legal deadlines for some court matters. Bill C-20 passed on a voice vote without changes. The extension to the wage subsidy program is the core of the Liberal government's plan to help the economy get back into shape through the fall.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched high throughput COVID-19 testing facilities on July 27. The facilities were launched in three cities including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Kolkata via video conferencing. PM Modi said, "10,000 capacity of tests are going to be added in the present capacity of tests in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai and Kolkata. Now in these following cities, tests will be carried out at a greater pace. These labs will not remain restricted to testing of COVID-19 but will be expanded for testing of many other diseases including Hepatitis B and C, HIV, and Dengue in future." India's COVID-19 c

British Columbia Premier John Horgan says drivers who have out-of-province licence plates on their vehicles should consider taking public transit or riding a bicycle if they're feeling harassed by people.Horgan also suggests drivers change over to B.C. licence plates to avoid trouble from residents who are concerned about the spread of COVID-19.He says he can't tell people how to respond when seeing out-of-province plates but judging people by where their vehicle is registered does not often tell a complete story of their circumstances.Horgan says people with out-of-province plates should be

Legal wrangling over release of documents in the extradition case of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou continued this morning in Federal Court via a virtual hearing in Ottawa. The Canadian government says it can't release the documents because they could compromise national security but lawyers for Meng disagree. They say a far more damaging document by a senior Canadian diplomat is already out there, and they also say the US wouldn't expect its correspondence to stay confidential because the FBI deals with law, not security. Meng is wanted on fraud charges in New York but denies the allegations

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is to testify Thursday afternoon about his government's decision to get the WE organization to run a summer student-volunteer program. His chief of staff Katie Telford is to follow him for questioning by the House of Commons finance committee. WE backed out of the program in early July, citing the controversy over the Liberals' handing the organization a sole-sourced deal despite its ties to Trudeau and Finance Minister Bill Morneau. Several members of Trudeau's family have been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars between them for appearances at WE events, most

A nurse in Binghamton, New York was one of the first to get a shot this morning as the world's biggest COVID-19 vaccine study got underway.The world's biggest COVID-19 vaccine test got underway Monday with the first of 30,000 planned volunteers. Melissa Harting says she volunteered as a way to do her part to help out since she has other family members in front-line jobs that could expose them to the virus.The experimental vaccine is made by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., and it's one of several candidates in the final stretch of the global vaccine race.The needed proof: Wh

Canada's budget watchdog says the federal government lost at least $439 million so far this year in productivity through a policy that allows civil servants to stay home, with pay, during emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The Parliamentary Budget Office says most of that total was a result of employees at the Canada Revenue Agency staying home, unable to work, between March 15 and May 31. That one department accounted for just over $311 million in paid leave, far ahead of the second-costliest department, Correctional Services Canada, at more than $33.8 million. The PBO report was comp

There are 113,208 confirmed cases in Canada. Quebec: 58,243 confirmed (including 5,663 deaths, 50,615 resolved) Ontario: 38,405 confirmed (including 2,758 deaths, 34,100 resolved) Alberta: 10,086 confirmed (including 178 deaths, 8,567 resolved) British Columbia: 3,419 confirmed (including 191 deaths, 2,934 resolved) Saskatchewan: 1,099 confirmed (including 16 deaths, 848 resolved) Nova Scotia: 1,067 confirmed (including 63 deaths, 1,003 resolved) Manitoba: 371 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 319 resolved), 13 presumptive Newfoundland and Labrador: 265 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 259 resolve

Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, have issued the a joint statement regarding updates on the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) response in British Columbia. "Today, we are reporting 27 new cases, including one epi-linked case, for a total of 3,419 cases in British Columbia. "There are 294 active cases of COVID-19 in the province and 2,934 people who tested positive have recovered. "Of the total COVID-19 cases, 12 individuals are hospitalized, three of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people with COVID-19 are recovering at home in self