Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has officially stepped down as CEO of the company he started out of his Seattle garage in 1995.Andy Jassy, the head of Amazon's cloud-computing business, is replacing him.The company announced the change in February.Bezos takes over the role of executive chair, with plans to focus on new products and initiatives. Jassy inherits the helm of a $1.7 trillion company that benefited greatly from the pandemic.But he does face challenges, including growing calls for tighter regulation on tech giants.

Firefighting teams from Ontario and New Brunswick are arriving in British Columbia to assist with devastating wildfires. The BC Wildfire Service says the nearly 100 out-of-province members must pass COVID-19 safety checks before being sent into the field. Public Safety Canada also says it has committed the Armed Forces for airlift support to carry crews, supplies and equipment in and out of fire zones and to assist with emergency evacuations if needed. The wildfire service says 196 active wildfires are currently burning in B.C., with at least 40 sparked over the weekend. Evacuation

Ahead of reshuffle in Haryana Congress and meeting with General Secretary KC Venugopal, a group of party MLAs from the state met former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, his son, and MP Deepender Singh Hooda at their residence.A group of Congress MLAs from the state will meet Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal in the national capital today, said sources.After a gap of almost six years, Haryana Congress has started an organisational reshuffle in the state.The party had dismantled district Congress committees in the state in 2015 and now it has decided to organise them. However, this st

Over the last two reporting periods, B.C. had a total of 84 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 147,705 cases in British Columbia. This includes: 49 new cases from June 30 to July 1 and 35 new cases in the last 24 hours. There are currently 729 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Of the active cases, 99 individuals are currently hospitalized, 30 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. There have been two new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,756 deaths in British Columbia. 78.7% of all adults in B.C. and 77.5% of those 12 an

In the midst of Canada Day celebrations, the sounds of gunshots almost blended into the fireworks in one West Shore community.On July 1, 2021, at 10:45 pm, the West Shore RCMP received a report of possible gunshots in the area of 2800 block of Jacklin Road, Langford BC. Further reports determined that there had in fact been a shooting, and that an unoccupied parked vehicle nearby was damaged.At this time is appears that bullets struck both a vehicle and the townhome behind it, said Cst. Jesse Schroeder, of the West Shore RCMP Serious Crime Section, Thankfully no one was injured, but this could

Police in Victoria are investigating and appealing to the public for information after a statue of Captain James Cook was toppled and thrown into the harbour yesterday. Photos and video posted to social media show a crowd cheering as the statue near BC's Legislature was pulled down shortly after 8:30 pm. Police say there are several suspects in the Canada Day incident. The statue was replaced with a wooden cut out of a red dress, a symbol representing murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls, and its base was smeared with red handprints.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has received his second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The prime minister got a shot of Moderna this morning, following his first dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca earlier this year. He received his vaccine at a Rexall pharmacy in Ottawa where he told the pharmacist he was ``very excited'' to get his second dose. Trudeau told her he had a tough night of slight chills and fevers after his first dose, and she warned it would be a little worse this time. He said he knows, because his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau got her second dose yesterday and had a rough sleep. The pharmac

A gas price analyst says fuel prices hit an all-time high in Vancouver today, while average prices in Canada are up 30 cents since the beginning of the year. Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy, says average gas prices in Vancouver reached a dollar-74 today. McTeague says he expects prices to climb even higher as airline travel picks up and the easing of pandemic restrictions increases demand for fuel. The ongoing heat wave in the western part of the continent has also added pressure, with some refineries at lower operating levels.

A veteran police officer has died after he was struck by a vehicle in ``an intentional and deliberate act'' that left another officer injured. Interim police Chief James Ramer says Constable Jeffrey Northrup was killed early this morning in the parking garage at Toronto City Hall. The 31-year veteran of the service was responding to a 9-1-1 call for a robbery in progress. Ramer says Northrup's return to the major crimes unit ``speaks to the kind of officer he was and the dedication that he had that it was at this stage of his career.'' Ontario Premier Doug Ford is offering his sympathies to