Metro Vancouver Transit Police say a suspect in an alleged violent attack against a woman on a bus died of an apparent drug overdose a week after the incident in April. Police appealed to the public for help identifying the man on Tuesday. On Wednesday, they said he has been identified as a 48 year old Vancouver resident with no fixed address. Transit police say the suspect boarded a bus in the Downtown Eastside on April 15 and made remarks towards two Asian women who got on wearing masks. Police said in a statement on Tuesday that he stated ``words to the effect of 'Go back to your country;

Metro Vancouver Transit Police are searching for a man accused of attacking a woman who defended two Asian woman in a racially motivated incident last month. Police say it began when a man aboard a bus made discriminatory remarks directed at two Asian women who got on wearing masks. They say the suspect kicked another woman and punched her in the head after she told him to leave the other women alone before he got off the bus and ran away. Vancouver police have reported an increase in anti-Asian assaults and vandalism in the last several weeks amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A University of British Columbia marine biologist has won the world's top award for animal conservation. UBC says Amanda Vincent won this year's Indianapolis Prize for her trail-blazing work to protect seahorses and other marine life. It says Vincent is the first marine biologist to win the prize that recognizes conservationists who've made significant progress in saving a species from extinction. Vincent says she's thrilled to receive the closest honour someone can get to a Nobel Prize in animal conservation.

B.C. is reporting just seven new cases of COVID-19 and no new community outbreaks. Provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry says another resident of a long-term care home in the Fraser Health region has died, raising the death toll to 131. Out of the 2,360 confirmed cases, Dr. Henry says 397 are still considered to be active. She says B.C. is launching a province-wide survey to gather feedback on how people have been affected by the pandemic to help prepare for the future.

The body of a 22 year old man who was last seen swimming with friends in a Chilliwack, B.C., river has been found. RCMP say the man's friends reported that he entered the Vedder River on Monday night and became distressed. Police say the friends tried to pull the man from the water without success. The body was discovered by Chilliwack Search and Rescue crews on Tuesday. Police say the man is a South Asian national from India. Both the RCMP and the BC Coroners Service are investigating the death.

Vulnerable and homeless people across British Columbia could soon receive a smartphone to access support services and to stay connected with friends and family while practising physical distancing. Social Development and Poverty Reduction Minister Shane Simpson says providing up to 3,500 smartphones for vulnerable people will give them easier access to services and helps them connect to others when public spaces are closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Simpson says 1,000 smartphones have already been distributed, with 200 provided to people moved to hotels from homeless encampments in Vic

The Vancouver Park Board says it will not be moving forward with a tentative plan to re-open the parking lots at beaches and parks this week. Deputy general manager Shauna Wilton says the board made the decision due a notable decrease in public compliance with physical distancing measures over the weekend. Wilton says in a statement that larger than normal groups of people were also spotted at destination beaches. The board says nearly 1,900 warnings were issued over the weekend to people not following public health guidelines.

Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps says council is prepared to quickly approve a plan to give restaurants more room for physical distancing by enlarging their outdoor space. Helps says the COVID-19 recovery plan would allow restaurants and pubs to expand open-air dining to sidewalks, parking lots and streets closed to traffic. She says staff will be urged to find ways to have the plan in place as the industry prepares to welcome back customers later this month. Vancouver city council is also preparing to debate the issue of making more room for restaurants.

Provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry is reporting 23 new cases of COVID-19 since Saturday and another death. That raises the total cases in the province to 2,352, with 130 deaths. Henry says if the province continues with such low numbers, it will be ready to move to phase two of the pandemic restart plan next week. She also says she got outside on the weekend and found most people were following physical distancing rules. Despite a small minority seen at crowded beaches and parks.