A wildfire burning near homes in British Columbia's southern interior has prompted the first evacuation alert of B.C.'s barely three-week-old wildfire season. The Thompson-Nicola Regional District issued the alert for the small community of Canford and for homes in a subdivision about 12 kilometres northwest of Merritt. The BC Wildfire Service says the suspected human-caused blaze was fanned by winds after being sparked on Sunday and now covers an estimated one square kilometre. It is one of about a dozen wildfires reported Sunday from southern Vancouver Island to the Prince George and Cranbr

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart says he has contacted the city's chief of police after several gatherings on the weekend violated COVID-19 health restrictions. In a message posted on social media, Stewart says the Vancouver Police Department will be reassessing its approach to outdoor parties. Large groups of mostly maskless people held impromptu gatherings in parks and on beaches Friday and Saturday as the first warm spell of the year created summer-like conditions. Police can issue tickets and even make arrests if they see gatherings of more than 10 people, but a police spokeswoman says offi

Vancouver police say one man was killed in what they believe was a targeted shooting in a downtown neighbourhood.They say there have been no arrests.Police say they were called to the Coal Harbour area Saturday night after numerous 9-1-1 calls about shots fired.Const. Tania Visintin says the shooting occurred in a public area at about 8:30 p.m. outside Cardero's restaurant near the Coal Harbour Quay.She says the victim died despite efforts by police and emergency officials to save him.Visintin says the popular location of the shooting put innocent people at risk. She says the man's death is V

A Duty Magistrate in Tihar Jail on Sunday said that the remand hearing of the actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu, an accused in the Republic Day violence case, will be heard by the concerned magistrate on Monday.Sidhu's lawyer Jasdeep Singh Dhillon said that the Delhi Police has sought four-day police custody of Sidhu, who was arrested on Saturday, in another case related to Republic Day violence.Sidhu's lawyer opposed the police plea. The lawyer further said that the Duty Magistrate in Tihar Jail did not allow the police plea and remanded Sidhu to one-day judicial custody. The magistrate has pu

To tackle the surge in COVID-19 cases, a six-day complete 'corona lockdown' has been imposed in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday.The lockdown will be in place from 10 pm today till 5 am on April 26, the Chief Minister added. The restrictions have been announced after a meeting between Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal today. According to sources, all private offices will work from home and only government offices and essential services will be open.The Lieutenant Governor has instructed the issues of migrant labourers to

BC is reporting 1,005 new cases of COVID-19 today. Six more people have died after contracting the illness, bringing the death toll in the province to 1,530. There are 10,081 active infections in BC, another new high. 425 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, including 127 in intensive care. BC's health minister says he appreciates efforts by the federal government to boost COVID-19 vaccine supplies despite a shortage from Moderna. Adrian Dix says he's disappointed the company has announced it would slash its vaccine shipments in half through the rest of April. But he says Ottawa is promisin

Surrey RCMP is urging Vaisakhi celebrants and Kissan supporters to keep Public Health Orders in mind this weekend. Unfortunately, large-scale Vaisakhi celebrations have been canceled again this year in Surrey due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is anticipated that many community members will participate in small COVID-friendly celebrations. Surrey RCMP is also aware of Kissan rallies and a Sikh motorcycle event set to take place this weekend. Surrey RCMP is urging the public to abide by current Public Health Orders which have placed restrictions on outdoor gatherings and prohibit indoo

Ontario is imposing stricter public health measures to control the spread of COVID-19. Premier Doug Ford says a state of emergency is being extended for an extra two weeks, and outdoor gatherings will be limited to only members of the same household. The province is also setting up checkpoints to restrict interprovincial travel. Big-box stores will also have their capacity capped at 25 per cent, down from the current 50 per cent. Ontario's solicitor general says the province is giving police sweeping new powers to enforce public health orders. Sylvia Jones says officers will have the authori

Several temperature records have tumbled in BC as unseasonably warm weather speeds the arrival of spring. Environment Canada says 12 record highs were set yesterday in Bella Coola, Burns Lake and Smithers to parts of the Sunshine Coast, Sea-to-Sky corridor and along the Malahat on Vancouver Island. The hot spot for all of Canada was Squamish, with a record of 27.1 degrees, breaking the community's former record for the day of 24.5 degrees, set 12 years ago. Several of the records broken yesterday were set in 1947 but the longest-standing record fell in Pemberton, where the mercury reached 26.