Vancouver Police are warning the public about a sexual assault on a child last month by an art instructor who operates out of his home in South Vancouver."This is a very disturbing incident where a child was left under the care of an adult and that adult allegedly took advantage of her," says Constable Tania Visintin, VPD. On March 22, it is alleged that 50 year-old Shao Zhai Chen, while teaching art classes out of his home near East 64th Avenue and Prince Edward Street, sexually assaulted a nine-year-old student.Chen is Asian and five feet eight inches tall. He has black and white hair and we

Police in New Westminster say a 24-year-old man has pleaded guilty to charges related to a 2019 shooting that sent a woman to hospital. They say Carlos Monteith has remained in custody since his arrest after the November 2019 that injured the woman. Police say Monteith pleaded guilty this month to charges of discharging a firearm with intent and possession of a loaded prohibited firearm. They say he was sentenced to six-and-a-half years on the first charge and three years on the second. New Westminster Police Department on Twitter: Suspect pleads guilty to two charges related to Osborne Avenu

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the Canadian Armed Forces is deploying 60 service members to help out at COVID-19 testing centres in Nova Scotia. Trudeau says the province asked for help as the number of COVID-19 cases has been rising quickly, especially in the Halifax region. This comes the day after the federal government confirmed it would be deploying military medical personnel to help Ontario's beleaguered health-care system. Trudeau says the Forces carried out its assessment of what Ontario needs on the ground Monday and that military personnel will be mobilized over the next days. H

Uniformed police officers will no longer be assigned to Vancouver public schools after trustees voted to end its school liaison officer program.The program has been under review for almost a year due to concerns that uniformed officers make some students anxious or upset, including many identifying as Black, Indigenous or people of colour.Trustees voted eight to one Monday in favour of a motion to halt the program at the end of June.The decision is supported by several groups, including the Vancouver District Parent Advisory Council and associations representingelementary and secondary school

Punjabi actor-tuned-activist Deep Sidhu visited Rakabganj Gurdwara in Delhi after he was released from the Tihar jail on Monday night. Speaking to media outside the Gurdwara, Sidhu thanked the media and people for supporting him and said the judiciary gave me a fair trial."I am thankful of the law of the land, but I can't talk about political vendetta. I am a soldier and will do my work. My solidarity is with farmers, and I'm their soldiers," he said.A Delhi court on Monday granted bail to Sidhu in another Republic Day violence case filed on the basis of the Archeological Survey of India's (AS

British Columbia's top doctor says the province has confirmed that COVID-19 was a factor in the death of an infant from the Interior Health region. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the baby was being treated in hospital in January and the B.C. Coroners' Service has since determined COVID-19 was a factor in the baby's death. Dr. Henry reported the death while addressing concerns raised in Ontario that people are dying at home of COVID-19, saying the coroners' service in B.C. has a process in place to investigate whether the illness was a factor in any unexpected deaths. She says

The White House says it is making plans to share up to 60 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. But press secretary Jen Psaki says none of the doses are currently ready, and will be doled out based on need when they are. Psaki says the U.S. is waiting for approval from the Food and Drug Administration to share 10 million doses ``in the coming weeks.'' The remaining 50 million doses are still in production and likely won't be subject to approval until May and June. Psaki says the White House, its COVID-19 advisers and the State Department will be assessing a range of reques

The cabinet minister who helped set in motion British Columbia's money laundering inquiry says he was getting very different versions about suspicious cash at casinos from officials when he became the minister responsible for gaming in 2017. Attorney General David Eby told the Cullen Commission that there were significant information gaps about suspicious cash at casinos during separate briefings with him from officials at the BC Lottery Corporation and the Gaming Policy Enforcement Branch. Eby testified officials at the lottery corporation told him anti-money laundering efforts were working

British Columbia's mental health and addictions minister says the province will expand services for young children, school-aged youth and their families. Sheila Malcolmson says 60 new full-time family support workers will be added over the next three years to help deliver services for children with emotional, behavioural and developmental challenges. She says that would give families better access to mental health care during children's formative years. Five integrated child and youth teams currently exist, but the province is aiming to add more teams to another 15 communities by 2024, based o