Firefighters in Surrey, B.C., had to work quickly to keep an early morning fire from spreading to nearby buildings but they could not save the church where the blaze began. Surrey Fire Service assistant chief Shelley Morris says the St. George Coptic Orthodox Church was engulfed in flames by the time crews arrived at around 3:30 a.m. She says the roof of the church has collapsed and the building was destroyed. Firefighters drenched nearby trees and buildings to ensure embers could not ignite other properties in the dry conditions. Crews were expected to remain at the scene for hours dealing w

Mounties in Surrey are investigating a shooting where they say someone in an SUV fired a gun at a minivan that was stopped at an intersection. RCMP describe the suspect vehicle as a white, newer model Audi Q5, and they say it drove past the victim's red Dodge Caravan late Saturday afternoon. Police say the Audi driver then fired numerous shots into the windshield and passenger side of the minivan before driving off. One person in the minivan suffered minor injuries from broken glass.

The federal government will begin letting fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents into Canada on Aug. 9, and the rest of the world Sept. 7. Officials say the 14-day quarantine requirement will be waived as of Aug. 9 for eligible travellers who are currently residing in the United States and have received a full course of a COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Canada. Children under 12 who are accompanied by fully vaccinated family members will also be exempt, provided they wear a mask in public places and avoid indoor group settings. All travellers will still be required to sub

Canada's vaccine supply is on the verge of outstripping demand, with the official overseeing the national distribution saying more than two million doses are being held back because provinces have said they can't use them yet.Brigadier-General Krista Brodie says in the coming weeks, Canada will surpass 66 million doses -- enough shots to vaccinate everycurrently eligible Canadian. The country will hit the more than 60 million dose milestone this week when about 7.1 million shots arrive from Pfizer-BioNTech andModerna.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that women's basketball player Miranda Ayim and men's rugby sevens player Nathan Hirayama will be Canada's flag-bearers for Friday's opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics.This will be Ayim's third and final Games, with the fourth-ranked women's basketball team set to play its first game one week fromtoday.Hirayama is the captain of Canada's men's rugby sevens team, which starts play Sunday.

A criminal case of subversion against US-based Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, self-designated convener of the banned Sikhs For Justice organisation, has been demanded by the Indian World Forum for inciting anti-national feelings among Indians and provoking them to take to divisive and subversive activities. In an official statement, the Indian World Forum said that Pannun has released a 1.52-minute video asking the Sikhs to lay siege at the Parliament on July 22 carrying swords and Khalistan flags raising anti-national slogans in the national capital. In a communication sent to the Commissioner of D

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 19 has asked leaders of the parties if they can take out some time so that he can apprise them about the COVID-19 situation. "I have urged all Floor Leaders that if they can take out some time tomorrow evening then I would like to give them all detailed information regarding the pandemic. We want discussion inside the Parliament as well with the Floor Leaders outside the Parliament," he said.

B.C. is reporting 45 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 148,331 cases in the province.There are currently 652 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 145,908 people who tested positive have recovered.Note that the numbers of total and new cases are provisional due to a delayed data refresh and will be verified once confirmed.Of the active cases, 60 individuals are currently in hospital and 12 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. In the past 24 hours, no new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 1,761. BC has administered 6,

There would be few advantages to declaring a provincial state of emergency in the battle against wildfires in British Columbia as the province uses all of its available resources to fight them, Premier John Horgan said Friday. Opposition politicians and the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, parts of which were under evacuation orders or alerts, have urged Horgan to declare an emergency. "If there was a state of emergency called today, it would have no impact on resources because they are already in place," Horgan said at a news conference. "We're putting all hands on deck and the state of eme