The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of new virus from China a global emergency after the number of infected people spiked more than tenfold in a week. The United Nations health agency made the determination on Thursday as more cases of human-to-human transmission were being reported worldwide. To date, China has reported more than 7,700 cases, including 170 deaths. Eighteen other countries have reported cases, as scientists race to understand how exactly the virus is spreading and how severe it is.

Premier John Horgan says Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum is putting up unnecessary roadblocks to ride-hailing and should listen to citizens in his community who want to see competition. The premier made the comments after the mayor alleged Uber was operating illegally in his city and threatened to issue 500 dollar tickets to drivers. Uber has responded by filing a court injunction to block the city from issuing the fines, which it says are illegal. The company says it holds a provincial permit to operate and Surrey has not created its own business licence for ride-hailing, so there is no bylaw t

Family doctors in Canada are providing increased access to care compared with most of their counterparts in 10 other countries but still lag behind when it comes to using electronic medical records, findings of a survey show.The Commonwealth Fund Survey also found few doctors can share patients' lab and diagnostic test results because health systems are not fully connected.It involved over 13,000 doctors, 2,500 of them from Canada, and was the basis of a report released Thursday by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.Physicians from Germany, France, Australia, the United Kingdom, th

British Columbia's police oversight agency says the actions of Vancouver police did not contribute to a crash that killed a cab driver last month.The Independent Investigations Office says police reported that just before 3:30 a.m. on Dec. 29, a Car2Go smart car made off from a road check on the city's east side.The office says a short time later an officer saw the same car driving at a high speed and the officer turned around to follow the car but lost sight of it and couldn't find it again.About 10 minutes later, the office says police received a report of a collision between a cab and the

Vanessa Bryant spoke publicly Wednesday for the first time since the helicopter crash that killed her husband Kobe Bryant, one of their daughters and seven others, taking to Instagram to thank people for the global outpouring of support since the tragedy. She also announced the formation of a fund to help support the other families that were affected by the crash. “Thank you for all the prayers. We definitely need them,” Vanessa Bryant wrote. “We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe, the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna,

Canada captain Christine Sinclair made soccer history Wednesday, notching goals No. 184 and 185 to pass retired American Abby Wambach and become the world's all-time leading goal-scorer. The 36-year-old from Burnaby, B.C., scored the milestone 185th goal in the 26th minute at HEB Park in south Texas against an outmatched St. Kitts and Nevis at the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship. Jessie Fleming stole the ball from a St. Kitts player and sent it to an onrushing Adriana Leon in space. Leon and Sinclair found themselves in a two-on-one and Leon passed the ball to an unmarked Sin

Attorney General David Eby says the province is revamping the fairness office that deals with complaints against ICBC. Eby says it's no secret that people don't trust the public auto insurer and the province is making several moves aimed at changing that. He says ICBC already has a fairness office but the commissioner will now be appointed by cabinet and their recommendations, and ICBC's responses will be required to be posted publicly in plain language. Eby says individuals who accept pre-litigation payments from ICBC will also no longer be barred from later suing the Crown corporation, whic

Premier John Horgan has linked the battles over two major pipeline projects through British Columbia, saying once the legal fight is over, court decisions should be respected. Speaking at a news conference today in Prince George, Horgan said he accepts that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion has been approved by the courts after the province's recent defeat at the Supreme Court of Canada. In the case of Coastal GasLink's plans for a natural gas pipeline through northern B.C., he says he thinks hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en nation will come to the same realization on that project. H

Canada says it's planning to join other countries evacuating its citizens from the Chinese epicenter of the outbreak of a new virus. Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Phillipe Champagne said Wednesday that Canada has secured a plane to evacuate Canadians from Wuhan, China, where the outbreak originated. He says 160 Canadians have asked to be brought back to Canada from Wuhan. Logistics and authorization from China still need to be worked out. The U.S. brought back 201 Americans from Wuhan who landed in California on Wednesday. Canada joins Australia, New Zealand, Britain and other countri