The death toll in the viral outbreak in mainland China has risen to 722, while new cases jumped to 34,546, reversing declines over previous days. China's ruling Communist Party faced public anger and recrimination over the death of a doctor who was threatened by the authorities after trying to sound the alarm about the new coronavirus back in December. Meanwhile, cruise ship passengers faced more woe as Japan reported 41 new cases on one quarantined vessel and turned away another. President Xi Jinping spoke with President Donald Trump and urged the U.S. to ``respond reasonably'' to the outbre

BC's health minister and the provincial health officer have issued a joint statement over the coronavirus calling for tolerance and saying British Columbians need to come together in this time of uncertainty. The virus has killed or sickened thousands in China and Adrian Dix and Doctor Bonnie Henry ask that anyone who is concerned they may have been exposed to the virus to isolate themselves for 14 days. Two planes loaded with passengers from Wuhan, China, stopped at Vancouver's airport overnight, but Henry and Dix say no passengers or crew remained in BC and they're now in quarantine at Cana

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has brought some star power from the sports world to his game plan in Africa this week as he pursues support for a seat for Canada on the powerful United Nations Security Council. Trudeau is in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa where he will attend a weekend session of the African Union. It's a chance for Trudeau to meet directly with several of the 54 African leaders, whose votes at a June meeting at the UN will be critical to Canada's success. Along with three of his cabinet ministers, Trudeau is travelling with Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri. While T

A Haryana court on Friday awarded death sentence to a personal security officer (PSO) for murdering Additional Sessions Judge Krishna Kant Sharma's son and wife in the year 2018. Additional Sessions Judge Sudheer Parmar awarded death sentence to PSO Mahipal. A case was registered against him under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including murder, giving false information, etc and several relevant sections of the Arms Act. The statements of as many as 64 witnesses were recorded in connection with the case which went on for over two years and five months. The PSO of Additional

The latest numbers from Statistics Canada show BC is holding its own as overall unemployment in the province dipped in January to 4.5 per cent from 4.8 the month earlier. Jobs Minister Michelle Mungall says in a statement that B-C continues to have the lowest unemployment of any province or territory and the data confirms the NDP government's approach toward building a stable economy. The jobless rate across Canada was also down slightly to 5.5 per cent, one-tenth of a point lower than its December setting. Number crunchers say strong performances from the manufacturing, construction and agri

The cost to Canadian taxpayers to build the Trans Mountain pipeline has ballooned to 12.6-billion dollars from its initial estimate of 7.4-billion dollars. The president and C-E-O of the federally owned company provided an update on the pipeline upgrade which will triple the amount of Alberta bitumen moving from the Edmonton-area to port in Burnaby and on to overseas markets by freighter. Ian Anderson says when spending committed so far is subtracted from the total budget, just over eight-billion dollars will be needed to complete the project plus nearly two-billion dollars in financial carry

A judge has ordered the Metro Vancouver city of Surrey to immediately stop ticketing and fining Uber drivers. The city had been issuing $500 tickets to drivers, arguing that they were operating without a business licence. However, Uber claimed in court that drivers held the appropriate provincial permits and Surrey had not created a municipal licence that its drivers could apply for. Uber filed for an injunction against Surrey and a British Columbia Supreme Court judge ruled in favour of the ride-hailing company. Justice Veronica Jackson also ordered that the city pay Uber's court costs. Surre

RCMP say they have a man in custody who was wanted in relation to a shooting that injured an innocent bystander in 2017.A 62 year old woman visiting Surrey from Ontario was injured in the incident that summer.Three men faced 15 charges after an RCMP investigation into the shooting led them to a significant seizure of evidence including almost $200,000 in cash and significant amounts of drugs and firearms.The Mounties say the first two men were arrested in December and January and they now also have 21-year-old Noah Didhra in custody.

A plane carrying Canadians from Wuhan, China, has landed at a military base in Ontario where they will spend 14 days under quarantine. The evacuation flight was arranged by the Canadian government. All of Canada's evacuees will stay at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Trenton, Ontario, where they will be monitored for the virus that has caused hundreds of deaths in Wuhan. Several governments have arranged similar flights including the U.S. and are requiring quarantines for the maximum incubation period of the virus to prevent local outbreaks.