The head of the World Health Organization says the COVID-19 pandemic remains a worldwide threat. WHO Director General Doctor Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the outbreak is accelerating globally. He adds it is not anywhere near over. He notes that tomorrow marks six months since the UN health agency was first informed of a cluster of unusual pneumonia cases in China. That was the first indication of the emergence of the novel coronavirus.

About 500 passengers aboard the BC ferry travelling between Duke Point in Nanaimo and Tsawwassen on the Mainland, had a lengthy voyage and ended up right back where they started last night. They were aboard the Coastal Celebration when it broke down shortly after leaving Nanaimo yesterday evening, but it took more than four hours to tow the ship back to Nanaimo so the passengers could get off. The mishap capped a tough day for BC ferries as another of its vessels endured heavy traffic and a stalled vehicle that put it hours behind schedule on the Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay run. But the delay me

BC now has more than 2,900 cases of COVID-19 after 26 new cases were reported over the past three days. Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says only two of those cases were reported from yesterday to today and there have been no new deaths. Henry also says she's concerned that Canadian airlines are ending physical distancing rules on flights. Health Minister Adrian Dix says airlines are the responsibility of Transport Canada and he's waiting to hear an explanation from the federal agency for allowing the change.

A pre-trial hearing was held today for the four former Minneapolis police officers charged in the death of George Floyd. Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for several minutes, is charged with second-degree murder and other counts. The other four are charged with aiding and abetting. Floyd's uncle Selwyn Jones says he hopes the trials will not come to nothing. A judge has warned he's likely to move the trials out of Minneapolis if public officials, attorneys and family members don't stop speaking out about the case.

The Province has appointed the City of Surrey’s first police board members as part of Surrey’s transition from an RCMP detachment to a municipal police department.The lieutenant governor in council has appointed seven community members under section 23(1)(c) of the Police Act to the City of Surrey’s municipal police board, joining the mayor of Surrey as chair and a municipal council appointee to complete the nine-person board: Chief Harley Chappell, elected Chief of the Semiahmoo First NationCheney Cloke, director, Fraser Health AuthorityElizabeth Model, CEO, Downtown Surrey Business Imp

The Tim Hortons mobile ordering app is being investigating by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and provincial agencies in Quebec, B.C. and Alberta.The joint investigation was prompted by concerns raised in media reports about how the app may be collecting and using data about people's movements as they go about their daily activities.It will examine whether the fast food restaurant chain owned by Restaurant Brands International Inc. is in compliance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, Canada's federal private sector privacy law.The privacy age

Iran has issued an arrest warrant for U.S. President Donald Trump and asked Interpol to put out a "red notice" arrest request.But the international police agency says it will not consider the request on the grounds it was of a political nature.Iran wants murder and terrorism charges laid against Trump and dozens of others that it believes carried out the U.S. drone strike that killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad.

Lululemon Athletica Inc., Mountain Equipment Co-op and Arc'teryx are joining a growing list of top international brands vowing not to advertise on Facebook Inc. in July because of hateful content that continues to spread on the social media platform. The Vancouver-based athleticwear companies confirmed to The Canadian Press that they are pulling their paid ads from Facebook and joining the #StopHateForProfit boycott that has already been supported by Coca-Cola, Unilever, Honda America, Patagonia and more. Champions of the boycott say Facebook has not done enough to keep white supremacists and

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the ongoing India-China standoff and asked 'why PM sent unarmed soldiers to face Chinese soldiers'.Priyanka Gandhi posted a video on Twitter, with the caption, "People of India want to know why you (PM) sent our unarmed soldiers to face Chinese soldiers. The land on which they lost their lives is our land; we will not let you give our land to China. PM Modi has to answer questions asked from you. #SpeakUpForOurJawans"In the video, she said it is our duty to respect the 'martyrdom' of t