BC Coroners Service reporting released on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, shows at least 160 lives were lost in the province as a result of suspected illicit drug toxicity in May. "More than five years into this public health emergency, we continue to lose our loved ones, friends and neighbours at an almost unimaginable rate," said Lisa Lapointe, chief coroner, BC Coroners Service. "There is no way to measure the catastrophic impact that the loss of these lives have had on every community in our province. Today, I grieve with all those who have lost someone close to them as a result of this crisis."An

A record-breaking heat wave could ease over parts of British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories by tomorrow but any reprieve for the Prairie provinces is further off.Environment Canada says the "historic" weather system shattered 103 heat records across B.C., Alberta, Yukon and N.W.T. yesterday.Those records include a new Canadian all-time high temperature of 47.9 C set in Lytton, B.C., smashing the previous record of 46.6 set in the same village a day earlier.All-time maximum temperature records were also set in the Alberta communities of Jasper, Grande Prairie and Hendrickson Creek f

India has jumped up 37 places to be ranked 10th in Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) 2020, as per a United Nations report launched on Tuesday.The GCI is a composite index produced, analysed and published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialised agency of the UN, to measure the commitment of its 194 member states to cybersecurity in order to raise cybersecurity awareness.The latest report is the fourth GCI edition by the ITU, with the first edition launched six years ago.In a tweet, India at UN said, "In a big leap, India jumps 37 places to be ranked 10th in Global Cyber

Premier John Horgan is expected to announce the next phase of B-C's COVID-19 re-opening plan today alongside provincial health officer Doctor Bonnie Henry and Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon.The third part of the four-pronged plan is set to start on Thursday, when several restrictions will be lifted as indoor and outdoor dining will be allowed without a cap on numbers and residents can travel elsewhere in Canada.Henry says vaccination rates continue rising, with some exceptions in small communities in the northern and interior health regions where drive-thru and mobile clinics are expected to make i

The RCMP says it's investigating the deaths of three people whose bodies were found near a partially-capsized boat in Seton Lake. Police say a boater found the bodies in the lake west of Lillooet at about 7 a-m yesterday. They say a search of the area was already under way after a beachgoer reported overhearing a power boat pass by followed by a loud bang about five hours earlier. The Mounties say the BC Coroners Service is also investigating to try to determine the cause of the deaths of the two men and one woman.

The British Columbia government says it's providing $12 million to support First Nations with investigative work at former residential school sites. It says the funding will also go towards programs to help community members experiencing trauma after the recent discoveries of what are believed to be the remains of 215 children at a former school in Kamloops, and 751 unmarked graves in Saskatchewan.In a news release, the province says the funding will help First Nations identify, investigate, document, maintain, protect or commemorate residential school sites where children's remains may be loc

Over the last three reporting periods, BC had a total of 145 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 147,549 cases in the province. This includes: 57 new cases from June 25 to 26, 50 new cases from June 26 to 27 and 38 new cases in the last 24 hours. There are currently 930 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Of the active cases, 107 individuals are currently hospitalized, 37 of whom are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. There has been one new health-care outbreak at Surrey Memorial Hospital. There have been five new COVID-19 related deaths,

Spain defeated Croatia 5-3 after extra time in their Round of 16 clash in the ongoing Euro Cup in Copenhagen to progress to the quarter-finals on Monday.Alvaro Morat scored in the 100th minute to take Spain 4-3 ahead and Mikel Oyarzabal netted one in the 103rd minute to get Spain a double lead. In the final few minutes, Croatia tried hard but were unable to score a goal as Spain got over the line.In the first half, Spain struggled to string passes together and the strikers failed to get through Croatia's defense. Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon was unable to control a bouncing pass from Pedri whic

A new wildfire that flared up this morning just outside Peachland, west of Highway 97, has closed the main route through the south Okanagan until further notice. The BC Wildfire Service says the fire is considered out-of-control and a 10 person crew, backed by Peachland firefighters, is aggressively attacking the flames, which have charred less than a hectare and are not threatening any homes. The blaze comes as Natural Resources Canada forest ecologist Yan Boulanger says a heat wave across much of Western Canada has pushed the wildfire risk to what he calls ``extremely extreme.'' Another wil