Canada's incoming governor general has had her first audience with the Queen.Mary Simon will be sworn in as the representative of the sovereign in Canada on Monday.The Queen and Simon met virtually on Thursday due to the COVID-19 pandemic.During the meeting, the Queen invested Simon as an extraordinary companion of the Order of Canada, an extraordinary commander of the Order of Military Merit and a commander of the Order of Merit of thePolice Forces.Simon, who was born in the Nunavik village of Kangiqsualujjuaq, will be Canada's first Indigenous governor general.The post has been empty since J

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh finally seems to have softened his stance by meeting Navjot Singh Sidhu, a newly appointed State Congress chief at Punjab Bhawan in Chandigarh on Friday morning. The CM had invited all the MLAs, MPs, and senior functionaries of the party from the state for tea at Punjab Congress Bhawan for forming a new Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee team.Capt Amarinder Singh arrived at Punjab Bhawan shortly after Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu had arrived there. Though Sidhu had left from the Bhawan for 10 minutes and later rejoined the gathering there.Media

About 57-hundred athletes took part in the parade during the colourful opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics.Some opted to skip it because of early competitions tomorrow or to avoid risk of exposure to COVID-19.Moments before the parade, a wooden set of Olympic rings was displayed at the centre of the stadium.They were crafted from pine and spruce trees that grew from seeds that athletes were asked to bring to the 1964 Tokyo Games.Some of seeds came from Canada.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday expressed condolences on the death of the three Congress workers who met with an accident in the Moga district.In his tweet he wrote, "Saddened to learn of the bus accident in Moga district in which 3 Congress workers have reportedly died & many persons are injured. Have directed DC Moga to immediately provide full medical treatment to all the injured and to send a report to the Government."The incident took place at Lohara Chowk in Moga district on the Jalandhar-Barlanda road, where two buses collided with each other. While one was a

Amid uproar by the Opposition, the Rajya Sabha has been adjourned for the third time on Friday.The House has been adjourned till 2:30 pm soon after resumption at 12:30 pm. Earlier, Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 12 noon today.Soon after starting the business, the Opposition leaders created a ruckus over the farmers' agitation and the Pegasus spyware controversy.Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday suspended TMC MP Santanu Sen for the remaining period of the ongoing Monsoon session.But, Sen continued to remain inside the House despite his suspension. Following this, Deputy

Amid the ruckus created by the Opposition, the Lok Sabha has been adjourned for the day on Friday. Earlier, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 noon on the fourth day of the Monsoon session. The Parliament resumed on Friday morning. However, as soon as the Houses convened the Opposition created a ruckus over the farmers' agitation and Pegasus Project issue. The Lok Sabha will now resume on Monday at 11 am. The Monsoon Session began on a stormy note on Monday amidst uproar from Opposition parties who did not allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to introduce newly-inducted Union ministers to t

B.C. is reporting 89 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 148,730 cases in the province.There are currently 781 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 146,178 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, 53 individuals are currently in hospital and 15 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. In the last 24 hours, no new deaths have been reported, for an overall total of 1,763. The Province has admin

The wildfire situation is continually evolving, and the information below is current as of 7 p.m. (Pacific time) on Wednesday, July 21, 2021.Fires:Wildfires currently burning in B.C.: 277Since April 1, 2021:1,168 wildfires338,897 hectares burnedActive fires by fire centre:Cariboo: 44Coastal: eightKamloops: 102Northwest: fourPrince George: 58Southeast: 61Crews and equipment:Firefighters and other personnel currently fighting the fires: 3,123 (total, includes out-of-province and aerial support)Out-of-province firefighters: 64Helicopters and planes supporting ground crews: 178Evacuations:Evacuati

Rachna Singh, Parliamentary Secretary for Anti-Racism Initiatives, and Jennifer Whiteside, Minister of Education, have released the following statement for the National Summit on Islamophobia, hosted by the Government of Canada on Thursday, July 22, 2021:"Over the past year, we’ve seen a significant increase in hateful attacks against Muslims across Canada. In June, the cowardly attack in London, Ontario shocked the country, taking the lives of four members of the community and leaving a son without a family."In B.C., we’ve also seen a rise in anti-Muslim comments on social media, women at