Russian President Vladimir Putin says there is no need for a Russia-China military alliance now but the idea of a future one can't be ruled out. Putin was asked during a video conference with international foreign policy experts Thursday if a military union between Moscow and Beijing was possible. He replied that ``theoretically, it's quite possible to imagine it.'' Russia and China have hailed their ``strategic partnership,'' but so far rejected any talk about the possibility of their forming a military alliance. Putin noted that Russia has been sharing highly sensitive military technologies

Multiple charges have been laid against a suspect after the stabbing death of a woman and injuries suffered by a two-year-old child and a man at a home in Surrey, B.C. The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the suspect was arrested on Tuesday evening after police responded to a report of stabbings at a townhouse unit. RCMP officers found three people with stab wounds of varying severity, but Baljit Kaur died of her injuries. Staff Sgt. Frank Jang says the stabbings occurred after a verbal altercation involving family members. The integrated team took over the investigation and says i

British Columbia's political leaders are back on the campaign trail with just two days to appeal to voters ahead of the election on Saturday. Green party Leader Sonia Furstenau talked about food security in Roberts Creek before taking her campaign back to her riding on Vancouver Island. The Green party says in a release it has raised nearly $835,000 since Furstenau became leader a week before the snap election was called last month. It says the amount shatters fundraising results from the last election, which saw the party raise a similar amount over five months between January and May.

Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam is concerned that the number of people hospitalized due to COVID-19 keeps rising as flu season approaches. Two-hundred of the nearly one-thousand Canadians being treated in hospitals are in intensive care and Tam expects those numbers to keep rising. Quebec reported one-thousand and 33 new cases today while Ontario reported 841. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has tested negative for COVID-19, but is isolating at home because he attended events with his municipal affairs minister, who has tested positive

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole is brushing off concerns his party is setting up Parliament for yet another confidence vote.The Conservatives are using another chance they get this week to set the House of Commons agenda to propose a motion calling for a sweeping probe by the House of Commons health committee of a host of issues relating to the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.The motion is so broad and the demand for documents so massive that the Liberals are expected to argue that its passage would paralyze the government the same argument used to declare an earlier Conservat

British Columbia health officials are reporting the highest-ever daily number of new COVID-19 infections at 203. In a statement Wednesday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says there are now 1,766 active cases in B.C., including 70 people in hospital. Two more people have died from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 256. An outbreak has been declared at the Sandy Cove French-language school in Kelowna, where three people have tested positive. Dr. Henry says an additional 160 people have been told to self-isolate and monitor themselves for symptoms for two weeks. Cases have also be

New Democrat Leader John Horgan is campaigning in ridings traditionally held by the B.C. Liberals in the waning days of the provincial election. Horgan says people are seeing the NDP differently after the past 3 1/2 years in government because the party has shown it can balance the books and spur economic growth. Horgan was campaigning in Langley and was later scheduled to visit Abbotsford, areas where the Liberals have done well in the past. The NDP has also made a push in Green Leader Sonia Furstenau's Cowichan Valley riding, where federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh recently visited. Gre

Toronto police say the Special Investigations Unit is investigating after several people, including two teen boys, allegedly opened fire on officers who were searching a home. Police say the incident happened early Wednesday morning in the city's east end. They say that while officers were in the home, as many as five occupants fired multiple rounds at police. Two boys, aged 14 and 15, and three 19 year olds have been charged with discharging a firearm with intent to wound, endanger life or prevent arrest. Toronto police did not provide any details about injuries, but they note that officers

Two advocacy groups say detainees in Texas' juvenile prisons suffer from frequent physical and sexually abuse, inadequate mental healthcare and high rates of staff turnover. Texas Appleseed and Disability Rights Texas asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Texas Juvenile Justice Department lockups in a complaint Wednesday. The groups allege the hundreds of youth held in five secure state facilities continue to have their rights violated despite recent and long-standing efforts to reform the Texas youth corrections systems. A Texas Juvenile Justice Department spokesman did not