A 56-year-old man is facing a sexual assault charge after what Burnaby R-C-M-P are calling a "cleansing ritual scam".
Police say a 29-year-old woman was approached by a man at a Burnaby mall on August 5th.
They say the man claimed to be a Taoist Master and Chinese medicine practitioner who could perform a ritual to improve the woman's health and life.
Mounties say the victim and suspect drove to another location for the ritual, during which the suspect allegedly assaulted the woman
The United Nations says violence in the Israel-occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank has risen at an unprecedented rate since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants prompted Israel to bombard the Gaza Strip. Armed groups living in Israeli settlements, deemed illegal under international law, have attacked Palestinians hundreds of times and forced more than 1,200 to leave their homes.
Officials in Cranbrook say the city's transfer station for garbage and recycling was "intentionally" set ablaze by someone who tried to break into the facility overnight. A statement from the Regional District of East Kootenay says the station has reopened after the early morning fire was snuffed out by emergency crews.
Police in Nanaimo say two people are dead after a serious single-vehicle car crash near a rural campground on Saturday morning. Nanaimo R-C-M-P say they arrived just before 9 a-m at the crash site on Nanaimo River Road, about 15 kilometres west of the Trans Canada Highway.
The Vancouver Police Department says holiday shoppers should be on the lookout for Grinch-like thieves looking to steal their Christmas gifts. In a short video posted on social media, the V-P-D says shoppers should be careful about storing gifts in vehicles because criminals are out shopping for opportunities.
One man is dead after a police-involved shooting in Abbotsford, British Columbia, on Sunday night. Police say the shooting happened in the 1700 block of Riverside Road, and the section between Marshall and King roads has been closed due to the ongoing investigation.
Earthquakes Canada says a 4.9 magnitude earthquake was recorded Sunday afternoon and public reports poured in from hundreds of kilometres away from the event's epicentre. John Cassidy, a seismologist with Natural Resources Canada, says people over a "very wide region" of the province have reported feeling the earthquake, which hit just before 3:30 in the afternoon.