The Canadian government is facing urgent calls to speed up its effort to save hundreds of former Afghan interpreters and their families as Western countries step up plans to evacuate Afghanistan after 20 years of war. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was asked if Canada has already shut down its embassy in Kabul, but she would not answer, citing operational security concerns. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says and diplomats and now find themselves in danger as the Taliban sweeps the country. Freeland says the government's priority is ``supporting the brave Afghans who worked f

The wildfire situation is continually evolving, and the information below is current as of 7 p.m. (Pacific time) on Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021.Fires:Since April 1, 2021:1,486 wildfires660,071 hectares of area burnedWildfires burning in B.C.: 268Active fires by fire centre:Cariboo: 33Coastal: 23Kamloops: 87Northwest: 5Prince George: 60Southeast: 60Resources:Total personnel: 3,793Contract firefighters: 1,214Out-of-province personnel: 411Aircraft (rotary and fixed-wing): 205Evacuations:Evacuation orders: 56 (+1)Evacuation alerts: 108 (+3)Properties:Number of properties on order: 6,237 (+1,645)Number

BC's deputy forests minister says heat, low humidity and wind gusts are hobbling firefighting efforts in the province.Rick Manwaring says there's no rain in sight, temperatures are rising and gusty winds are expected across several parts of southern B-C.He says fire personnel usually take advantage of cooler temperatures at night to put in fire guards and take advantage of the decreased blaze behaviour.But this year, he says they haven't had much of a dip in temperatures or an increase in humidity to help them, especially in the south-central part of the province.

The Taliban have seized four more provincial capitals and completed their sweep of southern Afghanistan.The Taliban now control more than two-thirds of Afghanistan -- raising fears of a return to the brutal, repressive rule it imposed before when it all but eliminated women's rights and conducted public executions as it imposed strict Islamic law.The Associated Press is reporting Canadian special forces are being sent in to evacuate Canadian Embassy staff in Kabul.

On the launch event of 'Fit India Freedom Run 2.0', Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur stated that the campaign has been launched at the 75 iconic locations of the country and 7.5 crore people are expected to join it this time. "To celebrate the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', we've launched 'Fit India Freedom Run 2.0' nationwide. This has been launched at 75 iconic locations today. This campaign will run till October 2. 75 villages from each district of the country will take part in this. In the coming days till October 2, people from each district and each village will participate in this movem

On August 13, India reported 40,120 new COVID-19 cases. 585 deaths were reported in last 24 hrs, taking the toll to 4,30,254. A total of 42,295 people got recovered in the same duration. The active caseload is 3,85,227 currently. Total 52,95,82,956 vaccine doses have been administered so far.

A landslide occurred near the motorway, close to Joshimath-Badrinath National Highway, that connects Thaing village in Chamoli district.No causalities have been reported so far. More details area awaited.

B.C. is reporting 513 new cases of COVID-19, including one epi-linked case, for a total of 154,362 cases in the province.There are 3,834 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 148,702 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 81 individuals are in hospital and 33 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation. In the past 24 hours, one new death (Interior Health) has been reported, for an overall total of 1,779.There are eight active outbreaks in:long-term care: Holyrood Manor, Kin Village West Court, Evergreen Baptist Care Soc

Environment Canada says three temperature records were set in the southern Interior yesterday in advance of today's arrival of scorching conditions forecast for the region. Penticton's temperature of 36.7 easily broke a record for the day set in that city 54 years ago, while a setting of 37.5 broke a 40-year-old record in Princeton and fire-ravaged Lytton was again the hot spot at 40.3 degrees edging a record set seven years ago. The weather office warns heat, coupled with humidity could make conditions from Vancouver Island to the southern and central Interior feel like the mid to high-30s o