A Canadian military aircraft with more than 500 evacuees aboard flew out of Kabul on Wednesday.It was one of a stream of military planes that took off as evacuees lined up on the tarmac.Others desperate to get on a flight remain outside, some standing knee-deep in sewage and waving identity documents at Western soldiers in hopes of being allowed to go beyond the barbed wire fencing.Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino says Canada is keeping boots on the ground and planes in the air for as long as possible.But he says there are significant challenges since the Taliban controls checkpoints leadi

Canadian officials say the military's special forces are operating outside the closed confines of Kabul's chaotic airport to get people on flights out of Afghanistan.The officials would not provide more details, citing the sensitivity of the security situation, but they said they are having success in getting more Afghans to safety.They said a Canadian C-17 Globemaster carried 436 people out of Kabul airport on Sunday night, including Canadian citizens and family members, as well as Afghan nationals accepted for resettlement by Canada and its allies — up from the 121 airlifted a day earlier.

Two more planes have arrived in Canada from Afghanistan carrying diplomats, special forces troops and refugees fleeing the Taliban.The flights come after order was restored at the Kabul airport after thousands of desperate Afghans rushed onto the tarmac on Sunday to escape the Taliban.The Department of National Defence says says one plane carrying diplomats and special forces troops landed in Ottawa.A second plane carrying former interpreters and their families arrived in Toronto -- the fifth such flight from Afghanistan since the government announced in July that it would rescue Afghans who h

President Joe Biden says he stands ``squarely behind'' his decision for the U.S. to leave Afghanistan. Speaking about the chaotic situation in Kabul, Biden says he faced a choice between sticking with an agreement to leave or sending thousands more U.S. troops to fight a ``third decade'' of war. Biden spoke Monday after the planned withdrawal of American forces turned deadly at Kabul's airport as thousands tried to flee following the Taliban's swift takeover of the country. He told Americans it would be wrong to use US troops to stand up to the Taliban when Afghan forces would not. Biden retu

Haitians are searching for survivors and the dead in collapsed buildings following the powerful earthquake over the weekend as hospitals overflow with patients. Thousands of people in the quake zone have slept outside, clutching small transistor radios tuned to the news. Officials have raised the death toll from Saturday's earthquake to at least 1,297. And the devastation could soon worsen. Tropical Depression Grace is predicted to reach Haiti on Monday night and it will bring the potential for heavy rain, flooding and landslides. The country's Civil Protection Agency says the magnitude 7.2 e

Senior U.S. military officials say the chaos at the Kabul airport this morning left seven people dead, including some who fell from a departing American military transport jet. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss ongoing operations. Afghans rushed onto the tarmac of the capital's airport on Monday as thousands tried to flee the country after the Taliban seized power with stunning speed. Some clung to the side of a U.S. military plane before takeoff, in a widely shared video that captured the sense of desperation as America's 20-yea

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.

U-S President Joe Biden plans to host a virtual summit for democracy in early December in a global stand against rising autocratic forces.Biden wants to assemble government, civil society and private sector leaders to discuss three key themes -- defending against authoritarianism, fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights.The announcement came not long after Afghan officials announced the Taliban had seized three more provincial capitals from the elected, American-backed government in Kabul.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo continued to defend himself from what he said were ``unfair'' and ``untruthful'' sexual harassment allegations, even as he announced he would resign from office. But the 63 year old Democrat said he realized he would lose his fight to remain in power and would step aside out of his love for the state and its people. Cuomo made the resignation announcement Tuesday in a speech to the public. He said ``wasting energy on distractions is the last thing that state government should be doing. And I cannot be the cause of that.'' White House press secretary Jen Psaki says U