Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
A heavy snowfall and a 6-hour flight delay. Dogs on the runway. Armed Taliban gatekeepers. Two angry men fighting over baggage. That was my return to Kabul after more than a decade.
Stopped by a zealous airport official, or maybe he was Mukhabarat—security forces, disguised as a civilian. You can never tell.
You must fill out these forms. Name, passport, local address, one photo, who invited you to Afghanistan? We already have visas. You must fill this out. Okay, okay.
He was pleasant enough and polite. Not pushy, or stern. Didn’t look Taliban. You must keep this and show it on the way out, he said, not as a warning, but advice. Believe me, it will be better for you.
Leaning in closer and lowering his voice. Could you give me some “tipping” he asked. For my helping you. Tipping? I stammered, considering the 10 pound note in my pocket. The only cash I had.
Please, he said, I am not getting paid and I need to buy food for my family. Not sure if he was telling the truth, but he walked away with my 10 pounds.
Others approached. Do you need a car? Are you with the UN? You need help maybe? Welcome, said a middle-aged Taliban man, singled out by his black turban. A paj, and no mistaking who wears them. Where are you from, he asked? One of the feared men in the shadows, now in the light of an airport arrival lounge, and smiling.
It is still hard to comprehend they again control Afghanistan. Pretending to make nice, or is it for real?
Exhausted, upset stomach after 36 hours and little sleep. No driver. Where is our driver? I can be of assistance maybe, says another man in English. He used to be a translator. That work disappeared with the arrival of the Taliban.
He was certainly an educated man but left to his own survival instincts now, like millions of other out-of-work men and women. There are no jobs for the men and women aren’t allowed to work. Bitter combination.
Every voice seemed to carry a tone of need. It never used to be like that. Not in such numbers. Proud Afghans lowered in life to scrounging, if not begging.
I’m sorry, I answered, as we walked towards the parking lot. We already have a translator. I wish I could help. Here, he said, stepping forward with his name and number scrawled on a scrap of paper. In case anything changes. I am available.
To a hotel that I’ve stayed in before, a very smart hotel by any standards of the world. It was attacked at least twice by the Taliban, with suicide bombers and armed fighters who hunted through the halls and the sauna looking for westerners to kill.
It is sealed off from the street and armoured like a fortress now, with heavy metal gates and layers of security that weren’t in place when I was last there.
The paradox of the reconfigured Afghanistan suddenly becomes obvious. Just outside the main gate, armed Taliban now stand as defenders of the place they once terrorized. Ready to fight any new enemies of their country who might come to harm and kill the guests inside. Like me.
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
A Minnesota state senator and former broadcast meteorologist told police that she broke into her stepmother's home because her stepmother refused to give her items of sentimental value from her late father, including his ashes, according to burglary charges filed Tuesday.
Organizations across the country are gearing up for what they describe as the largest LGBTQ2S+ mobilization since the push for marriage equality.
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a Grade 4 student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.