Authorities were using military helicopters and a C-130 cargo plane Sunday to evacuate thousands of residents stranded by rising floodwaters in the eastern Australian province of Queensland, the government said.

Authorities in Papua New Guinea said Sunday it may be time to shift from rescue to recovery mode in their search for 98 people who remain unaccounted for in last week's ferry sinking.

U.S. Brig. Gen. Terence Hildner died in Kabul of apparent natural causes, officials said, making him one of the highest ranking officers to die in Afghanistan.