North America

Thousands evacuated as Guatemala volcano erupts, then stops

GUATEMALA CITY (AFP) — Guatemalan authorities declared a red alert and evacuated around 4,000 people Monday after the Fuego volcano erupted for the fifth time this year, sending bursts of ash and lava down the mountain before its activity decreased and then stopped. Memories are still painfully fresh of the volcano’s eruption in June, which swept away villages and left nearly 200 people dead and 235 missing. The Institute of Volcanology’s director Pablo Oliva said […]

Gunman kills three at Chicago hospital

CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — An argument in a hospital parking lot escalated into a shooting that killed three people, including a police officer, in the US city of Chicago on Monday. The violence only ended when police engaged in shootout with the gunman inside Mercy Hospital. “We have four deceased individuals: police officer, two female staff employees at the hospital, and the offender,” police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told journalists. The shooter killed the first […]

Thousands evacuated as Guatemala volcano erupts again

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) — Authorities in Guatemala declared a red alert and evacuated around 4,000 people early Monday after the Central American country’s fiery Fuego volcano erupted for the fifth time this year, sending bursts of ash and lava down the mountain. Memories are still fresh of the volcano’s eruption in June which swept away villages and left nearly 200 people dead and 235 missing. The volcano last erupted in early November without causing […]

UPDATED: Multiple victims after shots fired at Chicago hospital: US media

  CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — A gunman opened fire Monday at a hospital in the US city of Chicago, police said, adding that there were reports of “multiple victims” including a wounded officer in “critical condition.” “Reports of shots fired in the vicinity of 26th and Michigan near Mercy Hospital. Avoid area. Heavy police response incoming,” Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted. At least “one possible offender” had been shot at the hospital in the […]

Red alert after Guatemala volcano erupts again, nearly 3,000 flee

  GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) — Guatemalan authorities on Monday declared a red alert after the Fuego volcano erupted again, forcing almost 3,000 residents to flee. A fiery glow rose from the crater of Fuego which is erupting for the fifth time this year, one month after the last one and following a June 3 rain of rocks, ash and toxic gases that left almost 200 people dead and 235 missing. A spokesman for Guatemala’s […]

US Army unfurls miles of fencing along border with Mexico

  by Thomas Watkins Agence France Presse LAREDO, United States (AFP) — They started work in the cool of the morning and moved quickly, uncoiling reel after reel of vicious-looking fencing and tying it with barbed wire to green poles hammered into the ground. Over the course of three days, a gleaming, shoulders-high barrier of concertina-wire emerged like a silver snake along a lush riverbank, stretching as far as the eye could see. This was […]

‘Sad’ Trump visits fire-wracked California, blames mismanagement

by Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse PARADISE, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump expressed sadness Saturday at the devastation caused by fires in a California town, but persisted in his controversial claim that forest mismanagement is responsible for the tragedy which has left 76 dead and more than 1,000 listed as missing. “This is very sad,” Trump said after surveying the remains of Paradise, where nearly the only people out on the road were […]

Number of missing jumps to more than 1,000 in California fire

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) —  The number of people missing in a devastating wildfire in northern California jumped to more than 1,000 on Friday, authorities said, as the remains of eight other victims were found by rescuers. Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said the number of missing had soared from 631 on Thursday to 1,011 on Friday as more reports of missing were being sent in and as emergency calls made when the fire broke […]

Migrant caravan faces cold welcome, few options at US-Mexico border

TIJUANA, Mexico (AFP) — The Central American migrant caravan faced a desperate situation Friday as its numbers swelled at the US-Mexican border, where it got a cold welcome and a warning that its chances of entering the United States were “almost nil.” After spending more than a month traveling the 4,300 kilometers (2,700 miles) to the Mexican border city of Tijuana, walking and hitch-hiking much of the way, thousands of migrants faced the bleak reality […]

CIA concludes Saudi Crown Prince behind Khashoggi murder: report

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Central Intelligence Agency has concluded Saudi’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was behind the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, The Washington Post reported Friday, citing people close to the matter. The US assessment directly contradicts the conclusions of a Saudi prosecutor one day prior, which exonerated the prince of involvement in the brutal murder. According to the CIA findings, 15 Saudi agents flew on government aircraft to […]

Number of missing in California fire jumps past 600

PARADISE, United States (AFP) — The number of people listed as missing in one of California’s deadliest wildfires has skyrocketed past 600, authorities said Thursday, as the remains of seven additional victims were found by rescuers. Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said the number of missing had more than doubled during the day to 631 as investigators went back and checked emergency calls made when the fire broke out a week ago. “I want you to […]

Migrant caravan arrives at US-Mexico border

by Yemeli ORTEGA / Said BETANZOS Agence France Presse TIJUANA, Mexico (AFP) — The Central American migrant caravan trekking toward the United States converged on the US-Mexican border Thursday after more than a month on the road, undeterred by President Donald Trump’s deployment of thousands of American troops near the border. Around 800 migrants riding on 22 buses arrived at dawn in Tijuana, which is located across from San Diego, California, and walked from the […]