NASSAU, Bahamas (AFP) — Hurricane Matthew’s blast through the Bahamas brought harrowing reports of roofs blown off, windows shattering and water rising perilously, including a social-media post from one desperate resident who said, “I’m on a chest of drawers. Phone battery low.” But there were no reports of fatalities from the National Emergency Management Agency. After the storm passed and headed northwest towards Florida, residents emerged from their homes to assess the damage, […]
North America
US coast evacuated as historic hurricane bears down
https://youtu.be/LR1eByFrTJk by Kerry Sheridan / with Leila Macor in Jacksonville MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Florida faced the most dangerous storm in living memory as Hurricane Matthew moved in from the Atlantic on Friday, threatening coastal cities with surging tides, torrential rain and 130 mile-an-hour winds. After cutting a deadly swath across the Caribbean and leaving more than 300 dead in Haiti — according to a senator from the hard-hit south of the country […]
More than 300 dead in southern Haiti from hurricane: senator
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — Hurricane Matthew killed more than 300 people as it smashed through southern Haiti, a senator from the region said Thursday. Senator Herve Fourcand said that figure is still preliminary, as some areas hit by the powerful storm are still inaccessible. Haiti’s southern peninsula was the hardest hit by the storm. Fourcand disputed the official toll given by the government so far, which was 122. Earlier, Radio Television Caraibes put […]
15 years on, the Afghan war still defies US timelines
by Andrew BEATTY WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Fifteen years after the US invasion of Afghanistan, President Barack Obama and the American military have dug in for a long campaign that defies rigid timelines and easy barometers of victory. On October 7, 2001, in response to the 9/11 attacks, President George W. Bush launched Operation Enduring Freedom to dislodge the Taliban and capture or kill Al-Qaeda militants they were harboring. For much of the 15 […]
Battleground states in the US presidential election
by Brigitte DUSSEAU WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A dozen or so states are particularly important in the US presidential election — states where the race is tight and the outcome could throw the contest one way or the other. As their campaigns progress, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump spend increasing amounts of time in these battlegrounds, all but ignoring the rest of the country. The United States has an indirect electoral system in which […]
The US presidential election: a how-to guide
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The American presidential election falls this year on November 8. The quadrennial exercise always takes place on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November, as prescribed by the US Constitution. How the voting system works The vote, by universal suffrage, is conducted in a single round in all 50 states and the District of Columbia (the city of Washington, which is not part of any state). Voters choose among […]
Hurricane toll in Haiti soars to 264: local media
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — The death toll in Haiti from Hurricane Matthew has risen to at least 264, local media Radio Television Caraibes reported on Thursday. The devastation in the poorest country in the Americas is concentrated in the southwest, which remains cut off two days after the Category Four storm hit. The previous official death toll stood at 108. © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
Florida shelters quickly reach capacity, turning some away
by Leila MACOR JACKSONVILLE,United States (AFP) — Shelters along the eastern coast of Florida were jammed Thursday amid a frantic race to protect people and pets from the “potentially catastrophic” effects of Hurricane Matthew as the deadly storm barrels in from the Caribbean. The largest shelter in the quaint beach city of St. Augustine — founded in the 16th century by Spanish explorers — had reached its capacity of 500 people, and authorities were refusing […]
Creepy clown sightings spook America
by Jocelyne ZABLIT LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A series of creepy clown sightings across the United States has caused a wave of hysteria, forcing police and schools to scramble to contain spreading jitters, and even the White House to weigh in. The spooky sightings were first reported in August in South Carolina when police were called in to investigate what turned out to be bogus accounts of men dressed as clowns trying to […]
Deadly Hurricane Matthew strengthens, threatening US
MIAMI, United States (AFP) – by Kerry SHERIDAN with Daniel Woolls in Washington Residents of the US state of Florida scrambled to escape the path of Hurricane Matthews on Thursday as it pounded the Bahamas after leaving 27 people dead in the Caribbean. The storm, which is swirling near the northwest Bahamas, is expected to intensify to a Category Four hurricane as it moves northwest towards Florida. Matthew, the worst storm to hit the Caribbean […]
Hurricane Matthew pounds portions of central Bahamas: US monitor
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Deadly Hurricane Matthew was roaring through the central Bahamas early Thursday after leaving a trail of destruction in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba, a US-based monitor reported. “Matthew (is) pounding portions of the central Bahamas,” the latest bulletin from the National Hurricane Center said, adding the storm was expected to intensify as it approaches the US state of Florida. © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
Evacuations in coastal US as Matthew rolls on Bahamas
by Kerry Sheridan / with Daniel Woolls in Washington MIAMI, United States (AFP) — The United States began evacuating coastal areas on Wednesday as Hurricane Matthew churned toward the Bahamas, after killing at least 14 people in the Caribbean in a maelstrom of wind, mud and water. Haiti’s presidential election, scheduled for Sunday, was postponed after Matthew blasted the impoverished nation, knocking out a key bridge providing access to the country’s south where […]





