International

Hurricane Irma makes landfall in Cuba as massive storm: US forecasters

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Hurricane Irma made landfall as a maximum-strength Category Five storm late Friday, US forecasters said, after leaving a trail of death and destruction on a string of Caribbean islands. At 0300 GMT, the monster storm had made landfall on the communist island’s Camaguey Archipelago, with the eye of the storm just 190 kilometers (120 miles) east-southeast of the Cuban city of Caibarien, and 300 miles south-southeast of Miami, according to the […]

Expelled ambassador says North Korea-US tensions not Mexico’s business

  (Reuters) — North Korea’s ambassador to Mexico on Friday (September 08) said its tensions with the US were not Mexico City’s business, after President Enrique Pena Nieto ordered he leave the country in protest at Pyongyang’s nuclear tests. In a statement, the Mexican government said it had given Ambassador Kim Hyong Gil 72 hours to leave Mexico in order to express its “absolute rejection” of North Korea’s recent nuclear activity, describing it as a […]

Qatar ruler phones Saudi crown prince about starting talks: state media

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Qatar’s ruler phoned Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to express interest in talks to resolve a three-month-old diplomatic crisis, Saudi state media said early Saturday. The crown prince “welcomed this desire,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported, adding “details will be announced after Saudi Arabia reaches an agreement with UAE and Bahrain and Egypt”, the Arab bloc that cut ties with Qatar in June. The phone call by Qatar’s […]

Florida mass exodus as Hurricane Irma closes in

https://youtu.be/alWHUpfFfSs     MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Florida’s highways were jammed Friday with families fleeing their homes as Hurricane Irma honed in on the Sunshine State after reducing island resorts to rubble and killing at least 17 people across the Caribbean. Bumper-to-bumper traffic snaked north out of the peninsula, with mattresses, gas cans, mattresses and kayaks strapped to car roofs, as residents heeded increasingly insistent warnings to get out and Florida’s governor said all […]

Watch: Florida residents get into shelters ahead of hurricane Irma

https://youtu.be/ZrTKzSlz4k8   Hundreds of people find shelter in the state of Florida, as Governor Rick Scott warns that all of the state’s 20 million inhabitants should be prepared to evacuate as Hurricane Irma bears down for a direct hit on the southern US state. Charley Rossy, one of those who decided to evacuate to a shelter, said: “This is huge, so it got to the point where it’s a big storm, you are going to […]

Race to rescue survivors from ruins of Mexico quake

by Yemeli ORTEGA Agence France Presse JUCHITAN DE ZARAGOSA, Mexico (AFP) — Police, soldiers and emergency workers raced Friday to rescue survivors from the ruins of Mexico’s most powerful earthquake in a century, which killed at least 59 people. In the southern region hit hardest by the quake, emergency workers looked for survivors — or bodies — in the rubble of houses, churches and schools that were split down the middle, spilling their innards onto […]

Hurricane Irma’s deadly passage batters France’s Saint Martin; 95% of island destroyed

Pointe-à-Pitre, France (AFP) — The French part of the Caribbean island St Martin is “95 percent destroyed” after Hurricane Irma tore through the region, top local official Daniel Gibbs said late Wednesday. “It’s an enormous catastrophe. Ninety-five percent of the island is destroyed. I’m in shock. It’s frightening,” said Gibbs, a former French lawmaker, speaking on Radio Caribbean International. The island is in need of emergency assistance, he said. “I have sick people to evacuate, […]

All 20 million Florida residents ‘should be prepared to evacuate,’ says governor

  MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Florida Governor Rick Scott warned Friday that all of the state’s 20 million inhabitants should be prepared to evacuate as Hurricane Irma bears down for a direct hit on the southern US state. “The storm is powerful and deadly,” Scott said. “Do not ignore evacuation orders. “Remember, we can rebuild your home, we can’t rebuild your life,” he said. “All Floridians should be prepared to evacuate soon.” Irma was […]

Mexico’s biggest quake in century kills at least 58

  by Yemeli Ortega Agence France Presse JUCHITAN DE ZARAGOZA, Mexico (AFP) Mexico’s most powerful earthquake in a century killed at least 58 people, officials said Friday, after it struck the Pacific coast, wrecking buildings and sending families fleeing into the streets. Rescue workers rushed to the worst scenes of destruction, in the southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, where officials warned there may be people trapped in the ruins. President Enrique Pena Nieto described […]

Death toll in powerful Mexico earthquake rises to 15: official

  MEXICO City, Mexico (AFP) — At least 15 people were killed in a powerful 8.2-magnitude earthquake in Mexico, an official said Friday, as 10 more bodies were found in the southern city of Juchitan. “The death toll is 15 in all… based on the figures from each state,” the head of the disaster management agency, Ricardo de la Cruz, told TV station Milenio after the quake, the most powerful to hit Mexico in a […]

URGENT: Hurricane Irma downgraded to Category 4: NHC

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Irma has been downgraded to a Category Four hurricane but is still extremely dangerous, the National Hurricane Center said on Friday. The storm raging in the Caribbean which is en route to Florida is now packing maximum sustained winds of 155 miles per hour (250 kilometres per hour), the agency said its 0900 GMT update. That is down from speeds of 185 mph when Irma was at its peak […]

Eyewitnesses capture moment Mexico earthquake strikes- UGC

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) — An earthquake of magnitude 8.1 struck off the southern coast of Mexico late on Thursday (September 7), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said, killing at least five people, triggering small tsunami waves and damaging some buildings. Eyewitness phone footage showed the moment the earthquake struck in a hotel room in Mexico City. Further footage of Mexico City International Airport’s Terminal 2 showed what appeared to be earthquake damage to the floor. […]