More than 150 American architects arrived in Havana this week as part of joint efforts with their Cuban counterparts to restore the glory and grandeur of Old Havana’s architectural heritage. The U.S. architects are from the prestigious American Institute of Architects (AIA) and their visit to Havana coincides with the Cuban capital being chosen for 47th Conference by the Design Committee of the AIA. The honour means that American architectural expertise will be used to […]
South America
Anger erupts as 1,700 still missing in Ecuador quake
by Florence PANOUSSIAN PEDERNALES,Ecuador (AFP) –The death toll from Ecuador’s earthquake was feared to rise sharply as authorities warned Tuesday that 1,700 people were still missing and anger gripped families of victims trapped in the rubble. Three days after the powerful 7.8-magnitude quake struck Ecuador’s Pacific coast in a zone popular with tourists, 480 people are known to have died, the government said. Sniffer dogs and mechanical diggers were busy at work in the wreckage […]
Hopes dim for Ecuador quake survivors; death toll hits 443
(Reuters) PEDERNALES/CANOA, Ecuador Rescuers in Ecuador were losing hope of finding more survivors on Tuesday from an earthquake which killed more than 400 people and dealt a shattering blow to the South American OPEC nation’s already fragile economy. Praying for miracles, distraught family members beseeched rescue teams to find missing loved ones as they used dogs, bare hands and excavators to hunt through debris of flattened homes, hotels and stores in the hardest-hit Pacific coastal […]
Brazilians on edge as Congressional vote moves Rousseff closer to impeachment
Brazilians on Monday (April 18) said they were anxious to move beyond a deepening political crisis, the day after leftist President Dilma Rousseff suffered a humiliating loss when the lower house of Congress voted to impeach her on Sunday (April 17). In a vote late on Sunday that sparked jubilation among Rousseff’s foes, the opposition comfortably surpassed the two-thirds majority needed to send the leftist president for trial in the Senate on charges she manipulated […]
Brazil’s Rousseff vows to fight on after impeachment defeat
(REUTERS) — Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff vowed on Monday to fight impeachment tooth-and-nail in the Senate after a heavy defeat in the lower house of Congress raised the likelihood of an end to 13 years of leftist rule in Latin America’s largest economy. In a raucous vote late on Sunday that sparked jubilation among Rousseff’s foes, the opposition comfortably surpassed the two-thirds majority needed to send Brazil’s first female president for trial in the Senate […]
Ecuador earthquake death toll climbs to 413: authorities
https://youtu.be/68DYa_2sSzY QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — The death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck Ecuador over the weekend has risen to at least 413, government officials reported Monday. “We are counting 413 people dead at present,” the country’s security ministry said. The new toll from the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Ecuador on Saturday evening updates an earlier count of 350. pld/bfm/acb © 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse
Drone images show destruction of Ecuador quake; death toll of 272 “certain to rise”
The most powerful earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades has killed 272 people — a toll that will ‘certainly’ rise, President Rafael Correa said, as overwhelmed rescuers Monday struggled to pull survivors from piles of debris. (Courtesy AFPTV)
Ecuador quake toll at 272, ‘certain to rise’
by Santiago Piedra Silva with Florence Panoussian in Manta Portoviejo, Ecuador (AFP) — The biggest earthquake in Ecuador in decades has killed 272 people — but that toll will ‘certainly’ rise even further, the president said on Sunday as overwhelmed rescuers struggled to pull survivors out of the destruction. The 7.8-magnitude quake struck the small, oil-producing South American nation late Saturday, shattering hotels and homes along its Pacific coast popular with tourists and reducing several […]
Colombia sends search and rescue workers and aid for quake
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) – Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos bid farewell on Sunday (April 17) to 65 search and rescue experts heading to Ecuador where Saturday’s 7.8-magnitude earthquake left at least 246 dead and has caused aftershocks so strong that one caused the evacuation of a hospital in neighbouring Colombia. The 7.8 magnitude quake struck off the Pacific coast on Saturday and was felt around the Andean nation of 16 million people, causing panic as […]
Victims of Ecuador’s earthquake beg vice-president for help
PORTOVIEJO, MANABI, Ecuador (Reuters) – As the death toll from Ecuador’s biggest earthquake in decades soared to at least 246 on Sunday (April 17), desperate victims begged Vice President Jorge Glass to help find their missing relatives as rescuers using tractors and bare hands hunted desperately for survivors in shattered coastal towns. The 7.8 magnitude quake struck off the Pacific coast on Saturday and was felt around the Andean nation of 16 million people, causing […]
UPDATE: Ecuador quake toll rises to 233 dead: president
QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — At least 233 people have been killed in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Ecuador’s Pacific coast, President Rafael Correa said Sunday. “The official figure of the number killed has risen to 233,” Correa said on his Twitter account. Officials had previously put the toll of Saturday’s quake at 77 dead and nearly 600 injured. The quake, which struck at 2358 GMT Saturday about 170 kilometers northwest of Quito, lasted about a […]
Powerful Ecuador quake kills at least 77
by Paola Lopez QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — At least 77 people were killed when a powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador, destroying buildings and a bridge and sending terrified residents scrambling from their homes, authorities in the Latin American country said Sunday. Vice President Jorge Glas said the death toll will likely rise further in what he called the “worst seismic movement we have faced in decades.” The quake, which struck at 2358 GMT Saturday about 170 […]
