WASHINGTON, Oct 25, 2023 (AFP) – The US House of Representatives finally elected a new speaker on Wednesday, ending weeks of bitter Republican infighting that paralyzed Congress at a time of international and domestic crisis. Mike Johnson, a little-known ally of Donald Trump who spearheaded legal efforts to overturn the 2020 election, won the unanimous support of his party to lead the lower chamber of Congress, which has been at a standstill since Kevin McCarthy […]
Tag: Louisiana
One dead as US college endures two shootings in a week
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — One person was killed and another seven injured at a US university shooting early Sunday, police said, just days after another firearm incident at the same school left one dead. A student was among those wounded in the attack at around 1:30am (local) at Grambling State University, Louisiana State Police said, with one person in critical condition at hospital. The school tweeted the student was “treated for non-life-threatening injuries”, and […]
Hurricane Ida could become costliest weather disaster: UN
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Hurricane Ida, which slammed into the US Gulf Coast at the weekend, could become the costliest weather disaster on record, the UN said Wednesday, hailing though that prevention measures had dramatically limited casualties. Louisiana and Mississippi are still taking stock of the disaster inflicted by the powerful Category 4 storm that hit exactly 16 years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall and devastated the area. Ida is known to have killed […]
Hurricane Ida pummels Louisiana, knocks out power in New Orleans
Powerful Hurricane Ida battered the southern US state of Louisiana, leaving at least one dead and knocking out power for more than a million people, including the whole of New Orleans. Ida slammed into the Louisiana coast as a Category 4 storm on Sunday, 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, but had weakened to a tropical storm early Monday. The storm knocked out power for all of New Orleans, with […]
Hurricane Ida pummels Louisiana as Category 3 storm
by Daxia ROJAS NEW ORLEANS, United States (AFP) — Hurricane Ida battered southern Louisiana Sunday, 16 years to the day after deadly Hurricane Katrina devastated the southern US city of New Orleans. Ida slammed into the Louisiana coast as a Category 4 storm, and was downgraded to a Category 3 by evening — the same strength Katrina was when it came ashore in 2005. “Ida is a dangerous category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane […]
Locals flee as strengthening hurricane barrels toward southern US
by Leo MOUREN Agence France Presse LAKE CHARLES, United States (AFP) — The US national guard was mobilized and people on the Louisiana coast evacuated from their homes Friday as a strengthening hurricane bore down that officials say threatens a deadly storm surge and flash flooding. Hurricane Delta earlier swept over the western Gulf of Mexico, where it ripped up trees and tore down power lines, and will slam into areas on the US […]
Fourteen killed in wake of Hurricane Laura in US
LAKE CHARLES, United States (AFP) — At least 14 people were killed after Hurricane Laura slammed into the southern US states of Louisiana and Texas, authorities and local media said Friday. Louisiana’s Governor John Bel Edwards confirmed at least 10 people had died in his state, half from using carbon monoxide-producing portable generators indoors in the aftermath of the storm making landfall Thursday. Four of the remaining deaths were caused by trees falling on […]
Trump tests his electoral power in Louisiana governor’s fight
BOSSIER CITY, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump campaigned on Thursday for the Republican challenger in the Louisiana governor’s race, in what is seen as a test of his own political vitality as he battles an impeachment inquiry. Addressing a rally in Bossier City, Trump urged a crowd of thousands whose votes he will depend on for his own re-election bid next year to “send a message” by electing Republican Eddie Rispone on […]
Storm Barry takes aim at Louisiana, could roar ashore as hurricane
by Michael Mathes Agence France Presse PORT SULPHUR, United States (AFP) — Millions of residents in Louisiana on Friday braced for impact from Tropical Storm Barry, which is threatening the southern US state and its largest city New Orleans with potentially disastrous rainfall and flooding. Authorities ramped up evacuations, airlines cancelled flights and flood gates slammed shut as the National Hurricane Center (NHC) forecast the strengthening storm would reach hurricane status Saturday and roar […]
Deadly Hurricane Nate hits southern US
by Nova Safo and Bryan Tarnowski Agence France Presse NEW ORLEANS, United States (AFP) — Hurricane Nate slammed into the southeastern tip of the US state of Louisiana on Saturday and headed toward Mississippi after leaving dozens dead and causing widespread flooding in Central America. Officials urged residents to evacuate some vulnerable areas before the storm made landfall on Saturday evening, and residents scrambled to make last-minute preparations ahead of the third hurricane to […]
People’s kindness shines through Hurricane Harvey
by Jennie Matthew Agence France Presse WINNIE, United States (AFP) — When flood waters first seeped into their house, grandparents Bernard and Annie Redeo weren’t too worried. But when it rose a foot deep, they made a run for it: fleeing in the pitch-black to neighbors. They found refuge with a single mom of two. It was 5 am, still dark outside and torrential rain was hammering the small farming town of Winnie, Texas […]
Harvey makes second landfall, hitting Louisiana
HOUSTON, United States (AFP) — Five days after slamming into Texas as a major hurricane, Harvey made a second landfall on Wednesday, hitting Louisiana, a state which still bears deep scars from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina. Now a tropical storm, Harvey made landfall just west of the town of Cameron, the National Hurricane Center said, with “flooding rains” drenching parts of southeastern Texas and neighboring southwestern Louisiana. Harvey’s return comes after the monster storm pummeled Texas with […]





