Puerto Rico

Final hours of Harris campaign remind of Trump ally's Puerto Rico joke

The day before Election Day, 17-year-old girl Carmen Hernandez held a cardboard sign with the Puerto Rican flag outside Trump's rally in Reading, Pennsylvania, a city that is two-thirds Hispanic. What you call trash is our treasure, the sign read. While Trump's campaign had quickly distanced itself from a comic's slam on Puerto Rico as a floating island of garbage, Kamala Harris' campaign and other Democrats spent the last hours of the 2024 campaign in the nation's largest battleground state linking him to the joke. Harris devoted much of her final full day on the campaign trail to reaching Latino voters in Pennsylvania, a swing state that Democrats consider part of their blue wall in the Electoral College. She made multiple stops in what is known as the 222 Corridor, after the highway that connects small cities and towns west and north of Philadelphia. More than 315,000 people who are 18 and older identify as Puerto Ricans in Pennsylvania. And in a state where small margins could

Anger in Puerto Rico over Trump rally comments could impact election

A comic calling Puerto Rico garbage before a packed Donald Trump rally in New York was the latest humiliation for an island territory that has long suffered from mistreatment, residents said on Monday in expressions of fury that could affect the presidential election. Puerto Ricans cannot vote in general elections despite being US citizens, but they can exert a powerful influence with relatives on the mainland. Phones across the island of 3.2 million people were ringing minutes after the speaker derided the US territory Sunday night, and they still buzzed on Monday. Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris is competing with Trump to win over Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania and other swing states. Shortly after stand-up comic Tony Hinchcliffe said that, I don't know if you guys know this, but there's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it's called Puerto Rico, Puerto Rican reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny announced he was backing .

Democrats escalate attacks on Trump after comedian's Puerto Rico remark

Democrats have stepped up their attacks on Donald Trump over a comedian opening a rally for the former president calling Puerto Rico a floating island of garbage, a comment that drew wide condemnation and highlighted the rising power of a key Latino group in the swing state of Pennsylvania. Vice President Kamala Harris described Trump's rally Sunday at Madison Square Garden as more vivid than usual and said he fans the fuel of hate before she flew to Michigan for a campaign event. President Joe Biden called the rally simply embarrassing. In a rare move late Sunday, the Trump campaign distanced itself from the remarks on Puerto Rico made by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe. The garbage he spoke about is polluting our elections and confirming just how little Donald Trump cares about Latinos specifically, about our Puerto Rican community, Eddie Moran, mayor of Reading, said at a news conference with other Puerto Rican officials. With just over a week before Election Day, the fallout underscor

Trump's campaign faces backlash for racist jokes, anti-immigration push

Donald Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden criticised for harsh anti-immigrant push, racist jokes, misogyny, and fear-mongering a week ahead of US polls

Power firms in Puerto Rico under scrutiny as officials demand fewer outages

Two private power companies came under scrutiny Wednesday while they presented plans to stabilize Puerto Rico's crumbling electric grid as officials demanded immediate action to minimize chronic power outages. The presentations by Genera PR, which operates the generation of power in the U.S. territory, and Luma Energy, which handles transmission and distribution, lasted more than five hours as they answered questions by Puerto Rico's Energy Bureau and others. The bureau had ordered both companies in June to produce aggressive plans to improve the island's electric system, which was razed by Hurricane Maria in 2017 but was already failing prior to the Category 4 storm given a lack of maintenance and investment under Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority. We continue to see a high rate of critical failures, said Daniel Haughton, Luma's planning director. The ongoing outages come as crews make permanent repairs to the grid following Hurricane Maria, which caused an estimated $9.7 ...

Hurricane Ernesto becomes Category 2 storm as it races toward Bermuda

At 11 p.m. ET on Thursday (0300 GMT Friday) it was 410 miles (660 km) south-southwest of Bermuda as it headed north, packing winds of 100 mph (155 kph)

Puerto Rico's power firm suspends $65 mn worth of maintenance projects

The private operator of Puerto Rico's power grid confirmed Monday the deferral of $65 million worth of maintenance and improvement projects in the U.S. territory, with some repairs postponed for at least a year because of budget constraints, putting at risk the already troubled grid and sparking a widespread outcry. Some of the deferred projects include maintenance of more than 100,000 light posts, fire mitigation and repairs on underground circuits, among other improvements. Luma Energy's head of regulatory affairs, Mario Hurtado, told The Associated Press on Monday that the suspended projects, which he aims to bring back next year, risk more outages across the island. The risk is always that there will be more failures in terms of public lighting, Hurtado said. At a budget hearing on Friday, Hurtado said Luma Energy prioritized other tasks based on professional judgment, which they consider calculated risks. The lack of fire mitigation puts the grid at risk as hotter temperature

The AI boom makes millions for an unlikely industry player: Anguilla

For each domain registration, Anguilla's government gets anywhere from $140 to thousands of dollars from website names sold at auctions

US House passes referendum for vote on Puerto Rico's political status

The U.S. House passed a bill Thursday that would allow Puerto Rico to hold the first-ever binding referendum on whether to become a state or gain some sort of independence, in a last-ditch effort that stands little chance of passing the Senate. The bill, which passed 233-191 with some Republican support, would offer voters in the U.S. territory three options: statehood, independence or independence with free association. It is crucial to me that any proposal in Congress to decolonize Puerto Rico be informed and led by Puerto Ricans, said Rep. Ral Grijalva, D-Ariz., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, which oversees affairs in U.S. territories. The proposal would commit Congress to accept Puerto Rico into the United States as the 51st state if voters on the island approved it. Voters also could choose outright independence or independence with free association, whose terms would be defined following negotiations over foreign affairs, U.S. citizenship and use of the U.S

US declares public health emergency for Puerto Rico after hurricane Fiona

US Department of Health and Human Service has declared a public health emergency for Puerto Rico due to the severe flooding caused by hurricane Fiona which made a landfall earlier this week

Hurricane Fiona slams Dominican Republic after lashing Puerto Rico

Fiona brought down trees, power lines and advertisements in the towns of Punta Cana, La Romana and El Seibo in the eastern part of the Dominican Republic during the early hours of Monday

Massive power outage in Puerto Rico following hurricane Fiona's arrival

Puerto Rico has suffered a massive power outage following the arrival of the powerful hurricane Fiona

Fiona becomes a hurricane, aims at Puerto Rico, people brace for rains

Fiona strengthened into a hurricane on Sunday as it bore down on Puerto Rico, where people braced for severe wind and torrential rains. Forecasters said historic levels of rain were expected to produce landslides and heavy flooding, with up to 25 inches (64 centimeters) forecast in isolated areas. It's time to take action and be concerned, said Nino Correa, Puerto Rico's emergency management commissioner. Fiona was centered 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Ponce, Puerto Rico, on Sunday morning. It had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 8 mph (13 kph). Anxiety ran high across the island with Fiona due just two days before the anniversary of Hurricane Maria, a devastating Category 4 storm that hit on Sept. 20, 2017, destroying the island's power grid and causing nearly 3,000 deaths. More than 3,000 homes still have only a blue tarp as a roof, and infrastructure remains weak. I think all of us Puerto Ricans who lived through Maria have that

Puerto Ricans hold public hearing to discuss island's political status

Congress would have to accept Puerto Rico as the 51st state if voters so choose it, but the proposal is not expected to survive in the Senate, where Republicans have long opposed statehood

Donald Trump wanted to sell Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria: Report

US President Donald Trump considered selling Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the destructive Hurricane Maria in 2017, former acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke has told the New York Times

US lawmakers demand Puerto Rico governor's exit as protests roil island

US Representative Tulsi Gabbard joined the protests in San Juan, saying she wanted to 'stand up to corruption'

Puertopia: Building a crypto utopia in Puerto Rico where money is virtual

Blockchain, a digital ledger that forms the basis of virtual currencies, has the potential to reinvent society - and the Puertopians want to prove it

US authorities are 'whitewashing' the devastation in Puerto Rico

More than 90% of homes are still without electricity, 60% without water, and 75% of telecommunications networks are still inoperable

Donald Trump waives shipping restrictions for storm-hit Puerto Rico

Officials estimate that the island could be without power for six months

Puerto Rico's bankruptcy will make hurricane recovery brutal - here's why

After a decade of fiscal decline and a May 2017 bankruptcy, Puerto Rico has become exceptionally vulnerable to disasters