Puerto Rico’s governor is urging people to moderate their energy consumption and warns the island has no additional power generation capability to fall back on days after a massive blackout hit the U.S. territory.

Officials in Puerto Rico say power has been restored to more than 98% of customers after an island-wide blackout hit the U.S. territory earlier this week.

Haiti’s government says it's adopted what it called a “war budget” of $275,000 aimed at alleviating the country’s crisis as gang violence surges.

Doctors Without Borders says that four of its vehicles came under fire while they evacuated staff from a hospital in Haiti’s capital as gang violence surges.

The executive director of a federal control board that oversees Puerto Rico’s finances says it is “impossible” for the U.S. territory to pay the $8.5 billion bondholders are demanding in a bankruptcy case involving the island’s power company.

Puerto Rico’s new natural resources secretary has shelved an investigation into allegations of illegal construction in a protected area on the island’s southwest coast.

Puerto Rico’s new Gov. Jenniffer González Colón has appointed an energy czar to help pull the U.S. territory out of a power crisis as chronic outages persist.

A blackout hit nearly all of Puerto Rico early Tuesday as the U.S. territory prepared to celebrate New Year’s, leaving more than 1.3 million clients in the dark. Officials said it could take up to two days to restore power.

A blackout has hit nearly all of Puerto Rico as the U.S. territory prepares to celebrate New Year’s.

The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico has yet to produce a certified vote tally for a single district almost a month after holding general elections.

The Bahamas says it will refinance $300 million of its external debt to free up more than $120 million for marine conservation projects and climate change mitigation.

Jenniffer González of Puerto Rico's pro-statehood New Progressive Party is leading polls in a historic gubernatorial election that could see her party secure a third consecutive term for the first time.

Tropical Storm Rafael has strengthened to near hurricane intensity as it barrels toward the Cayman Islands and Cuba, where it was forecast to hit as a full hurricane.

Puerto Rico is awaiting election results that will be historic regardless of which of the two top candidates in the lead wins.

Tropical Storm Oscar has disintegrated as it heads toward the Bahamas after making landfall in Cuba as a Category 1 hurricane, killing at least seven people.

Haiti’s government has created a provisional electoral council.

A federal control board that oversees Puerto Rico’s finances says it will step in to help speed up projects to fix the island’s crumbling power grid as widespread outages persist.

Officials in Puerto Rico have rejected a petition to extend the voter registration deadline.

Two private power companies in Puerto Rico have come under scrutiny while presenting plans to stabilize the island's crumbling electric grid as officials demanded immediate action to minimize chronic power outages.

The U.S. government has temporarily halted a plan to remove iconic stray cats that live in a historic district in Puerto Rico’s capital until a lawsuit opposing the project is resolved.

A growing number of government officials in Puerto Rico are demanding answers from two private electric companies as the U.S. territory struggles with persistent power outages.

Tens of thousands of customers are still without power across Puerto Rico, a week after Ernesto swiped the U.S. territory as a tropical storm.

Hurricane Ernesto has weakened into a tropical storm as it moves away from Bermuda over open waters of the Atlantic after crossing over the tiny British territory early in the day with heavy rains and strong winds.

Hurricane Ernesto has started to pound Bermuda with heavy winds and rain after officials on the tiny British territory in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean opened shelters and closed government offices.

Hurricane Ernesto has dropped torrential rain on Puerto Rico and knocked out power for nearly half of all customers in the U.S. territory.

Plans to hold a nonbinding referendum on Puerto Rico’s political status have come under scrutiny for its multimillion-dollar cost as election officials announced the order and description of choices on the upcoming ballot.

The U.S. government says $325 million in federal funds will be available for solar and battery storage installations across Puerto Rico as the U.S. territory struggles with chronic power outages.

A federal judge overseeing a drawn-out debt-restructuring process for Puerto Rico’s power company has ordered all parties to mediation.

Hurricane Beryl has strengthened to Category 5 status as it crosses islands in the southeastern Caribbean.

Meteorologists have for the first time issued a heat advisory for the entire island of Puerto Rico as it struggles with chronic power outages.

Puerto Rico’s Justice Department says it is suing at least 30 ex-government officials accused of corruption to recover more than $30 million in public funds.

Puerto Rico’s Republican Party held a district assembly and awarded former President Donald Trump all 23 of their national delegates.

The U.S. assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs says the creation of a transitional council responsible for choosing Haiti’s next leaders is imminent.

A $62 million project to dredge Puerto Rico’s biggest and most important seaport has started amid fierce opposition from environmentalists and a pending lawsuit.

A nonprofit organization has sued the U.S. National Park Service over a plan to remove Puerto Rico’s famous stray cats from a historic district in the U.S. territory.

Dengue is surging across the Americas early this year from Puerto Rico to Brazil.

Authorities say an offshore oil spill that led Trinidad and Tobago to declare a national emergency earlier this month has reached the shores of the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire hundreds of miles away.

In a story published Feb. 21, 2024 about short-term rentals in Puerto Rico, The Associated Press erroneously reported that the number of those rentals increased to more than 25,000 in 2022.

Haiti’s government has announced that it is working on an official agreement with Kenyan officials to secure the long-awaited deployment of a police force from the east African country.

Donald Trump has amassed another win at a Republican caucus held in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where officials flouted several GOP party rules, including holding the contest earlier than allowed.

As Puerto Rico struggles with chronic power outages and a decaying electric grid, federal officials believe the U.S. territory that is heavily dependent on fossil fuels can fully shift to clean energy by 2050, according to a new study that has been two years in the making.

Puerto Rico legislators are holding a public hearing on a bill that seeks to prohibit discrimination against certain hairstyles in the racially diverse U.S. territory, sparking a heated debate.

Cesareans are surging in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico, which has one of the world’s highest rates.

Ryan Seacrest will usher in 2024 on “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” from Times Square, with satellite locations in Los Angeles and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Forecasters in Bermuda are warning of dangerous swells and rip currents as Hurricane Nigel spun through open waters in the northern Atlantic.

Hurricane Lee is whipping up waves of more than 15 feet as the Category 3 storm cranks through open waters just north of the Caribbean region.

Students and teachers are sweltering in public schools across Puerto Rico and demanding that the government install air conditioners as the U.S. Caribbean territory bakes under record heat this year.

Tropical Storm Lee has strengthened into a hurricane as it churns through the open waters of the Atlantic on a path that would take it near the northeast Caribbean.

The Dominican Republic has shut down much of the country as Tropical Storm Franklin takes aim at the island of Hispaniola that it shares with Haiti and threatens to unleash landslides and heavy floods.

San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero has signed a new measure to prohibit alcohol sales after certain hours in the capital of Puerto Rico, renowned for its all-night partying.

The U.N.’s World Food Program says it is facing a shortage of funds and won’t be able to help 100,000 people in Haiti this month who urgently need assistance.

Officials say a key dam in Puerto Rico that was severely damaged by Hurricane Maria will be rebuilt and improved.

Tropical Storm Bret is swirling close to St. Vincent as it begins pushing into the eastern Caribbean, where islands have shut down to prepare for possible torrential downpours, landslides and flooding.

Tropical Storm Bret is growing stronger as it takes aim at islands in the eastern Caribbean that are bracing for torrential rainfall, landslides and flooding.

Puerto Rico privatized its electricity production on Wednesday.

The governing board of Puerto Rico’s power company says it has approved a plan to privatize electric generation in the U.S. territory after meeting for nearly two hours behind closed doors.

U.S. authorities say a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent and a suspected smuggler died during a shootout Thursday morning off the Puerto Rico coast.

Millions of students have begun trooping back to public schools across the Philippines.

The U.S. and Canada have sent armored vehicles and other supplies to Haiti to help police fight a powerful gang amid a pending request from the Haitian government for the immediate deployment of foreign troops.

The National Science Foundation has announced it will not rebuild a renowned radio telescope in Puerto Rico, which was one of the world’s largest until it collapsed nearly two years ago.

Puerto Rico’s governor requested that the U.S. government waive a federal law to allow for more fuel shipments to the island amid concerns over a dwindling supply of diesel in the wake of Hurricane Fiona.

Persistent power outages and threats from Puerto Rico’s government have prompted a company that operates the island’s transmission and distribution system to announce that it would dedicate more resources and crews to improve service.

The smokestack of a Carnival Cruise ship docked in the Turks & Caicos Islands has caught on fire, and officials let guests and crew members go ashore as heavy smoke billowed into the air.

In a story published May 19, 2022, The Associated Press reported that a group of Democratic congress members on Thursday proposed a binding plebiscite to decide whether Puerto Rico should become a state or gain some sort of independence.

Haitians are fleeing in greater numbers to the neighboring Dominican Republic, where they step onto rickety wooden boats as they attempt to reach Puerto Rico — a trip in which 11 Haitian women drowned this week, with dozens of other migrants believed missing.

More than a million customers in Puerto Rico remain without electricity after a fire at a main power plant caused an island-wide blackout that forced the U.S. territory to cancel classes and shutter government offices in the biggest outage yet this year.

Puerto Rico’s government is formally exiting bankruptcy after completing the largest public debt restructuring in U.S. history after announcing nearly seven years ago that it was unable to pay its more than $70 billion debt.

Unknown people have toppled a statue of Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León ahead of a visit of Spain's King Felipe VI to the U.S. Caribbean territory of Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico is imposing new measures to fight a surge in COVID-19 cases that has overwhelmed medical staff in the U.S. territory and led to temporary shortages of testing kits.

Frontier Airlines on Monday began nonstop flights from Jacksonville International Airport (JAX) to San Juan, Puerto Rico.

A police superintendent in Jamaica has told The Associated Press that authorities have arrested a Colombian man they believe is a suspect in the July 7 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.

A U.S. House committee is demanding that the company in charge of the transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico release key data amid widespread outages in the U.S. territory that have outraged and frustrated many.

Tropical Storm Fred has weakened to a tropical depression while sweeping over the Dominican Republic and dumping heavy rains that forecasters warn could cause dangerous flooding and mudslides there and in neighboring Haiti.

Elsa has strengthened into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season and it's blowing off roofs, snapping trees and destroying crops in the eastern Caribbean, where officials closed schools, businesses and airports under the threat of flash flooding and landslides.

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona says Puerto Rico will receive nearly $4 billion in federal education pandemic relief funds to help boost the U.S. territory’s fight against COVID-19.

A private company has taken over the transmission and distribution operations of Puerto Rico’s power authority, which has been struggling with blackouts and bankruptcy and a history of corruption and mismanagement.

A federal judge has ordered Puerto Rican boxer Félix Verdejo held without bail after he was charged in the death of his 27-year-old pregnant lover whose body was found in a lagoon.

People who ignored an initial warning to evacuate the area closest to a volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent are now racing to get clear.

The Biden administration is unveiling a coalition of community, religious and celebrity partners to promote COVID-19 shots as it seeks to overcome vaccine hesitancy.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Over 520 pounds of cocaine was seized after a United States Coast crew intercepted a 16-foot go-fast style boat in the Caribbean Sea. The crew completed their 26-day patrol Tuesday and returned home to Naval Station Mayport. USCGC Valiant patrolled over 4,600 nautical miles with Coast Guard Sector San Juan, Puerto Rico, where they conducted counter-narcotics operations. Valiant received information on a potential threat in the Mona Pass and shifted gears from training to law enforcement. The suspects were transported to the United States for prosecution.

Students arrive at the Ramon Marin Sola primary school for the first time in nearly a year amid the COVID-19 pandemic as some public schools reopen in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Danica Coto)SAN JUAN – Parents across Puerto Rico knelt down on Wednesday to adjust their children's face masks and backpacks as public schools reopened for the first time in nearly a year despite the pandemic, with officials reporting scarce attendance amid COVID-19 concerns. Among them was the Ramón Marín Solá primary school in Guaynabo, where parents checked their children’s face masks before hugging them goodbye. AdFor now, only kindergarteners, special education students and children in first, second, third and 12th grades are allowed to return to school. Union leaders and some parents and teachers have called on Pierluisi’s administration to wait until August to reopen schools, noting the U.S. territory has not seen a significant decrease in COVID-19 cases.

This photo provided by Aeromed shows the collapsed Radio Telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. The update is part of a report that the federal agency, which owns the telescope, had to submit to Congress as the investigation continues into the Arecibo telescope. It was until recently the world’s largest radio telescope and was used to study pulsars, detect gravitational waves, search for neutral hydrogen and detect habitable planets, among other things. The telescope is located in Puerto Rico’s karst region, which serves as an important water source and contains the island’s richest biodiversity. It was a crushing event for scientists around the world who had been using the telescope for nearly six decades.

A JSO detective shot a man who they suspected in an armed robbery early this morning on Sunday. This follows a series of armed robberies in San Jose. According to JSO, this area’s been hit with a series of armed robberies. Most recently, Sunday morning, when a JSO detective shot an armed robbery suspect, later identified as 37-year-old Daniel Neal. Businesses in the area said they haven’t heard of a series of armed robberies, except for what happened on Sunday.

Nurse Melissa Valentin shows a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be applied to medical personnel at the Ashford Presbyterian Community Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. Dr. Iris Cardona, sub-secretary of Puerto Rico’s Health Department, said some 21,400 Pfizer vaccines will be delivered weekly for the next four to six weeks. First in line to be vaccinated are health workers, emergency responders, hospital employees and those who live or work in shelters or nursing homes. Given that Puerto Rico is an island, many worry that the delivery of the second required Pfizer vaccine dose could be delayed. Puerto Rico has reported more than 112,000 confirmed and probable cases and more than 1,300 deaths.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Naval Hospital Jacksonville and UF Health in Gainesville on Wednesday began giving the COVID-19 vaccine to high-risk and high-exposure health care workers. After the shipments arrived Tuesday at Naval Hospital Jacksonville, phase one of the COVID-19 vaccination plan started Wednesday, meaning some high exposure-risk personnel got their first of two injections. Health care workers, emergency services staff and public safety officials lined up to receive some of the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. And I think this is a step in the right direction.”More than 300 additional health care workers at UF Health in Gainesville were expected to be vaccinated throughout the day. Elsewhere, at least 110 health care workers at UF Health Jacksonville have received their first shot.

Nurse Melissa Valentin shows a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be applied to medical personnel at the Ashford Presbyterian Community Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. (AP Photo / Carlos Giusti)JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – When the FDA approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, the medical community agreed it would help more people than not. However, the vaccine is not recommended for everyone just yet. She said it’s just that right now there’s no data because no one who falls into these categories were included in the vaccine trials. It’s important to note that it could be months before a vaccine becomes available for widespread public use, and we’re going to learn more about the vaccines by then.

Yahaira Alicea, left, a respiratory therapist who treated the first two COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Puerto Rico, receives a vaccine in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)SAN JUAN – A respiratory therapist who treated the first two COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Puerto Rico became the first person in the U.S. territory to be vaccinated against the virus on Tuesday. Puerto Rico has reported more than 108,000 confirmed and probable coronavirus cases and more than 1,290 deaths. Alicea was immunized a day after FedEx planes carrying more than 16,500 Pfizer vaccine doses landed in Puerto Rico, with another more than 13,600 expected later this week. Officials have said that Puerto Rico’s National Guard has bought four freezers with the capacity to store 300,000 vaccine doses each.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Demonstrators gathered Friday night outside the Duval County Courthouse to support the family of 18-year-old Devon Gregory, who died during a traffic stop. According to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the medical examiner determined Gregory had a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Sheriff’s Office released body camera footage from the incident. The 18-year-old’s aunt, Teanay, said he called her during the traffic stop, asking her to come pick him up. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said that officers tried to de-escalate the situation, telling him not to reach under the seat, which can be heard in the video.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020 file photo, provided by the Arecibo Observatory, shows the damage done by a broken cable that supported a metal platform, creating a 100-foot (30-meter) gash to the radio telescope's reflector dish in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. (Arecibo Observatory via AP)SAN JUAN – The National Science Foundation announced Thursday that it will close the huge telescope at the renowned Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico in a blow to scientists worldwide who depend on it to search for planets, asteroids and extraterrestrial life. The independent, federally funded agency said it’s too dangerous to keep operating the single dish radio telescope -- one of the world’s largest -- given the significant damage it recently sustained. An auxiliary cable broke in August and tore a 100-foot hole in the reflector dish and damaged the dome above it. Then on Nov. 6, one of the telescope’s main steel cables snapped, leading officials to warn that the entire structure could collapse.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville grandmother is calling for justice for her grandson, 18-year-old Devon Gregory, who she identified as the person shot and killed by four police officers during a traffic stop Tuesday night on Jacksonville’s Westside. Waters said that officers shot a passenger in a vehicle who became agitated during a traffic stop about 10:40 p.m. at the intersection of San Juan and Cassat avenues. Other than giving the reason for the traffic stop, police did not answer any questions about the shooting on Wednesday. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. According to News4Jax records, this was the 14th person shot by Jacksonville officers this year.

SAN JUAN – One of the first cruise ships to ply through Caribbean waters since the pandemic began ended its trip early after at least five passengers tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Thursday. The captain announced that at least five passengers have tested positive, Bryant said. The Norway-based SeaDream Yacht Club, the ship’s parent company, wouldn’t say how many passengers tested positive in the initial round of testing. Waters around the Caribbean have been largely bereft of cruise ships this year, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suspending cruise ship operations at U.S. ports in mid-March. In August, the company reported that an asymptomatic passenger had tested positive for the coronavirus after disembarking from SeaDream I in Denmark.

“We’ve identified, much to our regret, a disorganization in the handling of material in the vaults,” he said at a press conference. We have to admit that.”Rosado said he didn’t know yet how many total votes are in the 126 briefcases, noting some contained three ballots and others 500 ballots. He said those votes could affect races like the one for mayor of Culebra, a popular tourist island just east of Puerto Rico. This year, Puerto Rico received more than 220,000 absentee and early votes, a record for officials who have been overwhelmed by the paperwork. “After these elections, there has to be a serious evaluation of how those votes will be handled,” he said, referring to absentee and early votes.

(AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)SAN JUAN – People across Puerto Rico awaited final results Wednesday of elections that saw long lines of voters and produced a tight gubernatorial race in the U.S. Caribbean territory. Meanwhile, Jenniffer González, Puerto Rico’s current representative in U.S. Congress and Pierluisi's running partner, easily won a second term. The race to become mayor of Puerto Rico's capital also was extremely tight, with only hundreds of votes separating two candidates, including one from a new party. Pierluisi briefly served as governor following last year’s protests and previously represented Puerto Rico in Congress for eight years. “Puerto Ricans have a short memory,” he said, adding that he remains hopeful a non-traditional party will eventually lead Puerto Rico.

Postal worker Jose Montoya does his rounds in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. The absence of street names and numbers across the island has long been a problem for the U.S. territory, where internet map services sometimes fail. Directions can involve a mango tree, or a bakery or a house of a certain color. Without an address, emergency responders cannot find people quickly or deliver basic supplies or medical care when up to 60% of homes in some municipalities lack one. As president of La Unión community, Martínez held a vote on potential street names.

In this Feb. 2, 2019, photo, provided by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, is the Eli Jackson Methodist Church and cemetery in San Juan, Texas. It is located on a ranch once operated by Nathaniel and Matilda Jackson, a biracial couple believed to have been "conductors" of the Underground Railroad to Mexico. Across Texas and parts of Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas, scholars and preservation advocates are working to piece together a puzzle of a largely forgotten piece of American history: a network that helped thousands of Black slaves escape to Mexico. (David Pike/University of Texas Rio Grande Valley via AP)

SAN JUAN U.S. researchers who estimated that nearly 3,000 people died in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria are now investigating deaths that might have been missed and could be linked to infrastructure damaged by the Category 4 storm, officials announced Wednesday. The Milken Institute of Public Health at George Washington University received a nearly $1 million contract from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for the investigation. University officials said the project seeks to improve the death certification process and building standards across the U.S. mainland ahead of future storms as part of a collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico and others. Yaritsa Santiago, whose mother died after she was airlifted from Puerto Rico to Miami shortly after Maria struck, praised the upcoming investigation and said she was encouraged that the storm-related deaths will not be in vain. Puerto Ricos government at the time came under heavy criticism for severely undercounting the number of deaths related to Hurricane Maria, which destroyed the power grid and caused more than an estimated $100 billion in damage.

The situation infuriated voters and politicians alike as they blamed Puerto Ricos election commission. This is crass incompetence, said Anbal Acevedo Vil, a former governor who is running to represent Puerto Rico in Congress. But many who stood in lines on Sunday morning were elderly people not expected to return to voting centers once they opened. He said he would stay in line as long as needed because Puerto Ricos situation had to change. Meanwhile, the main opposition Popular Democratic Party, which supports Puerto Ricos current political status as a U.S. territory, is holding a primary for the first time in its 82-year history.

SAN JUAN Forecasters declared a hurricane warning for parts of the Florida coast Friday as Hurricane Isaias drenched the Bahamas on a track for the U.S. East Coast. Authorities in North Carolina ordered the evacuation of Oracoke Island, which was slammed by last years Hurricane Dorian, starting Saturday evening. Bahamas Power and Light Co. cut off power in certain areas for safety. A hurricane warning was in effect for northwest and central Bahamas. Isaias was expected to produce 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of rain in the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Only those who are exercising will be allowed on beaches, including joggers, swimmers and surfers. Vzquez said she also has asked the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to temporarily suspend flights from Texas and Florida, noting theyre struggling with their own spike in COVID-19 cases. Since the end of June alone, the percentage of positive cases in Puerto Rico increased 10-fold, according to Dr. Jos Rodrguez Orengo, executive director of The Puerto Rico Public Health Trust. More than 13 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed globally, with more than 580,000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. In recent days, mayors in cities and towns across Puerto Rico took their own action ahead of the governor's announcement, concerned about the spike.

SAN JUAN Puerto Ricos governor on Tuesday announced strict new rules for all passengers flying into Puerto Rico in a bid to curb coronavirus cases as officials blame recent outbreaks on those who flew to the U.S. territory and were infected. Those who refuse to do so, or tested positive, or do not have the test results available, will be forced into a two-week quarantine. During that time, they have to undergo a test and share the results if they want to be released from quarantine, said Puerto Rico Health Secretary Lorenzo Gonzlez. Vzquez's administration will require that all passengers fill a form prior to arriving in Puerto Rico with required information including where the test was taken. Puerto Rico expects to receive up to 9,000 passengers a day in upcoming months, compared with the roughly 4,500 daily current arrivals, said Carla Campos, executive director of Puerto Ricos Tourism Company.