Puerto Rico faces island-wide blackout, sparking anger from officials
Global News
The outage that began past noon Wednesday left 1.4 million customers without electricity and more than 400,000 without water.
Crews scrambled to restore power to Puerto Rico on Thursday after a blackout hit the entire island, affecting the main international airport, hospitals and hotels filled with Easter vacationers.
The outage that began past noon Wednesday left 1.4 million customers without electricity and more than 400,000 without water. More than 826,600 customers, or 56 per cent, had power back by Thursday afternoon, while 83 per cent of customers had water restored. Officials expected 90 per cent of customers to have power back within 48 to 72 hours after the outage.
“This is a shame for the people of Puerto Rico that we have a problem of this magnitude,” said Gov. Jenniffer González, who cut her weeklong vacation short and returned to Puerto Rico on Wednesday evening.
She said it would take at least three days to have preliminary information on what might have caused the blackout, which snarled traffic, forced hundreds of businesses to close and left those unable to afford generators scrambling to buy ice and candles.
“There’s still a long road of recovery,” she said. “Our system is very fragile.”
It’s the second massive blackout to hit Puerto Rico in less than four months, with the previous one occurring on New Year’s Eve.
“Why on holidays?” griped José Luis Richardson, who did not have a generator and kept cool by splashing water on himself every couple of hours.
The roar of generators and smell of fumes filled the air as a growing number of Puerto Ricans renewed calls for the government to cancel the contracts with Luma Energy, which oversees the transmission and distribution of power, and Genera PR, which oversees generation.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
A survey in early May found 52 per cent of respondents feel that "it is no longer safe for all Canadians travelling to the United States."
The director general of the European Space Agency said economic uncertainty and global conflict are pushing Europe's space sector to reassert links with allies.
The accident happened at a primary school fair in Australia in 2021, on the last day of school before the children went on summer break.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he will be attending the upcoming G7 leaders' summit, thanking Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney for his invitation.
Called non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), the condition may affect up to 1 in 10,000 people taking semaglutide.
Merz described his Oval Office meeting and extended lunch with Trump as constructive but also candid, noting that the two leaders expressed different views on Ukraine.
The Kananaskis Country Golf Club is in the tightly controlled perimeter that'll be closed to the public during the G7 summit and is one of two primary locations leaders could use.
Trump likened the war in Ukraine — which Russia invaded in early 2022 — to a fight between two young children who hated each other.
"Our respective teams will be meeting shortly at a location to be determined," Trump wrote on his social media platform after the call, which he said lasted an hour and a half.
Trump said after a phone call with Putin on Wednesday that time was running out for Iran to make a decision on its nuclear program.
The “capability targets” lay out goals for each of the 32 nations to purchase priority equipment like air defence systems, long-range missiles and artillery.
An investigation noted several inconsistencies in Yujiang's video, including his helmet changing from black to white, and his legs switching from a cocoon position to dangling.
Global Affairs Canada again called on Israel to allow the United Nations to resume humanitarian work in Gaza after days of shooting incidents at aid distribution sites.