International

Fiona batters Turks and Caicos as Category 3 hurricane

AFP

Hurricane Fiona battered the Turks and Caicos islands as a powerful Category 3 storm on Tuesday after leaving a trail of destruction in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

The top US disaster management official was headed to Puerto Rico meanwhile to assess the damage in the US territory still struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria five years ago.

Fiona has left at least two people dead as it churned across the Caribbean — a man whose home was swept away in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe and another in the Dominican Republic who died while cutting down a tree.

The Turks and Caicos, a British territory of some 38,000 people, was being lashed by heavy rains and strong winds as Fiona crept northwards on a path that could see the storm approaching Bermuda late Thursday.

“Hurricane Fiona has proven to be an unpredictable storm,” Anya Williams, the deputy governor of the Turks and Caicos, said in a broadcast.

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Williams said no casualties or serious injuries had been reported in the Turks and Caicos overnight but she urged residents to continue to shelter in place.

Blackouts were reported on Grand Turk and several other islands in the archipelago and 165 people were admitted to shelters, she said, adding that Britain’s Royal Navy and the US Coast Guard are standing by provide assistance.

The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Fiona was packing maximum winds nearing 115 miles (185 kilometers) per hour, making it a major hurricane, and it is expected to become even stronger.

Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader has declared three eastern provinces to be disaster zones: La Altagracia — home to the popular resort of Punta Cana — El Seibo and Hato Mayor.

Several roads were flooded or cut off by falling trees or electric poles around Punta Cana where the power was knocked out.

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Footage from local media showed residents of the east coast town of Higuey waist-deep in water trying to salvage personal belongings.

“It came through at high speed,” Vicente Lopez told AFP, bemoaning the destroyed businesses in the area.

‘I have food and water’

US President Joe Biden has declared a state of emergency in Puerto Rico — where the storm hit a day earlier — and dispatched the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the island.

“We’re sending hundreds of additional staff in the next few days to place staff in each of the impacted communities,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said.

Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi said the storm had caused catastrophic damage on the island of three million people since Sunday, with some areas receiving more than 30 inches (76 centimeters) of rain.

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Michelle Carlo, medical advisor for Direct Relief in Puerto Rico, told CBS News that “a lot of people in Puerto Rico are suffering right now.”

“About 80 percent of Puerto Ricans are still without power and about 65 percent are without water service,” Carlo said.

Across Puerto Rico, Fiona caused landslides, blocked roads and toppled trees, power lines and bridges, Pierluisi said.

A man was killed as an indirect result of the power blackout — burned to death while trying to fill his generator, according to authorities.

On Monday afternoon, Nelly Marrero made her way back to her home in Toa Baja, in the north of Puerto Rico, to clear out the mud that surged inside after she evacuated.

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“Thanks to God, I have food and water,” Marrero — who lost everything when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico — told AFP by telephone.

The hurricane has left around 800,000 people without drinking water as a result of power outages and flooded rivers, officials said.

After years of financial woes and recession, Puerto Rico in 2017 declared the largest bankruptcy ever by a local US administration.

Later that year, the double hit from hurricanes Irma and Maria added to the misery, devastating the electrical grid on the island — which has suffered from major infrastructure problems for years.

The grid was privatized in June 2021 in an effort to resolve the problem of blackouts, but the issue has persisted, and the entire island lost power earlier this year.

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International

Spain rebukes U.S. over euthanasia case as minister defends legal framework

Spain’s Minister of Health, Mónica García, on Wednesday responded to the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump after reports that Washington requested an investigation into the euthanasia case of Spanish citizen Noelia Castillo.

The minister questioned the U.S. government’s stance and urged it not to interfere in matters governed by Spain’s legal and healthcare framework. “Stop fueling an international ultra agenda by meddling everywhere,” García wrote in a message on the social platform X.

In her remarks, García also criticized the U.S. healthcare system, noting that thousands of people die each year without access to medical coverage. She further accused the Trump administration of supporting actions that undermine human rights in international contexts.

García defended the legality of euthanasia in Spain, emphasizing that the procedure is strictly regulated and subject to medical and judicial oversight. “Spain is a serious country, with a strong healthcare system and a legal framework that protects individuals, including those who choose to seek assistance in dying under regulated conditions reviewed by clinical committees and upheld by the courts,” she said.

The case of Noelia Castillo, a 25-year-old woman living with paraplegia, drew widespread attention following a legal dispute with her father, who opposed her decision to undergo euthanasia. The procedure was ultimately carried out in accordance with Spanish law.

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International

New York City lifts TikTok ban on government devices under new security rules

New York City has lifted its ban on TikTok on government-owned devices, allowing city agencies to resume posting on the platform under newly established security protocols, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Tuesday.

The initial ban, implemented in 2023 by former mayor Eric Adams, aligned with federal and state-level restrictions across the United States, which limited the use of TikTok on official devices over concerns related to its parent company, ByteDance. The company has previously denied these concerns, calling them unfounded.

Under the updated guidelines issued by the city’s Cyber Command, devices designated for TikTok use by government agencies must not store or access sensitive information. Officials indicated that the policy shift is intended to enhance communication with residents.

“The Mamdani Administration is committed to using every tool in our toolbox to communicate with New Yorkers,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.

Following the announcement, the mayor’s official TikTok account resumed activity after remaining inactive since the ban was first enforced.

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International

Rubio signals possible engagement with Iranian factions amid internal divisions

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that Washington is hopeful of engaging with factions within the government of Iran, noting that the United States has received positive private signals.

Speaking to ABC News’ Good Morning America, Rubio suggested that internal divisions exist within the Islamic Republic and expressed confidence that figures with the authority to act could emerge.

“We are hopeful that this will be the case,” Rubio said. “Clearly, there are people there who are communicating with us in ways that those previously in power in Iran did not. This is reflected in some of the steps they appear willing to take.”

Despite this, Rubio maintained a firm stance toward Iran, reiterating that the ongoing conflict seeks to eliminate its capacity to develop nuclear weapons—an objective that President Donald Trump has previously claimed was achieved during a military strike last year.