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.

Hurricane Rafael has pushed into the Gulf of Mexico after plowing across western Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane with winds so powerful it knocked out the entire country’s power grid.

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.

Florida residents are already evacuating and filling sandbags days ahead of anticipated flooding from Tropical Storm Helene.

Tropical Storm Helene formed in the Caribbean Sea on Tuesday after bringing heavy rains and big waves to the Cayman Islands.

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 rejected a petition to extend a voter registration deadline following an outcry over long lines formed by those seeking to participate in this year’s general election.

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.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic say at least 11 people were killed and more than 30 injured when a truck plowed into a bar.

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 strengthened into a Category 2 storm as it barrels toward Bermuda after leaving hundreds of thousands of people in Puerto Rico without power or water.

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

Tropical Storm Ernesto has formed in the Atlantic.

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 continues its track Tuesday across the central Caribbean Sea and is expected to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge to Jamaica on Wednesday.

Hurricane Beryl is roaring across the Caribbean Sea as a powerful Category 4 storm on a path toward Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

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.

Authorities in the eastern Caribbean say they are trying to locate two people believed to be U.S. citizens who were aboard a yacht hijacked by three escaped prisoners from Grenada.

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.

Police say a female tourist from Boston has been killed by a shark while paddleboarding in the Bahamas, police told reporters.

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.

Officials say the U.S. Coast Guard has detained a boat carrying 396 Haitian migrants near the Bahamas in one of the biggest human smuggling incidents in the region.

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.

A powerful drug lord from the Dominican Republic known as “The Abuser” has pled guilty to drug trafficking charges in U.S. federal court.

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.

Senior U.S. officials say the U.S. government will revoke visas from current and former Haitian government officials involved with criminal organizations

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.

Hurricane Fiona unleashed more rain on Puerto Rico on Monday, a day after the storm knocked out power and water to most of the island, and National Guard troops rescued hundreds of people who got stranded.

Tropical Storm Earl, churning about 350 miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico, remains messy and disorganized Tuesday morning but is expected to grow into a strong hurricane as it passes near or to the east of Bermuda on Friday.

Puerto Rico’s governor says all aggressive incidents stemming from a protest against a private power company that operates the island’s transmission and distribution system will be investigated.

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.

Bahamian authorities said Tuesday that they have detained 111 Haitian migrants found on an overloaded sloop in waters around the archipelago.

Federal authorities have arrested seven people including a union leader and various dock workers accused in a $1.2 million extortion scheme that targeted shipping companies.

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.

The U.S. Coast Guard and partner agencies continue rescue efforts after a boat was spotted capsized in waters near an uninhabited island near Puerto Rico.

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.

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.

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.

Un jurado investigador acusó el jueves al boxeador puertorriqueño Félix Verdejo por la muerte de su amante embarazada, en un caso que podría ser castigado con la pena capital.

Boxeador puertorriqueño Félix “El Diamante” Verdejo enfrenta cargos tras hallazgo de amante muerta.

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.

La isla de San Vicente se está quedando sin agua potable debido a la contaminación de sus fuentes con ceniza volcánica, y necesitará cientos de millones de dólares para recuperarse de la erupción del volcán La Soufrière, dicen autoridades.

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.

An explosive eruption has rocked La Soufriere volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent.

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.

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.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. La periodista de The Associated Press Dánica Coto, en San Juan, Puerto Rico, contribuyó a este despacho. Joseph se desplazaba el viernes en una motocicleta por la zona de Artibonite en la localidad de L’Estère, un día después de su evasión, cuando fue detectado en un retén, dijo el portavoz policial Gary Desrosiers a The Associated Press. Joseph sacó un arma y fue abatido en un intercambio de disparos con la policía, agregó. (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. Este material no puede ser publicado, difundido, reescrito o redistribuido sin permiso. La periodista de The Associated Press Dánica Coto contribuyó a este despacho desde San Juan. (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)If you need help with the Public File, call (954) 364-2526.

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.

SAN JUAN – A U.S. college student and her boyfriend have been sentenced to four months in prison in the Cayman Islands for violating strict COVID-19 measures following a recent ruling that will be appealed, their attorney said Thursday. Skylar Mack, 18, of Georgia, and Vanjae Ramgeet, 24, of the Cayman Islands, have been in prison since Tuesday, when the ruling was issued. After their arrest, a judge ruled the couple had to provide 40 hours of community service and pay a $4,400 fine. Under the original law, a Canadian couple found guilty of violating coronavirus measures were ordered to pay a $1,200 fine each. The Cayman Islands, a territory of nearly 62,000 people, has reported more than 300 coronavirus cases and two deaths.

SAN JUAN – Rena Lalgie has been sworn in as Bermuda’s governor, marking the first time that the British territory in the Atlantic has a Black woman as its leader. The event occurred on Monday, a day after Lalgie arrived in Bermuda, a wealthy financial haven and popular tourist destination. The appointment was announced in June by Queen Elizabeth II. Lalgie previously served as director of the United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanction Implementation. Lalgie, who is also the first female to serve as Bermuda’s governor, remains under quarantine as a result of her recent trip during the pandemic.

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.

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.

SAN JUAN – Puerto Rico’s governor announced Friday that she will activate the National Guard to help enforce a curfew aimed at curbing a rise in COVID-19 cases and other measures, including once again closing beaches to everyone except those doing exercise. “There are many who have lowered their guard and have not understood that this pandemic is still with us.”Vázquez also urged people across Puerto Rico to be extremely cautious during the holiday season, encouraging families to get together via Zoom. He also noted that the number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 has spiked in the last month. The new measures come as Puerto Rico struggles to recover from hurricanes, earthquakes and an economic and financial crisis that began more than a decade ago. “These are difficult times,” said Manuel Laboy, secretary of the island’s Department of Economic Development and Commerce.

“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.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Voters across Puerto Rico on Tuesday are choosing new leaders they hope can help heal a U.S. territory wracked by corruption, hurricanes, earthquakes and the coronavirus pandemic. “The situation in general here in Puerto Rico is chaotic,” he said. Supporters of President Donald Trump gather moments before leaving for the headquarters of the Republican party in support of his candidacy a few weeks before the presidential election next November, in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2020. They will be asked one question: “Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the union as a state?” The vote is advisory as Congress would have to approve that happening. “Puerto Rico’s public administration collapsed a long time ago.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A grandfather accused in the fatal fall of his young granddaughter from an 11th-story window of a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico last year has pleaded guilty to negligent homicide. Salvatore Anello of Valparaiso, Indiana, earlier said he would drop a not-guilty plea to help end what he called “this nightmare” for his family. Eighteen-month-old Chloe Wiegand slipped from his grasp and fell about 150 feet from an open window of Royal Caribbean Cruises' Freedom of the Seas ship in July 2019. Puerto Rico prosecutor Laura Hernández said Thursday that Anello would be sentenced Dec. 10.