Puerto Rico

February 1, 2019, 9:09 am

Jewish Agency and non-profit to help at-risk youth in Puerto Rico

Organization working with PR4PR to bring young Jews from Israel and across globe for volunteer work on empowerment, public health and agriculture

By Marcy Oster

Former San Antonio Mayor and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro speaks during an event where he announced his decision to seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, Jan. 12, 2019, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

January 12, 2019, 11:05 pm

Former Obama housing chief Julian Castro joins 2020 presidential race

Announcing his bid, the Democrat contender mocks Trump for claiming the US faces an ‘invasion’ from Mexico, says it’s time for new leadership

By Agencies and TOI staff

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (L) helps light a candle at a Hannukah celebration on December 9, 2018 ( Jews for Racial & Economic Justice/Twitter)

December 10, 2018, 8:52 am

Ocasio-Cortez tells Hannukah party she has Sephardi roots

Newly elected US congresswoman says her ancestors fled to Puerto Rico during Spanish Inquisition

By TOI staff and Agencies

In this September 24, 2015 photo, Aurea Vazquez Rijos, who was accused more than a decade ago of the murder of her husband, the Canadian Adam Anhang, is taken to the Federal Court in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico (Carlos Giusti/El Vocero via AP)

October 4, 2018, 8:29 am

Puerto Rican who faked papers to show she’s Jewish convicted in murder-for-hire

Aurea Vazquez Rijos, who considered fleeing to Israel after ordering the 2005 killing of her ex-husband, expected to serve life sentence

By DANICA COTO

September 1, 2018, 1:47 pm

Puerto Rico woman accused of murder-for-hire faked papers to show she was Jewish

A decade after Aurea Vazquez Rijos allegedly offered a man $3 million to kill her husband, it’s revealed she asked attorney whether Israel has an extradition agreement with the US

By DANICA COTO

Flames and smoke rise from an Air National Guard C-130 cargo plane after it crashed near Savannah, Ga., Wednesday, May 2, 2018. (James Lavine via AP)

May 3, 2018, 5:07 am

Nine people were aboard US military plane destroyed in fiery crash

Video footage shows flight from Puerto Rico Air National Guard airport falling from the sky then exploding in a fireball

By AFP

A man with an umbrella walks on a sidewalk as Hurricane Irma approaches in Luquillo, Puerto Rico, on September 6, 2017. (AFP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

January 18, 2018, 7:03 pm

Puerto Rico’s largest newspaper removes anti-Semitic column from website

Publication and author apologize for blaming island’s economic woes on Jews who ‘control’ Wall Street, US government

By JTA

This man lives in a nursing home that has not had power since Hurricane Irma. (Marissa Roer via JTA)

November 10, 2017, 8:51 am

This is what Puerto Rico looks like 50 days after Hurricane Maria

Local Jewish community and UJA-Federation try to help those still without power or essentials after devastating storm

By Josefin Dolsten

Niveen Rizkalla working with IsraAID in Santa Rosa, Calif. (Courtesy of IsraAID)

October 28, 2017, 6:13 am

The Israeli NGO that is bringing relief to America’s disaster areas

IsraAID relies on a bank of 1,400 volunteers and 270 staff it rotates in and out of afflicted zones, and no period has been busier than this summer/fall

By Ron Kampeas

US President Donald Trump waves as he carries an umbrella walking on the tarmac to his limousine at Harrisburg International Airport, Wednesday October 11, 2017, in Middletown, Pennsylvania (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

October 13, 2017, 6:24 am

Trump lashes out at Puerto Rico as House passes aid package

In a series of tweets, US president blames territory for its looming financial crisis and ‘a total lack of accountability’

By Ken Thomas and Andrew Taylor

US President Donald Trump leaves an event after the end of an for Hispanic Heritage Month at the White House on October 6, 2017. (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski)

October 7, 2017, 12:29 am

A pair of crises tests Trump’s presidential empathy

US president’s challenges were on full display this week, as he responded to two disasters — Las Vegas and Puerto Rico –with very different results

By Jonathan Lemire and Julie Pace

Family members collect belongings after hurricane force winds destroyed their house in Toa Baja, west of San Juan, Puerto Rico, on September 24, 2017 following the passage of Hurricane Maria. (AFP PHOTO / Ricardo ARDUENGO)

October 4, 2017, 6:48 am

Jewish group flies aid to San Juan, gets stranded man to son’s wedding

UJA-Federation of New York brings food, water and other supplies to ‘desperate’ Puerto Rico, gives firefighter who had been stuck on island ride back

By JTA

US President Donald Trump visits residents affected by Hurricane in Guaynabo, west of San Juan, Puerto Rico on October 3, 2017.
(AFP PHOTO / MANDEL NGAN)

October 4, 2017, 4:37 am

Puerto Rico death toll rises as $29 billion aid package sought

Governor says 34 on island dead, hours after Trump says hurricane was ‘not a real catastrophe like Katrina’

By AP

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz during a briefing on hurricane recovery efforts with first responders at Luis Muniz Air National Guard Base, Tuesday, October 3, 2017, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

October 3, 2017, 11:38 pm

In Puerto Rico, Trump suggests hurricane not a ‘real catastrophe’ like Katrina

Pledging help, US president also tells island residents ‘you’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack’

By Jill Colvin

US President Donald Trump speaks with the press before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, en route to Puerto Rico, October 3, 2017. (AFP/JIM WATSON)

October 3, 2017, 5:43 pm

Trump calls Las Vegas shooter ‘sick’ and ‘demented’

US president says talk of gun control will come sometime in future after 59 killed, hundreds injured in massacre

By AP