North America

ABCAO, Bahamas (AP) — The hurricane death toll is rising in the Bahamas, in what its leader calls “this hour of darkness.”

Search and rescue teams were still trying to reach some Bahamian communities isolated by floodwaters and debris Saturday after Hurricane Dorian struck the northern part of the archipelago last Sunday. At least 43 people died.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — The director of a prestigious research lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology resigned Saturday, and the school’s president ordered an independent investigation amid an uproar over the lab’s ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Joi Ito, director of MIT’s Media Lab, resigned from both the lab and from his position as a professor at the Cambridge school, university President L. Rafael Reif said. The resignation was first reported by The New York Times.

TORONTO (AP) — Dorian arrived on Canada’s Atlantic coast Saturday with heavy rain and powerful winds, toppling a construction crane in Halifax and knocking out power for more than 300,000 people a day after the storm wreaked havoc on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

Residents of Nova Scotia braced for heavy rainfall and potential flooding along the coast, as officials in Halifax urged people to secure heavy objects that might become projectiles. Businesses were encouraged to close early.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is saying he has called off a secret Camp David meeting with Taliban and Afghanistan leaders.

Trump tweeted Saturday that a meeting slated for the following day was canceled because of a Taliban attack in Kabul on Thursday that killed 11 people, including a U.S. soldier.

The president tweeted that he “called off peace negotiations” and demanded to know who “would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position” in the negotiations.

7 Sep 2019; MEMO: The US State Department has decided to release $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt, despite continuous human rights violations and thousands still being detained on political grounds.

The American news website, Al-Monitor, cited a human rights violation exemption waiver in reporting the release of the $1.3 billion in aid.

NEW YORK, Sep 07 (APP): The Pakistan Mission to the UN and the Consulate General in New York Friday commemorated the ‘Defence of Pakistan and ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ as a remembrance of the armed forces’ bravery and sacrifices made in defending the country, and to reaffirm full support to Kashmiri people suffering under the tight lockdown imposed by the Indian occupation forces for over a month now.

The solemn commemoration, held at the Pakistan Mission, began with a recitation from the holy Quran.

New York, Sep 7 (AFP) Boeing has suspended testing on its new long-haul 777X aircraft, the company said Friday, a setback that comes as it battles to rebound from the crisis surrounding the 737 MAX.

The so-called "final load" tests are part of the aircraft certification process, overseen by inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and meant to subject the plane to "loads and stresses well beyond normal operational loads," a Boeing spokesman told AFP in an email.

7 September 2019; AFP: Boeing has suspended testing on its new long-haul 777X aircraft, the company said Friday, a setback that comes as it battles to rebound from the crisis surrounding the 737 MAX.

The so-called "final load" tests are part of the aircraft certification process, overseen by inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and meant to subject the plane to "loads and stresses well beyond normal operational loads," a Boeing spokesman told AFP in an email.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump doesn’t make mistakes. At least according to him.

Trump’s relentless justifications of his erroneous warnings that Hurricane Dorian was threatening Alabama on Sunday, which created days of ridicule and skepticism, are just the latest example of the president’s lifelong reluctance to admit an error, no matter how innocuous.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — Dozens of people trapped on a scuba diving boat that caught fire off the Southern California coast appear to have died from smoke inhalation, not burns, authorities said Friday.

The 34 people who died were sleeping in a cramped bunkroom below the main deck of the Conception when the fire broke out before dawn Monday and quickly engulfed the boat.