Eleven people died and 31 others were rescued after a vessel capsized off the coast of Puerto Rico on Thursday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard tweeted that as of Thursday evening responding crews have rescued 31 survivors -- 11 female and 20 male, adding that "11 deceased have been recovered." The vessel, which capsized approximately 12 miles (19 km) north of Puerto Rico's Desecheo Island, was suspected of taking part in an "illegal migrant voyage," the agency said, adding that most of the people on the boat were reportedly from Haiti. Also Read: UN says boat capsizes off Libya, 35 dead or presumed dead  Coast Guard watchstanders received a communication roughly Thursday noon reporting the sight of "a capsized vessel with people in the water who did not appear to be wearing life jackets." The Coast Guard and its partner agencies continue to respond as it remains unclear how many people had been on the boat. Puerto Rico is a Caribbean island and unincorporated U.S. territory.    

A group of 17 U.S. missionaries including children was kidnapped by a gang in Haiti on Saturday, according to a voice message sent to various religious missions by an organization with direct knowledge of the incident. The missionaries were on their way home from building an orphanage, according to a message from Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries. “This is a special prayer alert,” the one-minute message said. “Pray that the gang members would come to repentance.” Read:Options shrink for Haitian migrants straddling Texas border The message says the mission's field director is working with the U.S. Embassy, and that the field director's family and one other unidentified man who stayed at the ministry's base while everyone else visiting the orphanage, was abducted. No other details were immediately available. A U.S. government spokesperson said they were aware of the reports on the kidnapping. “The welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the Department of State,” the spokesperson said, declining further comment. Haiti is once again struggling with a spike in gang-related kidnappings that had diminished after President Jovenel Moïse was fatally shot at his private residence on July 7, and following a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck southwest Haiti in August and killed more than 2,200 people. Gangs have demanded ransoms ranging from a couple hundred dollars to more than $1 million, according to authorities. Last month, a deacon was killed in front of a church in the capital of Port-au-Prince and his wife kidnapped, one of dozens of people who have been abducted in recent months. At least 328 kidnapping victims were reported to Haiti’s National Police in the first eight months of 2021, compared with a total of 234 for all of 2020, according to a report issued last month by the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti known as BINUH. Gangs have been accused of kidnapping schoolchildren, doctors, police officers, busloads of passengers and others as they grow more powerful. In April, one gang kidnapped five priests and two nuns, a move that prompted a protest similar to the one organized for this Monday to decry the lack of security in the impoverished country. Read: US launches mass expulsion of Haitian migrants from Texas “Political turmoil, the surge in gang violence, deteriorating socioeconomic conditions – including food insecurity and malnutrition – all contribute to the worsening of the humanitarian situation,” BINUH said in its report. “An overstretched and under-resourced police force alone cannot address the security ills of Haiti.” On Friday, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to extend the U.N. political mission in Haiti. The kidnapping of the missionaries comes just days after high-level U.S. officials visited Haiti and promised more resources for Haiti's National Police, including another $15 million to help reduce gang violence, which this year has displaced thousands of Haitians who now live in temporary shelters in increasingly unhygienic conditions. Among those who met with Haiti's police chief was Uzra Zeya, U.S. under secretary of state for civilian security, democracy, and human rights. “Dismantling violent gangs is vital to Haitian stability and citizen security,” she recently tweeted.

Sirens blared across Puerto Rico's busiest beaches on Monday as police cleared hundreds of tourists from the U.S. territory's coast in a crackdown on people violating a newly imposed curfew aimed at curbing the new coronavirus.

A magnitude 5.9 quake shook Puerto Rico on Saturday, causing millions of dollars of damage along the island's southern coast, where previous recent quakes have toppled homes and schools.

A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck Puerto Rico before dawn on Tuesday, killing one man, injuring at least eight other people and collapsing buildings.

For the first time in almost 15 years, the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico experienced a slight increase in population, according to federal statistics released on Monday.

Felipe Espinal walked into his cockfighting establishment Wednesday night in the northern town of Toa Baja and held up a white pen in triumph as he recorded the moment with his cellphone.

A critically endangered Puerto Rican toad was for the first time born via in vitro fertilization as U.S. scientists attempt to save it from extinction, officials announced Friday.

San Juan, Aug 2 (AP/UNB) — Less than 24 hours before Gov. Ricardo Rosselló was expected to leave office, Puerto Ricans had no idea who would replace him as political chaos threatened to paralyze the island with a constitutional crisis.