Emergency Services

Rescuers began tearing through the rubble of mobile homes and houses Monday in search of survivors of a powerful tornado that rampaged through southeast Alabama and killed at least 23 people, including children. (CBC)

Business owners trying to reopen in the downtown core are coming into conflict with homeless people who have taken shelter in parks, plazas and storefronts during the public health emergency. “Things have gone from good, to bad, to downright ugly,” said Stephen Regan, executive director of the West End Business Improvement Association. “It’s a perfect storm with businesses that are closed that have awnings and alcoves — those tend to be good places to hunker down for the evening or even a full day or a week.” (Vancouver Sun)

Just hours away from an expected Wednesday afternoon landfall, Hurricane Michael became ever stronger and more organized on Tuesday night over the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Michael’s high winds, torrential rain, and very large storm surge were pushing briskly toward the Florida Panhandle and the Big Bend region just to the east. (Weather Underground)

A team from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has arrived in California to begin investigating the dive boat fire that is believed to have killed 34 people. (CBC)

An eruption of one of the world's most infamous volcanic islands is believed to have triggered a tsunami that killed at least 222 people in Indonesia during a busy holiday weekend.

The death of a Chinese whistleblower doctor who was punished for trying to warn about the coronavirus has triggered a national backlash over freedom of speech and censorship that has overwhelmed official online attempts to contain or remove the expressions of anger. (USA Today)

A hero priest made a daring dash into the burning Notre Dame cathedral Monday night to save the Crown of Thorns, a religious relic dating back to the 13th century, according to reports. (New York Post)

Before the 8 p.m. curfew deadline hit and an eerie stillness descended over Canada’s second largest city Saturday night, life was about as normal as it gets during a pandemic. At the Provigo on Sherbrooke St. W. a handful of people lined up to pay for their groceries. Overall the store wasn’t much busier than usual, supervisor Alyssa Maximov said. Nor had there been a run on dry beans. Or toilet paper. (Montreal Gazette)

DETROIT - In a disturbing discovery, the bodies of 11 deceased infants were found in the ceiling of a shuttered funeral home in Detroit on Friday. (WTOP)

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Detroit former funeral home owner reveals where 11 infant bodies found

FREEPORT, Bahamas  - Rescue crews in the Bahamas fanned out across a blasted landscape of smashed and flooded homes Wednesday, trying to reach drenched and stunned victims of Hurricane Dorian and take the full measure of the disaster. The official death toll stood at seven but was certain to rise. (AP)