EU hails Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal in Washington
The European Union warmly welcomes the meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, hosted by U.S. ...
Cuba remained largely without power on Saturday morning after the island´s grid collapsed the night before, knocking out electricity for 10 million people and raising fresh questions about the viability of its antiquated generating system.
At sunrise, the island's grid operator UNE said it was generating only a trickle of electricity - around 225 MW, or less than 10% of total demand, enough to cover some vital services like hospitals, water supply and food production centers.
Officials said they had begun the process of firing up the country's decades-old generation plants, but gave no timeline for restoring service.
Cuba´s grid failed Friday evening around 8:15 p.m. (0015 GMT) after an aging component of a transmission line at a substation in Havana shorted, beginning a chain reaction that completely shut down power generation across the island, UNE officials said.
The grid collapse follows a string of nationwide blackouts late last year that plunged Cuba's frail power generating system into near-total disarray, stressed by fuel shortages, natural disaster and economic crisis.
Most Cubans outside the capital Havana have already been living for months with rolling blackouts that peaked at 20 hours a day in recent weeks.
Havana was still largely without electricity on Saturday morning. Light traffic navigated intersections with no functioning stoplights and cellular internet was weak or non-existent in some areas.
Abel Bonne chatted with friends on Havana's Malecon waterfront boulevard early Saturday, taking in the fresh sea breeze after a stuffy night without power.
"Right now, no one knows when the power will come back on," he said. "This is the first time this had happened this year, but last year it happened three times."
Severe shortages of food, medicine and water have made life increasingly unbearable for many Cubans, and people have been fleeing the island in recent years in record-breaking numbers.
Cuba blames its economic woes on a Cold War-era U.S. trade embargo, a web of laws and regulations that complicate financial transactions and the acquisition of essentials like fuel and spare parts.
A grid official on Saturday morning said Cuba had been unable to update antiquated transmission and generation components because of the restrictions.
U.S. President Donald Trump recently tightened sanctions on the island's communist-run government, vowing to restore a "tough" policy toward the long-time U.S. foe.
Havana resident Yunior Reyes, a bike taxi driver, was back on the job Saturday morning despite the blackout, fretting that his food reserves might spoil in the day's heat.
“We're all in the same situation," he said. "It's a lot of work."
The world’s biggest dance music festival faces an unexpected setback as a fire destroys its main stage, prompting a last-minute response from organisers determined to keep the party alive in Boom, Belgium.
According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the Oaxaca region of Mexico on Saturday.
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will send an upgraded ‘version 3.0’ free-trade agreement to their heads of government for approval in October, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Saturday after regional talks in Kuala Lumpur.
A resumption of Iraq’s Kurdish oil exports is not expected in the near term, sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, despite an announcement by Iraq’s federal government a day earlier stating that shipments would resume immediately.
Chinese automaker Chery has denied an industry-ministry audit that disqualified more than $53 million in state incentives for thousands of its electric and hybrid vehicles, insisting it followed official guidance and committed no fraud.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on 15 August to negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine. The summit, confirmed by the Kremlin, is expected to focus on a long-term peaceful resolution.
According to Bloomberg News, the United States and Russia are working toward an agreement aimed at halting the war in Ukraine by formalising Russia’s occupation of territories seized during its invasion.
A fire broke out at Cordoba’s historic mosque-cathedral on the night of 8 August but was swiftly extinguished, preventing damage to one of Spain’s most treasured architectural landmarks.
The Canadian government announced Friday it will join key allies in reducing the price cap on Russian seaborne crude oil in response to Moscow’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Washington, D.C., will see its federal security funding reduced by $20 million this year under a Trump administration plan, despite the president’s repeated claims that crime in the capital is spiraling.
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