Farmers Turn to Solar Power in Syria's Former Breadbasket

Syrian farmer Abdullah al-Mohammed checks on plants near solar panels powering irrigation, which have helped many farmers during drought and power shortages
Delil SOULEIMAN- AFP
Syrian farmer Abdullah al-Mohammed checks on plants near solar panels powering irrigation, which have helped many farmers during drought and power shortages Delil SOULEIMAN- AFP
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Farmers Turn to Solar Power in Syria's Former Breadbasket

Syrian farmer Abdullah al-Mohammed checks on plants near solar panels powering irrigation, which have helped many farmers during drought and power shortages
Delil SOULEIMAN- AFP
Syrian farmer Abdullah al-Mohammed checks on plants near solar panels powering irrigation, which have helped many farmers during drought and power shortages Delil SOULEIMAN- AFP

At his farm in Syria's northeast, Abdullah al-Mohammed adjusts a large solar panel, one of hundreds that have cropped up over the years as farmers seek to stave off electricity shortages in the war-ravaged region.

Solar energy has offered a lifeline for the farmers amid drought and power shortages, but some warn the boom also has environmental costs in the once-fertile region.

"We are trying to revive our land," despite dwindling groundwater reserves, said Mohammed, 38, as he oriented the panel towards the sun near his cotton fields.

In his village of Al-Haddadiya in Hasakeh province, farmers are using solar energy to power irrigation systems for all kinds of crops, from vegetables to wheat, barley and cotton, AFP reported.

The father of three said he needs a reliable power supply to pump groundwater around 60 metres deep (nearly 200 feet) now -- compared to just 30 metres a few years back.

Northeast Syria is about 0.8 degrees Celsius (two degrees Fahrenheit) hotter today than it was 100 years ago and likely to experience drought every three years, according to a report last year by iMMAP, a Washington-based, data-focused non-profit.

The area was the country's breadbasket before 2011, when the government repressed peaceful protests, triggering a conflict that has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.

The war has battered the country's infrastructure and industry, and the state barely supplies a few hours of electricity per day.

Farmers in the now Kurdish-held region used to rely on state electricity and subsidised generator fuel for water pumps and irrigation, but power outages and rising fuel costs have compounded the climate-related challenges.

"Solar energy has saved agriculture and farmers from extinction," Mohammed said, near a patch of waist-high plants and sunflowers swaying gently in the wind.

From the opposition-held northwest to government-controlled areas, solar panels have become common in Syria, providing power for homes, public institutions and even camps for the displaced.

Between 2011 and 2021, Syria's state electricity production "dropped significantly to almost 57 percent" and power generation capacity plunged to 65 percent, according to a 2022 United Nations report.

Across Hasakeh province, solar panels have become indispensable for agriculture.

Around 10 kilometres (six miles) from Al-Haddadiya, farmer Hamid al-Awda began using solar power six years ago.

He has now installed 272 solar panels across his vast farmlands.

"Most people started selling their generators and replacing them with solar energy," said Awda, 60.

"Farmers who cannot afford solar energy and generators have seen their crops wither and dry out," he said, sweat trickling down his face.

Further north near the city of Qamishli, farmer Mohammed Ali al-Hussein said shortages of generator fuel once kept him from irrigating his crops for days.

"But now, we can water the lands from sunrise to sunset thanks to solar panels," said the 22-year-old, using a massive hose.

However, the iMMAP report also warned of a downside of the area's solar boom.

"Water pumps working on solar power... are also blamed for increased extraction and resulting in declining water table," the report said.

The rising use of groundwater wells also results in increased salinity, it added.

Didar Hasan from Wanlan, a local company involved in solar energy, said demand has boomed in northeast Syria in recent years amid power outages lasting up to 20 hours a day.

Demand will keep rising and "people will continue to rely heavily on solar energy, not because it is renewable... but because they need electricity," he told AFP.

While solar power has kept many farmers from abandoning their land and moving to the city, it comes with a future environmental cost, he warned.

Much of people's solar infrastructure is either "used, worn-out panels, imported from Europe where they are deemed electronic waste" or low-grade solar systems mostly made in China, he said.

Such materials have a lifespan of just a few years, Hasan added.

"After that, we will be left with tens of thousands of unusable solar panels -- essentially waste" -- in an area with no adequate facilities to process it, he said.



Archives Interrupted: Vintage Pics Show Gaza 'We No Longer Know'

Kegham Djeghalian, whose work is on display in the French city of Marseille, opened Gaza's first ever photo studio in 1944 © MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP
Kegham Djeghalian, whose work is on display in the French city of Marseille, opened Gaza's first ever photo studio in 1944 © MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP
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Archives Interrupted: Vintage Pics Show Gaza 'We No Longer Know'

Kegham Djeghalian, whose work is on display in the French city of Marseille, opened Gaza's first ever photo studio in 1944 © MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP
Kegham Djeghalian, whose work is on display in the French city of Marseille, opened Gaza's first ever photo studio in 1944 © MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP

When Kegham Djeghalian photographed daily life in Gaza last century, the Palestinian territory was synonymous with Hollywood-inspired brides, fancy dress parties and excursions to smoke a hookah at the beach.

They are images from a time far removed from the rubble and tent cities of the now war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

"It's a Gaza we no longer know. A joyful Gaza, one full of hope, connected to the world, with trains and an airport," said his grandson, who has curated a show of his work in France's southern city of Marseille.

Djeghalian survived the Armenian genocide of 1915 -- a term strongly denied by Türkiye -- then settled in Gaza, opening the city's first ever photo studio in 1944.

He refused to leave, despite the recurring conflicts hitting the small territory wedged between Egypt and what became Israel in 1948, spending four decades capturing images of the Palestinian society that had adopted him, up until his death in 1981.

Some 300 of his surviving photographs are on show in Marseille until September.

'Photo Kegham of Gaza: Unboxing' is to travel to Bristol in the United Kingdom in October © MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP

- 'Diverse society' -

In one image, children have clambered onto each other to form a human pyramid in the courtyard of a school for Palestinian refugees displaced after the creation of Israel.

In another, women with voluminous hair blowouts pose smiling next to a sewing machine.

In a third, French philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir have just stepped off a small propeller plane.

The photograph has no caption, but the pair visited the Gaza Strip in March 1967 shortly before Israel seized the coastal territory in the Six-Day war.

"I grew up with family stories about Kegham, the Gazan photographer who survived the Armenian genocide," the curator, who inherited the same name as his grandfather and calls himself Kegham Jr, told AFP.

The 41-year-old professor of visual culture, who spent part of his childhood in Egypt, says his father discovered over 1,000 photo negatives "by chance" in 2018 in three red boxes at the back of a cupboard in the family's Cairo apartment.

They included studio portraits and family photos, images of children on balconies and at the beach, and crowds in the streets.

"We see a diverse society: Armenians, Greeks, Palestinians, Bedouins. But also those displaced in 1948," said Kegham Jr.

Today two-thirds of Gaza's population are descendants of Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations.

Efforts to complete the photo archive were interrupted by the Gaa war, its curator said © MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP

- 'Unfinished' -

Kegham Jr said he did not want any captions or context to the pictures in the exhibition titled "Photo Kegham of Gaza: Unboxing", which is to travel to Bristol in the United Kingdom in October.

The "interrupted and unfinished" archives thus illustrate "a rupture of histories, shattered by war, by genocide, by occupation", he said.

Kegham Jr was unable to visit Gaza, with the territory under blockade since Hamas seized control in 2007, and then a devastating war ravaging the territory after the Palestinian Islamist militant group attacked Israel in October 2023.

To complete his photo collections, the grandson reached out to a Palestinian called Marwan al-Tarazi who held part of the archives after his brother inherited the studio.

A part of the exhibition dubbed "Zoom call" shows screenshots of their conversation in 2021.

The collaboration was interrupted when, in October 2023, Israeli strikes killed Tarazi, his wife and grandchild, he said.

In front of the images at the Marseille Photography Centre, Houri Varjabedian, a 70-year-old Marseille resident hailing from an Armenian family in Lebanon, said it felt like looking into a family album.

Her maternal grandfather, a dentist in the Ottoman army, had himself been photographed in Gaza, she said.

She said it was heartbreaking to see "those wonderful palm trees, that beach".

"It's a bit terrible given the current events," she added.


Petraeus Hands Washington 'Executive Plan' to Disarm Iraq's Armed Factions

A 2008 photo released by the Pentagon shows David Petraeus briefing Barack Obama, then a US senator, on a plan to secure Sadr City in eastern Baghdad during an aerial tour over the area.
A 2008 photo released by the Pentagon shows David Petraeus briefing Barack Obama, then a US senator, on a plan to secure Sadr City in eastern Baghdad during an aerial tour over the area.
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Petraeus Hands Washington 'Executive Plan' to Disarm Iraq's Armed Factions

A 2008 photo released by the Pentagon shows David Petraeus briefing Barack Obama, then a US senator, on a plan to secure Sadr City in eastern Baghdad during an aerial tour over the area.
A 2008 photo released by the Pentagon shows David Petraeus briefing Barack Obama, then a US senator, on a plan to secure Sadr City in eastern Baghdad during an aerial tour over the area.

Iraqi officials said the United States has conditioned the integration of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) on disarming armed factions, sidelining their leaders, and appointing professional officers to oversee the PMF’s infrastructure, a step Washington says is necessary because the force remains a major obstacle to restoring normal relations with Baghdad.

But Shiite groups said implementing the “bold plan,” which remains under discussion, would place Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government in an unequal confrontation with Iran and the factions linked to it, amid a lack of guarantees, warning of “internal divisions and unrest.”

What did Petraeus do in Baghdad?

The information disclosed by officials involved in technical and political discussions on the future of the PMF coincided with a visit by retired US General David Petraeus to Baghdad last week in his capacity as an “independent expert” providing advisory services to the White House.

After leaving Baghdad, Petraeus wrote on LinkedIn on May 17, 2026, that Iraqi officials he met “recognized the importance of ensuring that the Iraqi Security Services have a monopoly on the use of force in Iraq.” He added that he left Iraq “encouraged by what I heard, while also realistic about the dynamics with Iran.”

Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Petraeus spent five days in Baghdad, where he met senior Iraqi officials. The fate of PMF fighters was at the center of “serious discussions,” according to sources.

A US State Department spokesperson told Asharq Al-Awsat that Petraeus visited Baghdad as “a private citizen, nothing more.”

However, the level of meetings he held there, including with Iraq’s Chief Justice Faiq Zidan, Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, Parliament Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi, and Counter Terrorism Service chief Staff Lieutenant General Karim al-Tamimi, went beyond the nature of a personal visit.

An informed Iraqi source told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Petraeus’s meetings revolved around a single objective: reforming the military institution and ending the current PMF structure, while discussing realistic and practical mechanisms for integrating its members into the security institutions.”

Petraeus is among the most prominent commanders associated with the Iraq war after 2003. He gained experience through a range of field and strategic roles, most notably commanding the 101st Airborne Division during the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Petraeus now serves as partner and chief operating officer at KKR, a global investment management firm. Information available on the company’s website indicates that its activities are expanding across Middle Eastern countries, with no reference to Iraq.

KKR did not respond to Asharq Al-Awsat’s requests for comment on the nature of Petraeus’s visit to Baghdad or whether the White House had assigned him an advisory mission there.

However, three government and political figures told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US general “has been tasked with drafting an actionable executive paper to be submitted to the White House at a later stage through US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack.”

People close to the new prime minister in Baghdad told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Ali al-Zaidi will discuss this sensitive issue with US President Donald Trump if a planned visit to the White House takes place.”

An Iraqi official who declined to be identified said that “the preliminary date could be set after Eid al-Adha in June,” noting that “the timing could be affected by the course of negotiations between Washington and Tehran.”

General David Petraeus began his visit to Baghdad with a meeting with Iraq’s Chief Justice, Faiq Zidan (DPA).

“A Danger That Could Blow Up in Your Face”

A person familiar with the discussions held during Petraeus’s meetings said that “some Iraqi officials spoke to the US general as though they were speaking directly to President Trump. They displayed unusual candor about their concerns over the potential consequences of plans for the Popular Mobilization Forces that remain largely theoretical at this stage.”

Another source said that “the US general listened more than he spoke during his meetings with Iraqi officials, but he was clear about what Washington wants: eliminating the source of the regional threat.” Nevertheless, “the general left Baghdad without complete confidence in Baghdad’s ability to resolve the problem in line with the US vision.”

Two Western diplomats, who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity, said that “US confidence declined sharply during the final months of Sudani’s government because of what was viewed as leniency toward attacks by armed factions during the war. The current prime minister may now pay the price when he is asked to provide stronger security and political guarantees regarding the enforcement of state sovereignty.”

As attacks on Gulf states continued, and with the United States accusing the previous Iraqi government of providing official cover for these groups, the Popular Mobilization Forces and the armed factions associated with them have become “a knot that is difficult to untangle.” An Iraqi official said the issue is “a danger that must be dealt with, but when you get close to it, it could blow up in your face.”

Washington hopes that the new prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, a businessman whose commercial activities are rumored to have prospered under the shadow of politics, will be able to distance his government from Iranian influence. It sees the issue of weapons outside state control as a test of whether trust can be maintained and support resumed, but the task will not be easy, according to a person close to him.

A person familiar with political consultations concerning the Popular Mobilization Forces said that “Petraeus did not answer questions raised by Iraqi officials about whether there would be sufficient backing to confront Iran if the Popular Mobilization Forces were dissolved.”

Shiite forces are pushing to refer the future of the Popular Mobilization Forces to parliament for discussion rather than addressing it under US pressure (AP).

Baghdad ‘Buys Time’

For Shiite leaders in Iraq, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) are “a matter of destiny” and “a red line that cannot be crossed,” according to officials close to the factions. But the organization has become caught in intense regional polarization since the events of Oct. 7, 2023, and has been directly involved in the recent conflict between the United States and Iran.

Figures close to the armed factions have appeared on television warning of “retaliation against any government or political official who participates in a project to integrate or dissolve the PMF.”

A leader of an armed faction told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Iran recently urged them to resist the US effort aimed at dismantling the largest military force safeguarding its interests in the region.”

He added: “Generals from the Revolutionary Guards who play supervisory roles within Shiite factions, including those who run the Islamic Resistance in Iraq operations room, will put obstacles in the way if moves are made toward dissolving the PMF.”

According to an Iraqi lawmaker close to Kataib Hezbollah, the PMF is an institution operating under a law passed by the Iraqi parliament in 2016, and dissolving it would now require a parliamentary vote.

Shiite armed groups maintain influential political wings in the Iraqi parliament. Estimates suggest they hold around 80 seats, while the ruling Shiite alliance, the Coordination Framework, enjoys a comfortable majority of about 180 seats in the 329-member legislature, giving it substantial influence over the legislative process.

Two members of the Coordination Framework told Asharq Al-Awsat that “most leaders of the Shiite alliance informed the prime minister that they agree on the risks posed by the factions, but resolving the issue requires national dialogue and an incentives plan as part of a broader strategy involving the religious authority in Najaf, given the sensitivity of the political and security balances associated with it.”

A Western adviser working in Iraq told Asharq Al-Awsat that “Washington has come to view such ideas as attempts to buy time, and warnings about the risks of dissolving the PMF are being used as a form of counterpressure against the United States.”

An Iraqi official also said that “US officials who held discussions with local officials before Petraeus’s talks in Baghdad made it clear that overlooking the PMF issue carries an extremely high cost.”

Hussein Mounes (left), head of the Huqooq Movement affiliated with Kataib Hezbollah, speaks to journalists in Baghdad on May 14, 2026, to announce his opposition to Ali al-Zaidi’s government (DPA).

 

“Fell on Deaf Ears”

On that basis, according to sources, the United States dismissed Iraqi proposals it viewed as cosmetic measures to integrate the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), restructure the organization, or change its leadership.

The Iraqi government, in its program approved by parliament, pledged to “define the responsibilities of the PMF within the military and security system.”

Al-Zaidi’s office declined to answer Asharq Al-Awsat’s questions about how the government intends to implement its program regarding the PMF and whether it has participated with the United States in any executive plans related to the issue.

According to five Iraqi and Western figures who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat, proposals put forward by members of the Coordination Framework aimed at elevating the PMF and other factions into a new ministry or restructuring them within an administrative framework under the supervision of the prime minister “fell on deaf ears” in Washington.

Over the past week, figures close to Shiite groups appeared on local television channels promoting a proposal to establish a “Federal Security Ministry,” claiming it would serve as an umbrella for the PMF and other security formations, including the Rapid Response Forces and the Border Guards.

Informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the United States is seriously focused on ensuring full Iraqi sovereignty over political and security decision-making and eliminating sources of threat that it describes as terrorist, so that Baghdad can live in peace with its neighbors.

It is widely believed in Baghdad that the recent attacks against Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are part of a dual-track campaign within the Revolutionary Guards’ regional strategy: linked to the ongoing conflict on one hand, and on the other an attempt at deterrence aimed at protecting the PMF’s position and preventing any reduction in its influence.

On May 18, 2026, Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, a security official in Kataib Hezbollah, said in a press statement that the faction was “prepared to respond to the United States on all fronts if leaders of the resistance and the Popular Mobilization Forces are targeted.”

Two members of the Kataib Hezbollah faction carry the group’s flag in front of a riot police checkpoint in Baghdad (Reuters).

 

What Comes Next in Baghdad?

Nevertheless, two Iraqi figures said they expect “an initial phase to begin in the coming period,” involving the transfer of heavy and medium weapons to a trusted Iraqi security body agreed upon by the Iraqi government and the United States.

According to one of the two figures, the first phase would also include removing figures involved in attacks against the United States and its allies in the region, and appointing Iraqi generals to oversee the infrastructure associated with the Popular Mobilization Forces.

Asharq Al-Awsat learned that armed groups with political wings represented in parliament are negotiating to regain their share of positions in the Iraqi government after surrendering their weapons, but are seeking firm guarantees that they will be removed from the list of groups barred from participating in government.

Several ministerial posts in Ali al-Zaidi’s government remain vacant because of disputes within the Coordination Framework. However, some positions have been postponed indefinitely because of a US veto on election winners who maintain armed wings and have ties to Iran.

 


Timeline of Recent US-Cuba Relations amid Heightened Tensions in Trump's Second Term

FILE - Former Cuban President Raul Castro looks at the Cuban flag during his speech at the event celebrating the 65th anniversary of the triumph of the revolution in Santiago, Cuba, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Francisco, File)
FILE - Former Cuban President Raul Castro looks at the Cuban flag during his speech at the event celebrating the 65th anniversary of the triumph of the revolution in Santiago, Cuba, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Francisco, File)
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Timeline of Recent US-Cuba Relations amid Heightened Tensions in Trump's Second Term

FILE - Former Cuban President Raul Castro looks at the Cuban flag during his speech at the event celebrating the 65th anniversary of the triumph of the revolution in Santiago, Cuba, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Francisco, File)
FILE - Former Cuban President Raul Castro looks at the Cuban flag during his speech at the event celebrating the 65th anniversary of the triumph of the revolution in Santiago, Cuba, Jan. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Francisco, File)

Wednesday's US indictment of former Cuban President Raúl Castro is the latest salvo in the Trump administration’s months-long pressure campaign against the Caribbean island's socialist-controlled government.

Castro was charged for his alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of two planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Castro was defense minister at the time.

President Donald Trump has been escalating talk on regime change in Cuba after the military action in Venezuela early this year resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro. In addition, a White House-ordered economic blockade has led to blackouts, food shortages and a collapse in economic activity across Cuba.

The indictment comes amid rising tensions between Trump's administration and Cuba’s government. Meanwhile, the US is in the midst of an uneasy ceasefire in the US war against Iran.

Here’s a closer look at developments over the year between Cuba and the US.

Jan. 4 A day after the operation in Venezuela that captured Maduro, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared Cuba's government was “in a lot of trouble," as the president renewed calls for an American takeover of the Danish territory of Greenland.

Jan. 11 Trump fired off a warning to the government of Cuba as the close ally of Venezuela braced for potential unrest after Maduro was deposed. Trump called for the Cuban government “to make a deal BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE."

Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, responded, “Those who turn everything into a business, even human lives, have no moral authority to point the finger at Cuba in any way, absolutely in any way.”

Jan. 30 Trump signed an executive order to impose a tariff on any goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba, a move that could further cripple the island.

Feb. 27 A day before the war in Iran began, Trump said the US was in talks with Havana and raised the possibility of a “friendly takeover of Cuba,” though he didn't offer any details.

Trump said Rubio was in discussions with Cuban leaders “at a very high level.”

Trump didn’t clarify his comments but seemed to indicate that the situation with Cuba, among Washington’s bitterest adversaries for decades, was coming to a critical point.

Sometime in February Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of Castro known as "Raúlito," secretly met with Rubio on the sidelines of a Caribbean Community summit in St. Kitts in February.

March 13 Díaz-Canel said Cuba and the US held talks, marking the first time the Caribbean country confirmed widespread speculation about discussions with the Trump administration amid an energy crisis.

He said the talks “were aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences between our two nations. International factors facilitated these exchanges.”

March 31 A sanctioned Russian oil tanker arrived in Cuba, the first time in three months fuel reached the island.

April 9 Diaz-Canel said he would not resign.

April 10 Two senior State Department officials — Jeremy Lewin, who is in charge of all US foreign assistance, and Michael Kozak, the top US diplomat for Latin America — led a delegation to Havana and met with Rodríguez Castro, according to one US official familiar with the meetings.

April 12 Díaz-Canel said in an interview he would not step down and that the US has no valid reason to carry out a military attack against the island or to attempt to depose him.

Speaking in the interview on NBC's “Meet the Press,” the president said an invasion of Cuba would be costly and affect regional security.

April 16 Díaz-Canel spoke during a rally that drew hundreds of people to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the declaration of the Cuban Revolution’s socialist essence.

“The moment is extremely challenging and calls upon us once again, as on April 16, 1961, to be ready to confront serious threats, including military aggression. We do not want it, but it is our duty to prepare to avoid it and, if it becomes inevitable, to defeat it,” Díaz-Canel said.

April 17 News emerged that an American delegation recently met with Cuban government officials, marking a renewed diplomatic push. This was at least the third meeting with Rodríguez Castro.

A senior State Department official met with Rodríguez Castro earlier in the month, according to a department official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

The official did not say who from the US met with Rodríguez Castro, whose grandfather is believed to play an influential role in the Cuban government despite not holding an official post. A second US official said Rubio was not part of the delegation that visited Havana.

April 23 A Cuban diplomat speaking at the United Nations said Havana will not abide by any American “ultimatums” to release political prisoners as part of new talks.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Cuban Ambassador to the UN Ernesto Soberón Guzmán said internal issues regarding detainees “are not on the negotiating table.” The release of political prisoners was a key US demand as the longtime adversaries held discussions in Cuba for the first time in a decade.

April 28 Senate Republicans rejected legislation from Democrats that would have required Trump to end the US energy blockade on Cuba unless he receives approval from Congress.

The vote on the war powers resolution showed how Republicans continue to stand behind Trump as he acts unilaterally to exert American force in a range of global conflicts, including Venezuela, Iran and Cuba — one of the US’s closest neighbors.

May 7 US officials said the United States was not looking at imminent military action against Havana despite Trump’s repeated threats that “Cuba is next” and that American warships deployed in the Middle East for the Iran conflict could return by way of the island.

The officials involved in preliminary discussions with Cuban authorities also told the AP that they are not optimistic the communist government will accept an offer for tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid, two years of free Starlink internet access for all Cubans, agricultural assistance and infrastructure support.

But they said Cuba had not yet outright refused the offer, which came with conditions that the government has long resisted, even after the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Havana.

May 14 US and Cuban officials said CIA Director John Ratcliffe met with Cuban officials including Raúl Castro’s grandson during a high-level visit to the island.

Ratcliffe met with Rodríguez Castro, Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas and the head of Cuban intelligence services, and discussed intelligence cooperation, economic stability and security issues. A CIA official confirmed the meetings to the AP.

May 15 The Justice Department was preparing to seek an indictment against Castro, three people familiar with the matter told the AP.

One of the people said the potential indictment was connected to Castro’s alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of two planes operated by the Miami-based exile group Brothers to the Rescue. Castro was defense minister at the time.

All three people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation. The Cuban government did not respond to a request for comment on the potential indictment, which was reported earlier by CBS.

May 18 The State Department imposed a new layer of sanctions on several Cuban government agencies, including the Interior Ministry and National Police and Intelligence Directorate, as the Trump administration continued to ratchet up pressure against the island.

May 20 Federal prosecutors announced a grand jury indictment against Castro in connection with the shootdown of the two Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996.