Cuba Hit by Another Total Blackout as Energy Crisis Worsens

Women hold umbrellas to shield from the sun while waiting to cross a street during a national power grid collapse, for the fourth time in less than a year, which caused a nationwide blackout, in Havana, Cuba, September 10, 2025. (Reuters)
Women hold umbrellas to shield from the sun while waiting to cross a street during a national power grid collapse, for the fourth time in less than a year, which caused a nationwide blackout, in Havana, Cuba, September 10, 2025. (Reuters)
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Cuba Hit by Another Total Blackout as Energy Crisis Worsens

Women hold umbrellas to shield from the sun while waiting to cross a street during a national power grid collapse, for the fourth time in less than a year, which caused a nationwide blackout, in Havana, Cuba, September 10, 2025. (Reuters)
Women hold umbrellas to shield from the sun while waiting to cross a street during a national power grid collapse, for the fourth time in less than a year, which caused a nationwide blackout, in Havana, Cuba, September 10, 2025. (Reuters)

A total blackout hit Cuba on Wednesday, the latest in a series of outages blamed on aging infrastructure and fuel shortages at power plants.

It was the second island-wide outage this year, with three other blackouts reported late last year.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines said on social platform X that the latest outage could be tied to a malfunctioning thermoelectric plant, although the investigation is ongoing.

The ministry said crews were working to restore power to the island of roughly 10 million people.

Earlier this week, an outage hit Cuba’s eastern region, leaving people from Las Tunas to Guantánamo in the dark for several hours.

In February, the government suspended classes and work activities for two days given a shortage in electricity generation.

There is a severe economic and energy supply crisis in Cuba. It has worsened in recent years due to US sanctions intended to put pressure on the island to change its political model.

The sanctions have prevented the Caribbean nation from having sufficient foreign currency to buy fuel or repair its aging thermoelectric plants, many of which have been operating for more than 30 years.



President of Ukraine Arrives in Jeddah

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv (AFP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv (AFP)
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President of Ukraine Arrives in Jeddah

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv (AFP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv (AFP)

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine arrived in Jeddah Thursday, SPA reported.

At King Abdulaziz International Airport, he was welcomed by Deputy Governor of Makkah Region Prince Saud bin Mishaal bin Abdulaziz and several other officials.


Trump Says Iran 'Better Get Serious' in Mideast War Talks

US President Donald Trump speaks during the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner at Union Station on March 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump was this year's keynote speaker at the dinner. AFP
US President Donald Trump speaks during the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner at Union Station on March 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump was this year's keynote speaker at the dinner. AFP
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Trump Says Iran 'Better Get Serious' in Mideast War Talks

US President Donald Trump speaks during the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner at Union Station on March 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump was this year's keynote speaker at the dinner. AFP
US President Donald Trump speaks during the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner at Union Station on March 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump was this year's keynote speaker at the dinner. AFP

US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Thursday to engage in talks to end the Middle East war "before it is too late", after Tehran publicly spurned US overtures to resolve the nearly four-week conflict.

Trump's warning came as Israel said it had killed the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' navy, calling him "directly responsible" for throttling the Strait of Hormuz since the war's outbreak.

Hopes for a negotiated end to the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has engulfed much of the region, rose after Washington was said to have put a peace plan to Tehran, only for the Islamic republic to deny the sides were speaking, AFP reported.

But Pakistan confirmed Thursday it was indeed facilitating "US-Iran indirect talks" by relaying messages -- and that a 15-point American plan was being "deliberated upon" by Tehran.

"They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won't be pretty!" Trump warned on social media, saying Iran had been "militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback".

Iran's foreign minister flatly denied Wednesday that "negotiations" had been engaged with Trump's administration -- but did concede messages were being exchanged through "friendly countries".

"We seek an end to the war on our own terms," Abbas Araghchi said on state TV.

Islamabad has been touted as a go-between, given its longstanding ties with both neighbouring Iran and the United States, as well as its network of regional contacts.

 

 


Russia Says It Hopes for New Round of Ukraine Talks with US as Soon as Conditions Allow

FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo
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Russia Says It Hopes for New Round of Ukraine Talks with US as Soon as Conditions Allow

FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo

Russia is in contact with the United States about a new round of talks on a Ukraine peace settlement as soon as conditions allow, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

"We remain open, we are in contact with the Americans, and we are counting on holding the next round of talks as soon ‌as circumstances permit," ‌Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Peskov rejected ‌the ⁠thesis of a ⁠New York Times opinion piece that said the Iran war had caused President Vladimir Putin to lose interest in negotiating an end to the Ukraine conflict, Reuters reported.

"This is an absolutely false invention that does not correspond to reality. During the rounds of trilateral talks that ⁠have taken place, some progress was made ‌toward a settlement," Peskov told ‌reporters.

Peskov said Russia had not lost interest in peace ‌talks but added that key issues - including territory - had ‌yet to be settled.

The NYT opinion piece, by Russian journalist Mikhail Zygar, said Russia's economy had been faltering earlier this year, prompting Putin at that point to take negotiations on ‌a Ukraine settlement more seriously.

However, Zygar said the Iran war had reversed those dynamics by ⁠boosting ⁠oil prices, easing the economic pressure on Moscow and reducing the US focus on Ukraine, weakening any incentive for the Kremlin to seek a settlement.

Earlier this week, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the US had briefed Russia about Washington's latest round of talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida, which took place last Saturday.

The last three-way peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US took place last month, before the Trump administration and Israel began airstrikes against Iran on February 28.