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.



Iran Reportedly in ‘Advanced Stages’ of Planning Attacks Against Americans

US national intelligence chief Jay Clayton (Reuters)
US national intelligence chief Jay Clayton (Reuters)
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Iran Reportedly in ‘Advanced Stages’ of Planning Attacks Against Americans

US national intelligence chief Jay Clayton (Reuters)
US national intelligence chief Jay Clayton (Reuters)

Iran has "substantially increased" its efforts to target Americans in the Middle East and beyond, US national intelligence chief Jay Clayton has warned.

The US government has put employees on heightened alert across the Middle East and moved to reduce personnel levels at embassies and consulates, officials said Friday.

"We have received intelligence that Iran has substantially increased efforts to target US personnel," Clayton said in a memo sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a US official.

"The lethal plotting efforts by the Iranians against US citizens have reached advanced stages in both the Middle East and certain other countries," said the memo, which was first reported by Axios.

The US official said: "When it comes to our staffing at embassies, we constantly evaluate new information about the security environment."

Trump suggested on Friday that the US might launch renewed military operations against Iran.

"We may do another little Epic Fury" Trump said, referring to the US name for its attacks on Iran. He did not give any indication on timing.

The conflict began in late February with US-Israeli attacks on Iran, killing the country's supreme leader, along with senior military commanders.

The United States and Israel have drawn up plans for a new wave of strikes on Iran after the US midterm elections, though Trump has not made a final decision to carry them out, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.


Govt: Ukraine Has 'Stable Connection' to Starlink

FILE PHOTO: An artilleryman of the Special Rifle Police Battalion of Zaporizhzhia region sets up Starlink satellite internet system, at a position, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, October 16, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An artilleryman of the Special Rifle Police Battalion of Zaporizhzhia region sets up Starlink satellite internet system, at a position, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, October 16, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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Govt: Ukraine Has 'Stable Connection' to Starlink

FILE PHOTO: An artilleryman of the Special Rifle Police Battalion of Zaporizhzhia region sets up Starlink satellite internet system, at a position, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, October 16, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An artilleryman of the Special Rifle Police Battalion of Zaporizhzhia region sets up Starlink satellite internet system, at a position, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, October 16, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Ukraine again has a "stable connection" to Starlink, the government said on Saturday, after days of tensions with Washington over the SpaceX-made network crucial to the Ukrainian army's operations.

Kyiv relies on the civilian Starlink satellite communications system and the military-grade Starshield version as it tries to defend itself from Russian missile and drone attacks.

"Monitoring systems are recording a recovery in the speed of Starlink/Starshield. We are registering a speed of more than 400 km/h, the connection is stable," Defence Minister Yevgeniy Khmara said in a statement.

"This result is above all important for our front, for our soldiers, for the operation of drones, for logistics and for communications," he added.

The satellite network has been at the centre of a row between Ukraine and the United States.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Washington of helping Russia by failing to warn Kyiv of incoming missile strikes and hobbling its military response by throttling Starlink's speed.

Khmara credited Zelensky's "firm stance" on the issue, judging that it was "bearing fruit".

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would speak to tech tycoon Elon Musk, head of SpaceX, if Kyiv was having problems with the communications platform.

The US president had said Thursday that Musk had restored access.

While Musk has shifted stance on Ukraine many times since Russia's invasion in 2022, he has insisted that any disruption was the responsibility of the US government, not SpaceX.


Mid-air Collision of Philippines Military Planes Kills 4 Pilots

Philippines National Flag is pictured as the rainbow displays over it in Manila, Philippines, January 8, 2020. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo
Philippines National Flag is pictured as the rainbow displays over it in Manila, Philippines, January 8, 2020. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo
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Mid-air Collision of Philippines Military Planes Kills 4 Pilots

Philippines National Flag is pictured as the rainbow displays over it in Manila, Philippines, January 8, 2020. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo
Philippines National Flag is pictured as the rainbow displays over it in Manila, Philippines, January 8, 2020. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File Photo

Two military planes crashed mid-air during training at an air base in the Philippines, killing four pilots, the air force said Saturday.

The SF-260 single propeller planes crashed at Fernando Air Base, south of Manila, on Friday afternoon.

"Both aircraft went down within the base perimeter, with no other casualties reported," Philippine Air Force spokesman Colonel Alvin Capinguian said in a statement.

An investigation was opened to determine the cause of the mishap, and Capinguian said the air force's fleet of SF-260s has been temporarily grounded as a precaution.

There have been a number of deadly crashes involving Philippine military aircraft in recent years.

In May, two military pilots were killed when another SF-260 plane crashed during a training flight in Benguet province in the northern Philippines.