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Cuba Says Rubio Lying about Oil Blockade

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio walks up to the podium in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 05 May 2026. EPA/Samuel Corum / POOL
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio walks up to the podium in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 05 May 2026. EPA/Samuel Corum / POOL
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Cuba Says Rubio Lying about Oil Blockade

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio walks up to the podium in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 05 May 2026. EPA/Samuel Corum / POOL
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio walks up to the podium in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 05 May 2026. EPA/Samuel Corum / POOL

Cuba on Tuesday accused US Secretary of State Marco Rubio of lying when he denied that the United States was carrying out an oil blockade on Cuba.

Cuba has been suffering from an energy crisis since January, when US forces seized Venezuela president and Cuban ally Nicolas Maduro and Washington threatened tariffs on countries that send crude to the communist-led island, reported AFP.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez wrote on X that Rubio "has simply chosen to lie," and that he "contradicts the President and the White House Spokesperson."

Rodriguez was responding to comments made by Rubio at the White House hours before.

"There's no oil blockade on Cuba, per se," Rubio said while guest-hosting the daily White House press briefing.

"Here's what's happening with Cuba, okay? Cuba used to get free oil from Venezuela, used to give them a bunch of free oil," Rubio said. "They would take, like, 60 percent of that oil and resell it for cash. It wouldn't even go to benefit the people."

Rubio added: "So the only blockade that's happened is the Cubans have decided, I mean, the Venezuelans have decided we're not giving you free oil anymore."

Rodriguez also denounced additional sanctions against Cuba's energy sector announced by Donald Trump on May 1.

"The Secretary knows full well the harm and suffering he is causing the Cuban people today," he added.

So far, Washington has only allowed the arrival, at the end of March, of a Russian oil tanker. According to Trump, it was a one-off shipment.

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World

Pentagon Inks Tomahawk Deal Amid Reports of Missile Shortfall

A visitor walks past Raytheon stand at the 53rd International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France June 21, 2019. (Reuters)
A visitor walks past Raytheon stand at the 53rd International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France June 21, 2019. (Reuters)
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Pentagon Inks Tomahawk Deal Amid Reports of Missile Shortfall

A visitor walks past Raytheon stand at the 53rd International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France June 21, 2019. (Reuters)
A visitor walks past Raytheon stand at the 53rd International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France June 21, 2019. (Reuters)

The Pentagon announced a $22.9 billion contract with Raytheon on Monday for Tomahawk missiles amid reports of a shortfall due to the war with Iran.

Acting US Navy Secretary Hung Cao said the contract will "accelerate Tomahawk missile delivery to our warfighters at unprecedented speed."

"Guaranteeing our naval and joint forces have the lethal firepower they need to deter aggression and protect the homeland is paramount," Cao said in a statement. "The Department is utilizing every available tool to meet the demands of our current operations."

An analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank released last month found that US stocks of Patriot and THAAD air defense missiles have been slashed by the conflict with Iran.

Before it began in late February, the United States had more than 2,300 Patriot and more than 450 THAAD interceptors -- figures that CSIS estimated have been roughly halved or more in the subsequent months of war.

The Washington Post reported this month that President Donald Trump had demanded answers from Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth about munitions shortages at a recent cabinet meeting.

Trump and Hegseth both later denied that the United States was faced with dwindling missile stocks.

Tomahawk missiles are mainly launched from submarines and warships and can travel more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles).

World

UN Laments ‘Unacceptable’ Toll of 350 Aid Workers Killed in 2025

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher briefs the media about the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations (UNOG), Geneva, Switzerland, Aug. 22, 2025. (EPA)
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher briefs the media about the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations (UNOG), Geneva, Switzerland, Aug. 22, 2025. (EPA)
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UN Laments ‘Unacceptable’ Toll of 350 Aid Workers Killed in 2025

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher briefs the media about the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations (UNOG), Geneva, Switzerland, Aug. 22, 2025. (EPA)
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher briefs the media about the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip during a press conference at the European headquarters of the United Nations (UNOG), Geneva, Switzerland, Aug. 22, 2025. (EPA)

The number of aid workers killed worldwide in 2025 reached 350, with the most fatalities in Gaza and Sudan, the United Nations said Monday, calling attacks on humanitarians "unacceptable."

The death toll, however, was slightly lower than that of 2024, when 377 aid workers were killed.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) cited the figures from the research and advisory group Humanitarian Outcomes in a statement marking World Humanitarian Day.

Some 186 humanitarians were killed in Gaza -- the deadliest place for aid workers for the third year running -- followed by Sudan with 71 killed.

"More than 1,000 aid workers have been killed in just three years and that is utterly unacceptable," Tom Fletcher, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said in the statement.

"But just calling it out will not protect the next aid worker. States must uphold international humanitarian law and use every tool to protect civilians and our colleagues," he said. "And for those who break the rules, there must be real consequences."

Since the start of 2026, 82 more aid workers have been killed, 97 injured and 39 abducted worldwide.

OCHA voiced particular concern over the proliferation of armed drones "that are putting lethal power into ever more hands and sending more explosive weapons into towns and cities."

In Sudan, armed drones caused 80 percent of civilian deaths in the first four months of 2026, hitting markets and health facilities, the statement said, also noting casualties from drone attacks in the Russia-Ukraine war.

"Weaponized drones have become the new face of an old danger: the deliberate or reckless destruction of civilian life," Fletcher said.

World

Reports: UK PM Exchanged Messages with Trump Aide Imposter

Prime Minister Andy Burnham speaks with apprentices and staff at the met office during a visit on August 14, 2026 in Exeter, United Kingdom. (Reuters)
Prime Minister Andy Burnham speaks with apprentices and staff at the met office during a visit on August 14, 2026 in Exeter, United Kingdom. (Reuters)
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Reports: UK PM Exchanged Messages with Trump Aide Imposter

Prime Minister Andy Burnham speaks with apprentices and staff at the met office during a visit on August 14, 2026 in Exeter, United Kingdom. (Reuters)
Prime Minister Andy Burnham speaks with apprentices and staff at the met office during a visit on August 14, 2026 in Exeter, United Kingdom. (Reuters)

New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham exchanged messages with someone posing as Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, several media outlets reported on Monday.

According to Politico, which broke the story quoting anonymous sources, the British leader sent a "few messages" via an unspecified communication channel to a person he believed to be Wiles before becoming suspicious.

The incident was deemed serious enough for the British embassy in Washington to raise the matter with the White House, according to two sources cited by Politico.

Neither the date nor the content of the exchanges is known.

Burnham succeeded former Labour Party leader Keir Starmer as prime minister on July 20.

"We do not comment on national security matters," a spokesperson for Burnham's Downing Street office said, without denying the exchanges.

Burnham is not the first prominent British politician to fall victim to this type of hoax.

In 2024, the British government released a video of a phone call in which the then foreign minister David Cameron was duped by someone posing as former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko.

The Foreign Office explained at the time that it had disclosed the incident to preempt any attempt by the perpetrators to manipulate the footage.