US strikes Iran for tenth straight night as Tehran hits Kuwait base; American death toll reaches 17Iranian missile hit US troop housing at Jordan base; Aqaba airport and port evacuatedHouthis declare Saudi naval blockade as fresh tanker attacks hit the Strait of HormuzBrent crude back above $90 as Gulf war rattles stocks, currencies and rate-settersTrump imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian goods under untested 1930 trade lawMerz signals cabinet reshuffle after Spahn quits as parliamentary leader over surrogacy rowBurnham takes office as UK prime minister, names Healey chancellor and calls TrumpRussia hits Kyiv with one of the war's largest ballistic barragesUkrainian drones and sea drones strike Russian oil terminals, power grid and Black Sea shipsFerry with about 133 aboard capsizes off Guyana; dozens missingAt least 50 Malian soldiers killed in jihadist–separatist ambush near AnefisChina uses WAIC to press its claim to lead 'global AI governance'Heatwave fuels major wildfires in Spain and Greece; nearly 50,000 hectares burnedUS strikes Iran for tenth straight night as Tehran hits Kuwait base; American death toll reaches 17Iranian missile hit US troop housing at Jordan base; Aqaba airport and port evacuatedHouthis declare Saudi naval blockade as fresh tanker attacks hit the Strait of HormuzBrent crude back above $90 as Gulf war rattles stocks, currencies and rate-settersTrump imposes 50% tariffs on Canadian goods under untested 1930 trade lawMerz signals cabinet reshuffle after Spahn quits as parliamentary leader over surrogacy rowBurnham takes office as UK prime minister, names Healey chancellor and calls TrumpRussia hits Kyiv with one of the war's largest ballistic barragesUkrainian drones and sea drones strike Russian oil terminals, power grid and Black Sea shipsFerry with about 133 aboard capsizes off Guyana; dozens missingAt least 50 Malian soldiers killed in jihadist–separatist ambush near AnefisChina uses WAIC to press its claim to lead 'global AI governance'Heatwave fuels major wildfires in Spain and Greece; nearly 50,000 hectares burned
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Cuba Crisis

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Cuba has been experiencing a series of nationwide power outages since October 2024: on 18 October 2024, the country's largest power plant, the Antonio Guiteras plant in Matanzas, failed and took around 1.64 gigawatts, roughly half of demand, off the grid; in December 2024 the next total collapse followed. The causes are decades of neglected investment, dilapidated oil-fired plants and acute fuel shortages, since the island produces only about 40 percent of the fuel it needs. The situation was aggravated by the US embargo as well as the failure of allies Venezuela and Russia to deliver oil, so that the generation gap in 2025 often reached 1,300 to 1,700 megawatts at peak times. By 2026, blackout followed blackout, while public transport and thousands of operations were canceled.

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Thursday, 16 July 2026Geopolitics

Cuba: third nationwide power outage within a week

Cuba has been hit by a nationwide power outage for the third time in just over a week. Because of a fuel shortage, farmers must in part revert to oxen instead of tractors. The island's energy and economic crisis continues to deepen.

Cuba is experiencing another collapse of its power supply: according to the Global Times, it is the third nationwide blackout in just over a week. The news agency AFP illustrates the depth of the crisis with the return to ox teams on fuel-starved Cuban fields, because there is no diesel for tractors. Both sources paint a picture of a dilapidated, chronically underfunded power grid and an acute fuel shortage. The state-aligned Chinese source stresses the frequency of the outages, the Western agency the consequences for agriculture and daily life; a detailed Cuban government account does not appear in these reports. The crisis fits into a series of blackouts ongoing since October 2024, blamed on dilapidated oil-fired power plants, failing oil deliveries from allies, and the US embargo. The sourcing remains sparse, but the basic thrust of the reports is consistent.

AFP / France 24Global Times