Protests erupt in Havana as Cuba struggles to restore electricity

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By Dave Sherwood and Ayose Naranjo Reuters Scattered protests broke out across Havana on Tuesday evening, with residents banging pots, honking horns and shouting “turn on the lights” as millions ‌of Cubans remained without power amid a six-month-long U.S. fuel blockade. Cuba experienced a nationwide outage on ‌Monday — its third this year — but while authorities said most of the country had been reconnected to the island’s grid by late ​Tuesday, many remained in the dark and without electricity as the island doesn’t have enough fuel. The country’s grid operator UNE said it had reconnected the grid from Pinar del Rio, in far western Cuba, to Holguin in the east. Santiago de Cuba, the island’s second-largest city, remained disconnected and without power, authorities said. The U.S. in January ‌cut off Cuba’s fuel supply, then ⁠imposed fresh sanctions that have prompted an exodus of foreign businesses and a near-complete collapse o...
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African progress backslides as coups and war persist

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By Libby George Reuters

Nearly half of Africa’s citizens live in a country where governance has worsened over the past decade, as deteriorating security erodes progress, according to a new report.

The annual Ibrahim Index of African Governance report found that despite positive progress in 33 countries, overall governance was worse in 2023 in 21 countries, accounting for just under half of Africa’s population, compared with 2014.

For several countries, including densely populated Nigeria and Uganda, the deterioration in overall governance had worsened over the second part of the decade, according to the report released by Sudanese-British billionaire businessman Mo Ibrahim’s foundation.

“We can see really a huge arc of instability and conflicts and this deterioration, and security and safety of our people, is the biggest driver of deterioration and governance…putting everything down in general,” Ibrahim told Reuters in an interview.

Ibrahim pointed to the coups in West Africa and war in Sudan, but said poor governance also fostered violence and instability.

“If there is deterioration on governance, if there is corruption, if there is marginalization…people are going to pick up arms,” he said.

The report found that infrastructure – from mobile phone access to energy – and women’s equality, were better in 2023 for roughly 95% of Africans.

Health, education and business environment metrics had also improved continent-wide.

But the report found that public perceptions on progress were grim, even when the corresponding governance dimensions showed progress; all public perception indicators, apart from those tracking women’s leadership, declined.

The worst drops were in perceptions of economic opportunities and of safety and security.

The foundation said this could be due to higher expectations in countries that were making progress, and also a tendency to focus on what is not working.

But Ibrahim said it was a serious problem.

“If public dissatisfaction is high, that obviously can lead to unrest, it can lead to increased migration, conflicts,” he said.



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/hJmopfE

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