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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Islamist militants in northwest Pakistan kill 16 security personnel

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Sixteen security personnel were killed in northwest Pakistan in an attack by Islamist militants early on Saturday, a senior police official in the South Waziristan region said, as Islamist fighters step up their assaults on the security forces.

Another eight personnel were injured in the attack on a security forces post, which took place at 2 a.m. (2100 GMT on Friday), police deputy superintendent Hidayat Ullah told Reuters.

“A search operation is under way in the area,” he added, saying the attackers had used light and heavy weapons.

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistan Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack, giving a higher figure for the number of security personnel killed.

“At least 35 security personnel were killed and 15 injured in the attack,” the group said in a WhatsApp channel broadcast. It did not say whether any of its fighters had been killed.

The TTP has carried out more frequent attacks in recent months, mostly targeting members of the security forces.

An umbrella group of various Sunni Islamist militant groups, it has long been fighting in a bid to overthrow the government and replace it with a strict Islamic-led system of governance.

It is separate from the Afghan Taliban movement, but pledges loyalty to the Islamist group that now rules Afghanistan after the withdrawal of U.S.-led international forces in 2021.

SOURCE: REUTERS AND AGENCIES



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

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