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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Mogadishu suicide bomber kills at least 10 at army recruitment drive

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At least 10 people were killed on Sunday after a suicide bomber targeted a queue of young recruits registering at the Damanyo military base in the Somali capital Mogadishu, witnesses told Reuters, in an attack claimed by militant group al Shabaab.

Teenagers were lining up at the base’s gate when the attacker detonated their explosives, they said.

A military captain who gave his name as Suleiman described the attack as he had seen it unfold.

“I was on the other side of the road. A speeding tuk-tuk stopped, a man alighted, ran into the queue, and then blew himself up. I saw 10 people dead, including recruits and passers-by. The death toll may rise,” he said.

Dozens of abandoned shoes and the remains of the suicide bomber were visible at the scene.

Another witness, Abdisalan Mohamed, said he had seen “hundreds of teenagers at the gate as we passed by in a bus”.

“Abruptly, a deafening blast occurred, and the area was covered by dense smoke. We could not see the details of casualties,” he said.

Medical staff at the military hospital told Reuters they had received 30 injured people from the blast and that six of them had died immediately.

Government forces quickly cordoned off the entire area.

In a statement on Sunday Islamist militant group al Shabaab said it was behind the attack and that it had killed as many as 30 soldiers and wounded 50 more. Government officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab has waged an insurgency in Somalia since 2007, and has recently been battling the army to extend gains in central Somalia.

The attack echoed a similar incident in 2023 when a suicide bomber killed 25 soldiers at the Jale Siyad base, located opposite the Damanyo facility.

Sunday’s attack followed the assassination on Saturday of Colonel Abdirahmaan Hujaale, commander of battalion 26, in the Hiiran region, after local reports of al Shabaab militant infiltration into government and security forces.

SOURCE: REUTERS AND AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/tW51LsN

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