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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Heavy rains in South Korea leave 14 dead and 12 others missing

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At least two people were killed during heavy downpours in South Korea Sunday, the interior ministry said, bringing the death toll to 14 from torrential rains this week.

The toll could rise, with 12 people still unaccounted for after five days of heavy rain.

Close to 170 millimetres (6.7 inches) of rain hit Gapyeong county in Gyeonggi province — 70 kilometres (40 miles) east of Seoul — early Sunday, leaving at least two dead and four missing.

A woman in her 70s was killed when her house collapsed in a landslide while body of a man in his 40s was found near a bridge after he drowned, Yonhap news agency reported.

The total number of deaths from the five-day deluge now stands at at least 14, according to official data.

Most of the deaths occurred in the southern county of Sancheong, which has seen nearly 800 millimetres of rain since Wednesday.

Two bodies were found there early Sunday during search and rescue operations, raising the number of deaths in the rural county of 33,000 to eight, with six still missing.

South Korea typically experiences monsoon rains in July and is usually well-prepared. But this week, the country’s southern regions were hit by especially intense downpours, with some of the heaviest hourly rainfall on record, official weather data showed.

Scientists say climate change has made extreme weather events more frequent and intense around the world. In 2022, South Korea endured record-breaking rains and flooding, which killed at least 11 people.

SOURCE: AFP AND AGENCIES



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/eF6ZKCg

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