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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Russia’s Medvedev dismisses Trump’s ‘theatrical ultimatum’ on sanctions

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Russia does not care about U.S. President Donald Trump’s “theatrical ultimatum” about slapping sanctions on buyers of Russian exports unless Moscow agrees to a peace deal in Ukraine, a senior security official said on Tuesday.

Trump, sitting beside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office, on Monday, announced new weapons for Ukraine and threatened secondary tariffs of 100% on the buyers of Russian exports, of which crude makes up a major chunk.

The U.S. president also expressed frustration with Vladimir Putin, saying he did not want to call the Russian leader “an assassin, but he’s a tough guy”.

“Trump issued a theatrical ultimatum to the Kremlin,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said in a post in English on X. “The world shuddered, expecting the consequences. Belligerent Europe was disappointed. Russia didn’t care.”

The Kremlin has so far not commented on Trump’s remarks but said on Monday it was clear that the United States had continued to supply weapons and ammunition to Ukraine.

In Washington, a White House official said Trump’s intention is to impose “100% tariffs on Russia” and secondary sanctions on other countries that buy oil from Russia if a peace deal is not struck in 50 days.

Eighty-five of the 100 U.S. senators are co-sponsoring a bill that would give Trump the authority to impose 500% tariffs on any country that helps Russia, but the chamber’s Republican leaders have been waiting for Trump to give them the go-ahead for a vote.

China and India are the biggest buyers of Russian crude. Trump told the BBC that he was “not done” with Putin and that he thought a Ukraine peace deal was on the cards.

SOURCE: AGENCIES AND REUTERS



from The Times Of Earth https://ift.tt/FT7o8gX

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