With daily power failures, tensions in Cuba, even in areas sympathetic to Fidel Castro's 1959 communist Revolution, have begun to simmer. Reuters interviewed more than two dozen residents and local officials in the Santiago de Cuba neighborhoods who have shared their frustration with food shortages and electricity outages that sometimes top 10 hours daily.

Santiago de Cuba

In Cuba's Santiago de Cuba, daily power failures have sparked tensions among residents. Even areas historically sympathetic to Fidel Castro's 1959 communist Revolution are experiencing growing unrest. According to Reuters, interviews with over two dozen residents and local officials in Santiago de Cuba have revealed significant frustration. This frustration stems from not only electricity outages, which can sometimes exceed 10 hours a day, but also from food shortages affecting the region.



Blackouts brew unrest in Cuba's Santiago

A crowd swarms a state-run market in Cuba's Santiago de Cuba, jostling for a chance at a once-monthly ration of government-subsidised chicken. But panic ensues as rumours of scarcity spread. And that's when the lights go out again. This is life here, this father of two explains. You live with no plan, basically. A dozen residents in Santiago neighbourhoods told Reuters of their frustration at food shortages and electricity outages that sometimes top 10 hours a day. A long-standing US trade embargo and related sanctions, as well as an inefficient state-run economy have led to shortages of food, fuel and medicine, while Cuba's obsolete power plants cannot meet demand. The Caribbean outpost of Santiago is the former home of Fidel Castro and an area sympathetic to the 1959 communist revolution. But street vendors like Yoni Alberto Mena are becoming angry. Imagine at two in the morning a blackout. These children start sweating and itching and it's when they feel hungry. It's annoying. They go to school in the morning not wanting to. They can't learn what is taught at school properly. This is primitive. Tensions even led to a rare public protest earlier this month, with several hundred gathering in a local park chanting power and food, according to first-hand accounts. Social media videos showed a smaller group shouting freedom, as local Communist Party leader Beatrice Johnson prepared to speak with the crowd from a rooftop. The protests have been called largely peaceful and in the weeks following, the power supply has become more regular and food rations are being distributed by the government, according to residents. President Miguel Diaz-Canel visited the area on Thursday and blamed the US and capitalist media for stoking protests, saying he is willing to speak with upset citizens. Reuters requested an interview with Communist Party officials to discuss the earlier demonstrations, but received no response.

King Charles will return to his public duties next week for the first time since his February cancer diagnosis, visiting a cancer treatment centre. There fears his Australian trip will be delayed, while he continues treatment for his own cancer battle.

Windsor

King Charles resuming public duties but Australian trip in limbo

Demonstrations have taken place across the country after a spate of domestic violence deaths, including Molly Ticehurst. Protestors held signs saying ‘no more’ calling for immediate action against male-inflicted violence.

Council of the City of Sydney

Thousands rally across Australia against domestic violence

The Russian and Turkish flags were lowered to mark the closure of a center set up to monitor a ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, as Russian peacekeepers ended a multi-year deployment in the strategic South Caucasus region.

Baku

Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire center closes as Russia withdraws

Britain's King Charles will return to public duties next week for the first time since being diagnosed with cancer as he makes good progress following treatment and a period of recuperation, Buckingham Palace said.

London

King Charles to resume public duties after cancer diagnosis

Students blocked access to Paris' prestigious Sciences Po university over the war in Gaza on Friday (April 26), demanding the institution condemn Israel's actions, in a protest that echoed similar demonstrations on U.S. campuses.

Paris

Israel-Gaza War

Pro-Palestinian protesters still occupying Sciences Po campus

The number of people killed in floods in Kenya due to heavier than usual rainfall since the start of the monsoon in March has risen to 70, a government spokesperson said Friday. Kenya and other countries in East Africa, a region highly vulnerable to climate change, have been pounded by heavier than usual rainfall in recent weeks, compounded by the El Nino weather pattern.

Nairobi

Climate Crisis

Kenya flood death toll since March climbs to 70

An Australian journalist has been named as a key figure in Donald Trump's criminal trial. Dylan Howard, the former editor of the National Enquirer in the U.S. accused of buying and burying negative stories as part of a deal to help him become President.

New York

U.S. Presidential Election

The Australian journalist caught up in Trump trial

A surging domestic economy and rising inflation will see the Reserve Bank change its mind and increase interest rates as many as three times this year, analysts have warned.

Reserve Bank set to raise interest rates, expert predicts

The Prime Minister has labelled the security guard murdered during the Bondi stabbing attack a 'national hero' during his funeral today. Mourners gathering at the Baitul Huda Mosque in Marsden Park, Sydney to honour Faraz Tahir.

Marsden Park

Mourners farewell Bondi security guard Faraz Tahir

After a crucial hearing, U.S. Supreme Court justices are weighing arguments for and against Donald Trump's claims of presidential immunity from 2020 election interference charges, but a ruling will take time.

Washington

U.S. Supreme Court weighs arguments on Trump immunity case

Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction has been overturned after New York’s highest court ruled the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against him that were not part of the case.

Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction overturned

Palestinians have begun evacuating Rafah as Israel steps up airstrikes. Israel plans to go forward with a ground operation in the southern Gaza city despite warnings from allies that it could cause mass casualties.

Jerusalem

Israel steps up airstrikes on Rafah ahead of ground operation

After weeks of delays, Haiti is due to swear in a presidential transition council. Gang violence has devastated the economy and social services are on the brink of collapse. Gang leaders say talks over Haiti's political future must include them.

Port-au-Prince

Haiti interim transition council to be sworn in

Israeli forces are carrying out "offensive action" across southern Lebanon, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said without specifying whether ground troops had crossed the border. He also claimed that "half of Hezbollah's commanders in southern Lebanon have been eliminated" in months of violence.

Beirut

Israel says forces carrying out 'offensive action' in south Lebanon

In a deal facilitated by Qatar, Russia and Ukraine will exchange nearly 50 displaced children due to Moscow's invasion, announced Maria Lvova-Belova, the Kremlin's children's rights commissioner, in Doha.

Doha

Ukraine Invasion

Russia and Ukraine to exchange dozens of displaced children

Rudy Giuliani, a former lawyer for Donald Trump, is among 18 people charged in Arizona with illegally seeking to claim the state's 2020 electoral votes for the then-U.S. president.

Phoenix

Giuliani indicted in election vote-rigging case

Dozens of whales have died after 160 became beached during a mass stranding event in WA's south-west. Community members turned out this morning to the mouth of Toby Inlet at Geographe Bay near Dunsborough, where dozens of pilot whales were stuck in shallow water.

Geographe

Mass whale stranding in southwest WA

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has completed a two-day trek of the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea, alongside PNG Prime Minister James Marape in commemoration of ANZAC Day

Kokoda

Australian Prime Minister's Kokoda pilgrimage

Five teenagers have appeared in court, after being arrested in connection with the stabbing of the Bishop in the Wakely church stabbing. Counter-terrorism police are continuing searches in south-west Sydney and Goulburn.

Wakeley

Teenagers face court over terrorism offences

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to sign a law that sets a January 2025 deadline for Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell its U.S. operation. Lawmakers behind the ban have warned of national security risks from the popular social video app.

Biden to sign law that could ban TikTok in U.S.

Morning rush hour in central London turned chaotic Wednesday as five escaped military horses galloped at full speed through busy city streets, injuring at least four people. All five horses were rounded up and given veterinary care.

Runaway horses cause peak-hour chaos in London

The United Nations is calling for an inquiry after bodies were found beneath Gaza's Nasser Hospital, in the city of Khan Younis. The hospital was recently abandoned by Israeli troops who said they’d finished searching it for Hamas fighters.

Sderot

U.N. calls for inquiry after unmarked graves found in Gaza

People living in Athens have seen the sky turn orange. It was caused by clouds of dust from the Sahara desert, which blew in from Northern Africa blanketing much of Greece.

Athens

'Apocalyptic' orange haze descends on Athens

Thousands have lined the streets of Sydney's CBD to honour veterans and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the annual Anzac Day march.

Thousands of veterans take part in ANZAC Day marches

President Joe Biden has signed a bill into law that provides billions of dollars of new U.S. aid to Ukraine for its war with Russia. The legislation also includes $26 billion for Israel, as well as $1 billion in humanitarian assistance to Gaza. Biden also signed a separate bill tied to the aid package that bans TikTok in the U.S. if its owner fails to divest the video app.

Biden signs Ukraine, Israel aid, TikTok ban package

A North Korean delegation led by a cabinet minister for international trade is visiting Iran, according to state media. The rare public visit signals increased cooperation between the two countries, which are believed to have secret military ties.

Pyongyang

North Korea delegation visits Iran in rare public trip

The German government plans to resume cooperation with the United Nations agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) in Gaza. The announcement comes after a new report concluded that Israel had not provided enough evidence to back up its claims that hundreds of UNRWA staff are military operatives in so-called terrorist groups in Gaza.

Berlin

Germany to resume funding UNRWA Palestinian agency

The United States Justice Department has agreed to pay almost $139 million to victims of sex abuser Larry Nassar, for its bungled investigation into the former USA Gymnastics team doctor. For nearly two decades, Nassar subjected hundreds of people to abuse under the guise of performing medical treatment.

Justice Dept. to pay $139 million to USA Gymnastics abuse victims

The United Nations called for “a clear, transparent and credible investigation” of mass graves uncovered at two major hospitals in war-torn Gaza that were raided by Israeli troops. Credible investigators must have access to the sites, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

U.N. calls for investigation into Gaza mass graves

A bishop whose stabbing was live streamed while delivering a church service wants his video to remain online, supporting X founder Elon Musk's stance. The technology company is currently in a legal fight with Australia’s e-Safety commissioner over the graphic video.