A Russian oil tanker nearing Cuba has opened a narrow lifeline for the island as US President Donald Trump insisted the shipment would do little to change the trajectory of Havana's communist government. Even as the expected delivery promised some badly needed relief, Mr Trump sharpened his warnings toward Cuba's leadership, saying the government would collapse "within a short period of time." The Anatoly Kolodkin, carrying 730,000 barrels of crude, was positioned off Cuba's northeastern coast yesterday evening and was due…

After days of uncertainty at sea, two sailboats carrying humanitarian aid to Cuba arrived in Havana yesterday, ending an overdue voyage from Mexico that had prompted a search-and-rescue operation. The nine crew members — among them American, French and German citizens, as well as a four-year-old boy — appeared healthy and upbeat as they docked in the capital beneath clear skies, smiling and flashing thumbs-up signs. The vessels delivered the last shipments of the Our America Convoy, an international aid campaign aimed at…

Mexican naval forces have launched a search-and-rescue mission in the Caribbean after two sailboats carrying humanitarian supplies to Cuba failed to reach Havana as planned. The navy said the vessels departed from Isla Mujeres, in the state of Quintana Roo, last week en route to Havana with nine crew members of various nationalities aboard. Officials had expected the boats to arrive between 24 and 25 March, but the navy reported there has been no contact with the crews and no confirmation that the ships reached their…

Authorities in Cuba scrambled to restore electricity across the island on Monday after the country suffered a second nationwide blackout in under a week, a failure officials blame on aging infrastructure and a US oil blockade that has tightened fuel supplies. While sections of Havana reported the return of power, other neighborhoods remained without electricity a day after the energy ministry said the nation’s electrical system experienced a "total disconnection" in the country of nearly 10 million residents. Energy and…

A nationwide power cut plunged all of Cuba into darkness, the island's energy ministry said, marking the second countrywide blackout in under a week as the electrical grid buckles amid an effective US oil blockade. Lights went out across Havana before nightfall, officials said, coming just five days after an earlier outage that also left large parts of the country without electricity. The energy ministry said on X that the national system experienced a "total disconnection" and teams were already at work to restore service.…

Kneecap, the Irish-language rap trio from Belfast, said they joined an international aid convoy to Cuba because they could not stand by while the island — which they described as being "strangled" by a US fuel blockade — suffered acute shortages. The group travelled with a wider contingent of public figures and humanitarian organisations bringing medicine, drinking water, food, solar panels and other relief supplies to the Caribbean nation this week by air and sea. Speaking at a Havana press conference flanked by former UK…

Cuba works to restore power after nationwide blackout Cuba began restoring electricity after a nationwide blackout, with officials saying about two-thirds of the island had power by morning as authorities investigated the cause and reported no immediate damage from a separate offshore quake. Cuba was working to bring electricity back online following a countrywide outage, the government said, without specifying the cause. As of this morning, about two-thirds of the country had power again, according to the government. There…

CUBA CHARGES SIX WITH TERRORISM AFTER COAST GUARD SHOOTOUT NEAR HAVANA Cuban prosecutors have filed terrorism charges against six crew members of a U.S.-flagged speedboat intercepted by the island’s coast guard after a deadly shootout on Feb. 25 near the country’s northern shoreline, authorities said. The attorney general’s office said the defendants — described as U.S.-based Cuban nationals — are accused of loading the vessel with weapons and heading toward Cuba with the alleged aim of destabilizing the government in…

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday raised the prospect of a “friendly takeover” of Cuba, saying Secretary of State Marco Rubio is handling contacts with Havana “at a very high level,” as tensions spike and reports surface of back-channel talks with a member of the Castro family. “The Cuban government is talking with us, and they’re in a big deal of trouble,” Trump told reporters as he departed the White House for a trip to Texas. “They have no money. They have no anything right now, but they’re talking with us,…

Ireland urges citizens to avoid nonessential travel to Cuba as fuel shortages, rolling blackouts and shrinking access to food and medical care deepen one of the island’s worst humanitarian crises in decades. In updated guidance issued in recent days, Ireland joined the United Kingdom and Canada in advising against travel to the Caribbean nation “unless absolutely necessary.” The Department of Foreign Affairs said Cuba is now under its second-highest advisory level, warning that travel is likely to present “a clear and…