WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has stopped another merchant vessel trying to break through the American blockade of Iranian ports, a U.S. official with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Saturday. The Gambia-flagged bulk carrier Lian Star ignored multiple warnings from U.S. forces overnight as it tried to enter an Iranian port, … Read more
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau is scheduled to meet with officials in the Dominican Republic on Saturday as part of an official two-day trip that included a stop in neighboring Haiti. The talks are focused on mutual economic commercial interests and regional priorities including security, according to a … Read more
HAVANA — Nearly 3 million Cubans experience water shortages every day because of a severe oil shortage that government officials blame on a U.S. energy blockade, authorities said late Wednesday during a roundtable discussion regarding the impact of the ongoing blockade. The island’s water system is operating with only 37% of the required fuel as … Read more
HAVANA — A ship laden with humanitarian aid from the governments of Mexico and Uruguay arrived Monday in Havana to help ease Cuba’s spiraling crises. The ship, which departed from a Mexican port, includes personal hygiene items and 1,700 tons of grains, powdered milk and other food items, according to a statement published by Cuban … Read more
LA PAZ, Bolivia — Clashes erupted Thursday in Bolivia’s capital as police used tear gas to disperse a crowd of miners trying to breach the government palace and setting off small dynamite charges, a tactic that has become increasingly common during this second week of nationwide unrest. It was the latest incident in growing social … Read more
HAVANA — HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s national energy grid suffered a major failure early Thursday that severed power to the island’s eastern provinces, authorities said, as residents in the capital Havana faced ongoing blackouts. Cuba’s aging power grid has eroded in recent years as it faces a prolonged economic crisis, recently made worse by a … Read more
BAMAKO, Mali — Double attacks by an armed group have left several people in two villages dead in central Mali, authorities said in a statement Thursday. The attacks, which have been claimed by Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), followed last month’s heavy assaults on the government by the group and a Tuareg separatist group, the … Read more
Militants ambushed a convoy of trucks heading to Mali’s blockaded capital of Bamako Wednesday, a transportation workers union said, the latest in a crisis that began with sweeping, coordinated attacks by separatist and jihadi forces across the West African nation last month. The attackers opened fire at the convoy of trucks from Morocco carrying fruit, … Read more
ATHENS, Greece — Activists sailing on dozens of boats attempting to break Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid say Israeli forces intercepted them overnight Wednesday into Thursday, detaining the crews while the flotilla was sailing hundreds of miles (kilometers) from Gaza near the southern Greek island of Crete. The Global … Read more
CAIRO — Iran doubled down on its pledge to restrict ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz as long as the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remains in place, as mediators scrambled to secure further talks before the ceasefire expires this week. Iranian parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf said in a televised interview that Tehran … Read more