TV News LIES

Officials in Cuba reported an island-wide blackout Monday in the country of some 11 million people as its energy and economic crises deepen and its power grid continues to crumble.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines on X noted a "complete disconnection" of the country's electrical system and said it was investigating, noting there were no failures in the units that were operating when the grid collapsed.

It was the third major blackout in Cuba over the past four months.

Tomás David Velázquez Felipe, a 61-year-old resident of Havana, said the relentless outages make him think that Cubans who can should just pack up and leave the island. "What little we have to eat spoils," he said. "Our people are too old to keep suffering."

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Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in central London on Sunday for the annual Al-Quds Day rally, after British authorities blocked the traditional march through the capital.

The event, held each year in support of Palestine, was heavily restricted following a government decision to ban the procession. Instead of marching through the streets as in previous years, participants were permitted only to hold a stationary rally.

The restrictions intimidated many supporters from attending.

Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan acknowledged that turnout was lower than expected, saying “fewer people attend than we had anticipated”, adding that the conditions imposed by police meant some participants “chose” to stay away.

The restrictions intimidated many supporters from attending.

Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan acknowledged that turnout was lower than expected, saying “fewer people attend than we had anticipated”, adding that the conditions imposed by police meant some participants “chose” to stay away.

The Al-Quds Day protest, organised in the United Kingdom by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), is typically held toward the end of Ramadan and calls attention to Palestinian rights and Israel’s decades-long occupation.

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Israel informed the US this week that it is running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors as the conflict with Iran rages on, US officials told Semafor.

Israel had reportedly entered the current war already low on interceptors that were fired during last summer’s conflict with Iran. Israel’s long-range defense system has strained under Iran’s attacks; CNN reported that Iran was adding cluster munitions to its missiles, which may exacerbate the depletion of the stock.

The US has been aware of Israel’s low capacity for months, one US official said: “It’s something we expected and anticipated.”

This official emphasized to Semafor that the US is not running similarly low on interceptors of its own. That comment comes amid broader concerns about interceptor depletion from a longer military engagement in Iran leaving the US in a poor position.

It’s also unclear whether the US might seek to sell or share any of its own interceptors with Israel, which would pose its own strain on domestic supplies. The US has included missile defense assets in past provisions of military aid to Israel.

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Russian military losses have exceeded the number of new recruits joining the Russian army for three consecutive months, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky said on Friday, March 13.

Syrsky made the statement after meeting with his Swedish counterpart, General Mikael Claesson, who visited Ukraine to discuss military cooperation and support.

“The Kremlin has no intention of stopping offensive actions, although it is suffering significant losses on the battlefield, which for three months in a row have exceeded the number of reinforcements joining the Russian army,” Syrsky said in a post on Facebook.

The exact number of either Russian and Ukrainian casualties is unknown. However, a joint investigation by the BBC Russian Service and research group Mediazona put the number of verified Russian losses in Ukraine at 200,186 on Feb. 25.

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Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank are taking advantage of curbs on movement imposed during the war on Iran to attack Palestinians, with military roadblocks preventing ambulances reaching victims quickly, rights groups and medics say.

Settlers have killed at least five Palestinians in the West Bank since the United States and Israel began airstrikes against Iran on February 28, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

A sixth man died after inhaling tear gas fired during an attack, according to Israeli rights group B’Tselem.

Israel’s military blocked many West Bank roads with iron gates and mounds of earth on the first day of the war and has largely shut crossings with Israel.

The Israeli military says the curbs are preemptive measures while it is carrying out airstrikes on Iran and against Lebanese group Hezbollah, which has fired missiles at Israel in solidarity with Tehran.

Palestinians in remote West Bank villages say the roadblocks have left them increasingly exposed to settler violence.

The Israeli military has also continued to carry out the raids it frequently conducts in Palestinian cities and towns during peacetime to arrest Palestinians, often without charge, they say.

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Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, issued his first public message Thursday since assuming power after the death of his father, Ali Khamenei. The statement was delivered as a written text read by a presenter on state television. That unusual format immediately fueled questions about both his health and the degree of his control over the country at a moment of acute regional crisis.

Unlike his father, Ali Khamenei, who rose to the supreme leadership after serving as Iran’s president, Mojtaba Khamenei has remained almost entirely out of public view. This was not only his first message as supreme leader, but effectively his first known public political address.

That contrast matters because Ali Khamenei entered the office with years of visible national political experience behind him. Mojtaba Khamenei, by comparison, has never given interviews and has never spoken publicly, making Thursday’s statement his first known public address.

The tone of Mojtaba Khamenei’s first message appeared aimed at establishing continuity. Much of it presented the current crisis as an extension of the struggle led by his father, suggesting that although Ali Khamenei is dead, his political and ideological struggle continues.

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