“Cuban officials said they expect to restart a large thermoelectric plant on Saturday after it shut down earlier in the week, sparking a massive blackout. Felix Estrada Rodríguez, a top engineer at Cuba’s Electric Union, told state-owned Canal Caribe that the Antonio Guiteras plant should be operating by Saturday afternoon. Crews have repaired a broken boiler at the plant that caused the outage on Wednesday, leaving millions without power in the island’s western region. … Cuba’s Electric Union said in a statement Saturday that only 1,000 megawatts of power were available, less than half of the island’s current demand. It did not say how many customers remained without power. The blackout, the second such outage to affect western Cuba in three months, was blamed on a crumbling electric grid and a lack of fuel.” (03/07/26)
“A counterprotester demonstrating against a ‘Stop the Islamic Takeover of New York City’ event Saturday lit and threw a device containing nuts, bolts and screws at the protesting crowd after someone from that group used pepper spray on the counterprotest, police said. Police are investigating the incident that started late Saturday morning when someone from the anti-Islam protest associated with conservative influencer Jake Lang shot pepper spray into a counterprotesting group near the mayoral residence Gracie Mansion, Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. Tensions continued to heighten, she said, when someone in the counterprotest lit and threw a device she described as smaller than a football into the protesting crowd of about 20 people. The device struck a barrier and extinguished itself ‘a few feet from police officers’. The same person then ran, and another person gave a him a second device, which he then dropped. … All three people have been arrested, and an investigation is underway, Tisch said.” (03/07/26)
“Kari Lake was illegally empowered to run the U.S. Agency for Global Media — the federal agency that oversees Voice of America — and her actions in that role were illegitimate, a federal judge ruled Saturday. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth concluded that Lake was ineligible to serve as USAGM’s acting CEO when she was formally elevated to the position on July 31 in an ‘acting capacity’ and without Senate confirmation. She relinquished that position on Nov. 19. Lamberth said any actions Lake took in that four-month timeframe must be treated as ‘void,’ including an Aug. 29 reduction in USAGM’s workforce.” (03/07/26)
“Democrat Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs is facing fierce backlash after vetoing a bill that would have created a specialty license plate honoring slain Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, a move Republicans are blasting as a stunning act of partisanship after his assassination. Kirk, who was assassinated while speaking at a Sept. 10 Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University, lived in Arizona with his wife, Erika, and two children. The proposed specialty plate, referred to as the ‘Charlie Kirk memorial’ plate or the ‘Conservative grassroots network special plate,’ featured a photo of the late Kirk and the TPUSA logo in front of an American flag background.” (03/07/26)
“Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said neighbouring countries will no longer be targeted unless an attack originates from there, as the war launched by the United States and Israel, which triggered sustained retaliation from Tehran across the Gulf and beyond, enters its second week. … Pezeshkian said the Iranian interim leadership council approved the motion to stop attacks on neighbouring nations. In remarks carried by Iranian media, the president also apologised to neighbouring countries for the strikes that took place in recent days.” (03/07/26)
“The Pentagon and the Federal Aviation Administration agreed to conduct anti-drone laser tests in New Mexico after the military’s deployment of the lasers led the FAA to suddenly close airspace in Texas twice in the last month. The newly announced testing was being carried out to ‘specifically address FAA safety concerns’, the military said Friday in a statement. It was to take place Saturday and Sunday at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. Lawmakers were concerned about an apparent lack of coordination after the Pentagon allowed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to use an anti-drone laser in early February without notifying the FAA. The federal agency that ensures safety in the skies decided to close the airspace over El Paso for a few hours, stranding many travelers. The Trump administration said it was working to halt an incursion by Mexican cartel drones, which are not uncommon along the southern border.” (03/07/26)
“A man from Colorado unlawfully entered an occupied home in Provo Thursday evening before being confronted and shot by a resident inside the home. According to the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, an adult male unlawfully entered a home in Provo Canyon that was occupied. Upon arrival, a resident verbally confronted the man. Despite being told to leave, he continued into the home and began damaging property. Because of the disturbance, a second resident locked themselves in a bedroom. The first resident then armed themselves with a handgun and again verbally confronted the man. The suspect attacked the resident, who then fired multiple shots at him. After being hit, the man left the home. As he was leaving, he stole a truck from outside and fled. Deputies en route to the scene observed the suspect and stopped him, taking him into custody.” (03/06/26)
“The Israeli military said it pounded Hezbollah targets in the densely populated southern suburbs of Beirut early Friday while also pummeling Tehran, after the U.S. military said its campaign was sharply degrading Iran’s ability to retaliate. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps also launched a wave of drones and missiles at targets in Tel Aviv on Friday, according to a statement from the force reported by IRNA, the country’s state news agency. Air-raid sirens went off in the city, and the Israeli military said that it had detected missile launches from Iran.” (03/06/26)
“Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is leaving the department and he will nominate Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) as her replacement, President Trump said Thursday. … Trump said Noem will be ‘moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida.’ He also said Mullin will start on March 31, calling him a ‘A MAGA Warrior’ who ‘truly gets along well with people, and knows the Wisdom and Courage required to Advance our America First Agenda.’ … Noem drew bipartisan fury after accusing Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti and mother Renee Nicole Good of being domestic terrorists after both were [murdered] by federal agents in January. … Half of Americans supported abolishing ICE in an early March YouGov poll, a sign of how much support has eroded for one of Trump’s signature political strengths on Noem’s watch.” (03/05/26)
“A power outage has struck most of Cuba, including the capital Havana, the state electric utility said, as the administration of United States President Donald Trump continues its attempts to cripple the Caribbean nation by curtailing vital oil shipments. News of the widespread power outage on Wednesday emerged as the country’s diplomatic relations with Latin American neighbour Ecuador plummeted after the expulsion of Havana’s top envoy and diplomatic staff from the Ecuadorian capital Quito was announced. Cuban state media outlet Cubadebate said the blackout was caused by a fault at the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant, located about 100km (62 miles) east of Havana, which cut electricity from Pinar del Rio in the far west of the country to the eastern Las Tunas province.” (03/05/26)
