Cuba hit by second nationwide blackout in a week

Cuba plunged into darkness for the second time in less than a week on Saturday after the country was strained by aging infrastructure and a US oil blockade. In Havana city, some restaurants were able to stay open because of the generators, but the regular blackouts have made life more difficult for Cubans.

Cuban Electric Union said that the total disconnection of the national electricity system was due to an outage in a power unit at one of the country's thermoelectric plants. It said it was activating micro-grids to provide power to critical facilities, including hospitals and water treatment plants.