Cuba's national grid completely collapses, nearly 10 million in darkness

Cuba’s national power grid collapsed on Monday, triggering a nationwide blackout that left around 10 million people without electricity and deepened the island’s ongoing energy crisis.State grid operator UNE said the outage occurred around midday and that authorities were investigating the cause of the collapse.The nationwide blackout comes after months of prolonged electricity shortages across Cuba, where ageing power infrastructure and fuel shortages have led to frequent outages lasting several hours; and in some cases, days.Energy supply on the island has also been strained by restrictions on fuel imports, with the Cuban government blaming US sanctions for limiting access to oil needed to operate power plants.The latest collapse has compounded hardships for residents already coping with rolling blackouts that have disrupted daily life, businesses and essential services, particularly during the peak of the Caribbean summer.Cuba has grappled with worsening electricity shortages amid a prolonged economic crisis, but the situation has deteriorated further in recent months as the government faces mounting financial and energy challenges.According to officials, nearly two-thirds of the country was already without electricity before the national grid failed completely on Monday, underscoring the severity of the power crisis.