A combination of maritime fuel blockades, power grid collapses, and legal indictments deepens economic hardship across the island nation.

Since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second administration, the United States’ relentless hostility toward Cuba has been on the rise. This friction has centered on unilateral sanctions, trade restrictions, and direct legal actions against former Cuban government leaders.

RELATED:
Russia Condemns U.S. Arrest Warrant for Raul Castro

2026 brought to Cuba a series of severe economic challenges, particularly regarding its energy sector. U.S. executive orders and maritime monitoring actions aimed at restricting oil shipments to state-owned Cuban entities contributed directly to fuel shortages across the island. These restrictions affected power generation, agricultural transport, municipal services, and health sector logistics.

In May, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a federal jury indictment in Miami charging former Cuban President Raúl Castro and five co-defendants with conspiracy and murder related to a 1996 aerial shootdown.

Cuba Fuel Restrictions and the Energy Infrastructure Crisis

On January 29, Trump issued an executive order stating that the U.S. would impose tariffs on any country that sent oil to Cuba. The U.S. government authorized certain fuel shipments exclusively to private commercial entities, while blocking access to state-managed refineries and power facilities.

This policy created severe fuel deficits for public utilities responsible for national electricity generation. A deficit that led to recurring shutdowns across the National Electrical System. On March 16, 2026, the national grid suffered a complete collapse after a major boiler leak occurred at the Antonio Guiteras Thermoelectric Power Plant in Matanzas. By October 2026, another mechanical breakdown left up to 75 percent of the country without power.

The energy deficits extended beyond residential electricity. In February 2026, fuel shortages forced Cuban aviation authorities to suspend refuel operations for foreign air carriers. Consequently, airlines such as Air Canada, Rossiya, and Nordwind suspended flights to the island. International tourist arrivals dropped by approximately 58 percent by June 2026 compared to prior operational benchmarks.

Public sanitation and healthcare systems reported operational disruptions due to the fuel deficit. In Havana, local authorities reported that only 44 of 106 municipal collection trucks were operational in early 2026 due to empty fuel tanks.

In June 2026, United Nations human rights monitors showed a 60 percent decline in agricultural production caused by fuel shortages for farming equipment and transport vehicles.

🇨🇺 96,000 Cubans are waiting for surgery as a result of lack of fuel and lack of energy. Among them, 11,000 children.

The U.S. is denying oil to Cuba through a fuel blockade, despite that it’s perfectly legal for any country to export fuel to Cuba. @CarlosFdeCossio pic.twitter.com/DnHW2TONJ5

— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) March 22, 2026

Hybrid Operations and International Diplomatic Positions

Throughout 2026, the U.S. diplomatic campaign was accompanied by increased military surveillance, intelligence monitoring, and diplomatic warnings. Reports documented an increase in U.S. military reconnaissance flights operating over international airspace near the Cuban coastline.

Cuban defense officials countered that the frequency of these flights constituted deliberate psychological pressure and surveillance of national infrastructure.

In parallel with maritime and aerial activities, U.S. diplomats engaged with governments in Latin America and Europe to restrict economic partnerships with Havana.

The U.S. State Department urged partner nations to terminate bilateral agreements involving Cuban medical professionals. Several governments, including Guatemala, Honduras, and several Caribbean nations, subsequently reduced or phased out participation in Cuban medical exchange programs.

In August 2026, UN human rights rapporteurs released a joint statement concluding that unilateral fuel restrictions and financial blockades exacerbated severe shortages of basic goods, medicine, and food.

The Legal Prosecution of Raul Castro and the 1996 Case

On May 20, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed a federal indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida charging former Cuban President Raúl Castro and five co-defendants with conspiracy, destruction of aircraft, and four counts of murder.

The legal push escalated further on October 19, 2026, when Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced that the Office of Statewide Prosecution and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement secured a state arrest warrant for Castro, charging him with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Both prosecutions center on an incident that took place on February 24, 1996, when Cuban military MiG fighter jets intercepted and shot down two civilian Cessna 337 aircraft. The planes were operated by Brothers to the Rescue (Hermanos al Rescate), a Miami-based organization founded by José Basulto.

The group initially focused on search-and-rescue operations for Cuban migrants in the Florida Straits, but later expanded its activities to include dropping political leaflets directly over Havana.

The 1996 aerial interception resulted in the deaths of four crew members: Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña, and Pablo Morales. U.S. federal and state authorities asserted that the civilian planes were destroyed over international waters without legal justification.

Florida state prosecutors cited military chain-of-command statements from the period in which Castro, then Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, authorized commanders to shoot down unauthorized aircraft over the sea without prior consultation.

In response, the Cuban government stated that the civilian aircraft had repeatedly violated Cuban sovereign airspace despite official diplomatic warnings issued to the U.S. State Department prior to the incident.

Cuban authorities and foreign affairs analysts characterized the revival of thirty-year-old charges as a coordinated exercise of extraterritorial judicial power. Officials in Havana rejected the dual legal actions as politically motivated efforts to criminalize Cuba’s historical leadership and create legal grounds for continuing trade and financial sanctions.

U.S. state of Florida's Attorney General James Uthmeier on Monday issued an arrest warrant for Cuban Revolution leader Raul Castro on charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder linked to the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft. https://t.co/FyQMk8L6E6 pic.twitter.com/TDb95dNOk8

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) October 19, 2026

Domestic Mobilization and Sovereign Defense

The Cuban government and civic organizations responded to the rising external pressures through formal diplomatic rejections, official government statements, and public mobilizations.

Following the unsealing of the May 2026 U.S. indictment against former President Raúl Castro, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla rejected the legal action in an address to international media and diplomats.

Rodríguez Parrilla characterized the indictment as a politically motivated maneuver designed to justify economic sanctions and interfere with Cuban domestic jurisdiction. President Miguel Díaz-Canel reiterated this position, stating that national sovereignty and historical decisions regarding territorial air defense remain non-negotiable under international law.

In urban centers across Cuba, including Havana, Santiago de Cuba, and Matanzas, civil organizations and neighborhood committees organized rallies opposing external interference and economic restrictions.

At the same time, state ministries implemented emergency measures to manage reduced fuel supplies and maintain essential public services. Municipal governments established scheduled electricity rotations, prioritized available diesel fuel for medical facilities and water distribution pumps, and expanded the use of draft animals and non-motorized transport in agricultural regions.

On the international stage, Havana received diplomatic backing from several multilateral organizations and regional governments. The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA-TCP) issued a joint declaration condemning unilateral coercive measures against Cuba’s energy sector.

During the United Nations General Assembly in September 2026, representatives from non-aligned nations called for an immediate end to the trade embargo, citing its negative impact on civilian health, infrastructure, and human development.

🇧🇧 Prime Minister @miaamormottley of Barbados condemns the US embargo and fuel blockade of Cuba 🇨🇺 at #UNGA81 pic.twitter.com/SzIXGvGYfa

— Michael Galant (@michael_galant) September 24, 2026

Analysis of Coercive Strategies and Long-Term Impacts

The events of 2026 reflect an intensification of U.S. policy toward Cuba through a combination of trade restrictions, infrastructural pressure, and legal mechanisms targeting state leadership.

The strategic focus on restricting fuel imports significantly affected Cuba’s national power grid, agricultural logistics, and public transportation. Simultaneously, the unsealing of a thirty-year-old indictment against Raúl Castro added a significant legal dimension to bilateral relations.

Economic data, energy assessments, and reports from international monitors demonstrate that the primary burden of fuel deficits and infrastructure instability falls directly on the civilian population. The disruptions to medical supplies, food distribution, and municipal sanitation illustrate the direct impact of unilateral economic sanctions on daily life.

Despite persistent resource constraints and structural deficits, the Cuban government has maintained state operations and institutional control through domestic conservation strategies and international partnerships.

#Russia | Moscow condemned a US arrest warrant against Raul Castro over the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft, calling the charges politically motivated.
Russia warned that escalating pressure on Cuba could destabilize Latin America and the Caribbean.#RaulCastro #Cuba… pic.twitter.com/PhmRslPWFq

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) October 20, 2026

Sources:  Granma – Juventud Rebelde – Cuba Debate – Cubavisión – CiberCuba – EcuRed – TeleSUR – BBC – CNN – The Guardian – La Radio del Sur

Havana accuses Washington of using a disputed event at UN headquarters to divert attention from its decades-long economic blockade.

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Cuba has accused the United States of staging an unauthorized event at UN headquarters to discredit the island ahead of a General Assembly debate on ending Washington’s decades-long economic blockade.

RELATED: Cuban President Rejects U.S. Arrest Warrant Against Gen. Raul Castro

Cuba’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, condemned the gathering, organized by the U.S. Mission to the UN, as a clandestine meeting unrelated to the organization’s official agenda. He also criticized the UN Secretariat for failing to stop the event despite repeated warnings from the Cuban delegation.

According to Soberón Guzmán, the U.S. mission selectively invited a small group of member states to promote what he described as false claims about Cuba. He alleged that the panelists were funded by the U.S. State Department and had criminal records or links to organizations responsible for attacks against the Cuban people.

“This charade is an attempt to distract attention from a simple fact: the United States is acting as an international criminal, imposing collective punishment on the Cuban people. It is inflicting immense suffering on the entire population of a peaceful nation,” Soberón Guzmán said.

Declaraciones del Representante Permanente de Cuba🇨🇺 ante @UN 🇺🇳, @SoberonGuzman, denunciando el provocador y vergonzoso evento realizado por la misión de EEUU en ONU.#CubaNoEsUnaAmenaza, el bloqueo sí! pic.twitter.com/lmDcWv2SAT

— Cancillería de Cuba (@CubaMINREX) October 19, 2026

Text Reads: Statements by Cuba’s Permanent Representative to @UN, @SoberonGuzman, denouncing the provocative and shameful event held by the US mission at the UN. #CubaNoEsUnaAmenaza, the blockade is!

Debate on the blockade

The Cuban protest comes ahead of a formal debate at the UN General Assembly on a resolution calling for an end to the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba. The assembly is scheduled to consider the issue on October 27 and 28 in an open and inclusive debate, marking the 34th time the body has addressed the resolution.

Soberón Guzmán accused Washington of exploiting human rights concerns to undermine Cuba’s sovereignty and right to self-determination, weaken the Cuban people’s resolve and subvert the country’s constitutional order. He also argued that the U.S.-organized event was intended to divert attention from the consequences of Washington’s policy of maximum economic pressure on the island.

The ambassador expressed confidence that the resolution would again receive broad international support, insisting that Cuba posed no threat to other countries.

“The U.S. government knows very well that the vast majority of countries will once again support our demand, because Cuba is not the threat; the blockade is,” he said.

Soberón Guzmán rejected the prospect that U.S. pressure would force Cuba to abandon its position, saying that efforts to break the determination and unity of the Cuban people would fail.

“If anyone in the U.S. government thinks they will break the determination and unity of the Cuban people, they are wasting their time, their efforts and no small amount of resources. We will never bend the knee. We will not surrender,” he said.

Iran’s main oil-loading terminals have remained empty for weeks, adding to signs that a US naval blockade of the country is throttling Tehran’s exports.

Under a mechanism developed by Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry, Kyiv will compensate shipowners, operators, and charterers whose vessels fly under the Ukrainian or a foreign flag for up to 80% of the assessed damage if insurers don’t cover the risks.

When the Iran war closed the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year, about 20% of the world’s liquefied natural gas supply stopped flowing almost overnight. Roughly 90% of the LNG that moves through the strait goes to Asia, so the continent has absorbed the worst of it. Gulf producers have had few good responses. Saudi […]

The post Africa’s LNG boom giving Asia an alternative to Hormuz appeared first on Asia Times.

Demand shocks in Asia or supply disruptions in the Middle East directly affect American farmers. 

Iran has managed to export some liquefied petroleum gas and jet fuel since July, despite a US naval blockade, shipping intelligence showed and people involved in security said.

Over the past nine months, Cuba has received only one shipment of crude oil from Russia, totaling about 100,000 tonnes.

On Thursday, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said that renewable energy now accounts for more than one-fifth of the country’s electricity generation as it seeks to reduce the impact of U.S. fuel restrictions.

RELATED:

Cuba Accuses United States of Pressuring UN Votes on Blockade

In a post on X, Rodriguez said the Cuban government and Communist Party were responding to the U.S. energy blockade, which “aims to punish all Cubans,” with “greater sovereignty and measures” to ease the impact of U.S. sanctions.

Cuba now has 144 solar parks with a combined installed capacity of 1,418 megawatts, while renewable sources account for 21.4 percent of national electricity generation, he said.

The country also has 44 solar-powered electric vehicle charging stations and 64 public charging stations, he said, adding that all polyclinics, nursing homes, maternity homes and funeral homes have been equipped with renewable energy facilities.

🇨🇺 At the @UN, #Cuba condemned the U.S. blockade and energy siege as tools of economic coercion, hallmarks of a foreign policy that disregards multilateralism.

"We reaffirm our commitment to decolonization and the defense of our sovereignty and right to self-determination". pic.twitter.com/OA20PdV7Zl

— Southern Africa Eye (@eye_southern) October 16, 2026

In January, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions and tariffs on countries and entities supplying fuel to Cuba, a move Havana has condemned as an “energy blockade.”

Over the past nine months, Cuba has received only one shipment of crude oil from Russia, totaling about 100,000 tonnes, only enough to meet the country’s demand for two weeks.

Cuba is scheduled to submit a resolution to the United Nations General Assembly on Oct. 29 for the 34th time, calling for an end to the U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on the island for more than six decades.

According to Cuban government figures, the blockade has caused nearly 179 billion U.S. dollars in economic losses.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: Xinhua

Along with other medical supplies, dental materials have not been allowed into Gaza for the past three years, forcing patients to choose between unaffordable treatment, extraction, or painkillers.

Cuba’s foreign minister accused Washington on Wednesday of coercing several governments to change their votes on a United Nations resolution against the six-decade U.S. blockade, days before the General Assembly is set to consider the measure.

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The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, denounced this Wednesday that U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is exerting pressure on several countries to change their position in the vote on the resolution against the U.S. blockade of the island, scheduled for the end of this month at the United Nations General Assembly.

Cuban FM Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla pointed directly at Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In a post on X, the Cuban diplomat wrote that Rubio, “nervous and anxious in the face of another new defeat at the United Nations, is pressuring and blackmailing heads of State and government of several countries to change their vote against the blockade in the UN General Assembly.“

RELATED: Cuba President Diaz-Canel Denounces U.S. Blockade at World Food Forum

On October 29, the General Assembly will discuss and vote on a resolution calling for the lifting of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by Washington on Havana.

Cuban top diplomat framed the campaign as an attempt to erase accountability. He said Rubio, with his “repeated lies and new actions,” seeks to “silence the act of collective punishment he is committing against the Cuban people and make the rest of the international community complicit in this barbarity.”

The US Secretary of State is nervous and anxious in the face of a new defeat at the United Nations. He is putting pressure on and blackmailing Heads of State and Government from several countries so that they change their vote against the blockade at the UN General Assembly.… pic.twitter.com/t33OSSBI84

— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) October 14, 2026

The allegation arrives after months of tightening measures. The updated report Cuba presented to the UN in September places the economic damage between March 1, 2025 and February 28, 2026 at more than $8 billion, precisely $8,083,300,000, a 7 percent rise over the prior period.

That report covered only the first month of the U.S. oil blockade, ordered by an Executive Order signed on January 29. The restriction has obstructed fuel deliveries to the island throughout 2026, deepening an energy crisis and striking hard at production, transport, health services and water supply.

Six Decades of Damage

The accumulated toll runs far higher. More than sixty years of the blockade amount to over $178 billion at current prices, a figure of $178,700,500,000 that represents a 4.7 percent increase since the last report in 2025.

Once the oil blockade took effect, several vessels changed course to other ports as they approached Cuba, their original destination. More recently, Washington has intercepted and seized smaller fuel shipments bound for the island. Cuban authorities have denounced those operations as “piracy and pillage.”

The diplomatic record reflects broad opposition to the policy. In July, Cuba requested a special session at the UN to denounce the latest U.S. measures, winning 136 votes in favor, nine against and thirty abstentions.

In September, the UN Human Rights Council examined the report produced by special rapporteur Alena Douhan after her official visit to Cuba in November 2025. UN experts have separately condemned the siege against the island while Washington has imposed further sanctions.

FM Rodríguez Parrilla has argued that the report’s figures understate the current pressure, since the data closed in late February, just one month into the oil sanctions. The full cost of a year in which fuel shipments were diverted or seized has yet to be measured.

Cuba is expanding solar energy⚡️, installing new photovoltaic parks and investing in renewable power to strengthen its energy independence.

Despite the challenges of the U.S. blockade, Cuba🇨🇺keeps working toward a more sustainable, resilient energy future.#CubaIsNotAThreat pic.twitter.com/hlX3JHtBGM

— Cancillería de Cuba (@CubaMINREX) October 14, 2026

The October 29 vote will test whether Rubio’s pressure campaign shifts any position. For decades the General Assembly has delivered near-unanimous verdicts against the blockade, a streak Havana expects to hold. What Cuba now warns against is not the policy itself, but the effort to make other nations silent partners in it.

We are a growing community of activists and supporters who demand an end to genocidal oppression

He highlights the ethical and political responsibility governments bear to guarantee the inalienable human right to food.

On Monday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel participated in the 2026 World Food Forum (WFF), organized by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome, Italy.

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Venezuelan Acting President Rodriguez Attends 2026 World Food Forum

During his address, he expanded on his denunciation of the ethical and political responsibility governments bear to guarantee the inalienable human right to food.

The Cuban leader warned that global problems such as armed conflicts, the climate crisis and economic turmoil disproportionately affect developing nations, where more than 640 million people suffer from extreme hunger.

Diaz-Canel emphasized that the challenges facing the Cuban nation are linked not only to global economic and environmental factors but also to the cumulative impact of more than six decades of the U.S. economic, commercial, and financial blockade.

He detailed how this policy of strangulation directly restricts the Cuban people’s access to international markets, advanced technologies, financing, agricultural inputs and fuels essential to sustaining the country’s agricultural sector.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva affirmed Cuba during the FAO conference, saying the island’s food crisis is not due to a lack of production.

“Cuba is going hungry because they [the U.S.] don’t want it to have access to the basics.” pic.twitter.com/519PcARBTt

— Belly of the Beast (@bellybeastcuba) March 7, 2026

The Revolution’s Structural Response to the Energy Blockade

The Cuban president strongly denounced the intensification of Washington’s aggression through the imposition of an energy blockade beginning in January.

This punitive measure affects the entire agri-food value chain, disrupting planting, food refrigeration, industrial processing, the transportation of supplies and distribution logistics intended to serve the population.

Nevertheless, Diaz-Canel asserted that, in the face of this systematic aggression, the Cuban people have transformed the challenge into an opportunity to accelerate profound structural changes.

Cuba’s strategy focuses on territorial decentralization, the promotion of scientific innovation, the transition to renewable energy in local food systems and the strengthening of domestic production to reduce dependence on external inputs, consolidating the country’s resilience under extraordinarily adverse conditions.

Live | FAO World Food Forum 2026 https://t.co/7kkZBg8ZFO

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) October 12, 2026

Strategic Partnership with FAO and Castro’s Legacy

Diaz-Canel highlighted the support provided by the FAO, a multilateral organization that has mobilized nearly US$100 million in resources, technical assistance and training to strengthen Cuban key productive sectors.

In this context, Cuba announced its incorporation into the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty by presenting two projects with significant social impact designed to protect the most vulnerable sectors of the population.

Likewise, under the Hand-in-Hand Initiative, Cuba promoted two projects aimed at strengthening coffee and honey production chains, sectors of high strategic value for boosting rural employment, environmental sustainability, and export revenue.

As Cuba marks the centennial year of the birth of Commander Fidel Castro, Diaz-Canel reaffirmed that Castro’s longstanding advocacy for the right of peoples to a dignified life continues to guide Cuba’s social model.

He concluded by calling for the consolidation of a combative and solidarity-based multilateralism, stressing that food must be a collective right rather than a commodity subject to speculation or the political blackmail of imperialism.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: teleSUR

Oct 10 (Reuters) – The US military said on Saturday it had disabled a commercial cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman after the ship’s crew ignored warnings and attempted to run...

People in Russian-occupied Oleshky, a town in southern Ukraine, are running out of food and medicine and have no way out, a local resident told RBC-Ukraine. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman told the outlet that civilians there are dying of hunger every day.

The part of Kherson Oblast across the Dnipro River has been under Russian occupation since 2022, with civilians facing food and medicine shortages and restrictions on leaving. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has documented deteriorating conditions in Oleshky and neighboring Hola Prystan. There has been no practical breakthrough toward an organized evacuation, though 358 people who need help to leave Oleshky and nearby settlements have been verified. About 2,000 people remain in Oleshky, Kherson Oblast head Oleksandr Prokudin estimated.

The resident, who spoke anonymously, said food is extremely scarce, and residents are waiting for a humanitarian corridor to leave. The local market offers mostly vegetables and fruit, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, pears, and apples. Russia made its ruble the only legal currency in occupied Kherson Oblast from 1 January 2023, pushing out the Ukrainian hryvnia. Prices at the market start at 500 rubles (about $6), and "if you're lucky, 10 eggs can be bought for 3,000 rubles" (about $36), the resident said. That is about $3.60 an egg, nearly 20 times the US average of about $0.19, or $2.27 a dozen in August, US government data show.

Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, told RBC-Ukraine that civilians in the occupied area were dying every day.

"There is a humanitarian catastrophe there. Ukrainian civilians die there every day because they lack even basic food and water. There have been no medicines there for a long time. According to our information, there is simply hunger there," he said.

Practically no medicines

The resident said there were practically no medicines available. Expired drugs were being sold at about 100 rubles (about $1.20) a pill. His father has Parkinson's syndrome and has been concussed twice. The resident said he was forced to reduce his father's dose by 25% so the supply would last at least until the new year.

The resident's apartment had burned down, and his house remained damaged. His family had made the house livable and was living there, he said. His wife had lost more than 40 kilograms while the family relied on vegetables and fruit.

Beyond Oleshky: villages with no transport or aid

Four villages in the Hola Prystan community—Kokhany, Kardashynka, Velyka Kardashynka, and Mala Kardashynka—are effectively blocked, according to the Skhid-SOS fund. The fund told RBC-Ukraine that no transport reaches the villages and no humanitarian aid has been delivered for a prolonged period, although it is difficult to get more information from the villages. Residents are forced to walk or cycle to other settlements to find food, despite the risks of mines and drone strikes.

Civilians used as a buffer

Lubinets also said Russian troops were using civilians as a buffer and as protection against the Ukrainian military, RBC-Ukraine reported. Because Ukrainian citizens remain in Oleshky, Ukraine cannot conduct active combat operations there, he said—which, in his view, allows Russia to hold civilians effectively as hostages on the front line.

Food arrives by drone, but how much reaches residents is unclear

Ukraine has delivered food to Oleshky by drone since March, Prokudin said. Nearly 400 parcels weighing almost 4 tons reached their drop-off points on the night of 4 October, Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi said. How much of the food stays with residents is unclear. Prokudin has said Russian forces shoot down supply drones, confiscate or resell the packages, and detain and beat residents who receive them.

After a previous delivery, Tetiana Hasanenko, head of the Oleshky City Military Administration, said that Russian troops take drone-dropped food and accuse those who receive it of cooperating with Ukraine, and that some residents got several packages while others got none.

The Middle East has seen many explosions of violence in recent years. But while the US-Iran war has grabbed the headlines this year, the rapidly escalating conflict between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government and Saudi Arabia risks becoming just as consequential for the region. The complexity of Yemen’s internal conflict cannot be underestimated. […]

The post How Yemen’s renewed civil war could set the whole region ablaze appeared first on Asia Times.

The US blockade of Iran is keeping dozens of laden tankers bottled up along the nation’s coast, while others outside the Persian Gulf are holding off Sri Lanka, according to United Against Nuclear Iran.

‘The Israeli army made me choose between my prosthetic limb and wheelchair; I returned to Gaza without my limb.' Gaza faces severe shortages of components needed to manufacture prosthetic limbs.

Masked attackers set fires at the doors of a Paris vocational high school Monday, confining about 100 students and staff inside, as nationwide student protests over school conditions entered another week with thousands already arrested and hundreds reported injured.

At the Nicolas-Louis Vauquelin High School in the 13th arrondissement, Principal Carole Zerbib said a group of about 10 people in hoods, masks and black clothing arrived around 7:50 a.m. as students were arriving. She told BFMTV they looked “very determined, very fast,” and that staff “immediately understood that we were not going to be able to talk with them.”

Zerbib said the group threw full trash bins and other flammable material in front of the entrance, brought a sofa and bicycles to barricade the door, smashed glass with a pair of crutches, and set fires outside using a flammable liquid. A staff member was struck in the face by a shard of glass, BFMTV reported. Firefighters and police were met with mortar fire. Courses were canceled for the day.

A video team from BFMTV recorded flames at the entrance and described staff being blocked as they tried to use an extinguisher, with the principal heard telling confined students to move up to the first floor.

BREAKING: Rioters set fire to the entrance of Vauquelin High School in Paris and blocked the exits when staff tried to put the fire out.

A film crew recorded the terrifying attempted murder.

“The school staff was unable to put out the fire. The rioters blocked them just as the extinguisher nozzle came out; they blocked the exit.”

“The fire continues. You see all the silhouettes moving behind it; they continue to feed this fire, making it stronger and stronger. The school staff is not even going to try to put it out anymore; they can’t manage it. We can hear the principal here asking the hundred confined students to step back and move up to the first floor.”

The building was full of staff, students, and journalists, but these rioters appear ready to kill anyone still inside the vocational chemistry school.

Follow: @RMXnews

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 5, 2026

In the video sequence, a BFMTV host stated: “The school staff was unable to put out the fire. The rioters blocked them just as the extinguisher nozzle came out; they blocked the exit.” The staff speaking from inside the building confirmed they were “under siege.”

Principal Carole Zerbib said, “It was terrible for the students and the staff, who witnessed an outburst of violence…I think we had rarely seen violence this strong in front of us.”

France: Principal shot with firework mortar directly in face, then his school is set on fire in Rouen

She said the attackers “were quite organized and had prepared their move,” and that she had been warned by students and teachers of calls on social media to burn the school. “These aren’t my students. These are groups.”

Junior Interior Minister Jean-Didier Berger, speaking on BFMTV after the fires were put out and the school evacuated, called the images “particularly shocking” and said, “These are criminal acts that fall under the law and must be repressed in the harshest way.”

Outside the damaged school, Zerbib took questions from reporters, then stopped when she saw a CNews microphone.

“Which outlet is that?” she asked. When she was told it was CNews, she said, “Oh no, I had said no.” When the journalist replied that it was the press, she said: “I don’t agree. Because I don’t agree with CNews’s editorial line. I think you don’t do any good. You don’t do any good for young people.”

BREAKING: Another major school arson attack at Blaise Pascal High School in the French city of Rouen. The entire entrance is currently in flames. School staff can only stand and watch it burn. Follow: @RMXnews https://t.co/CZ8h1aDO3U

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 1, 2026

She had earlier told other reporters that as long as police remained outside, “I tell myself it will be all right,” while adding it was “not impossible that they come back, since they want to strike at the symbols of the state.”

The clash came as Education Minister Édouard Geffray said classes would be fully or partly suspended Monday at 400 to 500 of France’s roughly 3,700 high schools because safety conditions were not met. He said 24 schools had been burned or ransacked since the protests spread from the Paris region in mid-September. Organizers have called a further day of action Tuesday, which student unions have labeled “act III.”

France burns: Migration-background students rampage across the country, teachers doused in gasoline, schools set on fire, and hundreds of arrests reported

Geffray said Sunday that 78 education staff members had been injured since the unrest began, including “some of them by high schoolers.” In addition, 170 students had been hurt. He said far-left activists had “hijacked” the movement. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has said more than 5,000 people have been arrested since last Monday, about 85 percent of them minors, and that more than 300 officers and gendarmes have been injured. Police recorded 1,747 arrests on Friday alone, he told TF1.

Among the cases already opened include a 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide after a police officer was beaten in Belfort, and a 16-year-old was detained Sunday over the assault of a 59-year-old teacher in La Ciotat who was struck and doused with gasoline.

France: Attempted murder investigation opened after plainclothes police officer beaten unconscious during student riots in Belfort

In Tours, prosecutors said a young protester lost sight in one eye while battling with police.

Students and the Union syndicale lycéenne say they are protesting against reduced teaching staff, overcrowded classes, long schedules, the Parcoursup admissions system and buildings in disrepair. The government has called some of those complaints legitimate while condemning what Nuñez has described as a slide into “riot and urban violence.”

BREAKING: A French physics teacher was doused with gasoline today (Oct. 2) while trying to put out a fire students had lit near a tree in La Ciotat. The teacher was reportedly temporarily blinded, according to French news reports, when the gasoline was thrown into his eyes. Youths then began kicking the physics teacher. The main suspect was reportedly arrested. Yesterday in Marseille, youths are being investigated for attempted murder after dousing a principal and a vice-principal with gasoline during an attempted arson outside a high school administrative office. Follow: @RMXnews

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 2, 2026

The post ‘Under siege’ – Rioters set fire to the entrance of Vauquelin High School in Paris and block the exit with 100 students and staff inside appeared first on Remix News.

Two shocking incidents reveal how White women are also being targeted in the French school riots. In one incident, a woman who tried to stop vandalism on the edge of a high school protest was struck in the face by flames from an aerosol can used as a makeshift flamethrower. In another video shared online, a White female school supervisor was surrounded and punched during a blockade in Seynod, as student unrest over school conditions spread across France this week.

The Marseille attack with the homemade flamethrower occurred Thursday afternoon near Place of the 4th of September in the city’s 7th arrondissement, according to police sources. Images authenticated by BFMTV network show a White Frenchwoman attempting to stop students from smashing the bus stop with an iron bar.

An individual dressed entirely in black, with a hood over his head, then “used a spray can with a lighter to turn it into a flamethrower, directed at the head of his victim,” BFMTV reported. The flames hit the woman’s face as the crowd screamed in the video. 

She filed a complaint Friday in Marseille, but the extent of any injuries remain unknown.

A woman had her face burned in the French city of Marseille during student blockades.

A hooded far-left rioter set the spray from an aerosol can on fire and used it on her face like a flamethrower.

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— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 1, 2026

A separate video shows a White female supervisor at Baudelaire High School in Seynod, near Annecy, during a blockade. The woman is completely surrounded when a Black male punches her in the face multiple times.

A White female supervisor at Baudelaire High School is beaten by a mob of multicultural students during a blockade in Seynod.

The woman is completely surrounded when a Black male punches her in the face multiple times.

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— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 2, 2026

The incidents come amid days of blockades and clashes at French high schools that serve students roughly ages 15 to 18. While the protests were presumably about poor teaching conditions and poorly maintained schools, they have since expanded into mass rioting, arson attacks, and attempted murder cases, including another incident in Marseille where gasoline was splashed onto a principal and vice principal during an attempted arson outside a high school administrative office.

The Interior Ministry said 1,027 high schools had been affected by demonstrations, with blockades at 222 of them. On Thursday alone, authorities recorded 1,949 arrests and 305 injured police officers, the ministry said.

France burns: Migration-background students rampage across the country, teachers doused in gasoline, schools set on fire, and hundreds of arrests reported

Education Minister Édouard Geffray said 65 education staff members had been injured, including 40 headteachers, and that there had been “significant damage” to school facilities. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 625 people, mostly young, were detained Wednesday and that 83 officers were hurt that day. Government figures put student and staff injuries over the days of protest at 159, including one student who lost part of the use of a hand after setting off a firework.

JUST IN: A school principal was struck directly in the face by a firework mortar during ongoing violent student blockades in France.

The incident happened at Blaise Pascal High School in Rouen.

Later, the entire entrance of the school was set on fire.

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— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) October 1, 2026

Other attacks on staff have been reported. In La Ciotat, a principal was doused with gasoline and beaten, and in Belfort a police commander was thrown to the ground and beaten unconscious, which Remix News also reported on. That case is also being treated as an attempted murder investigation.

France: Attempted murder investigation opened after plainclothes police officer beaten unconscious during student riots in Belfort

The Education Ministry said 564 schools had been disrupted since Friday morning. More than 400 high schools were closed preventively that day. Prime Minister’s office officials, after a crisis meeting Thursday, described the movement as “a maneuver organized by France Unbowed and its ultra-left proxies.”

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the party, urged young people to use “only methods of nonviolent struggle.” However, intelligence reports cited by French government allege the party is backing the violence covertly.

The post France: White female burned with homemade flamethrower, another White female school supervisor beaten by mob during student riots appeared first on Remix News.

The tanker captain summoned his years of experience when he saw the blast in front of him. He veered his 300-meter-long ship around the vessel ahead and could see a fire had started. He called the US Navy to tell them of the attack.