Power Outage in Cuba Leaves Millions in Dark

A power outage last night in Cuba left millions in the dark and sweltering heat, reports the AP. The outage hit around 8pm, affecting large parts of Havana for more than five hours, as well as the beach resort of Varadero, and there were even reports of brief power problems on the other side of Cuba in the city of Santiago. There were no official explanations for the outage. "We were on our balcony waiting for our TV program," says a 47-year-old Havana resident. "Nobody knows what happened." Sweeping outages were common during Cuba's 1990s energy crisis, but the AP notes that blackouts of this magnitude are now rare. (More Cuba stories.)