HAVANA — Millions remained without power in Cuba for a third consecutive day as slow progress is made in restoring electricity following multiple major grid failures.

Power is expected to be restored to everyone on the island by Tuesday, the minister of energy and mines, Vicente de la O Levi, told reporters at a news conference Sunday. The announcement, however, came before the Energy and Mines Ministry reported a fourth grid failure.

Levi warned that even with the power restored, “we will continue to have blackouts because we continue with the lack of fuel.” He said the government is “in conversations” to acquire fuel.

Hurricane Oscar, a Category 1 storm, made landfall on eastern Cuba’s northern coast Sunday evening with sustained winds of 80 mph. The storm could put an end to the power recovery efforts if it affects the plants in its path.

Levi blamed the U.S.’ “brutal blockade” for the financial difficulties in acquiring fuel and spare parts for Cuba’s power plants, as well as for the current electric power crisis. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and other top leaders have also blamed the U.S. embargo on Cuba.

Cuba’s electric grid collapsed Friday morning, plunging the entire population of 10 million into darkness. As technicians slowly made progress with repairs, a second grid collapse occurred early Saturday, followed by another one late Saturday, as well as the collapse Sunday.

Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela and Russia have offered help, according to Levi, and Cuba remains in communication with their governments.

“The Cuban government has not requested assistance at this time,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson told NBC News in an emailed statement.

“The Unites States obviously is not to blame for today’s blackout on the island, or the overall energy situation in Cuba,” the statement said.

In the statement, the spokesperson blamed Cuba’s economic conditions on “long-term mismanagement of its economic policy and resources,” adding that they have “increased hardships” on the Cuban population.

The spokesperson added that the U.S. “is closely monitoring today’s blackout on the island, and we are concerned about the potential humanitarian impacts on the Cuban people.”  

Some protests, or “cacerolazos,” broke out in different parts of the island Saturday night, with people demonstrating by banging on pots. Levi said the protests were “isolated incidences” and called them “incorrect” and “indecent.” Protesting is rare and not usually tolerated in Cuba.

“The people and culture of Cuba are not accustomed to that,” he said about the protests.

In the capital, Havana, with a population of 2 million, power had been restored to 260,000 homes at 3:30 p.m. local time, according to the state-run news site Cuba Debate. But some residents whose power was connected said it was a short while before they lost power again.

Blackouts have been chronic in Cuba for years and have worsened in recent months. The communist-run country’s aging and crumbling infrastructure requires constant maintenance.

In the past, Cuba’s government has cited increasing energy demand and shortages of fuel used to power its plants as causes of constant blackouts. In some provinces outside Havana, many people have grappled with power outages that last up to 20 hours a day. 

The supply of oil has been greatly limited since Cuba’s ally and main oil supplier, Venezuela, decreased the shipments it sends to the island. Other countries that have supplied oil in the past, like Russia and Mexico, have also diminished shipments.

Cuba has been in an economic crisis spurred by tightened U.S. sanctions during former President Donald Trump’s administration and the devastating effects the pandemic had on tourism on the island, one of the most lucrative sources of revenue for the government.

The state-dominated economy relies mostly on imports, and with the lack of hard currency, Cubans have been dealing with shortages of food, medicine, water and fuel.

Cuba’s economic crisis has spurred massive migration. Over 1 million people, or 10% of the population, fled the island from 2022 to 2023, according to the country’s national statistics office.

Orlando Matos reported from Havana and Carmen Sesin from Miami.

In today’s energy-hungry tech industry, big companies have been looking for ways to supply themselves. However, they also aim to meet environmental goals by ensuring that a significant portion of the energy they consume is clean. Microsoft’s investment in reactivating nuclear plants and Google’s investment in massive solar and wind farms in the US are proof of that.

The Google-backed Orion Solar Belt will generate 875 megawatts in the US

On Friday, Google boasted that it completed the largest purchase of solar energy in its history. In August, the company had said it would invest more than $1 billion in Texas this year for clean energy. Google plans to allocate these investments to power its cloud servers and data centers. In fact, the company has a worldwide long-term clean energy purchasing project of around $16 billion through 2040.

Ben Sloss, a Google executive, and Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Energy Secretary, were at the inauguration of three solar farms built by SB Energy in Buckholts, Texas. The project, called the “Orion Solar Belt,” is one of the largest investments in solar energy in U.S. history, and Google is taking part in it. “Sometimes when you are in the middle of history, it’s hard to tell, because you are in the middle of it… but I’m telling you right now that we are in the middle of history being made,” Granholm said.

The massive expansion of the so-called Orion Solar Belt will be capable of generating 875 megawatts of clean energy. A typical nuclear plant can deliver the same amount of energy. According to Google, the company’s total investments in clean energy projects in Texas have resulted in more than 2,800 megawatts from wind and solar farms.

15% of the energy will go to the state’s power grid

Google will allocate 85% of the solar energy from the project to Ellis data centers and cloud computing in Dallas. The other 15% will go to the state’s power grid to benefit people. The company also ensures the presence of vegetation around the solar panels by keeping thousands of sheep grazing.

As the tech industry evolves, energy sources must grow and improve proportionally to meet the higher energy demand. Not only do big companies require more energy than ever, but so do users. Electric cars are becoming increasingly popular, so their impact on current power generation capabilities must be considered. Large AI-powered projects from companies such as Google are also consuming a significant amount of power.

Ensuring that new energy sources are clean and renewable can be a challenge. That said, it’s good to know that big tech companies are doing their part.

The test software is now available to download ahead of the start of gameplay, and requires 2.2GB of free space. Participants didn’t sign an NDA, but Nintendo requested in the playtest terms and conditions that users refrain from sharing any details about it — which has gone about as well as can be expected. While Nintendo has already started issuing copyright strikes to take leaked media offline, screenshots and information about the playtest are still available across websites like X and Reddit at the time of writing.

This appears to be Nintendo’s attempt to develop its first MMO (massively multiplayer online) style game. According to the game description, “the goal is to work with others to fully ‘develop’ a massive, expansive planet by utilizing creativity and framed resources.” Players will encounter “new lands, enemies, and resources” as they progress, and utilize “Beacons” that create zones to develop the environment around where they’re placed. These Beacon zones are personal — players can only “move, lift, or edit items” in zones they have placed, and cannot edit anything within someone else’s Beacon.

There’s a separate social hub called the “Dev Core” where players can level up, obtain items, and interact with each other. Nintendo also describes “UGC (User-Generated Content) features” for creating and sharing custom content, but players are required to pass an in-game test “to show that you understand the importance of respectful communication” before this capability can be unlocked.

At a glance, the game shares some similarities with family-friendly MMO’s like Minecraft and Roblox. The IP is either entirely new (in that it doesn’t feature any recognizable Nintendo characters) or it’s a placeholder for the game system itself — meaning it could be part of an existing franchise at release. All we know for sure is that previous speculation suggesting the playtest would bring GameCube titles to the Nintendo Switch Online service can probably be put to rest.

Just a couple of days ago, OnePlus gave us our first official look at the OnePlus 13, but one that was so obscured in shadow we couldn’t see much. Now though, the company is providing a full look at the back of the phone.

Shared on the company’s official Weibo account (via NotebookCheck), you can see a brief video showing the rear of the phone in White Dawn (white), Blue Moment (blue), and Obsidian Secret (black) shades.

It’s not just a choice of colors though – they also come in different textures, with the blue model supposedly having a skin-like feel, while the black one has an “ebony wood grain” textured finish.

As for the overall design of the OnePlus 13, the back looks similar but not identical to the OnePlus 12. Both phones have a circular camera block, but the OnePlus 12 has a strip of metal connecting the camera block to the edge of the phone, while the OnePlus 13 lacks this.

SpaceX’s Super Heavy rocket was the star of the show during last week’s test flight after being successfully caught by the launch tower’s giant mechanical arms at the first attempt.

Minutes earlier, the Super Heavy booster had deployed the upper-stage Starship spacecraft to orbit as part of the fifth test flight of the world’s most powerful rocket.

While we’ve heard less about it, the spacecraft also enjoyed a wild ride, coasting to the other side of the world from the launch site in Boca Chica, Texas, before performing a landing burn and coming down in the Indian Ocean. Even better, it descended precisely to SpaceX’s targeted landing spot, with a camera-equipped buoy in place to record its final burn and splashdown about 65 minutes after launch. You can watch Starship’s final moments in the video below:

Starship flip maneuver and landing burn on its fifth flight test. Vehicle improvements ensured flaps were protected from high heating, resulting in a controlled entry and high accuracy splashdown at the targeted area in the Indian Ocean pic.twitter.com/nLIQLLVMv1

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 18, 2024

Advertisement

“Starship executed another successful hot-staging separation, igniting its six Raptor engines and completing ascent into outer space,” the Elon Musk-led company said in a message accompanying the recently shared footage. “It coasted along its planned trajectory to the other side of the planet before executing a controlled reentry, passing through the phases of peak heating and maximum aerodynamic pressure, before executing a flip, landing burn, and splashdown at its target area in the Indian Ocean.”

In a post on its website, SpaceX said the team behind the Starship’s most recent test flight should “take pride in the engineering feat they just accomplished. The world witnessed what the future will look like when Starship starts carrying crew and cargo to destinations on Earth, the moon, Mars, and beyond.”

In an upcoming test flight, SpaceX said it plans to catch the Starship spacecraft in the same way that it secured the Super Heavy booster during its most recent test. The spacecraft also has the capability of landing upright on the ground, a feat it will have to perform when it reaches other celestial bodies, including the moon as part of the Artemis III mission currently scheduled for 2026 and which will involve returning humans to the lunar surface.

Samsung has finally announced the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition. This new book-style foldable comes with a slimmer design than the Galaxy Z Fold 6, but as expected, it will have limited availability.

The Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition is official and it comes with a slimmer body

Samsung announced this phone via a press release in Korea. Trusted sources said, a while back, that the phone will be available in Korea and China only. Those are sad news for many people out there, but this launch type kind of confirms the rumors.

We’ve exclusively revealed the design of the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition a while back. This launch confirms the accuracy of that leak. This phone has a different-looking camera island on the back, while it offers a more compelling camera setup, and a slimmer design, amongst other things.

You’ll notice that its back side is flat, and the same goes for its sides. The edges are not sharp at all, though, so the phone shouldn’t be too uncomfortable to hold. All three rear cameras are vertically-aligned and a part of the same camera island.

This handset is 10.6mm thick when folded, 4.9mm when closed, and weighs 236 grams. That makes it 1.5mm thinner and 3 grams lighter than the Galaxy Z Fold 6. The thickness difference will be easy to notice, that’s for sure. The phone, when open, measures 157.9 x 142.6 x 4.9mm. When closed it measures 157.9 x 72.8 x 10.6mm.

Samsung replaced a dated 50-megapixel camera with a 200-megapixel one

Samsung is using a 200-megapixel main camera on the back of this phone. For that camera, Samsung says that it’s “supporting more vivid and clear photos and videos”. Samsung did not go into too much detail spec-wise, which is why we cannot offer you more information. The other two cameras are 12-megapixel and 10-megapixel units, ulrawide and telephoto cameras.

The phone comes with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage included. We presume that’s LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 flash storage, though Samsung didn’t confirm it. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy SoC fuels this smartphone.

The main display on the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition measures 8 inches, and offers a 20:18 aspect ratio. That panel has a resolution of 2184 x 1968, and it goes up to 2,600 nits of brightness at its peak. It is also a 120Hz panel. The cover display measures 6.5 inches and has a display aspect ratio of 21:9. That display has a resolution of 2520 x 1080, and its refresh rate goes up to 120Hz.

The phone is water resistant, and it has the Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the cover display. The S Pen stylus is not supported on this phone.

This phone is far from cheap

The device comes in only one color, ‘Black Shadow’. The phone is priced at the equivalent of $2,020 (in Korean won). It’s around $500 more expensive than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 in the country.