Cuba's power grid fails, plunging country into darkness
Cuba's national electrical grid shut down on Friday after one of the island's major power plants failed, Cuba's energy ministry said, plunging the entire country into a blackout.
North Korea said Sunday its front-line army units are ready to launch strikes on South Korea, ramping up pressure on its rival that it said flew drones and dropped leaflets over its capital Pyongyang.
South Korea has refused to confirm whether it sent drones but warned it would sternly punish North Korea if the safety of its citizens is threatened.
North Korea on Friday accused South Korea of launching drones to drop propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang three times this month and threatened to respond with force if it happened again.
In a statement carried by state media Sunday, the North's Defence Ministry said that the military had issued a preliminary operation order to artillery and other army units near the border with South Korea to "get fully ready to open fire."
An unidentified ministry spokesperson said the North Korea's military ordered relevant units to fully prepare for situations like launching immediate strikes on unspecified enemy targets when South Korea infiltrates drones across the border again, possibly triggering fighting on the Korean Peninsula, according to the statement.
The spokesperson said that "grave touch-and-go military tensions are prevailing on the Korean Peninsula" because of the South Korean drone launches. In a separate statement later Sunday, the spokesperson said that the entire South Korean territory "might turn into piles of ashes" following the North's powerful attack.
Also Sunday, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un described as "suicidal" the South Korean Defence Ministry's reported warning that North Korea would face the end of its regime if it harms South Korean nationals. She warned Saturday that the discovery of a new South Korean drone will "certainly lead to a horrible disaster."
North Korea often issues such fiery, blistering rhetoric in times of elevated animosities with South Korea and the United States.
Ties between the two Koreas remain tense since a U.S.-led diplomacy on ending North Korea's nuclear program fell apart in 2019. North Korea has since pushed hard to expand its nuclear arsenal and repeatedly threatened to attack South Korea and the U.S. with its nuclear weapons. But experts say it's unlikely for North Korea to launch a full-blown attack because its military is outpaced by the combined U.S. and South Korean forces.
Observers predicted North Korea would escalate tensions ahead of next month's U.S. presidential election to boost its leverage in future diplomacy with the Americans.
Since May, North Korea has floated thousands of balloons carrying rubbish toward South Korea in retaliation for South Korean activists flying their own balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets. South Korea's military responded to the North's balloon campaign by restarting border loudspeakers to blare broadcast propaganda and K-pop songs to North Korea.
North Korea is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of the authoritarian government of Kim Jong Un and his family's dynastic rule.
Cuba's national electrical grid shut down on Friday after one of the island's major power plants failed, Cuba's energy ministry said, plunging the entire country into a blackout.
A 20-year-old man and a 17-year-old boy are facing multiple charges after allegedly firing gunshots at a Jewish girls' school last weekend.
SaskPower was sentenced Friday morning in a Weyburn courtroom, receiving a record fine, after being found guilty of three workplace-safety related violations when two experienced employees were killed on the job in 2020.
Days after a man was recorded walking behind the counter at a frozen yogurt shop in Richmond, B.C., and scooping product with his hand, a suspect has been criminally charged.
An increased risk of fire has prompted the recall of thousands of Honda hybrid vehicles in Canada.
One of four Canadian cabinet members who are stepping down said on Friday that he has confidence in Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and he played down polls predicting the Liberals will badly lose in the next election.
While flying over Egypt’s famous Great Pyramids at sunrise earlier this week, US paraglider Marshall Mosher and fellow paragliders spotted the unexpected sight of a stray hound also taking in views around the summit of one of the ancient wonders.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Friday compared the people jailed on charges that they stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to the more than 120,000 people of Japanese origin incarcerated on U.S. soil during World War II.
A 29-year-old Saskatoon woman faces assault and mischief charges after allegedly throwing a cup of bodily fluids on two bus passengers and breaking a window on Thursday.
The image of a sleepy Saskatchewan small town with 'not a lot going on' is a well-known anecdote. However, one Saskatchewan company is hoping to change that – and allow communities both on and off the beaten path to share their stories and advertise what they have to offer.
A Moncton, N.B., home has been donated to the Friends of The Moncton Hospital Foundation and will be transformed into a resource hub for people living with cancer.
A Nova Scotia man crossing Canada on foot is passing through southwestern Ontario. Trevor Redmond is perhaps better known as the ‘Fellow in Yellow.’
John Cantin vividly remembers opening day for his Victoria diner. Stress levels were high, tables were full, and one of the most popular menu items couldn’t be freed from the unyielding grip of the waffle maker.
A Manitoba professor is warning the public after a book on regional mushrooms that he suspects is AI-generated was delisted from Amazon.
A B.C. judge has issued a decision in a years-long dispute between neighbours that began with a noise complaint over barking dogs, crowing roosters and quacking ducks – awarding $15,000 in damages to the plaintiffs in the case.
An Ottawa man was arrested after taking a shower in a stranger's house, Ottawa police say.
Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) Chef Paul Natrall, the man behind Indigenous food truck Mr. Bannock, is bringing cooking classes on First Nations fare to schools and offices throughout Metro Vancouver.
The Celtic Colours Festival is taking place at venues around Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia from Oct. 11 to 19.