Hurricane Ian has knocked out power across all of Cuba, leaving 11 million people without electricity, after it slammed into the island’s western tip.
Cuba‘s Electric Union said power was initially knocked out for around one million people in the country’s western provinces, but later the entire grid collapsed.
The hurricane made landfall as a Category 3 storm on the island’s western end and devastated Pinar del Rio province, destroying some of the country’s most important tobacco farms.
Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated or had fled before Ian caused flooding and damaged houses.
The US National Hurricane Center said Cuba suffered “significant wind and storm surge impacts” when the hurricane struck with top sustained winds of 125mph.
Image: A man carries two children in the rain in search of shelter after Hurricane Ian flooded their home in Pinar del Rio. Pic: AP
The hurricane was expected to get even stronger over the warm Gulf of Mexico as it approaches the southwestern coast of Florida, where 2.5 million people have been ordered to leave.
Residents and holidaymakers have been warned not to be complacent amid fears the hurricane could be upgraded to Category 4, with 140mph winds expected to affect the whole state.
More on Cuba
Related Topics:
At an emergency briefing at the White House on Tuesday, Deanne Criswell, spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said: “The storm surge is going to be significant, and you put 20 inches of rain on top of that….
“Take this very seriously, do not underestimate the potential this storm can bring.
Advertisement
“We are talking about impacts in parts of Florida that haven’t seen a major direct impact in nearly 100 years.”
Image: A satellite image of Hurricane Ian taken at 4.26pm EDT on Tuesday. Pic: NOAA via AP
Ian is heading towards the Florida Keys, a popular holiday destination, made up of many islands, some less than a mile wide.
Image: Destruction in Pinar del Rio
Image: People in Key West – and wider Florida – have been told to take the warnings seriously and shelter. Pic: AP
US President Joe Biden cancelled a planned trip on Tuesday and called mayors in three Florida cities to assure them federal support is ready to deploy food, fuel and shelter.
A total of 29 emergency shelters have already been set up by FEMA personnel sent to the state on Monday.
Image: One of Cuba’s famed vintage cars is stopped in its tracks by Ian
Image: Traffic builds along the interstate out of Tampa as people try to escape before the hurricane approaches. Pic: AP
Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has declared a state of emergency and urged residents to prepare.
He warned of “broad impacts throughout the state” and said the weather system brought with it a risk of a “dangerous storm surge, heavy rainfall, flash flooding, strong winds, hazardous sea, and isolated tornadic activity”.
Flooding is predicted for much of the Florida peninsula midweek, and then heavy rainfall is possible for the southeast of the US later this week.
Thousands of people gathered in various cities across the US as protests against Donald Trump and Elon Musk took place in all 50 states on Saturday.
Around 1,200 demonstrations were planned in locations including Washington DC, New York City and West Palm Beach, Florida – just miles away from where the US president has this weekend played golf.
The “Hands Off!” protests were against the Trump administration’s handling of government downsizing, human rights and the economy, among other issues.
In Washington DC, protesters streamed on the grass in front of the Washington Monument, where one person carried a banner which read: “Make democracy great again.”
Image: Thousands gathered in Washington DC to rally against various Trump policies. Pic: AP
Image: Pic: AP
Another protester took aim at Mr Trump‘s handling of Russia and Ukraine, with a placard that read: “Stop Putin’s puppets from destroying America.”
Tesla boss Mr Musk also featured on many signs due to his role in controversial government cuts as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Image: Demonstrators in NYC. Pic: AP
Image: People marching in Atlanta, Georgia. Pic: Reuters
Image: A rally in Vermont. Pic: The Brattleboro Reformer via AP
Terry Klein, a retired biomedical scientist, said she drove to the rally to protest Mr Trump’s policies on “everything from immigration to the DOGE stuff to the tariffs this week, to education”.
More on Donald Trump
Related Topics:
“I mean, our whole country is under attack, all of our institutions, all the things that make America what it is,” she added.
Image: A drone view of the protest at the Utah State Capitol building. Pic Reuters
Image: A protester sports a Handmaid’s Tale costume. Pic: Reuters
Image: Pic: Reuters
Some at the various protests carried Ukrainian flags, while others sported rainbow attire and waved rainbow flags in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Other protesters wore Palestinian keffiyeh scarves and carried “Free Palestine” signs.
Protesters refuse to take Donald Trump’s policies lying down
It was built to honour George Washington, a founding father of the United States.
And in the shadow of the 555ft Washington Monument, protestors were refusing to accept Donald Trump’s policies lying down.
“Stand tall,” they chanted, again and again.
“In every city, stand tall. In every state, stand tall. In truth, stand tall. In justice, stand tall.”
Those words, shouted by thousands on the city’s iconic mall, were reinforced by the words on their placards and t-shirts.
A minister, wearing a t-shirt with ‘Troublesome Priest’ printed on it, told me she found what was happening in the US government “appalling and immortal”.
One man said he had won the long-distance award, having travelled 2,750 miles from Hawaii for the protest.
“I finally reached a breaking point,” he added. “I couldn’t take it anymore.”
Another woman said: “We have to speak up, we have to act, we have to do something, because this is not America.”
I asked her what she would say to those who argue the people did speak when they elected Donald Trump as president.
She replied: “Some people have spoken and then some people have not and those of us that have not, we need to speak now.”
Thousands marched in New York City’s midtown Manhattan and in Boston, Massachusetts, while hundreds gathered in the sunshine outside the Utah State Capitol building in Salt Lake City, and in the rain outside the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio.
Spreaker
This content is provided by Spreaker, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only.
Mr Trump – who shook financial markets with his tariffs announcement this week – spent the day in Florida, playing a round of golf before returning to his Mar-a-Lago residence.
Image: People protest in Manhattan. Pic: Reuters
Image: Activists in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Pic: AP
Some four miles from Mar-a-Lago, more than 400 people gathered – and drivers honked their horns in support of protesters who held up signs including one which read: “Markets tank, Trump golfs.”
The White House has said Mr Trump plans to go golfing again on Sunday.
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.
While the UK’s FTSE 100 closed down 1.55% and the continent’s STOXX Europe 600 index was down 2.67% as of 5.30pm, it was American traders who were hit the most.
All three of the US’s major markets opened to sharp losses on Thursday morning.
Image: The S&P 500 is set for its worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. File pic: AP
By 8.30pm UK time (3.30pm EST), The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 3.7%, the S&P 500 opened with a drop of 4.4%, and the Nasdaq composite was down 5.6%.
Compared to their values when Donald Trump was inaugurated, the three markets were down around 5.6%, 8.7% and 14.4%, respectively, according to LSEG.
More on Donald Trump
Related Topics:
Worst one-day losses since COVID
As Wall Street trading ended at 9pm in the UK, two indexes had suffered their worst one-day losses since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The S&P 500 fell 4.85%, the Nasdaq dropped 6%, and the Dow Jones fell 4%.
It marks Nasdaq’s biggest daily percentage drop since March 2020 at the start of COVID, and the largest drop for the Dow Jones since June 2020.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
5:07
The latest numbers on tariffs
‘Trust in President Trump’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNN earlier in the day that Mr Trump was “doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term”.
“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” she told the broadcaster, adding: “This is indeed a national emergency… and it’s about time we have a president who actually does something about it.”
Later, the US president told reporters as he left the White House that “I think it’s going very well,” adding: “The markets are going to boom, the stock is going to boom, the country is going to boom.”
He later said on Air Force One that the UK is “happy” with its tariff – the lowest possible levy of 10% – and added he would be open to negotiations if other countries “offer something phenomenal”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
3:27
How is the world reacting to Trump’s tariffs?
Economist warns of ‘spiral of doom’
The turbulence in the markets from Mr Trump’s tariffs “just left everybody in shock”, Garrett Melson, portfolio strategist at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions in Boston, told Reuters.
He added that the economy could go into recession as a result, saying that “a lot of the pain, will probably most acutely be felt in the US and that certainly would weigh on broader global growth as well”.
Meanwhile, chief investment officer at St James’s Place Justin Onuekwusi said that international retaliation is likely, even as “it’s clear countries will think about how to retaliate in a politically astute way”.
He warned: “Significant retaliation could lead to a tariff ‘spiral of doom’ that could be the growth shock that drags us into recession.”
It comes as the UK government published a long list of US products that could be subject to reciprocal tariffs – including golf clubs and golf balls.
Running to more than 400 pages, the list is part of a four-week-long consultation with British businesses and suggests whiskey, jeans, livestock, and chemical components.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Thursday that the US president had launched a “new era” for global trade and that the UK will respond with “cool and calm heads”.
It also comes as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a 25% tariff on all American-imported vehicles that are not compliant with the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.
He added: “The 80-year period when the United States embraced the mantle of global economic leadership, when it forged alliances rooted in trust and mutual respect and championed the free and open exchange of goods and services, is over. This is a tragedy.”