BREAKING 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.
A Chinese-Australian journalist who worked for China's state broadcaster and was convicted on murky espionage charges has spoken out about the harsh conditions of her detention, including being allowed to stand in sunlight for just 10 hours each year.
Cheng Lei has been held for three years, and although found guilty on national security charges at a closed-door trial last year, has yet to be sentenced.
She hasn't seen a tree since she was detained and deeply misses her daughter and son, now entering high school, Cheng said in a statement conveyed to an Australian diplomat and released to local media.
"I relive every bushwalk, river, lake, beach with swims and picnics and psychedelic sunsets, sky that is lit up with stars, and the silent and secret symphony of the bush," Cheng said in the statement read by her partner Nick Coyle on the Australian Broadcasting Corp.
"I secretly mouth the names of places I've visited and driven through," Cheng said. "It is the Chinese in me that has probably gone beyond the legal limit of sentimentality. Most of all, I miss my children."
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said it would continue to support Cheng and her family and advocate for her interests and well-being.
"Ms. Cheng's message to the public makes clear her deep love for our country," Wong said in a statement. "All Australians want to see her reunited with her children."
Wong said Australia had consistently advocated for Cheng and "asked that basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment to be met for Ms. Cheng, in accordance with international norms."
Coyle said Cheng had been allowed to write to him since last September. He said the most difficult thing for her was the toll that the long-term separation from her children was taking. He said she hoped to send a message to Australians in her statement.
"It's trying to communicate with the Australian people who she is, and what she loves about her country," Coyle told the ABC. "It's a country that she feels very lucky to have come to at a very young age and had the benefit of our warmth and multicultural nature, and education, and way of life. So she misses it."
Cheng, 48, moved with her family to Australia at age 10. She returned to China to work for the international department of state broadcaster CCTV. The details behind her detention and trial remain sealed. Chinese prosecutors have broad powers to level charges of spying or leaking state secrets with little or no evidence, and Cheng could face years of prison.
Chinese authorities have also been accused of holding foreign nationals, particularly those born in the country, to obtain diplomatic gains or the return of Chinese citizens abroad wanted on a variety of charges. China's relations with Australia have recently improved after China put them on freeze over Canberra's accusations of Chinese political interference and intimidation of the local Chinese community.
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.
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.
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.
An increased risk of fire has prompted the recall of thousands of Honda hybrid vehicles in Canada.
Police were called to a frozen yogurt shop in Richmond, B.C., Wednesday after a man went behind the counter and scooped some of the product with his hand.
The Canadian Cancer Society says a proposed settlement that may see tobacco companies pay out billions of dollars would do little to prevent future generations from becoming addicted to smoking.
According to Google search data, the top Halloween costumes trending in Canada include everything from Taylor Swift for kids to the Joker and Harley Quinn for couples.
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.