Good morning. Canada\u2019s major airlines cancelled their flights to Cuba as the island\u2019s oil crisis deepens \u2013 more on that below, along with a silver medal in Milan Cortina and a U.S. cabinet member\u2019s Epstein ties. But first:<\/p>\n
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Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n The long line for a gas station near Havana last week.Ramon Espinosa\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n CubaThe cut-off point<\/p>\n More than 600 flights on Canada\u2019s three major airlines were meant to depart for Cuba this month, carrying upwards of 100,000 passengers to cities across the Caribbean country. But on Monday, WestJet, Air Transat and Air Canada each suspended their service to Cuba<\/a>, effective immediately. Empty planes will now take off from Toronto and Montreal instead, collecting thousands of Canadians currently visiting the island to bring them back home.<\/p>\n The problem for the airlines is that Cuba is nearly out of jet fuel, part of a crushing energy crisis triggered by the White House\u2019s oil blockade. For decades, the island relied on Venezuelan oil to power its aging electrical grid \u2013 but U.S. President Donald Trump stopped that flow<\/a> in January, after he ousted Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro. Mexico, Cuba\u2019s second-biggest oil supplier, followed suit under pressure of jacked-up U.S. tariffs. \u201cTHERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA \u2013 ZERO,\u201d Trump posted last month. \u201cI strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.\u201d<\/p>\n What that deal might actually look like remains fuzzy: Cuba doesn\u2019t have much by way of resources to offer the United States. Rolling blackouts are common, stretching anywhere from 10 to 20 hours. In October, government officials said<\/a> more than three million people \u2013 at least a third of the population \u2013 are without reliable access to water. Food and medicine is scarce and mosquito-borne illnesses<\/a> are rampant, overwhelming hospitals. According to the Social Rights Observatory, a Spanish think-tank, 89 per cent<\/a> of Cuban families live in extreme poverty.<\/p>\n Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Air Canada will fly empty planes to Cuba to pick up Canadian travellers.Fred Lum\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n Cuba routinely blames its difficulties on the six-decade-long U.S. trade embargo, though widespread domestic corruption and bureaucracy haven\u2019t helped the state-run economy. Neither did the COVID-19 pandemic, which cratered its tourism industry. In 2018, a record 4.7 million people travelled to the island; last year, just 1.8 million did. Canada made up a huge share of that number \u2013 more than 750,000 of us visited in 2025. Now the airlines\u2019 cancelled flights have cut off Cuba\u2019s top source of tourists.<\/p>\n Last week, at a rare press conference, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said he was prepared to implement \u201cOption Zero,\u201d the strict austerity plan drawn up by Fidel Castro after the Soviet Union \u2013 and its support for the island \u2013 collapsed in 1991. Diaz-Canel recently introduced a series of emergency measures in response to the energy crisis: food rationing, a shortened work week, reduced school hours, limited transit and hospital services. Anyone who needs fuel for their cars now has to download an app, though the online queue for a turn at a gas station doesn\u2019t seem<\/a> to move.<\/p>\n Throughout his two-hour press conference, Diaz-Canel railed against<\/a> Trump\u2019s oil blockade, calling U.S. actions \u201ccriminal,\u201d \u201cvulgar\u201d and \u201cinhumane,\u201d even comparing them to \u201cthose of Hitler\u2019s hordes.\u201d It\u2019s unclear, however, who exactly the address was for. Trump doesn\u2019t seem concerned about a collapsing Cuba: He\u2019s already said<\/a> the country is \u201cgoing down for the count.\u201d And most Cubans missed Diaz-Canel\u2019s broadcast altogether. Their power was out.<\/p>\n Olympic Games\u2018The fact we went from fourth to second is kind of crazy.\u2019Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n Our silver-medal short-track speed skaters.DARRYL DYCK\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n In the last laps of the short-track mixed team relay, speed skater F\u00e9lix Roussel spotted an opening, wedging himself past two competitors to deliver Canada\u2019s first silver medal<\/a> in Milan Cortina. Elsewhere on the ice, the Canadian women\u2019s hockey team fell 5-0 to the United States<\/a> in their round-robin match, as Marie-Philip Poulin sat out the game with an injury. For our latest Olympics coverage, go to tgam.ca\/olympics-daily<\/a>.<\/p>\n The WrapWhat else we\u2019re following<\/p>\n At home: Quebec has removed the Tudor crown<\/a> from its coat of arms \u2013 but it\u2019s not necessarily a harbinger of sovereignty. <\/p>\n Abroad: U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is facing calls to resign after he acknowledged<\/a> travelling to Jeffrey Epstein\u2019s private island.<\/p>\n Health: An oral, at-home HIV test<\/a> that been used in the U.S. for well over a decade is finally coming to Canada.<\/p>\n Wealth: Ontario winemakers are getting a massive boost<\/a> from Trump\u2019s trade war.<\/p>\n Good call: After a licensing snag, Spanish figure skating champion Tom\u00e0s Guarino Sabat\u00e9 made his Olympic debut<\/a> dressed as a yellow Minion.<\/p>\n
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