Since the United States, under President Donald Trump, imposed an oil blockade on Cuba in late January, power outages and fuel shortages have dealt a staggering blow to small family businesses like Salva's. Oishi's headquarters used to be a restaurant in the Havana municipality of Regla, where the already long blackouts have spiralled to 15 hours or more a day. Salva had a backup generator, but the numbers did not add up: Petrol prices have surged from about $1 a litre ($3.80 a gallon) earlier this year to $10 on the black market.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas, EU transport commissioner, said, 'Jet fuel prices or shortages do not meet the criteria that protect EU airlines from passenger claims. They will have to reimburse the people if they cancel flights without extraordinary circumstances.'
Three national fuel depots at Whitegate refinery, Shannon Foynes port and the Port of Galway remain restricted due to the blockades, and movement at the three sites is extremely limited.
If we stay here even a few more days, our children might die of hunger. They don't understand what this crisis is; we just see them crying for food, Prasad says.
Thanadet Traiyot waited in line for hours at his local gas station, armed with containers and desperately hoping to secure much-needed diesel for his rice fields in Ayutthaya, central Thailand. He was third in the queue when the shop announced their supplies had run dry.
Cuba is reeling after US President Donald Trump cut off oil shipments from Venezuela, following the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by US forces during a bloody night raid in early January. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on other countries, including Mexico, if they continue to ship much-needed fuel to Cuba, which has already suffered under decades of punitive sanctions imposed by Washington.
Every day I see cars that ran out of fuel and were left on the curb, Ayder, a resident of Simferopol, Crimea's administrative capital, told Al Jazeera. His car runs on natural gas, which is more available these days. There are long lines and fistfights at gas stations after a limit of 20 litres (5.3 gallons) per car was introduced, he said, withholding his last name out of fear of punishment for talking to foreign media.
Petrol stations in several regions have run dry while prices have surged to record highs and motorists queue for hours. Over the summer, Kyiv has stepped up its drone campaign against Russia's energy infrastructure, a strategy designed to put pressure on Moscow and to signal that Ukraine still holds leverage in the peace talks led by the US president, Donald Trump.
