Cubans weary from years of economic crisis, shortages of basic supplies and regular power blackouts, fear the US attack on Venezuela, a leftist ideological ally and its main oil supplier, will see life get even tougher.After American forces seized Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro in an early-morning raid, US President Donald Trump over the weekend issued threats to other leftist leaders in the region and said he thought Cuba was “ready to fall.”He played down the need for US military action on the island, saying it would be hard for Havana to “hold out” without Venezuelan oil, and “it looks like it’s going down.””2026 is going to be tough, very tough,” Axel Alfonso, a 53-year-old working as a driver for a state enterprise, told AFP in the capital Havana on Monday.”If Venezuela is the main supplier, at least of oil, it’s going to get a bit complicated,” said Alfonso who, like the vast majority of Cubans, has lived his whole life under a bruising US trade embargo in place since 1962.The communist-run island has seen 13 US administrations come and go, some more punishing than others.”We’ve been fighting for 60 years, and we have to keep going,” Alfonso said.- ‘Uncertainty’ -Located roughly 90 miles (about 145 kilometers) from the coast of Florida, Cuba’s last major economic test followed the implosion in 1991 of the Soviet Union, a major trade partner and source of credit.It survived by opening up to tourism and foreign investment. Since 2000, Havana has increasingly relied on Venezuelan oil under a deal struck with Maduro’s predecessor Hugo Chavez, in exchange for Cuban doctors, teachers, and sports coaches. In the last quarter of 2025, Venezuela sent Cuba an average of 30,000 – 35,000 barrels a day, “which represents 50 percent of the island’s oil deficit,” Jorge Pinon, an energy expert and researcher at the University of Texas, told AFP.The number was much higher 10 years ago, slashed by the global oil price crash that sent Venezuela’s own economy into turmoil.For the past six years, Cuba has been mired in an ever-deepening crisis caused by a toxic combination of tighter US sanctions, poor domestic management of the economy and the collapse of tourism due to the Covid-19 pandemic.GDP has fallen by 11 percent in five years and the government faces a severe shortage of currency to pay for basic social services: electricity, healthcare and supplying subsidized food and other basic goods that many Cubans have learned to rely on.Economic hardship was a trigger for the unprecedented anti-government demonstrations of July 11, 2021, when thousands of Cubans took to the streets shouting “We are hungry” and “Freedom!”Since then, ever more frequent and longer power cuts and shortages of food and medicine have deepened discontent and led to sporadic, smaller protests, quickly contained by the government. Now, many fear that the loss of Venezuelan oil will make matters even worse.”We’re living in a moment of uncertainty,” attorney Daira Perez, 30, told AFP.- No bailout  -Pinon said it was “not clear whether shipments of Venezuelan oil to Cuba will continue,” especially in the context of the recent US seizure of oil tankers in the Caribbean.And he highlighted that “Cuba doesn’t have the resources to buy that volume on international markets, nor a political partner to bail it out.”Despite concerns for the future, long-suffering Cubans put on a brave face.”He (Trump) keeps making tough threats,” said Havana resident Roberto Brown, 80, who was a young man during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war.”We already told him once: we’re 90 miles away, and a long-range missile from over there reaches here, but the one from here reaches there too,” said Brown.

General Motors reported a dip in fourth-quarter US auto sales Monday, reflecting a sharp decline in electric vehicle transactions amid a broader slowing car market.But the US auto giant also achieved an annual sales increase, pointing to growth in pickups and crossovers sales as evidence of resonance with consumers despite offering lower incentives than the industry average.The Detroit giant reported 703,000 deliveries in the final quarter of 2025, a drop from the year prior of 6.9 percent, in a period characterized by tepid consumer confidence surveys.Other carmakers to report a drop in US sales in the fourth quarter included Honda, Nissan and Volkswagen, while Toyota and Stellantis were higher.Analysts at Cox Automotive had estimated a 4.7 percent drop in overall US car sales in the fourth quarter, with concerns about a weakening job market, high interest rates and cost-of-living pressures weighing on sentiment.A driver of GM’s decline was a pronounced fall in EV sales from the third quarter, when consumers raced to take advantage of a $7,500 tax credit that expired at the end of September, earlier than initially intended due to legislation championed by US President Donald Trump.EV sales at GM were 25,219 in the October to December period, less than half the level in the third quarter of 2025.GM’s annual sales were 2.8 million, up 5.5 percent from 2024. Among the vehicles with sizable gains were the Chevrolet Equinox, a small “crossover” sport utility vehicle and the GMC Sierra line of pickup trucks.”Demand for our brands and products is strong at every price point, and we are well-positioned to build on this momentum in the year ahead,” said GM senior vice president Duncan Aldred.At Toyota, fourth-quarter sales rose about eight percent to 652,195, in line with annual growth of comparable percentage. Total sales were 2.5 million for 2025.Toyota models with significant year-over-year sales increases included the Grand Highlander SUV and Tacoma pickup.- Tariff effect? -Stellantis, meanwhile, scored a four percent increase in the fourth-quarter to 332,321, helping to reduce the size of its annual drop after a number of weak quarters. Stellantis annual sales fell three percent to 1.3 million.”With consecutive quarterly sales increases and market share growth, it’s clear that we are taking the right steps to reset our business in the US,” said Jeff Kommor, head of US retail sales, who pointed to five new vehicle launches scheduled for 2026.Throughout 2025, automakers were faced with a fast-changing policy environment as Trump announced myriad tariff actions and moved to gut climate measures enacted under predecessor Joe Biden.Tariff costs did not lead to significant hikes in retail prices in 2025, in part because dealers were selling autos from inventory.However, analysts say consumers may see greater car price hikes in 2026 due to tariffs, potentially affecting demand.Cox estimates that US sales will come in at 15.8 million in 2026, or 2.4 percent below its projection for 2025 sales.

Elon Musk’s AI tool Grok faced growing international backlash Monday for generating sexualized deepfakes of women and minors, with the European Union joining the condemnation and Britain warning of an investigation.Complaints of abuse flooded the internet after the recent rollout of an “edit image” button on Grok, which enabled users to alter online images with prompts such as “put her in a bikini” or “remove her clothes.”The digital undressing spree, which follows growing concerns among tech campaigners over proliferating AI “nudify” apps, prompted swift probes or calls for remedial action from countries including France, India and Malaysia.The European Commission, which acts as the EU’s digital watchdog, joined the chorus on Monday, saying it was “very seriously looking” into the complaints about Grok, developed by Musk’s startup xAI and integrated into his social media platform X.”Grok is now offering a ‘spicy mode’ showing explicit sexual content with some output generated with childlike images. This is not spicy. This is illegal. This is appalling,” said EU digital affairs spokesman Thomas Regnier.”This has no place in Europe.”The UK’s media regulator Ofcom said it had made “urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK.”Depending on the reply, Ofcom will then “determine whether there are potential compliance issues that warrant investigation.”- ‘Horrifying’ -Malaysia-based lawyer Azira Aziz expressed horror after a user — apparently in the Philippines —  prompted Grok to change her “profile picture to a bikini.” “Innocent and playful use of AI like putting on sunglasses on public figures is fine,” Aziz told AFP. “But gender-based violence weaponizing AI against non-consenting women and children must be firmly opposed,” she added, calling on users to report violations to X and Malaysian authorities.Other X users directly implored Musk to take action against apparent pedophiles “asking grok to put bikinis on children.””Grok is now undressing photos of me as a child,” Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Musk’s children, wrote on X.”This is objectively horrifying, illegal.”When reached by AFP for comment, xAI replied with a terse, automated response: “Legacy Media Lies.”Amid the online firestorm, Grok sought to assure users on Friday that it was scrambling to fix flaws in the tool.”We’ve identified lapses in safeguards and are urgently fixing them,” Grok said on X.”CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material) is illegal and prohibited.”Separately last week, Grok posted an apology for generating and sharing “an AI image of two young girls (estimated ages 12-16) in sexualized attire based on a user’s prompt.”- ‘Grossly offensive’ -The flurry of reactions came after the public prosecutor’s office in Paris last week expanded an investigation into X to include new accusations that Grok was being used for generating and disseminating child pornography.The initial investigation against X was opened in July following reports that the platform’s algorithm was being manipulated for the purpose of foreign interference.On Friday, Indian authorities directed X to remove the sexualized content, clamp down on offending users, and submit an “Action Taken Report” within 72 hours, or face legal consequences, local media reported.The deadline lapsed on Monday, but so far there was no update on whether X responded.The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission also voiced “serious concern” at the weekend over public complaints about the “indecent, grossly offensive” content across X.It added it was investigating the violations and will summon X’s representatives.The criticism adds to growing scrutiny of Grok, which has faced criticism for churning out misinformation about recent crises such as the war in Gaza, the India-Pakistan conflict, as well a deadly shooting in Australia.burs-ac/sla