You may have just seen that Neurosis is set to headline Fire In The Mountains 2026. Which is shocking, considering Neurosis ended when Scott Kelly was outed as the worst dude and it didn’t seem like we’d ever get them back. Not only did we get ’em back, but Neurosis is also now streaming a surprise new record called An Undying Love for A Burning World that you can stream right now below.
As for the quality, it’s Neurosis. If you’re expecting anything less than something fucking awesome, you’re a moron.
“Spring Equinox 2026 – A time for new beginnings. We are Neurosis,” wrote the band in a brief statement. “Aaron Turner is our new bandmate. Our new album An Undying Love for a Burning World is out today. You can listen to it in its entirety and order here: https://music.neurotrecordings.com/burning_world.
“We will be playing our first show in seven years on the traditional lands of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana as part of Fire in the Mountains festival by special invitation of Firekeeper Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to reducing youth suicide in Indian Country. This is our only currently scheduled show. We humbly request your presence to join us in this much needed catharsis.”
The world might suck right now, but a new Neurosis album certainly helps with the catharsis that we all need.
On the new record, Neurosis said: “We need this, perhaps more than ever, and we suspect we are not alone. The trials and tribulations in our personal lives and as a band, combined with simply trying to navigate the insanity of our society, with the stress, anxiety, and isolation that come with it can be excruciating.
“Add to that the existential confusion and sorrow of the climate crisis and the sixth mass extinction. It is enough to cause you to completely lose your mind if you can’t find release or catharsis. This strange emotionally charged music has always been our method of trying to survive this and this is what we’ve always been singing about.
“When you have spent a lifetime engaged with these energies and utilizing this form of expression to purge and purify, it feels detrimental to our well-being to let it sit idle and neglected. This was now or never.”
Turner added: “From the moment I first heard Neurosis over 30 years ago, I felt this was the music my heart and mind had been seeking but not yet heard. Now after many years traveling along various musical paths of my own, the singular sound and spirit embodied by Neurosis continues to speak to the depths of my being.
“It is an honor and a true pleasure to have been welcomed so warmly into a band that not only shaped my perspective on the limitless possibilities of music – but has lived and exemplified the necessity of upholding creative integrity and camaraderie above all else.”
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Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider dropped a hint at the NFL combine about how negotiations with running back Kenneth Walker III might go.
Speaking with reporters in Indianapolis, Schneider said that while the Seahawks would love to re-sign the Super Bowl LX MVP, they had to operate with their entire team in mind. He meant that they weren’t going to engage in a bidding war — even with one of the NFL’s healthiest salary cap situations — lest they hamper their ability to keep other pieces of their championship roster intact.
So it came as little surprise when the Seahawks let Walker leave for a three-year, $43.05 million deal with the Kansas City Chiefs minutes after the negotiating window opened last Monday. It was unlikely that Seattle was going to pay top-five running back money for someone who split snaps with Zach Charbonnet in 2025 and probably would have remained in a timeshare in 2026.
Schneider & Co. took a similarly disciplined approach with safety Coby Bryant, who signed a three-year, $40 million deal with the Chicago Bears. Those losses plus the expected departures of cornerback Riq Woolen and outside linebacker Boye Mafe position the Seahawks to receive a projected four compensatory picks in 2027, according to OverTheCap.
As sensible as those decisions were, they leave the Seahawks with some holes to fill, including a need for speed in their post-Walker backfield.
After adding a power runner in ex-Green Bay Packer Emanuel Wilson to pair with George Holani and Charbonnet — who is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in the playoffs — Seattle now has to find someone to recoup some of the home-run-hitting ability that’s missing with Walker gone.
The Seahawks did not make a serious run at signing Tyler Allgeier, according to a source close to the situation, despite speculation prior to free agency that linked Seattle to the former Atlanta Falcons back. They watched one potential target in the Washington Commanders‘ Chris Rodriguez Jr. sign a two-year, $10 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars, then added Wilson on a one-year deal that’s worth up to $2.1 million.
Undrafted in 2023 out of Division II Fort Valley State in Georgia, Wilson spent his first three seasons in Green Bay. As a backup to Josh Jacobs over the last two, he combined for 998 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 228 carries (4.4 average), adding 147 receiving yards and a touchdown on 26 catches in that span.
Listed at 5-foot-10 and 226 pounds, Wilson looks better suited to help replace Charbonnet’s power running style than to replicate Walker’s explosiveness.
“Our pro staff did a great job evaluating, identifying Emanuel and just saying, here’s this 230-pound guy with great feet,” Schneider said on his Seattle Sports 710-AM radio show. “You sign a one-year deal like that, it’s kind of like, come on in, come be part of our culture, come prove it, see what you can do and compete with the group. He gives us a little bit something different. He’s a heavy runner, and [we’re] excited about him.”
The Seahawks will continue to add to their backfield, which will likely be without Charbonnet for a good chunk of 2026.
Schneider and coach Mike Macdonald have both expressed optimism about Charbonnet’s prognosis after surgery to repair the torn ACL. But that surgery didn’t take place until late February, which means there’s still a chance he isn’t ready until the second half of next season.
“If it was up to Charbs, he probably would have just braced it up and played the last two games,” Schneider told the station. “Again, he’s a true pro. He’s so strong and his work ethic is outstanding. … The surgery went very well and the outlook is good. I’m sure he’s going to attack his rehab like he always does.”
Twice on his weekly radio show, Schneider has praised Holani for the job he did in the playoffs after assuming the No. 2 role when Charbonnet went down. The production wasn’t eye-popping — 44 scrimmage yards on nine touches in two games — but Holani was effective as a receiver out of the backfield and provided what Schneider called “elite” pass protection.
“The one thing that got overlooked in those last two games — and I was talking to Mike Macdonald about this — George, he was awesome in the NFC title game and Super Bowl,” Schneider said. “Every time he goes in the game he just performs.”
The Seahawks believe Holani has the ability to handle RB2 duties full time. But the 2024 undrafted free agent also isn’t known as the kind of big-play threat that Walker has been over his four NFL seasons. Including playoffs, Walker’s 34 career carries of 20-plus yards are fourth most among running backs in that span.
Despite running the ball at the NFL’s highest rate, the Seahawks ranked fifth during the regular season with 75 plays of 20-plus yards. Their eight plays of at least 50 yards were second most (Patriots had 10).
After losing Walker, they made a significant move to maintain some of that explosiveness when they re-signed wide receiver/Pro Bowl kick returner Rashid Shaheed for three years and $51 million. Shaheed gives Seattle a big-play complement to Cooper Kupp‘s chain-moving skill set as secondary options behind Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
If Horton can stay healthy after his rookie season was cut short by a knee injury, the Seahawks’ receiver corps shouldn’t be lacking for speed. But it’s less clear where that will come from in their backfield. Kenny McIntosh could be one answer, but the 2024 seventh-round pick is recovering from an ACL tear after missing time with a different knee injury as a rookie.
The Dolphins’ roster purge has led some to wonder about a potential trade for De’Von Achane, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported this week that Miami has told interested teams that the fourth-year speedster is not available.
That means that the draft — where they currently have just four picks — might be the Seahawks’ likeliest path to filling their backfield’s need for speed. ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid recently projected the Seahawks to draft Mike Washington Jr., a running back out of Arkansas, in the second round of his latest mock draft.
“We love the guys on our team right now, but we will be continuing to look at that position,” Schneider said.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s super PAC seeded two anonymous groups that spent more than $14 million to influence pivotal House Democratic primaries in Illinois on Tuesday — marking a new salvo in the battle over policy on Israel within the Democratic Party.
United Democracy Project, a super PAC aligned with AIPAC that receives tens of millions of dollars from the group, openly spent another $5 million to boost Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin in her unsuccessful campaign for the state’s 7th Congressional District. But its involvement in the two other groups — Elect Chicago Women and Affordable Chicago Now! — had not been officially confirmed until Friday, when newly filed federal fundraising reports showed that UDP contributed $5.3 million of the $14.1 million the groups raised.
Donors who had previously contributed to UDP gave the groups millions more.
Altogether, the three super PACs accounted for 60% of all of the outside spending in Illinois House primaries this year. And while progressives had accused the pro-Israel group of being behind the spending, those direct ties were not confirmed until days after voters went to the polls.
“UDP was happy to support these local committees, along with Chicago donors, to make sure pro-Israel voices would have their voices heard,” Patrick Dorton, a UDP spokesman, told NBC News on Friday. “Like many other groups, we are using a number of different tools to engage in races this cycle,”
“At the end of the day, AIPAC is focused on making sure we have the largest, bipartisan pro-Israel majority in Congress,” Dorton continued, later adding: “By any measure the Chicago delegation is more pro-Israel today than it was before the primary election.”
The shielded spending and recent election results come amid a sea change in how American voters — especially Democratic voters — view Israel. Recent NBC News polling found two-thirds of Democrats say their sympathies lie more with the Palestinians than Israelis, and a majority of Democrats have a negative view of Israel broadly.
The combined pro-Israel effort was victorious in two races Tuesday, with former Rep. Melissa Bean and Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller winning a pair of crowded primaries. Both Democratic fields included progressives who had taken more critical approaches to U.S. policy toward Israel.
Democratic candidate Melissa Bean at Harper College in Schaumburg, Illinois, on Feb. 7.Talia Sprague / Tribune News Service via Getty Images
The AIPAC-backed effort failed in two other districts, with state Rep. La Shawn Ford narrowly defeating Conyears-Ervin in one primary, while Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss won the highest-profile and most contentious of the races, which exposed deep Democratic divisions on the issue.
Elect Chicago Women spent more than $5 million in that race, first to support state Sen. Laura Fine and then to attack Biss, who is Jewish, has criticized the Israeli government and calls himself a “progressive Zionist.”
When Biss proved to be a durable opponent, the spending against him ultimately stopped. A different group, Chicago Progressive Partnership, began trying to cut down a surging progressive candidate, Kat Abughazaleh, and then boosting another low-polling progressive, Bushra Amiwala, in an apparent attempt to split the progressive vote. Both Abughazaleh and Amiwala have been deeply critical of Israel and have referred to Israel’s conduct in Gaza as “genocide.”
Democratic candidate Kat Abughazaleh outside the Chicago Park District Loyola field house on March 17.Nam Y. Huh / AP
Chicago Progressive Partnership had not yet filed its February campaign finance report as of late Friday.
Biss specifically raised the issue of Israel policy in his victory speech, arguing that his campaign understood the “nuance and complexity” of the complicated issues around Israel and pushed back on pressure from groups like AIPAC.
“AIPAC found out the hard way: The 9th District is not for sale,” Biss said.
Usamah Andrabi, the communications director at the progressive group Justice Democrats, joined a parade of progressives celebrating Biss and Ford’s victories and framing them as a repudiation of AIPAC’s tactics and views.
“If ‘being pro-Israel was good politics or policy’, like AIPAC says, they wouldn’t have to completely avoid mentioning Israel in $21 million of ads and using shell PACs to hide their spending,” Andrabi said in a statement.
Dorton, the UDP spokesman, pushed back against that framing. He argued that “no candidate who made AIPAC or Israel a centerpiece of their campaign won in Chicago, with the exception of Biss,” whom Dorton cast as acceptable — despite the AIPAC groups’ massive spending to try to cut him down weeks ago.
“Obviously we have our differences with Daniel Biss but at least he’s a Zionist — and he’s far better than Kat Abughazaleh,” Dorton said.
“We are going to use every tool in the toolbox to try to get the best possible, pro-Israel results,” Dorton continued. “Sometimes it means we’ll have an extremely pro-Israel candidate, but in these multi-candidate fields, sometimes it’ll be a pretty good candidate that we can live with.”
Meanwhile, many prominent Democratic politicians are getting more comfortable distancing themselves from AIPAC or questioning America’s aid to Israel.
During an appearance on a “Crooked Media” podcast earlier this month, California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governance is “walking us down that path where I don’t think you have a choice” but to rethink U.S. military support for the country. This week, Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, who is Jewish, told The Associated Press that he sees AIPAC as “an organization that was supporting Donald Trump,” adding “AIPAC really is not an organization that I think today I would want any part of.”
Jim Kessler, the executive vice president for policy at Third Way, a think tank aligned with Democratic moderates, told NBC News that AIPAC’s involvement in a special House election in New Jersey earlier this year was a “watershed moment” for centrist Democrats like him who believe AIPAC spending directly led to the election of “someone far to the left on every issue.”
In that race, the AIPAC super PAC attacked former Rep. Tom Malinowski for considering conditions on aid to Israel, which helped progressive activist Analilia Mejia, who is far more critical of Israel, win the Democratic primary.
“There’s this rift that’s been growing for a while, but what happens when there’s one election on one day, instead of November when there are elections all across the country, this New Jersey race was a real, crystalizing moment that their influence is unhelpful,” Kessler said, adding that AIPAC is “maneuvering themselves out of the Democratic Party” given the organization’s alignment with the pro-Trump Netanyahu government.
“The existence of Israel, the safety of the Jewish people, is not helped when the main lobbying group for the country is seen as against one party,” he said.
Asked about that criticism of AIPAC from Democrats of different stripes, Dorton said that while he wouldn’t respond to individual criticism: “We represent millions of pro-Israel Democrats, we are undeterred,” he said. “We are going to continue to use all the tools at our disposal to make sure a pro-Israel Democratic voice is represented.”
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – For the second consecutive year, New Mexico United will host its rival in the US Open Cup. It has been announced that the black and yellow will host El Paso Locomotive in the round of 32 on Wednesday, April 1, at the UNM soccer complex at 7:25 p.m. “We are excited for […]
Tim McGraw is one of three artists named as Country Music Hall of Fame inductees in 2026. The “Live Like You Were Dying” hitmaker says even though he’s imagined this moment for years, “my imagination didn’t do it justice.”
Country Music Hall of Fame Class of 2026
Tim McGraw is the Country Music Hall of Fame’s choice in the Modern Era category, which recognizes who achieved national prominence over 20 years ago. This is the second straight year that a superstar from the 1990s and early 2000s has been selected. Last year, Kenny Chesney was awarded his medallion.
“Everything good in my life has come from country music,” McGraw says. “From my best memories as a kid, to meeting my wife, to this music community, to the friendships I’ve made along the way. To represent country music at the highest level is the greatest honor anyone could bestow on me.”
The Veterans Era choice for 2026 is the Stanley Brothers, a bluegrass duo formed by Ralph and Carter Stanley. Their career spanned two decades starting in the mid 1940s, and while they didn’t have many traditional radio hits — most popular is undoubtedly “Man of Constant Sorrow” — their influence is astonishing.
Carter Stanley died of liver failure in 1966 but younger brother Ralph lived to 89 and died in 2016. Dozens of heralded musicians joined the Clinch Mountain Boys (their band) over time, most well-known being Ricky Skaggs and Whitley. The third artist to be inducted in 2026 also has a Whitley connection.
Tibrina Hobson, Getty Images
Tibrina Hobson, Getty Images
Songwriter Paul Overstreet’s legendary career is closely tied to Randy Travis’. “Diggin’ Up Bones,” “Forever and Ever, Amen” and “Deeper Than the Holler” are three songs he helped write, but he remained relevant for decades to come.
Whitley’s “When You Say Nothing At All,” Chesney’s “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy,” Blake Shelton’s “Some Beach” and songs cut by Billy Currington and Zach Top are among his more contemporary efforts. The Mississippi native first struck it big in Nashville in 1982 when George Jones cut his song “Some Ole Me.”
Marty Stuart led the Country Music Hall of Fame press conference on Friday (March 20) from the Country Music Hall of Fame rotunda, where the bronze busts of members are displayed.
Country Music Hall of Fame Criteria
The Country Music Hall of Fame selects an artist or musician from the modern era and veterans category each year, and then another from a rotating trio of categories. Unlike its rock counterpart, there is no broad conversation or vote. They just tell us who’s getting in each year.
Most years, the new class is announced in the spring and formally inducted in the fall.
60 Artists Not in the Country Music Hall of Fame
Which county singer is most deserving of a Country Music Hall of Fame induction? Here are 60 artists who don’t have a medallion yet, with some thoughts on when each is eligible and if their fans can expect that nod soon.
When the sun rises on Saturday, the 2026 NCAA Tournament field will be cut in half. The 32 teams that make it to the weekend all enter into the “championship game” of their respective two-game tournaments, with a spot in the Sweet 16 serving as the prize. They don’t cut down nets for this round, but teams certainly understand the importance of that weekend win and extending their stay in the Big Dance.
For some, the March Madness experience might be tampered by a busted bracket or a bad pick in your Bracket Games. Luckily, the tournament always provides many ways to predict how things play out, and here in the Expert Picks corner, we have found a couple of unique angles to spotlight from Saturday’s slate.
Saturday’s schedule includes No. 11 seed VCU and No. 12 seed High Point, both upset winners in thrilling fashion from Thursday’s First Round. The ultimate test for any of these potential Cinderellas is always following up with a win on the weekend, and while the Rams and Panthers are incredible stories, the teams they face (No. 3 seed Illinois, No. 4 seed Arkansas) are an even tougher test. The Fighting Illini and Razorbacks are part of a group of top four seeds that went 8-0 on Thursday, as it was the mid-bracket chaos that really led the way.
No. 1 overall seed Duke will be back in action after surviving an upset scare from No. 16 seed Siena. The Blue Devils will square off against No. 9 seed TCU, while fellow No. 1 Michigan will get the day started against a high-octane Saint Louis squad that dominated Georgia in the 8-9 game in the Midwest Region on Thursday night. There’s also a fascinating pair of games in Oklahoma City, first with a Texas tangle between No. 2 Houston and No. 10 Texas A&M and then No. 4 Nebraska will be looking for its second-ever NCAA Tournament win in a fascinating clash with No. 4 Vanderbilt.
It’s an eight-game slate that will take fans from Noon ET to Midnight. Among those, we have spotlighted a few of our favorite picks below. If you prefer a more traditional straight-up or against-the-spread selection, we have included those as well, via the CBS Sports expert panel.
Michigan State is not typically an up-tempo team, but it generates offense by capitalizing on transition opportunities. With Louisville pushing the pace and getting shots up quickly, this matchup should feature more possessions — and, in turn, more chances for the Spartans to find easy points.
Michigan State’s defense also slipped late in the regular season, contributing to the over hitting in nine of its last 11 games. The Spartans have played faster in recent weeks than their season-long profile suggests, and in this matchup, pushing the pace before Louisville’s defense gets set could make them especially advantageous. Pick: Over 151
TCU should be able to bring the fight to Duke early, using the same pressure and physicality that produced wins over Iowa State and Texas Tech in the regular season and helped eliminate Ohio State in the first round.
The concern for the Horned Frogs is foul trouble. That physical style can lead to quick whistles, and Duke star Cam Boozer excels at playing through contact and generating points at the free-throw line. It’s also unlikely the Blue Devils will shoot as poorly from 3-point range as they did against Siena (5 for 26), so positive regression should help the No. 1 overall seed advance from Greenville — perhaps with a few new nightmares, but with its title hopes intact. Pick: Duke -11.5
Gonzaga’s late-night performance Thursday was less than inspiring. The Zags took 10 minutes to reach double digits, missing 11 of their first 15 shots. Though they ultimately won by nine, they failed to cover as 18-point favorites.
Texas, meanwhile, enters with momentum after a pair of wins that have the Longhorns exceeding expectations by reaching the second round. Sean Miller has a strong track record in the Round of 32, and Matas Vokietaitis‘ first-round showing suggests Texas’ versatile big man is in form ahead of a matchup with WCC Player of the Year Graham Ike.
The Longhorns have a legitimate chance to win outright, making them a compelling play to cover the spread.Pick: Texas +6.5
Illinois has met expectations when heavily favored this season. Coach Brad Underwood is 4-0 against the spread as a double-digit favorite in the NCAA Tournament.
While history doesn’t favor double-digit seeds following up a big upset, this pick isn’t about fading VCU after its dramatic comeback. It’s more of a nod to how Illinois handles these situations. The Rams will face a different caliber of backcourt pressure against Keaton Wagler and Kylan Boswell, and Illinois has enough shooters to punish teams that can’t slow or stop the ball.
Illinois wins with size and shooting that most opponents can’t match, and when the team presses, it can snowball quickly. Expect a similar dynamic in the nightcap in Greenville. Pick: Illinois -10.5
It hardly felt like a neutral site in Oklahoma City as “Go Big Red” chants echoed through a red-clad Paycom Center for Nebraska’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win. The victory was methodical, and I don’t expect much of an emotional hangover for the Cornhuskers, who were in rhythm offensively and drained 14 three-pointers.
The key will be defense, though, especially after Tyler Tanner expertly guided Vanderbilt through McNeese’s defensive pressure to create easy baskets near the rim. This matchup shapes up as a major schematic battle between Fred Hoiberg and Mark Byington, and I wouldn’t be surprised by big swings and lead changes throughout.
At the end of 40 minutes, I expect Nebraska to advance to the Sweet 16, making a couple of points as the underdog a solid value play. Pick: Nebraska +2.5
The U.S. Treasury has authorized the purchase of Iranian oil that’s already at sea, exempting buyers from the tight sanctions that have restricted the country’s oil industry for years — a move aimed at stemming soaring prices amid the U.S.’s war with Iran.
The sanctions license allows oil from Iran to be purchased if it was loaded onto a ship by 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday. The authorization lasts until April 19. They do not cover people located in North Korea, Cuba or the parts of Ukraine occupied by Russia.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Friday the move could free up around 140 million barrels of oil that otherwise would’ve been “hoarded by China on the cheap,” referring to China’s status as the largest importer of Iranian oil.
“In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against Tehran to keep the price down as we continue Operation Epic Fury,” Bessent said in a statement, casting it as a way of “expanding the amount of worldwide energy and helping to relieve the temporary pressures on supply caused by Iran.”
Bessent argued that Iran won’t be able to access much of the proceeds from the sales, writing that “the United States will continue to maintain maximum pressure on Iran and its ability to access the international financial system.”
But the move — which Bessent had telegraphed earlier this week — still marks a wartime loosening of President Trump’s strategy of “maximum pressure” against Iran, which dates back to his first term and consists of heavy sanctions that make it difficult to do business with wide swaths of the Iranian economy, including its energy industry.
Last week, the U.S. also greenlit the purchase of Russian oil that’s already at sea for one month, a reprieve from the intense sanctions that have hampered Russia’s economy since the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The moves are controversial. Congressional Democrats have sharply criticized the Trump administration for loosening sanctions on Russian oil, arguing the decision could deliver a windfall to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The new channels for evasion the President is opening, coupled with dramatically higher global energy prices, are giving Putin a huge financial boost and the means to continue his bloody war in Ukraine,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and several other Senate Democrats said in a joint statement earlier this month.
The Trump administration is grappling with a surge in oil prices wrought by the war with Iran. Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula that carries some 20% of the world’s oil — has slowed to a crawl as oil tanker operators fear Iranian attacks, making it difficult for major Arab oil producers to export petroleum. But Iran has allowed its own oil exports to make their way through the Strait.
But so far, prices have remained near multiyear highs.
Mr. Trump has also floated offering military escorts to tankers in the the Strait of Hormuz, though on Friday, he said he wants other countries to be involved in any potential escort operation since the U.S. isn’t reliant on Middle Eastern oil.
“If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Meanwhile, petroleum industry targets in both Iran and U.S.-allied Arab states have been struck over the course of the war. Last week, Mr. Trump ordered strikes on military targets on Kharg Island, which serves as Iran’s main oil export terminal, and threatened to strike oil-related targets there if Iran interferes with the Strait of Hormuz.
Asked by reporters Friday if he has a plan for Kharg Island, Mr. Trump said: “I can’t tell you that. Certainly a place that people are talking about, but I can’t tell you that.”
The Cuban government has refused a request by the U.S. Embassy in Havana to allow it to import diesel for its generators while the Trump administration continues to impose a fuel blockade on the island, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.The Cuban government turned down the request as the U.S. State Department has been weighing a reduction in staffing at the embassy in Havana because of the lack of diesel. Such a move would likely lead to a U.S. demand for a similar reduction in staffing at the Cuban Embassy in Washington, say the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.The Cuban government rejection was first reported by The Washington Post.Related video above: Cuba’s latest blackout underscores its deepening economic crisis as Rubio calls for new leadershipCuba has struggled with dwindling oil since the U.S. removed Venezuela’s leader, halting critical petroleum shipments from the nation. President Donald Trump then threatened tariffs on any country selling or supplying Cuba with oil.The island is relying on its own natural gas, solar power and its own oil to run thermoelectric plants, but that hasn’t been enough to meet demand.The standoff on diesel comes as Trump has been pressing for dramatic change in government led by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.Trump has suggested that top Cuban leaders would be smart to avoid the fate of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was ousted and arrested in a U.S. military operation in January. Venezuela had been Cuba’s closest ally and provided it with heavily subsidized oil.Any potential staffing reduction at the embassy is not expected to come immediately because the U.S. believes it has enough diesel in reserve to last for another month, according to one official.Díaz-Canel said last week that Cuba has held talks with the U.S. government. It marked the first time the Caribbean country had confirmed widespread speculation about discussions with the Trump administration in the midst of the Republican administration’s pressure campaign.Humanitarian organizations began delivering aid to Cuba by air Friday, including solar panels, food and medicine.Cuba has been preparing to receive a shipment of Russian oil later this month, which would be its first shipment in the past three months.Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio have said they see the island nation as the next country where the U.S. can expand its influence.The Trump administration is looking for Díaz-Canel to leave as the U.S. continues negotiating with the Cuban government, The Associated Press previously reported. No detail has been offered about who the administration might like to see come to power.
WASHINGTON —
The Cuban government has refused a request by the U.S. Embassy in Havana to allow it to import diesel for its generators while the Trump administration continues to impose a fuel blockade on the island, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
The Cuban government turned down the request as the U.S. State Department has been weighing a reduction in staffing at the embassy in Havana because of the lack of diesel. Such a move would likely lead to a U.S. demand for a similar reduction in staffing at the Cuban Embassy in Washington, say the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
The Cuban government rejection was first reported by The Washington Post.
Related video above: Cuba’s latest blackout underscores its deepening economic crisis as Rubio calls for new leadership
Cuba has struggled with dwindling oil since the U.S. removed Venezuela’s leader, halting critical petroleum shipments from the nation. President Donald Trump then threatened tariffs on any country selling or supplying Cuba with oil.
The island is relying on its own natural gas, solar power and its own oil to run thermoelectric plants, but that hasn’t been enough to meet demand.
The standoff on diesel comes as Trump has been pressing for dramatic change in government led by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Trump has suggested that top Cuban leaders would be smart to avoid the fate of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who was ousted and arrested in a U.S. military operation in January. Venezuela had been Cuba’s closest ally and provided it with heavily subsidized oil.
Any potential staffing reduction at the embassy is not expected to come immediately because the U.S. believes it has enough diesel in reserve to last for another month, according to one official.
Díaz-Canel said last week that Cuba has held talks with the U.S. government. It marked the first time the Caribbean country had confirmed widespread speculation about discussions with the Trump administration in the midst of the Republican administration’s pressure campaign.
Humanitarian organizations began delivering aid to Cuba by air Friday, including solar panels, food and medicine.
Cuba has been preparing to receive a shipment of Russian oil later this month, which would be its first shipment in the past three months.
Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio have said they see the island nation as the next country where the U.S. can expand its influence.
The Trump administration is looking for Díaz-Canel to leave as the U.S. continues negotiating with the Cuban government, The Associated Press previously reported. No detail has been offered about who the administration might like to see come to power.
