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  • The Week Evening Review
    Trump’s pressure on Havana, Newsom and Oz’s feud, and a productivity trend

     
    TODAY’S BIG QUESTION

    Will Trump’s oil push end Cuba’s Communist regime?

    American presidents, going back to Dwight Eisenhower, have tried to dislodge the Communist regime in Cuba, but none succeeded. President Donald Trump thinks he may have found the pathway by cutting off Havana’s access to oil.

    Last Thursday, he signed an executive order mandating new tariffs on any country selling oil to Cuba during its ongoing energy crisis, said The Associated Press. The Communist government “looks like it’s something that’s just not going to be able to survive,” said Trump. That’s clearly the goal. The White House is “actively seeking regime change in Cuba by the end of the year,” said The Wall Street Journal. American officials believe the country’s economy is “close to collapse” and the loss of a benefactor in recently deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro leaves the regime “fragile.”

    What did the commentators say?
    Cuba “hit back” at the order, said Bloomberg. Trump’s new directive reveals the “fascist, criminal and genocidal nature” of his government, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on X. Analysts say his country has “less than three weeks of fuel left” and that “transportation, agriculture and other basic services” could collapse if the fuel runs out, said Bloomberg. But the regime’s American opponents say ending the Communist government would be worth the pain. “Sometimes the cure is painful,” said Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.).

    Losing oil supplies will be a “devastating” blow to Cuba’s economy, said William LeoGrande at Responsible Statecraft. But American officials have announced the “imminent end of the Cuban government since 1959” without much success in their efforts. Those failures are partly due to a lack of a strong opposition party. Cubans have long found it “easier to emigrate than to confront the government.”

    Cuba cannot be fixed by an “outside actor,” said Ricardo Torres at Time. Strong-arming Havana “strengthens hardliners inside Cuba and invites overconfidence outside it.” External shocks may “accelerate the timeline” of a “failing” system, but American leaders cannot determine Cuba’s future. 

    What next?
    A recent CIA analysis was “inconclusive” on whether the country’s deteriorating economy would “destabilize the government,” said Reuters. But officials believe Havana is ripe for a push. The Communist government has “no money. They have no oil,” Trump said on Saturday. Pressure will probably nudge Cuba’s leaders to “come to us and want to make a deal.”

     
     

    Statistic of the day

    $2.1 billion: The amount China lent to Africa in 2024, according to analysis from Boston University. This marks a more than 90% drop from 2016, when Beijing loaned Africa more than $28 billion. The downward slide began with a 60% drop in lending during the Covid-19 pandemic.

     
     
    In The Spotlight

    Gavin Newsom and Dr. Oz feud over fraud allegations

    California’s governor has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration, and he has found his latest target. Gavin Newsom (D) has filed a civil rights complaint against Dr. Mehmet Oz, the head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, over the latter’s allegations of health care fraud in the Golden State. While Newsom has claimed the allegations are racially motivated, Oz is pushing back.

    Video origins
    The feud began after Oz posted a video on X claiming to document health care fraud being perpetrated by Armenian immigrants throughout Los Angeles County. The county has become an “epicenter for health care fraud in America,” Oz said in the video, alleging $3.5 billion of fraud and that the schemes are “run, quite a bit of it, by the Russian Armenian mafia.”

    Oz’s allegations are largely against hospice centers and home health care businesses. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which Oz runs, “certifies hospice providers to accept patients on government-subsidized health insurance,” said The Associated Press. But while Oz claims to be focusing on medical fraud, the video showed him standing not in front of a health care center but an Armenian-owned bakery.

    Newsom filed a civil rights complaint against Oz. The video includes “racially charged and false public statements,” and Oz’s words “reveal a discriminatory motive that could infect how allegations of alleged fraud are conducted,” Newsom said in the filing. The Armenian National Committee of America also filed a similar civil rights complaint.

    ‘No Armenian mafia going on here’
    The video has “generated intense local backlash” among the local Armenian diaspora, said The New York Times. Fraud allegations in Los Angeles have also been investigated before, and “hospice fraud investigations and prosecutions have been ongoing for at least five years” in California.

    “I am really disappointed,” said Movses Bislamyan, the owner of the bakery seen in Oz’s video, to KABC-TV Los Angeles. There’s “no Armenian mafia going on here. We are just hard-working businessmen.” Newsom’s complaint claimed the bakery experienced a 30% drop in business after the video’s release.

    But Oz maintains that he’s identifying fraud. “If there were a real defense for California’s fraud crisis, we would hear it. CMS and law enforcement will keep doing the actual work: going after fraudsters, period,” Oz said on X.

     
     
    QUOTE OF THE DAY

    ‘To every butch queen who was made to feel like you were too much, I am the proof that you needed and the sign that you have been waiting for.’

    Singer-songwriter Durand Bernarr to the LGBTQ+ community while accepting the Best Progressive R&B Album at the 68th Grammy Awards for his album “Bloom.” “Be yourself,” he added as he received his first Grammy after four career nominations.

     
     
    the explainer

    Admin night trend turns paperwork into a party

    At times, the simplest tasks, such as responding to emails, scheduling appointments and paying bills, can pile up. Then you suddenly have one tedious mountain of a to-do list. Tackling such monotonous tasks may seem unappealing, but a viral TikTok trend is showing people how to make those snoozers more engaging. You need only gather your friends for an “admin night.”

    What’s the purpose?
    To deal with the tedious administrative tasks of adulthood, you can gather several friends for this “nerdy little party," said Chris Colin at The Wall Street Journal. The premise of such a gathering is to “deal with the stuff we’ve been putting off, help each other when possible” and “make a fun evening of something onerous.” Now, this formula of combining friends and admin has been “adopted by paperwork-averse social media users,” said The Independent. 

    On TikTok, admin night is “emerging as one of 2026’s most relatable low-key hangout trends” — a “structured, communal way to tackle the invisible labor of adulthood together," said Mashable. In a “cultural moment defined by financial anxiety, burnout” and an “appetite for quieter socializing,” it makes a “surprising amount of sense.” 

    Why is the trend going viral now?
    The timing of the viral trend “isn’t accidental,” said Mashable. In 2026, “low-key hangs have fully replaced nights out as the default social currency.” Inflation, “post-burnout fatigue” and a “collective reassessment of what ‘fun’ should look like” have led to gatherings that are “more affordable, quieter and more intentional.” Admin night “fits neatly into that shift,” and on TikTok, the “aesthetic reflects that softness.” Admin night videos “favor candles over timers, cozy couches over desks, wine or tea over energy drinks.” 

    In recent years, we have all been “sinking into a quicksand of tiny, dumb administrative tasks,” said Colin. Admin night is “refreshingly bipartisan in this polarized era.” The institutions that “once shielded us from bureaucratic load and consumer abuse have lost the ability to do so.”

     
     

    Good day 🥊

    … for keeping your head up. Late in the second round of his heavyweight bout against Kingsley Ibeh, boxer Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller’s toupee was dislodged by one of Ibeh’s blows. Miller threw it into the crowd and despite the setback won the fight and rubbed the top of his head while celebrating.

     
     

    Bad day 🤐

    … for stealing secrets. Linwei Ding, a Chinese citizen and former Google software engineer, has been convicted in California of taking artificial intelligence technology from the company to create a startup in Beijing. He could face 10 years in prison for each of the seven counts of trade secret theft.

     
     
    Picture of the day

    Portland protest

    A flashbang grenade explodes among demonstrators protesting ICE’s actions in Portland, Oregon, this weekend. ICE also deployed pepper balls and tear gas after hundreds of people marched from Portland City Hall to an ICE facility. The federal government “must, and will, be held accountable,” said Mayor Keith Wilson.
    John Rudoff / Sipa USA / Reuters

     
     
    Puzzles

    Daily sudoku

    Challenge yourself with The Week’s daily sudoku, part of our puzzles section, which also includes guess the number

    Play here

     
     
    The Week recommends

    Vilnius: the green-minded Lithuanian capital 

    Vilnius has exactly what you want in a major European city. It has preserved historic quarters, a vibrant food scene and a spirited arts community, with the bonus of manageable crowds and a focus on sustainability.

    The city’s heart
    To get a sense of Vilnius, first head to its Old Town, a Unesco World Heritage Site. You will move through “cobbled alleyways” and pass a “harmonious succession of buildings” in different styles, “ranging from Baltic Gothic to neoclassical,” said Lonely Planet. This is one of Europe’s “largest and best-preserved medieval Old Towns,” dating back to 1323. 

    The cultural center of Lithuania
    In the “bustling” Uzupis district, be sure to gawk. This sliver of the city is “brimming with street art, local designer boutiques and hip eateries,” said Vogue Scandinavia. Annual celebrations include the Vilnius Light Festival in January, Vilnius Book Fair in February and March, and Midsummer Vilnius in July.

    The local staple
    Lithuania is “quietly becoming one of Europe’s most exciting food regions,” with up-and-coming chefs holding a deep respect for “nature, seasonality and the kind of quiet innovation that doesn’t need to shout to be heard,” said The Michelin Guide. The local staple saltibarsciai (cold beet soup) is so beloved that there’s an annual celebration of it in May, the Vilnius Pink Soup Fest. Wearing their finest pink attire, attendees enjoy a parade, costume competitions and races to see who can run through the city while “balancing bowls of pink soup without spilling a drop,” said Travel and Leisure.

    Read more

     
     

    Poll watch

    Exactly two-thirds of Americans worry about affording health care, according to a KFF survey, making it the public’s top concern. Of the 1,426 adults polled, more than half (55%) say their health care costs have gone up in the past year.

     
     
    WORD OF THE DAY

    humanizer

    A generative artificial intelligence tool that scans AI-generated text and suggests ways to alter it to seem more human. Amid rising accusations of cheating using AI, some college students are using humanizer tools to “avoid detection,” said NBC News. Others “want to ensure they aren’t falsely accused of AI use by AI-detector programs.”

     
     
    INSTANT OPINION

    Today’s best commentary

    ‘When courts become quality control’
    Ronell Smith at The Dallas Morning News
    Competence is “usually invisible,” says Ronell Smith. People “notice it when it’s missing — when major decisions are made quickly, explained incompletely, then ‘resolved’ only after legal challenge.” The “Trump administration’s recent Title X reversal is a “case study.” Reversals are “normal. What’s different is when reversal starts to feel like the governing method: act first, clarify later, and let litigation serve as the cleanup step. It’s a method we might call churn governance.”

    ‘T-maxxing has gone too far’
    Yasmin Tayag at The Atlantic
    American men are “attempting to increase their testosterone levels, whether they need to or not,” says Yasmin Tayag. Low testosterone “really can be debilitating,” but the “average decline in testosterone is not especially large.” Up to a “third of men on TRT don’t have a deficiency,” and this “maximalist approach to testosterone is risky.” Pumping the body “full of testosterone may not alleviate the problems that patients set out to solve,” as “every patient responds to testosterone differently.”

    ‘How the world fell in love with climbing’
    Josh Noble at the Financial Times
    That climbing has “piqued the interest of the world’s largest subscription streaming service is a sign of how big the pursuit has become,” says Josh Noble. The number of people climbing has “exploded — fueled by the post-pandemic boom in exercise, the sport’s addition to the Olympic program, and awe-inspiring achievements from daredevil climbers.” But some in climbing are “wary of how the most dangerous version, free solo climbing, is typically what garners the most attention.”

     
     

    Evening Review was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Justin Klawans, Joel Mathis and Summer Meza, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

    Image credits, from top: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Getty Images / Shutterstock; Alex Wong / Getty Images; Iuliia Bondar / Getty Images; ewg3D / Getty Images
     

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