Cuba

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No Survivors in Cuba Plane Crash
 No Survivors in 
 Cuba Plane Crash 
UPDATED

No Survivors in Cuba Plane Crash

68 people onboard downed AeroCaribbean plane

(Newser) - All 68 passengers are dead after a Cuban airliner flying from the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba to the capital crashed last night, authorities announced. AeroCaribbean Flight 883 went down near the village of Guasimal in Santi Spiritus province, carrying 61 passengers, including 28 foreigners, and a crew of...

UN Issues Fresh Call to End Cuba Embargo

Resolution passes for 19th year in a row

(Newser) - The United Nations has, for the 19th year in a row, passed a resolution to drop its longstanding economic embargo against Cuba. The resolution, once again, passed by an overwhelming majority, with 187 nations voting in favor of it and only the US and Israel voting against it, CNN reports....

Hurricane Paula Aims at Cuba Tobacco Fields

It's a category 2 but looks to be weakening

(Newser) - Hurricane Paula charged toward western Cuba and its lush tobacco fields today, threatening to inundate an area still recovering from three major hurricanes in 2008. Officials took heart that the storm was weakening and becoming less defined. It's expected hit tonight or early tomorrow.

Cuba's 500K Layoffs a Sharp Capitalist Turn

Raul Castro's slow reforms hastened by crap economy

(Newser) - Cuba's announcement that it's looking to whack a half-million workers off the state payroll by March is a significant move toward capitalism, reports the Wall Street Journal. Bearing some 85% of the nation's 5.5 million workers on the government payroll, as well as a ravaged economy, the island nation...

Fidel: 'Cuban Model Doesn't Even Work For Us'

Castro suggests state has too big a role in the economy

(Newser) - Fidel Castro doesn't seem thrilled with the way his revolution is working out. Asked by Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic whether the Cuban model should be exported, he came back with this remarkable reply: "The Cuban model doesn't even work for us anymore." Whaa? Goldberg gets help interpreting...

Fidel: 'No One Blames the Muslims for Anything'

He wants Iran to stop slandering Jews

(Newser) - Now that Fidel Castro is getting his groove back, he spoke with Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic on his fears of a US-Iran war, Israel, and his regrets on the missile crisis. Some highlights:
  • "I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews. I would say much
...

Fidel Sorry for 'Gay Injustice'

'I blame myself,' says aging leader

(Newser) - A contrite Fidel Castro has acknowledged Cuba's "great injustice" against gays and lesbians, who were sent to labor camps and prisons throughout the 1960s and '70s. "They were moments of great injustice, great injustice," Castro said in an interview with a Mexican newspaper. "If someone is...

10 Reasons Cuba Embargo Must Go

 10 Reasons 
 Cuba Embargo 
 Must Go  
OPINION

10 Reasons Cuba Embargo Must Go

It's hypocritical...plus, Americans want to go there

(Newser) - As President Obama slowly works on the Cuba travel restrictions, Delia Lloyd offers up 10 reasons the long-standing trade embargo should be overturned entirely. Via Politics Daily :
  • It’ll make money: Americans will surely help Cuba’s tourism industry, and the US agricultural sector would benefit from fewer restrictions on
...

Cuba Snuffs Smoking Subsidy for Elderly

Smokes no longer a necessity, Castro decides

(Newser) - Cigarettes should no longer be considered an essential item for the elderly, the Cuban government has decided. In an effort to cut spending, Raul Castro's government has axed the subsidy that supplied everybody over 54 with four packs of cut-price smokes a month, the BBC reports. Subsidies for chickpeas and...

Obama Plans to Ease Cuban Travel Rules

Will remove Bush's restrictions on cultural, academic trips

(Newser) - President Obama intends to peel back restrictions on travel to Cuba enacted under George W. Bush, allowing academic, religious, and cultural groups to more freely venture to and from the communist island. Obama already lifted the restrictions for Americans with relatives on the island in 2009, but is now returning...

Castro Addresses Parliament After 4-Year Absence

He appears to be in fine form after illness

(Newser) - Fidel Castro continued his gradual re-emergence into Cuban politics today by giving his first speech to parliament in 4 years. It "was a solid, polished performance, Mr Castro's voice stronger than at any point since he re-emerged into public life," observes the BBC . In the speech—it lasted...

State Department Spy for Cuba Sentenced to Life

Walter Kendall Myers, 73, confessed to espionage, wire fraud

(Newser) - A 73-year-old retired State Department employee who was also a spy for Cuba for almost 30 years was sentenced to life in prison today after pleading guilty to espionage and wire fraud. Walter Kendall Myers was also fined $1.7 million—including the money he was paid as a government...

Surprisingly Spry Fidel Appears on Cuban TV

Former leader looks healthy, blasts US

(Newser) - Fidel Castro is back, and looking pretty spry for an 83-year-old. A relaxed, healthy-looking Castro appeared for an extended hour and 15-minute conversation on Cuba’s Mesa Redonda (“Round Table”) nightly talk show yesterday. He spent much of the time reading essays by other people, or having his...

Castro Makes Rare Public Appearance

Cuban leader 'thin' but 'looks good'

(Newser) - New photographs of a smiling, tracksuit-clad Fidel Castro greeting workers at a scientific think tank were posted on the blogs of two Cuban journalists and a media website yesterday, offering a rare glimpse of the reclusive revolutionary leader in a public forum. Castro, 83, appears slightly stooped but otherwise healthy...

Cuba to Free 52 Dissidents
 Cuba to Free 52 Dissidents 

Cuba to Free 52 Dissidents

Decision could save life of man on hunger strike

(Newser) - Cuba has promised to release 52 political prisoners, after one of them went on an attention-grabbing hunger strike. Guillermo Fariñas, a 48-year-old psychologist and journalist, has been hospitalized thanks to his hunger strike, which he began back in February, after a previous hunger striker starved to death. Spanish foreign...

Cuba Denounces Arizona Immigration Law

Reminding us that the state itself was 'stolen from the noble Mexican people'

(Newser) - Cuba is getting in on the outrage over Arizona's illegal immigration crackdown. A declaration from the Cuban Parliament today declared solidarity with “those who're facing the brutal violation of their human rights” at the hands of “a law of deep racist and xenophobic nature,” according to the...

Oil Spill Brings US, Cuba Together
Oil Spill Brings US, Cuba Together

Oil Spill Brings US, Cuba Together

Good thing, writes analyst: Havana is looking for wells, too

(Newser) - As the oil spill spreads toward Florida and Cuba, the State Department has begun briefing Havana on efforts to control it. "We also communicated US desire to maintain a clear line of communication with the Cuban government on developments,” one official tells ABC . The rare talks between diplomatic...

Fla. Tar Balls Not From Spill, but Oil Heading That Way

Loop Current will take it up the Florida coast in about a week

(Newser) - Good news: The tar balls found on the beaches of Florida are not a result of the Gulf oil spill, authorities have proven. Bad news: It's only a matter of days before the oil hits for real. The spill has reached the Loop Current, the Miami Herald reports, which will...

Cuba Liberates Its Hair Salons
 Cuba Liberates Its Hair Salons 

Cuba Liberates Its Hair Salons

Lucky barbers and beauticians will be able to work for themselves

(Newser) - Raul Castro has decided to get the Cuban government out of its citizens' hair. Barber shops and beauty salons with three or fewer seats will now be allowed to be owner-operated rather than run by the state. Cuba-watchers see the tentative loosening as the start of a long-anticipated—or at...

Cuba Releases Photos of Elian Gonzales, 16

As a boy in the US, he set off a furor over immigration

(Newser) - Cuba has released photos of one-time exile cause célèbre Elian Gonzalez wearing an olive-green military school uniform and attending a Young Communist Union congress. Gonzalez, now 16 with closely cropped black hair, is shown serious-faced with fellow youth delegates during last weekend's congress in Havana. The images were...

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