HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Margaret Chan, concluded on Wednesday her visit to Cuba, after four days of visits to several scientific and health care institutions and meeting with government officials. Margaret Chan described Cuba’s health parameters as impressive. read more...

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UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- The UN General Assembly called overwhelmingly Wednesday on US President Barack Obama's administration to end Washington's Cold War-era trade embargo against Cuba. This was the 18th year running that the UN General Assembly condemned US trade restrictions. read more...

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MIAMI, USA (Reuters) -- Fidel Castro is still influencing the government of President Raul Castro in Cuba and holding back any moves toward a democratic opening on the island, the exiled younger sister of both men said. Juanita Castro, 76 this week revealed she collaborated with the CIA. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- US, Cuban and Mexican scientists have drawn up plans for joint research in the Gulf of Mexico, in another sign of improvement in long-hostile US-Cuba relations. In a meeting in Havana this week, they agreed on top priorities for collecting information about the Gulf. read more...

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MIAMI, USA (Reuters) - The younger sister of Fidel and Raul Castro, Juanita Castro, collaborated with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency against her brothers' rule in Cuba before going into exile in Miami in 1964, she said on Sunday.  Juanita Castro, 76, has not spoken to either of her brothers for more than four decades. read more...

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LOS ANGELES, USA (AFP) -- Oscar-winning actor and political activist Sean Penn flew to Cuba hoping to interview its revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, entertainment news website TMZ reported Sunday. Penn was traveling with Diana Jenkins, the pair set out from Las Vegas on Saturday. read more...

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WASHINGTON, USA (Reuters) -- US President Barack Obama asked Spain to pass Cuba a message on the need for democratic reform when he met Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero earlier this month, according to a US official. Obama has pledged a "new beginning" in relations with Cuba. read more...

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RALEIGH, USA -- Environmental Defense Fund will send a team of experts to Havana, Cuba, on Sunday to discuss ways to eliminate overfishing, protect coral reefs, conserve coastal areas, and tap potential ocean energy - a signal that greater environmental cooperation may be on the horizon. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- The 12th Cuba-Belize Intergovernmental Meeting ended on Friday with the signing of a Cooperation Protocol for the 2009- 2010 period. The document was signed by Cuban Minister for Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca, and Belizean Minister of Foreign Affairs read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- Even though Cuba has been producing rum aged in American barrels for more than a century, the product cannot be sold in the United States because of the economic, commercial and financial blockade of that country against the island. The US consumes 40 percent of the alcoholic... read more...

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SANTA CLARA, Cuba (ACN) -- A paper presented on Wednesday during the 10th Scientific Meeting of the Cuban Society of Geology’s office in Villa Clara province shows a study of over 250 mineral lots in this territory where gold is present. During the meeting, Emiliano Gallardo, a specialist with the Geology and... read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez held official talks with his Guyanese counterpart, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, who arrived in Havana on Wednesday. Cuba and Guyana keep excellent bilateral relations as shown by the cooperation projects maintained between the two countries. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- Venezuela and Nicaragua introduced the issue of the US economic blockade against Cuba in a meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) underway in Washington to discuss the current political crisis in Honduras. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- New Orleans hopes to cash in on an improvement in US-Cuba relations by getting direct charter flights between New Orleans and Havana, the US city's mayor said in Havana. "We see a huge opportunity if President (Barack) Obama continues to go in the direction he's headed," Ray Nagin said. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- A day after his surprise release from prison, Cuban dissident Nelson Aguiar urged the government on Wednesday to free all political prisoners and said he was at one stage held in "Stone Age" conditions during his six years behind bars. Aguiar, 64, told Reuters he was stunned... read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- Cuba's government has released one of its estimated 200 political prisoners in a gesture of goodwill following a visit by Spain's foreign minister, Cuban dissidents and Spanish diplomats said on Tuesday. Spain portrayed the release as a vindication of its policy of engagement. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- Business between Cuba and four of its top five trading partners has declined sharply this year in a reflection of the communist-led Caribbean island's deep economic crisis, trade reports from the countries said. Reductions in exports to and imports from Cuba ranged from 20 percent. read more...

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CIEGO DE AVILA, Cuba (ACN) -- Farmers from this central Cuban province started sowing a new variety of pineapple that triples the yield of previous ones and has higher concentrations of sugar and Vitamin C, according to experts. Known as MD-2, the species is capable of producing from 80 to 120 tons per hectare. read more...

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WASHINGTON, USA -- More than two dozen items, ranging from travel and entertainment to jewelry and original artwork, are available for auction with the proceeds benefiting people with the greatest needs in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Pan American Development Foundation announced on Monday. read more...

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BELMOPAN, Belize -- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in Belize has announced that the 12th Session of the Belize/Cuba Mixed Commission will be held in Havana, Cuba on 22 and 23 October. The Belize delegation will be headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Wilfred Elrington. read more...

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CHARLESTOWN, Nevis -- A top health official on Nevis described the response to the first of weekly Cuban eye care specialist’s clinics at the Alexandra Hospital last week as overwhelming. Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health in the Nevis Island Administration Joslyn Liburd, told the... read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- The Cuban Agriculture Ministry has prioritized the boosting of food production in order to guarantee the country’s food safety as a way to face the impact of the world economic crisis. In a ceremony to mark World Food Day on Friday in the capital, Havana, Agriculture Deputy Minister Jose Puente... read more...

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NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) -- The mayor of New Orleans flew to Cuba Friday on a mission to study the island's respected disaster preparedness methods in another sign of easing diplomatic relations. Ray Nagin is the first US mayor to make a diplomatic visit to Cuba in 50 years, his office said. read more...

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NEW YORK, USA (Reuters) -- A Puerto Rican man who spent 41 years living in Cuba after hijacking a 1968 Pan American flight may have left exile there to follow his wife to the United States, according to his lawyer. Luis Armando Pena Soltren, 66, turned himself in to US authorities on Sunday. read more...

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CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) -- Installation of 1,630 kilometers of fiber optic cable between Cuba and Venezuela will start Wednesday, Venezuela's science and technology chief said. Caracas is communist Cuba's closest ally in Latin America, and a leading financial support through oil and trade deals. read more...

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NEW YORK, USA (AFP) -- A US man who fled to Cuba 41 years ago pleaded not guilty Tuesday in New York to a 1968 airliner hijacking, three days after he voluntarily returned home to face trial. Luis Armando Pena Soltren, 66, appeared before a federal magistrate in New York on charges of conspiracy to commit... read more...

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MIAMI, USA (Reuters) -- A US judge on Tuesday reduced the prison term for a Cuban spy from a life sentence to about 22 years in a high-profile espionage case that strained already hostile ties between Havana and Washington. US District Judge Joan Lenard resentenced Antonio Guerrero to 20 years, 10 months. read more...

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NEW YORK, USA (Reuters) -- Cuba will not allow dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez to travel to the United States to receive a journalism prize, Columbia University said on Tuesday. Sanchez, 34, whose "Generacion Y" blog is critical of Cuba's one-party Communist government was due to receive... read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- The impact of the world economic crisis on tourism is one of the topics on the agenda of the 2nd Meeting of Tourism Ministers of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), underway in this capital. In session at Havana’s Hotel Nacional de Cuba at closed doors... read more...

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NEW YORK, USA (AFP) -- A US man who fled to Cuba 41 years ago after allegedly hijacking an airliner has voluntarily returned to New York to face justice, US prosecutors said Monday. The fugitive, Luis Armando Pena Soltren, was taken into custody on arrival at JFK Airport on Sunday. read more...

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MIAMI, USA (AFP) -- A judge has said one of five members of the biggest Cuban spy ring broken up in the United States will be resentenced on Tuesday, after earlier sentences for the crew were deemed too harsh. Cuba has acknowledged the men were agents but claims they were working to stop terrorist attacks. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro lauded the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama, saying on Saturday it was "a positive measure" that was more a criticism of past US policies than a recognition of Obama's accomplishments. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) -- Cuba announced that three pregnant women died after contracting swine flu, the first report of A(H1N1) casualties on the communist island. "We unfortunately have to regret three confirmed cases of people who died" of swine flu, Deputy Health Minister Jose Angel Portal Miranda said. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) -- US-Cuba relations have warmed under US President Barack Obama, but domestic political and economic problems weighing on both governments are likely to slow any major progress in ending 50 years of hostility. Change in the relationship is fraught with uncertainties. read more...

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MADRID, Spain (Reuters) -- French alt-rock artist Manu Chao is in Cuba to play two concerts marking the 42nd anniversary of the assassination in Bolivia of Cuban-Argentine revolutionary leader Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. Chao and his band Radio Bemba Sound System last played in Cuba three years ago. read more...

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KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) -- A would-be hijacker who held more than 180 people at gunpoint aboard a Canadian charter jet in Jamaica in April was jailed for 20 years on Thursday. Stephen Fray, 21, had demanded to be flown to Cuba after storming the CanJet plane at Sangster International Airport. read more...

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MIAMI, USA (Reuters) -- Improved enforcement and the economic downturn have sharply cut the number of Cuban migrants trying to reach the United States this year by sea across the Florida Straits, the US Coast Guard said. The United States wants Cuba to free up legal travel by Cubans granted US visas. read more...

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For almost fifty years, the United States has prohibited the vast majority of its citizens from traveling to Cuba as a part of its economic embargo on the island. However, a flood of American tourists may soon be unleashed on this forbidden island as a bipartisan coalition grows in the US Congress. read more...

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MIAMI, USA (Reuters) -- Cuban President Raul Castro and his army are running Cuba like a "military corporation" and former leader Fidel Castro maintains a powerful, a Cuba expert says in a new book published on Tuesday. The book also dedicates a section to two of Fidel Castro's most notorious enemies. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba, (ACN) -- Arlene Roberts, an attorney and a journalist specialized in showbusiness, described as arbitrary the decision of the US government of preventing the New York Philharmonic Orchestra from performing in Havana. She says that the Orchestra had planned a visit to the Cuban capital. read more...

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