Cuba

At least two dead as heavy rain hits island

The Cuban weather service said the downpours would last until Saturday afternoon, bringing more than 20cm (8in) of rain to some places.

Western and central areas of the country, including Havana, are the worst affected.

Hurricane Agatha hit Mexico last Monday, killing nine people.

Nearly 2,000 people have evacuated their homes in Havana, and around 50,000 people in and around the city are without electricity.

Evacuation centres have been prepared to shelter people from the rain, the state-affiliated Cuban News Agency reported.

Twin hurricanes threaten the Caribbean and US Gulf Coast

Marco, which strengthened to a hurricane on Sunday and is forecast to hit the Louisiana coast on Monday, will be followed by Tropical Storm Laura, now over the Dominican Republic and expected to travel across Hispaniola and Cuba and strengthen to a hurricane before striking the Gulf Coast on Thursday.

Earthquake in Caribbean triggers tsunami warning for Cuba, Jamaica

It triggered a tsunami warning for Cuba, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, the US Geological Survey and the International Tsunami Information Centre said.

The quake, initially reported as a magnitude 7.3 before being upgraded, was centred in the sea between Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and Cuba, at a shallow depth of 10 kilometres.

"Hazardous tsunami waves from this earthquake are possible within 300km of the epicentre along the coasts of Jamaica … Cayman Islands and Cuba," the International Tsunami Information Centre said.

     

Trump threatens to roll back US-Cuba relations

"If Cuba is unwilling to make a better deal for the Cuban people, the Cuban/American people and the U.S. as a whole, I will terminate the deal," Trump tweeted.

Trump's threat came after the death of long-time Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, whose passing on Saturday he marked with another tweet. "Fidel Castro is dead!" the president-elect wrote, before issuing a statement condemning the Cuban leader.

Cuba's Fidel Castro, dies aged 90

It provided no further details.

Fidel Castro ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost half a century before handing over the powers to his brother Raul in 2008.

His supporters praised him as a man who had given Cuba back to the people. But his opponents accused him of brutally suppressing opposition.

In April, Fidel Castro gave a rare speech on the final day of the country's Communist Party congress.

He acknowledged his advanced age but said Cuban communist concepts were still valid and the Cuban people "will be victorious".

 

US changes vote on UN resolution against Cuba embargo

Holiday shopping, the city's marathon, and the US voting against the rest of the world at the UN over Washington's Cuba embargo.

On Wednesday, however, the US took the small but significant step of changing its vote to an abstention on the annual UN General Assembly resolution calling for an end to the US economic embargo of the island nation.

Trump threatens to reverse diplomatic relations with Cuba

The Republican nominee also said he would do "whatever you have to do to get a strong agreement," even if that meant breaking off the recently-resumed diplomatic relations.

"I just want to press -- would you break off diplomatic relations, though, on day one?" CBS4's Jim Defede asked Trump.

Russia 'considering military bases in Cuba and Vietnam'

Nikolai Pankov announced a review of the decision to close the two bases more than a decade ago.

The two served as pivots of Soviet military power during the Cold War.

It comes amid growing tensions between the US and Russia, and as Russia's parliament approved a longer term military presence at a Syrian airbase.

Mr Pankov told the Russian parliament on Friday they were "dealing with the issue" of the two bases, Russian news agencies reported.

He declined to go into detail.

Cuba plans to install wi-fi on Havana's iconic Malecon seafront

The move will make the popular area for tourists and young people into the largest hotspot on the island.

Only about 5% of Cubans enjoy web access at home and the government still heavily restricts content, although many social media sites are available.

Since last year the government has installed dozens of wi-fi hotspots in public areas, charging $2 an hour.

Although the price of wi-fi access in public places has recently dropped, it is still prohibitive for the vast majority of Cubans. The average state salary remains about $25 (£19) a month.

Palau establishes diplomatic link with Cuba

This came in a formal agreement between the presidents of the two countries, Cuba's Raúl Castro and Palau's Tommy Remengesau, at a ceremony in New York where the leaders are attending a UN summit.

Cuba's official state news agency Prensa Latina reports the Palau president as saying the diplomatic link-up symbolises the respect that Cuba has for small countries.

Remengesau said his country cherished the relation with Cuba and would do everything it could to make it prosper.

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