Cuba

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US Tried to Sow Dissent By Building 'Cuban Twitter'

AP reveals secret program aimed at spurring Cuban Spring

(Newser) - The US in 2009 started work on a thoroughly 21st-century way to attempt to stir unrest in Cuba: It concocted a "Cuban Twitter" that it hoped would draw young people that it could prod toward dissent, an AP investigation has found. The text messaging platform, ZunZuneo—slang for a...

'Complicated' Cuban Art Heist Uncovered

Paintings from national museum turn up in Miami

(Newser) - They're not quite working together, but American and Cuban authorities are both looking into the theft of at least 70 artworks from a Havana museum. In the first such heist reported since the 1959 Cuban Revolution, paintings worth a total of around $1.5 million were apparently cut from...

Fidel Castro Makes Rare Appearance

He's out in public for first time in 9 months

(Newser) - A "frail-looking" Fidel Castro showed up in public for the first time in nine months last night, reports the BBC . The occasion was the opening of an art studio in Havana, and the AP notes that the state's official newspapers and websites showed the 87-year-old only from behind....

Elian Gonzalez Is All Grown Up, and He's Mad

Says it's US' fault his mom died

(Newser) - Remember Elian Gonzalez? Well, he's not the little boy the US sent back to Cuba anymore. Gonzalez turned 20 last week, and he isn't happy with his almost-home. In an interview with CNN yesterday, Gonzalez said he blamed the US for the death of his mother, who drowned...

Is the Obama-Castro Handshake a Big Deal?

Right fumes over gesture at Mandela memorial

(Newser) - At Nelson Mandela's memorial, President Obama shook hands with the Cuban president, and the media is in a tizzy about it. "The handshake between Obama and Raúl Castro makes the stomach turn," writes Mona Charen at the National Review . "The nature of the Cuban regime...

'Homesick Hijacker' Returns to US After 29 Years

William Potts in FBI custody after return from Cuba

(Newser) - An American who hijacked an airliner to Cuba nearly 30 years ago as a self-described revolutionary was in custody today, a day after returning home on a charter flight from Havana. The FBI says agents took William Potts, 56, into custody shortly after his flight arrived at Miami International Airport....

Why Oswald Tried Another Killing Before JFK

He tried shooting Gen. Edwin Walker through his window, say authors

(Newser) - President Kennedy wasn't the only target on Lee Harvey Oswald's list: Before JFK's death, Oswald took aim at a strident anti-Communist general and missed. A new book, Dallas 1963, looks back at how Gen. Edwin Walker's barnstorming tour across the South and Oswald's rising political...

Cuba to Let Athletes Play in Other Countries

But apparently not in the US, at least for now

(Newser) - Pro athletes in Cuba make all of $20 a month, which goes a long way toward explaining why so many baseball players, boxers, and others have been defecting of late. But now the government hopes to remedy that: New rules will let Cuban athletes sign contracts to play in foreign...

One Weird Thing North Korea Does Better Than the West

Pour a glass of its Asian pear juice, say 2 samplers

(Newser) - Is there anything North Korea can teach the US? Turns out ... juice drinks? At Foreign Policy , Justin Rohrlich got his hands on snacks and drinks from nations cut off from American junk food—North Korea, Syria, Iran, and Cuba. He enlisted food writer Mark Bittman to help him sample the...

Your Tax Dollars: $79K a Year for Grounded Plane

TV Marti plane for Cuba in sequester 'limbo': Washington Post

(Newser) - The Washington Post today has one of those logic-defying stories about government-spending, this one involving a plane that's not allowed to fly. The government is paying a Georgia contractor $6,600 every month to house the plane, originally intended to fly over Cuba and broadcast anti-Castro programming. The problem...

She Did It! Nyad Finishes Epic Cuba-Fla. Swim

Swimmer completes 110-mile journey on 5th, final try in 35 years

(Newser) - The fifth try was indeed the charm: Diana Nyad has completed her 35-year-old odyssey to become the first swimmer to cross the Florida Straits Cuba without a shark cage. She was in the water roughly 53 hours, reports CNN . Nyad's team posted this message earlier on her website : "...

Secret Weapon Buoys Nyad's Final Cuba-Fla. Swim

Swimmer thus far avoiding jellyfish, thanks to special mask

(Newser) - American endurance swimmer Diana Nyad is "doing remarkably well" in her fifth attempt in 35 years to become the first person to successfully swim 103 miles from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage. She made it through the first night without any of the jellyfish stings that have...

Cuba Gets First English-Language Bookstore

American ex-pat opens co-op

(Newser) - Cuba's first English-language bookstore, cafe, and literary salon opened in Havana yesterday. The brainchild of a longtime US expat, Cuba Libro launched with just 300 books on offer, about what you'd expect to find in the lobby of an average US bed & breakfast. Next to what's...

North Korea to Panama: Give Back Our Ship

'Aging' weapons due for repair, return: Pyongyang

(Newser) - North Korea is finally weighing in on the seizure of its ship by Panama , and it says the weapons found on board are simply for repair and return to Cuba. "This cargo is nothing but aging weapons which are to be sent back to Cuba after overhauling them according...

Cuba: N. Korean Ship's Weapons Are Ours—and Old

'When this stuff was new, Castro was plotting revolutions'

(Newser) - North Korea—antique weapons repairer? The Cuban government says it owns the military equipment found on a North Korean ship seized by Panamanian authorities, and the "obsolete defensive weapons" found hidden in a cargo of sugar were to be repaired in the country before being returned to Cuba, the...

US to Russia: Hand Over Snowden

 US to Russia: 
 Hand Over 
 Snowden 
UPDATED
Jun 24, 2013 8:00 AM CDT

US to Russia: Hand Over Snowden

NSA leaker is supposed to be Cuba-bound

(Newser) - Edward Snowden spent the night in Moscow's airport and was expected to fly to Cuba today—but American authorities are making it clear that they'd prefer that the NSA whistleblower was enjoying their hospitality instead. In a statement, the National Security Council said it expects Moscow to look...

50 Years Later, You May Be Able to Mail Letter to Cuba

US, Cuba resuming talks this week on the subject

(Newser) - Since 1963, the only way to get a letter from the US to Cuba, or vice versa, was to go through a third country. That could soon change. The AP reports that diplomats and postal service reps from both countries are to meet in Washington this week to discuss the...

Jellyfish End Cuba-to-Florida Swim Dream

Chloe McCardel ends marathon swim after 11 hours

(Newser) - An Australian woman had to cut short her Cuba-to-Florida swim attempt yesterday after jellyfish put an end to her effort, reports Australia's ABC . Chloe McCardel, who would have been the first person to swim the 103-mile distance without a shark cage, called it quits after 11 hours and multiple...

Gitmo Hunger Strikers Forced Into Single Cells

US troops battle prisoners in pre-dawn raid

(Newser) - Over two months into their hunger strike , detainees at Guantanamo Bay today clashed with US forces who moved them from communal cell blocks to maximum security single cells. "Some detainees resisted with improvised weapons, and in response, four less-than-lethal rounds were fired," the prison camp said in a...

Carney on Jay-Z Lyric: 'I Guess Nothing Rhymes With Treasury'

White House shoots down song's line about Obama blessing Cuba trip

(Newser) - The flap over Jay-Z and Beyonce's trip to Cuba resulted in what has to be one of the odder exchanges in Jay Carney's tenure as White House spokesman. In this afternoon's news briefing, Donovan Slack of Politico noted that Jay-Z released a rap today in which he...

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