Move takes effect on 24 April as president weighs also stripping parole status from some 240,000 Ukrainians in US
Donald Trump’s administration will revoke the temporary legal status of 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans in the United States, according to a Federal Register notice on Friday, in the latest expansion of his crackdown on immigration.
It will be effective on 24 April.
Continue reading...Latest federal lawsuit so far applies only to 10 men detained in the US and facing transfer to the naval base in Cuba
Civil rights attorneys sued the Trump administration Saturday to prevent it from transferring 10 undocumented immigrants detained in the US to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, their second legal challenge in less than a month over plans to hold up to 30,000 people there for deportation.
The latest federal lawsuit so far applies only to 10 men facing transfer to the naval base in Cuba, and their attorneys said the administration will not notify them of who would be transferred or when. As with a lawsuit the same attorneys filed earlier this month for access to people already detained there, the latest case was filed in Washington and is backed by the American Civil Liberties Union.
Continue reading...Press secretary says at least two deportation flights to Cuban base of undocumented immigrants ‘under way’
The Trump administration has begun flying undocumented immigrants from the US to a military detention facility at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Tuesday.
Leavitt told Fox Business Network that at least two deportation flights were “under way”, but gave no further details.
Continue reading...The president wants to detain thousands of people at a site that is notorious for its secrecy and history of abuse
It has been denounced as “America’s gulag”: a secretive, abuse-ridden Caribbean prison camp for terror suspects that Donald Rumsfeld once said contained “the worst of the worst”.
“All of us have scars in our souls, deformities, from living at Guantánamo,” a former Yemeni inmate recalled of his time at the notorious military detention facility in south-east Cuba.
Continue reading...US president reinstates Cuba on terror list despite Biden deal to release prisoners jailed over demonstrations
The families of Cuban protesters jailed in anti-government demonstrations are waiting anxiously to see if the government will continue with a planned prisoner release after Donald Trump reneged on a deal made last week by Joe Biden.
Activists from the human rights group Justicia 11J believe around 150 prisoners have been released so far of the 553 agreed with the Catholic church.
Continue reading...Major resettlement reduces population in US detention facility in south-eastern Cuba to just 15 people
The United States has sent 11 Yemeni detainees at the Guantánamo Bay detention center to Oman, the Pentagon said on Monday, in a major resettlement that nearly halves the detention facility’s remaining number of prisoners.
The released men include Tawfiq al-Bihani, who had been cleared for transfer since 2010; Khalid Qassim, a long-term hunger striker who has spoken about spending most of his adult life in Guantánamo; and Hassan bin Attash, who was captured in a security raid in Pakistan in 2002.
Reuters contributed reporting
Continue reading...Letter allegedly written by US official shows contradictions in how government handled mysterious health incidents
A leaked letter purportedly written by a senior US military official and published on social media on Monday highlights stark contradictions in the government’s approach to victims of Havana syndrome – a mysterious series of health incidents affecting personnel at embassies and consulates overseas.
The letter, dated 24 March 2024 and signed by air force Brig Gen Shannon O’Harren, reassures victims of the “anomalous health incidents” (AHIs) that the defense department believed that their experiences and symptoms were real while promising them quality healthcare that never came.
Continue reading...Blackouts reported across country as government grapples with economic crisis, fuel shortages and hurricanes
Cuba’s national electrical system collapsed early on Wednesday morning after the country’s largest power plant failed, the government said, the latest of several such failures as the island’s grid falls into disarray amid fuel shortages, natural disaster and economic crisis.
The country’s energy and mines ministry said the Antonio Guiteras power plant in Matanzas, the island’s top electricity producer, had shut down at about 2am, prompting the grid collapse.
Continue reading...Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua also reeling after fifth major hurricane of season causes landslides and flooding
Hurricane Rafael became the 17th named storm of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season this week, reaching the minimum expectation of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Back in May, Noaa warned of an above-average level of activity, predicting 17-25 named storms, in comparison with the average of 14.
Of these 17-25 storms, Noaa predicted that eight to 13 would become hurricanes, four to seven of which would be classified as “major”, meaning category 3 or higher. Both of these predictions are also above average, and these thresholds have already been reached, with Rafael being the 11th hurricane and fifth major hurricane of the season.
Continue reading...Some 50,000 people took shelter in Havana after storm made landfall as category 3 on Wednesday
Cuba has been left reeling after a fierce category 3 hurricane ripped across the island, knocking out the country’s power grid, downing trees and damaging infrastructure. No fatalities were immediately reported.
Hurricane Rafael crossed a western portion of Cuba on Wednesday evening about 45 miles (75km) west of Havana, where José Ignacio Dimas returned home from his night shift as a security guard to find his apartment building in the historic center of the city had collapsed.
Continue reading...Island’s national power company says strong winds from category 3 hurricane caused disconnection
Cuba’s national power grid has suffered a country-wide blackout as Hurricane Rafael made landfall on the island’s south-west coast as a powerful category 3 hurricane.
In a brief statement on Wednesday, the country’s national power company, Union Eléctrica, said: “Strong winds caused by the powerful Hurricane Rafael have caused the disconnection of the national electrical system. Contingency protocols have been applied.”
Continue reading...More than 70,000 people reportedly evacuated and military mobilised with hurricane close to making landfall
Hurricane Rafael has intensified into a category 3 hurricane as it nears the coast of western Cuba, which is still reeling from a recent blackout and Hurricane Oscar.
Early on Wednesday it was about 160 miles (260km) south-east of Havana and packing winds of 99mph (160km/h), making it a category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Five is the strongest.
Guardian staff contributed reporting
Continue reading...Storm expected to reach hurricane status but should weaken before it hits the US Gulf coast
Tropical Storm Rafael has grown more powerful in the Caribbean Sea and is poised to reach hurricane strength on Wednesday, carrying the risk of damaging wind and rainfall. But it should weaken as it approaches the US Gulf coast, where several states have not been hit by a hurricane in November, according to records maintained since the early months of the US civil war.
Portions of the Florida Keys could see tropical storm conditions starting on Wednesday night, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Continue reading...Storm expected to bring heavy rain to US Gulf coast later this week
Forecasters posted a hurricane warning in the Caribbean on Monday afternoon after a late-season disturbance south of Cuba strengthened into Tropical Storm Rafael and set its sights on the US Gulf coast.
The 17th named storm of an overactive Atlantic hurricane season will bring heavy rain to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands before strengthening to a hurricane and probably hitting Cuba, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Continue reading...Repeated blackouts leave residents concerned about food, water supply and Cuba’s future
Maria Elena Cárdenas is 76 and lives in a municipal shelter on Amargura Street in Havana’s colonial old town. The building has an elegant past, but for the last few days Maria has been cooking with sticks she had found on the street.
“You know, we Cubans manage the best we can,” she said. She lives in the shelter because her home collapsed, a regular occurrence in the poorest, oldest parts of the beautiful city.
Continue reading...Deluge causes landslides and tears house roofs as engineers try to get country’s electricity grid up and running again
Hurricane Oscar has dumped heavy rain across the eastern end of Cuba, adding to a list of woes already besetting the Caribbean’s biggest island, which was hit over the weekend by a huge power cut.
The deluge caused landslides, and winds of 75mph tore the roofs off houses, making work even more difficult for the engineers trying to get Cuba’s electricity grid up and running again, after a weekend when the entire country of about 10 million people was plunged into darkness.
Continue reading...Authorities say they are gradually re-establishing electrical service across the island, including to hospitals
Cuba’s government said on Saturday it had made some progress in gradually re-establishing electrical service across the island, including to hospitals and parts of the capital, Havana, after state-run media earlier reported the national grid had collapsed for a second time in 24 hours.
Most of Cuba’s 10 million people, however, remained without electricity on Saturday afternoon.
Continue reading...Most businesses were closed on Friday as officials blamed deteriorating infrastructure and fuel shortages for failure
Cuba’s entire national electrical grid has shut down after one of the island’s major power plants failed, Cuba’s energy ministry said, plunging the entire country into a blackout.
Earlier on Friday, the communist-run government had closed schools and non-essential industry and sent most state workers home in a last-ditch effort to keep the lights on for residents.
Continue reading...Storm developing over Caribbean could become category 4 hurricane by Thursday as evacuations ordered in Florida
Joe Biden declared a state of emergency for Florida on Tuesday afternoon as the state braced for the prospect of Tropical Storm Helene swelling into a powerful hurricane heading for the state’s Gulf coast.
The US president ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local responses. The action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to coordinate all disaster relief efforts to alleviate hardship and suffering, the White House said.
Continue reading...The disease, spread by midges and mosquitoes, has been linked to two deaths as cases surge in previously unaffected areas
The deaths of two young women, miscarriages and birth defects in Brazil have been linked to Oropouche virus, a little-known disease spread by midges and mosquitoes.
A surge in cases has been recorded in the country this year – 7,284, up from 832 in 2023. Many have been recorded in areas that have not previously seen the virus.
Continue reading...