Internationally famous musician known for hits such as Yolanda, was a supporter of Cuban revolution
The Grammy-winning Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist Pablo Milanés, known for pioneering the Nueva Trova movement and for hits such as Yolanda and Amo Esta Isla, has died of cancer in Madrid. He was 79.
One of the most internationally famous Cuban musicians, Milanés recorded dozens of albums and toured the world during a career that lasted more than five decades.
Continue reading...Cuban American, who started recording career at 90 after decades of performing for family and friends, says ‘it’s never too late’
Don’t ever tell Angela Álvarez it’s too late for dreams to come true – the 95-year-old just brought home a Latin Grammy for best new artist, becoming the award show’s eldest winner ever.
The Cuban American musician’s crowning moment came after decades of writing songs but performing them only for friends and family – until, at the age of 90, she went to the Avalon, the historic Hollywood nightclub, and gave her first concert.
Continue reading...Vessel travelling north collides with Cuban coast guard ship near Bahía Honda, reports say
A boat off northern Cuba travelling toward the United States sank Saturday after a collision with a Cuban coastguard ship and at least five people died, Cuban state media reported on Saturday.
The craft reportedly flipped over after the crash near Bahía Honda, about two hours from the capital, Havana. Among the five known dead were a minor and three women, while 23 people were rescued, the Cubadebate report said.
Continue reading...Viengsay Valdés, 44, has the tough task of renewing the Cuban National Ballet’s reputation as country finds itself in crisis
Cuba’s favourite ballerina, Viengsay Valdés, will run on to the stage of the island’s National Theatre on 2 November, fairly certain it won’t collapse beneath her.
Reprising the role of Giselle she first performed 25 years ago, she can’t use Havana’s more glamorous auditorium, the rococo Gran Teatro de la Habana Alicia Alonso, because that is being devoured by woodworm.
Continue reading...As Hurricane Ian hits the Americas, Noru has been ripping through the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand
Hurricane Ian has been in the headlines but it is not the only storm that has been causing havoc in the past week.
On Tuesday, Typhoon Noru struck south of the city of Da Nang in Vietnam, heading westwards to Thailand. Initially a tropical storm, Noru originated in the Philippine Sea on 23 September, propagating westwards while gathering moisture and strengthening.
Continue reading...In a press conference, Ron DeSantis said food, water and other supplies are being distributed to those who did not evacuate
26 states have provided support to Florida amid the damages that Hurricane Ian has left across the state.
“It’s going to be put to use,” DeSantis said on Thursday morning.
Continue reading...Search and rescue effort under way after vessel sank in Stock Island, in the Florida Keys, hours before hurricane made landfall
Eighteen people are missing after a boat carrying Cuban migrants sank off Florida due to Hurricane Ian, further underlining the human cost of the storm.
US border patrol said on Wednesday that it responded to a migrant landing in Stock Island, in the lower Florida Keys, Reuters said.
Continue reading...Charlotte and Lee counties hardest hit after storm makes landfall along the south-western coast with winds close to 150mph
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has laid out the predicted path of Hurricane Ian as it is expected to hit land this afternoon.
Hurricane preparations have been underway at the Big Cat Rescue, the animal sanctuary in Tampa featured on Netflix’s Tiger King TV series.
Continue reading...‘Major, major’ storm, estimated to be 140 miles wide, sweeps inland after causing huge flooding on coast, with millions of residents in its path
Hurricane Ian, one of the most powerful storms ever to strike the US mainland, has battered south-west Florida with high winds, rain and storm surges as it weakened and moved inland.
More than 2m homes and businesses were left without power as the storm swept ashore in south-west Florida on Wednesday afternoon, bringing “catastrophic” 150mph (240km/h) winds and a deadly storm surge of up to 18ft. Hours later, the storm – estimated to be about 140 miles (225km) wide – was downgraded from a category 4 to a category 1 storm as it moved slowly north-east, causing major flooding.
Continue reading...Electricity grid collapses in Cuba after hurricane passes through, as 2.5 million people in Florida ordered to evacuate
Cuba’s electricity grid has collapsed, leaving the entire country without power in the wake of Hurricane Ian, as residents in Florida braced for the arrival of what is expected to be a catastrophic Category 4 storm.
The western end of Cuba was hit by violent winds and flooding on Tuesday, affecting infrastructure, state-run media reported, while some of the country’s most important tobacco farms were devastated.
Continue reading...Thousands evacuated in Pinar del Río, as Floridians are warned storm may strengthen to category 4
Hurricane Ian has torn into western Cuba with nothing to stop it from intensifying into a catastrophic category 4 hurricane before its expected landfall in Florida on Wednesday.
Tampa and St Petersburg in Florida could get their first direct hit by a major hurricane since 1921.
Continue reading...Reforms met open resistance from growing evangelical movement and other religious groups
Cubans have approved a sweeping “family law” code that would allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt as well as redefine rights for children and grandparents, officials said, though opposition in the national referendum was unusually strong on the Communist party-governed island.
The measure – which contains more than 400 articles – was approved by 66.9% to 33.1%, the president of the national electoral council, Alina Balseiro Gutiérrez, told official news media, though results from some places remained to be counted.
Continue reading...Fire destroyed 40% of island’s main fuel storage facility over five days and caused blackouts
Firefighters have finally overcame what officials described as the worst blaze in Cuba’s history that over five days destroyed 40% of the Caribbean island’s main fuel storage facility and caused blackouts.
Raging flames that ravaged a four-tank segment of the Matanzas super tanker port had died down on Tuesday and the towering plumes of thick black smoke streaming from the area were diminished and now mostly gray.
Continue reading...The blaze in Matanzas province raises fears that the damaged facility will worsen the island’s energy shortage
Flames have engulfed a fourth tank at an oil storage facility in western Cuba as a raging fire consumes critical fuel supplies on an island grappling with a growing energy crisis.
Firefighters and specialists from Mexico and Venezuela helped fight the blaze in the province of Matanzas with boats, planes and helicopters as they sprayed foam on the containers, a first for crews since broiling temperatures had prevented them from doing so earlier.
Continue reading...Mexico and Venezuela send crews to fight fire that has killed at least one and injured 125, with dozens of firefighters still missing
A deadly fire that began at Cuba’s main oil terminal in Matanzas has spread after a third crude tank caught fire and collapsed as firefighters struggled to fight the massive blaze.
At least one person has died and 125 are injured, with dozens of firefighters reported missing ever since lighting struck one of the facility’s eight tanks on Friday night. A second tank caught fire on Saturday, triggering several explosions at the facility, which plays a key part in Cuba’s electric system.
Continue reading...Body found after 800 people evacuated as smoke billows towards Havana following lightning strike at Matanzas supertanker base
Fire started by a lightning strike has engulfed an oil storage facility in the Cuban city of Matanzas, setting off explosions and injuring 121 people. Seventeen firefighters were missing and one body had been found, Cuban authorities said.
The blaze at the Matanzas supertanker base began during a thunderstorm on Friday night, the ministry of energy and mines tweeted. The government said later that it had asked for help from international experts in “friendly countries” with experience in the oil sector.
Continue reading...The journey to America, often via Nicaragua, has become more viable – and many are taking their chances at the border
One morning last spring, 22-year-old Ernesto Hernández set out from the outskirts of Havana on a rickety boat hoping to cross the Florida Straits. The plan was to leave behind a dilapidating communist-ruled island in which he saw no future, and sail into an American dream.
Nobody has heard from him, or the other six people onboard, since.
Continue reading...Group includes children and pregnant women as exodus from crisis-hit Haiti grows
A ship carrying more than 800 Haitians who were apparently trying to reach the US has landed instead in central Cuba, in what is thought to be the largest group yet in a swelling exodus of people from the crisis-stricken Caribbean countr.
The Communist party newspaper Granma quoted Red Cross officials in the province of Villa Clara as saying the 842 people crammed on to the vessel had been given medical attention and were being housed at a tourist campground.
Continue reading...The updates, touted as ‘modernizing’ the country’s laws, control unauthorized contacts with foreign organizations and individuals
Cuba’s parliament has approved a new penal code that officials say modernizes the country’s laws but human rights groups warn tightens already strict limits on dissent.
The law approved late on Sunday controls unauthorized contacts with foreign organizations and individuals and explicitly bans foreign financing.
Continue reading...Saber Lahmar has been charged with encouraging jihadists to fight for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
An Algerian preacher who spent eight years in the US-run Guantánamo Bay prison has gone on trial in France for allegedly encouraging several young men to join the Islamic State group.
Saber Lahmar, a 52-year-old Algerian released by the US in 2008 and taken in afterwards by France, has been charged with encouraging jihadists to head to Iraq and Syria to fight for the extremist group in 2015.
Continue reading...