News Archives - Page 1138 of 1377

Three Cuba Artists Vie for Grammies

Chucho Valdes, Alex Cuba and Edesio Alejandro are the three Cuban artists nominated for Grammy Awards to be announced at the gala ceremony on Sunday, February 13 in Los Angeles, California.

Cuba Baseball Standings on Feb. 12

The Cuban baseball league continues this weekend with a full schedule of play. Cienfuegos remains on top of the Western Division with Pinar del Rio three games back. In the East, Ciego de Avila has a slim one game lead over Granma with Guantanamo only 1.5 games out of first.

Cuban University Goes 100% Linux

The more than 8,000 computers in the University of Computer Science (UCI) will soon migrate to the open-code Nova Linux 3.0 operating system, with which it will become the first educational center in Cuba to begin using exclusively free software, Abel Firvida, chief of the Nova project, affirmed.

Daniel Chavarría gets National Literature Prize

Uruguayan writer living in Cuba Daniel Chavarría received the 2010 National Literature Prize at the International Book Fair of Cuba, being held in this capital. Chavarría, 77, is “one of those beings born to make others happy, because although I am convinced that Chavarría will perhaps not be the greatest of Cuban novelists, he is the most congenial of all,” writer Eduardo Heras León affirmed.

Government to Release Six Political Prisoners

The Cuban government will soon release six political prisoners, out of which four accepted the proposal to leave the country and travel to Spain, according to the agreement with the Catholic Church and the European nation, Orlando Márquez, spokesman for the Havana Archbishopric, announced. With this group the number of prisoners released since 2010 amounts to 64.

Cuba Frees another Prisoner of Group of 75

Eduardo Diaz is the latest in a stream of political prisoners to be released in Cuba, after a major round up of 75 “dissidents” alleged to be on the US payroll back in 2003.

Cuba Seizes Over Three Tons of Drugs in 2010

The Cuban authorities seized 3,023 kilograms of drugs in 2010, less than in 2009, the majority coming from drops on the island’s coasts, the General Department of the National Revolutionary Police reported. The detection of forbidden substances also decreased on the domestic market due to the control of marijuana plantations and the illegal marketing of psychotropics, controlled drugs and LSD.

Cuba and China Increase Trade

Cuba and China increased the volume of their bilateral trade in 2010, which amounted to 1.8 billion dollars, Liu Yuquin, Chinese ambassador to the island, announced. However, that figure is still below the 2.2 billion registered in 2008. The Asian country sells automobiles, buses and electric appliances to its Caribbean trade partner, which exports rum, sugar and biotechnological products.

Cuba Presents New Version of Free Software

Cuba presented the new version of the NOVA operational system, based on Linux, as part of its strategy to migrate to free software. At the presentation made at the 2011 Informatics Fair, the deputy rector of the University of Computer Sciences (UCI), Héctor Rodríguez, affirmed that NOVA is a very promising system for businesses, because it is adaptable to the needs of clients and offers greater informatics security.

Cuba Shrimp Production Dips

Shrimp production in Cuba decreased from 4,323 tons in 2006 to only 3,100 tons last year, Amado Posada, director of the Business Group for Shrimp Development, announced. According to the specialist, the crisis in this sector is due to technological violations, organizational problems, corruption, instability in supplies and deterioration of the productive infrastructure.