US Senator Christopher Dodd, the retiring chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, traveled to Cuba over the weekend reportedly to discuss ways to break the stalemate and improve bilateral relations. Dodd is a long-time opponent of the travel ban on ordinary US citizens from visiting Cuba and is a critic of the nearly half-century economic embargo on the island.
Read MoreParts of Eastern Cuba Shook from a 5.1 Richter Scale earthquake on Monday morning, with no reports so far of damage or injuries.
Read MoreThe president of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, will arrive today in the Cuban capital on an official visit, invited by his counterpart Raúl Castro. Funes is traveling with a political delegation and representatives of the business sector. During his stay he hopes to sign a cooperation agreement in the area of public health.
Read MoreThe Union of Jurists of Cuba will carry out next October 6 a virtual forum to demand the release of the five Cubans imprisoned in the United States charged with espionage, and who the island considers are heroes of the struggle against terrorism, the local press reported. The space will serve to analyze issues related to the legal framework of the case.
Read MoreLast week’s rains improved the situation of the reservoirs in the provinces in central and eastern Cuba, but were insufficient and it is necessary to continue saving. The precipitations benefited, among others, the Zaza Dam, the country’s largest, which now is at 53 per cent of its capacity.
Read MoreRepresentatives of the Cuban opposition considered that the island’s government could release more than 60 political prisoners with the condition that they leave the country, in addition to the 52 agreed upon with the Catholic Church and Spain.
Read MoreCuba’s national baseball team (2-0) plays Nicaragua (1-1) on Monday night in the Pre World Cup and Pan Ameican Games Qualifying tournament taking place in Puerto Rico. On Sunday the Cubans had an easy time with the weak Argentineans who did manage to avoid a mercy rule loss. The final score was 9-1 with Cuba pounding out 13 hits to 4 of its outclassed rivals.
Read MoreCuba’s dailies highlight the victory of Dilma Rousseff in Brazil’s presidential elections with 47 percent of the vote to 33% of her closest opponent Jose Serra. In a surprise good showing Green Party candidate Marina Silva finished third with 19%.
Read MoreAssuming traditional gender patterns conspire against the health of Cuban men, who are over-represented in almost all the first causes of death in the island, with the exception of diabetes mellitus, a study published in the Revista Cubana de Salud Pública medical journal revealed. In order to meet social expectations of success, “men participate more than women in activities that lead to risks to their health such as drinking alcoholic beverages, smoking, aggressive driving of vehicles, risky sexual behaviours and suicide, in addition to the lack of socialization to express their feelings and mental and physical sufferings,” the study pointed out.
Read MoreThe majority of HIV positive women in the Cuban capital are heterosexual, according to a study carried out by the Revista Cubana de Medicina medical journal, which also registered an increase in the rate of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, which causes AIDS) in that population group between 1998 and 2006. The study revealed that the municipality of Old Havana reports the highest figures, in relation to its character as a tourist area and the existence of a floating population of around 80,000 persons.
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