News

The Cuban men’s chess team wound up in 11th place on Sunday at the conclusion in the 2012 World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, after defeating Slovenia 2.5 to 1.5 in the last round of the contest.

A massive power outage hit parts of Cuba late Sunday, plunging millions of the Caribbean island’s inhabitants into darkness for several hours, witnesses and bloggers reported. Energy was gradually restored after around four hours. The blackout hit eight provinces, including the capital, Havana, with its 2.2 million residents, around 0000 GMT. It took approximately four hours before power gradually returned.

The Cuba women’s team scored more victories in the Chess Olympics being held in Istanbul when they beat the Montenegro team 3-1 on Thursday.

Cuba’s Comptroller office announced on Wednesday that it will implement a national audit of 250 companies from October 29 to November 30, reported the island’s official media. In recent months the Cuban courts convicted several officials for corruption.

Cuba began a pilot program that will enable citizens to use debit cards in national pesos (CUPs) to buy products in stores that deal in hard-currency “convertible pesos” (CUCs).

Former US President Jimmy Carter said today that his country and Cuba could achieve a more “sincere” dialogue if, among other things, Washington takes the island off its annual list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The promoters of the “Citizens’ Demand for Another Cuba” formally presented their petition on Tuesday in Havana, reported the Diario de Cuba.