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☆ U.S. judge orders Norwegian Cruise Line to pay $110 mln for use of Cuba port
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Brian Ellsworth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MIAMI, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH.N) must pay $110 million in damages for use of a port that Cuba's government confiscated in 1960, according to a ruling by a U.S. judge released on Friday. The decision by U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom in Miami follows her March ruling that the use of the Havana Cruise Port Terminal constituted trafficking in confiscated property owned by the plaintiff, Delaware-registered Havana Docks Corp."Judgment is entered in favor of Plaintiff Havana Docks Corporation and against Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Ltd," reads the decision. "Plaintiff is awarded $109,848,747.87 in damages," it says, adding that Norwegian should also pay an additional $3 million in legal fees and costs. Norwegian Cruise Line did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Havana Docks had also sued cruise lines Carnival (CCL.N), Royal Caribbean (RCL.N) and MSC under the Helms-Burton Act, which allows U.S. nationals to sue over use of property seized in Cuba during the Cold War era.

☆ Cuba says U.S. greenlights MLB players for World Baseball Classic
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HAVANA, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Cuba said on Saturday the United States had granted permission for some of its top ballplayers to participate in the World Baseball Classic on the national team. The team will be the first since Fidel Castro's 1959 Revolution to include Cuban players from both countries. Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio told Reuters earlier this month the United States was blocking some of Cuba's top players from participating in the Classic. Cuba has asked several players who in recent years had defected from the Caribbean island - long famed for its baseball talent - to represent their home country in the event. As a result, Cuba's baseball talent has fled the country in unprecedented numbers in the past decade, emptying dugouts and denting national pride.

☆ Cuba says its allies have pledged help to end its economic crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Marc Frank | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HAVANA, Nov 30 (Reuters) - China, Russia, Algeria and Turkey have pledged to restructure Cuba's debt, provide new trade and investment financing, and help ease an energy crisis, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel told state-run media following a rare trip abroad last week. Cuba's debt with business partners and suppliers has ballooned, leading some to refuse to do business with Cuba unless it is in cash, according to foreign business and diplomatic sources with knowledge of recent transactions. Cuba's current foreign debt is considered a state secret. Prior to the pandemic, in 2019, the Caribbean island nation reported its foreign debt at $19.6 billion. "There is no short-term solution to Cuba's electric power sector challenges; the system is old, tired and broken.

☆ Backstage, stars shine at Cuba's National Ballet
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Ballet dancers react backstage as they perform "Giselle" during the 27th Alicia Alonso International Ballet Festival of Havana, at the National Theatre, in Havana, Cuba, October 30, 2022. REUTERS/Alexandre MeneghiniHAVANA, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Cuba's National Ballet, founded in 1948 in Havana, became a pet project of Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. Castro gave aspiring dancers free training, underwrote the companies' infrastructure, and cemented the national ballet's reputation for beauty and talent. Communist-led Cuba is struggling through economic crisis but its talented dancers continue to practice and perform. Reporting by Alexandre Meneghini, Writing by Dave Sherwood, Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Cuba and U.S. spar over U.N. resolution calling to end embargo
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HAVANA, Nov 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Thursday voted against a U.N. General Assembly resolution calling for an end to the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba, leaving relations frosty between the two longtime rivals. The non-binding resolution was approved by 185 countries and opposed only by the United States and Israel, with Brazil and Ukraine abstaining. It was the 30th time the United Nations has voted to end the embargo. "Cuba does not need lessons on democracy and human rights, much less from the United States," Gala said. "If the United States government was really interested in the welfare, human rights and self-determination of Cubans, it could lift the blockade."

☆ Cuba hosts first U.S. business conference in years, seeks investment
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Marc Frank | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Cuba's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Fernandez de Cossio listens to Phil Peters, founder of FocusCuba, during a conference in Havana, Cuba, October 26, 2022. "Almost everything we do is with the new booming private sector," said Cuban-American Hugo , whose Miami-based Fuego Enterprises Inc (FUGI.PK) operates an online food market that processes 4,000 orders in Cuba per day. "It is important American businesses see this for themselves," said Cancio, who was attending the conference. The Biden administration has loosened some restrictions on Cuba around remittances, tourism and migration. It has also expressed interest in supporting Cuba's private sector.

☆ Cuba calls U.S. trade embargo a 'hurricane' that never ends
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HAVANA, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Cuba on Wednesday said the decades-old U.S. trade embargo has been causing record financial losses and untold human suffering in recent months, at a time when Cuba was also battling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Ian. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez made the comments at the launch of an annual campaign for a United Nations resolution condemning the trade embargo, which was put in place after Cuba's 1959 revolution. He said Cuba was grateful for the U.S. aid but was still crippled by the embargo, which he called a "hurricane" that never ceases to batter the island. The U.N. General Assembly will vote on Nov. 2 and 3 on a non-binding resolution condemning the trade embargo. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Dave Sherwood and Nelson Acosta, Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Biden administration to provide $2 mln to Cuba for Hurricane Ian relief
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 18 (Reuters) - The Biden administration will provide $2 million to Cuba for emergency relief efforts following Hurricane Ian, the State Department said on Tuesday. The United States will work with independent organizations to provide the aid, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"We stand with the Cuban people as they work to recover from this disaster," Price said. U.S. President Joe Biden has promised to re-engage with Cuba after years of tensions between Havana and Washington. But Cuba's crackdown following widespread protests on the island last July led instead to sanctions on Cuban officials.

PINAR DEL RÍO, Cuba — Brigades of electrical workers were focused Wednesday on restoring electricity to the western region of Cuba, where Hurricane Ian made landfall the day before, leaving the entire country without power. Crews were working to bring power back to the Pinar del Río Province, where the eye of the then-Category 3 storm entered Cuba, and the municipality of Artemisa, where Ian's gusty winds knocked power out. In Pinar del Río, a region known for its agriculture and a source of produce for much of Cuba, crops such as rice, yucca and beans were lost. Yamil Lage / AFP - Getty ImagesCuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said damages in Pinar del Río "are great, although it has not yet been possible to account for it." Hurricane winds bent countless pieces of metals used as roofs all over Cuba, particularly in Pinar del Río.

☆ Cuba slowly begins to restore power after Hurricane Ian knocks out grid
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Dave Sherwood | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Alexandre MeneghiniHAVANA, Cuba, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Cuba had slowly begun to restore power across the eastern end of the island, the state electricity provider said early on Wednesday, after Hurricane Ian caused the country's grid to collapse, turning off the lights for more than 11 million people. But officials said Hurricane Ian had proven too much, knocking out power even in far eastern Cuba, which was largely unaffected by the storm. By early morning Wednesday, officials said some power had been restored to the areas with the least storm damage. Further west in Cuba, nearer the capital Havana, the process would be slower and more "complicated," the generator said. Ian, which left a swath of destruction and at least two dead across western Cuba, has now strengthened into an extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday.

☆ Cuba entirely without power after Hurricane Ian
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

HAVANA, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Cuba's electrical grid collapsed late on Tuesday, leaving the entire country without power shortly after the passage of Hurricane Ian, which ravaged the western end of the island with violent winds and flooding. Lázaro Guerra, Technical Director of the Electric Union of Cuba, said a failure in the national electric system, in part associated with the storm, had affected infrastructure, state-run media reported. Guerra said the union would work through the night and early Wednesday to restore power. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Hurricane Ian strengthens as millions urged to evacuate Florida Gulf Coast
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Brad Brooks | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

By late Tuesday night, tropical storm-force winds generated by Ian extended through the Florida Keys island chain to the southernmost shores of the state's Gulf Coast, the NHC said. U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Deanne Criswell said she worried that too few Florida residents were taking the threat seriously. 1/6 A hurricane evacuation route sign is displayed as Hurricane Ian spins toward the state carrying high winds, torrential rains and a powerful storm surge, in Punta Gorda, Florida, U.S. September 27, 2022. If Ian strikes the Tampa area, it would be the first hurricane to make landfall there since the 1921 Tarpon Springs storm. But officials said Hurricane Ian had proven too much, knocking out power even in far eastern Cuba, which was largely unaffected by the storm.

☆ Cuba votes to legalize same-sex marriage, decades after LGBTQ people in the country were persecuted and sent to labor camps
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Cuba has voted to legalize same-sex marriage, election officials said on Monday. The country voted in a referendum to amend its Family Code, which is part of the constitution. Decades ago, LGBTQ people in Cuba were persecuted and sent to labor camps. According to election results, around two-thirds of people who voted in the referendum did so in favor of the amendments. It's a significant moment for the island country which, during the 1960s and 1970s, persecuted LQBTQ people and sent to labor camps.

☆ Hurricane Ian barrels toward Florida's Gulf Coast, canceling Biden rally and bringing Ron DeSantis his biggest storm test as governor
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Ron DeSantis has issued a state of emergency in Florida as the response kicks into high gear. "We know we are going to have some major impacts throughout the state of Florida," said DeSantis, a Republican. DeSantis' emergency declaration also allows Floridians to bypass typical time limits on prescriptions and stock up early. In a press conference Monday afternoon in Largo, Florida, state Attorney General Ashley Moody reminded businesses that Florida law prohibits them from price gouging supplies people will need. "Our entire county is going to feel some type of impact," Cathie Perkins, director of Pinellas County Emergency Management, said at the Largo press conference.

A group of partial hearing visitors touch a four-month-old jaguar cub named Cindy at the Cuba's national zoo in Havana, Cuba, September 21, 2022. Earlier this year, sign language interpreters began accompanying groups of deaf visitors aboard the bus and trails that take them across an enclosed plain designed to imitate the African savannah. "Previously, very few (deaf) people visited the zoo because they could only see the animals," said Yoandra Oliva López, an interpreter and educator with the zoo. Zoo officials said they were also working to begin similar tours specifically for deaf children. Cuba's National Zoo is a favorite attraction for Cubans, with 1,473 specimens of more than 120 species of animals.

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