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Havana

Attacks in Havana hit U.S. spy network in Cuba

in 2017/Top Headlines by

Frightening attacks on U.S. personnel in Havana struck the heart of America’s spy network in Cuba, with intelligence operatives among the first and most severely affected victims, The Associated Press has learned. It wasn’t until U.S. spies, posted to the embassy under diplomatic cover, reported hearing bizarre sounds and experiencing even stranger physical effects that the United States realized something was wrong, individuals familiar with the situation said.

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Southwest drops 2 Cuban routes, citing performance, ban

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Southwest Airlines Co. says it will drop flights to two Cuban destinations, citing its struggles to attract passengers and a tougher U.S. stance toward the island nation. Dallas-based Southwest on Wednesday announced service to Varadero and Santa Clara, Cuba, will end Sept. 4. It will continue to fly to Havana from Fort Lauderdale and Tampa. President Donald Trump this month announced he’s reversing some of the warmer ties with Cuba that were initiated by the Obama administration. A Southwest vice…

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Cuba’s Fidel Castro, who defied U.S. for 50 years, dies at 90

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Fidel Castro, who led a rebel army to improbable victory, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 U.S. presidents during his half century rule of Cuba, has died at age 90. With a shaking voice, President Raul Castro said on state television that his older brother died at 10:29 p.m. Friday. He ended the announcement by shouting the revolutionary slogan: “Toward victory, always!” Castro’s reign over the island-nation 90 miles (145 kilometers) from Florida was marked by the…

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Inventive Cubans hunt expensive fish using inflated condoms

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Juan Luis Rosello sat for three hours on the Malecon as the wind blew in from the Florida Straits, pushing the waves hard against the seawall of Havana’s coastal boulevard. As darkness settled and the wind switched direction, Rosello pulled four condoms from a satchel and began to blow them up. When the contraceptives were the size of balloons, the 47-year-old cafeteria worker tied them together by their ends, attached them to the end of a baited fishing line and…

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U.S. gives tentative OK to flights to Cuba from 10 U.S. cities

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The U.S. government on Thursday tentatively approved scheduled commercial airline service to Havana from 10 American cities, further bridging the gulf between countries as close as an hour flight but long kept at a greater distance by the Cold War. The decision is another long stride in President Barack Obama‘s effort to normalize U.S.-Cuba relations. “Reopening travel relations with Cuba is about more than just restoring the freedom to travel there for all Americans — it’s about opening Cuba to…

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Tampa bypassed in approved U.S. flights to Cuba

in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by

Six airlines won permission Friday to resume scheduled commercial air service from the U.S. to Cuba for the first time in more than five decades, another milestone in President Barack Obama‘s campaign to normalize relations between Cold War foes. The airlines — American, Frontier, JetBlue, Silver Airways, Southwest and Sun Country — were approved by the Department of Transportation for a total of 155 roundtrip flights per week. They’ll fly from five U.S. cities to nine cities in Cuba other…

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First U.S. cruise in decades arrives in Havana

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The first U.S. cruise ship in nearly 40 years crossed the Florida Straits from Miami and docked in Havana on Monday, restarting commercial travel on waters that served as a stage for a half-century of Cold War hostility. Carnival Cruise Line’s Adonia became the first U.S. cruise ship in Havana since President Jimmy Carter eliminated virtually all restrictions of U.S. travel to Cuba in the late 1970s. Travel limits were restored after Carter left office and U.S. cruises to Cuba only become possible again…

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