Tag: Cuba

Hurricane Ian strengthens to Category 3 storm ahead of Cuba, Florida landfall

2:30 AM EDT 9/27 Update: Hurricane #Ian strengthens into a major hurricane. A tropical cyclone update has been issued. More: https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/clUcNw5cBF — National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 27, 2022   Havana, Cuba (AFP) by Leticia PINEDA Hurricane Ian strengthened into a Category 3 storm on Tuesday, the United States National Hurricane Center said, as Cuba and Florida — both in the storm’s likely path — ramped up preparations to deal with high winds and […]

Cuba, Florida brace for Hurricane Ian

  by Leticia Pineda Agence France-Presse  HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Cuba declared an emergency alert in multiple provinces Monday as fast-approaching Hurricane Ian strengthened rapidly, with Florida also ramping up preparations ahead of a likely hit. Some 50,000 people in Cuba’s western Pinar del Rio province moved to safer locations, 6,000 of them to state-run shelters and the rest to the homes of relatives and friends, local authorities said. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) […]

Ian strengthens to Category 1 hurricane as it nears Cuba: NHC

9/26 5 AM- The latest NHC advisory is out with Ian officially upgraded to a hurricane. The center of the storm currently sits west of Jamaica and is forecast to strengthen further in the short term. Several watches and warnings are already out, mainly for Gulf coast areas. #flwx pic.twitter.com/FSOJ5z21NY — NWS Miami (@NWSMiami) September 26, 2022 Here are the 5 am Monday Key Messages for Hurricane #Ian. Latest information at https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/536aVhLwl5 — National […]

Firefighters, helicopters battle to contain Cuba fuel depot blaze

MATANZAS, Cuba (AFP) — Helicopters and firefighters battled Tuesday to contain a days-old blaze at a fuel depot in Cuba that has already destroyed four tanks and was threatening four more. The fire, which started on Friday after lightning struck one of the tanks, left a 60-year-old firefighter dead and 14 colleagues missing, according to authorities. More than 100 people were reported injured, with 22 still hospitalized. About 5,000 people have been evacuated from around […]

No petrol, no cars: Cubans turn to electric transport

  by Leticia PINEDA Agence France Presse SANTA CLARA, Cuba (AFP) — There is a new sight on the streets of Havana: increasing numbers of electric vehicles whizzing among the old American cars so emblematic of the Cuban capital. As fuel shortages and US sanctions take their toll, and even though electricity generation can be spotty, Cubans are turning to smaller, cheaper, plug-in alternatives. “Gasoline? Imagine. After 50 years battling to get hold of it, […]

Death toll climbs to 22 in Havana hotel blast, gas leak suspected

  by Rigoberto DIAZ Agence France Presse HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — The death toll from a powerful explosion at a five-star hotel in central Havana climbed to 22 Friday with more than 50 people injured after a suspected gas leak, according to official tallies. Rescuers pulled four newly discovered bodies out of the rubble in the early evening as they combed through what remained of the prestigious Saratoga Hotel looking for survivors. At least one […]

128 Cuban protesters given sentences of 6 to 30 years

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) – A group of 128 Cubans who took part in unprecedented anti-government protests last July were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to 30 years, the Supreme Court said Wednesday. In trials held in mid-December, 129 Cubans were “accused of committing and provoking serious disturbances and acts of vandalism” while participating in the protests, the court said in a statement. Of the defendants, 128 were found guilty of sedition and theft, […]

In Cuba, queueing for hours ‘just to be able to eat’

by Rigoberto DIAZ HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Cubans are no strangers to queuing for everything from bread to toothpaste, often standing for hours under a blazing sun with no access to a toilet or drinking water, and always with the fear of leaving empty-handed. It is a daily ordeal Cubans have endured for about 60 years of communist rule, now worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, a steep economic downturn and tightened US sanctions. “I spent […]

Maduro makes surprise visit to Cuba for anniversary of Castro death: TV

MADURO, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made a surprise appearance in Havana Thursday at the inauguration of the Fidel Castro Ruz center, which preserves the late president’s writings, five years after his death. Maduro, who had not traveled to Cuba since December 2019, accompanied his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel at the ceremony, which was broadcast by state television. With them was Castro’s brother and former president Raul Castro. © Agence France-Presse

Cuba seeks WHO approval of its Covid-19 vaccines

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Cuba said Wednesday it would seek World Health Organization approval for two home-grown coronavirus vaccines it hopes to commercialize widely. A vetting process will start Thursday with WHO experts examining the nation’s Abdala and Soberana 02 jabs, said Rolando Perez of state pharma group BioCubaFarma. Perez said the experts would examine the vaccines’ “safety, immunogenicity (the ability of a vaccine to provoke an immune response) and efficacy.” The WHO’s representative in […]

In world first, Cuba starts Covid jabs for toddlers

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Cuba on Monday became the first country in the world to vaccinate children from the age of two against Covid-19, using home-grown jabs not recognized by the World Health Organization. The communist island of 11.2 million people aims to inoculate all its children before reopening schools that have been closed for the most part since March 2020. The new school year started on Monday, but from home via television programs, as […]

Hurricane Ida makes landfall in southwest Cuba: weather service

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Hurricane Ida made landfall Friday as a Category 1 hurricane on the southwestern coast of Cuba, the local meteorological service reported. Ida struck the town of La Coloma, in the province of Pinar del Rio, around 0030 GMT, with sustained winds of 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour, Cuba’s meteorology institute Insmet. It is expected to reach the United States Sunday as an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm, according to the […]