CUBA

The U.S. has transferred Guantanamo detainee Said bin Brahim bin Umran Bakush back to his home country of Algeria citing that his continued detention was no longer necessary, the Department of Defense announced Thursday.

Russia and Venezuela have reviewed some of their hundreds of bilateral agreements covering the financial, energy, agricultural and several other sectors during discussions between their top diplomats.

Trea Turner homered twice to give him a tournament-leading four, and the defending champion United States romped over Cuba 14-2 to reach its second straight World Baseball Classic final.

A sharp drop in illegal border crossings that started in January after the Biden administration announced stricter immigration measures continued in February.

A Saudi man long held at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as a suspected al-Qaida operative has been returned to his home country.

The 20-team World Baseball Classic got underway after a six-year absence with the Netherlands defeating Cuba 4-2 in a Group A game in Taiwan to open the tournament.

In the last 18 months, an estimated 250,000 migrants and asylum-seekers, mostly from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti, have arrived in the Miami area, often only on temporary legal status that doesn't allow them to work.

Officials say two Pakistani brothers who were held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay military prison for two decades have been freed and returned home.

U.S. officials at Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba have returned two Pakistani brothers to their home country.

An underground market has emerged for migrants seeking U.S. sponsors since the Biden administration announced last month that it would accept a limited number of people from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti.

The Biden administration says U.S. authorities have seen a 97% decline in illegal border crossings by migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela since Mexico began accepting those expelled under a public health order.

Cuban migrants are still arriving by boat in the Florida Keys even as the Biden administration promises a crackdown.

The U.S. government says it will appeal a court ruling that would lift asylum restrictions that have become the cornerstone of border enforcement.

Ever-widening access to the internet is offering a new opportunity for Cubans looking for hard-to-obtain basic goods: online shopping.

A federal judge has granted the Biden administration a five-week delay to end far-reaching asylum restrictions, writing in upper-case letters that he was doing so “WITH GREAT RELUCTANCE.”.

Tropical Depression Lisa has moved into southern Mexico a day after making landfall as a hurricane in the Central American nation of Belize and heading inland over northern Guatemala.

Hurricane Lisa has made landfall on the Caribbean coast of Belize.

The widespread power outage in Cuba caused by Hurricane Ian prompted several hundred people to protest in Havana.

Ian caused devastating storm surge, flooding and damage across the Florida Peninsula.

There are many ways to categorize a hurricane. The storm’s central pressure is one way. The height of its storm surge is another. How much rain it drops is another. And, of course, the strength of its wind is another. But what causes a hurricane to strengthen or weaken? The answer is simple enough, but multifaceted.

A 2009 planning exercise dubbed Project Phoenix eerily anticipated the potential damage the Tampa Bay area is facing from Hurricane Ian.

Here are some steps to take to make sure your roof is ready for inclement weather.

Hurricane Ian tore into western Cuba as a major hurricane, knocking out power to the entire country and leaving 11 million people without electricity.

Hurricane Ian is nearing Cuba on a track to strike Florida as a Category 4 as early as Wednesday.

While it is too soon to determine the exact magnitude and location of these impacts, residents in Cuba, the Florida Keys, and the Florida peninsula should ensure they have their hurricane plan in place and closely monitor forecast updates through the weekend.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry on Sunday morning urged Jacksonville residents to be prepared as the city is expected to feel the effects of Tropical Storm Ian in the coming days.

Cuba is holding a rare referendum on an unusually contentious law — a government-backed code that would allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt.

The Biden administration says the U.S. Embassy in Cuba will begin processing full immigrant visas in early 2023.

U.S. authorities say the number of Venezuelans taken into custody at the U.S. border with Mexico soared in August.

California prosecutors say a man with a criminal history has been charged with assaulting a former Olympic volleyball player last week in downtown Los Angeles.

A former Olympic volleyball player says she was attacked in downtown Los Angeles when a man threw a metal object at her face in an assault that fractured multiple bones in her face and left one of her eyes swollen shut.

Invasive giant African land snails that can eat building plaster and stucco, consume hundreds of varieties of plants and carry diseases that affect humans have been detected once again in Florida, where officials say work has begun to eradicate the pests.

There were some cheers for “The Star-Spangled Banner” before USA Basketball’s game in Cuba on Independence Day.

President Joe Biden plans to meet on July 12 at the White House with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The State Department is preparing to compensate victims of mysterious brain injuries colloquially known as “Havana Syndrome" with six-figure payments, according to officials and congressional aides.

U.S. border authorities stopped migrants more often on the southern border for a fourth straight month in May, apparently unaffected by expectations that pandemic-era limits on asylum may be lifted.

An Iraqi man who has been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center for more than 15 years has pleaded guilty to war crimes charges for his role in al-Qaida attacks against U.S. and allied forces along with civilians in Afghanistan.

When leaders gather this week in Los Angeles at the Summit of the Americas, the focus is likely to veer from policy issues like migration, climate change and inflation and instead shift to something Hollywood thrives on: the drama of the red carpet.

The first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season is headed toward Bermuda after killing three people in Cuba and flooding roads in Florida.

Much of the Florida peninsula, along with parts of Cuba and the Bahamas, are under a tropical storm warning as a system that battered Mexico moves through the Gulf of Mexico, killing at least two in Cuba and bringing threats of heavy rain and wind for the weekend.

Much of the Florida peninsula, along with parts of Cuba and the Bahamas, are under a tropical storm warning as a system that battered Mexico moves through the Gulf of Mexico, killing at least two in Cuba and bringing threats of heavy rain and wind for the weekend.

From the National Hurricane Center: Near the Yucatan Peninsula and Southeastern Gulf of Mexico: A broad area of low pressure located near the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula continues to produce a large area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and Yucatan Peninsula. Despite strong upper-level winds, this system is likely to become a tropical depression or tropical storm while it moves slowly northeastward over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and southeastern Gulf of Mexico during the next day or two. Interests in western Cuba, the Florida Keys, and the Florida Peninsula should monitor the progress of this system, and tropical storm watches or warnings could be required for some of these areas later today.

The Biden administration has renewed a license partially exempting Chevron from sanctions on Venezuela so it can keep operating in the oil-rich, socialist-run nation.

A single vessel carrying 842 Haitians who apparently were trying to reach the United States has landed instead in central Cuba.

In one of the busiest corridors for illegal border crossings, Cubans, Colombians and Venezuelans are often released to pursue asylum in the United States.

The explosion that devastated Havana's Hotel Saratoga and killed 45 people also badly damaged Cuba's most important Baptist church, which is next door.

On Monday morning, the Midlands of South Carolina had a 1-second jolt.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has started a five-day tour to four Central American countries and Cuba by lashing out at the U.S. government.

The Defense Department says an Algerian man imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center for nearly 20 years has been released and sent back to his homeland.

Pope Francis is denouncing the “perverse abuse of power” on display in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Prosecutors have initiated discussions on a potential plea agreement to resolve the long-stalled case of five men held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, charged with planning and providing assistance for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

A Saudi prisoner at the Guantanamo Bay detention center who was suspected of trying to join the 9/11 hijackers has been sent back to his home country for treatment for mental illness.

The Biden administration has been quietly laying the groundwork to release prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention center and at least move closer to being able to shut it down.

A panel of intelligence experts hasn’t identified a single culprit for apparent brain injuries reported by U.S. personnel that have been linked to so-called “Havana syndrome.

Russia has been threatening to expand military ties with allies Venezuela and Cuba amid rising tensions with the U.S. over Ukraine.

A U.S. Navy warship remains in port at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, with about two dozen sailors — or nearly a quarter of its crew — testing positive for COVID-19, according to U.S. defense officials.

The U.S. Navy says one of its warships has paused its deployment to South America because of a coronavirus outbreak.

Cuba has released the draft of a new family code that would allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt as well as give children greater participation in decisions that affect them.

Three men held at the Guantanamo Bay detention center were formally charged Tuesday in the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and other plots in Southeast Asia 18 years after they were taken into U.S. custody.

Three prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center have had their first day in court after being held for 18 years without charge in connection with the deadly 2002 Bali nightclub bombings and other plots in Southeast Asia.

Newly formed Hurricane Nora is brushing the Pacific coast of Mexico's Jalisco state near the Puerto Vallarta area for an overnight pass-by.

Forecasters say tropical depression Fred is slowly strengthening and could regain tropical storm status on Saturday.

Tropical depression Fred is heading for a drenching of Cuba and the Bahamas on a forecast track that would carry it toward South Florida as a tropical storm by Saturday.

The National Hurricane Center named the disturbance tracking toward Florida as Fred.

The Justice Department’s inspector general says it did not find evidence that FBI agents shared inside information about the Hillary Clinton email investigation with Rudy Giuliani.

Investigators say the loss of braking power on a rain-soaked flooded runway caused a cargo plane chartered by the Pentagon to slide into a Florida river in 2019.

A small group of Cuban Americans launched motorboats from Miami to their homeland to show support for people experiencing hardships on the island.

A report released Wednesday shows philanthropic funding to promote global human rights reached a record $3.7 billion in 2018.

Dozens of people gathering at Riverfront Plaza on Sunday, waving Cuban flags, holding up posters that say SOS Cuba and protesting the Communist regime in Cuba.

Dr. Sunil Joshi, president of the Duval County Medical Society Foundation, discusses the rise in coronavirus cases and the increase in hospitalizations. We also discuss the crisis in Cuba with Congressman Al Lawson, D-Tallahassee, and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, offer their analysis on Cuba as well as the American Rescue Plan and new child tax credits.

Federal authorities are warning organizers planning to launch a flotilla next week from South Florida to waters near Cuba that they could risk breaking the law.

Supporters gathered Saturday afternoon at the former site of the Jacksonville Landing said they have to keep the fight alive as they continue to call for freedom and better living conditions in Cuba.

Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has returned to Haiti after nearly a month in Cuba.

Less than a week into major demonstrations concerning Cuba some changes are already underway.

Gov. Ron DeSantis told young members of Cuba’s military to “live in the history books” by overthrowing their nation’s communist leadership, as he pushed President Joe Biden to bring Wi-Fi access back to people protesting on the island nation.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other officials are pressing the White House to support efforts to preserve internet service to antigovernment protesters in Cuba.

Protests continue across the state as the unrest continues in Cuba some shutting down busy roads including two in Duval County last night.

The problems of two tiny Caribbean states, Cuba and Haiti, have vexed U.S. presidents for decades.

Dozens of demonstrators calling for a change in Cuba shut down traffic Tuesday on two major Jacksonville roads.

Demonstrators backing rare street protests by thousands in communist Cuba have blocked a stretch of a major South Florida highway.

Thousands of people poured into the streets in Cuba on Sunday in what is becoming the largest anti-government protest in decades.

Hundreds of people across Jacksonville gathered to fight for a free Cuba on Sunday.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday issued an executive order expanding the state of emergency due to Tropical Storm Elsa to include Alachua and Columbia counties.

Elsa holds steady in strength as it nears landfall in Cuba but is not expected to strengthen much more before turning its sites on Florida’s Gulf Coast and beyond.

Tropical Storm Elsa weakened slightly as it traveled over Cuba. Now we enter the “hope Elsa remains well behaved” zone.

Hurricane Elsa raced toward Haiti and the Dominican Republic early Saturday where it threatened to unleash flooding and landslides before taking aim at Cuba and Florida.

Hurricane information and weather headlines from The Local Station in Jacksonville, Florida, WJXT - Jacksonville's Channel 4.

North Korea has told the World Health Organization it tested more than 30,000 people for the coronavirus through June 10 but has yet to find a single infection.

Tuesday is World Oceans Day and, hopefully, you will spend some time enjoying a swim at the beach or a relaxing day fishing.

Officials say two people are dead and 10 others are missing after their boat overturned near the Florida Keys.

The Biden administration faces increasing pressure to respond to a sharply growing number of reported injuries suffered by diplomats, intelligence officers and military personnel that some suspect are caused by devices that emit waves of energy that disrupt brain function.

The U.S. military says most prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center have now received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

A senior defense official tells The Associated Press that prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center can now begin getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

For most of his life, Raul Castro played second-string to his brother Fidel — first as a guerrilla commander, later as a senior figure in their socialist government.

For most of his life, Raul Castro played second-string to his brother Fidel — first as a guerrilla commander, later as a senior figure in their socialist government.

Raul Castro says he is stepping down as head of Cuba’s Communist Party, ending an era of formal leadership by he and his brother Fidel Castro that began with the 1959 revolution.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Many of you have been asking questions on social media about what to do about Cuban tree frogs. “The Cuban tree frogs originally come from Cuba, the Cayman Islands, Bahamas, they’re a Caribbean frog, but they were introduced into Florida in the 1920s,” Magill explained. These large and aggressive frogs can be a nuisance when they take over your backyard, but, Magill said, despite popular belief, they do not pose a danger to pets. “You don’t hit them with a baseball bat, you don’t just throw them in the freezer, that’s what people think you do with amphibians, you just throw them in the freezer, that’s not what you do,” he clarified. Again, it’s gonna be an uphill battle because we have a lot of frogs.”While these Cuban tree frogs aren’t native to Florida, they are definitely here to stay.

Anti-coup protesters display pictures of deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon, Myanmar, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. The Obama administration reveled in the restoration of civilian rule in the longtime U.S. pariah as a top foreign policy achievement and a potential model for engaging with other adversaries, such as Iran and Cuba. But today, Myanmar is once again an international outcast, facing a new wave of U.S. sanctions. Still, the Obama administration continued to have faith in her. Despite Kerry’s two trips to Myanmar, the administration became rapidly consumed with the Iran nuclear deal and normalization of ties with Cuba.

The Caribbean is hunting for visitors and vaccines to jump-start the stalled economy in one of the worlds most tourism-dependent regions (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)SAN JUAN – The Caribbean is hunting for visitors and vaccines to jump-start the stalled economy in one of the world’s most tourism-dependent regions. Clear waters and warm sand attracted a record 31.5 million tourists to the Caribbean in 2019, but visits plummeted by an estimated 60% to 80% as the pandemic hit last year. “Many countries prefer hurricanes compared to what has happened with the pandemic,” said Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace, a former Bahamian tourism minister who also led the Caribbean Tourism Organization. Cuba — the largest Caribbean nation and the only one working on its own vaccines — choked off arrivals after seeing infections surge. Neil Walters, acting secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

They waved flags to catch the attention of a Coast Guard helicopter crew that flew over the island while on a routine mission Monday. A Coast Guard helicopter earlier this week spotted the two men and one woman and hoisted them in baskets from a rocky cliff in Anguilla Cay, a Bahamian islet close to Cuba. The Associated Press requested interviews with the survivors, but Coast Guard and immigration officials have not released their identities and did not grant access for interviews. The U.S. Coast Guard did not respond to requests clarifying what considerations were made before the group was flown into the United States. However, the rocky, uninhabited island is routinely monitored by the Coast Guard for strandings of migrants hoping to reach U.S. soil.