Cuba

French President Francois Hollande called May 11 for an end to the US embargo on Cuba, as he met with Fidel Castro during the first visit by a Western leader since Washington and Havana moved to restore ties.

Francois Hollande arrived in Havana May 10, the first French president to visit Cuba in more than a century, cementing Paris's lead in the EU rapprochement with the communist island.

Cuban President Raul Castro paid a call on Pope Francis at the Vatican Sunday to thank him for working for Cuban-US detente and later said he is so impressed by the pontiff he is considering a return to the Catholic church?s fold.
                 

Cuban President Raul Castro arrived at the Vatican on May 10 to thank Pope Francis for his role in brokering the rapprochement between Havana and Washington.

Nikolic meets with Raul Castro in Moscow

Serbia "cannot renounce its old friendships with Cuba and Russia," Tomislav Nikolic said on Friday as he met with Raul Castro in Moscow.

In conversation with his Cuban counterpart, the Serbian president said that the two nations share similar freedom-loving feelings and commitment to peace.

By Ilias Bellos

Greek-owned United Caribbean Lines Florida has secured one of the first few licenses for the operation of coastal shipping services between the US and Cuba from the US Department of the Treasury, after about half a century without a service.

Cuban officials and ordinary citizens alike hailed the island's removal from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, saying the move by President Barack Obama heals a decades-old insult to national pride and clears the way to swiftly restore diplomatic relations.

US President Barack Obama announced in Congress on Tuesday that he intends to remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

This move will be an important step towards restoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, which have been characterised by hostility in the past five decades.

President Barack Obama is set to remove Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, in a landmark step paving the way towards restoring ties frozen for five decades.

US President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro had a historic handshake on Friday as they arrived at the Summit of the Americas, which is taking place in Panama City.

Their gesture has been another important step in the thaw of relations between the two countries, which have been at odds in the past five decades.