Cuba

As Latin American leaders applaud a historic thawing of animosity between the United States and Cuba, U.S. President Barack Obama will meet Raul Castro for talks on April 11 that could further boost his reputation in the region. 

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Cuba's foreign minister made progress as they held historic talks April 9 to restore diplomatic ties, a US official said before their presidents attend a landmark summit.

The popular online home-rental service Airbnb is allowing American travelers to book lodging in Cuba starting Thursday in the most significant U.S. business expansion on the island since the declaration of detente between the two countries late last year.
     

The European Union and Cuba have agreed to speed up the pace of normalizing ties and hope to reach an accord by the end of the year, the bloc's top diplomat said Tuesday.
      

Cuba on March 10 offered its "unconditional support" to Venezuela after US President Barack Obama authorized new sanctions against senior officials of the South American oil producer, Havana's closest ally.
      
An official statement published in the island's state-run media called Obama's executive order implementing the sanctions "arbitrary and aggressive."        

Tourism to Cuba was up 16 percent in January from the previous year, following the historic rapprochement between the communist island and the United States, officials said on March 9.
      

Only two months after US President Obama announced his decision to normalize ties with Cuba, American comedian and writer Conan O'Brien, best known for hosting several late-night talk shows on American TV, traveled to Cuba to broadcast a hilarious special episode on salsa, rumba, cigar rolling and Spanish.

US and Cuban negotiators launch a second round of historic talks on Feb. 27 aimed at overcoming half a century of enmity and restoring full diplomatic ties.
      
After an initial meeting in Havana in January which ended with little apparent breakthrough, the teams were to meet at the State Department -- the hub of US global diplomacy.
      

Turkey has applied to Cuban officials to build a mosque in the Caribbean country, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an has said.

 ?We have applied [to the Cuban officials] to build a mosque similar to the one in Ortaköy; we are waiting,? Erdo?an said Feb. 9, while responding to journalists on board while en route to his South American tour.

Cuban state media late Feb. 2 released the first photographs of former president Fidel Castro in nearly six months in a bid to quiet rumors that his health is failing.