Charter flights from Fort Lauderdale to Cuba start in September

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Hannah Sampson.MiamiHerald.com. Charter service to Cuba, operated by JetBlue, will begin from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Sept. 12. Airline Brokers Company, which already offers charter flights from Miami International Airport, is adding Fort Lauderdale to its schedule. U.S. Customs and Border Protection approved the Broward airport to host charter flights in March. Read More

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Obama calls for release of American in Cuba

<p style="text-align: justify;">The Daily Caller. White House officials are urging Cuba’s socialist government to release American Alan Gross, only a few hours after his 15-year sentence was confirmed by island’s top court.“We call on the government of Cuba to release Alan Gross immediately and unconditionally, to allow him to return to his family and bring to an end the long ordeal that began well over a year ago,” a White House statement read. (RELATED: Obama won debt ceiling fight, says DNC) Read More

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Amy Winehouse: new victim, but not the last

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Daniel Alejandro Benítez Quiñones . Amy Winehouse was back in the news in almost every newspaper in the world. First, the cause was her recordings, then her drug addiction and now, her death at 27. Nobody expected it. Despite of the scandals in her latest live performances and the tour cancellation, few thought that her end was so close. Many believed in the recovery of the winner of five Grammy Awards for the musical album Back to Black. Read More

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Leo Brouwer in Concert Featuring Jewish Composers

<p style="text-align: justify;">The concert "North America and Its Music," featuring the work of Jewish composers with live commentary by Cuban composer and guitarist Leo Brouwer, premieres in the Cuban capital. The program includes music from the soundtrack by John Williams for Schindler's List, a Steven Spielberg film; China Gates for piano, by John Adams; and Piano Trio No.1 Sweetgrass by Curtis Curtis-Smith. Read More

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Company with Miami link to manage golf hotel in Varadero

<p style="text-align: justify;">General Hotel Management Group Ltd., a British Virgin Island-based company with offices in Singapore and Shanghai, agreed to manage a beachfront hotel in Varadero, the developer of the hotel said. GHM Hotels’ flagship property is The Setai in Miami Beach; the company manages hotels in politically sensitive countries such as North Korea and Myanmar.GHM, according to London-based Esencia Group, agreed to manage and operate a boutique hotel and spa planned by Esencia to go up as part of the Carbonera Golf and Country Club. Read More

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Cuba, Int'l Agencies Team to Protect Biodiversity

<p style="text-align: justify;">By: Ileana Ferrer Fonte.12:02Havana, Aug 5 (Prensa Latina) A program financed by the World Environment Fund and the UN Development Program will seek to extend Cuba's southern mangrove swamps and provide more protection for coral reefs and fish.About 5.7 million USD will be earmarked for a five-year period to strengthen environmental education in the country, Martha Rosa Acosta Blanco, a protected areas expert in Pinar del Rio province, told Juventud Rebelde newspaper. Read More

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Group expects post-Christmas marketing launch of golf condos

<p style="text-align: justify;">Esencia Group said it may start marketing golf course condominiums after Christmas. The London-based developer expects final government approval in September of revised plans for its Carbonera Club at Varadero, a company newsletter said. Esencia is one of four golf resort developers in the final stages of a drawn-out approval process with the government. The group, led by Scottish businessman Andrew MacDonald, last year presented plans for the $400 million Carbonera Country Club Resort that include 730 apartments and villas, an 18-hole golf course, and a marina. The company said it will present the government an updated plan with prices for real estate before September. Read More

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Tropical Storm Emily may re-form this weekend; 3 dead in D.R.

<p style="text-align: justify;">This NOAA satellite image taken Friday, August 5, 2011 at 1:45 a.m. EDT shows the remnants of Tropical Storm Emily over Hispaniola. Showers and thunderstorms associated with the system stretch over the Greater Antilles, and into the Bahamas. This system has a moderate, 60% chance of redeveloping into a tropical storm within the next 48 hours. Meanwhile, a trough of low pressure west of Mexico pushes ample moisture onshore, kicking up scattered showers and thunderstorms that stretch into the Southwestern US. At the same time, a frontal boundary over the Southeast triggers scattered storms to the Southeast.AP Read More

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Cuba's highest court upholds verdict on jailed American

<p style="text-align: justify;">By Shasta Darlington, CNN. August 5, 2011 -- Updated 1648 GMT (0048 HKT) Havana, Cuba(CNN) -- Cuba's highest court upheld the 15-year sentence imposed on American contractor Alan Gross for trying to set up illegal Internet connections on the island, Cuba's state media reported on Friday.Gross, 62, was jailed in December 2009, when he was working as a subcontractor on a USAID project aimed at spreading democracy and deemed illegal by Cuban authorities. Read More

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Cuba Lost to Russia in Opening Game of Women’s Grand Prix of Volleyball

<p style="text-align: justify;">2011.08.05 - 10:39:59 /radiorebelde.icrt.cu. Cuba Lost to Russia in Opening Game of Women’s Grand Prix of Volleyball. HAVANA, Cuba.-&nbsp; Cuba lost to Russia in four sets in their debut at the women’s Grand Prix of Volleyball that began on Friday and whose preliminary stage is scheduled to take place over the next three weekends in cities of seven of the sixteen participating countries.Playing in the Thai city of Nakhopathom and as part of Pool B, the Cuban squad fell to the current world champions 26-24, 18-25, 23-25 and 20-25 in spite of Wilma Salas’ 15 points and Kenia Carcaces’ 14. Read More

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