EFE

Spain asks Cuba for information on priest's murder

Spain asked Cuban authorities for information about the death of Spanish priest Mariano Arroyo, who was found stabbed and partially burned in his parish apartment on the outskirts of Havana, diplomatic sources told Efe on Tuesday.

TAMPA TRIBUNE

Tampa officials joining trip to Cuba

Tampa City Councilwoman Mary Mulhern and Tampa Port Authority Commissioner Carl Lindell will join about two dozen business people on a fact-finding trip to Cuba, hoping to lay the groundwork for Tampa-area trade once U.S.-Cuba relations improve.

AFP

Cuban defector signs deal with baseball agent

Ardolis Chapman, a star pitcher for Cuba in this year's World Baseball Classic who defected in the Netherlands on July 1, has signed with an agent and looks set to seek a Major League Baseball career.

PENNLIVE.COM

Hershey Foundation offers connection with Cuba

Cuba is a mysterious destination. It's so close, yet it's diffi cult to reach given the federal restrictions on travel there. But, one way to see the island is by visiting under a special license issued by the U.S. Treasury Department. One such license allows travel for humanitarian projects. And that's how the M.S. Hershey Foundation is able to offer trips to Cuba.

THE NEW YORK TIMES

Cuban pianist now plays for the world

When Michael Barrett went to Havana as a guest conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba in 2000, all he knew about Jorge Luis Prats was that he was the orchestra’s artistic director. Then Mr. Prats sat down at the piano and began to play. "My jaw dropped,” said Mr. Barrett, now chief executive and general director of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, in Katonah, N.Y. “ ‘Oh, my God,’ I thought, ‘this guy is a wonder.’ ”

AFP

Cuban leader visits ally Algeria

Cuban President Raul Castro met Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Sunday as he began a three-day visit to Cuba's north African ally ahead of a key summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.

THE ROYAL GAZETTE

Bacardi boss eyes Cuba embargo developments

Bacardi International's president and CEO Michael Brennan will be watching with keen interest to see whether the US lifts its trade embargo with Cuba.

THE WASHNGTON POST

With Maggie Rodriguez, 'Early' begins to rise

Maggie Rodriguez, the daughter of Cuban refugees, was a Miami anchor when she was offered the break of a lifetime: a chance to be the Saturday co-host of CBS's "Early Show."

LEXINGTON INSTITUTE

Phil Peters | Raulonomics

Tough diagnosis and partial prescriptions in Raul Castro’s economic Policies

THE WASHINGTON POST

Senate committee trims TV Marti funds

A Senate committee has struck $15 million from the budget for TV Marti, after Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan said the signal was jammed by the Communist government so no one there could see it. Differences between the House and Senate versions of a budget bill will have to be resolved before it can become law

MACON.COM

From Jerusalem to Havana

Our trip to Cuba was sponsored by the United Jewish Communities as an outreach to the Jewish community there. We visited three congregations in Havana and a small community in Santa Clara, about a four-hour ride from Havana.

EL PAIS

Report: Anonymous tip let to Carlos Lage's ouster (Spanish)

Un anónimo provocó los seguimientos de la seguridad cubana al representante de los intereses vascos en La Habana, en paradero desconocido desde su arresto en febrero

REUTERS

Brazil to help finance Cuban port project

Brazil said on Thursday it would give Cuba up to $300 million in credits to start rebuilding the island's port of Mariel, better known as the site of a 1980 Cuban exodus to the United States

AP

Cuba acknowledges top pitcher's desertion

Cuba has acknowledged the desertion of baseball pitcher Aroldis Chapman, a week after he walked away from a tournament in the Netherlands.

OSLO FREEDOM FORUM

Speech on human rights aid to Cuba

Speech by Marc Wachtenheim, director of the Cuba Development Initiative at the Pan American Development Foundation, overseeing a m-ulti-million dollar development program. CDI brings together hemispheric leaders to implement strategies in collaboration with the Cuban people to advance their democratic, economic, and social development by joining international financial resources with Cuba’s human resources. .

EFE

International Press Institute Calls for Release of Jailed Journalists in Cuba

The International Press Institute called Tuesday for the “immediate release” of the 22 journalists jailed in Cuba and warned of the risk of downplaying the importance of the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and the press.

REUTERS

Land leases to private Cuban farmers on the rise

The ranks of Cuba's family farmers have grown by more than 30,000 this year as the government conducted the biggest land-lease distribution since the country's 1959 revolution in an effort to solve an agricultural crisis, a newspaper reported on Monday.

REUTERS

Cuba's Fidel Castro honored with a reggaeton song

Since he swept into power 50 years ago, Cuba's Fidel Castro has been honored in poems, movies and paintings and now in reggaeton, a form of music widely popular among Cuban youth but not island leaders.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

New York, Keys Draw Cuban-Born Musician

The musicians in the two-time Grammy-nominated band Tiempo Libre were born, raised and classically trained at Cuban conservatories but now make their home in Miami. Focusing on timba, a sizzling combination of Latin jazz and Cuban sound, the group has been touring the U.S. to support its latest CD, "Bach in Havana." We talked to pianist and music director Jorge Gómez, 37, about touring with the band.

EFE

U.S. military chaplain says Mass in Cuba (Spanish)

REUTERS

Reggaeton fever shakes up Cuba's culture

With little official support or air time on state-controlled radio, the songs Cuban reggaeton artists record in makeshift studios lined with egg cartons for sound insulation are mostly transmitted though homemade CDs and on computer flash memory sticks.

HARVARD MAGAZINE

Hello from Havana

Nuanced but unmistakable stirrings of change in Cuba

WASHINGTON JEWISH WEEK

Cuban Jews lukewarm about thaw in U.S. relations

Some Jews in Cuba are greeting with caution the recent thaw in relations between their island nation and the United States.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

AP photo essay on Cuba's low infant mortality rate

Associated Press photo essay on Cuba's low infant mortality rate