Cuban Olympian and WBA Super Bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux deserves a decent purse for his next title fight following his KO win over Moises Fuentes and his sterling record in the Olympics as an amateur and as an unbeaten professional boxer.

Havana - Some 300,000 Americans flocked to Cuba in the first five months of 2017, nearly the same number as for all of last year, officials in Havana said on Wednesday.

Varadero - Near the Cuban seaside village of Boca de Camarioca, a giant drill runs into the ground and out to sea, probing for oil.

Havana - Cuba's first ultra luxury hotel opened its doors Monday in Havana, with guests paying up to $2,500 a night to stay in five-star comfort on the Communist island.

Aurora - On a traffic island in a country town, young Cubans are doing what most of their compatriots cannot: surfing an online social network.In one of the least wired countries on Earth, Gaspar, population 7,500, is one of the most connected towns of all.

Havana - Millions of Cubans rallied in May Day parades Monday, the last to be overseen by President Raul Castro -- and the first without his late brother and revolutionary predecessor Fidel.

Havana - Cuba Sunday hosted the world's annual International Jazz Day concert, with Hollywood star Will Smith presenting the event and musicians Herbie Hancock and Chucho Valdes among the performers.

Havana - The Cuban government's traditional May Day parade Monday is the last to be overseen by President Raul Castro -- and the first without his late brother and revolutionary predecessor Fidel.

Havana - A plane crash in western Cuba on Saturday killed eight military personnel, the ministry in charge of the island's armed forces said.

Empresa - A sweet smell of treacle used to fill the air in the village of Pedro Betancourt -- but like the workers from the derelict Cuba Libre sugar refinery, it has dispersed.

Havana - Cuban dissidents planning to run in the communist country's local elections in November have been arrested, threatened and otherwise harassed by the authorities, one of their leaders said Tuesday.

Havana - In Cuba, it sometimes seems time stopped in the 1960s.Despite a succession of sweeping changes in recent years -- rapprochement with the US, Fidel Castro's death -- the rhythm of life on the island remains as languid as ever.

Havana - Bolivian President Evo Morales is resting after "successful" throat surgery at a Havana hospital, a spokesman said Saturday.

Havana - Cuban President Raul Castro's son, Alejandro, was the communist island's envoy for secret negotiations with the United States that led to the countries' historic rapprochement, a cardinal close to the talks said.

Havana - While their American and European peers twisted and shouted to The Beatles in the 1960s, in Cuba childhood sweethearts Gisela and Hector kept their Beatlemania a naughty secret.

Havana - Detective fiction fans and literature buffs worldwide love Leonardo Padura; some watch his sleuth Mario Conde on Netflix. But back home in Communist Cuba, the author is virtually unknown.

Havana - Raul Castro says he will step aside as Cuba's president a year from now.Here are three challenges facing the island as it prepares for the handover:- Economy -Castro took over in 2006 from his brother Fidel, who died last November.

Havana - A Cuban dissident group awarded a prize to the head of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, who was denied a visa to accept it in person.

Guant - It's been almost a decade since the last detainee landed at Guantanamo Bay. Most of the jail's camps are now mothballed and the inmate population is down to just 41.

Guant - They spent seven years locked up under George W. Bush, then eight more under Barack Obama -- yet the five alleged terrorist plotters were convicted of nothing.