Survey: Many Americans support better ties with Cuba |
- Survey: Many Americans support better ties with Cuba
- Study finds global life expectancy risen more than six years since 1990
- Baltimore’s ‘miracle on 34th Street’ (VIDEO)
- Historic! After 50 years, US and Cuba restore ties
- AFP Video: Baltimore’s ‘miracle on 34th Street’
- Canadian man finds travel partner with same name as ex-girlfriend for world trip
| Survey: Many Americans support better ties with Cuba Posted: 17 Dec 2014 05:01 PM PST
Fewer than 20 per cent of Americans oppose establishing US diplomatic relations with Cuba, the poll of 31,000 adults showed. More than 40 per cent of the respondents were in favor of rapprochement. Some 39 per cent said they were not sure. Obama announced yesterday that the United States would restore diplomatic relations it had severed with Cuba more than 50 years ago. The poll was taken before the announcement, running between July 10 and October 9 of this year. Ipsos pollster Julia Clark said the results could bolster Obama's efforts to convince Congress to lift the US embargo on Cuba completely. She predicted that already strong support for a shift would grow. "Public support for this will continue to increase," she said. Obama's move drew sharp criticism from some Democrats, including typical ally Senator Robert Menendez. Republicans were harsher, particularly potential presidential candidates Jeb Bush, a former governor of Florida, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio. But the poll showed residents of Florida, a critical battleground in presidential elections that is geographically close to the isolated island, overwhelmingly supportive of a change. In a sample size of 1,055 Floridians, some 47 per cent said the United States should establish diplomatic relations with the Caribbean nation, while 22 per cent said it should not. Obama's fellow Democrats hope to hold on to the coalition that elected him in 2008 and 2012. Hispanics were a key part of that coalition, and the poll showed they were largely in favor of a US-Cuba policy revamp. Nationally, 49 per cent of Latinos supported starting diplomatic relations, while roughly 20 per cent did not. Both men and women backed a change. Roughly 55 per cent of polled men supported a shift, while 20 per cent opposed it. Among women, 32 per cent were in favor and 19 per cent were opposed. Women were another key part of the voting coalition that propelled Obama to the White House. Broken down according to political party, support was more varied. Some 39 per cent of Republicans supported a change, while 28 per cent did not. A majority of Democrats, 54 per cent, were in favor of establishing diplomatic relations, while only 15 per cent were opposed. — Reuters  |
| Study finds global life expectancy risen more than six years since 1990 Posted: 17 Dec 2014 04:59 PM PST
In an analysis from the 2013 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, health researchers said, however, that while life expectancy is rising almost everywhere in the world, one notable exception is southern sub-Saharan Africa, where deaths from HIV/AIDS have erased some five years of life expectancy since 1990. "The progress we are seeing against a variety of illnesses and injuries is good — even remarkable — but we can and must do even better," said Christopher Murray, a professor of global health at the University of Washington in the United States, who led the study. It was published in The Lancet medical journal. Murray said a huge increase in collective action and funding given to potentially deadly infectious diseases such as diarrhoea, measles, tuberculosis, HIV and malaria has had a real impact, reducing death rates and extending life expectancy. But he said some major chronic diseases have been neglected and are rising in importance as threats to life, particularly drug disorders, liver cirrhosis, diabetes and kidney disease. The GBD 2013 gives the most comprehensive and up-to-date estimates of the number of yearly deaths from 240 different causes in 188 countries over 23 years — from 1990 to 2013. Murray's team's latest analysis found some poorer countries have made exceptional gains in life expectancy over that time period, with people in Nepal, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Niger, Maldives, East Timor and Iran now living on average 12 years longer. Yet despite dramatic drops in child deaths over the last 23 years, malaria, diarrhoea and respiratory infections such as pneumonia are still in the top five global causes of death in children under five, killing almost two million children between the ages of one month and 59 months every year. Another mixed success is that, while worldwide deaths from HIV/AIDS have fallen every year since their peak in 2005, HIV/AIDS is still the greatest cause of premature death in 20 out of 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. — Reuters |
| Baltimore’s ‘miracle on 34th Street’ (VIDEO) Posted: 17 Dec 2014 04:56 PM PST BALTIMORE, Dec 18 — People come to see the Christmas lights on the 700 block of 34th Street in the Hampden community of Maryland. The display, known as the "Miracle on 34th Street" dates back to 1947 and attracts thousands of visitors each year. — AFP/Relaxnews
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| Historic! After 50 years, US and Cuba restore ties Posted: 17 Dec 2014 04:53 PM PST
After 18 months of secret talks, Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro agreed in a phone call on Tuesday on a breakthrough prisoner exchange, the opening of embassies in each other's countries, and an easing of some restrictions on commerce. The two leaders made the announcement in simultaneous televised speeches. The Vatican and Canada facilitated the deal. Obama's call for an end to the economic embargo drew resistance from Republicans who will control both houses of Congress from January and who oppose normal relations with the communist-run island. Obama said he was ending what he called a rigid and outdated policy of isolating Cuba that had failed to achieve change on the island. His administration's policy shift includes an opening to more commerce in some areas, allowing use of US credit and debit cards, increasing the amount of money that can be sent to Cubans and allowing export of telecommunications devices and services. RESTRICTIONS REMAIN Travel restrictions that make it hard for most Americans to visit will be eased, but the door will not yet be open for broad US tourism on the Caribbean island. His announcement also will not end the US trade embargo that has been in force for more than 50 years. That is codified in legislation and needs congressional approval. Obama said he would seek that approval but will likely face a struggle. Obama said the opening was made possible by Havana's release of American Alan Gross, 65, who had been imprisoned in Cuba for five years. Gross' case had been a major obstacle to improving relations. Cuba is also releasing an intelligence agent who spied for the United States and was held for nearly 20 years, and the United States in return freed three Cuban intelligence agents held in the United States. Cuba and the United States have been ideological foes since soon after the 1959 revolution that brought Raul Castro's older brother, Fidel Castro, to power. Washington broke diplomatic relations with Havana in 1961 as Cuba steered a leftist course that turned it into a close ally of the former Soviet Union on the island, which lies just 90 miles (140 km) south of Florida. The hostilities were punctuated by crises over spies, refugees and the Cuban missile crisis of October 1962 that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. After the demise of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, Washington was increasingly alone in its efforts to squeeze Cuba. Raul Castro, who took over from Fidel Castro when his brother retired in 2008, has maintained a one-party political system. CRITICS CHALLENGE OBAMA Obama said Cuba still needed to enact economic reforms and uphold human rights among other changes, but he said it was time for a new approach. Americans are largely open to establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll of more than 31,000 adults conducted between July and October. Around one-fifth of those surveyed said they opposed such a move, while 43 per cent said the United States should restore relations with Cuba and around 37 per cent said they were unsure. Critics said Cuba should not be rewarded, having yet to change, and the path to completely normal ties is strewn with obstacles, in particular lifting the embargo that the White House said Obama would like to see dismantled by the time he leaves office in 2017. Although a growing number of US lawmakers favor more normal ties, those lawmakers are still mostly Democrats, and after big midterm election gains in November, Republicans will control both houses of Congress in the new year. Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban American Republican, will be incoming chair of a key Senate Foreign Relations panel and said he was committed to doing all he could to "unravel" the plan. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, both set to hold senior foreign policy positions, said the policy shift reflected "America and the values it stands for in retreat and decline." Whatever the criticism at home, Obama's move was made with the political liberty of a president who, midway through his second term, no longer faces an electorate. CUBAN AMERICANS SPLIT News of the changes rippled fast through the 1.5 million-strong Cuban American community in the United States, hailed by some who are keen to see closer ties with the island and condemned by others. Older Cubans who left the island soon after the revolution have remained opposed to ties with either Castro brother in power. Younger Cubans, who left more recently or were born in the United States, have shown more interest in warmer relations. "It's amazing," said Hugo Cancio, who arrived in Miami in the 1980 Mariel boatlift and runs a magazine with offices in Miami and Havana. "This is a new beginning, a dream come true for the 11.2 million Cubans in Cuba, and I think it will provoke a change of mentality here too in this community." In Havana, stunned Cubans celebrated the news, although some were skeptical that the long years of animosity really would end. In one student demonstration on a busy Havana street corner, about 100 people shut off traffic while motorists honked their horns. Neighbors peered out from their balconies, joining in the cheers. "I have waited for this day since I can remember," said taxi driver Jorge Reymond, wiping away tears. GROSS CASE Obama said the Gross case had stalled his ambitions to try to reset relations with Havana, calling it a "major obstacle." Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, played an active role in pressing for his release from Cuba, where a sizable part of the population is Roman Catholic. Cuba arrested Gross on Dec. 3, 2009, and sentenced him to 15 years in prison for importing banned technology and trying to establish clandestine Internet service for Cuban Jews. Gross had been working as a subcontractor for the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Gross's lawyer and family have described him as mentally vanquished, gaunt, hobbling and missing five teeth. Speaking to reporters after arriving in the United States, Gross thanked Obama for all he had done to secure his release and said he did not blame the Cuban people for his ordeal. His case raised alarm about USAID's practice of hiring private citizens to carry out secretive assignments in hostile places. Cuba considers USAID another instrument of continual US harassment dating back to 1959. The three Cuban intelligence agents, jailed since 1998, are Gerardo Hernandez, 49, Antonio Guerrero, 56, and Ramon Labañino, 51. Two others had been released before on completing their sentences - Rene Gonzalez, 58, and Fernando Gonzalez, 51. The three arrived in Cuba yesterday, Castro said. Despite their decades of animosity, the two countries have long been engaged on a host of issues such as immigration, drug interdiction and oil-spill mitigation. — Reuters |
| AFP Video: Baltimore’s ‘miracle on 34th Street’ Posted: 17 Dec 2014 04:52 PM PST Duration: 0:36, Published 18 Dec 2014 People come to see the Christmas lights on the 700 block of 34th Street in the Hampden community of Maryland. The display, known as the "Miracle on 34th Street" dates back to 1947 and attracts thousands of visitors each year. — AFP/Relaxnews |
| Canadian man finds travel partner with same name as ex-girlfriend for world trip Posted: 17 Dec 2014 04:44 PM PST
Jordan Axani, 28, and his former girlfriend booked the three-week trip in May, including stops in Italy, France, India and Thailand. But the pair broke up, leaving Axani with plane tickets booked in her name. Wary of the hassle of changing names on tickets booked with several airlines, Axani put out a call on social media website Reddit in November for someone with the same name as his ex-girlfriend and a valid Canadian passport. After worldwide media attention, Axani received thousands of responses, including from Nova Scotia student Elizabeth "Quinn" Gallagher, 23. Axani picked Gallagher, a homeless shelter volunteer, after talking with her on the phone and becoming impressed with her social conscience. "It's totally platonic," Axani said from New York where the trip starts on Sunday. "Do I think we'll become friends? Sure." Other responses were more odd. Axani said he heard from hundreds of people, male and female, who offered to legally change their names. Axani has turned the attention into a charity called A Ticket Forward that aims to fund trips for underprivileged people. What does the original Elizabeth Gallagher think of all this? Axani said she has been in touch but he declined further comment. — Reuters |
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