The Latest Breaking News from Cuba

MIAMI — The Biden administration is expected to announce a partial staffing increase in the U.S. Embassy in Havana that will help address a yearslong visa backlog affecting thousands of Cuban American families, a source familiar with the plan said.

A bipartisan group of Florida members of Congress filed a bill that would rename the street in front of the Cuban Embassy in Washington as “Oswaldo Payá Way,” in honor of the late Cuban activist.

This week on The Sound Kitchen you’ll hear the answer to the question about the Nobel Peace Prize-winning NGO, Médecins Sans Frontières. There’s news about the Baha’i festival Ayyam-i-Ha, information on palindromes and ambigrams (!), and contemporary music from Cuba on Music from Erwan. All that and the new quiz…

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shocked the world, but in many ways Vladimir Putin has been building up to this for some time.

In a carefully worded statement, the Cuban government is blaming the United States for the crisis in Ukraine and backed Russia’s right to “self-defense,” but said the conflict should be resolved diplomatically.

By Dave Sherwood

By Polina Devitt and Dave Sherwood

Latest Ukraine news from February 23: Ukraine’s parliament has voted to approve a state of emergency.

At least 200 Cubans protested near Costa Rica's embassy in Havana on Monday against tighter visa requirements for Cubans passing through the Central American nation on the way to Nicaragua.