The US embassy in Havana reopened visa services for Cubans on Wednesday, five years after a series of health incidents drastically cut the number of diplomatic staff.
In September, when plans for expanded services were announced, the embassy said that the primary focus would be on processing “immediate relative, family preference, diversity visa, and K fiancé(e) visa categories”.
The embassy will not, however, be issuing tourist visas for now.
NPR reported that the embassy is expected to issue at least 20,000 visas per year, though the Covid-19 pandemic has created an enormous backlog that has pushed processing back by months and even years.
The reopening of visa processing in the country comes amid a historic level of Cuban migration.
According to official figures, over the past year, about 250,000 Cubans — more than 2 per cent of the island’s 11 million people — have attempted to migrate to the US.
Cuba has become a top contributor to the flow of people attempting to cross the southern US border — something that has become a major political liability for President Joe Biden as well as a wider national security concern.
Migrants on the southern US border — in pictures
The tightening of US sanctions coupled with the devastation wreaked by the pandemic on the country's tourism industry has caused Cuba's economy to go into free fall. Skyrocketing inflation, shortages of goods — including food — and frequent power cuts have caused widespread discontent.
And remittances sent from abroad — which in 2019 reached $3.7 billion and are another vital source of income for Cubans — also largely dried up in recent years, with travel blocked, AFP reported.
Despite election promises, Mr Biden has not reversed the embargo, instead hardening his speech following anti-government protests on the island in July 2021.
Over the course of the pandemic, the number of protests on the island has risen dramatically, with the Cuban Observatory of Conflict reporting more than 2,000 through August 2022 alone — a sign of increasing discontent with the country's communist government.
Havana has passed the blame for the country's woes to its long-time foe, the US — and perhaps with good reason: Since the 1960s, Cuba has been the subject of a stringent trade embargo, with goods including fuel, car parts, fertilisers and many others banned from being shipped to the island.
Cuba, which has campaigned tirelessly at the UN and other international organisations to end the embargo, has claimed that America's actions have cost the island more than $130 billion.
'Sonic attacks'
The reason for the lengthy closing of visa-processing services at the embassy in Havana can be traced back to a series of strange incidents that have baffled doctors and scientists for years.
In 2016, staff at the embassy began reporting hearing a grinding noise, often accompanied by a feeling of pressure or vibration, similar to driving in a car with the window partly open.
The incidents occurred in the staffers' homes or hotel rooms and, in several cases, resulted in lasting health problems, including one diplomat needing a hearing aid, according to CNN.
Theories behind the so-called sonic attacks ranged from orchestrated assaults by the Cuban government using microwaves or pulsed electromagnetic energy to cricket sounds to pesticides, and even mass hysteria.
Regardless of their cause, the incidents caused a major decrease in embassy staff, leading it to close visa processing in the country.
The Cuban government has categorically denied involvement.
'The Art of Diplomacy' with Cuba's ambassador to the UAE — video
Why seagrass matters
- Carbon sink: Seagrass sequesters carbon up to 35X faster than tropical rainforests
- Marine nursery: Crucial habitat for juvenile fish, crustations, and invertebrates
- Biodiversity: Support species like sea turtles, dugongs, and seabirds
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Poacher
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2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Table
1 UAE 5 5 0 10
2 Qatar 5 4 1 8
3 Saudi 5 3 2 6
4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4
5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2
6 Maldives 5 0 5 0
Aldar Properties Abu Dhabi T10
*November 15 to November 24
*Venue: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
*Tickets: Start at Dh10, from ttensports.com
*TV: Ten Sports
*Streaming: Jio Live
*2017 winners: Kerala Kings
*2018 winners: Northern Warriors
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Golden Shoe top five (as of March 1):
Harry Kane, Tottenham, Premier League, 24 goals, 48 points
Edinson Cavani, PSG, Ligue 1, 24 goals, 48 points
Ciro Immobile, Lazio, Serie A, 23 goals, 46 points
Mohamed Salah, Liverpool, Premier League, 23 goals, 46 points
Lionel Messi, Barcelona, La Liga, 22 goals, 44 points
INDIA SQUAD
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj and Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
The biog
Name: Salvador Toriano Jr
Age: 59
From: Laguna, The Philippines
Favourite dish: Seabass or Fish and Chips
Hobbies: When he’s not in the restaurant, he still likes to cook, along with walking and meeting up with friends.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
RESULT
Manchester United 2 Burnley 2
Man United: Lingard (53', 90' 1)
Burnley: Barnes (3'), Defour (36')
Man of the Match: Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)
500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
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