Tropical Storm Eta hits Cuba, Florida braces itself

Russia dispatches over 88 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Cuba, according to the Russian defence ministry, following unprecedented street protests against the communist government in Havana.

Cuba has accused the United States of encouraging such an attack through "calls for violence." Washington earlier urged Cuba to release detained protesters.

Hundreds of Cuban Americans, political refugees and activists marched on the US capital Monday to protest against the Cuban government and its crackdown on anti-communist demonstrations earlier this month.

The latest sanctions on Cubaꞌs interior police follow mass protests on the island that started on July 11. Cuban-American leaders met Biden at the White House Friday.

Weeks after thousands of people took to the streets of Cuba to protest against the government, authorities have introduced laws restricting the use of social media and the internet.

Cuban authorities launch a national campaign to vaccinate children aged two to 18 against Covid-19. With the Delta variant spreading across the island of 11.2 million, the country's health care system has been pushed to the brink, and the government says it will only gradually re-open schools for in-person instruction in October after the vaccination campaign among children is completed.

Hotel and restaurant workers hope Cuba's decision to gradually reopen its border from November 15 will be a boost for business.

The Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease has plagued Florida’s coral reef, killing nearly half of the state’s corals and majorly affecting the Florida Keys. In Orlando, the Florida Coral Rescue Center is racing to save these vital marine animals.

Faced with shortages of food and medicine, power blackouts and an economy in crisis, thousands of Cubans staged rare protests last summer. But since then, little has been heard from them. Cuban exiles in the United States are worried about developments on the island.

Florida's Everglades National Park, the largest wetland in the United States, is under threat from climate change and has become a battleground for one of the most sweeping ecological conservation efforts on Earth.

ZooTampa in Florida vaccinates a skunk with a specific vaccine developed exclusively for animals. The zoo in Tampa has begun to vaccinate animals who have been identified as most susceptible to Covid-19. The use of the special vaccine, which was developed exclusively for animals by the Michigan-based veterinary pharmaceutical company Zoetis, has been used for vaccinating those species that are known to be more vulnerable to contracting the virus in other zoological organizations throughout the United States. ZooTampa says it has received a shipment of approximately 220 doses – enough to vaccinate roughly 19 species which includes 93 animals such as Florida panthers, skunks, otters and primates.

Human Rights Watch accuses the Cuban government of arresting people arbitrarily, mistreating detainees and holding sham trials in revenge for unprecedented street protests that erupted across the country this summer.