The US and Cuba are officially being nice to each other again

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NEED TO KNOW:

They did it. And, as a result, they have given us something happy to write about for once in this space. The United States and Cuba have set aside a half-century of distrust, fear and aggression, and they have seen through an agreement made in December to re-establish ties.

On Wednesday, the two countries announced that all roadblocks had been resolved and that they would be opening diplomatic missions in each other's capitals again. It is truly historic news. The US-Cuba standoff is one of the last remnants of the Cold War.

The US broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 largely because the country aligned itself with the Soviet Union. Since then it’s been all “trade embargoes and crazy assassination plots,” writes GlobalPost’s Timothy McGrath.

Of course, not everyone is happy. Some members of the US Congress are already gearing up for a fight over any nominations for a US ambassador to Cuba; the money that will be needed to establish an embassy; and the process of softening sanctions against the country. US President Barack Obama said this is the start of a new chapter. But old habits die hard. One only needs to look toward Russia and its renewed tensions with NATO for proof of that.

WANT TO KNOW:

Speaking of… Bornholm is a small, far-flung island off the coast of Denmark. There is little reason to know it, but it's significant. The Russians have all manner of hypothetical plans in their military binders to capture it. Bornholm is a radar station. It's the eyes and ears, the front-line defense, for Denmark and the rest of the Nordic countries.

A year ago, two Russian bombers and four fighter planes approached Bornholm in military formation. It could have been the start of something very bad, something many in the region are beginning to fear again — a Russian attack. Fortunately, they just flew on by. It was a disturbing demonstration of Russian aggression though, and it came at a time when 90,000 politicians, journalist, lobbyists and other citizens, including the prime minister, were on the island.

Whether it was intended as a threat or not, the drill was just one of a growing number of similar Russian exercises that — together with increased military flights (including some serious violations of airspace) and naval and submarine activity — have pushed fear and suspicion of Russia across Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway to levels unseen since the Cold War.

So in reaction, NATO held a huge exercise of its own last month in the Baltics. It involved 49 navy ships from 17 countries and 5,900 personnel. It all culminated in a dramatic — perhaps overly dramatic — beach landing just 60 miles from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

This tit-for-tat flexing has so far been pretty harmless, except for maybe the price tags, which often taxpayers are covering. But with each new demonstration of strength comes renewed anxiety. And with all this new anxiety over Russia, Baltic countries that have for years been reducing their defense budgets are starting to reverse course.

STRANGE BUT TRUE:

It's almost July 4. That's the American Day of Independence. But you aren't going to see anyone anywhere else in the world celebrating all that much, and definitely not in Mexico. For people in Mexico, the whole thing doesn't really register.

This is in stark contrast to Cinco de Mayo in the United States. Cinco de Mayo is on May 5, if that wasn't clear. It's a Mexican holiday that marks some battle somewhere that has nothing to do with the United States. But a lot of people in the United States mistake if for Mexico's independence day.

Anyway, Americans typically take the opportunity to put on sombreros and drink margaritas. They get blind drunk and celebrate God-knows-what. It's really kind of offensive if you take a step back and look at it, especially from the perspective of a Mexican person. If that's hard for you to do, here is a video that turns the tables. What if Mexicans celebrated July 4 like Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo? It's hilarious.