Cuban baseball players looking to come to the US have to jump through serious hoops to get here. But changes in US-Cuba relations may finally fix that.
Over the last few years, the Cuban government has been experimenting with turning state enterprises into cooperatives and letting the workers own and run them. They're seen by some as a way of opening the country up to capitalism and privatization while maintaining some of the revolution’s collectivist ideals. And so far, Cubans seem to like them.
The recently announced thaw between the US and Cuba divides opinions, even within some families of Cuban Americans.
In Cuba, electronic communication can be tricky for people on the island trying to reach the outside world. It's not only daunting — but can be dangerous. Despite those obstacles, Cubans have found ingenious ways to make their voices heard.
President Barack Obama’s December 17 announcement that he would begin normalizing relations with Cuba sparked hot debate on both sides of the Florida Strait. It also began a political process that won’t end until a highly fractious Congress can agree on new legislation, not likely to happen any time soon. Among other obstacles is the long-questioned human rights record of the Castro regime. Independent watchdog organization Freedom House says Cuba falls just shy of its “worst of the worst list” for denying its citizens political rights and civil liberties.
The rise of ISIS is connected to Jordan. The Israeli-Palestinian crisis plays out in the shadow of Jordan. The Syrian civil war and it's ensuing refugee crisis are taking a heavy toll on Jordan. Even the Iranian nuclear talks has a connection to Jordan. So, why Jordan, a landlocked country with few natural resources but tremendous importance for American foreign policy, at the middle of it all.
The rise of ISIS and their brutal acts of terror have been a horrifying development in the past year. And yet within in the Middle Eastern artistic community, an unlikely group of voices has begun to stand up to try and combat’s the group’s message of fear and intolerance: comedians.
Afghanistan has a tradition of raising young girls as boys, in order to afford them more rights and the family more opportunities. And it works — though it's not always easy.
Inside Syria, almost six million children have been affected by the country's ongoing civil war, and millions more have fled the country to find safety in refugee camps. Turkey, for example, has opened its doors to about a million-and-a-half Syrian refugees since spring 2011. But as the war drags on, Turkey is finding itself with a long-term humanitarian and education problem.
