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Castro turns 89; says U.S. owes Cuba

HAVANA (AP) — Fidel Castro marked his 89th birthday with a newspaper column Thursday repeating assertions that the U.S. owes socialist Cuba “numerous millions of dollars” for damages caused by its decades-long embargo. The brief essay came a day before an historic moment in U.S.-Cuba relations: Secretary of State John Kerry is to raise the Stars and Stripes over a restored U.S. Embassy in Havana, though the economic embargo legally remains in effect. The rapprochement after 54 years of formal diplomatic estrangement was engineered by Fidel’s brother Raul, who took over Cuba’s presidency after the elder Castro suffered a health crisis in 2006.

Drug boss, reporter, four others killed

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Five gunmen burst into a bar early Thursday and killed a reputed drug gang boss, a reporter and four other people in Mexico’s Gulf coast state of Veracruz, authorities said. The Veracruz state prosecutor’s office said the gunmen entered the bar and went directly for the victims, who included the local boss of the Zetas drug gang, identified as Jose Marquez Balderas. It said reporter Juan Santos Carrera was among those sitting with him. Two other reporters in the bar were not shot, but were fired by their newspaper for being at the scene with the local cartel boss. Police chased the assailants, and two officers were wounded in an ensuing exchange of gunfire in the streets of the city of Orizaba, but there were no immediate arrests. The prosecutor’s office said some of the victims had weapons with them. Veracruz state now has seen 14 journalists killed since Gov. Javier Duarte took office in 2010 and three more have gone missing, drawing criticism from press freedom advocates.

Firefighter rescued from blast zone

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TIANJIN, China (AP) — Rescuers today pulled out a firefighter who was trapped for 32 hours after responding to two huge explosions in Tianjin, state media said, as authorities moved forward gingerly in dealing with a fire still smoldering amid potentially dangerous chemicals. The two explosions late Wednesday at the Chinese port city — one of them the equivalent of 21 tons of TNT — killed at least 50 people and injured more than 700. The blasts originated at shipping containers owned by a logistics company authorized to handle hazardous material and struck a mostly nonresidential warehouse district. The death toll included 17 firefighters sent in after the first blast, and would have been much higher in a more populated area. Other firefighters also went missing while responding to the blasts, though authorities have not clarified how many. One firefighter was pulled from the zone at about dawn today and brought to a hospital, where he was being treated for face, chest and feet injuried, the state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Greek lawmakers back 3rd bailout

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek lawmakers approved their country’s draft third bailout in a parliamentary vote today that relied on opposition party support and saw the government coalition suffer significant dissent. The vote came after a marathon all-night session marked by procedural delays and acrimonious debate over the three-year, about $93 billion rescue package that includes harsh spending cuts and tax hikes. Unable to borrow on the international markets, another bailout is all that stands between Greece and a disorderly default on its debts that could see it forced out of Europe’s joint currency. The vote was passed with 222 votes in favor, 64 against, 11 abstentions and three absent.



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