Bells tolled in celebration and teachers halted lessons as President Raul Castro told his country Cuba was restoring relations with the United States after more than 50 years of hostility.

A Spanish political activist has been tried on charges of negligently causing the car crash that killed a prominent Cuban dissident.

The husband of an acclaimed dissident Cuban blogger was punched and shouted down by a pro-government mob after he challenged the presumed state agents who earlier roughed up his wife to a street corner debate.

Former President Fidel Castro claims the attitude and comments of a popular Cuban blogger only add fuel to attacks against the communist country by its enemies.