Cuban authorities are bringing down the curtain at the privately run cinemas and video game salons that have mushroomed on the island recently.

Cuban dissidents vowed to press ahead with their fight for more political and civil rights yesterday despite the death of prominent activist Oswaldo Paya in a car crash.

A bus collided with a train in eastern Cuba, killing at least 28 people and injuring another 73, including 15 reported in critical condition, state television said.

Hurricane Wilma, the most intense storm to form in the Americas, lashed the coasts of Central America and Caribbean islands today as it lumbered toward Mexico’s Cancun resort and Florida.