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Cuban dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer vowed Monday to keep fighting for democracy in his country after he was freed from prison and began his exile in the United States.After he landed in Miami on a flight from the communist-run island nation, Washington demanded that Cuba release more than 700 other political prisoners.”I will keep up the fight, but I will not continue it alone. I have to work with the entire exile community,” Ferrer, the leader of the Cuban opposition, told a press conference in Miami’s Little Havana, a Cuban flag draped around his shoulders.   Ferrer arrived in South Florida after being freed from a Cuban prison earlier on Monday.”I’m very happy and content to be with a good part of my family,” he said, and with “my comrades in the struggle, and many friends.” “But, on the other hand, it’s a very hard, difficult, and sad time because there are other brothers and sisters in Cuba suffering in terrible conditions in the worst prisons in the Western Hemisphere.”His departure deals a blow to the opposition movement in Cuba. The country is facing its worst economic crisis in decades and an exodus of young people, mainly to the United States.- Torture -Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the top Cuban dissident’s arrival in the US. “Ferrer’s leadership and tireless advocacy for the Cuban people was a threat to the regime, which repeatedly imprisoned and tortured him. We are glad that Ferrer is now free from the regime’s oppression,” Rubio said in a statement.”We call for the immediate release of the more than 700 unjustly detained political prisoners and urge the international community to join us in holding the Cuban regime accountable,” added America’s top diplomat, a Miami native and son of Cuban exiles.Ferrer, who has been imprisoned multiple times as the long-term leader of the island’s pro-democracy movement, said earlier this month that he had opted for exile after enduring torture and humiliation behind bars.In a letter from prison, the 55-year-old said that since he was reimprisoned in April, “the cruelty of the dictatorship towards me has known no bounds.”He cited “blows, torture, humiliation, threats and extreme conditions” in prison, including “the theft of food and hygiene products.”Ferrer said he took the difficult decision to leave given threats that his wife would also be imprisoned and his young son sent to an institution for juvenile offenders.  The foreign ministry in Havana said in a statement that Ferrer and members of his family had left the country for the US following “a formal request from that country’s government and the express acceptance” of the dissident.His sister Ana Belkis Ferrer told AFP by telephone the opposition leader had “finally been exiled, thank God,” adding his family was “very happy despite the tension of the last days.”- ‘Dignity and honor’ -Ferrer said in his letter he would leave Cuba “with my dignity and honor intact, and not for long.”As founder of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) — one of the most active opposition organizations in the one-party state — Ferrer had for years resisted pressure to go into exile to avoid prison.He was the most high-profile of a group of prisoners released in January under a landmark deal struck with Biden in exchange for Washington removing Cuba from a list of terrorism sponsors.But he was sent back to prison in April after Biden’s successor, Donald Trump, slapped Cuba back on the list.Ferrer has been in and out of prison since March 2003, when he and 74 other opposition members were arrested in a three-day period of repression known as Cuba’s “Black Spring.”He was released in 2011 but sent back to prison in 2021 following a crackdown on rare anti-government street protests that rattled the communist authorities.burs-iv/sms/iv/ksb

SpaceX is set to attempt the next test flight of its massive Starship rocket on Monday, as concerns grow that Elon Musk has overpromised his company’s ability to deliver NASA’s lunar projects and fulfill his own Mars ambitions.The US space agency plans to use the mammoth Starship — the world’s largest and most powerful rocket — in its efforts to return astronauts to the Moon. It is also key to Musk’s zealous vision to take humans to Mars.And while its last test mission in August was chalked up as a success, that followed a series of spectacular explosions that raised concerns Starship might not live up to its promises — at least not on the timeline lawmakers and the scientific community had hoped for.The US space agency’s Artemis program aims to return humans to the Moon as China forges ahead with a rival effort that’s targeting 2030 at the latest for its first crewed mission.US President Donald Trump’s second term in the White House has seen the administration pile pressure on NASA to accelerate its progress — efforts Starship is key to. Musk’s company has a multibillion-dollar federal contract to develop a modified version of Starship as a lunar lander.The manned Artemis III mission is intended for mid-2027 — but a NASA safety advisory panel has warned it could be “years late,” according to Space Policy Online.And former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine told a Senate panel recently that “unless something changes, it is highly unlikely the United States will beat China’s projected timeline.”- ‘Second space race’ -NASA’s acting administrator Sean Duffy has insisted the US will still win the “second space race,” telling reporters last month that “America has led in space in the past, and we are going to continue to lead in space in the future,” while dismissing the notion that China could get there first.Starship’s 11th test flight window is slated to open at 6:15 pm local time (2315 GMT) from the company’s launch facilities in southern Texas.Previous tests of the enormous rocket have resulted in explosions of the upper stage, including twice over the Caribbean and once after reaching space. In June, the upper stage blew up during a ground test.But during August’s successful flight, SpaceX for the first time managed to deploy eight dummy Starlink internet satellites, with onboard cameras beaming back live views of a robotic mechanism pushing each out one by one.Musk has identified developing a fully reusable orbital heat shield as the toughest task, noting it took nine months to refurbish the Space Shuttle’s heat shield between flights.Another hurdle is proving Starship can be refueled in orbit with super-cooled propellant — an essential but untested step for the vehicle to carry out deep-space missions.NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel has emphasized “threats” related to ensuring that vital transfer can be carried out, with member Paul Hill saying the timeline is “significantly challenged.”

US President Donald Trump had some choice words for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the only female leader on stage at a Gaza summit in Egypt on Monday: “She’s beautiful.”The three-times-married 79-year-old admitted that he risked being accused of sexism with the comments about hard-right leader Meloni, who was standing behind him on the podium.”I’m not allowed to say it because usually it’s the end of your political career if you say it — she’s a beautiful young woman,” Trump said in the middle of a speech about his peace efforts for the Middle East.”If you use the word ‘beautiful’ in the United States about a woman, that’s the end of your political career, but I’ll take my chances.”Turning round to address the 48-year-old, Trump said: “You don’t mind being called beautiful, right? Because you are.”Meloni’s immediate reaction could not be seen, as Trump’s back was between her and the cameras.Trump went on to call Meloni, an ideological ally when it comes to immigration and cultural issues, “incredible”.”And they really respect her in Italy. She’s a very successful politician,” he added.Meloni was the only woman among around 30 leaders gathered on the stage behind Trump for the summit, where they signed a declaration pledging to help push through peace for Gaza.Trump has previously been criticised for sexist remarks.In September, a US appeals court upheld a jury’s $83.3-million penalty against Trump for defaming author E. Jean Carroll, whom he was found to have sexually assaulted.

Cuban dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer landed in Miami on Monday to start his exile in the United States as Washington demanded that Cuba release more than 700 other “political prisoners.”Ferrer, 55, arrived in Florida after being freed from a Cuban prison earlier in the day.Secretary of State Marco Rubio welcomed the top Cuban dissident’s arrival in the US and demanded that Havana free hundreds of other imprisoned dissidents. “Ferrer’s leadership and tireless advocacy for the Cuban people was a threat to the regime, which repeatedly imprisoned and tortured him. We are glad that Ferrer is now free from the regime’s oppression,” Rubio said in a statement.”We call for the immediate release of the more than 700 unjustly detained political prisoners and urge the international community to join us in holding the Cuban regime accountable,” added America’s top diplomat, a Miami native and son of Cuban exiles.Ferrer, who has been imprisoned multiple times as the long-term leader of the island’s pro-democracy movement, announced this month he had opted for exile after enduring “torture” and “humiliation” behind bars.In a letter from prison, the 55-year-old said that since he was reimprisoned in April after being briefly freed under a deal negotiated with former US president Joe Biden, “the cruelty of the dictatorship towards me has known no bounds.”He cited “blows, torture, humiliation, threats and extreme conditions” in prison, including “the theft of food and hygiene products.”Ferrer said he took the difficult decision to leave given threats that his wife would also be imprisoned and his young son sent to an institution for juvenile offenders.  The foreign ministry in Havana said in a statement that Ferrer and members of his family had left the country for the United States following “a formal request from that country’s government and the express acceptance” of the dissident.His sister Ana Belkis Ferrer told AFP by telephone the opposition leader had “finally been exiled, thank God,” adding his family was “very happy despite the tension of the last days.”- ‘Dignity and honor’ -Ferrer said in his letter he would leave Cuba “with my dignity and honor intact, and not for long.”His departure deals a blow to the opposition movement in Cuba. The country faces its worst economic crisis in decades and an exodus of young people, mainly to the United States.Ferrer, founder of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) — one of the most active opposition organizations in the one-party state — had for years resisted pressure to go into exile to avoid prison.He was the most high-profile of a group of prisoners released in January under a landmark deal struck with Biden in exchange for Washington removing Cuba from a list of terrorism sponsors.But he was sent back to prison in April after Biden’s successor, Donald Trump, slapped Cuba back on the list.Ferrer has been in and out of prison since March 2003, when he and 74 other opposition members were arrested in a three-day period of repression known as Cuba’s “Black Spring.”He was released in 2011 but sent back to prison in 2021 following a crackdown on rare anti-government street protests that rattled the communist authorities.In his letter, he said “only the United States… truly stands in solidarity with the peaceful opposition and the Cuban people” — an implicit rebuke of the EU, which has angered dissidents by maintaining a political and cooperation agreement with Cuba.burs-iv/sms

Cuban dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer was freed from prison Monday and put on a plane to the United States where he will live in exile with his family, officials and relatives said.  Ferrer, who has been imprisoned multiple times as the long-term leader of the island’s pro-democracy movement, announced this month he had opted for exile after enduring “torture” and “humiliation” behind bars.In a letter from prison, the 55-year-old said that since he was reimprisoned in April after being briefly freed under a deal with former US president Joe Biden, “the cruelty of the dictatorship towards me has known no bounds.”He cited “blows, torture, humiliation, threats and extreme conditions” in prison, including “the theft of food and hygiene products.”Ferrer said he took the difficult decision to leave given threats that his wife would also be imprisoned and his young son sent to an institution for juvenile offenders.  The foreign ministry in Havana said in a statement Ferrer and members of his family left the country for the United States Monday following “a formal request from that country’s government and the express acceptance” of the dissident.His sister Ana Belkis Ferrer told AFP by telephone the opposition leader had “finally been exiled, thank God,” adding his family was “very happy despite the tension of the last days.”- ‘Dignity and honor’ -Ferrer said in his letter he would leave Cuba “with my dignity and honor intact, and not for long.”His departure deals a blow to the opposition movement in Cuba, in the throes of its worst economic crisis in decades and a mass exodus of young people, mainly to the United States.Ferrer, founder of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) — one of the most active opposition organizations in the one-party state — had for years resisted pressure to go into exile to avoid prison.He was the most high-profile of a group of prisoners released in January under a landmark deal struck with Biden in exchange for Washington removing Cuba from a list of terrorism sponsors.But he was sent back to prison in April after Biden’s successor, Donald Trump, slapped Cuba back on the list.Ferrer has been in and out of prison since March 2003, when he and 74 other opposition members were arrested in a three-day period of repression known as Cuba’s “Black Spring.”He was released in 2011 but sent back to prison in 2021 following a crackdown on rare anti-government street protests that rattled the communist authorities.The repression that followed silenced many critical voices and left the opposition in disarray.During his brief spell of freedom this year, Ferrer had defied the authorities by criticizing Cuba’s leadership on social media.He also met the head of the US diplomatic mission in Cuba, Mike Hammer, at his home in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba.In his letter, he said “only the United States… truly stands in solidarity with the peaceful opposition and the Cuban people” — an implicit rebuke of the EU, which has angered dissidents by maintaining a political and cooperation agreement with Cuba.Ferrer was transferred directly from the prison of Mar Verde in Cuba’s south to the international airport of Santiago de Cuba, where he was met by his wife Nelva Ortega and their son Daniel Jose, two daughters and his ex-wife — all of whom will travel with him to Miami.

Woody Allen fell in love with Diane Keaton as soon as he set eyes on her, but took a week to pluck up the courage to speak to the woman whose stellar career he would help to turbo charge. He has now paid a heartfelt tribute to his favorite actress and former partner, whose death was announced at the weekend.”I first laid eyes on her lanky beauty at an audition and thought, If Huckleberry Finn was a gorgeous young woman, he’d be Keaton,” 89-year-old Allen wrote in a long tribute in The Free Press to Keaton, whose death was announced Saturday. She was 79.”For the first week of rehearsal we never spoke a word to one another,” he said of his time acting alongside her in the 1972 film “Play It Again, Sam.” “She was shy, I was shy, and with two shy people things can get pretty dull. Finally, by chance we took a break at the same moment and wound up sharing a fast bite… The upshot is that she was so charming, so beautiful, so magical, that I questioned my sanity. I thought: Could I be in love so quickly?”Allen, the acclaimed director-screenwriter-actor who never shook allegations that he molested his adopted daughter in 1992, described later moving in with Keaton and forming a creative bond with the beloved actress.”She sat through ‘Take the Money and Run’ and said the movie was very funny and very original. Her words. Its success proved her correct and I never doubted her judgment again,” she said.”I never read a single review of my work and cared only what Keaton had to say about it. If she liked it, I counted the film as an artistic success,” said Allen, who worked alongside Keaton in several films, including “Annie Hall,” “Manhattan,” and “Manhattan Murder Mystery.”Keaton stood by Allen when much of Hollywood shunned the neurotic funnyman at the height of the MeToo reckoning in January 2018, tweeting “Woody Allen is my friend and I continue to believe him.”At that time, the director was again facing accusations of sexual assault, made in 1992 by his adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow. Charges against him were dropped after two separate investigations.- Troubled relationship with food -In his tribute, Allen describes Keaton’s difficult relationship with food.”She’d put away a sirloin, hash browns, marble cheesecake, and coffee. Then we’d get home, and moments later she’d be toasting waffles or packing a huge taco with pork,” he wrote.”This slim actress ate like Paul Bunyan. Only years later when she wrote a memoir did she describe her eating disorder.”    Allen concluded his tribute by saying that “a few days ago the world was a place that included Diane Keaton.” “Now it’s a world that does not. Hence, it’s a drearier world.”

The US government shutdown dragged into a third week on Monday, with Congress gridlocked in a clash over spending and no resolution in sight to a crisis that has already cost thousands of jobs.With hundreds of thousands of federal employees already on enforced leave, President Donald Trump is following through on threats to take a hatchet to the workforce to pressure Democrats to agree to Republican funding demands.Trump has vowed to find a way to pay troops due to go without their paychecks for the first time, although the uncertainty is already leading to long lines of men and women in uniform at food banks.And Trump has warned that continued refusal by Democrats to support a House-passed resolution to fund the government through late November would result in mass layoffs targeting workers deemed aligned with the opposition party. “We’re ending some programs that we don’t want — they happen to be Democrat-sponsored programs,” Trump told reporters.”But we’re ending some programs that we never wanted and we’re probably not going to allow them to come back.”Vice President JD Vance told Fox News at the weekend that Democrats could expect more pain ahead if they did not cave. Court documents filed by the Department of Justice show more than 4,000 employees were fired on Friday, with the US Treasury and health, education and housing departments hardest hit.The reductions in the workforce are part of a campaign of threats on multiple fronts to amp up pressure on Democrats to back Republican moves to reopen the government. But Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leaders in the Senate and House respectively, have dismissed the threat, predicting that layoffs will be reversed in court.- Sticking point -About 1.3 million active-duty military personnel are set to miss their first paycheck on Wednesday.The Stronghold Food Pantry, a charity supporting military families, told Time magazine it had seen an “unprecedented increase in need since the shutdown began.”Trump announced on Saturday that he would direct Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to use “all available funds to get our Troops PAID” by Wednesday.Pentagon officials are reportedly diverting $8 billion in research and development funding, and while it is not clear that the move would be lawful, it has received little pushback from either party.Republican Speaker Mike Johnson — who has kept the House on recess since September 19 — is resisting pressure to bring back members to vote on a standalone bill to release military salaries for the duration of the shutdown.”We have voted so many times to pay the troops. We have already done it. We did it in the House three weeks ago,” Johnson told reporters Friday. “The ball is in the court of Senate Democrats right now. That’s it.”The key sticking point is a Republican refusal to agree to Democratic demands for language in its government funding resolution to extend expiring health insurance subsidies for 24 million Americans.Congress was out Monday for a federal holiday — guaranteeing that the shutdown would enter a 14th day — and while Trump’s vow to ensure military pay was welcomed, it also eased pressure for either side to end the stalemate.The Senate was set to return on Tuesday to take an eighth swing at reopening the government — with little hope of a different outcome from previous votes.  Airports are seeing increasing delays as the shutdown drags on, with Transportation Security Administration workers calling in sick rather than working without pay.The Smithsonian Institution has also closed its National Zoo and museums as of Sunday.

The IMF and World Bank’s semi-annual gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors got underway in Washington on Monday, against the backdrop of new trade threats between the world’s two largest economies.Last week, China unveiled new export restrictions on critical minerals, prompting a fierce response from US President Donald Trump, who said he would impose new 100 percent tariffs on Beijing in response.The news, delivered just after US stock markets closed on Friday, sent shares plunging after hours, as investors digested the prospect of a reinvigorated trade war. But Trump dialed back his rhetoric over the weekend, and by Monday morning traders appeared to have settled somewhat, with all three major Wall Street indices opening higher on the news. Both IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank President Ajay Banga are due to speak in Washington on Monday, with more substantial events scheduled for later in the week. – Economy, jobs in spotlight -Ahead of the meetings, Georgieva told an event in Washington that the world economy was doing “better than feared, but worse than we need.”She added that the Fund now expects global growth to slow “only slightly this year and next,” propped up by better-than-expected conditions in the United States, and among some other advanced economies, emerging markets and developing countries. The annual meetings will take place at the IMF and World Bank’s headquarters, a short distance from the White House. For the World Bank, the focus is likely to remain on job creation, with Banga set to take part in several events aimed at boosting labor market participation in countries facing a surge in population growth. The IMF will hold press conferences to discuss its regular trio of reports focused on the health of the global economy, fiscal policy, and global financial stability.There will be another roundtable on Ukraine this week, a country still facing near-daily drone and missile attacks more than three years after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.The event will be an opportunity to discuss “the needs for ongoing support to Ukraine and efforts needed for its reconstruction,” according to the IMF. There will also be meetings of finance ministers from the G7 group of advanced economies, and a gathering of the G20 group of nations, a forum that includes both the United States and China. – Ongoing trade tensions -Even before the most recent trade spat broke out, Trump’s tariff plans had raised US import taxes on goods to the highest level in decades, cooling growth and pushing up prices. So far, however, “all signs point to a world economy that has generally withstood acute strains from multiple shocks,” Georgieva said in Washington last week.”The world has avoided a tit-for-tat slide into trade war — so far,” she added. The White House continues to insist that the long-term effect of tariffs will be positive for the United States, pointing to their relatively muted economic impact thus far.

The US government shutdown dragged into a third week on Monday, with Congress gridlocked in a clash over spending and no resolution in sight to a crisis that has already cost thousands of jobs.With hundreds of thousands of federal employees already on enforced leave, President Donald Trump is following through on threats to take a hatchet to the workforce to pressure Democrats to agree to Republican funding demands.Trump has vowed to find a way to pay troops due to go without their paychecks for the first time, although the uncertainty is already leading to long lines of men and women in uniform at food banks.And Trump has warned that continued refusal by Democrats to support a House-passed resolution to fund the government through late November would result in mass layoffs targeting workers deemed aligned with the opposition party. Vice President JD Vance told Fox News at the weekend that Democrats could expect more pain ahead if they did not cave. “The longer this goes on, the deeper the cuts are going to be and… to be clear, some of these cuts are going to be painful,” he said.Court documents filed by the Department of Justice show more than 4,000 employees were fired on Friday, with the US Treasury and health, education and housing departments hardest hit.The reductions in the workforce are part of a campaign of threats on multiple fronts to amp up pressure on Democrats to back Republican moves to reopen the government. But Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leaders in the Senate and House respectively, have dismissed the threat, predicting that layoffs will be reversed in court.- Sticking point -About 1.3 million active-duty military personnel are set to miss their first paycheck on Wednesday.The Stronghold Food Pantry, a charity supporting military families, told Time magazine it had seen an “unprecedented increase in need since the shutdown began.”Trump announced on Saturday that he would direct Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to use “all available funds to get our Troops PAID” by Wednesday.Pentagon officials are reportedly diverting $8 billion in research and development funding, and while it is not clear that the move would be lawful, it has received little pushback from either party.Republican Speaker Mike Johnson — who has kept the House on recess since September 19 — is resisting pressure to bring back members to vote on a standalone bill to release military salaries for the duration of the shutdown.”We have voted so many times to pay the troops. We have already done it. We did it in the House three weeks ago,” Johnson told reporters Friday. “The ball is in the court of Senate Democrats right now. That’s it.”The key sticking point is a Republican refusal to agree to Democratic demands for language in its government funding resolution to extend expiring health insurance subsidies for 24 million Americans.Congress was out Monday for a federal holiday — guaranteeing that the shutdown would enter a 14th day — and while Trump’s vow to ensure military pay was welcomed, it also eased pressure for either side to end the stalemate.The Senate was set to return on Tuesday to take an eighth swing at reopening the government — with little hope of a different outcome from previous votes.  Airports are seeing increasing delays as the shutdown drags on, with Transportation Security Administration workers calling in sick rather than working without pay.The Smithsonian Institution has also closed its National Zoo and museums as of Sunday.

The IMF and World Bank’s semi-annual gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors gets underway in Washington on Monday, against the backdrop of new trade threats from the world’s two largest economies.Last week, China unveiled new export restrictions on critical minerals, prompting a fierce response from US President Donald Trump, who said he would impose new 100 percent tariffs on Beijing in response.The news, delivered just after US stock markets closed on Friday, sent shares plunging after hours, as investors digested the prospect of a reinvigorated trade war. Trump dialed back his rhetoric over the weekend, and by Monday morning traders appeared to have settled somewhat, with futures for Wall Street’s three major indices trading higher before markets opened. – Economy, jobs in spotlight -International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva told an event in Washington last week that the world economy is doing “better than feared, but worse than we need.”She added that the Fund now expects global growth to slow “only slightly this year and next,” propped up by better-than-expected conditions in the United States, and among some other advanced economies, emerging markets and developing countries. The annual meetings in Washington will take place at the IMF and World Bank’s headquarters, a short distance from the White House. For the World Bank, the focus is likely to remain on job creation, with bank President Ajay Banga set to take part in several events aimed at boosting labor market participation in countries facing a surge in population growth. The IMF will hold press conferences to discuss its regular trio of reports focused on the health of the global economy, fiscal policy, and global financial stability.At the annual meetings there will be another roundtable on Ukraine, a country still facing near-daily drone and missile attacks more than three years after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.The event will be an opportunity to discuss “the needs for ongoing support to Ukraine and efforts needed for its reconstruction,” according to the IMF. There will also be meetings of finance ministers from the G7 group of advanced Western economies, and a gathering of the G20 group of nations, a forum that includes both the United States and China. – Ongoing trade tensions -Even before the most recent trade spat broke out, Trump’s tariff plans had raised US import taxes on goods to the highest level in decades, cooling growth and pushing up prices. So far, however, “all signs point to a world economy that has generally withstood acute strains from multiple shocks,” Georgieva said last week.”The world has avoided a tit-for-tat slide into trade war — so far,” she added. The White House continues to insist that the long-term effect of tariffs will be positive for the United States, pointing to their relatively muted economic impact thus far.