Cuba says it released over 2,000 prisoners as White House heaps pressure on island

The Cuban government said late Thursday it has pardoned and released 2,010 prisoners, a sweeping move that comes as the island nation grapples with intense pressure from the Trump administration, including an oil blockade that — until recently — cut off fuel shipments. Calling it a “humanitarian and sovereign gesture,” Cuba’s Embassy in the U.S.

US Eyes New Zealand as Possible Space Launch Site

NASA’s Orion spacecraft on the Artemis II mission at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on April 1, 2026. Joel Kowsky/NASA via Getty Images The United States government is increasingly looking to New Zealand as a possible space launch site, as the Pentagon warns that existing infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with an