CUBA: Worst Water Shortage In 50 Years Plagues La Habana.

LAHT/

     La Habana is suffering the worst water shortage in 50 years according to Granma, the state-run newspaper.
     It reports that more than a million people are being affected and the shortage could become "more aggravated" if the usual May/June rains do not come.
    The capital city's water infrastructure is in poor shape.
    Some 70% of Habana's 3,158 kilometers (1,958 miles) of pipelines leak water pumped from nearby reservoirs.

CUBA: For 1st Time Since 2006, A Cruise Ship Visits La Habana.

AP/ M.HERALD/ JENNY BARCHFIELD /

   After nearly 5 years, a cruise ship has stopped-in Cuba.

   Some1,500 tourists disembarked from the huge British cruise liner Thomson Dream in La Habana's harbor.
   Officials called it one the biggest ships to visit Cuba.
   In 2006, former President Fidel Castro complained that cruise ships only deposited trash on the isla and prohibited any more visits.
    But under Raul Castro, Cuba admits to a desperate need for the hard currencies that tourists provide.