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Cuba says it has detained 10 Panamanians accused of creating ‘subversive’ propaganda

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s government said Monday that authorities have detained 10 Panamanian citizens accused of fabricating subversive propaganda, in the latest international incident involving the Caribbean island.

The announcement comes just days after a fatal shooting involving a U.S. boat in Cuban waters.

Cuba’s Interior Ministry said that the Panamanians were paid to enter the island “with the purpose of making signs with subversive content, contrary to the constitutional order.”

The government said that according to initial statements from those detained, the Panamanians were ordered to leave Cuba “once the objective was achieved,” and that they would receive between $1,000 and $1,500 each upon their return.

The ministry said the detainees acknowledged their responsibility for the alleged activity and were arrested on Saturday in Havana. Officials did not provide further details, including the nature of the alleged propaganda.

Panama’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment Monday.

The arrests took place just days after the Cuban government said a boat filled with 10 heavily armed Cubans from the U.S. opened fire on troops in waters just north of the island. Soldiers responded, killing four of the suspects, officials said.

Cuba’s government accused those suspects of trying to infiltrate the island and unleash terrorism, although the exact motive remains unclear.

Cuba has said it maintains an open line of communication with the U.S. over the shooting as investigations by both governments continue.

Iran attacks Bahrain and Kuwait following US strikes, threatens to end talks to end the war

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard launched drone and missile attacks Sunday targeting Bahrain and Kuwait in response to U.S. airstrikes that hit the Islamic Republic, and threatened a “complete halt” could come to negotiations to end the war if Washington continues its attacks. Efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf that once carried a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas, without Iran's direct oversight sparked the crossfire now gripping the region. A multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday that it would expand a route near Oman in the Strait of Hormuz to allow for both inbound and outbound traffic — setting up a new flashpoint with Tehran. Iran insists it alone must govern the strait after the war, upending decades of the world considering that the strait was international waters free for all, despite its sitting in Iran and Oman's territorial waters. Tehran has twice attacked vessels going through the Oman route, backed by a United Nations agency, in recent days. Early Sunday, the U.S. military’s Central Command said it struck Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities” following an attack on a ship at sea early Saturday morning. That ship, the Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku, carried crude oil for the state-run energy company of Qatar, a key negotiator between Iran and the United States.
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