World leaders paid tribute on Saturday to Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary leader who built a communist state on the doorstep of the United States, but in death just as in life he divided opinion, and critics labelled him a "tyrant". Castro died on Friday aged 90, his younger brother and successor Raul Castro announced on state television.

Fidel Castro, who has died aged 90, was a "huge figure in our lives", Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said. Mr Corbyn praised the former Cuban president's revolutionary "heroism", his presence on the world stage and Cuba's health and education systems. Mr Castro's death was announced by his younger brother Raul Castro, his successor as president of Cuba. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Fidel Castro had been an "historic, if controversial figure".

This is a beautifully made documentary packed with rare archive footage and photographs. It shows Castro's childhood, his recklessness as a youth, his blossoming talents at the University of Havana and then his swift and complex ride to lawyer, jailbird, guerilla, politician and revolutionary. Adored and deplored, Castro's life makes compelling viewing.

The international collaboration will enroll up to 90 patients in this country.

President Obama on Friday moved to cement his administration’s historic opening with Cuba by issuing a sweeping directive that will last beyond his presidency, setting forth a new United States policy to lift the Cold War trade embargo and end a half-century of clandestine plotting against Cuba’s government. The action formalizes the shift toward normalization that the president unveiled nearly two years ago with the announcement that he and President Raúl Castro of Cuba had secretly agreed to repair their countries’ relationship.

Attention U.S. travelers going abroad: You now can bring home all the Cuban rum and cigars you want. The Obama administration announced Friday a new round of executive actions designed to increase trade and travel with the communist island. And this is the one many Americans have been waiting for — no more restrictions on the island's famed rum and cigars.

People walk on the road as rain falls during Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes.

Very dangerous Category 4 Hurricane Matthew is strengthening as it churns northwards towards Haiti, Jamaica, and eastern Cuba, and is poised to deliver a historic pounding Monday and Tuesday to these unfortunate nations. Haiti will take the brunt of Matthew’s heavy rains, and will suffer the most from the storm.

A gay Cuban journalist and LGBT activist claims a government-run radio station fired him because of

The first commercial flight between the United States and Cuba in more than a half century landed in the central city of Santa Clara on Wednesday morning, re-establishing regular air service severed at the height of the Cold War.

Scientists have discovered a highly aggressive new strain of HIV in Cuba that develops into AIDS three times faster than more common strains of the virus. This finding could have serious public health implications for efforts to contain and reduce incidences of the virus worldwide. Researchers at the University of Leuven in Belgium say the HIV strain CRF19 can progress to AIDS within two to three years of exposure to virus. Typically, HIV takes approximately 10 years to develop into AIDS. Patients with CRF19 may start getting sick before they even know they've been infected...

Fidel Castro thanked Cubans for their well-wishes on his 90th birthday and criticized President Barack Obama in a lengthy letter published in state media. He appeared but did not speak at a gala in his honor broadcast on state television. "I want to express my deepest gratitude for the shows of respect, greetings and praise that I've received in recent days, which give me strength to reciprocate with ideas that I will send to party militants and relevant organizations," he wrote about his birthday on Saturday.

On what appears to be a residential street on the outskirts of Havana, the tan building with a guard gate seems out of place. The building is the Centro de Immunologia Molecular, the Center for Molecular Immunology (CIM), known locally as a thriving hub of biotechnology. Sliding glass doors lead to a modern-looking lobby with a single receptionist desk, some furniture, and a timeline boasting the center's achievements. A quote from Fidel Castro is emblazoned on the wall. This facility was his idea, after all -- and Cuba would need it.

Cuba announced Tuesday that it will legalize small- and medium-sized private businesses in a move that could significantly expand private enterprise in one of the world's last communist countries. Cuban business owners and economic experts said they were hopeful the reform would allow private firms to import wholesale supplies and export products to other countries for the first time, removing a major obstacle to private business growth.

The number of U.S. visitors to Cuba has nearly doubled this year, its tourism minister said on Wednesday, as the island races to build hotels and expand Havana airport to keep up with booming demand. Tourism has taken off since Cuba and the United States announced they would work to bury the Cold War hatchet in December 2014. The Caribbean island received a record 3.5 million visitors last year.

An American cruise ship sets sail for Cuba from the United States for the first time in more than five decades.

President Raul Castro warned Cubans on Saturday that the United States was determined to end Cuba's socialist revolution despite restoring relations and a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama, saying one-party Communism was essential to defend the system. "We must be alert, today more than ever," Castro said, speaking in front of a giant portrait of his brother Fidel Castro at the inauguration of the Communist Party's first congress in five years.

150 years of tension may be coming to an end.

When Sarpoma Sefa-boakye, who grew up in southern California and went to UCLA, heard she could go to medical school in Cuba, she thought it must be a joke. Not that it existed—she met Cuban doctors while studying abroad in Ghana, so she knew about the country’s robust healthcare system. What was unbelievable was the cost. “I called the office asking how much the program cost, how much the application fee was. They were just like ‘Free, free,’” says Sefa-Boakye.

During U.S. President Barack Obama’s historic visit to Cuba this week, he pushed Cuba to improve its record on human rights and sparred with President Raul Castro, while Castro hit back by decrying U.S. "double standards." By Lucas Jackson.