Alina Rodriguez one of the most important Cuban actresses of all time, admired for her exceptional theatrical talents and much loved by her nobility as a human being, died in Havana, victim of cancer.

The tiny island nation didn't just view the Motherland as a place rich with natural resources, but as a continent full of people with brains and potential.

As the U.S. Embassy opens in Havana for the first time in 54 years, we should learn the history that ties black Americans to the black population of the island.On a small cut of land at the corner of 23rd Avenue and F Street in the Vedado section of this city stands a monument to two heroes of the Cuban people.

Cuban actor Jorge Perugorria will play the most famous Cuban detective in contemporary literature, Mario Conde, in the film Vientos de Cuaresma (Havana Gold) directed by Spanish Félix Viscarret.

With the purpose of founding a ballet company on the island, prominent Cuban leading dancer Carlos Acosta carried out auditions at the Fernando Alonso National Ballet School of this capital for the selection of its members.

Specialists at the Benny More Art Centre, located in Cienfuegos Central-Southern province, are to celebrate the 96th birth anniversary of the renowned worldwide artist Benny More, known as El Bárbaro del Ritmo (August 24, 1919-February 19, 1963).

The Havana Cultura project has now clocked up over 5 years of exciting and inspiring musical discoveries, with British DJ Gilles Peterson introducing Cuban musicians and singers to those unfamiliar with the latest trends and emerging talents in Cuba.

On 20 July Santiago de Cuba welcomed the first parade of comparsas (music and dance groups) and floats for carnival 2015.

Irakere may be Grammy-winning legends of Cuban music, but they don't bring on genial gents in white flat caps just to sing serenades of old Havana. Now celebrating their 40th anniversary under the brilliant pianist Chucho Valdes's continuing leadership, Irakere are a hurricane where the Buena Vistas were a summer breeze. They launched a week's residency at Ronnie Scott's club on Monday with the elated parade of big-band jazz, funk, rock, classical music, and African-rooted ritual percussion and vocals that have been their trademark from the start.

The sound of young Havana here for you this summer. Fresh new video of Cuban group Interactivo's track Baila con mi Rumba.

As part of its 500 years celebrations this July, Santiago de Cuba held a competition for a new song dedicated to the city – watch this video of the winning entry by José de Jesus Llanes Alvarez. The visuals show just how much of the city has been renovated in recent years. Watch listen dance and go and visit! Felicidades, Santiago! Congratulations, Santiago!

Fabulous dance routine by female dance students at Cuba's university of the arts (ISA) to Los Van Van's hit song Somos Cubanos

"We have to tell Cuba's story from the perspective of the people here so that this culture does not get lost," said Chaplin.

As relations between Cuba and the US thaw, the United States is belatedly discovering that Havana is and has always been one of the world's great music capitals. Cuban musicians, meanwhile, have a personal stake in this new development, and they're hopeful that things will continue to improve.

Papo Angarica, a rumba legend in Cuba, died yesterday of respiratory failure caused by the chronic renal failure he had been suffering from, reported the Cuban Music Institute.