My Publicist Note Book

Obama cheered in Havana at start of historic visit to Cuba Cuban citizens look as Air Force One lands at Jose Marti Airport in Havana.  HAVANA, March 20 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama arrived to small but cheering crowds on Sunday at the start of a historic visit to Cuba that opened a new chapter in U.S. engagement with the island's Communist government after decades of hostility between the former Cold War foes. The three-day trip, the first by a U.S. president to Cuba in 88 years, is the culmination of a diplomatic opening announced by Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro in December 2014, ending an estrangement that began when the Cuban revolution ousted a pro-American government in 1959. The visit comes more than a year after the White House moved to normalize relations with America's previous Cold War-era foe. Last fall, the U.S. embassy officially opened in Cuba, resuming diplomatic relations with the island nation. Since then, the...

HAVANA — Cuba said Monday that it has a right to grant asylum to U.S. fugitives, the clearest sign yet that the communist government has no intention of extraditing America's most-wanted woman despite the warming of bilateral ties. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has urged President Barack Obama to demand the return of fugitive Joanne Chesimard before restoring full relations under a historic detente announced by Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro last week. Chesimard was granted asylum by Fidel Castro after she escaped from the prison where she was serving a sentence for killing a New Jersey state trooper in 1973 during a gunbattle after being stopped on the New Jersey Turnpike. Asked if returning fugitives was open to negotiation, Cuba's head of North American affairs, Josefina Vidal, told The Associated Press that "every nation has  sovereign and legitimate rights to grant political asylum to people it considers to have been persecuted. ... That...

Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s anniversary in Cuba... The Carters stepped out in Cuba for their anniversary.   Beyoncé , 31, and  Jay-Z , 43, are currently in Havana celebrating five years of marriage. Also with them are their mothers Gloria Carter and Tina Knowles who previously joined them for a traditional Cuban dinner.  The couple, who married on April 4, 2008, took in the sights of Old Havana, visited a school, dined on a rooftop terrace and strolled the fan-filled streets in their island best. They were mobbed at La Guarida restaurant on Thursday, and police were called to keep fans at bay. According to the  Associated Press,  they spent their anniversary day walking around the colonial Old Havana district with their bodyguards.  Bey was photographed Thursday carrying a large camera and wearing a short island-print dress and large sunglasses, her braided hair swept into an up-do. Jay-Z strolled the streets with her in a bright polo, short...