Cuba is seeing its biggest exodus since Fidel Castro took power in 1959. According to US government data, over the past year nearly 250,000 Cubans have emigrated to the United States. The figure represents more than 2 percent of the island's population and more than 4 percent of its working population. The exodus can be explained by deteriorating living conditions in Cuba, where people face constant blackouts and lack of access to food and medicine. For more, we speak to Ted Hanken, an associate professor of Latin American studies at Baruch College, part of the City University of New York.
Meanwhile in the United States, there's been a shake-up in the Democratic Party. After the Democrats won a 51-49 seat majority in the Senate, Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema announced she was leaving the party to become an independent. The Arizona senator says she will not caucus with the Republicans and that she plans to vote the same way as over the past four years. However, her surprise move remains a headache for Democrats and the White House.
