53 Cuban prisoners freed, U.S. reports
HAVANA – Cuba has completed the release of 53 political prisoners that was part of last month’s historic deal with the United States, the Obama administration said Monday. The move clears a major hurdle for the normalization of ties between the two countries after more than five decades of estrangement.
The prisoners had been on a list of opposition figures whose release was sought as part of the U.S. agreement last month with the Cuban government. They had been cited by various human rights organizations as being imprisoned by the Cuban government for exercising internationally protected freedoms or for their promotion of political and social reforms in Cuba.
Both black boxes from AirAsia found
PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia – Divers retrieved one black box Monday and located the other from the AirAsia plane that crashed more than two weeks ago, key developments that should help investigators unravel what caused the aircraft to plummet into the Java Sea.
The flight data recorder was pulled from beneath a piece of the aircraft’s wing and brought to the sea’s surface, and the cockpit voice recorder was found hours later, said Suryadi Bambang Supriyadi, operation coordinator for Indonesia’s national search and rescue agency.
Social Security debt seizures to stop
WASHINGTON – People who owe old debts to the Social Security Administration are getting a reprieve this tax season: The federal government won’t be seizing their tax refunds.
Acting Social Security Commissioner Carolyn Colvin suspended a debt collection program last spring in which thousands of people had tax refunds seized to recoup overpayments that happened more than a decade ago. Members of Congress complained that some people were being forced to repay benefits they received decades ago as children.
Following a review, the agency said Monday it will continue suspending the program this tax season while officials explore possible changes.
Hackers break into military accounts
WASHINGTON – Hackers claiming to be working on behalf of Islamic State militants seized control of the Twitter and YouTube sites of the military’s U.S. Central Command on Monday, but the Pentagon swiftly suspended the sites and said no classified material was breached.
The Twitter site was filled with threats that said “American soldiers, we are coming, watch your back.”
Associated Press
