A new poll shows that two-thirds of Americans surveyed think the U.S. should lift its travel ban on Cuba, and three-quarters think the U.S. should end its five-decade estrangement with the country. According to the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted April 3 to 5, 64 percent of the 1,023 Americans surveyed by telephone thought the U.S. government should allow citizens to travel to Cuba. And 71 percent of those polled said that the U.S. should reestablish diplomatic relations with Cuba, ...

Call him Moby Ick. A 30- to 40-foot humpback whale surfaced in the not-quite-pristine waters just north of New York City's Verrazano Bridge on Thursday morning, according to the Coast Guard. By midday, the whale had shifted its course southward and could be seen in the waters off Coney Island. The Coast Guard set up a moving safety zone around the whale so it does not encounter oncoming maritime traffic. Long Island's Riverhead Foundation dispatched a boat to assess ...

At dawn Wednesday, Jews around the world celebrated the Blessing of the Sun, an event that happens once every 28 years. According to Jewish tradition, the sun was at the same spot in the sky when it rose Wednesday as it was when the world was created. The event occurs during the spring equinox, which occurs every 365¼ days. Once every 28 years, it occurs at dawn on a Wednesday (the fourth day of creation, based on Jewish beliefs), when ...

"It's time to talk to Cuba." That frank assessment from Rep. Barbara Lee, D-California, has resonated loud and clear from the island of Cuba -- 90 miles from the southernmost point of Florida -- to the halls of Congress. For the first time in nearly 50 years, relations between the two nations, which has a history steeped in tension, have seemed to ease a bit. And that was no more apparent than this week, as a delegation from the Congressional ...

If the Three Mile Island atomic reactor near Harrisburg hadn't melted down 30 years ago this Saturday...well, there probably would have been an accident somewhere else. The entire U.S. nuclear industry was melting down in the 1970s, irradiated by spectacular cost overruns, interminable delays and public outrage. Forbes later called its collapse "the largest managerial disaster in business history, a disaster on a monumental scale." The TMI fiasco was a scary cultural moment, coming just two weeks after the release ...

The corruption trial of former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian began Thursday, a case that has gripped the island nation for months and one in which a conviction can bring life imprisonment. The trial is the first for a former head of state in Taiwan. Chen has denied wrongdoing and has said the charges are politically motivated. Prosecutors say Chen embezzled 600 million New Taiwan dollars (U.S.$17.7 million), took bribes, laundered money and illegally removed classified documents from the president's office. ...

Fate, police say, saved baby Grace from being tossed out with the trash. Were it not for a cleaning lady who chanced upon the newborn waving a feeble arm from a blue trash bag in an airplane bathroom, Grace would have met the fate her mother apparently intended for her, authorities said. On Wednesday, police in New Zealand charged the 29-year-old woman with abandonment and assault -- for giving birth to the child on an international flight and then leaving ...

A regional body comprised of several southern African nations is refusing to recognize Madagascar opposition leader Andry Rajoelina as the island nation's new president, an official said. The Southern African Development Community group, which met Thursday in Swaziland, has "completely rejected the legitimacy" of Rajoelina, the organization's executive secretary, Tomaz Salomao, told CNN. Madagascar's military handed over the country's reins to Rajoelina on Wednesday, ending a two-month political crisis. The former disc jockey-turned-mayor of the nation's capital city declared himself ...

The International Committee of the Red Cross has said it is "extremely worried" about the fate of three aid workers kidnapped in the Philippines in January. The ICRC said Wednesday the kidnappers had made "direct threats." It did not provide details on those threats. Mary Jean Lacaba, Eugenio Vagni and Andreas Notter were seized by armed men riding motorcycles January 15 on the island of Sulu, the ICRC has said. The aid workers were in the region to inspect a ...

Madagascar's military handed over the reins of the island nation to opposition leader Andry Rajoelina on Wednesday, ending a two-month long political crisis -- but apparently creating a constitutional one. Rajoelina, a former disc jockey turned mayor of Madagascar's capital, declared himself president of a transitional government and his supporters pledged to hold elections in two years. But Rajoelina, at 34, is six years too young to be president, according to the country's constitution. Also, the constitution says the head ...