FIRST ON FOX: Cuban-American lawmakers are welcoming a Florida arrest warrant for former Cuban leader Raúl Castro over his alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft, saying the move marks a new step toward accountability for the communist regime and vowing to keep fighting for freedom on the island.

The warrant comes after Ariana Fajardo Orshan, chief judge of Florida’s 11th Judicial Circuit, found probable cause to believe Castro conspired to commit first-degree murder in connection with the shootdown of two Miami-based civilian aircraft involved in a humanitarian operation near Cuba in 1996.

"As the only Cuban-born member of Congress, this moment is deeply personal," Rep. Carlos Giménez, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. "For decades, Raúl Castro and his communist regime have oppressed the Cuban people while evading accountability."

Giménez described the warrant as a "powerful message" in the "pursuit of justice," adding that those responsible for the suffering of the Cuban people could soon "answer for their crimes."

"No previous administration has taken this historic step, and our community is eternally grateful for it," he continued. "For the millions of Cubans who have suffered under this tyranny, including those of us forced into exile, this represents a significant moment in our decades-long struggle for freedom."

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Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier told Fox News Digital that Castro allegedly "ordered" the "premeditated, state-sanctioned murder of four Floridians in cold blood," calling the warrant "a step toward accountability" for the conspiracy that led to the deaths of Carlos Costa, Pablo Morales, Mario de la Peña and Armando Alejandre Jr.

Uthmeier’s office said the warrant could limit Castro’s ability to travel to countries that have extradition agreements with the United States.

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Giménez said that although the warrant is "historic," he and other lawmakers will continue fighting until Cuba’s "political prisoners are released" and the "Cuban people can determine their own destiny."

Florida state Rep. Juan Porras, another Cuban American lawmaker, said the warrant shows that Florida "will never forget" the victims of the communist regime’s atrocities.

CUBA’S DICTATORSHIP HAS LONG BEEN A THREAT TO AMERICA. NOW, IT’S FINALLY TEETERING

"Thank you to the Miami judge who signed a state arrest warrant for Raúl Castro for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder," Porras told Fox News Digital. "Thirty years later, justice is still moving, but the work is not done. Cuba is not free yet, and we will not stop until it is."

"Cuba will be free," Porras added in Spanish.

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The warrant stems from the Feb. 24, 1996, shootdown of two unarmed aircraft operated by Brothers to the Rescue over international waters. Four people were killed in the attack. Castro, who was Cuba’s defense minister at the time, was federally indicted earlier this year in connection with the deaths.

The "Grand Theft Auto VI" saga has taken a ton of twists and turns in the past year.

From delays to leaks and even the "digital release" controversy, GTA VI has been in the news cycle for so long that it's hard to believe this will all be coming to an end next month.

On November 19, the world will finally get to experience a video game that has been over a decade in the making.

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In what could be one of the most anticipated video games of all-time, "Grand Theft Auto VI's" release date will likely be a seismic event in terms of the national economy.

That's not me being hyperbolic, either, as experts are predicting the economy of the United States to take a $1 billion hit the day GTA drops.

It turns out so many people have already lined up their sick days for November 19 and 20 that it's making national news.

Sorry for anyone doing so that I just outed with this article, but that is insane.

I can't remember a game causing this much of a stir.

Even hotly anticipated releases like "Halo" and "Call of Duty" weren't decimating the workforce the way GTA is doing.

And remember, we are still a month away from the game actually coming out.

This is just the fallout from the planners getting their ducks in a row. Can you imagine how many people will call in sick the day of the release?

MIAMI HEAT TEASE RELEASE OF NEW 'VICE CITY' JERSEYS ON THE NIGHT BEFORE 'GRAND THEFT AUTO VI' RELEASE

"Grand Theft Auto VI" is generating so much excitement that the franchise's developers, Rockstar, are turning the city of Miami into a giant billboard for the game.

For those who don't know, GTA VI is set in the fictional Vice City, which is a parody of real-life South Florida.

Whether the game is good or not remains to be seen, and the long wait could always create a case of Rockstar never being able to live up to the lofty expectations they created with the development time.

One thing is for sure, though, for about 24 hours in late November, the world will come to a screeching halt thanks to a video game.

If you have friends or loved ones who are even remotely interested in gaming, don't expect to hear from them during this time period.

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You have one month, plan accordingly.

La orden de arresto está dada. La jueza Ariana Fajardo Orshan, del Undécimo Circuito Judicial de Florida, consideró que existen las pruebas suficientes para demostrar que Raúl Castro conspiró y, por tanto, es responsable de la muerte de cuatro personas tras el derribo de las avionetas de la organización humanitaria Hermanos al Rescate. Luego de tres décadas del incidente, Orshan firmó una orden estatal de arresto sin derecho a fianza contra el expresidente de 96 años por un capítulo que marcó para siempre al exilio cubano.

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David Jolly, the Democratic candidate for governor of Florida, does not need to be asked about U.S. President Donald Trump to distance himself from his former party and its leader.

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The last two years have been, she says, “an emotional roller coaster.” She voted for Donald Trump for president, immigration authorities took away her husband, she was left alone to run the freight trucking business and care for their three children, and she watched her life plans slowly slip through her fingers. Now there are exactly 20 days left until the U.S. midterm elections and no campaign promise—neither from the Republicans nor the Democrats—has convinced Jessica Ruiz about the need to get up on November 3, drive through the streets of Miami and go to the polling place for Florida’s 28th District.

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US President Donald Trump’s envoys told Kyiv that letting Russia sell diesel could draw Moscow back to peace talks, Reuters reported. In the same meeting, they said Russia’s leader was not ready to negotiate. Since then, Moscow has offered nothing in return, and Trump has brushed off claims that Russia helps Iran.

Washington is pressing Ukraine to stop striking Russian refineries and offering Moscow economic incentives to return to peace talks, even though Russia has made no commitment in return. Yesterday, Russian ballistic missiles hit Kyiv before air raid sirens sounded, amid disputed warnings that the US could cut intelligence support. Meanwhile, Ukraine is being asked to halt its long-range campaign against the oil infrastructure that fuels and finances Russia's war.

The pitch: a diesel deal as a signal to Moscow

Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met the Ukrainian delegation in Miami on 9 October. They described Russian President Vladimir Putin as unprepared to negotiate but said the diesel deal could help restart three-way talks, two of the sources said.

The third source said the deal could “soften” Moscow because it “sends a signal that Trump is open to do things” with Russia. One of the sources described the plan:

“The idea was that the US could go back to Russia and say ‘See, the Ukrainians stopped striking and we gave you this deal. Now it’s your turn to do something.’”

Ukraine’s part was to stop hitting Russian refineries. Kushner repeated Trump’s request at the meeting, noting the administration had made it several times, two sources said.

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Kyiv was asked to hold its fire on Russian oil

The Ukrainians agreed to nothing formally, Reuters’ sources said. They signaled they would accept an energy ceasefire if Russia did the same, but saw the US approach as an attempt to appease Russia with business deals.

Two days later, Trump declared an energy ceasefire, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready if Russia reciprocated. Euromaidan Press has monitored official and unofficial Ukrainian and Russian sources and found no reports of new Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries after Trump’s announcement. One of the last, on the night of the diesel announcement, knocked out more than half the tanks at a fuel-export terminal in Rostov-on-Don.

Three sources told Reuters the envoys did not threaten to cut US support over the refinery strikes. A Ukrainian official told Axios, however, that the envoys warned Trump could cut Ukraine off from US intelligence, which a US official denied. US officials are also believed to have told European allies that Trump would halt PURL, the NATO scheme for Europe-funded US weapons for Ukraine, unless the strikes stopped, according to FT.

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What Moscow has offered in return

A person close to the Kremlin told Reuters that Putin would return to the table only when he gets “the remaining 11% of Donbas.” Ukraine refuses to cede more land. During the 9 October call that produced the deal, Putin declined to commit to resuming talks, his aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, Axios reported.

Moscow has not confirmed the energy ceasefire either. Trump insisted on 12 October that the sides had agreed “because I said they agreed,” RFE/RL reported. On the evening of 12 October, Russian munitions collapsed an apartment stairwell in Kharkiv, killing four people. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak, meanwhile, claimed diesel exports could reach 3.0–3.5 million tons a month by year-end, above the volumes Trump announced.

“Too much to lose”: Trump on Russia and Iran

Late on 12 October, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he did not believe Russia and China were helping Iran, since they have “too much to lose.” In March, he told Fox News that Putin “might be helping them a little bit.” Asked about Russia’s possible support for Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on 2 September that his message to everyone was to “stay away.” That month, a Financial Times investigation found Russia secretly helping Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles that could threaten US warships.

Sometimes people count their chickens before they hatch. That’s what happened to the regional premier of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, in June 2022 during one of her trips to Miami, where she posed beside a large bear sculpture that she said would end up on a public roundabout in the southern Florida city. Meant to represent Madrid, the large, candy-like bear has instead been parked in the hallway of a well-known Miami restaurant, where it serves as a decorative item.

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María Elvira Salazar wore a dark blouse and a striking pearl necklace when she arrived at journalist Juan Manuel Cao’s studio in Miami. She took a seat, tucked her hair behind her ears, made sure she had good lighting and found the best camera angle. She’s well trained in the ways of television.

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Known as the tomato capital of the United States, Immokalee is an agricultural community in southern Florida. A couple of hours from cosmopolitan Miami, palm trees stand beside dirt roads where cucumber, pepper, and eggplant are grown; hens roam the yards of small houses and people carry shovels and hoes. Although it is part of Collier, one of the state’s wealthiest counties, there is no hospital with a labor and delivery ward or specialists to handle an obstetric emergency. Pregnant people must drive up to an hour to receive care.

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It is around 9:00 p.m. and Karla De Anda’s phone rings. The number is unknown to her. On the other end, connected to the free Wi‑Fi at a Miami airport terminal, a woman is sobbing uncontrollably. Her name is Rosa. She has just had her bags packed for her. A coworker told the family they both worked for that Rosa had been secretly talking to a stranger about the wages she was owed. The family would not hear any more: they bought her a one‑way ticket to her country of origin and put her in a taxi to the airport. Karla, who barely knows her, asks a single question: “Do you want to stay or not? Just answer me.” Between sobs the woman says yes. She hangs up, gets out of the departure line, and an hour later Karla is waiting for her at the arrivals gate with another activist, ready to take her to her home that same night.

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Among so many faces, Roberto Mosquera remembered one in particular the day he arrived in Eswatini, a small country tucked away in southern Africa. He kept seeing that face over the following 14 months, which passed slowly and unbearably in the compressed world between the white and gray walls of the maximum-security cell at Matsapha prison. The man is serious, tall, dark-skinned and wears round glasses. His name is Jabulani Kunene and he is the prison official in charge. For more than a year, Mosquera has asked him the same question every time he passes by: “How long are you going to keep me locked up here?” Kunene has always given him the same answer: “I don’t know, Roberto, I don’t know.”

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