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Former Cuban president Raul Castro indicted in US

The former leader is charged over fatal downing of two planes in 1996.

The US Justice Department has indicted Cuba's former leader, Raul Castro, on criminal charges. The allegations centre on a Cuban military offensive against US civilian aircraft in 1996. The planes were operated by an organisation called Brothers to the Rescue and were searching for people who wanted to leave the island, when they were shot down by the Cuban military, which was led by Castro at the time. We get the latest from the BBC’s Cuba correspondent.

Also on the programme: Israel's far-right security minister has been condemned for taunting handcuffed Gaza flotilla activists; and we hear from the winner of this year’s International Booker Prize. 

(Photo: Cuba's former President Raul Castro watches a May Day rally in Havana, Cuba 1st May, 2025. Credit: Reuters/Norlys Perez)

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  • Wed 20 May 202620:06GMT

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