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| US and Cuba 'seek to normalise ties' | US and Cuba 'seek to normalise ties' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| US and Cuba are to start talks to normalise diplomatic ties in a historic shift in relations between the two countries, media reports say. | US and Cuba are to start talks to normalise diplomatic ties in a historic shift in relations between the two countries, media reports say. |
| American officials have told US media the US is looking to open an embassy in Havana in the coming months. | American officials have told US media the US is looking to open an embassy in Havana in the coming months. |
| The moves are part of a deal that saw the release of American Alan Gross by Cuba and includes the release of three Cubans jailed in Florida for spying. | The moves are part of a deal that saw the release of American Alan Gross by Cuba and includes the release of three Cubans jailed in Florida for spying. |
| US President Barack Obama is making a statement later. | US President Barack Obama is making a statement later. |
| Mr Gross, 65, has spent five years behind bars after being accused of subversion, for trying to bring internet services to communities in Cuba. | |
| He earlier left Cuba on a US government plane and was freed on humanitarian grounds. | |
| His arrest and imprisonment had undermined attempts to thaw diplomatic relations between the two countries. | |
| The three Cubans released in the US are part of the so-called Cuban Five convicted of spying. | |
| Prosecutors said the five had sought to infiltrate US military bases and spied on Cuban exiles in Florida. | |
| Two were recently allowed to return to Cuba after finishing their sentences. | |
| Key dates | |
| 2001: Five Cubans, dubbed the Cuban Five, are convicted in Miami and given long sentences for spying for the Cuban government. Their case becomes a rallying cry for the Havana government | |
| 2008: Raul Castro officially takes over as Cuban president. Washington calls for free and fair elections, and says its trade embargo will remain | |
| Dec 2009: US citizen Alan Gross detained in Cuba accused of spying for Washington | |
| Oct 2011: One of the Cuban Five, Rene Gonzalez, is freed as scheduled from a Florida jail | |
| Dec 2013: US President Barack Obama and Raul Castro shake hands at Nelson Mandela's funeral - the first such public gesture since the 1959 revolution | |
| Feb 2014: The second of the Cuban Five, Fernando Gonzalez, is freed after completing his sentence | |
| 17 December 2014: Alan Gross is released by Cuba after five years in captivity |