Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledges "immediate humanitarian aid" to Cuba as State Department responds to effects of Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean.

Hurricane Melissa is slamming eastern Cuba on Wednesday morning, Oct. 29, after hammering Jamaica on Tuesday and causing widespread damage.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department had issued a formal Declaration of Humanitarian Assistance for Cuba, where U.S. government aid is rare.

Rescue operations and urgent evacuations continued in Cuba on Friday, as people remained trapped by severe flooding left by the torrential rains from Hurricane Melissa on rural areas and towns across the affected provinces on the eastern end of the island.

The U.N. General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to condemn the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba for a 33rd year.

The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly called for an end to a U.S. economic embargo on Cuba despite lobbying by Washington that included sharing an accusation that up to 5,000 Cubans are fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine.

Cuba Gooding Jr. is paying a fortune because he can’t keep his hands to himself and a judge clobbered the Jerry Maguire Oscar winner with a $300,000 payoff to a woman he’s accused of groping at a Manhattan watering hole.

Four-time Grammy Award winner Gloria Estefan rues Donald Trump’s America, saying some things are now akin to Fidel Castro’s Cuba. The “Rhythm is Gonna Get You” icon said she knows people who have been “taken away” as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown.