The play attempts to show how violence, especially as a result of war, shapes those characters. Raffo, an Iraqi-American who grew up in Michigan, links the stories to Iraq’s history and political forces, with commentary from characters who range from a child indifferent to the debris of war littering her neighborhood to an aging political exile, comfortably commenting from afar. 

Dr. Eusebio Leal, Cuba’s leading preservationist who is lauded for saving the country’s Habana Vieja district, will give a talk on his lifelong endeavors at Flagler College on Sunday, Oct. 11.

When Fernando Gonzalez walks out of an Arizona prison next week, the "Cuban Five" will be down to three. Intelligence agents in the employ of Fidel Castro's Cuba, they were arrested in the United States in 1998 and given terms ranging from 15 years to consecutive life sentences on charges including conspiracy and failure to register as foreign agents. 

For more than two decades, running for Congress in this sun-soaked capital of Cuban exiles has required two things: a Republican registration card and a hard line toward the Castro regime. So when Joe Garcia became the first Cuban-American Democrat from the state to win election to the House in 2012, it signaled a crack in a critical GOP constituency.

Despite soggy conditions, including a brief downpour, more than 100 people still showed up for the St. Petersburg, Russia-based youth ensemble, Golden Gates at Poinciana United Methodist Church last Thursday. By imitating dancers, sampling instruments or copying the rhythmic clapping and foot stomping of Russian dance, the audience got a taste of faraway culture when the youth ensemble performed a 90-minute show providing an entertaining and authentic glimpse into Old Russia.

In a rare cross-cultural collaboration, two classical-music groups from Cuba and the United States will engage in a multiyear partnership that will include American musicians performing in Havana.