It's official: The Cuban flag flies in Washington now

GlobalPost

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Need to know:

Something important happened at the US State Department before dawn today. The Cuban flag joined an array of other flags, all representing nations with full diplomatic ties with the US. That's right folks, it's official. More than five decades of hostility became a thing of the past on Monday, as the US and Cuba formally restored diplomatic ties.  

After two years of negotiations, embassies will re-open in each country today. After Cuba's flag is raised over Havana's embassy in Washington at around 10:30 a.m., Secretary of State John Kerry and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez will meet at the State Department, marking the first time a Cuban foreign minister has made an official visit to Washington since the 1959 Cuban Revolution. 

This is truly historic news. The US broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 largely because the country aligned itself with the Soviet Union. Since then it’s been all “trade embargoes and crazy assassination plots,” writes GlobalPost’s Timothy McGrath. Of course, no number of high-flying flags can do away with that pesky economic embargo against Cuba. Only Congress can do that. And other sticking points remain. Travel limitations still have to clear Congress, and Cuban leaders have to figure out how to navigate the onslaught of US businesses.

Still there comes a moment when the deal is sealed. That moment has yet to come in other multi-stage (read: painstakingly slow) international negotiations — namely, the Greek bailout process and the Iran nuclear deal

Banks have re-opened in Greece after being closed for three weeks, though restrictions on withdrawals remain. Greeks will be able to withdraw 420 euros a week at once instead of just 60 euros a day, which means they won't have to wait in long lines every day anymore, but the limit will effectively remain the same and capital controls will also stay in place. "That's not a normal life so we have to negotiate quickly," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in an interview.

An increase in value-added tax on restaurant food and public transport also kicked in Monday, which like the banks re-opening is aimed at restoring trust inside and outside Greece after an aid-for-reforms deal last week averted bankruptcy.

Which brings us to the Iran deal. Still cause for cautious celebration, the rosy glow of the deal significantly lessened this weekend when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave a speech in Tehran punctuated by chants of "Death to America" and "Death to Israel." The ayatollah traditionally has the last word on matters of high policy in Iran and the fact that he withheld his verdict on the deal made a strong statement. Instead, he emphasized the need to examine the agreement to ensure national interests are preserved. 

Congress has the deal now, it's just up to them to pass it. Though Obama has vowed to use his veto if they don't. 

Want to know:

A proposed law aimed at reforming Germany's sex industry is not going down so well. The new law would require Germany’s sex workers to carry licenses at all times. It would mandate their clients wear condoms. And it would authorize police to check up on these things without notice.

The added measure would help prevent pimps and human traffickers from forcing young women to sell their bodies, the argument goes. The new rules proposed by members of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union Party would alter the country’s 2002 Prostitution Act, which legalized prostitution with the aim of helping sex workers secure proper contracts, public health insurance and other benefits. 

But sex workers and privacy advocates object to what they’re calling the “Hurenpass” — “whore ID.” They say it would violate their rights and curtail legal prostitution in Germany, an industry that employs 400,000 and services 1 million clients a day. And rather than protecting victims who are forced to work as prostitutes, the proposed bill would further stigmatize them, legal experts said. 

Strange but true:

In case you missed this one yesterday, watch surf champion Mick Fanning fight off a freakin' shark while paddling out at sea.

The 34-year-old was competing in the final heat of a world tour event at Jeffreys Bay in South Africa's Eastern Cape province on Sunday when a looming black fin appeared behind him.

"It came up and got stuck in my leg rope," he said in a television interview after miraculously escaping. "I was kicking and screaming. I just saw a fin. I didn't see teeth. I was waiting for the teeth to come at me as I was swimming. I punched it in the back."

He punched it in the back. What did you do this weekend? 

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