News of Cubans ending up in the Russian military hit headlines this month when the Havana government said it had arrested 17 people connected with a human-trafficking ring that lured Cubans to fight for Moscow.

Cuba have revealed authorities were working to 'neutralise and dismantle' the network, which it said operated both on Cuban soil and in Russia.

The official says the issue predates Joe Biden's presidency, as have Beijing's efforts to strengthen its intelligence collection infrastructure worldwide.

The White House meanwhile calls the reports inaccurate.

The demonstrations, which remained largely peaceful, appeared confined to those places where power had not yet been restored.

This is a traditional method of expressing discontent in Latin America but one previously rarely employed in Cuba.

Before the storm, hours-long blackouts had become everyday events across much of Cuba and shortages of food, medicine and fuel are likely to complicate efforts to recover from Ian.

Children aged 12 and older will be the first to receive one of the two domestically produced vaccines, Abdala and Soberana, followed by younger kids.

Cuba's president says the protests were a provocation by mercenaries hired by the US to destabilise the country.

The makers of the Abdala vaccine say it is more than 92% effective at preventing Covid-19 disease after three doses.

The communist country has opted not to import foreign vaccines but rather to rely on its own.