MIAMI, June 11 (UPI) -- With the Obama administration taking a decidedly different approach to U.S.-Cuba relations than its predecessor, interest in the communist island's potential as an oil producer has reignited a debate as to whether Washington should end its decades-long trade embargo and allow U.S. companies to explore the potentially oil-rich northern basin.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to appoint seasoned U.S. diplomat and former U.S. Ambassador to Algeria and Syria Christopher Ross as his personal envoy for Western Sahara. This appointment hopefully will continue the momentum of the current negotiations process to end the three-decades-old conflict between Morocco and the Polisario Front, an Algerian-backed rebel movement that has challenged Morocco's historical sovereignty over a Colorado-sized desert territory in North Africa (sometimes known as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic).

MIAMI, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. and Cuban officials say they have no idea what happened to a boat packed with 40 Cuban refugees that vanished en route to Florida almost two months ago.

MIAMI, April 2 (UPI) -- More and more Cuban Americans in southern Florida want to see travel restrictions lifted and relations with Cuba normalized, a poll released Monday showed.

MIAMI, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Cuban exile baseball players called a Miami meeting Thursday to talk about forming a team for the World Baseball Classic.

MIAMI, May 12 (UPI) -- The Social Security Administration has relaxed its policies to benefit elderly Cuban and Haitian immigrants, The Miami Herald reported Thursday.

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla., May 7 (UPI) -- A former Cuban politician and father of two U.S. congressmen has died in Key Biscayne, Fla., at 79-years-old.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- An inauguration sponsorship offered by Miami's Cuban-American National Foundation, once a power in Republican politics, has been snubbed by the GOP.

MIAMI, Aug. 11 (UPI) -- Three Florida House members have charged an endowment from the wife of John Kerry may have financed the linkup of Cuba's Internet.