The last time I visited Cuba’s national botanic gardens, there was a wedding in a tucked-away corner by the Japanese pool. The happy couple stood at the water’s edge as jacanas – Jesus birds – walked the lily pads behind them.

I have been thinking about that couple, as we’ve just heard that the botanics have closed due to the oil blockade the US is imposing on the island. The gardens were an escape in a collapsing city, not that we could still reach them, as there is no fuel.

What today’s Iran headlines don’t reveal about ‘Project Freedom’

Who says Lauren Sánchez Bezos doesn’t belong at the Met Gala?

Can AI make Spencer Pratt mayor?

I have a small boy, Santiago, and it’s hard to entertain him in these trying times. On calm days, there is the beach, the beautiful miles of sand to the city’s undeveloped east, but with an empty gas tank, that too is out of reach. Uncollected trash, driven on the wind off the Florida Straits, makes the local parks increasingly dirty. I don’t mind Santiago being an urchin, but I find it hard to let him........

© The Spectator