US Coast Guard officials are searching for 39 people who are feared missing after their ship capsized on Saturday night off the Florida coast. Officials were alerted on Tuesday morning after fishermen spotted a man clinging to the hull of a boat 45 miles (72km) from the city of Fort Pierce. The survivor said the group had embarked from Bimini, Bahamas, on Saturday night and hit foul weather. US officials say the boat may have been part of a “human smuggling venture”. According to the survivor, who has not been identified, none of the passengers was wearing a life vest. Migrant tragedy is biggest loss of life in English Channel. The search was being led by the Miami Coast Guard using ships and aircrafts, the agency said on Twitter.(BBC)…[+]

Cuban officials say more than 700 people who took part in anti-government protests last year have been charged with crimes including sedition, vandalism, theft and public disorder. The public prosecutor’s office said 172 people had already been tried and convicted, without giving details. Families and activists have criticised the trials as unfair, and say the sentences are disproportionate. Hundreds of people were arrested after the protests, the largest in decades. Thousands demonstrated across the Communist-run island last July to voice anger over food and medicine shortages, price increases and the government’s handling of the pandemic. The statement by the public prosecutor’s office is the first official confirmation of the trials. In total, 710 people faced charges, it said, with most of them being held in detention as they await the trials.(BBC)…[+]

Disney has responded to criticism made by Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage about its forthcoming live action adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Dinklage said the remake of the 1937 animated film, based on story from the Brothers Grimm, was “backward”. Disney said it was going to “avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film”. Dinklage had said Disney should have reassessed the project. “I was a little taken aback by [the fact] they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White,” he told podcaster Marc Maron. “But you’re still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Dinklage – who stars in the forthcoming Oscar-tipped film Cyrano – has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia. The actor has previously spoken about the representation of dwarfism, saying it was “bad writing” to make it a “dominant character trait”. The original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs film, released in 1938, was the first full-length animated feature from Disney, and is considered one of the studio’s classics. West Side Story star Rachel Zegler and Red Notice actress Gal Gadot are set to star in the adaptation, as Snow White and the Evil Queen respectively.(BBC)…[+]