By Dave Sherwood HAVANA, June 3 (Reuters) - Felicia de la Caridad Alvarez, a resident of Old Havana, knows a thing or two about survival. The 64-year-old former hospital custodian, blind in one eye, suffers from hypertension and diabetes.

In his remarks from the Senate floor this week, Peter Welch slammed the Trump administration's oil blockade against Cuba, which he labeled "an illegal act of war."

A Russian tanker seemingly en route to Cuba with a lifeline of fuel has changed direction, a painful development for the island suffering under a U.S. oil blockade.

Senate Republicans have rejected legislation from Democrats that would have required President Donald Trump to end the U.S. energy blockade on Cuba unless he receives approval from Congress.

Nearly a dozen airlines have cancelled or restricted flights to Cuba since the start of the year.

The US side has doubled down on its blockade and sanctions on Cuba, going so far as to add Cuban leaders to its sanction list. That once again reveals the US hegemonic and domineering behavior and bullying practices.

China delivered 15,000 tons of rice to Cuba on Saturday, alleviating a wide-spread food insecurity crisis which has been brought on by the US' blockade of Cuba.

The US blockade of Cuba has created a wartime-scale economic crisis, leaving Havana facing an unpalatable decision. Cuba’s economy was already struggling thanks to its leadership’s mismanagement before the loss of cheap Venezuelan oil and Washington’s energy embargo.

Last week, the Cuban Center for Molecular Immunology (CIM) announced a major health breakthrough with VAXIRA, a vaccine treatment for lung cancer. This is