Cuban exodus reaches new heights

Miami - The US Coast Guard helped 272 Cuban refugees reach shore in Florida yesterday in its biggest one-day total since the Mariel boatlift in 1980. The Coast Guard said it had assisted 371 Cubans at the weekend, which it called the biggest three-day total since Mariel. The Cubans were handed to immigration authorities, who held several on suspicion of smuggling their compatriots into the US. Reuter