CNN 2008-02-20

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Hello, I'm Melissa Long here at the CNN Center in Atlanta with a look at some of the stories that are happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro says he will not accept another term's president. The 81-year-old says he is not physically¹ able to continue his responsibilities. The General Assembly will now choose a new president when it meets over the weekend on Sunday. Washington has welcomed this news, yet the U.S embargo² on Cuba remains³. Now President Bush is half a world away but is closely monitoring this end of an era. The president who is traveling in Africa says the change in Cuba could signal a transition to democracy. 'I believe that, the change from Fidel Castro ought to begin a period of a democratic transition.'

Americans are voting in three states today, Hawaii, Washington and Wisconsin. Hawaii turns out towards Democratic caucus⁴. Both parties hold contests in Wisconsin and Washington State's Republican primary counts while the Democratic contest is for bragging⁵ rights only. The party is using the February 9th caucuses⁶ to assign all delegates.

There is a new video of an apparent beating at a jail in Florida. It's the same jail where a quadriplegic man was dumped out of his wheelchair onto the floor. This latest video shows a woman waiting to be booked and then this happened back in November 6th, you can see the deputy pulling her out of the chair and starts hitting the woman. Now the woman has filed a lawsuit⁷ against the sheriff's office. The officer who dumped the man out of his wheelchair resigned on Monday. The sheriff's office says an internal investigation⁸ is ongoing⁹.

Delta¹⁰ and Northwest airlines are said to be pushing ahead with an agreement that would create the nation's largest airline. The boards for both companies are expected to meet today where they could vote on the transaction. Still both airlines have yet to reach an agreement with their unionized pilots.

And those are the headlines making news this hour. For more on these stories or other news of the day, remember CNN is your source whether you're surfing the Web, watching television or you happen to be on the go with your cell phone and you can also rely on cnn.com updates.