US urges release of American jailed in Cuba The United States renews its demand that Cuba release American subcontractor Alan Gross, who is serving a 15-year prison sentence there. The US acting deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Edward Alex Lee, is in Cuba heading the US delegation for talks on migration. Cuba and the United States are holding talks on compliance with a nearly two-decade-old agreement aimed at encouraging safe and legal migration. Images and soundbites