CUBA

The Obama administration is seeking to give its allies and U.S. exporters a boost, proposing new rules that will ease trade in items that could prove to be security risks if they fell into the wrong hands.

Norway's Nobel committee held its Peace Prize awards ceremony on Friday without the award's recipient, human rights activist Liu Xiaobo.

Venezuela plans to include the Internet in a law that regulates the media, under a proposed bill presented to parliament on Thursday that the opposition claims will result in censorship.

The Obama administration has been left red-faced by disclosures made by whistle-blower website WikiLeaks pertaining to French president Nicholas Sarkozy that describes him as an “emperor without clothes”, Iran president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as ‘Hitler’ and Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin as an “Alpha Dog”.

A record 1.2 million people in low and middle income countries started antiretroviral therapy for HIV/AIDs in 2009, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, but targets set for 2010 are unlikely to be met.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, wearing his green military cap and clothing like the comandante of old, made his first speech before the Cuban public on Friday since falling ill in 2006, warning of the threat of nuclear war.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, wearing his green military cap and clothing like the comandante of old, made his first speech before the Cuban public since falling ill in 2006 on Friday, warning of the threat of nuclear war.

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro told an interviewer there were times during his long illness when he was at death's door but now he is mostly recovered and trying to avert nuclear war.

China is lobbying neighbours to sign up to a road map for renewed nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea, whose leader Kim Jong-il is visiting China amid conciliatory words and threats of holy war.

- China is lobbying neighbours to sign up to a road map for renewed nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea, whose leader Kim Jong-il is apparently visiting China amid conciliatory words and threats of atomic holy war.

North Korea would answer any attack on it with a nuclear holy war, the country's ambassador to Cuba said, according to official Chinese media, while the North's leader Kim Jong-il appeared to be visiting China.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday mocked rumours that he was suffering from cancer as wishful thinking by his squalid enemies.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez on Thursday mocked rumours that he was suffering from cancer as wishful thinking by his squalid enemies.

Oil rose to over $76 on Thursday, boosted by a rally in Asian equities as investors focused on the prospects for accelerating Chinese demand for natural resources. U.S. September crude climbed 19 cents to $75.61 a barrel at 0822 GMT (4:22 a.m. EDT), having earlier risen as high as $76.08. ICE Brent rose 35 cents to $76.82.

Oil was under pressure on Thursday from a stronger dollar and brimming U.S. petroleum inventories, while modest gains in Asian equities provided support to a market focused on the prospects for economic growth.

Oil rose on Thursday after better than expected euro zone manufacturing and services data, but rising U.S. oil inventories and fears about the broader U.S. economy, the world's largest, kept prices in check. The euro zone's private sector surged this month, according to a survey released on Thursday, reassuring markets spooked by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke describing the prospects for the United States as unusually uncertain.

Oil slid for a second day on Thursday, a day after Fed chief Ben Bernanke rekindled unease across financial markets over the pace of economic recovery, while rising U.S. inventories also kept prices in check.

The United States is urging Syria to open up its markets to U.S. companies' computers and software, but fears over piracy and Internet access restrictions are holding back American technology companies from investing there.

Oil prices fell for a third day to beneath $76 a barrel on Thursday after a jump in U.S. crude oil inventories outweighed the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates near zero. A dip in European shares on Thursday also dampened sentiment and reinforced the correlation between oil and equities. EU

Oil prices fell for a third day to around $76 a barrel on Thursday after a jump in U.S. crude oil inventories outweighed the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates near zero.

Cubans' ability to communicate with one another and the world remained well below the norm for the Caribbean and Latin America in 2009, according to a government report released this week.