CUBA

President Barack Obama opened the door on Thursday to more changes in U.S.-Cuba policy, but based them on Cuban reciprocation that analysts said may be difficult to get.

President Barack Obama's lifting of U.S. curbs on family travel and remittances to Cuba will bring divided families closer and supplement stressed budgets on the island, Cubans and Cuban Americans said on Monday.

President Barack Obama's move to allow U.S. telecommunications companies to apply for licenses in Cuba is aimed at increasing the flow of information to the communist-ruled island, the White House said on Monday.

President Barack Obama on Monday eased the way for U.S. telecommunications firms to do business with Cuba and relaxed some other restrictions on the communist-ruled island, opening a crack in a decades-old U.S. embargo.

President Barack Obama will try to establish a cooperative new relationship with Latin America this week, but U.S. resistance to change on highly symbolic issues like Cuba and immigration could undercut the effort, analysts said.

Three members of a U.S. congressional delegation met on Tuesday with former Cuban leader Fidel Castro in his first known talks with U.S. officials since he underwent surgery in July 2006.

From cheering fans lining the streets to an adoring crowd packed into a sports arena, Obama-mania was in full swing in Europe on Friday.

Cuban authorities accused blogger Yoani Sanchez on Wednesday of staging a provocation against the Cuban Revolution after she and others spoke publicly about censorship during an arts performance in Havana.

Britain's attorney general ordered an investigation on Thursday into whether the security services played any role in the torture of a British resident recently released from the U.S. military's Guantanamo prison.

U.N. human rights investigators on Tuesday announced a global investigation into secret detention and said they would not relax scrutiny of U.S. counter-terrorism policies under President Barack Obama.

President Hugo Chavez seized a unit of American food giant Cargill on Wednesday and threatened to take over Venezuela's largest private company, renewing a nationalization drive as the OPEC nation's oil income plunges.

On Monday, Cuba's President Raul Castro unexpectedly showed the exit door to some of its most powerful officials.

Abuse of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay has worsened sharply since President Barack Obama took office as prison guards get their kicks in before the camp is closed, according to a lawyer who represents detainees.

Sales of Cuban cigars, considered the finest in the world, dropped 3 percent to $390 million in 2008 as the world financial crisis and the spread of anti-smoking laws cut demand, officials said on Monday.

Trade, energy and the global economic crisis will top the agenda of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Canada on Thursday, his first foreign trip since taking over the White House last month.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez promised to use a referendum victory that allows his re-election to fight crime and corruption and consolidate socialism in a nation whose oil income has fallen abruptly.

According to a report, two government officials the, President is expected to give orders soon regarding the closure of Guantanamo. They also say the President will begin overhauling U.S. national security policy on Thursday.

The closure of Guantanamo Bay prison will not be an easy one with many diverse prisoners from die-hard jihadists to innocent men swept up in war.

Fidel Castro's withdrawal from power in Cuba could have sparked a crisis for its communist leaders, but detailed planning and water-tight secrecy ensured a stable succession. When Raul Castro was installed as Cuba's first new leader in half a century on Sunday, taking over from his ailing brother, hardly a ripple was felt in the country of 11 million people, and nobody was cheering in the streets of the anti-Castro exile stronghold of Miami.

U.S. President George W. Bush insisted on Monday he had plenty of unfinished business for his last year in office but he will leave some serious challenges for his successor in January, 2009. In his State of the Union address, Bush focused on passing an economic stimulus plan and cutting wasteful spending.

Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Wednesday he is not strong enough to speak in public more than 17 months after stomach surgery forced him to hand over power to his brother.