I wish other nations could also protect their population as Cuba does," said Fidel Castro and recalled the solidarity practiceí by the Cuban people with other nations of the world by citing the more than 100,000 blood donations offered by the island to the Peruvian population on the heels of the tragic effects of an earthquake that hit that Latin American nation.

Cubans continue to strengthen precautionary measures as Wilma causes power interruptions, coastal flooding and marks up an historic rainfall record in western Cuba on its way along the northern coast...Wilma's heavy rains have contributed to a rainfall accumulation that surpasses the annual record in Pinar del Rio with a total of 1,771 millimeters from January up to date. The previous annual rainfall record was 1,445 millimeters.

The U.S. Department of Defense continues to maintain strict control over the information released about its treatment of prisoners at Guantánamo. As a result, no public information identifies the precise date of the first hunger strike at the prison.

At the beginning of 2005, president Chávez nominated Carlos Lanz a head of the nationalized aluminium company, Alcasa. This nomination was a surprise, since Lanz is a former guerrilla who is now a sociologist clearly identified with the revolutionary left. From his arrival at the head of the company he began a process of “co-management” which has made this company a political symbol and this experience a national test.

Dr Hammad, whose previous experience had been in the western city of Lahore, has rarely seen a case of tetanus before. "It is terrible; really painful – and it is so frustrating because just one shot could prevent it," he explained. The government of Pakistan has officially confirmed five deaths due to tetanus.

The Swiss government said Friday that it had banned the keeping of poultry outdoors to avoid domestic fowl contracting bird flu through contact with migratory birds carrying the virus. The order, which is aimed at protecting domestic fowl from birds migrating from the countries and regions affected by the epidemic, follows similar actions taken in Germany, Austria and Serbia, which also banned the sale of live birds

If India gets tempted, or threatened, or blackmailed into accepting the US offers, then Raytheon who is the system integrator of the PAC-3, Lockheed-Martin which makes the Patriot missiles besides the F-16 fighters, Boeing which makes the F/A-18 Hornets and others in the US military-industrial complex who are already rubbing their hands in glee will be laughing all the way to the bank.

¯???letion of the Israeli army withdrawal from Gaza Strip, and the eviction of all the settlers from there, its occupation has seemingly ended. And indeed, if by 'occupation' we mean, as the Israeli establishment wants us to understand, a mere direct military presence, then sure enough, Gaza Strip is no longer occupied by Israel. But is that truly the objective situation?

Facing pressure from the international community, Guinea has undertaken a program of political reforms ...due to concerns over governance and human rights...In a country where, despite a wealth of natural resources, more than half the population lives on less than a dollar a day and even basic services like water and electricity are in short supply, the government is an obvious target for criticism.

The White House will use any means to prevent putting Posada at the Venezuelan Court’s disposal. His confessions could unleash a chain of international scandals of unforeseen political consequences, either for the US executive or for its security institutions, closely linked with plots which according to Posada’s own words, “ are still undisclosed in all their dramatic intrigue and unraveling.”

A website press release by Enron Corp. entitled ‘Shevardnadze to Receive Enron Prize for Distinguished Public Service’ it stated: "Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze will receive the 1999 Enron Prize for Distinguished Public Service on April 22, 1999 at an event sponsored by Rice University’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

If the Bush administration wants it, they’ll just take it. The threat of hurricanes and indictments isn’t going to stop these crazy guys. Nor will the Democrats, France, or that fallible United Nations. Nope, nothing is going to step in their way. Even if what they want is war on Iran.

Yet members of Congress are set to give themselves their eighth pay raise since the last minimum wage increase in 1997. The new pay raise for Congress means the salaries of senators and representatives have gone up by $31,600 since 1997 while minimum wage workers still earn only $10,700 a year.

Nizar Mansour, a 15-year-old Christian who attends a private school in Damascus, says he has friends from both communities.“We can tell that someone is Muslim or Christian when the Christians leave the class during a lesson on Islam – I would prefer it if all religious education in schools was cancelled,” Nizar said.

Now Bush seeks to complete his "doubleplay" by nominating a right-wing Republican woman, Harriet Miers, who has been a loyal cog in the Texas right Republican political machine that he took over when he was elected governor in 1994.

A senior Iraqi government official in the city, said three houses had been totally destroyed in the air attacks on Sunday and Monday and 14 dead civilians had been found inside them. A further 12 civilians had been critically injured in the same air strikes, he added

Trepidation should be our first impulse when we hear that radical heroes are to be immortalized in fixed poses of bloodless nostalgia. There is something very wrong with seeing the toothy, grinning face of Paul Robeson staring back at us from a stamped envelope. Or the wry expression the US Postal service affixed on Malcolm X - harmless, wry, inviting, and by extension slanderous.

More tales of Republican Party corruption, abuse of veterans, an anti-working class agenda, and plain craziness.

Embattled New York Times reporter Judith Miller acted as a "middleman" between an American military unit and the Iraqi National Congress while she was embedded with the U.S. armed forces searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in April 2003, and "took custody" of Saddam Hussein's son-in-law, one of 55 most wanted Iraqis, RAW STORY has found.

For 30 years now the economy has failed to provide good jobs. The UN has asked human rights groups to report on violations of rights by the US government. Venezuela is combatting unemployment and pverty. Senate Republicans are proposing huge subsidies for oil giants while hating bills skyrocket.