Cuban President Raul Castro flew to Caracas on Friday to attend a meeting with other allies of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, who was at the airport for the arrival.

A Western diplomat says the Security Council will meet Saturday morning, when a much-negotiated resolution on Syria could reach a vote.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has warned of a war between Khartoum and South Sudan because their failure to settle a dispute over an oil export deal.

A Pentagon official is refusing to extend a deadline and delay the trial of five Guantanamo prisoners charged in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Diplomats say requests made by the U.N nuclear agency at talks this week with Iran have further raised the pressure on Tehran to address allegations of a secret arms program.