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Cuban television has broadcast the first images of President Fidel Castro in more than a month, defiantly addressing rumours that he had died. Mr Castro said his recovery would be long and not without risk, but said he was "coming along just as planned." He called the rumours "ridiculous" and said: "Let's see what they say now." The 80-year-old, who temporarily handed over power to his younger brother in July following intestinal surgery, had not been seen since mid-September. In the new vid ...

By Caren Bohan CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C., Indiana (Reuters) - President George W. Bush reassured Iraq's prime minister of his support on Saturday as Democrats accused the president of living in a "fantasy world" over the unpopular war that could cost his Republican Party control of the U.S. Congress. Ten days before the congressional elections, the president told hundreds of troops and their ...

Climate change is already affecting people across Africa and will wipe out efforts to tackle poverty there unless urgent action is taken, a report says. Droughts are getting worse and climate uncertainty is growing, the research from a coalition of UK aid agencies and environmental groups says. Climate change is an "unprecedented" threat to food security, it says. It calls for a "climate-proof" model of development and massive emissions cuts to avoid "possibly cataclysmic change". The report ...

Copyright laws are "out of date" and must be updated so MP3 player users can make copies of CDs without breaking the law, according to a think tank. The Institute for Public Policy Research argues that consumers' rights should be improved with a "new private right to copy". It is also calling on the government to reject demands for the music copyright term to be extended beyond 50 years. The IPPR recommendations are ahead of a review of intellectual property laws. The review of the laws ha ...

A gene mutation which affects brain development increases the risk of autism, scientists have suggested. US researchers looked at 1,200 children with the condition. Mutations were more common in children with autism and having the altered gene increased the risk of autism by more than double. Experts said the findings, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were interesting, but needed to be reproduced in other studies.  ...

The Mexican government has demanded that protesters in the southern city of Oaxaca lift barricades and end their occupation of parts of the city. The demand came as hundreds of federal police sent by President Vincente Fox were seen arriving in the city. Three people including a US journalist died in clashes between masked gunmen and leftist protesters on Friday. The demonstrators are seeking to oust Governor Ulises Ruiz, whom they accuse of abuse of power. At least six people have been kill ...

PARIS (Reuters) - A woman in the southern city of Marseille suffered severe burns when vandals set fire to a bus she was travelling on, a police source said on Saturday. The attack occurred as France marked the first anniversary of riots that scarred the country's poor suburbs, inhabited largely by immigrants. Vandals have set at least six buses on fire in suburbs around Paris this week in an up ...