Politics - AFP

RABAT (AFP) - The United States is not prepared to lift its trade embargo against Cuba, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday, after Havana urged Washington to ease restrictions in the wake of a devastating hurricane.

CERNOBBIO, Italy (AFP) - US Vice President Dick Cheney accused Russia of using "brutality" and seeking Soviet-style dominance through the Georgia conflict but Russia's leader insisted that the war has changed the world map.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Barack Obama and John McCain feuded and laid claim to being the authentic candidate of change and reform on Sunday as their White House showdown roared into a frenetic eight-week final stretch.

NEW DELHI (AFP) - The Indian government welcomed a decision by nuclear supplier nations to end the decades-old ban on trading with the country, saying it would propel India's future economic growth.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US government took control of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Sunday, placing them in a government "conservatorship" to help avert a financial system meltdown from the housing crisis.

BEIJING (AFP) - The United States will take North Korea off its terror list "immediately" if it can agree a way to verify its nuclear facilities, top envoy Christopher Hill said Saturday.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (AFP) - US Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin took her first swipe at her Democratic counterpart Saturday, casting Joe Biden as a Washington insider incapable of change.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush has not quite five months to make good on his seven-year-old vow to get Osama bin Laden "dead or alive" before his successor inherits the hunt for the terrorist mastermind.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AFP) - A Republican lawmaker is calling for the Democratic head of a probe into vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin to be replaced, accusing him of exploiting the investigation for political ends.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democrat White House nominee Barack Obama on Sunday offered to go one-on-one with Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin -- but only on the basketball court.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Seven years after the deadliest attack on the United States, Al-Qaeda's masterminds remain beyond US reach, stirring violence and plotting new attacks on the West, officials and analysts say.

RABAT (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Morocco Saturday on the last leg of a North Africa visit after holding talks on terrorism in Algeria with President Abedelaziz Bouteflika.

CERNOBBIO, Italy (AFP) - Casting Moscow as a brutal regime that aims to recapture its Soviet-era dominance, US Vice President Dick Cheney on Saturday urged NATO to stand together against threats to democracy.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (AFP) - Economic issues dominated the campaign trail Saturday as presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain battled over who could best lead the nation in troubled times.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday welcomed the "historic achievement" of approval of a landmark civil nuclear cooperation deal between the two countries, the White House said.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The jump in US unemployment to a five-year high has heightened worries about recession and puts the struggling economy into sharp focus two months ahead of the presidential vote, analysts said.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States Saturday congratulated Asif Ali Zardari on his win in Pakistan's presidential vote, the White House said in a statement.

STERLING HEIGHTS, Michigan (AFP) - A US victory in Iraq is "within sight," Republican vice presidential contender Sarah Palin said Friday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Top US defense officials have recommended US President George W. Bush order only a modest US troop withdrawal from Iraq next year, with some of the forces shifted to Afghanistan, officials told AFP Friday.