UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Three dozen arms control and human rights groups have written to US President Barack Obama ahead of new arms-trade negotiations at the United Nations next month, urging him to back a tough treaty that would end loopholes in international weapons sales. Arms control campaigners say one person every minute dies worldwide as a result of armed violence and a convention is needed to prevent the unregulated and illicit flow of weapons into conflict zones and fueling wars and atrocities.

HAVANA, Cuba, CMC – Russia’s Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov says his country will forgive part of Cuba’s US$25 billion Soviet-era debt and restructure the rest as part of agreements that include Havana getting Russian jetliners worth US$650 million. On an official visit here, Manturov told reporters that Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Ricardo Cabrisas, vice president of the Council of Ministers, had initialed the debt agreement, adding that the details would be worked out by the end of the year.

Cuban President Raul Castro has been re-elected for a second five-year term. The 612-member National Assembly of People's Power Sunday elected Castro, who turns 82 in June, as president of the State Council, Xinhua reported. "The National Assembly of People's Power today approved, in this capital, Army General Raul Castro Ruz as president of the Council of State, and elected Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, as its first vice president," Cuba's state-run National Information Agency (AIN) said.

President Evo Morales of Bolivia said Wednesday that Hugo Chávez, the cancer-stricken president of Venezuela and one of his closest friends, had endured “most difficult moments” and that Mr. Chávez’s doctors and family were encouraged now that he had returned home, more than two months after surgery and convalescence in Cuba. Speaking to reporters at the United Nations, Mr. Morales said he had not seen Mr. Chávez while visiting Venezuela on Tuesday, a day after the Venezuelan leader’s surprise predawn homecoming.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - AILING President Hugo Chavez has returned to Venezuela, but that is not synonymous with a return to active service as leader of the country. His arrival in Caracas is not likely to silence political opponents salivating at the prospect of his demise, nor will it end the rampant speculation that his precarious health could force him to resign from office. He has been president for 14 years during which time he has been a populist in domestic policy and a nationalist in foreign policy.