WASHINGTON — Cuban and U.S. officials held a second round of talks on Friday toward normalizing ties and both sides said they made good progress, although they did not set a date for renewal of diplomatic relations that Washington severed 54 years ago.
Going into the talks, Communist-ruled Cuba pushed to be removed from a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. But Washington said that while it was reviewing Cuba's place on the list, the designation should not be linked to the negotiations on renewing relations and opening embassies.
The head of Cuba's delegation to the talks, Josefina Vidal, said removal from the terrorism list was not a pre-condition for renewal of diplomatic ties.
Spain arrests 8
MADRID — Spain on Friday arrested eight citizens who recently returned from fighting alongside pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine, the first such arrest in the European Union of foreign citizens involved in the conflict, the Interior Ministry said.
A ministry statement said the eight, rounded up in a nationwide operation, were suspected of crimes that compromised Spain's peace and independence and violated the neutrality it maintains in relation to the international community.
Boko Haram kills 100
KANO, Nigeria — Boko Haram Islamist militants killed about 100 people this week in attacks on villages in northeast Nigeria, with residents fleeing the onslaught, according to a senator who represents the region.
The violence started late Feb. 24 through Feb. 25 and wasn’t reported earlier because of poor telecommunication networks.
Liberia’s president
WASHINGTON — President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia on Friday urged the United States to maintain its assistance to her country as it continues to fight to recover from the Ebola outbreak, which began about one year ago.
In a meeting at the White House with President Barack Obama, Ms. Johnson Sirleaf asked for help with power projects to keep the country’s hospitals and new treatment centers running, for clean water and sanitation facilities to stop the disease from spreading, and for road construction to make it easier for sick people in rural areas to get to hospitals.
Cash-strapped N. Korea
SEOUL — The sharp fall in global commodity prices is starting to have an impact on North Korea, economists say, hurting a state that relies heavily on exports of minerals to keep its economy afloat — and its gargantuan military funded.
Combined with China’s economy coming off the boil, the recent slump in coal prices in particular could hurt Kim Jong Un’s “byungjin” policy: his stated desire to simultaneously develop North Korea’s economy and its nuclear weapons program.
Saudis’ bold oil gambit
Three months after Saudi Arabia made clear it was going to let oil prices keep tumbling, the strategy is showing signs of working.
U.S. drillers are idling rigs at a record pace, gutting investment plans and laying off thousands of workers.
Those steps highlight how the Saudi-led OPEC decision on Nov. 27 to maintain output levels and protect its market share is having the desired effect — pushing prices down so far that they threaten to curb output in the U.S. and other non-OPEC countries.