China, Cuba pledge to further enhance ties

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with Raul Castro Ruz, president of Cuba's Council of State and the Council of Ministers, during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, July 5, 2012. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

China and Cuba are both at an important development stage and facing similar tasks. It is conducive to the two countries' common development and friendly cooperation between China and Latin America to further consolidate and develop China-Cuba relations, Hu said.

He called on the two countries to maintain close communication between all levels and give full play to party-to-party and governmental dialogue mechanisms to strengthen exchanges of experience on party building and national governance.

Hu called on the two countries to expand trade and economic cooperation, especially cooperation in trade, energy, infrastructure construction, agriculture and biotechnology, and to encourage two-way investment.

Hu said the two sides should strengthen exchanges and cooperation in areas such as culture, education and media, and increase youth exchanges.

He also called on the two countries to strengthen coordination and cooperation on major issues including the UN reform, climate change and sustainable development, so as to promote joint efforts in the establishment of a world with long-term peace and common prosperity.

15 Killed in U.S. Drone Strike in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — At least 15 people suspected of beingTaliban militants were killed by an American drone strike late Friday in northwestern Pakistan, according to a Pakistani intelligence official and local residents.

The strike, the first since Pakistan reopened NATO supply routes this week, took place in the village of Zoi Narai of the Datta Khel subdivision, the third-largest town in North Waziristan. A drone fired four missiles at a compound owned by a Taliban commander named Rahimullah, said a local resident who was reached by telephone.

The commander, who apparently was not present at the time of the strike, is thought to be a close aide of a local warlord, Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who controls a vast part of North Waziristan, a restive tribal region used as a haven by many local and foreign militants.

Mr. Rahimullah, who uses one name, helps recruit militants to take part in offensives against Western troops across the border in Afghanistan, according to local residents.

A Pakistani intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that all of those killed by the drone’s missiles were loyalists of Mr. Bahadur.

Local residents said that soon after the strike Taliban militants cordoned off the area around the compound and searched for bodies in the debris.

Refugee Children Dying at Alarming Rate in South Sudan, Aid Groups Say

NAIROBI, Kenya — Nine children are dying every day from preventable illnesses like diarrheain an overcrowded, swampy refugee camp inSouth Sudan, and United Nations officials said Friday that they were stepping up efforts to evacuate people as fast as they could.

Heavy rains, overflowing latrines and a ceaseless influx of sick and hungry people have conspired to create an epidemiological disaster at the Jamam refugee camp, with death rates now nearly twice the emergency level, said the aid group Doctors Without Borders.

“The situation is getting worse by the day,” said Tara Newell, an emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, who spoke by satellite phone from the camp on Friday evening. “We’re arriving in the middle of the rainy season, tents keep falling down, children have to wear wet clothes, there’s malaria, and we see children getting sicker and sicker.”

Russell four sets up comfortable Windies win

West Indies 136 for 1 (Smith 65*, Gayle 63*) beat New Zealand 190 for 9 (Watling 60, Russell 4-45, Narine 2-26) by nine wickets (by D/L method)

New Zealand got a sampler of how tough this ODI series could get for them when their inexperienced line-up crumbled against disciplined bowling led by Andre Russell and their bowlers were swatted away by Chris Gayle and Dwayne Smith.

Start-up attempts to convert Prof Hawking's brainwaves into speech

An American scientist is to unveil details of work on the brain patterns of Prof Stephen Hawking which he says could help safeguard the physicist's ability to communicate.

Prof Philip Low said he eventually hoped to allow Prof Hawking to "write" words with his brain as an alternative to his current speech system which interprets cheek muscle movements.

Prof Low said the innovation would avert the risk of locked-in syndrome.

Intel is working on an alternative.

The iBrain is a headset that records brain waves through EEG (electroencephalograph) readings - electrical activity recorded from the user's scalp.

The i-brain

Prof Low said he had designed computer software which could analyse the data and detect high frequency signals that had previously been thought lost because of the skull