Havana  - Hurricane Gustav hit Cuba like an atomic bomb last weekend, said the island's ailing former leader Fidel Castro.

In a commentary published under his name in the Communist Party daily Granma on Wednesday, Castro said the storm caused damages estimated at many hundreds of thousands of dollars.

This amount would be needed only to satisfy the most elementary needs of the population, the 82-year-old former president said under the headline "A Nuclear Blow."

Dhaka  - The military-backed interim government in Bangladesh set free Wednesday the jailed elder son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia who was held for more than a year on charges of corruption, judicial officials said.

"Tarique Rahman has been released temporarily on medical grounds as several specialist doctors had recommended his treatment abroad," said deputy prison chief Shamsul Haider Siddiqui.

Amman - The Jordanian cabinet on Tuesday endorsed for the first time financial help to the country's fledging political parties as part of the drive to upgrade the political life in the Hashemite Kingdom.

The decision provides for paying 50,000 dinars (70,000 dollars) annually to each of the country's 16 political parties, including the country's largest and only organized political party according to Western standards, the Islamic Action Front (IAF), according to the Interior Minister Eid al-Fayez.

Moscow/Tbilisi  - Georgia's government will soon lift martial law, a senior official said Tuesday.

The temporary regulations giving President Mikheil Saakashvili near-total authority for wartime command in the former Soviet republic will be cancelled on Wednesday, said David Bakradze, speaker of the Georgian parliament.

The repeal is necessary to allow Georgia's suffering economy to return to a more normal footing and "for a more normal rhythm of life," Bakradze told the Interfax news agency.

Georgia's parliament on August 9 approved martial law at Saakashvili's request.

Havana  - Cuban leader Fidel Castro sent a message of support to Cubans affected by Hurricane Gustav, in an article published Monday in the Communist Party daily Granma and other state media.

"Only just ideas defended with courage, dignity and firmness survive," Castro said.

The man who led the country for close to half a century and formally gave up power in February due to health problems, extended support to citizens in western Cuba, which was devastated by Hurricane Gustav over the weekend.

Riga  - More Latvians see Russia as a threat to their Baltic nation's independence compared to a year ago, a national survey released on Monday found.

Thirty-five per cent of Latvians see Russia as a threat to Latvia's independence, up from 25 per cent a year ago, the research by the Marketing and Public Opinion Research Centre found.

Some 52 per cent do not see Russia as a threat.