Havana  - Ailing Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro says he believes new US President Barack Obama has good intentions, but there were still a number of open questions.

Castro also didn't miss the opportunity to rub in that Cuba's half-century-old communist regime has now survived 10 US presidents, despite more than four decades of the US economic embargo.

In fact, with his inauguration on Tuesday, Obama became the eleventh president in the Castro family's list.

Gaza City - The radical Islamic organisation Hamas said Thursday it would begin Sunday making cash payments to victims of the recent Israeli military offensive against the Gaza Strip.

Taher al Nuni, spokesman for the Hamas-led government in the Strip, said families of those killed in the offensive would receive 1,000 euros, while the wounded would each receive 500 euros.

Owners of destroyed homes would receive 4,000 euros to help rebuilding work, and those whose homes were damaged would receive 2,000 euros.

Washington  - The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday approved Timothy Geithner's nomination to be US Treasury secretary in President Barack Obama's administration, paving the way for Geithner's confirmation by the full US Senate.

The Finance Committee voted 18-5 to send Geithner's nomination to the Senate, which could confirm his appointment later this week.

Washington  - US President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Thursday to close the controversial prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba within a year.

The order sets into motion a review of the cases of all the remaining 245 detainees at the facility and an evaluation of ways to relocate them. That could involve repatriating them to their home nations or to a third country.

Zamora, Spain  - Spain and Portugal on Thursday stressed the need for social policies and protection of employment during the ongoing economic crisis.

The labour market and welfare state must not be made to pay for the deficient functioning of the international financial system, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said at a joint press conference with his Portuguese counterpart Jose Socrates.

The two Socialist premiers as well as 12 Spanish and 13 Portuguese ministers attended a bilateral summit in Zamora, northern Spain.