Havana - Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage said on the eve of elections in the United States that the world needs a US president who is rational and intelligent, rather than mad.

"That can't be too much to ask," said Lage, who is considered a supporter of economic liberalization on the communist-ruled island.

He spoke at the opening of a trade fair in Havana.

US President George W Bush, who leaves office in January after eight years, has been a harsh critic of the Cuban regime.

Los Angeles - Online media site MySpace is offering the owners of copyright material the chance to cash in on its online popularity.

MySpace said Monday that it had reached a deal with media giant Viacom whereby it will insert adds into the company's video excerpts that are screened on its site and pay the media giant a slice of the revenues.

Prior to this arrangement, the only procedure MySpace followed in dealing with copyrighted material was to try and identify it and block its appearance on the popular social networking site.

New York - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday he was ready to meet with the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to bring an end to the fighting that has created a fresh humanitarian crisis in Congo's provinces.

Ban said he would visit Africa either this week or next week if Congolese President Joseph Kabila and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame were to agree on a meeting somewhere in that continent.

Ban, who had spoken to both leaders, said Kagame and Kabila have begun a dialogue along with their separate teams.

Beirut - Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal called on Monday for dialogue to resolve the tense situation in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

"We have called for the launch of a Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue to discuss all the problems of Palestinian camps, Ain el-Hilweh or others," Mashaal said in Beirut, referring to the tension inside the camp which is located east of the southern port city of Sidon.

Sao Paulo - Banco Itau Holding Financeira SA agreed to acquire Uniao de Bancos Brasileiros SA on Monday, creating Brazil's biggest bank.

The Brazilian government applauded the merger and said it would make the country's financial system stronger.

"That new bank is set to become one of the largest financial institutions in the world," said Finance Minister Guido Mantega. He described the merger as "an important event, because they are two traditional, solid banks that will become even more solid."