London, September 18 : After talks in Caracas with Venezuelan and Cuban officials, Russia’s space agency chief has said that Moscow is ready to help Cuba develop its own space centre.

According to a report in New Scientist, Russia has stepped up efforts to develop closer links with both countries, which are ideological enemies of Washington, including sending Russian strategic bombers on a mission to Venezuela this month.

“We have held preliminary discussions about the possibility of creating a space centre in Cuba with our help,” Anatoly Perminov, the chief of Russia’s Federal Space Agency, was quoted as saying in Caracas by Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency.

Brussels - The European Union executive on Wednesday welcomed Cuba's decision to re-open diplomatic dialogue with the bloc following the lifting of EU sanctions, officials in Brussels said.

"We see that as a positive step and we welcome their reaction to the eventual re-establishment of a political dialogue," a spokesman for EU aid commissioner Louis Michel said.

Michel is due to visit Cuba around October 22-25, he said.

The Cuban government under new leader Raul Castro has approached the European Union about a resumption of the political dialogue halted since 2003, EU representative in Havana Javier Nino told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa late Tuesday.

Havana - The Cuban government under new leader Raul Castro has approach the European Union about a resumption of political dialogue halted since 2003, EU representative in Havana Javier Nino told

Washington - Cuba has rejected 5 million dollars in humanitarian aid in the wake of hurricanes that ravaged the Caribbean island in recent weeks, the US State Department said Monday.

"We regret that Cuban authorities have not accepted this offer of humanitarian assistance for the Cuban people," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

He said the United States made the offer, including delivery by air of relief supplies, on Saturday and was informed by the Cubans on Sunday that the offer was not accepted.

The Cubans have asked the United States to suspend a decades-old embargo so Havana could purchase reconstruction goods from US companies, but McCormack said the US policy was unchanged.

Havana - Even as Ike continued to wreak destruction across Texas on Saturday, its costs were still being tallied, as Cuba reported another three deaths from the storm.

The general staff of the Cuban military said the death toll had risen to seven, up from the four deaths reported earlier this week.

It estimated damages in the billions of dollars, but said it had not yet been able to tally a final overview.

More than 100,000 buildings were destroyed or damaged.

Havana - Hurricane-hit Cuba on Thursday accused the United States of lying about its conditional offers to help the communist country as it struggles to recover and rebuild.

"The United States government is behaving cynically. It tries to suggest that it is desperate to cooperate with Cuba, and that we refuse. They lie unscrupulously," the Cuban Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Hurricanes Gustav and Ike have wreaked havoc in Cuba, displacing more than a million people and destroying tens of thousands of homes. The Cuban government was still to estimate the extent of the damage.