The White House announced last week that US First Lady Laura Bush will visit Haiti this week.

White House spokeswoman Dan Perino said President Bush’s wife will also visit Mexico during the March 13-14 tour.

She said Mrs. Bush will "highlight US assistance to fight HIV/AIDS and breast cancer, and promote education," while visiting both countries.

Perino said Mrs. Bush will also visit a US Agency for International Development (USAID) education program and an HIV/AIDS clinic while in Haiti.

Washington is assisting Haiti with its HIV/AIDS program through President Bush's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Visitors to the United States, traveling through the Miami International airport can expect more security measures as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that it has begun collecting additional fingerprints. The measure is part of the department's bid to enhance security by moving from the usual two fingerprint collection to collecting 10 fingerprints.

The DHS also said this will facilitate legal travel by more correctly accurately and efficiently establishing and verifying visitors' identities.

According to US-VISIT Director Robert Mocny, "Biometrics has revolutionized our ability to prevent dangerous people from entering the United States since 2004. Our upgrade to 10-fingerprint collection builds on our success, enabling us to focus more attention on stopping potential security risks."

Senator Barack Obama, candidate for the Democratic Party, made attempts on Tuesday to bring peace between the warring factions in Kenya, the birth country of his late father. Since presidential elections held in Kenya on December 27, won by President Mwai Kibaki, there has been bitter fighting between supporters of Opposition leader Raila Odinga, who claimed that Kibaki stole the elections, and supporters of the government, resulting in over 800 deaths.

Reports are that Obama spoke on a popular FM radio station (Capital FM) in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital on Tuesday. In his broadcast Obama urged President Kibaki and Odinga to negotiate without conditions. He said that refusal to do this would be to ignore the will of Kenyans and the urging of the united international community. He further stated that now is the time for Kenya’s leaders to rise above party affiliation and “past decisions for the sake of peace.”

Also attempting to negotiate peace between Kibaki and Odinga and their supporters was former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. Annan presided over talks with both leaders on Tuesday, but there was no report of any success arising from that meeting.

Russia, Cuba’s longtime ally seems to be rekindling their relationship after decades of a break in their relations, this time, through the construction of an Orthodox Cathedral, which is now underway in the Havana city center.

The two countries were brought together by their belief in a communist regime, but with Russia’s changing fortune, the United States trade embargo against Cuba and pressure from the international community, their ties were almost severed.

According to reports Cuba was made officially atheist when Cuban President Fidel Castro took over in 1959. Now, however, Castro has thrown his support behind the project.

The Russian church will be the second one to be built there in recent times. A Greek Orthodox Church was just erected.

Havana now has an estimated 8,000 Orthodox Christians living and many are enthusiastic about the new growth of the old faith.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has denied accusations that his government is responsible for the assassination of Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, saying there were issues with the investigation into Pakistan’s investigation into the killing.

Musharraf said they are still not certain what the exact cause of the former prime minister’s death is, but refutes claims that the military or any other intelligence service played a role in the assassination.

The president was speaking amidst increasing calls for an international probe into the suicide bombing that killed the former prime minister on December 27.

According to reports, Bhutto’s death came as a result of head injury when the bomb blast slammed her head against the sunroof of her SUV. However, Bhutto supporters are disputing the reports and condemning the issuing of an exact cause of death just a day following the assassination.

Musharraf also acknowledged that the situation was also mishandled when the site was hosed down before a forensic investigation could be performed. Some see the move as a means of destroying evidence – a claim that the president has denied.

Despite postponing the elections from January 8 to early February, doubts swirl around Bhutto supporters, many of whom are still convinced that her death lays squarely at the feet of Musharraf and his government.