Chloe McCardel will battle exposure, swift sea currents, stinging jellyfish, sharp-toothed sharks and her own physical limits when she attempts a record swim today from Cuba to Florida.

Convalescing Cuban leader Fidel Castro said in a statement published today that US President George Bush is waiting for him to die but the American leader cannot kill his ideas.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has called for the release of the three Irishmen arrested in Colombia on suspicion of training the country’s largest leftist rebel group.