Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denounced Israel as a “genocidal” government yesterday as he hosted Syrian President Bashar Assad on his first visit to Latin America.

Gustav swelled into a fearsome Category four hurricane with winds of 145 mph today as Cuba raced to evacuate more than 240,000 people and Americans to the north clogged motorways fleeing New Orleans.

A Cuban Airlines airliner, hijacked by a man claiming to have two grenades, landed safely at Key West International Airport in Florida tonight.