Harare  - Expectations that decades of violent repression meted out by President Robert Mugabe's henchmen would end with the creation of the new coalition government have been bitterly disappointed, a leading local human-rights body said Thursday.

Instead, "not much has changed yet" to the "almost inherent Zimbabwean culture of political victimization and discrimination," said the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO forum in its latest report.

Brasilia - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva demanded Thursday that industrialized countries take responsibility in the efforts to overcome the current global financial crisis, which he said was created by "white people with blue eyes."

In a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Brasilia, Lula again stressed that it is necessary to regulate the international financial system.

Tripoli - Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Libyan Leader Muammar al-Qadhafi agreed Thursday to focus on humanitarian and social means to reach peace in the western Sudanese Darfur region.

After their meeting, the leaders issued a joint statement saying that they agreed on promoting the Doha dialogue between the Sudanese government and rebel factions in Darfur to solve the conflict with social means.

Miami - Andy Murray said Thursday that his health and fitness are fast-improving after last month's virus scare as the fourth-seeded Scot prepares for his start at the Miami Masters.

For once, Murray is sleeping in his own bed in the pulsing South Florida metropolis, staying in the flat he bought last year.

"I've spent a lot of time here in the last year and a half or so, obviously training, and taken a couple of holidays here as well," said Murray, who devoted his December to fitness work in the Miami area.

Mexico City  - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Federal Police command centre in the second day of her visit to Mexico.

In the morning hours, Clinton went to the religious building, where she heard an explanation of the importance that this statue of the Virgin Mary has for the Mexican people.

Washington  - US President Barack Obama marked the 30th anniversary Thursday of the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement by saying it should inspire efforts to expand peace in the Middle East.

"As we commemorate this historic event, we recall that peace is always possible even in the face of seemingly intractable conflicts," Obama said in a statement.