Tehran - Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim arrived in Tehran on Saturday to prepare for the upcoming Iran-Brazil summit, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Amorim conveyed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the written approval of President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva for attending the summit in Tehran in the near future, without however setting a specific date.

"We welcome the visit of President Lula de Silva and hope that the summit will lead to strengthening of friendship between the two nations," Ahmadinejad told Amorim.

Sao Paulo - Ferrari's Felipe Massa took pole position for for Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit in qualifying Saturday while championship leader Lewis Hamilton starts from fourth on the grid.

Massa registered a time of 1 minute 12.368 seconds for the 4.309- kilometre circuit to claim a third pole in succession at his home GP while Toyota's Jarno Trulli caused a major surprise by taking the second spot on the front row in 1:12.737 minutes.

Tehran - Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim arrived in Tehran on Saturday to prepare for the upcoming Iran-Brazil summit, the official news agency IRNA reported.

Amorim conveyed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the written approval of President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva for attending the summit in Tehran in the near future, without however setting a specific date.

Sao Paulo  - Fernando Alonso was fastest in the final practice session ahead of qualifying later Saturday for Sunday's Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix.

The Renault driver clocked a time of 1 minute 12.141 seconds in for the 4.309-kilometres lap at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren-Mercedes was second fastest, 0.071 seconds slower than Alonso, with McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen third quickest.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa, Hamilton's world championship rival, was fourth quickest on the circuit.

Havana - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met with the ailing former Cuban president Fidel Castro, whom he said he found "very lucid and active."

Lula and the elderly Castro - who formally stepped down from the Cuban presidency in February to pursue his recovery for unspecified health problems - met for some two hours just before the end of the Brazilian's less-than-24-hour visit to Cuba.

Havana - Cuban President Raul Castro is set to visit Brazil in December for a summit between Latin America and the Caribbean in the north-eastern Brazilian city of Salvador.

"(Castro) is finally going to Brazil," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in confirming the upcoming visit in Havana, where Lula and Raul Castro presided over bilateral agreements Friday.

This is to be Raul Castro's first trip abroad since he took over power from his brother Fidel Castro over two years ago, before he formally became Cuban president in February.