Washington  - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's comments against Israel at a racism conference Monday were "unacceptable" and only serve to fuel racial hatred, the US State Department said.

"Unfortunately, we've heard all of this before from President Ahmadinejad. The comments that he made, frankly, were unacceptable and, frankly feed racial hatred," spokesman Robert Wood said. "Iran needs to end this type of inflammatory rhetoric. It's not helpful."

Havana  - Traditional Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Monday complained that the weekend Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago was held in "secret."

But at the same time, amid a dawning - though as yet far from complete - thaw in US-Cuban relations, Castro had some praise for US President Barack Obama.

"His predecessor (George W Bush) went to sleep early and slept many hours. It seems that Obama works a lot and sleeps little," he quipped in an article published on the website Cubadebate.

Geneva  - US attorney Alan Dershowitz said Monday on the sidelines of the Durban Review Conference on racism in Geneva that Switzerland's president was supportive of "hate mongering" and that the anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu was a "racist and bigot."

He said he would urge the administration of US President Barack Obama to cease using Switzerland's services as its representative in Iran.

The US and Tehran have not had diplomatic relations since the Islamic revolution in Iran and the subsequent hostage taking at the embassy there.

Washington - In the first cabinet meeting of his administration Monday, US President Barack Obama called for 100 million dollars to be shaved off department budgets in the next three months.

Obama has struggled to get his full cabinet in place since taking office in January amid a number of high-profile withdrawals, including two previous picks for commerce secretary and his original choice to lead the Health and Human Services Department.

Washington - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called for the immediate release of an American journalist sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran on "baseless" espionage charges.

"We believe she should be freed immediately," Clinton said. "The charges against her are baseless."

Roxana Saberi had been held in Iran for months prior to last week's sentence. The Iranian government charges she was operating in the country illegally because she was not a credentialed journalist.

Washington - A key gauge of the US economy's performance dropped in March, the private Conference Board said Monday, warning that the US' nearly 15-month recession will likely continue through much of 2009.

The New-York Based Conference Board's Leading Economic Index fell 0.3 per cent on the month, following a 0.2-per-cent decline in February and March.

The report comes amid some small indicators in housing, financial and manufacturing sectors over the last few weeks that suggest the US economy may be improving.