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BRAZIL

Lula: engaging Iran better than isolation

BRASILIA | Engaging, not isolating Iran is the way to push for peace and stability in the Middle East, said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as he headed into private talks Monday with his increasingly alienated Iranian counterpart.

For Mr. Lula da Silva, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first visit to Brazil provides an opportunity to boost the international political clout of South America's largest nation.

For Mr. Ahmadinejad, it could provide some sorely needed political legitimacy for his nation as it engages in large-scale war games aimed at protecting its nuclear facilities from attack and refuses to back down from developing a nuclear program.

Oil prices rose above $78 a barrel Monday amid deepening tensions in the Middle East after the start of the war games and boasts by an Iranian air force commander that Iran could deter any military strike by Israel.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

U.N. chief to visit for climate talks

UNITED NATIONS | U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will head to Trinidad and Tobago next week to discuss climate change with commonwealth country leaders ahead of a crunch climate summit next month.

"The secretary-general expects to focus the attention of these leaders on key issues that require their engagement in the climate change negotiations, in particular concerning mitigation and finance," U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said.