In the World

ATHENS, Greece - The Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, said Saturday that talks between the government and its foreign creditors on a second rescue deal were "on a razor's edge," adding that though progress had been made on some levels, crucial issues were unresolved.

Agreement was reached on issues such as recapitalizing Greek banks and privatization of state assets, he said.

"Two major, interrelated issues remain unresolved - labor relations and wages in the private sector, and the fiscal measures that must be taken to ensure we are within target for 2012," Venizelos said after a two-hour conference call with eurozone officials. A deal must be reached in bailout talks by Sunday night, he said.

Earlier in the day, state TV said a Saturday meeting between Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and the leaders of the three parties in his coalition had been put off until Sunday afternoon. Papademos is expected to seek political support for a new round of austerity measures. - N.Y. Times News Service

HAVANA - Fidel Castro spent six hours presenting a two-volume memoir to an audience at a Havana convention center, state media said Saturday. It was a rare appearance for the retired and increasingly reclusive former Cuban leader.

Images on state TV showed a smiling, animated Castro, 85. Audio was not broadcast, but the Communist Party newspaper Granma said he told attendees Friday that they would hear about "two books that you haven't had any news of."

Granma said the memoir, Guerrilla of Time, fills nearly 1,000 pages and covers Castro's life from childhood until December 1958, the eve of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution. It is based on interviews with journalist Katiuska Blanco. "I have to take advantage now, because memory fades," Granma quoted Castro as saying.

Castro stepped aside provisionally in 2006 because of a life-threatening illness and retired two years later, clearing the way for his younger brother Raul to take over. - AP

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran began ground military exercises Saturday and defiantly warned it could cut off oil exports to "hostile" European nations as tensions rise over suggestions that military strikes are increasingly possible if sanctions fail to rein in its nuclear program.

Tehran has stepped up its rhetoric as international pressure mounts over allegations that it seeks to develop atomic weapons, a charge it denies.

Iranian state media said the ground maneuvers of the elite Revolutionary Guard started Saturday near Jiroft, 745 miles south of Tehran. It appeared that they were small-scale exercises and not linked to planned major naval maneuvers near the Strait of Hormuz, the route for one-fifth of the world's crude oil. - AP

A U.S. tourist, 47, died while scuba diving off popular North West Point in Grand Cayman, police in the Cayman Islands said. They said she lost consciousness while ascending after a dive Friday. Police did not identify the woman or her hometown.