World News from the BBC
The Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who's suffering from cancer, has pleaded for his life to be spared in a prayer during Easter Mass. Speaking through tears in his home town of Barinas, Mr Chavez asked Jesus to give him more time because he said he had things left to do.
Mr Chavez returned to Venezuela earlier this week after undergoing his latest session of treatment in Cuba. In February, he had surgery to remove a second tumour from his
pelvic
area.
Two players for the Argentine football club River Plate have been threatened and robbed on their way to a training session. Keko Villalva and Juan Cazares were stopped in their car while leaving a highway in the capital Buenos Aires. Two men forced them to drive to a nearby neighbourhood where they threatened to shoot the footballers in the legs unless they handed over their cash, car and
valuables
.
Cuba is marking Good Friday with a public holiday for the first time in decades. Recognition of religious holidays was stopped after the 1959 revolution when Cuba was officially declared
atheist.
Sarah Rainsford reports from Havana.
The last papal visit in the 1990s brought Christmas back to Cuba. Now Good Friday has been made a holiday too thanks to Pope Benedict. It's a sign of the changing place of the Catholic Church in a country that was officially atheist for three decades. The Pope requested the move when he visited Cuba last week and met its communist President Raul Castro. His wish was granted as a mark of respect and a memory of what a statement called the "