Fidel Castro has ended Cuba’s decade-long, bitter-sweet romance with the dollar. The announcement that United States currency notes will in a fortnight no longer be accepted as payment in the country marks a radical change. Cubans have become used to shopping for all but basic goods with the greenback.

On the surface little seemed amiss in Ms A’s life. Her marriage to a rock musician had failed, but at 34 she had no money worries and she loved her two children. But she wanted to die. Earlier this month, after several failed attempts, she succeeded. The woman, whose name is being withheld by police, was one of seven people, including four 20-year-olds, found dead two weeks ago in an estate car.

Iranian hardliners escalated the war of nerves with the West over nuclear bomb materials on Tuesday, introducing a fast-track Bill that would pledge the regime to push ahead with uranium enrichment. The Bill also called on the Tehran government to withdraw from an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

It might not boast the most well-watered greens in the world or the best standard of food and drink at the 19th hole. But Australia’s treeless Nullarbor Plain will, within 18 months, play host to the world’s largest golf course. The Nullarbor Links will cross three time zones and stretch across 1 360km of barren semi-desert across the flat, featureless landscape spanning the border between Western Australia and South Australia.