The late President Hugo Chavez's dream of leveraging Venezuela's oil wealth to spread revolution across Latin America is crumbling under the weight of an economic crisis that is forcing his hand-picked successor to cut back on generous foreign aid.

Signs of the country's waning influence are becoming more apparent. In early November, Guatemala withdrew from the Petrocaribe oil alliance launched by Chavez, saying it didn't receive the ultra-low financing rates it had been promised by Venezuela when it first sought to join the 18-nation pact in 2008. Also in recent weeks, representatives of Brazil and Colombia have held meetings with their Venezuelan counterparts to collect overdue payment for food, manufactured goods and other imports.

British Prime Minister David Cameron stressed his country is open to Chinese investment Monday on his first visit to China since meeting the Dalai Lama, keeping human rights to the sidelines.

Cameron, whose meeting with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader in 2012 was condemned by Beijing and led to a diplomatic deep-freeze between the two nations, emphasized business ties as he began what embassy officials called the "the largest British trade mission ever to go to China".

Iranian state television is reporting that the number of HIV-positive citizens in the country has skyrocketed over the last decade.

On Sunday, state television quoted Health Minister Hassan Ghzaizadeh as saying there has been a nine-fold growth in the number of HIV/AIDS patients in the decade.

Thailand's prime minister on Monday rejected the demands of anti-government protesters locked in street battles with police, saying what they want is unacceptable under the constitution.

In a televised news conference Monday, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said she is willing to "open every door" for negotiations to find a peaceful resolution to the Thailand's biggest political crisis in years.

Paul Walker, the star of the "Fast & Furious" movie series, died Saturday in a car crash that killed one other person north of Los Angeles, his publicist said. He was 40.

Walker died Saturday afternoon, Ame Van Iden told The Associated Press.

A plane crash near the remote western Alaska village of Saint Marys killed four of the 10 people aboard, including an infant boy, an Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman said Saturday.

The pilot and three passengers died in the Friday night crash, spokeswoman Megan Peters said.

Twitter just issued its IPO but a lingering question is how the popular worldwide microblog company will turn a profit. One U.S. company thinks it has found one way to help Twitter, and itself, make money.

Wayin has partnered up with the Denver Broncos football team to project tweeted photos and tweets from fans onto the Sports Authority Field at Mile High's Thundervision 2, the stadium's marquee 40-foot (12-meter) high, by 220-foot (67-meter) wide video scoreboard.

Charles Saatchi says he has no knowledge of his ex-wife Nigella Lawson ever taking drugs — days after the release of an email in which he referred to the celebrity chef as drug-addled.

Saatchi testified Friday at the fraud trial of two former personal assistants, who are accused of spending the former couple's money on luxury goods. They deny wrongdoing.

Old-time Elvis Presley fans and lots of newer, younger ones flocked to a new exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Friday to see his stylish ID bracelet, custom-made motorcycle, eye-catching rings and military mementos.

The exhibit opened in conjunction with Elvis Presley Enterprises and includes more than 40 artifacts loaned by his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee.

Ratings agency Moody's late Friday upgraded Greece's credit rating, citing improved results in the crisis-hit country's economic adjustment program.

The agency announced the two-notch upgrade from C to Caa3 — still well below investment grade — in a move seen as a boost for the government that has promised to end a crippling recession and return to international markets next year.