The parents in Colorado's balloon boy hoax were handed jail sentences Wednesday for their roles in the bizarre publicity stunt which became a worldwide media sensation.

Richard Heene, 48, showed no emotion as Judge Stephen Schapanski gave him a 90-day sentence to begin in January, before a packed courtroom in Fort Collins, outside Denver.

His wife, Japanese national Mayumi Heene, 45, was sentenced to 20 days in jail after admitting a misdemeanor offense of false reporting to authorities. She will serve her jail time after her husband is released next year.

US President Barack Obama has tapped former Bush administration adviser Howard Schmidt as his cybsersecurity coordinator, the White House announced Tuesday.

"Howard will have the important responsibility of orchestrating the many important cybersecurity activities across the government," said John Brennan, Obama's assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism.

"Howard will have regular access to the president and serve as a key member of his National Security Staff," Brennan said in a statement.

Colombia has announced it will build a new military base near its border with Venezuela, in a move likely to further strain its tense ties with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Defense Minister Gabriel Silva said Friday that the base, located on the Guajira peninsula near the city of Nazaret, would have up to 1,000 troops. Two air battalions would also be activated at other border areas.

"It is a strategic point from a defense point of view," Silva said.

Locked up 35 years for child rape and kidnapping, James Bain was finally set free by a Florida judge after a DNA test proved he was innocent of the crimes.

"Mr Bain, I'm now signing the order... you're a free man. Congratulations," the judge told the 54-year-old as his family and friends in the courtroom broke out in applause.

Outside the courtroom, Bain told reporters he held no grudge.

"No, I'm not angry, because I've got God... I'm going home with my family... and I will stay in touch with my lawyers," he said.

Democratic Senator John Kerry offered his best wishes Friday to Iranian-Americans and others celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

"Nowruz symbolizes a time of renewal and hope; we all should take a moment to reflect on the shared humanity that ties us together. May this new year bring you peace and prosperity," the former US presidential hopeful said in a statement.

Canada jumps into spring after having recorded the mildest and driest winter on record, Environment Canada reported Friday.

The agency, which has compiled data from 1948, determined the average temperature throughout the country was four degrees Celsius (seven degrees Fahrenheit) above normal, said meteorologist Andre Cantin.

Cantin said the country also saw 20 percent less precipitation than normal, also a record.

EU financial services commissioner Michel Barnier sought on Friday to calm US fears of discrimination over European financial services reforms that would regulate hedge funds.

"No market, no product, no territory will rest in the shadows of intelligent regulation, efficient supervision," said Barnier on France's LCI television.

But "there will be no European protectionism if there is no American protectionism, there will be one regulation," he added.

A Chilean sailor returned four million pesos (7,600 dollars) in cash he found inside an open safe amid the rubble of a house destroyed by last month's devastating quake and tsunami, local media reported Friday.

"I gathered everything I could and put it back inside," Corporal Carlos Gomez of the Almirante Latorre frigate told La Segunda newspaper.

"While I was doing this, I thought the owner might need (the cash), so I called the officer in charge and we contacted the police," he added.

A US federal appeals court ruled Friday that Anna Nicole Smith's heirs will not receive a penny of the more than 300 million dollars she claimed to her billionaire husband's inheritance.

The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals in California ruled in favor of E. Pierce Marshall, the son of Texas oil tycoon Howard Marshall, whom the late Playboy centerfold married in 1994 after meeting him while working at a strip club. She was 26 at the time and he was 89.

Marshall died in 1995 after a 14-month marriage, sparking a prolonged legal battle over his 1.6-billion-dollar estate.