EGYPT

Egyptian Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid said on Tuesday that Egypt had adequate wheat stocks and had not changed the pace at which it was buying the grain.

African Barrick Gold (ABGL.L) said fourth-quarter output rose from the preceding quarter as its new Buzwagi mine overcame production difficulties by mid-November, but missed its overall output target for the year.

Tunisia's prime minister appointed opposition figures to a new unity government on Monday, trying to establish political stability after violent street protests brought down the president last Friday.

Algeria bought 600,000 tonnes of wheat, traders said on Monday, snapping up grain at a time of high prices and tight supply even as neighbouring countries take measures to head off Tunisia-style unrest over food inflation.

Saudi Arabia has taken in Tunisia's fallen strong man, but the oil wealth of the kingdom and its neighbours should ensure the poverty-driven unrest which ousted Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali does not follow him to the Gulf.

International observers gave south Sudan's independence referendum their seal of approval on Monday and said a vote for secession was now virtually certain in their first official judgment on the poll.

Mohamed Bouazizi, the unemployed 26-year-old Tunisian whose self-immolation sparked the riots in that country and ultimately toppled the president, has apparently inspired a series of copycat across North Africa, according to media reports.

Now that Ophiuchus (the serpent holder) in the astrological picture, you're probably wondering if your suddenly-new sign means that you're supposed to have particular personality traits. The real answer is that, as an Ophiuchus (Ophiuchan?), your personality traits are in line with, well, your existing personality traits.

China dumped plans to import several million tonnes of expensive corn and South Korea unveiled cuts in import tariffs on some products, underscoring the dilemma over how to tackle rising food prices.

Bullish earnings and dividend expectations pushed Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA) (IQ) to a 28-month high on Thursday, helping Doha's Index .QSI reach a similar milestone.

Ethiopia has penalised retailers and suppliers in the capital who raised the prices of consumer goods such as bread by amounts higher than caps set in January, authorities said on Thursday.

Ministers from Hezbollah and its Lebanese allies resigned Wednesday, toppling the government of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri before expected indictments against the Shi'ite group over the killing of Hariri's father.

Libya has abolished taxes and custom duties on locally-produced and imported food products in response to a global surge in food prices, Oea online newspaper reported.

Investors are likely to pour more funds into Egypt in 2011 as a strengthening economy and attractive yields outweigh a fragile social backdrop and uncertainty ahead of a presidential election.

The risk that parlous government finances will trigger sovereign debt defaults remains one of the biggest threats facing the world in 2011, according to the World Economic Forum.

Scientists using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have detected beams of antimatter that produced above thunderstorms on Earth, something never seen before.

Food prices will continue to haunt the world in 2011, even as the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization warned of 'food price shock' on Wednesday.

Egyptian police have detained at least 17 people suspected of their involvement in church attacks that killed 21 people on New Year's Eve. No extremists outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the blasts. Two explosions targeting more than 1000 worshipers who gathered to mark the New Year in the Sidi Bechr district, rocked the northern port city of Alexandria on Friday.

Coptic Christians took to the streets in Egypt following the New Year's eve attack and clashed with Muslims. Police were mobilized to control the mobs firing tear gas shells. After midnight on Saturday, an explosion outside a church in the northern port city of Alexandria killed at least 17 people. Meanwhile, Egypt's President, Hosni Mubarak said he would cut off the head of terrorism. Wicked terrorists targeted the nation, Copts and Muslims, the President said in his address to th...

A three-year study to re-evaluate the story of the Greek Bible fragments has provided a rare glimpse of Byzantine Jewish life and culture. The new research also illustrates the cross-fertilisation between Jewish and Christian biblical scholars in the Middle Ages.

Eight Americans were killed and 21 others injured after a tour bus collided with a truck on a desert road near the city of Aswan in Southern Egypt. Local media reported that the bus was carrying 37 tourists from the United States who were on their way to the 3000-year-old historic Abu Simbel temple.