Jack Kim

One of the most powerful cyclones on record slammed into Australia's coast on Thursday, uprooting trees, tearing roofs off buildings and raising the danger of deadly storm surges.

Supporters of President Hosni Mubarak attacked protesters with fists, stones and clubs in Cairo on Wednesday as the Egyptian goverment rejected international calls for the leader to end his 30-year-rule now.

Its name translates as Abode of Kings, but it is far from clear whether Myanmar's new capital and its gleaming new parliamentary complex can return the reclusive state to its former glory.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said on Tuesday he had high hopes for the first inter-Korean talks in months, marking a significant softening in tone and holding out the possibility of a summit with North Korea.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, fighting a possible trial for sex with an under-age prostitute, faces another threat this week with a showdown over local tax that could further damage his struggling government.

Australia evacuated thousands of people from its northeast coast on Tuesday as a cyclone rivalling Hurricane Katrina bore down on tourism towns and rural communities, with officials saying it could even threaten areas deep inland that were ruined by floods last month.

King Abdullah of Jordan, a close U.S. ally, replaced his prime minister Tuesday following protests inspired by mass demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt, but the opposition dismissed the move as insufficient.

The International Monetary Fund on Monday approved, as expected, a $509 million credit facility to help Kenya boost its international reserves.

South Africa's Hernic Ferrochrome, a unit of Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation, said on Tuesday it was unaffected by a wage dispute between a union and one of its contractors.

South African maize futures ended mixed on Tuesday, while the most active wheat future closed lower, in line with international prices.

South African black-owned property fund Dipula aims to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange this year as part of a fundraising plan as it expands locally, a senior executive said on Tuesday.

The ramp-up to full production at Areva's Trekkopje uranium mine in Namibia has been delayed by a year to late 2013, the company said on Tuesday.

The price of Ivory Coast's 2032 $2.3 billion bond dived to a record low on Tuesday after investors said the West African country had defaulted by missing a January 31 coupon payment deadline.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, the strong favourite to win an April presidential election, has said he will stand for only one term, a move which may help to appease some of his northern opponents.

A synagogue was set on fire in Tunisia overnight and gangs rampaged through schools in the capital on Tuesday, prompting the army to fan out to calm fears of chaos after the revolt that toppled Zine al-Abdine Ben Ali.

At least one million people rallied across Egypt on Tuesday clamouring for President Hosni Mubarak to give up power, piling pressure on a leader who has towered over Middle East politics for 30 years to make way for a new era of democracy in the Arab nation.

European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday to freeze the assets of Tunisia's former President Zine-al Abidine Ben Ali and his wife, an EU official said.

A new Egyptian cabinet took office on Monday but the protest movement calling for the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak said the changes were irrelevant.

Governments, airlines and tour operators worked together on Monday to fly their nationals out of Egypt where protesters pressed their campaign to topple President Hosni Mubarak.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak overhauled his government on Monday to try to defuse a popular uprising against his 30-year rule but angry protesters rejected the changes and said he must surrender power.

Lebanon's former premier Saad al-Hariri and his political allies will not join the government of his successor, Hezbollah-backed Najib Mikati, sources close to Hariri said on Thursday.

Israeli settlers shot dead a Palestinian in a confrontation in the West Bank on Thursday, Palestinian witnesses said.

Islamist rebels from the North Caucasus were behind a deadly bomb attack on Russia's busiest airport, the head of the mainly-Muslim province of Ingushetia said on Thursday.

Global powers seeking to ensure Iran does not develop nuclear weapons are still hoping for a response from Tehran to a fuel swap proposal seen as a step towards ending the persistent standoff, Russia said on Thursday.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi faced more pressure to resign on Thursday after magistrates issued new documents with fresh details of erotic parties, some with under-age girls, and of his gifts to participants.

Thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of Sanaa Thursday to demand a change of government, inspired by the unrest that has ousted Tunisia's leader and spread to Egypt this week.

A car bomb exploded at a funeral wake in a Shi'ite area of Iraq's capital on Thursday, killing at least 35 people, wounding dozens and triggering clashes between angry residents and police, health and security sources said.

Egyptian police fought protesters in two cities in eastern Egypt on Thursday and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei headed back to the country to join demonstrators trying to oust President Hosni Mubarak.

Kenya's central bank cut its benchmark lending rate on Thursday for the first time since July, in a surprise move seen as a bid to curb rising Treasury bill and bond yields.