Jack Kim

A suicide bomber driving an ambulance killed up to 15 people and wounded more than 50 in an attack on Wednesday on an Iraqi police training centre in volatile Diyala province, officials said.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao vowed on Wednesday to work to find common ground as the two countries announced $45 billion (28 billion pounds) in export deals.

Barclays Bank of Kenya, majority-owned by British lender Barclays, is cutting 200 management-level staff, or about 5 percent of its workforce, to cut costs by an unspecified amount.

South Africa's retail sales growth expanded more than expected in November as consumer demand improved, further reducing lingering hopes that the central bank might cut its key repo rate on Thursday.

Cash-rich EFG-Hermes, Egypt's biggest investment bank, said it was seeking more acquisitions after buying a 65 percent stake in Lebanon's Credit Libanais late last year.

South Africa's rand fell more than 1.2 percent to a six week low against the dollar on Wednesday and government bonds touched a six month low ahead of a central bank's policy decision next day, expected to see rates unchanged.

Uganda's central bank said on Wednesday it would adopt a more aggressive stance towards the shilling's exchange rate after the local currency sunk to an all-time low of 2,395/2,400 versus the dollar.

South African mobile operator MTN and insurer Sanlam said on Wednesday they have teamed up to offer health services through mobile handsets.

Morocco's cereal-planted areas were 62 percent above their level a year earlier in mid-December, while the amount of rainfall surged by almost as much, the central bank said.

Burundi's year-on-year inflation rate rose for the third straight month to 6.3 percent in December from 5.5 percent a month earlier, partly due to higher transport costs, official data showed on Wednesday.

Mergers and acquisitions activity in sub-Saharan Africa surged to a record $44 billion in 2010, double the value of a year earlier, Thomson Reuters data showed on Wednesday.

Thousands of people protested against Hungary's new media law on Friday, demanding the government withdraw the legislation which has drawn fire from several EU member states.

Food price protests sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East reached Jordan on Friday, when hundreds of protesters chanted slogans against Prime Minister Samir al-Rifai in the southern city of Karak.

The late Pope John Paul II moved a big step closer to Roman Catholic sainthood Friday when his successor approved a decree attributing a miracle to him and announced that he will be beatified on May 1.

Bloody post-election deadlock in Ivory Coast washed into the halls of West Africa's central bank on Friday, where rival presidents see control of state funds as a key to victory in a battle that has cost hundreds of lives.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi faces a prostitution investigation in Milan over a teenage nightclub dancer who attended parties at his private residence, prosecutors said on Friday.

Rescuers uncovered more corpses buried under mountains of mud and wrecked homes on Friday as the death toll from torrential rains and massive flooding topped 500, Brazil's deadliest natural disaster in four decades.

Police fired tear gas grenades on Friday outside the interior ministry building in the Tunisian capital and gunshots were heard from nearby, prompting hundreds of protesters to flee, a Reuters reporter at the scene said.

Holiday operator Thomas Cook is evacuating around 1,800 British and Irish tourists and 2,000 Germans from Tunisia in light of political unrest there, the company said.

Tunisian President Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali stepped aside on Friday after failing to quell the worst anti-government unrest in his two decades in power.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden had talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Thursday focussing on long-term economic ties and Iraqi officials said the idea of delaying a U.S. military pullout did not come up.

Italy's constitutional court ruled on Thursday that a law which has protected Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from prosecution for corruption and tax fraud was invalid in key points and judges could order him to stand trial.

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.

Rescue workers dug desperately for survivors on Thursday and struggled to reach areas cut off by raging floods and landslides that have killed at least 388 people in one of Brazil's worst natural disasters in decades.

The United Nations' human rights chief raised the alarm on Thursday over a suspected third mass grave in Ivory Coast, as tensions remained high in the main city Abidjan after deadly clashes between rival camps.

Lebanese leaders agreed on Thursday to start talks next week on rebuilding a government after Hezbollah walked out of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri's coalition, testing political faultlines across the Middle East.

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.

Uganda's shilling looks set to plumb new record lows against the dollar over the next week due to soaring foreign exchange demand from the oil sector, while Kenya's unit should strengthen slightly.

South Sudan's independence vote cleared two major hurdles on Wednesday after former U.S. president Jimmy Carter gave the poll his endorsement and organisers said huge turnouts meant the result would be binding.