ELECTIONS

Fitch Ratings on Friday put Tunisia's long-term foreign currency credit rating of BBB on watch for a potential downgrade, citing the upsurge in deadly violence in the north African nation in recent weeks.

The besieged president of Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, has fled the country, according to various media reports, amidst the worst civil disturbances the North African country has witnessed in decades.

The president of Tunisia has dismissed his government and called for early elections, according to a report from the country's state TV network.

Embattled Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi could face a prostitution investigation, Italian media reported on Friday, a day after a constitutional court nullified a law that would have protected the premier from trial over charges of corruption and tax fraud.

Australia's third-largest city started cleaning up stinking mud and debris on Friday after some of the country's worst floods on record, but in a sign of the task ahead, it could take six months to pump flood waters out of Queensland's coal mines.

The embattled Congress-led coalition government failed to announce major policy decisions on Thursday to tackle soaring food prices after days of wrangling, taking only minor measures seen as unlikely to make a major impact.

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.

Clashes between political gangs rather than attacks on oil facilities are the greatest threat to Nigeria's Niger Delta ahead of April elections and the long-term security of its oil output depends on much more than who wins.

The government may ban wheat product exports in a series of measures to tame spiralling food prices that have fuelled rapid inflation and increased pressure on an embattled ruling Congress party, local media said.

The U.S. will contribute to a trust fund to help Yemen as it expands aid beyond counter-terrorism against Al-Qaeda to include aid for economic, social and political development, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday.

Nigeria's fast-moving consumer goods sector is attracting foreign investors as parent companies pump cash into local units to offset slowing growth at home.

Two Ugandan journalists have been arrested over a cartoon of President Yoweri Museveni on the cover of their magazine which referred to his 24 years in power and asked Where next?, their lawyer said on Wednesday.

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.

India's proposed food security bill will take at least a year to be finalised, delaying a key vote-winning policy for the ruling Congress party as crucial state elections loom, the Financial Express reported on Wednesday.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are calling for new gun-control legislation in the wake of the shootings in Tucson, Arizona last Saturday that left six people dead and 15 injured, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-AZ, who remains in critical condition, as do five other victims.

Over 30,000 protestors took to the streets in Bangkok on Sunday in a peaceful anti-government rally, in the first move seen by the Red Shirts group since the emergency rule was lifted last month.

It is only the second day of the 112th Congress and charges of hypocrisy and broken promises are flying around the House of Representatives. As may have been expected, these charges are coming from the Democrats, who are now in the minority.

Persisting political crisis in Pakistan, which got worse with the withdrawal of support to the government by two key allies and the assassination of a popular provincial governor, point to a serious governance failure and can further halt the strained IMF standby program aimed at restoring fiscal health, an analyst has said.

House Republicans wasted no time in going after President Obama’s healthcare reforms of 2010.

Robert Gibbs, President Obama’s press secretary is leaving the White House. He will depart some time after the President’s State of the Union address on Jan. 25, the administration said today.

To the victor go the spoils. The GOP retook the House of Representatives in the November elections and, on Wednesday, they will officially take control, with each House member – all 242 Republicans and 193 Democrats -- taking the oath of office and Rep. John Boehner, R-OH, being sworn in as Speaker.