Africa/International

A hotel used by the internationally recognised president of Ivory Coast has come under attack by forces loyal to his rival Laurent Gbagbo, reports say. Witnesses and a UN official told news agencies that the Golf Hotel in Abidjan, Ivory…

EU finance ministers on Saturday urged Portugal to commit to reforms and defended the region's austerity steps as tens of thousands of European workers protested in Budapest against spending cuts. Finance ministers and central bankers from…

The short-term spending bill was passed overnight by both houses of Congress and keeps the government operating until Friday. Its signing was announced in a news release, in contrast to the dramatics earlier this week. President Obama…

A Ghanaian migrant worker trapped in the crisis in Libya is reported to have been shot dead by forces loyal to Col. Muammar Gaddafi. The International Business Times citing Aljazeera quoted a Nigerian migrant worker saying the unnamed…

Oil prices jumped above $111 a barrel Friday in Asia as fighting in Libya damaged crude installations in the OPEC nation and a weaker dollar makes commodities cheaper for investors with other currencies. Benchmark crude for May delivery…

European stocks rose in early trade on Friday, resuming their brisk three-week rally as the European Central Bank's decision to raise interest rates helped fuel optimism over the health of euro zone economy. Investors were also relieved…

Talks aimed at avoiding a shutdown of the US government have broken up with no deal, leaving negotiators just hours to agree a budget compromise. President Obama said that progress had been made after night-time talks with congressional…

Drinking more than a pint of beer a day can substantially increase the risk of some cancers, research shows. A large Europe-wide study in the British Medical Journal found that one-in-10 of all cancers in men and one-in-33 of all cancers…

South Africa's net gold and foreign exchange reserves stood at $44.725 billion at the end of March from $44.775 billion in February, data from the Reserve Bank showed on Thursday. Gross reserves increased to $49.266 billion in March from…

The US has rebuffed a personal appeal from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to US President Barack Obama, repeating that he must resign and go into exile. "Mr Gaddafi knows what he must do," US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said,…