
Egyptian demonstrators fought security forces into the early hours of Friday in the city of Suez, and the Internet was blocked ahead of the biggest protests yet planned against President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule.

Nelson Mandela is reportedly recovering from a collapsed lung at a Johannesburg hospital, cloaked by levels of secrecy that have triggered wild rumours and near panic.

Billionaire financier George Soros warned on Wednesday that Europe could potentially fall apart because of the two-speed Europe of haves and have-nots that is being perpetuated by the reform of the embattled euro.

European leaders and business people met on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. President Sarkozy said both he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were firm in their commitment to the European single currency.

The number of Internet users worldwide has rocketed to reach the two billion mark, the head of the United Nation's telecommunications agency, Hamadoun Toure, said on Wednesday.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) will cut some 650 jobs, more than a quarter of the state financed entities 2,400 jobs, over the next three years.

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, has said that widespread anti-government protests over poverty and government repression in Egypt represent an opportunity for the 30-year administration of president Hosni Mubarak to implement “political, economic and social reforms to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people”.

Self-made bilionaire Najib Mikati, attained the backing of enough members of parliament to be named Lebanon’s premier. He is now faced with the challenges of repairing political and sectarian rifts, threatening to tear the country apart.

United States President Barrack Obama pledged on Tuesday to help Russia investigate the deadly terrorist attack on Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, the Kremlin said.

New York based Human Rights Watch has harshly criticized United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s quiet diplomacy approach to human rights issues in its annual report. Officials of the human rights monitoring group say the UN leader should not necessarily be elected to a second term later this year.