GLOBAL MARKETS An index of Asian stocks eased back from more than two-week highs on Tuesday as traders squared positions heading into a key U.S. inflation report, although mainland Chinese shares and Japanese equities bucked the trend. WORLD OIL PRICES Oil prices fell on Tuesday, relinquishing some of the strong gains in the previous two sessions while the market remained cautious ahead of U.S. inflation figures for April, which will be key to the Federal Reserve's next interest rate decision. EMERGING MARKETS For the top emerging markets news, double click on AFRICA STOCKS For the latest news on African stocks, click on SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS
South Africa's rand firmed and stocks rose on Monday, with the dollar slightly weaker on bets that U.S. interest rates have peaked.
KENYA MARKETS
The Kenyan shilling eased against the dollar in a thin market on Monday, as manufacturers sought foreign currency amid meager dollar inflows, traders said.
SUDAN POLITICS
Sudanese are pinning their hopes on talks in Saudi Arabia between envoys of warring factions to end bloodshed that has killed hundreds and triggered a mass exodus, but there is no sign lasting relief will come anytime soon.
CONGO FLOODS
Dead bodies were still being recovered on Monday from two villages in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where floods killed more than 400 people last week in one of the country's deadliest disasters in recent history.
NIGERIA ELECTION
Police blocked roads in the centre of Nigeria's capital on Monday as judges started hearing opposition petitions disputing president-elect Bola Tinubu's victory in February's presidential election.
ZIMBABWE PROTEST
Acclaimed Zimbabwean novelist Tsitsi Dangarembga was acquitted on Monday by the country's High Court for staging an anti-government protest in 2020, for which she had initially received a six-month suspended jail sentence and a fine.
NIGERIA SECURITY
Gunmen abducted 40 people from a church in a remote village in northern Nigeria, a local Christian group said on Monday, in the latest attack against worshippers.
SENEGAL POLITICS
The presidential bid of a popular Senegalese opposition politician was thrown into doubt on Monday after a court of appeal handed him a heavier suspended sentence in a libel case, triggering a small protest in Dakar that riot police quelled with tear gas.
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