Nigeria has fined Shell $5.0 billion over an oil spill late last year at an offshore field, but the company told AFP on Tuesday there was no basis for the fine.

UN culture and science body UNESCO on Tuesday awarded a prize financed by the leader of Equatorial Guinea despite fierce criticism from rights groups who decried the move as "shameful".

Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki vowed on Tuesday that his country could guarantee ex-strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's security and a fair trial.

Colombian authorities have arrested a suspected kidnapper of former hostage Ingrid Betancourt, who was held in the jungle by leftist rebels for nearly six years, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Reading signed Watford defender Adrian Mariappa and Nottingham Forest right-back Chris Gunter for undisclosed fees on Tuesday as the Premier League new-boys continue their preparations for their return to the top-flight.

The United States said on Monday it has designated a Bahraini citizen -- alleged to be an al Qaeda operative and wanted in his own country since 2007 -- as a "terrorist."

General Manaf Tlass, a key military defector and ex-ally of Bashar al-Assad, called Tuesday for a political transition in Syria and condemned military attacks on civilians in a statement sent to AFP.

Iceland on Tuesday dismissed calls by Ireland's and other EU countries for sanctions against the country and the Faroe Islands for over-fishing of mackerel as "propaganda".

Toronto's police chief warned Tuesday of further violence in retaliation for a suspected criminal gang-linked shooting that killed two and injured 21 at a party in Canada's largest metropolis.

A 10-year-old boy was killed Tuesday when an assailant fired a grenade at an Islamic school in the central Nigerian city of Jos, an area plagued by sectarian violence, officials and residents said.

Goldman Sachs said Tuesday it is developing its private bank for wealthy clients, particularly in fast-growing countries and in Europe, where it hopes to pick up the slack from struggling local banks.

President Benigno Aquino Tuesday thanked China for its help to finish a major Philippine water project, amid frayed relations between the two countries over disputed territory in the South China Sea.

Paris Saint Germain have signed AC Milan's Swedish international striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the French club's sporting director Leonardo told AFP on Tuesday.

A teenage Tibetan Buddhist monk set himself on fire in southwest China Tuesday, the exiled Tibetan government said, the latest in a series of self-immolation protests against Chinese rule.

Phillipine authorities have sacked a policeman who tried to cut in front of a vehicle carrying President Benigno Aquino in a motorcade, officials said Tuesday.

Hundreds of mourners, many carrying flags of the opposition Fretilin party, marched in a funeral procession on Tuesday for a victim of East Timor's post-election violence.

A Taiwanese prison Tuesday dismissed a claim that ex-president Chen Shui-bian, currently serving a lengthy jail term, had made more than three suicide attempts.

The spokesman for Iraq's Kurdish regional president sharply criticised national premier Nuri al-Maliki on Tuesday for allegedly militarising Iraqi society and using violence for political ends.

The Finnish finance ministry said Tuesday that Madrid had agreed to provide collateral to Finland in exchange for its participation in an European Union bailout for ailing Spanish banks.

Former Manchester United and England striker Michael Owen has hinted he is close to signing for a new club after leaving Old Trafford.

Sotheby's said Tuesday it had launched a lawsuit against a mainland Chinese man in a bid to recover $3.5 million after he failed to pay for 20 paintings and scrolls that he won in an auction.

Nelson Mandela, who turns 94 on Wednesday, still keeps a close eye on the outside world despite a two year absence from the public eye, his old friend Ahmed Kathrada told AFP in an interview.

Yohan Blake has insisted his rivalry with fellow Jamaican sprinter and training partner Usain Bolt will remain a friendly one regardless of what happens at the Olympics.

Backed by its gastronomy, martial arts, music and manga culture, Brazil's small but influential Japanese community is wielding soft power to assert ethnic pride and preserve century-old ties.

Former US Treasury secretary Henry Paulson showed doubt Tuesday at the impact of election year criticism of China but said the world's two largest economies needed to make more efforts to improve ties.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Tuesday said that revelations that a key inter-bank lending rate had been rigged were "very troubling," undermined confidence in the financial system and should be fixed.

France may consider itself the culinary capital of the world but a study released Tuesday showed the French are increasingly chowing down on that most American of meals -- the hamburger.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson wants the English Premier League trophy back at Old Trafford next season.

Shamed HSBC executives admitted failing to apply anti-laundering rules on Monday, as lawmakers accused the global bank of giving Iran, terrorists and drug dealers access to the US financial system.

One of Nelson Mandela's cherished dreams of building a southern African paediatric hospital is struggling to take off as the anti-apartheid hero is increasingly too frail to personally raise funds.

The science world has added an unusual tribute to the long list of accolades bestowed on Nelson Mandela, naming a prehistoric woodpecker after South Africa's first black president, who turns 94 Wednesday.

General Manaf Tlass, a key defector from the regime of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, said in a statement sent to AFP Tuesday that he was in Paris and called for a "constructive transition" in his country.

One year after Darren Clarke captured an unlikely British Open title at age 42, South Korea's K.J. Choi hopes to give the Open back-to-back 42-year-old winners and a first-ever Asian champion.

Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee has revealed the secret to his recent surge of good form as he prepares for Thursday's start of the 141st British Open -- getting a grip on the situation.

US presidential challenger Mitt Romney said Tuesday that he will not release his tax records from before 2010 because his opponents would "pick through, distort and lie about" them.

For Bradley Wiggins, legendary climbs like the Tourmalet or the Aubisque don't have names: they are simply stretches of uphill road standing between him and an historic Tour de France victory Sunday.

Ratings agency Standard and Poor's on Tuesday raised its outlook for British energy group BP to "positive" from "stable," reflecting improved financial health despite huge Gulf of Mexico spill costs.

Portugal can still reach its 2012 budget targets but the risk of failure has grown significantly, officials from the European Commission and International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.

The head of private security giant G4S admitted the company's failure to provide enough guards for the Olympics was "a humiliating shambles" as he faced a grilling from British lawmakers Tuesday.

Richard Branson on Tuesday said he was considering buying back the Virgin Records music label that he founded in 1972 and which spawned his global business empire.

A UN human rights official on Tuesday urged two US states to halt the execution of two mentally ill prisoners on death row a day before they were due to die.

India's Jeev Milkha Singh, fresh off a victory last Sunday at the Scottish Open, hopes to give his major ambition a boost by treating this week?s British Open as "just another week."

An Afghan soldier has been sentenced to death for killing five French soldiers in a "green-on-blue" attack in Kapisa province in January, the defence ministry said Tuesday.

Thousands of Pakistani activists shouted "death to America" on Tuesday at the latest rally protesting the lifting of a seven-month blockade on NATO supplies into Afghanistan.

A train derailed and crashed south of Cairo on Tuesday, leaving an unknown number of people dead and injured, an Egyptian security source said.

China's Premier Wen Jiabao warned Tuesday the country was facing a more "severe" employment situation as the world's second-largest economy slows.

The former head of Malaysian plantation giant Sime Darby appeared in court Tuesday over a land deal that saddled the state-controlled firm with $30 million in losses, a prosecutor said.

Spain's King Juan Carlos will cut his salary by about seven percent in line with reductions imposed on public sector workers in the country's financial crisis, the royal palace said Tuesday.

London shares closed in the red on Tuesday giving up modest early gains after US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a gloomy outlook on the US economy.

Former president Bill Clinton hailed his close ties with Nelson Mandela before visiting the anti-apartheid icon's home in his childhood village ahead of his 94th birthday.