US retail sales continue their upward crawl in December, posting a 0.1% monthly rise, according to initial estimates.

Iran's parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani says Tehran is willing to restart talks with the UN Security Council and Germany on its nuclear programme.

A judge in Alabama declares 18-year-old Natalee Holloway dead, almost seven years after she went missing on the Caribbean island of Aruba.

There was a big increase in the price of Afghan opium last year compared to 2010, the UN says, with farmers earning the equivalent of 9% of GDP.

Nigeria's main unions say talks with the government over the removal of fuel subsidies were positive, but that a general strike would continue.

Outgoing Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom seeks a reconciliation with his ex-wife, whom he divorced so that she could run for the presidency.

Mexican officials say nearly 13,000 people died in drug-related violence in 2011, bringing the overall number since late 2006 to 47,515.

Two ministers censured over gaffes are set to be sacked as Japan's prime minister reshuffles his cabinet to bolster support for tax reform, reports say.