Algerian MPs pass a package of reforms that reinstate a limit on presidential terms and give the Berber language official status for the first time.

The German arm of Canada's Maple Bank is closed by German authorities over concerns about its financial position.

An investigation into the construction of a Taiwanese apartment complex toppled by an earthquake is launched, as hopes of finding more survivors diminish.

A total of 132 people remain trapped under the rubble of an apartment block in the Taiwanese city of Tainan after Saturday's earthquake, officials say.

China's efforts to prop up its currency result in a $99.5bn plunge in its foreign currency reserves in January.

The UN Security Council is due to hold an emergency meeting to discuss its response to North Korea's launch of a long-range rocket.

Four people, including a boy, are killed in Burundi in a grenade attack on a bar in the capital Bujumbura, officials say.

The mother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Anisa, has died at the age of 86 in the capital Damascus, his office announces.