China's trade surplus with the United States expanded last year, raising the possibility of fresh blowback from President Donald Trump who has often bashed Beijing over the issue and fanned fears of a trade war.

Global food prices rose by 8.2 percent in 2017 compared to 2016, the UN's food agency said on Friday. 

The Food and Agriculture Organization said that its FAO Food Price Index averaged 174.6 points in 2017, the highest annual average since 2014.

Strong growth data in Germany came as welcome news Thursday for politicians haggling over spending and unions battling for more pay, although observers warn the good times can't last forever.

China's premier expects economic growth of around 6.9 percent for 2017, as he saw a "better than expected" outlook for the world's second-largest economy, state media said Thursday.

South Korea is preparing to shut down cryptocurrency exchanges in the country, its justice minister warned Thursday, sending prices of bitcoin and other virtual units into a tailspin.

Asian markets saw further losses on Thursday, with Tokyo hit by a weaker dollar and Hong Kong coming off a 12-day surge, as the rally that greeted 2018 gives way to profit-taking.

Forty-three gold diggers died in abandoned mines in Cameroon in the first 10 months of last year, a watchdog group said Wednesday.

Senegal has said it will step up efforts to stop the trafficking of prized timber in its southern Casamance region, following the massacre of 13 men in an incident believed linked to the trade.

German airline giant Lufthansa said Wednesday it had carried 130 million passengers in 2017, nosing ahead of budget Irish carrier Ryanair to become Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers.

The rally across Asia that welcomed in 2018 looked to have run out of steam on Wednesday with most markets slipping into the red on profit-taking but energy shares climbed with another surge in oil prices.