Circle of Games (COG), a multi-gaming platform under the umbrella of Nazara Technologies, has officially entered the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Nairobi/Mogadishu - Two European aid workers employed by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) who were kidnapped in Somalia over a week ago have been released, reports said Tuesday. The pair - a Dutch nurse and a Belgian doctor - were taken nine days ago on the way to Hudur, the capital of the Bakol region in south-west Somalia.

The group that took them demanded a 4-million-dollar ransom, but Islamist militant group al-Shabaab said no such ransom was paid.

Brussels - Politicians and donors from around the world gathered in Brussels on Thursday for a conference aimed at raising funds to boost security in Somalia and crack down on the epidemic of piracy in the country's waters.

The Horn of Africa country is widely-regarded as a "failed state", and one of the most dangerous places on earth, with warring militias exerting more power than central government.

Washington - While Africa has managed to avoid the worst effects of a recession that has gripped most other parts of the globe, the International Monetary Fund warned that the downturn could erase much of the hard-won gains made by the world's poorest continent over the past few years.

Growth in Africa will slow to 2 per cent this year, down from 5.2 per cent in 2008, before recovering to 3.9 per cent in 2010, the IMF said in its updated World Economic Outlook.

Antananarivo - Madagascar government soldiers killed and wounded several persons Monday when they fired into a demonstration in the capital Antananarivo, the television broadcaster TVplus reported.

The report said that one of those killed was a policeman.

Unconfirmed media reports at the scen spoke of at least three persons killed and several others seriously wounded, as meanwhile several cars and a building were in flames.

Harare  - The 19-country Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), Africa's largest trading bloc, will finally launch its customs union at a long-awaited summit in Zimbabwe in June, COMESA said Friday.

The summit of heads of state and government, which was twice postponed last year, will be held on June 7 and 8 in Victoria Falls resort, Comesa secretary general Sindiso Ngwenya told journalists in Harare Friday.

"We shall have the launching of the Comesa customs union during the summit," he added.