Russia echoes Saudi view for OPEC hike

A year after Lula came to power, his gamble has paid off: deforestation has been halved in the Amazon. But this success comes at the cost of sacrificing another ecosystem that's just as vital to Brazil: the Cerrado.

The country's ruling junta is stepping up cooperation with Moscow, after expelling French troops last year. Also in the programme, at least three people have been killed in a shootout between militiamen and police in the Ethiopian capital. Among the dead are fighters from a rebel militia known as Fano. Plus, the art of remembering: painters in Rwanda are keeping the memory of genocide victims alive by drawing their inspiration from photographs.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated in Russia and Kazakhstan as the worst flooding in decades continues. In Orenburg, floodwaters rose higher than official expectations.

Some top Nigerian banks are eyeing the international and local capital markets to raise fresh capital in a bid to meet the recapitalisation exercise by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Egie Akpata, Chairman of Skymark Partners joins CNBC Africa to examine options available to banks.

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a 10% rise in the dollar on the currency market would push down real gross domestic product (GDP) in emerging economies by 1.9% after one year, with adverse economic effects lasting more than two years

Russian peacekeepers will withdraw from Azerbaijan's Nagorgno-Karabakh region, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the move, responding to a question about reports in the Azerbaijani media about the withdrawal. "Yes, it really is the case," Peskov told reporters.