WORLD HIGHLIGHTS

►France PARIS

French Transport Minister Jean-baptiste Djebbari has been nominated to join the board of French hydrogen car maker Hopium, becoming the first minister in the outgoing French government to take a position in the private sector.

►US WASHINGTON

The United States will remove a Jewish extremist group linked to late rabbi Meir Kahane as well as a Palestinian militant group from a terror blacklist after years without violence, an official said on Sunday.

►Egypt CAIRO

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli announced on Sunday a string of planned privatisations of state-owned companies, as Cairo grapples with an economic crisis and inflation at almost 15 per cent.

►Netherlands THE HAGUE

Dutch peace activist Mient Jan Faber, who gained prominence in the 1980s leading the nuclear disarmament movement in Europe, died on Sunday at the age of 81, the organisation PAX reported.

►Saudi Arabia

RIYADH Saudi Arabia's ageing King Salman has left the hospital one week after being admitted for tests, including a colonoscopy, state media reported.

►Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO Gunmen in Brazil opened fire outside a bar in the northern city of Altamira, killing four people and wounding four others, officials said on Sunday.

►Peru LIMA

At least 11 people, including two children, were killed and another 34 injured after a bus crashed into a ravine in Peru, authorities said on Sunday.

►Algeria ALGIERS

An Algerian military officer and close ally of the former army chief has been sentenced to death over charges of "high treason", the French-language daily El Watan reported on Sunday.

►Yemen

SANAA The first commercial flight in nearly six years took off from Yemen's rebel-held capital yesterday, a major step forward in a peace process that has provided rare relief from conflict. AGENCIES