A suicide bomber driving a minibus packed with explosives kills at least 45 people and wounds 157 in the southern Iraqi city of Hilla, police and medical sources say.

At least 40 people have been killed in three days of fighting between Shiite Muslim rebels and Sunni tribesmen, sources on both sides say, as sectarian fighting that flared up in October in the north draws closer to the capital Sanaa.

Ukraine's interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk says he will travel to the United States this week for crisis talks with senior officials.

Egypt's powerful military chief is launching a housing initiative to build a million homes for the poor, in the first campaign-style move by Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who is widely expected to run for president.