RABAT (Reuters) - King Mohammed VI said on Friday Morocco's banking and financial sector should make it easier for young entrepreneurs and small and medium sized enterprises to access loans.

OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - The number of people forced to flee their homes in two regions of Burkina Faso besieged by ethnic and jihadist violence has increased more than six-fold since January to around 500,000, the United Nations and aid groups said on Friday.

DAKAR, Oct 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Nigeria's president called for stricter laws against sexual abuse on Friday after a documentary showed a university lecturer propositioning a reporter posing as an underage student.

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - The lawyer for a prominent Tanzanian journalist arrested more than two months ago told a court on Friday he is pursuing a plea bargain, in a case that has attracted international attention to what critics say is Tanzania's tightening control of the media.

LONDON (Reuters) - Measles is staging a devastating comeback in epidemics across the world as the virus exploits dangerous gaps in vaccination coverage, World Health Organization (WHO) experts said on Friday.

RABAT (Reuters) - Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has not cancelled orders for the Boeing 737 MAX, the Moroccan national carrier said on Friday, following conflicting remarks about the fate of two jets.

* Uber partnering with local boat firm and Lagos state government

TUNIS (Reuters) - If he wins Sunday's election, media mogul Nabil Karoui will only have to stroll up one of Tunisia's most expensive streets to move from his own home into the presidential palace.

DAKAR (Reuters) - A cargo plane carrying Congo presidential staff, including President Felix Tshisekedi's driver and a logistics manager, crashed in a forest in the east of the country on Thursday, three government sources said.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for ending 20 years of hostility with neighbouring Eritrea, can arouse strong reactions at home.

OSLO (Reuters) - Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his peacemaking efforts with Eritrea.

OSLO (Reuters) - Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his peacemaking efforts with Eritrea.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African former President Jacob Zuma will stand trial on corruption charges relating to a $2.5 billion arms deal after court denied him a permanent stay of prosecution on Friday.

LUXOR, Egypt (Reuters) - Egypt on Thursday unveiled two archaeological discoveries in Luxor including an industrial zone at the southern city's West Valley, also known as the Valley of the Monkeys.

NEW YORK, Oct 10 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Major chocolate companies such as Godiva, Lindt and Hershey are failing to keep child labor out of their supply chains, according to a new ranking by activists released on Thursday.

ABIDJAN, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Top cocoa producers Ivory Coast and Ghana said on Thursday they would re-examine the cocoa industry's sustainability schemes as chocolate makers have been slow to pay the two nations a living income differential (LID) for their beans.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan appointed a woman as the head of its judiciary on Thursday for the first time in the history of the Arab Muslim country, the ruling Transitional Sovereignty Council said.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Thursday sanctioned three members of the Gupta family and their business associate for their involvement in corruption in South Africa.

MAPUTO (Reuters) - Mozambique is due to hold presidential, provincial and legislative elections on Tuesday, two months after the country's two largest parties signed a peace deal that put a formal end to decades of violence.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The Ebola epidemic in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been confined to a rural area rife with militias and people on the move, making it harder to stamp out altogether, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.