Authorities detained a Saudi woman on Saturday after she launched a campaign against the driving ban for women in the ultraconservative kingdom and posted a video of herself behind the wheel on Facebook and YouTube to encourage others to copy her.

Bordeaux is spoiled for choice as it unveils the 2010 vintage, its third smash hit in six years, in a week of barrel tastings for wine professionals from around the world.

Asian stock markets edged higher on Wednesday, with Tokyo and Hong Kong buoyed by easing world oil prices and signs of improvement in their economies.

The U.S. dollar rose modestly against the euro in Asia on Wednesday as oil prices eased and the single currency was overshadowed by renewed eurozone debt concerns, dealers said.

Wheat prices fell 2.6 percent Tuesday as a storm scattered rain and snow across parts of the Great Plains in the west-central U.S. where a dry winter has raised concerns about the winter wheat crop.

Hopes of an improved U.S. employment picture lifted shares on Friday, but the prospect of higher interest rates in Europe and a rising oil price kept other world markets on edge.

Prices for major crops climbed Thursday as a U.N. agency said food costs are now at their highest point since the agency began tracking them 20 years ago.

Crude oil rose by more than US$1 on Friday, with Brent hovering around US$116, as fighting in Libya intensified with fresh reports of air strikes, and on protests in Saudi Arabia's oil-producing Eastern Province.

Stocks took a pounding Wednesday as oil prices edged higher once again amid concerns over how the crisis in Libya will end now that the oil-rich North African country is effectively split in two.

The U.S. dollar held on to gains against the euro and yen in Asia Wednesday as risk aversion gripped markets due to escalating turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, sending oil prices higher.