After months of post-election conflict ground their country to a halt, Ivorian designers hit the catwalk in Senegal this week with a burst of color and a determination to move on.

Two designers will showcase their creations at the ninth Dakar Fashion week which kicks off Wednesday night, among styles from Senegal, Morocco, Mali, Ghana, the United States and France.

Bahrain's main Shiite opposition formation will shun parts of the national dialogue which the authorities say aims to bring forward reforms in the restive kingdom, a member said on Thursday.

"We will boycott the meetings of the economic and social committees but will continue to attend the meetings of the political and rights committees," Khalil al-Marzooq a leading member of the Islamic National Accord Association (al-Wefaq), told Agence France Presse.

Egypt's electoral commission has granted a license to a new liberal party founded by telecom magnate Naguib Sawiris ahead of key polls in September, state media reported on Thursday.

The Free Egyptians Party, which was legalized on Wednesday, said it would work for a civil state and promote freedom of faith.

Georgia on Thursday arrested four news photographers, including President Mikheil Saakashvili's personal photographer, on accusations of spying for a foreign country, the interior ministry said.

"The arrested are accused of passing information that they obtained because of their work to an organization acting undercover for the intelligence services of a foreign country, against the interests of Georgia," it said.

Canada ended its combat mission in Afghanistan on Thursday, closing the curtain after nine years and the death of 157 men, saying it was "extremely proud" of gains made against the Taliban.

The departure of nearly 3,000 troops, who took on some of the heaviest fighting in the southern province of Kandahar, comes as Western forces begin to announce gradual drawdowns of troops ahead of a full withdrawal in 2014.

An Israeli soldier was moderately injured on Thursday in a blast apparently caused by an explosive device along the border with the Gaza Strip, an army spokesman said.

"The soldier was moderately injured, apparently by an explosive device," he said, without saying on which side of the border the incident had occurred.

Armed officers have arrested a suspected Basque separatist in Britain on Thursday in connection with an attempt to assassinate Spain's King Juan Carlos in 1997, police said.

Eneko Gogeaskoetxea Arronategui, 44, was detained by armed police in the university city of Cambridge, eastern England.

Women who quit smoking once they find out they are pregnant can give birth to a baby weighing the same as a child born to a non-smoker, a British expert told a European fertility meeting Wednesday.

"Once you find you're pregnant, it’s not too late to do something about your smoking," Nick Macklon, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Southampton, told Agence France Presse.

Up to 140,000 Philippine workers could lose their jobs in Saudi Arabia due to a domestic helper ban and a program to compel firms to employ more locals, the Filipino labor minister said Thursday.

Between 20,000-50,000 Filipino domestic workers in the kingdom could be hit by Saudi Arabia's decision announced last month to stop granting work permits to Philippine and Indonesian maids, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.

Five sick Libyan babies and children arrived in Malta overnight Thursday for treatment at the country's public hospital, a government statement said.

The children, aged between four months and five years, arrived on a flight from rebel-held Benghazi accompanied by relatives. They were welcomed by Health Minister Joe Cassar.