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Afghanistan’s National Security Council has accused “foreign intelligence services” of being behind Friday’s deadly attack on a Kabul restaurant.

It said such “sophisticated and complex” attacks could not have been carried out by “ordinary Taliban”.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the suicide assault in central Kabul which killed 21 people.

The victims included the local IMF chief and citizens of at least nine nationalities.

The National Security Council is chaired by President Hamid Karzai.

Friday’s attack saw a suicide attacker detonate explosives outside the gate of the heavily fortified Taverna du Liban, then two gunmen entered the restaurant and started shooting. The gunmen were eventually shot dead by the security forces when they arrived at the scene.

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Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych has agreed to negotiate with pro-EU protesters and opposition leaders after violent clashes in the capital Kiev.

He said a cross-party commission would be set up on Monday to try to resolve the deepening crisis. Opposition leaders confirmed this.

Earlier, a group of protesters – trying to reach parliament – clashed with police. Dozens of people were injured.

The US and EU called for an end to the violence and urgent political talks.

The violence broke out as many thousands of protesters held a rally in Kiev’s Independence Square, outraged by new laws which they said restricted basic freedoms.

The ruling party of Mr Yanukovych denies this, saying the legislature is in line with European standards.

However, Western countries have expressed deep concern at the new laws.

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A suicide bomber has killed at least 13 people near Pakistan’s army HQ in the city of Rawalpindi, the military say.

Those who died included eight military personnel and five civilians, three of them schoolchildren. The blast in a crowded market left 29 others injured.

The attack came a day after 20 soldiers were killed in the north-west when a bomb blast struck an army convoy.

Pakistan’s Taliban claimed both attacks, which follow weeks of relative calm since their leader was killed.

Hakimullah Mehsud died in a US drone strike in November and was replaced by Mullah Fazlullah.

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Deutsche Bank has reported a surprise loss for the fourth quarter of 2013, after releasing its latest results before they were expected.

Overall Deutsche said it posted a pre-tax loss of 1.153bn euros for the final quarter of 2013.

The bank said that litigation costs and restructuring had weighed heavily on its financial performance.

Litigation costs mounted up to 528m euros (£435.3m) for the period, while revenue fell 16%.

At the end of last week the company’s shares closed down 3% in New York after reports of a profit warning rattled already anxious investors.

Deutsche Bank – Germany’s largest lender – has faced some large problems in the past 12 months. In December 2013 it agreed to pay 1.4bn euros to settle a lawsuit with the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

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Mexican security forces have arrested 38 members of the Knights Templar drug cartel, as part of an operation to restore order in Michoacan state.

Jesus Vasquez Macias, 37, whom officials described as a leading figure in the gang, was among those detained.

Hundreds of troops were deployed last week after violent scenes as groups of vigilantes clashed with gang members.

The vigilantes accuse the government of not doing enough to protect locals from extortion and violence.

Many members of the so-called self-defence groups are refusing to heed the government’s call to disarm.

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