Two sharply distinctive Egyptian presidential candidates, one representing resurgent Islamists and the other a weathered veteran of the country's old guard, began maneuvering for wider political support Saturday ahead of an expected runoff next month.
Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood predicted Friday that its presidential candidate Mohamed Morsi will contest a run-off vote with former regime figure Ahmed Shafik, as counting in the country's landmark election got under way.
A racially charged demonstration against the Israeli government's handling of immigration from Africa turned violent Wednesday night as protesters attacked foreign workers, shattered car windows and vandalized a shop owned by a Sudanese migrant.
IN FOCUS: Egypt's Economic Concerns Egypt's revolution struck a hammer blow to the nation's economy. More than a year later, the outlook is starting to look more positive with holidaymakers returning to the country. But some in the tourism industry remain worried. They fear the growing influence of Islamists in the government may lead to strict rules like the ban of alcohol. MME takes a closer look at Egypt's wine-making industry. FACETIME: Adel Ali, Air Arabia CEO The UAE is home of the region's first low-cost airline -- Air Arabia. Operations began in 2003 and now other low-cost carriers have come onto the market. Air Arabia now has a fleet of 30 planes despite high fuel costs. MME sat down with the CEO, Adel Ali. Marketplace Middle East airs weekly at the following times (all GMT):
Abdelmonen Abol Fotoh, an independent moderate Islamist candidate for the Egyptian presidency, and one many tip to become the country's first freely elected leader, if he gets through this week's first round of voting, has been a busy man these last weeks.
African Union and Somali troops launched an offensive against militants in a densely populated enclave near the volatile Somali capital of Mogadishu, the AU mission said Tuesday.
The Somalia-based Islamist terrorist group Al-Shabaab is recruiting U.S. citizens. CNN's Nic Robertson reports.
Egyptians, with mixed feelings, head to the polls for their first free presidential election, as Ben Wedman reports.
A leather-faced Egyptian fruit seller said it best: "The revolution was like a beautiful woman. She charmed us, and we fell in love with her and killed the tyrant to marry her, but she was just a trick -- another burden to add to our heavy load, and we are falling out of love."
Egyptians prepare to vote in their first presidential election since Hosni Mubarak's ouster, as Ben Wedeman reports.
CNN's Hala Gorani reports that since the revolution in Egypt, some say the plight of women has worsened.
The one thing that Egyptians know for certain is that their next president is not a woman. That is because there are no female candidates contesting the presidential elections.
Amre Moussa sweeps through chaotic crowds in Egypt's Beheira province, hailed in the pandemonium by his supporters as "ar-rayis," the president.
Ahmed Shafik was Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister. Now he hopes to become Egypt's first democratically elected president.
Hamdeen Sabahy, a leftist dark-horse candidate for Egypt's presidency, is a passionate proponent for the teeming nation's poor and an ideological devotee of the late firebrand nationalist leader Gamal Abdel Nasser.
Egyptians are expected Wednesday to begin voting in an historic presidential election, capping for some the popular uprising that toppled longtime leader Hosni Mubarak more than a year ago.
Moderate Islamist Abdelmonen Abol Fotoh has gathered support from the left and the right since he was ousted from the Muslim Brotherhood over his decision to run for the Egyptian presidency.
The crowd of farmers in the Nile Delta's Sharqiya Province cheered loudly whenever the neatly groomed candidate came out with a new promise.
Workers trapped by a fire overnight in a platinum mine in southern Zimbabwe are being brought to the surface Tuesday, a statement from the mine's owners said.
This month, Inside the Middle East celebrates its 100th episode with a special look at education, focusing on the ways Egypt, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates are developing their future generation of leaders.
As Egyptians prepare for their milestone presidential election this week, thousands of activist youths who spearheaded the revolution -- the very ones who made the election possible -- will not be casting a vote. Instead, they are in prison, facing military trials.
The spiraling conflict between Sudan and South Sudan poses a threat to world oil prices, the prime minister of neighboring Kenya has warned.
Authorities have busted a luxury-vehicle theft ring that took orders from clients in Africa and then stole the cars from New York.
Egyptians living abroad began voting at diplomatic missions worldwide Friday in what is considered the nation's first free and fair presidential election in modern history.
Leading candidates square off in Egypt's first presidential debate, as Ben Wedeman reports.
Will Egypt be able to turn around its government and economy after the fall of Mubarak? Ian Lee looks for answers.
The two leading candidates to become Egypt's next president after Hosni Mubarak squared off for hours Thursday and into Friday in the nation's first such televised debate, just two weeks ahead of the country's election.
IN FOCUS -- Egypt's economic woes and the ripple effect With less than three weeks before presidential elections, Egypt remains entrenched in chaos. A spate of recent violence has left the country politically unstable and the continuing power struggle is making a bad economy worse. MME takes a look at the growing economic woes facing Egypt.
James Ibori, the former Governor of Nigeria's oil region, pleaded guilty to stealing $250 million over eight years
The arrest of a Nigerian politician who deposited millions of dollars of stolen money in UK accounts has raised questions about the role of British banks in corruption.
That the road from revolution to a new Egypt is arduous and twisting comes as no surprise. But few expected that today, one month from presidential elections, Egypt would be moving toward more repression and less accountability than under the deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak.
Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Egypt returned to Cairo on Saturday after tensions briefly spurred the kingdom to pull its envoys and shutter its missions, Saudi state media reported.
CNN looks at a diplomatic spat between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Egypt imposed an overnight curfew in Cairo's central Abbasiya district on Saturday after deadly clashes between protesters and security forces consumed the area the day before.
CNN's Don Lemon and Azadeh Ansari go beyond the headlines into South Sudan, where border tensions are escalating.
Thousands of South Sudanese stranded for months at a river port in neighboring Sudan will be airlifted to their homeland under a new agreement, the International Organization for Migration said.
Police clash with protestors outside the Egyptian Defense Ministry in Cairo.
One person died and more than 300 were injured Friday when clashes broke out in Cairo as protests against the country's military government turned violent, state media reported.
Saudi Arabia is re-establishing its diplomatic presence in Egypt after tensions briefly spurred the kingdom to pull its envoys and shutter its missions, Egyptian and Saudi state news agencies said Friday.
Thirty-four people were killed and 30 wounded in an attack on a cattle market in Nigeria's northern Yobe state, a government official briefed on the investigation said Thursday.
Egypt's military may hand over power to a civilian authority in the next three weeks should a presidential vote be decided in the first round, a spokesman for the armed forces chief of staff said Wednesday.
Thousands of people trying to return to South Sudan from Sudan have been stranded for months at the Kosti way station and are running out of "means of support," a United Nations official said Tuesday.
Every country has an unofficial doctrine -- a mantra if you will. In America, it's the "independent spirit." In Germany, it's the "no-nonsense work ethic." In Egypt, well, in Egypt it was always "laughter through adversity."
Reporter Robyn Kriel comes under fire as war planes from Sudan attack South Sudan.
The president of Sudan declared a state of emergency Sunday for cities along the hotly contested border with South Sudan, where Sudanese fighter jets launched at least one attack against their neighbor's ground forces.
A suicide attack on Monday in northeastern Nigeria killed 11 people and wounded another 26, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross in Abuja told CNN.
Marketplace Africa gets exclusive access to the controversial Marange diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe.
Former Liberian President Charles Taylor on trial for war crimes. CNN's Nima Elbagir reports.
The Saudi ambassador to Egypt left Cairo for home on Sunday amid tensions between the two Arab powers, the official Saudi news agency reported.
Gunmen attacked Christians worshipping on a Nigerian university campus on Sunday, with witnesses reporting multiple explosions and gunfire.
A managing director of a newspaper targeted in Nigeria believes Boko Haram is responsible. CNN's Vlad Duthiers reports.
Egyptian reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei on Saturday launched a new political party that he said would "rescue the great revolution."
Sudan has arrested foreigners in the disputed region of Heglig, its defense ministry said Saturday, the latest in the spiraling conflict between the Sudans.
Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Egypt and closed its embassy in Cairo and its consulates in Alexandria and Suez Saturday, following protests in the Egyptian capital over a human rights lawyer imprisoned in the Arab kingdom.
A Somali pirate was convicted Friday for his role in last year's seizure of the U.S. yacht Quest and the hostage-taking of the four Americans aboard who were killed during their ordeal.
Just a month before the presidential election, Egypt's political scene is muddled. CNN's Ian Lee reports.
Egypt's presidential race has been a political roller coaster. After banning 10 candidates earlier this month, the country's election commission banned and unbanned this week yet another well-known candidate, former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, although the constitutional court is still reviewing that decision. The remaining front-runners for president speak a similar language on the need for economic reform and political transition, but they hold very different positions on the role of Islam in a new Egypt.
The spiraling conflict between the Sudans has exacerbated issues for tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees who are desperate for water and facing the threat of fatal diseases, an international aid organization says.
South Sudan's president, who accused Sudan of declaring war on his nation, cut short his trip to China on Wednesday as tension between the two neighbors intensified over border and oil disputes.
A Human Rights Watch report describes the dramatic number of deaths in the Sudan and South Sudan conflict.
The Obama administration made a significant decision Monday to use targeted economic sanctions against high-tech companies abroad whose technologies empower regimes to kill their own people. The president's executive order places restrictions on visas and travel as well as asset freezes on such companies and those who control them. These are practical -- and potentially powerful -- tools that can undermine the presumed success of state repression as it begins.
Senegal's reward for qualifying for their first Olympic men's football competition is an opening match against hosts Britain, who could include former England captain David Beckham in their team.
Somali hip-hop sensation Abdi Warsame, better known as K'Naan, has been compared to Eminem and Bob Marley.
His name means "traveler" and Somali-born poet, rapper and musician K'naan has certainly come a long way.
Senegal claimed the 16th and final place in the Olympic men's soccer tournament after a 2-0 win over Oman in Monday's playoff in England.
Sudanese warplanes crossed a disputed border region to strike Monday in South Sudan, escalating fighting that threatens to return the neighboring African countries to full-scale war, a witness said.
An airstrike killed several civilians in South Sudan sparking renewed fears of war. CNN's David McKenzie reports.
South Sudan accused Sudan of launching ground and aerial attacks inside South Sudan's territory Sunday.
As CNN's Nima Elbagir reports, tensions continue to flare between Sudan and South Sudan.
U.S. President Barack Obama urged Sudan and South Sudan to resolve their outstanding issues through dialogue and avoid a return to war amid soaring tensions between the neighboring nations.
The scene Friday in Cairo's Tahrir Square felt familiar. Only this time, the protest came ahead of critical elections.
South Sudan announced Friday it was withdrawing its troops from a contested oil-rich area it seized last week in a move that escalated tensions and fears of a return to war with Sudan.
Ten candidates, including the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and a former spy chief, have lost their appeal against disqualification from upcoming presidential elections in Egypt, according to official news agency egynews.
The Sudanese president has vowed to "never give up" a disputed oil-rich region that has escalated tensions with South Sudan and sparked fears of the two neighbors' return to war.
Seven appear in court accused of gang-raping a teen girl in a case that has outraged the country. Nkepile Mabuse reports.
Five people were killed and five others wounded after an airplane dropped bombs Saturday on a town in South Sudan, a military spokesman in that fledgling country said -- though a Sudanese military spokesman denied any such attack.
Fears of a wider war between Sudan and South Sudan are growing following a deadly air strike. CNN's Isha Sesay reports.
Ten of the 23 nominees running for president in Egypt have been disqualified. CNN's Ian Lee reports.
Ten of the 23 nominees running for president in Egypt -- including Muslim Brotherhood candidate Khairat el-Shater and former Vice President Omar Suleiman -- have been disqualified and cannot run for the nation's top job, the head of Egypt's executive election committee said Saturday.
The U.N. demands Sudan and South Sudan stop fighting over a disputed oil-rich border region. David McKenzie reports.
The U.N. Security Council has called for an immediate end to the escalating conflict between Sudan and South Sudan over a disputed oil-rich border region.
An IMF delegation leaves Egypt without a deal on a $3.2 billion loan for the country. CNN's John Defterios has more.
South Sudan forces have captured a disputed oil-rich area along the border with Sudan, escalating tensions between the two longtime rivals and threatening a return to war.
IN FOCUS: Egypt's Shaky Economy All applications are in for Egypt's presidential elections next month. The candidates are vying to lead Egypt on a new path following last year's revolution and they have the economy high on their agenda. But as MME found out, they will have a long way to go before the economy is back up and running.
Egypt's administrative court has suspended the country's 100-member constitutional assembly, tasked with drafting a new national constitution. But what does that say about the country's progress toward political reform?
The Muslim Brotherhood's candidate for Egyptian president speaks to CNN about the challenges facing Egypt.
Ahmed Ben Bella, Algeria's first president after the country became independent from France in 1962, has died at the age of 96, Algeria's state-run news agency said Wednesday.
Egypt's administrative court suspended the country's 100-member constitutional assembly on Tuesday delaying the drafting of the new constitution.
CNN's Ben Wedeman reports the Muslim Brotherhood, seen by some as a hard-line Islamist party, might win Egypt's presidency.
A Muslim Brotherhood candidate for next month's presidential elections here lashed out Monday at the eleventh-hour entrance into the race by Omar Suleiman, the former spy chief to deposed strongman Hosni Mubarak.
Dead bodies littered a road in northern Nigeria on Sunday after a massive explosion that an official said killed 25 people and a witness said shattered windows of a nearby church where worshipers were celebrating Easter.
CNN's Nkepile Mabuse reports on how Muslim efforts to impose Sharia law on Nigeria are causing conflict.
With the rights of several candidates in question before Sunday's deadline to qualify and an 11th hour entrance of the former spy chief, Egypt's already complex and convoluted presidential election stands to be upended.
Marios Maratheftis of Standard Chartered discusses Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and the economy.
Sondos Asem has butterflies, formulating answers to questions she expects to be asked and practicing her diction with the devotion of a high school debate champion. The gentle 24-year-old graduate student at the American University in Cairo is in a hotel room in downtown New York, figuring out what to wear on national television. ("This blazer would look good, right?" "Should I wear more color?")
Barely a year after the revolt that toppled longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's long-banned Muslim Brotherhood has become the leading force in the country's new politics.
George Clooney and John Prendergast discuss their efforts to raise awareness about violence in Sudan.
CNN's David McKenzie reports from Africa's Sahel region where U.N. says drought threatens lives of one million children.
Sudan is denying that the South Sudanese military shot down a Sudanese fighter jet.
In a dangerous escalation of border violence, South Sudan accused rival Sudan of war mongering Wednesday and said it had shot down a fighter jet sent to bomb the oil-rich Pan Akuac region.
