The results of the first round of Egypt's presidential election are at once hugely positive, and hugely negative.

Her unusual mix of love songs, folk pieces and odes in praise of the fight for independence attracted attention

The Military Council is taking the credit for the transition to democracy, but divisions remain

By Alistair Beach

Millions set to vote for Muburak's successor in country's first genuinely democratic election

A British landmine clearance expert has been released by the Sudanese authorities after being arrested on the disputed border with South Sudan.

Sudan has released four foreigners who were detained three weeks ago near the border with South Sudan following weeks of heavy clashes between the two African neighbours.

How do you feel about bad language and asterisks? In its early years this newspaper took a very robust, even puritanical, attitude. It believed that its readers were the kind of people who didn't have net curtains in their windows and wanted the unvarnished truth.

'The Dictator' knows how to make a scene.

Portrait of a quiet genius who revolutionised our understanding of the ancient world.

A Tunisian court yesterday convicted the head of a private TV station for disrupting public order and violating moral values by broadcasting an animated film that some religious leaders say insults Islam.

Ros Wynne-Jones hears the incredible tale behind the staging of 'Cymbeline' in the Juba Arabic language