Africa | featured news

The attorney for ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak called recent reports of Mubarak's death an "outrageous rumor," saying the former leader was regaining his health.

Egypt's state news agency said Tuesday that Hosni Mubarak has suffered a stroke, and prison officials said he is likely to be moved out of his prison hospital to a military facility nearby....

Egypt entered its final day of voting on Sunday with very few people going to the polls to choose Hosni Mubarak’s successor under a cloud of apprehension and anticipation. Turnout appeared dismal in a sign of just how polarizing and demoralizing the choice between a military strongman and conservative Islamist is for the Arab World’s most populous nation.

The acknowledgment that United States military forces have taken “direct action” in those countries opens the window further into the president’s secret war on terrorists.

The developments, reported on the Web site of the official newspaper Al Ahram, further escalated tensions over court rulings on Thursday that invalidated modern Egypt’s first democratically elected legislature. Coming on the eve of a presidential runoff, they thrust the nation’s troubled transition to democracy since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak last year into grave doubt.

The US has expanded its secret intelligence forces in Africa, with Special Operations forces establishing a network of small air bases to spy on terrorist hideouts, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

Mogadishu, the capital war-torn city of Somalia, is losing a label it never wanted in the first place: The World's Most Dangerous City.

Doctors used a defibrillator twice on Hosni Mubarak Monday when they could not find a pulse, the latest health crisis for the ousted Egyptian president since he was sentenced to life and moved to a prison hospital nine days ago, security officials said.

Nigeria navy celebrates first home-made warship to fight pirates. "Proudly Nigerian" does not just apply to the people of this vast land - the West African giant is now building its own warships. After nearly five years in the making, the Nigerian navy ship or NNS Andoni was launched with a colourful event. At 31m (100ft) long, this is no giant of the seas, but the fact that it was designed and built in Nigeria, by Nigerian engineers, is a great source of pride.

Interior Ministry officials said on Wednesday that prison authorities are close to a decision to return Hosni Mubarak, the former president, to a hospital outside the penal system.