South Africa has taken measures to counter capital inflows but the rand is still overvalued, the country's finance minister said on Friday.
Anti-government demonstrations have swept across Egypt despite a 6 am-7 pm curfew imposed by the state and a vow by President Hosni Mubarak to get tough with protesters demanding his ouster.
Stocks fell from 29-month highs on Friday as Amazon and Ford reported weak results and investors worried about escalating protests in Egypt against the government.
Arabic news organization Al Jazeera has put up a live stream (in English) of the protests in Cairo, Egypt.
Stocks fell from 29-month highs on Friday as Amazon and Ford reported weak results and investors worried about escalating protests in Egypt against the government.
They are young, street smart and their pride at being Egyptian trumps any religious loyalty. They have mobilized behind a single aim: the toppling of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak.
The government of Syria has apparently shut down all Internet activity in the country, coming on the heels of a similar web suspension by riot-torn Egypt, according to a report in Al Arabiya.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel Peace laureate who returned to his Egyptian homeland to participate in anti-government protests, has been placed under house arrest by security officials, according to a report by the Associated Press.
U.S. diplomats were gravely concerned about Egypt’s poor human rights record (including the use of torture by police and the jailing of dissidents) and expressed misgivings about President Hosni Mubarak’s plans to allow his son to succeed him, according to cables released by WikiLeaks.
Poverty and unemployment reared their heads at the World Economic Forum on Thursday, with speakers urging the elite audience to bridge a growing gap between booming multinationals and the jobless poor.
Egypt appears to have blocked all access to internet in the midst of anti-government demonstrations. US-based Web site Renesys said it has observed virtually simultaneous withdrawal of all routes to Egyptian networks in the Internet's global routing table, just after mid night, local time.
Despite the blockade imposed on internet and mobile communication, photos, videos of and responses to the Egypt unrest flood social media sites like Flickr, YouTube and Twitter.
Escalating tensions and persistent protests have now prompted the government of Egypt to completely block all access to internet as well as SMS services.
The ongoing anti-government protests on the streets of Cairo and other Egyptian cities represent the biggest public demonstration in the country since the famous ‘bread riots’ which occurred exactly 34 years ago.
Mohamed El Baradei, a Noble laureate and considered an alternative leader to President Hosni Mubarak's regime even before the protests began in January, has returned to Egypt to join the massive anti-Mubarak protests.
Thousands of Yemenis took to the streets of Sanaa Thursday to demand a change of government, inspired by the unrest that has ousted Tunisia's leader and spread to Egypt this week.
Egyptian police fought protesters in two cities in eastern Egypt on Thursday and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei headed back to the country to join demonstrators trying to oust President Hosni Mubarak.
African economic growth is heading back to pre-crisis growth levels, propelled by strong demand for its resources and increased South-South investment, notably from China.
Grains exporter Canada and Morocco, among the region's top wheat importers, on Thursday announced the start of negotiations for a free trade agreement, Morocco's official media reported.
Weeks of unrest in Tunisia will hit economic growth, frighten away tourists and discourage foreign direct investment which could fall by up to a third this year, Fitch Ratings said on Thursday.
Libya has set up a $24-billion fund for investment and local development that will focus on providing housing for its rapidly growing population, the online Oea newspaper reported on Thursday.
Protesters stormed police barricades in the Tunisian capital on Thursday and the government prepared to dismiss key loyalists of ousted leader Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in the face of widespread public anger.
