Middle East & Africa | A wide-open race

Tunisia’s election features fed-up voters and bizarre candidates

The front-runner is campaigning from jail

The prisoner and his people
|TUNIS

IT WAS THE first true presidential debate in the Arab world, yet the front-runner was nowhere to be seen. Nabil Karoui was not entirely to blame for his absence from the stage, though. The businessman and media mogul is campaigning to be president of Tunisia from jail.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “A jailbird, a robot and many more”

Growing barriers: Why Europe’s single market is at risk

From the September 14th 2019 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Middle East & Africa

Israeli-Palestinian-conflict-January-19

The start of a fragile truce in Gaza offers relief and joy

But the ceasefire is not yet the end of the war

Bottles of Pedro's premium Ogogoro

West African booze is becoming a luxury product

Female entrepreneurs are leading the charge


A Palestinian inspects the damage at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Al-Maghazi in Gaza

The Trump effect could upend the Middle East

Will Israel and Donald Trump use the threat of annexation to secure a new grand bargain?


After 15 months of hell, Israel and Hamas sign a ceasefire deal

Donald Trump provided the X factor by putting heat on Binyamin Netanyahu, who insists the war isn’t over yet

A hidden refuge in Sudan that the internet, banks—and war—can’t reach

A visit to the Nuba mountains provides a glimpse into the future of the country

Violent jihadists are getting frustrated by the new Syria

Tipsy dancers, Christmas decorations, Shias and women’s rights are in the crosshairs