Hosni Mubarak

CAIRO - More than 10,000 Egyptians marched from mosques and protested in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday in a show of strength by Islamists, demanding the country's ruling generals bar Hosni Mubarak's former spy chief and other ousted regime officials from running in next month's presidential elections. The rally was the first major demonstration in Egypt in months and was a turnaround for the Islamists, who had abandoned street protests, particularly after they gained domination of parliament in elections late last year, and pursued a strategy of coexistence with the military even during violent army crackdowns on pro-democracy activists.

CAIRO - Egypt's Islamist president on Thursday unilaterally decreed greater authority for himself and effectively neutralized a judicial system that had emerged as a key opponent of his by declaring that the courts are barred from challenging him. Riding high on U.S. and international praise for his mediating a Gaza cease-fire, Mohammed Morsi put himself above oversight and gave protection to the Islamist-led assembly that's writing a new constitution from...

CAIRO - The same chants used against Hosni Mubarak were turned against his successor Tuesday as more than 200,000 people packed Egypt's Tahrir Square in the biggest challenge yet to Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The flag-waving throng protesting Morsi's assertion of near-absolute powers rivaled some of the largest crowds that helped drive Mubarak from office last year. "The people want to bring down the regime!" and erhal, erhal - Arabic for "leave, leave" - rang out across the plaza, this time directed at Egypt's first freely elected president.

CAIRO - Egypt pushed ahead Sunday with the trial of 43 employees of pro-democracy groups, including 16 Americans, even as Egyptian and U.S. officials tried to resolve the case that has caused the deepest rift in their alliance in 30 years. In a sign those back-channel negotiations may already be bearing fruit, only Egyptian defendants attended the hearing and the judge gave no instructions to police to ensure the American and other foreign defendants attend the next hearing in two months.

CAIRO - Egypt's military ruler attempted to bolster public support Tuesday by partially lifting a reviled 30-year-old emergency law the day before the anniversary of the revolution that overthrew Hosni Mubarak's police state. In a nationally televised address, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi said: "I have taken a decision to end" emergency law. The general quickly noted, however, that the measure would still apply to "thuggery," a catchall term used to target activists and antigovernment demonstrators.

CAIRO - Mohammed Morsi, the son of a peasant farmer who rose through the ranks of the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood, was sworn in Saturday as Egypt's first freely elected president in a historic and potentially dangerous transition from military rule to a democratic government. The spirit of an unpredictable new era marked the day as Morsi sought to project a populist's air while brushing up against the pillars of the old guard. Dressed in a dark suit and wearing a trimmed beard, he symbolized the region's rising political Islam even as the authority of his office has been diminished by the generals in charge of the transitional government.

CAIRO - Two days of fierce street battles between security forces and protesters in Cairo show just how volatile Egypt remains nearly five months after the popular uprising that ousted authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak. More than 1,000 were hurt in the unrest Tuesday and Wednesday, driven by discontent over the slow pace of justice for old regime figures accused of corruption and of killing protesters. There were an estimated 6,000 protesters at the peak of the riots late Tuesday. The clashes in Tahrir Square, the worst since the 18-day uprising, add a new layer to an already painful and chaotic transition from Mubarak's regime to democratic rule under the supervision of the military.

CAIRO - Egypt's Islamist president has given himself the right to legislate and control over the drafting of a new constitution. He has installed at the top of the powerful military a defense minister likely to be beholden to him. Under Mohammed Morsi's authority, officials have moved to silence influential critics in the media. And though a civilian, he declared himself in charge of military operations against extremists in the Sinai peninsula. Over the weekend, Morsi ordered the retirement of the defense minister and chief of staff and reclaimed key powers the military seized from him days before he took office June 30. With that, Egypt's first freely elected president amassed in his own hands powers that rival those of Hosni Mubarak.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - As world leaders close ranks against Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, President Obama summed up the popular wisdom during a recent White House news conference: "Ultimately, this dictator will fall. " That prediction may be premature. Regime forces have retaken the major opposition strongholds, the rebels are low on money and guns, and the United Nations has ruled out any military intervention of the type that tipped the scales against Libya's Moammar Gadhafi.

CAIRO - An Egyptian court Sunday ordered a retrial of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, granting an appeal of the former autocrat's life sentence for failing to prevent the killing of more than 900 protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his rule. Sunday's court ruling also overturned convictions for Mubarak's former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, and six other security officials who stood trial alongside Mubarak last year. The latter six were acquitted, but all will now be retried.