Egyptians are furious with President Morsi, who they blame for widespread electricity cuts that are further disrupting businesses, shops, and restaurants at a time of economic hardship.
Robert Becker was the lone US employee to remain when Egypt raided NGO offices last year. Even he is gone now, leaving a civil society vacuum.
Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court ruled as unconstitutional the election of the country’s acting legislature, a council dominated by Morsi loyalists.
A draft Egypt NGO law has rights advocates warning that independent civil society groups working on human rights and democratization could be put under the thumb of the government.
When Egypt’s lower house was dissolved, the advisory upper house gained sweeping legislative power. But only 10 percent of Egyptians bothered to vote for it.
The case of Bassem Youssef, the Egyptian satirist accused of insulting Islam and the president, has exposed what seems to be a series of politically motivated investigations into government critics.
President Mohamed Morsi and his supporters often write off Cairo protests as the work of elites, but that accusation doesn’t hold water in the industrial heartland, now rocked by protests.
The rise of the Muslim Brotherhood to power in Egypt was something the US long-feared. But in Cairo today, Secretary of State John Kerry was told Egypt’s secular-leaning opposition sees the US as an ally of the Islamist movement.
A restrictive draft law sponsored by a member of the Muslim Brotherhood’s party echoes the philosophy of the Mubarak government, which saw independent groups as a threat.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Egypt, the first by an Iranian leader since 1979, is historic. But it comes up against deep-seated animosity between Tehran and the Sunni Gulf states, who back Egypt.
The chaos around Egypt’s presidential palace yesterday resulted in police beatings and firebombings of the symbol of President Mohamed Morsi’s rule.
The head of Egypt’s Army has warned that recent upheaval, which shows no signs of abating, could bring about the ‘collapse’ of the Egyptian state.
The wave of violence in Port Said, Suez, and Cairo is a symptom of an unresolved political crisis provoked by President Mohamed Morsi.
In the factory town of Shubra El Kheima, outside Cairo, little has changed for residents in the two years since protests in Tahrir Square ousted Egypt’s longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak.
As Egyptians vote today in a referendum on a controversial draft constitution, the debate is dominated by President Mohamed Morsi’s actions, not the document.
Anger over a draft constitution popular with Islamists has galvanized Egypt’s opposition. But secular opponents of President Morsi still haven’t decided what to do about Saturday’s referendum.
Angry protests, with attacks on Muslim Brotherhood offices in some Egyptian cities, didn’t convince President Mohamed Morsi to backtrack on the sweeping powers he awarded himself over the weekend.
Morsi’s grab for more power has prompted days of protest by judges and youth, but the president appears confident that he has the numbers on his side.
Since taking office in June, Egypt’s Islamist President Morsi has upheld Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel and strictly controlled border crossings. Could the Gaza conflict change his calculus?
With few weapons flowing to the rebels fighting the Syrian regime, homemade rockets, mortars, and hand grenades have become increasingly used in the fight.
By Kristen Chick
June 14, 2013