Egypt

Sixty years after their country came under military dictatorship, Egyptians are for the first time freely electing their president. The voting that begins Wednesday is the greatest prize won by the multitudes who took to the streets to overthrow unpopular Hosni Mubarak in the string of people-power uprisings that upended the Middle East in last year's Arab Spring. It is also a moment of truth for this most populous Arab republic, determining whether power stays in the hands of the secular elite tied to the old regime or makes a momentous shift to the long-suppressed Islamists, with...

CAIRO - The Muslim Brotherhood said Thursday that its candidate was leading in exit polls from Egypt's landmark presidential election, as official counting began after two days of voting to choose a successor to ousted leader Hosni Mubarak. In stations around the country, workers cracked open ballot boxes and started the count after polls closed Thursday night, in Egypt's first truly competitive presidential election. There are five prominent candidates in a field of 13, but none is expected to win outright in the first round.

RUSTENBURG, South Africa - On the verge of elimination and facing long odds, the United States came up with its best showing at a major international tournament in seven years and an improbable semifinal berth at the Confederations Cup. Charlie Davies scored in the first half, and Michael Bradley and Clint Dempsey added goals in the final half hour to lead the United States past Egypt, 3-0, yesterday. The United States needed to win by three goals and have Italy lose by three, and that’s exactly what happened.

Profiles of Egypt's two presidential candidates who will take part in next month's runoff: AHMED SHAFIQ The former Air Force commander and civil aviation minister was Mubarak's last prime minister and was dumped after the president's ouster. Shafiq scores points by presenting himself as a strongman and stabilizer who will restore law and order within 24 hours of taking office. Opponents view him as the military's favorite. MOHAMMED MORSI Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, was educated as an engineer in southern California.

Egyptians on Wednesday and Thursday vote to elect their first president since the fall of Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11, 2011 after 29 years of his authoritarian rule. A second round is likely to be held between the two top vote-getters on June 16-17. Here is a look at what's at stake in the election. WILL EGYPT GO ISLAMIST? A victory by the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood's candidate Mohammed Morsi will likely mean a greater emphasis on religion in government. The group, which already dominates parliament, says it won't mimic Saudi Arabia and force women to wear veils or implement harsh...

An Egyptian foreign ministry official says Egypt will recognize South Sudan after secession later this week. Mohammed Mursi told the Al-Ahram daily on Tuesday that Egypt will name its new ambassador to Juba the same day South Sudan declares its independence from the north. South Sudan is to become the world’s newest country Saturday. Sudan lies astride the middle reaches of the Nile, the primary source of water for mainly desert Egypt. The White Nile, one of the river’s two main tributaries, runs through south Sudan.

Abercrombie & Kent 800-554-7016; 800-680-2858 www.abercrombiekent.com A two-week trip, "Egypt: Pharaohs & Pyramids," includes air fare from this country or Canada, several nights' accommodation at the Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo, and seven days aboard the Sun Boat III. Several trips are scheduled this year and in 2006. Between $5,790 and $8,600 per person.

CAIRO — Egypt’s military rulers denied local media reports they plan to grant amnesty to deposed president Hosni Mubarak following a wave of popular criticism and calls for new protests. The denial, issued late Tuesday, followed unconfirmed reports that Mubarak would be pardoned in return for an apology to the nation for any wrongdoing and would also hand over his assets. The reports claimed the ousted leader would release an audio recording appealing for amnesty. The statement by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said the country’s judiciary has the sole authority in Mubarak’s case.

CAIRO -- A court yesterday postponed the forgery trial of Egypt's most prominent opposition presidential candidate until late September, almost certainly after the country's first contested election. For Ayman Nour, that means campaigning for president under the shadow of criminal charges he says are fabricated and politically motivated. For the government of President Hosni Mubarak, his likely rival, it means avoiding, for now, a trial that became embarrassing last week when a key witness recanted.

CAIRO - Egypt's ruling military and the revolutionaries who are demanding the leaders immediately step down battled for a third day in the streets yesterday and competed fiercely for the support of a broader public that has grown tired of turmoil since the fall of Hosni Mubarak 10 months ago. The generals appear to be winning the fight for the public, despite a heavy-handed crackdown on protesters around Cairo's Tahrir Square using a roughness that...

Egyptians went to the polls earlier this week to elect a new president after longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year. With a majority of ballots counted, here is a look at a handful of notable, if not surprising, developments: LEADING CANDIDATE CRASHES: Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister and ex-head of the Arab League, had led opinion polls for months. However, he failed to garner enough votes to make the June 16-17 runoff. OLD REGIME CANDIDATE MAKES CUT: Former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, a veteran of ousted President Hosni Mubarak's government, got...

The Muslim Brotherhood has quickly staked a claim for its candidate to advance to a runoff vote, saying its exit polls showed him leading in Egypt's landmark presidential election to succeed ousted leader Hosni Mubarak. As vote-counting began on Thursday, exit polls by several Arab television stations also suggested the Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi was ahead of the pack of 13 candidates. The reliability of the various exit surveys was not known, and a few hours after the end of two days of voting, only a tiny percentage of the ballots had been counted.

The candidate of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood won a spot in a runoff election, according to partial results Friday from Egypt's first genuinely competitive presidential election. A former prime minister and a leftist were in a tight race for second place and a chance to run against him to become the country's next leader. The runoff will be held on June 16-17, pitting the two top contenders from the first round of voting held Wednesday and Thursday. The victor is to be announced June 21. The landmark vote — the fruit of last year's...

For Egypt's most conservative Islamists, the country's first competitive presidential election has been a test of their political savvy as they try to plant the seeds for turning the country into an Islamic state. The Salafis, known for their no-compromise, literal interpretation of the faith, are political newcomers. They long concentrated on preaching and many of them shunned involvement in politics, believing it would require sinful concessions. Some of their clerics even said Western-style democracy itself is dangerous since it could override God's...

Arwa el-Hussein, a 20-year-old pharmacy student, has been quarreling with her father for weeks, trying to get him not to back Hosni Mubarak's former prime minister for president. "This is a betrayal of the revolution," she says of support for Ahmed Shafiq, a veteran of the regime that last year's uprising sought to topple. "I get depressed when I think about it. " Egypt's landmark election for a new leader, in which voting took place for a second day Thursday, has brought out a generation gap in many families around the country, with elders looking...

The funeral of a 28 year-old waiter in southern Egypt turned into a celebration when he woke up after being declared dead. Hospital officials had pronounced dead Hamdi Hafez al-Nubi, who came from the village of Naga al-Simman in the southern province of Luxor, after he suffered a heart attack while working. His family says grieving relatives took him home and, according to Islamic tradition, washed his body and prepared him for burial Friday evening. A doctor sent to sign the death certificate found it strange that his body was warm.

A U.N. agency is warning that an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Egypt could spread and threaten livestock in North Africa and the Middle East, leading to possible food shortages. The disease is not a direct threat to humans but meat and milk from sick animals are unsafe for consumption. The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said Thursday that 40,222 cases of the disease are suspected in Egypt and 4,658 animals, mostly calves, have already died. The agency said 6.3 million buffalo and cattle and 7.5 million sheep and goats are at risk in Egypt.