CAIRO, June 30 (Reuters) – Egypt’s President-elect Mohamed
Mursi takes his oath on Saturday, a day after the Islamist
leader pre-empted the formal ceremony by swearing himself in
before ecstatic crowds in Tahrir Square and warning off generals
trying to curb his powers.

They have already clipped the prerogatives of the bearded
leader now in the palace once occupied by Hosni Mubarak, who is
serving a life sentence 16 months after Egyptians toppled him.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s President-elect Mohamed Mursi takes his oath on Saturday, a day after the Islamist leader pre-empted the formal ceremony by swearing himself in before ecstatic crowds in Tahrir Square and warning off generals trying to curb his powers.

They have already clipped the prerogatives of the bearded leader now in the palace once occupied by Hosni Mubarak, who is serving a life sentence 16 months after Egyptians toppled him.

LONDON (Reuters) – Kofi Annan hints his peace plan for Syria is going nowhere, but divided world powers have yet to agree on other ideas for halting the carnage or coaxing President Bashar al-Assad into talks on his political demise.

Syrian rebels have abandoned any commitment to a ceasefire the U.N.-Arab League envoy declared on April 12. After an initial lull, Assad’s forces never respected the truce despite the watching eyes of a U.N. observer team now 300 strong.

LONDON (Reuters) – Kofi Annan hints his peace plan for Syria is going nowhere, but divided world powers have yet to agree on other ideas for halting the carnage or coaxing President Bashar al-Assad into talks on his political demise.

Syrian rebels have abandoned any commitment to a ceasefire the U.N.-Arab League envoy declared on April 12. After an initial lull, Assad’s forces never respected the truce despite the watching eyes of a U.N. observer team now 300 strong.

CAIRO (Reuters) – After six decades under the thumb of men from the military, Egyptians savour the novel experience this week of a presidential election whose outcome no one knows in advance.

They vote on Wednesday and Thursday for a leader to replace Hosni Mubarak, who was swept away 15 months ago by a popular revolt that ushered in a turbulent military-led transition and elections for a parliament now dominated by Islamists.

CAIRO/LONDON (Reuters) – Military police idly guard the gates of Egypt’s presidential palace in Heliopolis, built as a 400-room luxury hotel in 1910 and vacant since a popular uprising deposed Hosni Mubarak 15 months ago.

Egyptians, who never stormed in to gawk and plunder their fallen leader’s home as Tunisians and Libyans did last year, vote on May 23 and 24 for a new president, the latest stage of an uncertain transition guided bumpily by the military.

LONDON (Reuters) – Having crushed a popular uprising, he rules by force over an Arab land shattered by conflict and sanctions, his people too exhausted and cowed to resist.

Is this the fate awaiting Syria under Bashar al-Assad?

Saddam Hussein lasted for 12 years after his defeat in the 1991 Gulf War until a U.S.-led invasion unleashed chaos and carnage from which Iraq, for all its oil, has yet to recover.

LONDON (Reuters) – Having crushed a popular uprising, he rules by force over an Arab land shattered by conflict and sanctions, his people too exhausted and cowed to resist.

Is this the fate awaiting Syria under Bashar al-Assad?

Saddam Hussein lasted for 12 years after his defeat in the 1991 Gulf War until a U.S.-led invasion unleashed chaos and carnage from which Iraq, for all its oil, has yet to recover.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan feels his Syria mediation mission is on track even though violence still raged as he held talks with President Bashar al-Assad, his spokesman said on Monday.

Annan twice met Assad in Damascus, as well as opposition figures, at the weekend and saw Qatari leaders in Doha on Monday before heading to Turkey.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan held blunt talks with Bashar al-Assad this weekend but appeared to be making little headway, as the Syrian president blamed political bloodshed on “terrorists”.

Annan on Saturday made proposals on stopping the violence between security forces and the opposition in the year-old revolt against Assad, access for humanitarian agencies, release of detainees and the start of political dialogue.