CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s parliamentary speaker said the chamber would reconvene on Tuesday, risking a showdown with the army after the new, Islamist president defied the generals by quashing the dissolution of the legislature they had ordered last month.

Quoted by the state news agency on Monday, Saad al-Katatni, who like President Mohamed Mursi hails from the long-suppressed Muslim Brotherhood, said the lower house would sit from noon (0600 EDT) on Tuesday, overturning a court judgment and military order issued a month ago, before Mursi’s election.

CAIRO (Reuters) – A brawl at a meeting of the Syrian opposition this week in Cairo put on display the divisions among those struggling to oust President Bashar al-Assad and provides an excuse for world powers who have been wary of intervention to sit on their hands.

The row that spilled into the marble-lined corridors of a five-star Cairo hotel on Tuesday came at the end of a two-day meeting sponsored by the Arab League that had begun with appeals from Arab and Turkish ministers for a show of unity.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Arab states and Turkey urged Syria’s divided opposition on Monday to unite and form a credible alternative to the government of President Bashar al-Assad, but rifts swiftly emerged at talks in Cairo.

The unity calls were made at the opening of a two-day meeting organized by the Arab League to try to rally Syria’s opposition, which has been beset by in-fighting that diplomats say have made it tougher for the world to respond to the crisis.

CAIRO (Reuters) – In a day full of memorable images, none on Saturday was more powerful than that of Egypt’s first Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, flanked by generals at a military parade where he was formally handed authority to govern the nation.

For six decades, Mursi’s seat had been filled by presidents drawn from the ranks of the military. And for half that time, it was occupied by one man, Hosni Mubarak, a former air force chief who hounded and jailed members of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s Islamist President Mohamed Mursi opened his first public address after his inauguration on Saturday with the words “God is greatest, above everyone” and pledged to keep the country on a democratic course after Hosni Mubarak’s fall.

He spoke at Cairo University to ordinary people, politicians and generals. He told the latter they were now free to take their troops back to barracks to focus on national security.

CAIRO (Reuters) – A picture popular with protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square captures how many view the military man who has ruled Egypt since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown last year.

Half the face is of the ousted president juxtaposed to the other portion showing Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the 76-year-old who was Mubarak’s defence minister for 20 years.

CAIRO (Reuters) – A picture popular with protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square captures how many view the military man who has ruled Egypt since Hosni Mubarak was overthrown last year.

Half the face is of the ousted president juxtaposed to the other portion showing Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the 76-year-old who was Mubarak’s defense minister for 20 years.

AL-ADWA, Egypt (Reuters) – Water buffalo wander through the dirt roads of Mohamed Mursi’s village, less than two hours’ drive from the Cairo palace where Egypt’s Islamist president-elect has begun work.

Yet Mursi, unlike Hosni Mubarak, remains close to his humble Nile Delta roots and can perhaps bridge the gap between ruler and ruled that yawned so wide under his ousted predecessor.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Mohamed Mursi, Egypt’s first freely elected president whose powers have already been curbed by the army, began work on a coalition on Monday after touring his new palace, once home of Hosni Mubarak who banned his movement for three decades.

Declared winner on Sunday a week after a tumultuous run-off vote that pitted him against a former air force chief, the Islamist faces the challenge of meeting sky-high expectations in a nation tired of turmoil while the economy is on the ropes.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Islamist Mohamed Mursi, Egypt’s first freely elected president whose powers have been curbed by the military, toured his palatial new residence – where ousted leader Hosni Mubarak once lived – and began work on Monday to form a coalition government.

Declared winner on Sunday a week after a nail-biting run-off vote that pitted him against an ex-military officer, the Islamist faces the challenge of meeting sky-high expectations in a nation tired of turmoil while the economy is on the ropes.