CAIRO, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Islamist President Mohamed Mursi
is waging a high-stakes battle with Egypt’s judges, many of them
foes of his Muslim Brotherhood, which is bent on purging a
judiciary seen as tainted by appointees of ousted leader Hosni
Mubarak.

Judges called strikes and top courts halted work in protest
at Mursi’s decree last week that extended his powers and put his
actions temporarily above legal challenge to try to speed up
democratic transition in the Arab world’s most populous nation.

CAIRO, Nov 30 (Reuters) – An Islamist-led assembly raced
through approval of a new constitution for Egypt on Friday to
end a crisis over President Mohamed Mursi’s newly expanded
powers, but opponents responded with another rally in Cairo
against the Islamist leader.

“The people want to bring down the regime,” they chanted in
Tahrir Square, where hundreds had gathered, echoing the chants
that rang out in the same place less than two years ago and
brought down Hosni Mubarak.

CAIRO, Nov 28 (Reuters) – Hundreds of demonstrators were in
Cairo’s Tahrir Square for a sixth day on Wednesday, demanding
that President Mohamed Mursi rescind a decree they say gives him
dictatorial powers, while two of Egypt’s top courts stopped work
in protest.

Five months into the Islamist leader’s term, and in scenes
reminiscent of the popular uprising that unseated predecessor
Hosni Mubarak last year, police fired teargas at stone-throwers
following protests by tens of thousands on Tuesday against the
declaration that expanded Mursi’s powers and put his decisions
beyond legal challenge.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Hundreds of protesters were in Cairo’s Tahrir Square for a sixth day on Wednesday, demanding that Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi rescind a decree they say gives him dictatorial powers.

Five months into the Islamist leader’s term, and in scenes reminiscent of the popular uprising that unseated predecessor Hosni Mubarak last year, police fired teargas at stone-throwers following protests by tens of thousands on Tuesday against the declaration that expanded Mursi’s powers and put his decisions beyond legal challenge.

Nov 27 (Reuters) – Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris is used to
ruffling feathers and making headlines.

He was up to both on Tuesday, provoking shareholders at
Telecom Italia with proposals to make himself a
significant shareholder at half the price they might want, while
the political party he co-founded prepared for protests against
Egypt’s president.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Opponents of President Mohamed Mursi rallied in Cairo’s Tahrir Square for a fifth day on Tuesday, stepping up calls to scrap a decree they say threatens Egypt with a new era of autocracy.

The protest called by leftist, liberal and socialist groups marks an escalation of the worst crisis since the Muslim Brotherhood politician was elected in June and exposes the deep divide between newly empowered Islamists and their opponents.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Opponents of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi will press ahead with a protest on Tuesday to demand the scrapping of a decree extending his powers, rejecting the Islamist’s attempt to defuse a crisis that has brought violence back to Cairo’s streets.

Mursi was accused of giving himself the powers of a modern-day pharaoh when he issued the decree last week that prevents legal challenges to any decision he takes until a new parliament is elected.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Protesters are back in Tahrir Square and the new president is in the firing line, but the military that until earlier this year was at the center of Egypt’s turbulent politics is staying out — and is likely to keep it that way.

The army has kept a low political profile since President Mohamed Mursi sacked top generals in August, including Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi who led the military council that was in charge of a 16-month transition after Hosni Mubarak’s overthrow.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi meets senior judges on Monday to try to ease a crisis over his seizure of new powers which has set off violent protests reminiscent of the revolution last year that brought his Islamist movement to power.

The protesters, some camped in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, have said only retracting his decree will satisfy them, a sign of the deep rift between Islamists and their opponents that is destabilizing Egypt two years after Hosni Mubarak was ousted.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Prominent opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei said on Saturday there could be no dialogue with Egypt’s president until he scrapped a “dictatorial” decree that he said gave the Islamist leader Mohamed Mursi the powers of a pharaoh.

The presidential decree issued on Thursday by Mursi, elected in June with the Muslim Brotherhood behind him, expanded his powers and caused fury amongst his opponents, prompting violent clashes in central Cairo and other cities on Friday.