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/GAZA, Nov 22 (Reuters) – A ceasefire between Israel
and Gaza’s Hamas rulers took hold on Thursday after eight days
of conflict, although deep mistrust on both sides cast doubt on
how long the Egyptian-sponsored deal can last.

Even after the ceasefire came into force late on Wednesday,
a dozen rockets from the Gaza Strip landed in Israel, all in
open areas, a police spokesman said. In Gaza, witnesses reported
an explosion shortly after the truce took effect at 9 p.m (1900
GMT), but there were no casualties and the cause was unclear.

CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) – A ceasefire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers took hold on Thursday after eight days of conflict, although deep mistrust on both sides cast doubt on how long the Egyptian-sponsored deal can last.

Even after the ceasefire came into force late on Wednesday, a dozen rockets from the Gaza Strip landed in Israel, all in open areas, a police spokesman said. In Gaza, witnesses reported an explosion shortly after the truce took effect at 9 p.m (1900 GMT), but there were no casualties and the cause was unclear.

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt reached a preliminary agreement on Tuesday with the International Monetary Fund for a $4.8 billion loan, a step seen as vital to shoring up the nation’s finances.

Investors who abandoned Egypt during the political turmoil that followed the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak last year have been looking to the IMF to give its seal of approval to the government’s economic program.

CAIRO, Nov 20 (Reuters) – Egypt reached a preliminary
agreement on Tuesday with the International Monetary Fund for a
$4.8 billion loan, a step seen as vital to shoring up the
nation’s finances.

Investors who abandoned Egypt during the political turmoil
that followed the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak last year have been
looking to the IMF to give its seal of approval to the
government’s economic programme.

CAIRO (Reuters) – The Coptic Orthodox church staged a ceremony rich in ritual on Sunday to install its pope, Tawadros II, who Christians hope will guide them through the new, Islamist-led Egypt.

The 60-year-old pope was picked on November 4 and the ceremony on Sunday filled with incense, elaborate robes and chanting marked his formal ascendance as the 118th leader of the church.

CAIRO (Reuters) – A group of technical advisers helping to write Egypt’s new constitution resigned on Saturday, saying they would draw up a draft of their own because their voices were not being heard, state news agency MENA said.

The resignations further complicate a drafting process delayed by bickering among Islamists and liberals, raising doubts whether the document would be ready by a December 12 deadline.

CAIRO, Nov 17 (Reuters) – Arab foreign ministers will
consider on Saturday a draft statement that calls for the Arab
League chief to lead a delegation to Gaza and supports Egypt’s
efforts to negotiate a truce, an Arab diplomatic source said.

But ministers meeting at the Cairo-based headquarters said
Arab states had to take practical steps to support Palestinians
in Gaza. Israel launched a massive air campaign on Wednesday.

CAIRO/PARIS (Reuters) – France became the first European power to recognize Syria’s new opposition coalition as the sole representative of its people and said on Tuesday it would look into arming rebels against President Bashar al-Assad once they form a government.

Twenty months into their bloody uprising against Assad, fragmented Syrian opposition groups struck a deal in Qatar on Sunday to form a broad coalition and their leader immediately appealed for European backing.