Egypt 2012

Egypt 2012
==========
 
2012   
     Jan 4, Egyptians voted again in the final round of a phased election to choose the first parliament since a popular uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak in February last year.
    (AFP, 1/4/12)
 
2012   
     Jan 7, Egypt's two main Islamist parties claimed to have together taken 62.2 percent of the vote in the final stage of a general election, maintaining their lead in the overall contest.
    (AFP, 1/7/12)
 
2012   
     Jan 11, Egypt called off an annual Jewish festival in the Nile Delta, which draws Israeli pilgrims every year to the tomb of holy man Abu Hassira (Abi Hasira, aka Yaakov Abuhatzeira), a renowned religious figure from Morocco, who fell ill and died in Damanhur, Egypt, in 1880.
    (AFP, 1/11/12)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damanhur)
 
 
2012   
     Jan 11, Clashes between Egyptian troops and Bedouin in the Suez district east of Cairo killed three people as military police tried to evict the Bedouin from state-owned land.
    (AFP, 1/11/12)
 
2012   
     Jan 14, Egyptian telecom magnate Naguib Sawiris, a billionaire Coptic Christian who founded the liberal Free Egyptians party, faced trial for tweeting a cartoon of Mickey Mouse with a beard and Minnie Mouse in a face veil, joking that the cartoon characters would be forced to dress conservatively if Islamists took power. The trial was delayed as Sawiris failed to show.
    (AFP, 1/9/12)(AFP, 1/14/12)
 
 
2012   
    Jan 14, Egypt's reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei (69) said he is pulling out of the country's presidential race to protest the military's failure to put the country on the path to democracy.
    (AP, 1/14/12)
 
2012   
     Jan 16, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, the big winner in the first election since the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak last February, said it has joined several other parties in backing Saad el-Katatni. He's the secretary-general of the Brotherhood's own party.
    (AP, 1/16/12)
 
2012   
    Jan 18, In Egypt assailants attacked Nawara Negm, a prominent activist, as she left work at Cairo's Nileside state television headquarters. She said the beating took place while scores of policemen and army soldiers assigned to the protection of the TV building stood by and watched. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, delivered a thinly veiled warning to anti-military activists planning a wave of protests to mark the Jan. 25 anniversary of the start of the uprising.
    (AP, 1/19/12)
 
2012   
    Jan 19, Egypt’s Al-Ahram newspaper reported that a safe containing radioactive material was stolen from a site in Al-Dabaa, on the Mediterranean coast. The low-level radioactive material was stolen from a laboratory at a construction site for a nuclear power plant that is not yet operational. A day later the Al-Akhbar newspaper said that the experts who toured the site a day earlier found "no evidence of any theft of radioactive material" or any radioactive leakage.
    (AFP, 1/19/12)
 
2012   
     Jan 23, Egypt's parliament met for the first time since a popular uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak. The parliament elected Saad al-Katatni, a leading member of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, as speaker. The exact role of parliament remained unclear, with power remaining in the hands of the generals who took power from former president Mubarak.
    (AFP, 1/23/12)
 
2012     
   Jan 24, Egypt's military ruler decreed a partial lifting of the nation's hated emergency laws, saying the draconian laws will remain applicable to crimes committed by "thugs." This would become effective Jan 25, the first anniversary of the start of the popular uprising that toppled longtime authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak.
    (AP, 1/24/12)
 
2012   
    Jan 25, Tens of thousands of Egyptians rallied to mark the first anniversary of the country's 2011 uprising, with liberals and Islamists gathering on different sides of Cairo's Tahrir Square. The ruling generals have declared Jan. 25 a national holiday to mark the occasion. Previously, Jan. 25 was Police Day.
    (AP, 1/25/12)
 
2012   
     Jan 26, It was reported that Egypt has banned the son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and a number of other Americans from leaving the country as tensions rise over moves by Egyptian authorities to restrict the work of international rights organizations. LaHood's organizations was one of 10 raided last month by Egyptian authorities, who said they sought to determine if the groups were operating legally.
    (AP, 1/26/12)
 
2012   
     Jan 27, In Egypt protesters marched to Cairo's Tahrir Square to join thousands there demanding democratic change. Today’s rallies marked a year since the army was deployed to control the deadly protests calling for an end to Mubarak's regime. Muslim Brotherhood supporters and secular protesters hurled bottles and rocks at each other and got into fistfights in Tahrir Square.
    (AFP, 1/27/12)(AP, 1/27/12)
 
2012   
    Jan 29, Egyptians voted for the upper house of parliament, in elections that are the latest step in the country's planned transition from military to civilian rule. Voting took place in 13 provinces for the first stage of elections for the largely advisory Shura Council. A second stage will take place on Feb. 14-15.
    (AP, 1/29/12)
 
2012  
      Jan 30, In Egypt 7 gunmen charged into the New Cairo branch of HSBC Bank on the city's outskirts, firing their weapons in the air, and took money from tellers. 3 gunmen robbed an armored car as it unloaded money at another bank in southern Cairo, fleeing with over 3 million Egyptian pounds ($542,000 dollars).
    (AP, 1/30/12)
 
2012   
     Jan 31, Egypt's newly elected lawmakers took aim at the country's military rulers Tuesday, accusing them of trampling on democratic norms and overstepping their powers by passing laws, including a crucial one regulating presidential elections. Several hundred protesters rallied outside parliament, calling on lawmakers to press the military rulers to hold speedier and fair trials for former regime officials and settle retribution claims by the families of those killed during protests.
    (AP, 1/31/12)
 
 
2012  
      Jan 31, Egyptian Bedouins took 25 Chinese factory workers hostage in the northern Sinai Peninsula. The group demanded the release of militants jailed for a 2005 bombing in Sharm el-Sheikh at the tip of the Egyptian Sinai. All 25 workers were released by the next day.
    (AFP, 1/31/12)(AFP, 2/1/12)
 
2012  
      Feb 1, In Egypt fans from the local Al-Masry team in Port Said chased supporters of the visiting Al-Ahly soccer club with knives, clubs and stones. Hundreds fled into the exit corridor, only to be crushed against a locked gate, their rivals attacking from behind. The Interior Ministry said 74 people died, including one police officer, and 248 were injured, 14 of them police.
    (AP, 2/2/12)
 
2012   
     Feb 2, Egyptians ranging from soccer fans to lawmakers blamed the country's military rulers for a bloody post-match riot as anger mounted over the failure of police to stop the violence. PM Kamal el-Ganzouri dissolved the Egyptian Soccer Federation's board and referred its members for questioning by prosecutors.
    (AP, 2/2/12)
 
 
2012     
   Feb 2, The World Bank said Egypt has asked for a $1.0 billion loan to help it rebuild its economy.
    (AFP, 2/2/12)
 
 
2012   
    Feb 3, In Egypt Bedouin gunmen intercepted a tourist minivan and snatched two female American tourists and their Egyptian guide at gunpoint near St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula. They were released unharmed after several hours. 4 masked gunmen stopped the vehicle of two Italians working for a local food factory in the nearby city of Suez, taking their car, more than 10,000 euros ($13,000) and their laptops. Police in Cairo fired salvos of tear gas and birdshot at protesters angry over a deadly soccer riot as fresh clashes on Egyptian streets killed 5 people. 6 more died of the wounds over the next 24 hours.
    (AP, 2/3/12)(AFP, 2/3/12)(AP, 2/4/12)
 
 
2012   
     Feb 4, In Egypt protesters faced off with police in Cairo for a third day in deadly clashes sparked by anger at the failure of military rulers to prevent football-linked violence that left scores dead.
    (AFP, 2/4/12)
 
2012   
     Feb 5, Egyptian investigating judges referred 44 NGO workers, including 19 Americans, to trial before a criminal court for allegedly being involved in banned activities and illegally receiving foreign funds. The decision also slapped a travel ban on all those referred to trial. The military rulers faced mounting pressure on two fronts, with a fourth day of violent street protests spearheading calls to speed up the transfer of power to a civilian administration and the US threatening to cut more than a billion dollars in badly needed aid. Since Feb 2 twelve people have been killed in Cairo and Suez
    (AP, 2/5/12)(AFP, 2/5/12)
 
2012   
    Feb 6, In Egypt a 5th day of clashes with police continued outside Cairo's security headquarters in the wake of deadly football violence and calls by activists for civil disobedience. At least one protester was killed.
    (AFP, 2/6/12)
 
 
2012   
    Feb 8, An Egyptian production company said "the student members of the Muslim Brotherhood at Ain Shams University had prevented the film crew from the 'Dhat' TV series from shooting the scenes set at the university." The series, adapted from the novel "Dhat" by Egyptian author Sonallah Ibrahim, takes place in the 1970s, "when women wore short clothing."
    (AFP, 2/9/12)
 
2012     
   Feb 10, In Egypt hundreds of protesters marched to the defense ministry in Cairo demanding the military rulers' ouster, on the eve of a planned civil disobedience campaign to mark Hosni Mubarak's overthrow a year ago. Armed tribesmen kidnapped three South Korean tourists and their Egyptian guide in the Sinai peninsula. All 4 were released the next day and plan to continue their tour.
    (AFP, 2/10/12)(AP, 2/10/12)(AFP, 2/12/12)
 
2012   
    Feb 11, In Egypt student activists held strikes to mark a year since they toppled Hosni Mubarak, leaving an increasingly unpopular and defiant military in charge. The planned day of civil disobedience and strikes saw only a small turnout.
    (AFP, 2/11/12)
 
2012   
    Feb 12, In Egypt a UN freelance consultant was fatally shot in the head while driving through an upscale Cairo neighborhood in a random daytime shooting. She was a consultant with the women's fund at the United Nations in Cairo and also worked at a medical lab.
    (AP, 2/12/12)
 
 
2012   
     Feb 12, The Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo adopted a draft resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Syria and called on the UN Security Council to pass a resolution creating a joint peacekeeping force for Syria. Al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri threw the terror network's support behind Syrian rebels trying to topple President Bashar Assad. Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby accepted the resignation of Gen. Mohammed Ahmed Al-Dabi, the head of the Syrian observer mission, and nominated former Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdullah al-Khatib as the new envoy.
    (AP, 2/12/12)
 
2012   
    Feb 17, Thousands of Egyptians rallied in the Mediterranean city of Port Said, saying that its residents were not behind a deadly soccer riot earlier this month that killed 74 people.
    (AP, 2/17/12)
 
2012        Feb 18, A Palestinian official in Gaza said Egypt has promised to provide diesel fuel for the Gaza Strip's sole power plant, which went down Feb 14 after running out of fuel.
    (AFP, 2/18/12)
 
2012   
     Feb 19, Egypt said it was withdrawing its ambassador to Syria, the latest Arab country to scale back its relations with the embattled regime in Damascus.
    (AP, 2/19/12)
 
2012   
     Feb 23, In Egypt Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh, a leading Islamist and presidential hopeful, suffered a concussion after a carjacking attack on a highway to Cairo.
    (AP, 2/24/12)
 
2012   
    Feb 28, Egyptians voted the Shura Council, a feeble upper house of parliament. Voter turnout shrank to 6.5%.
    (Econ, 3/10/12, p.58)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shura_Council)
 
 
2012   
     Feb 28, In Egypt all three judges pulled out of the trial of 43 pro-democracy workers, including 16 Americans, throwing into question the case that has ripped US-Egypt relations.
    (AP, 2/29/12)
 
2012   
     Feb 29, Egypt announced that 7 American pro-democracy workers, accused of instigating unrest, are free to leave the country. 9 other Americans up for trial had had already left the country. Altogether 15 NGO suspects left the country after each defendant had paid two million pounds (roughly $330,000/247,000 euros) in bail.
    (SFC, 3/1/12, p.A2)(AFP, 3/1/12)
 
 
2012   
    Feb 29, Saudi Arabia said that it would honor a pledge of $3.75 billion in aid to Egypt, after complaints by the Egyptian premier that donor countries were failing to respect their commitments.
    (AFP, 2/29/12)
 
2012   
    Mar 3, Egyptian lawmakers clashed over who should have the right to draft the country's constitution, in a heated debate focusing on the influence of Islamists on the crucial document and how religiously conservative Egypt will be.
    (AP, 3/3/12)
 
 
2012   
    Mar 3, A Cairo court dismissed a complaint against Christian tycoon Naguib Sawaris accused of insulting Islam with a cartoon of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in conservative Muslim garb. Hardline Islamist lawyer and MP Mamduh Ismail said he would appeal.
    (AFP, 3/3/12)
 
2012   
     Mar 5, In Egypt the ultra conservative Islamist party al-Nur said Islamist MP Anwar al-Bilkimy has been forced to resign from parliament and from his party after claiming that he was injured in a carjacking, when he had in fact had a nose job.
    (AFP, 3/5/12)
 
 
2012   
     Mar 5, Egyptian security officials said the number of weapons smuggled into Egypt across the Libyan border is on the increase, with thousands of weapons flooding into the country. Residents of southern Egypt, where extended families often accumulate large arsenals to protect property and settle feuds, were the main buyers. Security officials said militants have again blown up a gas pipeline in the Sinai peninsula that transports fuel to Israel.
    (AP, 3/5/12)(SFC, 3/6/12, p.A2)
 
2012   
    Mar 7, In Egypt the Cairo Criminal Court acquitted policeman Mohammed Abdel-Moneim, who was sentenced to death for shooting 20 protesters on Jan. 28 last year in front of a Cairo police station. The court did not give reasons for its ruling.
    (AP, 3/7/12)
 
2012   
     Mar 8, In Egypt a trial against foreign non-profit groups reopened. Robert Becker, the last American facing criminal charges in the trial, appeared in court. 15 other Americans had already left Egypt, but Becker chose to stay and face charges.
    (SFC, 3/9/12, p.A2)
 
2012   
     Mar 10, Arab and Russian foreign ministers meeting in Cairo called for an end to the violence in Syria "whatever its source," as they struggled try to find common ground on ways to resolve the deadly conflict. Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani said that it was time to send Arab and foreign troops to Syria.
    (AFP, 3/10/12)
 
2012   
     Mar 12, Egyptian police said 10 people were killed when the soil caved in on them as they were illegally digging for ancient treasures under a house in the village of Arab al-Manasra, north of Luxor.
    (AFP, 3/12/12)
 
2012   
     Mar 15, Egypt's top prosecutor charged 75 people in connection with the deadly Feb 1 soccer riot last month in the Mediterranean city of Port Said in which authorities said fans were thrown to their death off the stadium walls and others killed by explosives as they tried to flee.
    (AP, 3/15/12)
 
2012   
     Mar 16, Hundreds of Egyptian activists rallied in Cairo, lambasting a recent military tribunal ruling that cleared a military doctor of charges he forced a "virginity test" on female activists.
    (AP, 3/17/12)
 
2012   
     Mar 17, In Egypt Pope Shenouda III (b.1923), the patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church since 1971, died. He led Egypt's Christian minority for 40 years during a time of increasing tensions with Muslims.
    (AP, 3/18/12)
 
2012   
    Mar 19, An Egyptian military court acquitted Mohammed al-Zawahiri, the brother of Al-Qaeda's leader Ayman, overturning a death sentence in a new trial. The trial also acquitted several other former militants including Sayyed Imam Fadl, once the spiritual leader of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and mentor of Ayman al-Zawahiri.
    (AFP, 3/19/12)
 
2012   
    Mar 20, A Egyptian court in Cairo gave suspended one-year sentences to 11 policemen accused of killing 22 protesters and wounding 44 others during last year’s uprising that ousted Pres. Mubarek.
    (SFC, 3/21/12, p.A2)
 
2012   
    Mar 22, A dispute between Egypt and Gaza's Hamas government has produced the worst energy crisis here in years: Gazans are enduring 18-hour-a-day blackouts, fuel is running low for hospital backup generators, raw sewage pours into the Mediterranean Sea for lack of treatment pumps and gas stations have shut down. The Gaza power plant shut down on Feb. 10 and has been mostly offline since.
    (AP, 3/22/12)
 
2012 
       Mar 23, Egyptian officials reached an agreement with Israel to permit the transfer of fuel to enable Gaza's sole power plant to function. Some 450,000 liters of fuel were delivered to the crisis-hit Gaza Strip through Israel's Kerem Shalom border crossing.
    (AFP, 3/23/12)
 
2012     
   Mar 23, The Obama administration said it would resume military aid to Egypt.
    (SFC, 3/24/12, p.A2)
 
2012   
     Mar 24, Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament and senate began meeting to elect a panel to draft a new constitution amid calls by liberal groups for protests against Islamist influence over the charter.
    (AFP, 3/24/12)
 
2012   
     Mar 24, Egyptian soldiers and police clashed overnight with thousands of angry soccer fans in a Suez Canal city over the suspension of their club following a deadly riot last month. One teenager was reported killed with a gunshot to the back.
    (AP, 3/24/12)
 
2012   
     Mar 25, Egypt's newly empowered Islamists have tightened their grip, giving themselves a majority on a 100-member panel tasked with drafting a constitution that will define the shape of the government in the post-Hosni Mubarak era. The panel will have nearly 60 Islamists, including 37 legislators selected the day before by parliament's two chambers.
    (AP, 3/25/12)
 
2012  
      Mar 26, In Egypt two prominent liberal politicians pulled out from a panel tasked with drafting a new constitution after Islamists won a majority of seats on the body. The 100-member panel selected over the weekend includes nearly 60 Islamists and only six women and six minority Christians.
    (AP, 3/26/12)
 
2012   
    Mar 26, In Egypt 3 people were killed and a dozen others injured when a tugboat engine exploded in the Suez Canal. Movement in the vital waterway was not affected.
    (AFP, 3/26/12)
 
2012   
    Mar 27, In Egypt liberal and leftist parties announced that they have pulled out of a panel drafting Egypt's new constitution, accusing Islamists of monopolizing the process that will deliver the country's post-revolution charter. Cairo's Administrative Court began looking into the legitimacy of the constitutional panel after lawsuits were filed by several legal experts who argue that the constitution cannot be drafted by those whose role it will define
    (AFP, 3/27/12)
 
2012   
     Mar 28, In Egypt members of a controversial panel tasked with drafting a new constitution elected Muslim Brotherhood member Saad al-Katatni, currently the speaker of parliament, to head the committee.
    (AFP, 3/28/12)
 
2012     
   Mar 29, Egyptian political parties reached an agreement to boost their representation in a disputed constitutional panel dominated by Islamists. 14 parties, including the main Islamist ones, supported the compromise and five opposed.
    (AFP, 3/29/12)
 
2012   
     Mar 30, In Egypt dozens of anti-military activists tore down a wall in central Cairo erected by the military in December to end bloody clashes with protesters.
    (AFP, 3/30/12)
 
2012   
    Mar 31, Five Egyptian Copts, including two teenage girls, were crushed to death at the tomb of their spiritual leader Pope Shenuda III who died last week. Monastery officials had allowed visitors to visit Shenuda's tomb, prompting a rush to the desert monastery.
    (AFP, 3/31/12)
 
2012     
   Apr 2, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported that the Coptic Orthodox church has decided to boycott a Islamist-dominated panel charged with drafting the future constitution.
    (AFP, 4/2/12)
 
2012   
    Apr 5, Egyptian security forces and military aircraft searched south-eastern Sinai for militants believed to be behind a rocket launch against Israel. A rocket fired from Egypt's Sinai desert hit the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat early today There were no injuries.
    (AP, 4/5/12)
 
2012   
     Apr 10, An Egyptian court suspended a 100-member panel selected by lawmakers from the Islamist-dominated parliament and tasked with drafting the country's new constitution. The verdict referred the case to a panel of senior judges to look into the legality of the panel.
    (AP, 4/10/12)
 
2012  
      Apr 10, In Egypt residents blocked a motorway on the Libyan border to protest security restrictions on cross-border traffic and increased tariffs for lorries. Security forces intervened, leading to clashes that left two people dead and four injured.
    (AFP, 4/11/12)
 
2012     
   Apr 11, In Egypt Salafist politician Hazem Abu Ismail looked set to rejoin the presidential race after a court ruled that his mother was not a US citizen.
    (AFP, 4/11/12)
 
2012   
    Apr 12, Egypt’s Islamist-dominated parliament passed a new bill stripping senior Mubarak regime figures, such as ex-spy chief Omar Suleiman, from the right to run for office for the next 10 years. The ruling military council must ratify the bill before it can go into effect.
    (AP, 4/13/12)
 
2012   
    Apr 13, In Egypt thousands of Islamists packed Cairo's Tahrir Square to pressure the country's ruling generals to bar Hosni Mubarak-era officials, including his former spy chief, from running in the upcoming presidential elections.
    (AP, 4/13/12)
 
2012   
     Apr 14, Egypt's election commission disqualified 10 presidential hopefuls, including Hosni Mubarak's former spy chief and fundamentalist Islamists, from running in the race for the country's first post-revolutionary leader.
    (AP, 4/15/12)
 
2012   
     Apr 15, In Egypt Islamist militants driving vehicles mounted with machine guns opened fire on a police checkpoint in the Sinai peninsula, killing two policemen and injuring a third. In the port city of Suez, one person died and 24 were injured during a fire that raged for nearly 20 hours in the storage facilities of an oil company.
    (AP, 4/15/12)
 
2012   
     Apr 17, Egypt’s electoral commission on technical grounds barred 10 of 23 presidential candidates.
    (Econ, 4/21/12, p.62)
 
2012   
    Apr 17, A prominent Egyptian human rights lawyer, Ahmed el-Gezawi, was arrested upon his arrival in the Saudi port of Jiddah. He was on his way to perform a minor pilgrimage. El-Gezawi had earlier filed a lawsuit in Egypt against King Abdullah over the alleged arbitrary detention of hundreds of Egyptians living in the kingdom. A rights group said he has criticized the monarch in television interviews.
    (AP, 4/24/12)
 
2012   
     Apr 20, In Egypt tens of thousands of protesters packed Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square in the biggest demonstration in months against the ruling military. But the crowds in Tahrir were divided between rival groups with differing complaints and goals.
    (AP, 4/20/12)
 
2012     
   Apr 22, Egypt said it had scrapped the 2005 gas export deal with Israel, which generates 40 percent of its electricity from natural gas, with Egypt providing 43 percent of its gas supplies. The balance comes from Israel's own Yam Thetis offshore gas field. East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG), which exports the gas to Israel, said it was cancelled because the Israeli company failed to respect conditions stipulated in the contract.
    (AFP, 4/23/12)
 
2012   
    Apr 23, Egyptian authorities said they have denied permission to eight American nonprofit groups to operate locally, including a center headed by former President Jimmy Carter that monitors elections.
    (AP, 4/23/12)
 
2012  
      Apr 24, An Egyptian court upheld a conviction against popular comedian Adel Imam (71) for offending Islam in some of his most popular films. He was sentenced to 3 months in jail and fined around $170. On Sep 12 an appeals court said the lawyer was not personally harmed by the movies and had no standing to sue.
    (SFC, 4/25/12, p.A2)(AP, 9/12/12)
 
2012   
     Apr 24, Hundreds of Egyptians noisily protested outside the Saudi Embassy to demand the release of an Egyptian human rights lawyer detained on April 17 in Saudi Arabia for allegedly insulting the kingdom's monarch.
    (AP, 4/24/12)
 
2012   
     Apr 26, Egypt's election commission released a final list of 13 candidates eligible to run in the May 23-24 presidential elections.
    (AP, 4/26/12)
 
2012     
   Apr 28, In Egypt reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei launched the Constitution Party, a new political party that he said aims to unite Egyptians and save the country's revolution from a messy democratic transition. Assailants attacked demonstrators gathered outside the Defense Ministry in Cairo to call for an end to military rule with rocks and firebombs, killing one protester and wounding 30.
    (AP, 4/28/12)(AP, 4/29/12)
 
2012   
     Apr 28, Saudi Arabia's official news agency said the kingdom has closed its embassy and consulates in Egypt and recalled its ambassador following protests over a detained Egyptian human rights lawyer Ahmed el-Gezawi.
    (AP, 4/28/12)
 
2012   
    Apr 29, Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament decided to suspend sessions for a week in protest at the ruling military refusing to sack the government and name the Muslim Brotherhood's party to head a new one. One person was killed and 119 injured in clashes between Abu Ismail supporters and residents of the Abbassiya neighborhood in Cairo, where the defense ministry is located.
    (AFP, 4/29/12)(AFP, 5/2/12)

2012     
   May 2, In Egypt suspected supporters of the military rulers attacked predominantly Islamist anti-government protesters outside the Defense Ministry in Cairo, setting off clashes that left 20 dead as political tensions rise three weeks before crucial presidential elections.
    (AFP, 5/2/12)

2012   
    May 4, In Egypt thousands rallied against the country's ruling military council, two days after a flare-up of street violence left at least nine dead and fueled a wave of Islamist-led opposition to the generals ahead of presidential elections. Military prosecutors detained some 320 Egyptian protesters following clashes outside the country's Defense Ministry. Two people were reported killed and over 300 people injured.
    (AP, 5/4/12)(AFP, 5/5/12)

2012 
       May 5, Egypt's military ruler attended an unprecedented public funeral for a soldier killed in clashes with protesters. The army decided to hold 179 people, including 13 women, for 15 days pending investigation.
    (AFP, 5/5/12)

2012   
     May 6, Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament approved a ban on the country's next president from sending civilians for trial by military tribunals, but preserving that power for the military itself.
    (AP, 5/6/12)

2012   
    May 7, In Egypt investigating judges sent 293 people to trial on charges related to protests last December that left 14 people dead in 4 days of clashes.
    (SFC, 5/8/12, p.A2)

2012   
    May 8, An Egyptian court upheld a one-year prison sentence for prominent activist Asmaa Mahfouz for assaulting a witness in an ongoing trial over a deadly clash between soldiers and Christians. She was in the United States and unable to attend the sentencing.
    (AFP, 5/8/12)

2012   
    May 11, Egyptian expatriates voted to replace ousted leader Hosni Mubarak in what were hoped to be the first genuinely contested presidential elections in the country's history. The general election begins May 23.
    (AP, 5/11/12)

2012     
   May 17, In Egypt a Cairo court found 14 policemen not guilty in the killing of protesters during last year’s popular uprising. They were among 200 security officers and former regime officials facing trial for the deaths of nearly 850 protesters.
    (SFC, 5/18/12, p.A2)

2012   
     May 17, Algerian singer Warda al-Jazairia (72), the Algerian Rose, died in Cairo. She was a regional icon whose powerful patriotic tunes were matched in popularity by her romantic ballads. She performed for presidents and popular audiences, reinventing herself over the decades to appeal to old and young alike.
    (AFP, 5/18/12)

2012   
     May 19, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development approved investment of 1.0 billion euros for expansion into north Africa and the Middle East under its first British president, Suma Chakrabarti, who a day earlier replaced Thomas Mirow from Germany. The EBRD is planning to invest specifically in Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan.
    (AFP, 5/19/12)

2012   
     May 21, An Egyptian court sentenced 12 Christians to life in prison and acquitted 8 Muslims in relations to the April, 2010, strife in Minya province that left 2 Muslims dead.
    (SFC, 5/22/12, p.A2)

2012   
    May 22, An Egyptian court sentenced five policemen to 10 years in prison in absentia for killing protesters, in a rare conviction of security officials accused of using deadly force against the demonstrations that overthrew Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Out of the 17 defendants who appeared before the Giza Criminal Court, two others received one-year suspended sentences while ten other policemen were acquitted.
    (AP, 5/22/12)

2012  
      May 23, Egyptians voted in presidential elections for the first time in generations. A field of 13 candidates ran in the 2-day vote. This first run was not expected to produce an outright winner. A runoff between the two top vote-getters will be held June 16-17.
    (AP, 5/23/12)

2012     
   May 25, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood predicted its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, would face former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, a veteran of Mubarak's rule, in a runoff to be held on June 16-17. Counts from stations around the country reported by the state news agency gave Mohammed Morsi 25.3% and Ahmed Shafiq 24.9% with less than 100,000 votes difference.
    (AP, 5/25/12)(AP, 5/26/12)

2012   
    May 26, Egyptian presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq (70) paid tribute to the "glorious revolution" that toppled Hosni Mubarak. Shafiq, the last prime minister to serve under Mubarak, vowed there would be no "recreation of the old regime" as he prepared to face off against Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in a runoff on June 16-17.
    (AP, 5/26/12)

2012   
    May 27, An Egyptian criminal court convicted Zakaria Azmi, Hosni Mubarak's chief of staff, of corruption and sentenced him to seven years in prison. He was also fined 36.3 million pounds ($6 million).
    (AP, 5/27/12)

2012   
    May 29, In Egypt final election results showed that that Mohammed Morsi won close to 5.8 million votes, or almost 25%, while Ahmed Shafiq garnered 5.5 million votes, or nearly 24%. Finishing third was leftist candidate Hamdeen Sabahi with 4.8 million votes, or about 21%.
    (AP, 5/29/12)

2012   
     May 30, In Egypt Hosni Mubarak's two sons were accused with insider trading in a new case. 7 others were also accused of conspiring to stealthily buy a controlling 80 percent stake in Al Watany Bank of Egypt without declaring their share to the stock market authority.
A criminal court convicted and sentenced to five years in prison a policeman for his part in the shooting death of 18 protesters on January 28, 2011, the bloodiest day of Egypt’s uprising.
    (AP, 5/31/12)

2012   
    May 31, Egypt's notorious emergency law, in force since 1981, lapsed at the end of a two-year extension passed by ousted President Hosni Mubarak's parliament.
    (AP, 5/31/12)

2012   
    Jun 2, In Egypt Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison for failing to stop the killing of protesters during the uprising that forced him from power last year. His former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, who was in charge of the police and other security forces at the time of the uprising, was also convicted of failing to act to stop the killings. The ousted president and his sons were acquitted, however, of corruption charges in a mixed verdict that swiftly provoked a new wave of anger on Egypt's streets.
    (AP, 6/2/12)

2012   
    Jun 3, In Egypt hundreds of people occupied Cairo's Tahrir Square after a night of rage against what they feel are lenient sentences given to ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak and his security chiefs.
    (AFP, 6/3/12)

2012   
    Jun 5, Egyptians in their hundreds began gathering in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square ahead of a mass demonstration to protest against verdicts handed down in ex-president Hosni Mubarak's murder trial.
    (AFP, 6/5/12)

2012     
   Jun 8, In Egypt a mob of hundreds of men assaulted women holding a march demanding an end to sexual harassment, with the attackers overwhelming the male guardians and groping and molesting several of the female marchers in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
    (AP, 6/8/12)

2012   
    Jun 14, Egypt's highest court ruled that former PM Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister to serve under Hosni Mubarak, can stay in the presidential race and that a third of lawmakers in parliament were illegally elected, forcing a re-vote in a potential blow to Islamists who dominate the legislature.
    (AP, 6/14/12)

2012   
    Jun 15, Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood warned that a court ruling to dissolve the Islamist-led parliament and let Hosni Mubarak's former prime minister run for president is a move toward reversing the gains of the revolution.
    (AP, 6/15/12)

2012   
    Jun 16, Egyptians entered their latest round of elections in a race between Ahmed Shafiq, a career air force officer, and the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi. The two-day balloting will produce Egypt's first president since the ouster of Mubarak. The military told parliament it has been dissolved and banned its members from entering the house after a court annulled the last legislative poll.
    (AP, 6/16/12)(AFP, 6/16/12)

2012   
    Jun 17, Egyptians voted for a 2nd day in a presidential runoff pitting Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister against a conservative Islamist. Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood took nearly 52% of the vote to defeat Mubarak's last PM Ahmed Shafiq with about 48%. The military council issued an interim constitution just as polls were closing that gave the generals sweeping authority to maintain their grip on power and subordinate the nominal head of state. The interim constitution declared the military rulers the country's lawmakers in lieu of the dissolved parliament, gave them control over the budget and the power to determine who writes the permanent constitution that will define the country's future.
    (AP, 6/17/12)(AP, 6/18/12)

2012   
    Jun 18, In Egypt Ahmed Shafiq angrily dismissed claims of victory by his rival Mohammed Mursi, accusing the Muslim Brotherhood candidate of using false figures. Official results were not expected until June 21.
    (AFP, 6/18/12)

2012   
     Jun 18, Israel carried out an air strike on northern Gaza, killing two Palestinians who were identified by local witnesses as members of the radical Islamic Jihad movement. Hours earlier a group of militants, who sneaked across the Egyptian border, killed an Israeli civilian sparking a firefight which left at least two gunmen dead.
    (AFP, 6/18/12)

2012   
     Jun 19, Egypt's Hosni Mubarak (84) suffered a stroke in prison and was put on life support. State news initially said Mubarek was “clinically dead.”
    (AFP, 6/19/12)(AP, 6/20/12)(SFC, 6/20/12, p.A4)

2012     
   Jun 20, In Egypt Hosni Mubarek was in a coma but off life support and his heart and other vital organs were functioning following a stroke a day earlier.
    (AP, 6/20/12)

2012   
     Jun 22, In Egypt tens of thousands rallied in Cairo's Tahrir Square to support Mohammed Morsi, the Brotherhood's candidate for president. A delay in the run-off results, which had been due a day earlier, widely raised suspicions that the result was being negotiated rather than counted.
    (AP, 6/22/12)

2012  
      Jun 24, Egypt’s head of the electoral commission announced that Muslim Brotherhood member Mohamed Morsi with 51.73% of the vote is declared the first president of Egypt since a popular uprising ousted Hosni Mubarak. Tens of thousands packed into Cairo's Tahrir Square in the largest celebration the protest hub has witnessed since Hosni Mubarak's ouster, to celebrate their new president-elect, Mohamed Morsi.
    (AFP, 6/24/12)

2012  
      Jun 26, Egypt’s state media reported that Hassan Abdel Rahman, the former head of the feared State Security Investigations, will face trial with 40 police co-defendants for destroying records. A court had acquitted on June 2 Abdel Rahman and six police commanders for failing to prevent the killings of protesters. Egypt's administrative court suspended a justice ministry decision that had empowered the military to arrest civilians, responding to an appeal by 17 rights groups against the controversial June 13 decree.
    (AFP, 6/26/12)(AFP, 6/27/12)

2012   
     Jun 26, Egypt’s losing presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq fled to the UAR hours after a top prosecutor ordered an investigation into allegations that he had wasted public funds.
    (SFC, 6/27/12, p.A2)

2012   
    Jun 28, An Egyptian court jailed for 15 years each former oil minister Sameh Fahmi and fugitive businessman Hussein Salem for selling natural gas to Israel below market value. Five former high ranking officials from the oil and gas authority received jail sentences raging from three to 10 years on similar charges.
    (AFP, 6/28/12)

2012      
  Jun 30, In Egypt Mohamed Morsi took the oath of office to become the country’s first Islamist president and its first elected head of state since the revolt that overthrew Hosni Mubarak overthrow last year.
    (AFP, 6/30/12)


2012   
    Jun 30, Egyptian press reported that security forces have seized a large weapons consignment, including Grad rockets, that had been smuggled from Libya and could have been headed to the Gaza Strip.
    (AFP, 6/30/12)

2012   
     Jul 2, Syria's main exiled opposition groups met in Cairo to try to forge a common vision for a political transition in Syria. Rebel fighters and activists based in Syria announced they would boycott the Cairo meeting. The Observatory said at least 5 civilians were killed today.
    (AFP, 7/2/12)

2012   
     Jul 3, The Syrian Revolution General Commission (SRGC) pulled out of the Cairo conference, citing political disputes. The Syrian Kurdish National Council stormed out of the meeting, protesting that the final document failed to specifically mention the Kurds.
    (AFP, 7/4/12)

2012     
   Jul 4, Egyptian security officials said university student Ahmed Hussein Eid (20) was fatally stabbed as his girlfriend looked on after three suspected Islamic militants confronted the couple and told them they should not be together in public. The killing followed murders of two musicians, also by suspected militants.
    (AP, 7/4/12)

2012    
   Jul 4, Syria's fractured opposition groups wound up talks in Cairo that descended into chaos and even fist fights as they tried to forge a common vision for a transition in their country. They did agree on the final documents, which included an end to the Assad regime, support of the Free Syrian Army, and agreement on basic constitutional principles of justice, democracy and pluralism.
    (AFP, 7/4/12)


2012   
    Jul 4, Sweden granted permanent residency to Ahmed Agiza (49), a former Egyptian terror suspect. The Swedish government has acknowledged blame for the circumstances of the 2001 deportation and that Agiza and fellow Egyptian Muhammed Alzery were tortured in Egypt. It has awarded them 3 million kronor ($433,000) each in compensation for circumstances related to their deportations.
    (AFP, 7/4/12)

2012      
  Jul 7, Egyptian border guards arrested 68 Eritreans and Ethiopians trying to sneak across the border into Israel.
    (AFP, 7/8/12)

2012     
   Jul 8, Egypt's new President Mohamed Morsi issued a decree annulling the Supreme Court's June 14 dissolution of the Islamist-dominated parliament.
    (AFP, 7/8/12)

2012     
   Jul 9, Egypt's highest court insisted that its ruling that led to the dissolution of the Islamist-dominated parliament was final and binding, setting up a showdown with the country's newly elected president. Egypt's MENA state news agency said speaker Saad el-Katatni has called for parliament to meet on July 10.
    (AP, 7/9/12)

2012   
     Jul 10, Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament opened a new front in the country's leadership showdowns by meeting in defiance of orders that disbanded the chamber and brought President Mohammed Morsi in conflict with both the powerful military and the highest court. The session was brief, lasting just five minutes. The Supreme Constitutional Court on annulled a decree by newly-elected President Mohamed Morsi reinstating the Islamist-led lower house of parliament. Thousands of protesters rallied in Tahrir Square in support of Morsi.
    (AP, 7/10/12)(AFP, 7/11/12)

2012     
   Jul 11, Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi said he will respect a court ruling overturning his decree for the dissolved Islamist-dominated parliament to convene.
    (AFP, 7/11/11)

2012   
     Jul 13, Egypt's new Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki told reporters in Cairo that the two nations will rebuild ties after what he described as years of stagnant, routine relations.
    (AP, 7/13/12)


2012   
    Jul 13, In Egypt Bedouin men kidnapped two US tourists and their guide in the lawless Sinai. Police said that they were demanding the release of a jailed tribesman in exchange for the hostages. Rev. Michel Louis (61) and Lissa Alphonse (39) and their guide, Haytham Ragab, were released on July 16.
    (AFP, 7/13/12)(AP, 7/16/12)

2012   
    Jul 14, In northern Egypt some 23,000 textile workers went on strike in Mahalla al-Kobra, demanding higher wages.
    (AP, 7/15/12)

2012   
     Jul 14, In Egypt an 11-storey building in the poor Alexandria neighborhood of al-Gomrouk collapsed onto three adjacent buildings, reducing much of the structures to rubble. 19 people were reported killed.
    (AP, 7/15/12)(AFP, 7/16/12)

2012   
    Jul 16, Egypt’s ousted leader Hosni Mubarek (84) was returned to a Cairo prison.
    (SFC, 7/17/12, p.A2)

2012   
     Jul 19, In Egypt bearded men in the short robes, favored by some Islamists, machine-gunned 2 soldiers as they were walking on foot in Sheikh Zweid town near the Gaza Strip. Pres. Morsi, who was sworn in last month as Egypt's first elected civilian president, issued an order to pardon 572 people convicted by military tribunals.
    (AP, 7/19/12)(AFP, 7/23/12)
2012     
   Jul 19, In Ohio Omar Suleiman (76), Egypt's former spy chief, died in Cleveland. Suleiman was appointed vice president on Jan. 29, 2011, at the peak of last year's revolution.
    (AP, 7/19/12)

2012   
     Jul 21, An Egyptian court sentenced Ali Wanees, an ultraconservative former lawmaker and cleric, to a year in prison for public indecency, after police said they found him fondling a woman on his lap in a parked car at night. He was tried in absentia and is allowed a retrial. The court sentenced the woman he was with to six months in jail.
    (AP, 7/21/12)

2012   
     Jul 22, In Egypt attackers blew up a gas pipeline in the Sinai used to export fuel to Israel and Jordan, the 15th such attack since 2011.
    (AFP, 7/22/12)

2012     
   Jul 23, Egypt began to release detainees held by the military following a decree last week by President Mohamed Morsi.
    (AFP, 7/23/12)

2012     
   Jul 23, Egypt's ambassador to the West Bank Yasser Othman said transiting Palestinians can enter Egypt for 72 hours to arrange their own travel. A Palestinian official in Cairo said more easing of restrictions are being negotiated.
    (AP, 7/23/12)

2012   
    Jul 24, Egypt's president designated Hesham Kandil, a young, independent US-educated irrigation minister, as the new prime minister to form a government that will be tasked with turning the country's economy and security around.
    (AP, 7/24/12)

2012   
     Aug 2, A judge in Egypt investigating corruption charges against former Hosni Mubarak premier Ahmed Shafiq ordered Mubarak's two sons detained for allegedly buying land from Shafiq at below market price.
    (AFP, 8/2/12)

2012   
    Aug 5, In Egypt some 35 suspected Islamists attacked a checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula near Rafah, killing 16 soldiers before stealing two of their vehicles and bursting through a security fence into Israel. 8 militants were killed by Israeli forces who struck from the air, as well as with tanks and artillery.
    (AP, 8/6/12)(AP, 8/8/12)

2012  
      Aug 7, In Egypt gunmen opened fire late this night on three security checkpoints around el-Arish, the capital of North Sinai province. Egypt’s military in response started a joint military-police ground operation in Sinai, backed by warplanes, to "restore stability and regain control" of the Sinai.
    (AP, 8/8/12)

2012  
      Aug 8, Egypt's state television reported the military killed 20 militants in unprecedented air strikes. Egypt said the attackers who killed 16 Egyptian soldiers had help from Gaza. In response Egypt closed its border crossing and shut down hundreds of smuggling tunnels. Gazans said the sealing of their territory following a weekend attack by Islamic militants has sent prices soaring and is leaving hundreds of medical patients stranded. President Mohammed Morsi fired his intelligence chief for failing to act on an Israeli warning of an imminent attack days before militants stormed a border post in the Sinai Peninsula.
    (AFP, 8/8/12)(AP, 8/8/12)

2012   
     Aug 9, In Egypt a massive power cut hit large parts of Cairo, home to some 18 million people, halting much of its metro service and delaying trading on the stock exchange.
    (AP, 8/9/12)

2012   
     Aug 10, Egyptian troops stormed a house in Sheik Zweid, close to Rafah border crossing with Gaza Strip, and caught 9 Islamic militants while they were asleep. Gunmen attacked a checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula overnight, causing no casualties, as the army massed troops to quell increasingly deadly Islamist militants.
    (AP, 8/10/12)(AFP, 8/10/12)

2012  
      Aug 11, Egypt's official news agency said Qatar has granted Egypt a $2 billion loan to help the country's flagging economy.
    (AP, 8/11/12)

2012     
   Aug 12, Egypt's President Morsi announced a surprise decision to retire the defense minister and chief of staff and seize back the powers the military grabbed from his office. Security forces killed 6 suspected militants during raids on hideouts in two villages in northern Sinai. They seized landmines, an anti-aircraft missile, heavy machine-guns and grenades. Separately 3 policemen were killed and four others injured when their car turned over while chasing a group of criminals in central Sinai.
    (AP, 8/12/12)

2012   
    Aug 14, Egyptian Cabinet ministers and World Bank officials signed off on a $200 million project aimed at creating 250,000 jobs after more than a year of slow economic growth.
    (AP, 8/14/12)


2012   
    Aug 14, Egypt's security forces exchanged fire with militants in the Sinai peninsula, as the military continued its campaign against Islamists in the lawless region.
    (AFP, 8/14/12)


2012     
   Aug 14, Egypt opened its border with Hamas-ruled Gaza for a 3-day period ahead of a major Muslim holiday this weekend, but imposed tight restrictions on who can travel and did not say whether it would resume normal border operations. From its side, Hamas also temporarily prevented access to the illegal underground tunnels in a show of goodwill toward Egypt.
    (AP, 8/14/12)

2012     
   Aug 16, In Egypt a Cairo court charged controversial TV presenter Tawfiq Okasha with suggesting the killing of Pres. Morsi during his nightly TV show. The court also referred the chief editor of el-Dustour daily, Islam Afifi, for his newspaper's harsh criticism of Morsi.
    (AP, 8/17/12)

2012   
     Aug 18, In Egypt militants wounded three policemen in the Sinai Peninsula in an ambush of their vehicle with a rocket propelled grenade.
    (AFP, 8/18/12)

2012   
     Aug 23, A Cairo court ordered Islam Afifi, the chief editor of the privately-owned el-Dustour daily newspaper, detained pending trial on charges of insulting Egypt’s president and "spreading lies." Afifi was released from jail just hours later after Pres. Morsi issued a law banning the imprisonment of journalists accused of media-related offenses.
    (AP, 8/23/12)(AP, 8/24/12)

2012   
    Aug 24, In Egypt some 200 hundred protesters rallied in Tahrir Square to denounce the country's Islamist president and his Muslim Brotherhood group.
    (AP, 8/24/12)

2012   
     Aug 25, Egyptian security officials said military engineers have blocked 120 tunnels used for smuggling to and from the Gaza Strip since the start of operations in the neighboring Sinai Peninsula.
    (AFP, 8/25/12)

2012   
    Aug 25, A boat carrying some 40 Egyptian migrants sank off the coast of Libya. Fisherman rescued 33 migrants but 7 remained missing.
    (AFP, 8/27/12)(AFP, 8/28/12)

2012     
   Aug 26, An Egyptian security official says Egypt has reopened its passenger terminal with the Gaza Strip and resumed normal operations there after nearly three weeks of disruption following a deadly attack on Egyptian soldiers by Islamic militants.
    (AP, 8/26/12)

2012   
     Aug 26, In Egypt Ibrahim Madhan, a suspected militant, was killed while riding a motorcycle in the Sinai Peninsula some 15 km (9 miles) from the Israeli border.
    (AP, 8/26/12)

2012   
    Aug 28, Egyptian Deputy Foreign Minister Ramzi Ezzeldin Ramzi formally gave Iran the rotating presidency of the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement. Iran is currently hosting the weeklong gathering of the 51-year-old group, which ends Aug 31.
    (AP, 8/28/12)

2012   
     Aug 29, The Egyptian military said that 11 "terrorists" have been killed in its campaign against Islamist militants in the Sinai peninsula. This contradicted earlier claims of having killed 20 militants in helicopter strikes.
    (AFP, 8/29/12)


2012  
      Aug 29, Egyptian prosecutors said they have charged Safwat el-Sherif, former Pres. Mubarak's minister of information for nearly two decades,  with corruption. An official said he had illegally appropriated villas, lands and apartments originally owned by the state and had also received gifts worth millions of Egyptian pounds from chief editors in the state media in return for keeping them in their positions.
    (AP, 8/29/12)

2012   
    Aug 30, Egypt’s Pres. Mohammed Morsi urged the world to support the rebels in Syria as he spoke in Tehran before an int’l. meeting of nonaligned nations.
    (SFC, 8/31/12, p.A3)

2012   
    Aug 31, Egyptian police found the decapitated head in Sinai of Manazil Bereikat, kidnapped by Islamist militants, reportedly for his role in assassinating an extremist. He was from the same tribe of Ibrahim Ouda Bereikat, an extremist killed in a mysterious explosion near the Israeli border on August 26.
    (AFP, 8/31/12)



=================

2012   
     Sep 1, Egyptian authorities arrested Hamada Abou Shita, a militant wanted for his alleged role in planning and carrying out deadly attacks last year on a police station and a bank in the Sinai Peninsula. A court sentenced Abu Shita to death in absentia on Aug. 14 for his alleged part in the 2011 attacks.
    (AP, 9/1/12)

2012   
    Sep 2, Egypt's state TV lifted a decades-long ban on veiled female news presenters whom successive secular-leaning regimes have barred from going on air.
    (AP, 9/2/12)

2012   
    Sep 6, Egypt's PM Hesham Kandil said Qatar has agreed to invest $18 billion in Egypt over the next five years to help boost the country's ailing economy.
    (AP, 9/6/12)


2012  
      Sep 6, A Cairo court found four senior policemen not guilty of the killing of protesters during last year's popular uprising, the latest acquittal of officials charged in connection to the 850 deaths caused by the crackdown.
    (AP, 9/6/12)

2012   
     Sep 7, Egypt's national air carrier said it will resume international flights after the airline's flight attendants suspended a 12-hour strike pending negotiations to meet their grievances.
    (AP, 9/8/12)

2012   
     Sep 9, In Egypt about 150 tour guides demonstrated outside Cairo's famed Egyptian Museum. They said the lack of security and increased lawlessness, which has plagued much of Egypt following the toppling of Mubarak, has exposed them to attacks from vendors and competitors and further complicates attempts to lure tourists back.
    (AP, 9/10/12)

2012   
     Sep 11, Egyptian protesters scaled the walls of the US embassy in Cairo, tore down the American flag and burned it during a protest over what they said was a film being produced in the United States that insulted Prophet Mohammad.
    (Reuters, 9/11/12)

2012   
     Sep 13, An Egyptian court convicted former prime minister Ahmed Nazif on corruption charges and sentenced him to three years in prison. Nazif was also fined 4.5 million Egyptian pounds, or about $750,000. Nazif was already serving a seven-year term for his role in awarding contracts for supplying new car license plates without going through legal procedures.
    (AP, 9/13/12)
2012  
      Sep 13, In Egypt Alber Saber was arrested after neighbors complained he had shared on Facebook the amateur film made in the US that sparked protests across the Muslim world. His arrest came during a wave of public outrage over the film, produced by an Egyptian-American Copt. On Dec 12 a Cairo court convicted and sentenced Saber to three years in prison for blasphemy and contempt of religion.
    (AP, 12/13/12)

2012   
    Sep 14, In Egypt a 20-year-old died from wounds suffered from rubber bullets. Several hundred protesters have been clashing for several days with police preventing them from reaching the US embassy to protest against an anti-Muslim film. In Egypt's Sinai Peninsula suspected Islamic militants stormed the base of int’l. peacekeepers near the Gaza-Israel border, wounding four officers.
    (AP, 9/14/12)


2012   
     Sep 16, The CEO of EL AL Airlines said Israel's national airline will stop flying to Cairo, even though the Israel-Egypt peace treaty mandates flights to the country. Eliezer Shkedi said that flights are nearly empty, and the airline cannot afford the high security and operating costs.
    (AP, 9/16/12)


2012     
   Sep 16, Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir arrived in Egypt for a state visit, even though he is wanted for arrest by the International Criminal Court.
    (AP, 9/16/12)

2012   
    Sep 18, Egypt's general prosecutor issued arrest warrants for seven Egyptian Coptic Christians and a Florida-based American pastor and referred them to trial on charges linked to an anti-Islam film that has sparked riots across the Muslim world. The prosecutor's office said the seven men and one woman, all of whom are believed to be outside of Egypt, are charged with harming national unity, insulting and publicly attacking Islam and spreading false information.
    (AFP, 9/18/12)

2012   
     Sep 22, Egypt’s chief forensic doctor said in a published interview that  former Pres. Hosni Mubarak has never suffered a stroke and that he is not in critical condition.
    (SSFC, 9/23/12, p.A6)


2012        Sep 22, Qatar said it will make critical investments in a $3.7 billion oil refinery project in Egypt that's among the biggest economic initiatives since the 2011 fall of Hosni Mubarak.
    (AP, 9/22/12)

2012     
   Sep 24, An Egyptian court sentenced 14 Salafists to death by hanging and four to life imprisonment for attacks last year on army and police in the Sinai.
    (Reuters, 9/24/12)(Economist, 9/29/12, p.55)

2012     
   Sep 25, An Egyptian court convicted three Islamists of killing a student this summer as he sat in a quiet park with his fiancée, sentencing them to 15 years in prison in a case that sparked fears of vigilantes trying to enforce strict religious mores.
    (AP, 9/25/12)

2012   
    Sep 27, An Egyptian court upheld a six-year jail sentence for Michelle Bishoy, also known as Bishoy el-Behiri, a Coptic Christian school teacher convicted of insulting Islam and the country's Islamist president in postings on Facebook.
    (AP, 9/27/12)

2012   
    Oct 1, Egypt's doctors began a partial strike, abstaining from offering non-emergency services in public hospitals to protest run-down facilities and meager wages.
    (AP, 10/1/12)

2012   
    Oct 4, An Egyptian court convicted Ahmed Ezz, a Hosni Mubarak-era steel magnate, of money laundering, sentencing him to seven years in prison and fining him 19.5 billion Egyptian pounds (about $3 billion). Ezz was already serving a 10-year sentence for a corruption conviction last year.
    (AP, 10/4/12)

2012   
    Oct 8, Egypt's new Pres. Mohammed Morsi issued a decree pardoning all those charged with or convicted of acts "in support of the revolution" since the beginning of the popular uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak from power.
    (AP, 10/8/12)

2012     
   Oct 8, In Egypt a troop carrier overturned on a mountain road in the Sinai Peninsula early today, killing at least 21 members of the security forces stationed on the border with Israel.
    (AP, 10/8/12)

2012   
    Oct 10, An Egyptian court acquitted 24 loyalists of ousted President Hosni Mubarak who had been accused of organizing one of the most dramatic attacks on protesters during last year's uprising, the "Camel Battle," in which assailants on horses and camels charged into crowds in Cairo's Tahrir Square. The Feb. 2, 2011 assault left nearly a dozen people killed.
    (AP, 10/10/12)


2012   
    Oct 10, In southern Egypt Abu Bakar, a teacher in Luxor province, punished two 12-year-old schoolgirls for not wearing the Muslim headscarf by cutting their hair. On Nov 6 Bakar was given a 6-month suspended sentence for childe abuse and fined $8.
    (AP, 10/17/12)(AP, 11/6/12)

2012   
    Oct 12, In Egypt Liberal and leftist groups had called a protest to demand more action from Pres. Morsi after his first 100 days in office. Morsi's supporters called for a separate rally to demand judicial independence following the acquittals of Mubarak loyalists on Oct 10. A melee erupted after Morsi's supporters stormed the activists' stage at Cairo's Tahrir Square, angered by chants from the opposition they perceived as insults to the president.
    (AP, 10/12/12)

2012  
      Oct 13, Egypt's prosecutor general defied a presidential decision to remove him from his post, entering his office in a downtown Cairo courthouse flanked by security and hundreds of judicial officials. President Morsi had ordered Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud to step down in an apparent bid to appease public anger over the acquittals of ex-regime officials accused of orchestrating violence against protesters last year. Morsi backed down from his decision to remove Mahmoud, keeping him in his post and sidestepping a potential clash with the country's powerful judiciary.
    (AP, 10/13/12)

2012   
     Oct 17, In Egypt a top parliamentarian suspended the editor-in-chief of a state-owned newspaper for publishing a report deemed an offense to the military.
    (AP, 10/18/12)

2012   
     Oct 19, In Egypt the political party of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood elected Saad el-Katatny, a former speaker of parliament, as the new leader the Freedom and Justice Party to replace Mohammed Morsi, who resigned from the post after winning the country's presidential election. Several thousand protesters rallied in Cairo to demand the president and his Muslim Brotherhood supporters ensure the country's constitution represents all factions of society.
    (AP, 10/19/12)

2012       
 Oct 23, Egypt's security forces intercepted a group of smugglers bringing in weapons from Libya.
    (AP, 10/24/12)

2012     
   Oct 24, In Egypt Karim el-Azizi (35) detonated an explosive device after briefly exchanging gunfire with security forces that had surrounded his building in Cairo's northern suburb of Nasr City. The Libyan national, linked to the Sep 11 deadly attack on the US Consulate, had turned his rented apartment into a small weapons cache before he died. Security forces arrested four other men in a nearby suburb describing them as part of a terrorist cell.
    (AP, 10/25/12)

2012     
   Nov 3, Egypt’s antiquities ministry says that Czech archaeologists have unearthed the 4,500-year-old tomb of a Pharaonic princess south of Cairo. Princess Shert Nebti's burial site is surrounded by the tombs of four high officials from the Fifth Dynasty dating to around 2,500 BC in the Abu Sir complex near the famed step pyramid of Saqqara.
    (AP, 11/3/12)

2012  
      Nov 3, In Egypt suspected Islamic militants ambushed police in the northern Sinai Peninsula killing three in El-Arish.
    (SSFC, 11/4/12, p.A4)

2012   
    Nov 4, Egypt's ancient Coptic Christian church named a new pope. Bishop Tawadros will be ordained Nov. 18 as Pope Tawadros II.
    (AP, 11/4/12)

2012   
     Nov 6, In Egypt gunmen shot and critically injured Selim Said el-Gamal, a senior security official, in the country's turbulent northern Sinai region.
    (AP, 11/6/12)

2012   
    Nov 7, Egypt's top prosecutor ordered government ministries to enforce a ban on pornographic websites, three years after a court denounced the sites as "venomous and vile." The order followed a protest by ultraconservative Salafis.
    (AP, 11/7/12)

2012   
    Nov 10, In Egypt two trains traveling south of Cairo collided, killing at least four people. An error by a switch operator is believed to have caused the accident.
    (AP, 11/10/12)

2012   
    Nov 16, Thousands of Egyptians protested against Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip as Egypt's prime minister visited the Palestinian enclave in a symbolic show of support for the territory's Hamas rulers.
    (AP, 11/16/12)

2012   
    Nov 17, In southern Egypt a speeding train crashed into a bus carrying children to their kindergarten, killing 48 children and 3 adults. On Jun2 29, 2013, a court sentenced two railway workers to ten years in prison over the train crash which left 52 people dead.
    (AP, 11/17/12)(AP, 6/29/13)

2012  
      Nov 20, In Egypt youth activist Gaber Salah was shot in the neck in Cairo in clashes that started a day earlier, the first anniversary of the deadly confrontation between police and demonstrators known as "Mohammed Mahmoud.”
    (AP, 11/21/12)

2012   
    Nov 21, Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi mediated a cease-fire between Israelis and Palestinians to end eight days of fierce fighting. The cease-fire deal included agreement to open all border crossings with the Gaza Strip, including with Egypt.
    (AP, 11/22/12)

2012   
    Nov 21, Egyptian protesters firebombed one of the offices of satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera and attacked a police chief who tried to negotiate an end to three days of violent protests in central Cairo. Security officials said that authorities have confiscated trucks carrying explosive warheads and a variety of small-arms ammunition smuggled from Libya.
    (AP, 11/21/12)

2012   
    Nov 22, In Egypt Pres. Mohammed Morsi granted himself sweeping new powers that critics fear can allow him to be a virtual dictator. The temporary decrees included exempting himself from judicial review, as well as a panel writing the new constitution and the upper house of parliament, and the power to enact any other measure he deemed necessary to deal with a "threat" to Egypt's "revolution." Morsi sacked the prosecutor general and ordered a retrial of officials appointed by former Pres. Mubarak.
    (AP, 11/23/12)(SSFC, 11/25/12, p.A4)

2012   
    Nov 22, The top leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood denounced peace efforts with Israel and urged holy war to liberate Palestinian territories.
    (AP, 11/22/12)

2012   
     Nov 22, An Egyptian court cleared two policemen of killing protesters during the Jan 28, 2011, uprising that led to toppling Hosni Mubarak.
    (AP, 11/22/12)

2012   
    Nov 23, In Egypt opponents and supporters of Mohammed Morsi clashed across the country, the day after the president granted himself sweeping new powers. At least 15 were reported injured.
    (AP, 11/23/12)

2012   
     Nov 24, Egypt's highest body of judges slammed a recent decision by the president to grant himself near-absolute power, calling the move an "unprecedented assault" on the judiciary. Several hundred protesters remained in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where a number of tents have been erected in a sit-in following nearly a week of clashes with riot police.
    (AP, 11/24/12)

2012     
   Nov 27, In Egypt thousands flocked to Cairo's central Tahrir square for a protest against Pres. Morsi in a significant test of whether the opposition can rally the street behind it in a confrontation aimed at forcing the Islamist leader to rescind decrees that granted him near absolute powers.
    (AP, 11/27/12)

2012   
     Nov 28, Egypt's two highest appeals courts suspended their work to protest presidential decrees that gave the country's Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi nearly absolute powers, state television reported.
    (AP, 11/28/12)

2012   
    Nov 28, An Egyptian court convicted in absentia seven Egyptian Coptic Christians and a Florida-based American pastor and sentenced them to death on charges linked to an anti-Islam film that had sparked riots in parts of the Muslim world.
    (AP, 11/28/12)

2012     
   Nov 30, In Egypt Islamists approved a draft constitution without the participation of liberal and Christian members, seeking to pre-empt a court ruling that could dissolve their panel with a rushed, marathon vote that further inflames the conflict between the opposition and President Mohammed Morsi. Up to 200,000 people packed the streets of Cairo alone, vowing to bring down a draft constitution approved by allies of Pres.  Morsi, and demanding he repeal the decrees that neutralized the judiciary.
    (AP, 11/30/12)(AP, 12/1/12)

2012   
    Dec 1, In Egypt tens of thousands of people waving Egyptian flags and hoisting large pictures of Pres. Morsi demonstrated across the country in support of him and Islamic law.
    (AP, 12/1/12)

2012   
    Dec 2, Egypt's top court said it was suspending its work indefinitely to protest "psychological and physical pressures" after supporters of the country's Islamist president prevented judges from entering the courthouse to rule on the legitimacy of a disputed constitutional assembly.
    (AP, 12/2/12)

2012   
     Dec 4, Thousands of Egyptians massed in Cairo for a march to the presidential palace to protest the assumption by the nation's Islamist president of nearly unrestricted powers and a draft constitution hurriedly adopted by his allies. Several independent Egyptian newspapers suspended publication. The media protest involved at least eight influential dailies and was part of a planned campaign of civil disobedience.
    (AP, 12/4/12)

2012   
     Dec 5, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's supporters and opponents clashed outside the presidential palace in Cairo, pelting each other with rocks and fighting with sticks. At least 5 people were killed.
    (AP, 12/5/12)(Econ, 12/8/12, p.51)

2012   
    Dec 6, Egypt's Republican Guard ordered protesters supporting and opposing President Mohammed Morsi to leave the area around the presidential palace after overnight clashes in Cairo between supporters and opponents of Egypt's Islamist leader killed at least five people.
    (AP, 12/6/12)

2012   
     Dec 7, Thousands of Egyptians took to the streets after midday prayers in rival rallies and marches across Cairo, as the standoff deepened over what opponents call the Islamist president's power grab, raising the specter of more violence.
    (AP, 12/7/12)

2012   
    Dec 9, Egypt's liberal opposition called for more protests, seeking to keep up the momentum of its street campaign. Morsi overnight annulled his Nov. 22 decrees that gave him near unrestricted powers, but refused to rescind a draft constitution going to a referendum on Dec 15.
    (AP, 12/9/12)

2012   
    Dec 10, The Egyptian military assumed joint responsibility with the police for security and protecting state institutions until the results of a Dec 15 constitutional referendum are announced.
    (AP, 12/10/12)

2012   
    Dec 11, In Egypt masked gunmen attacked anti-Morsi protesters in Cairo's central Tahrir Square before dawn, firing birdshot at them and wounding nine. Thousands of opponents and supporters of Egypt's Islamist president staged rival rallies in the nation's Cairo.
    (AP, 12/11/12)

2012   
     Dec 12, Egypt's opposition alliance urged supporters to vote "No" in the referendum on a disputed constitution rather than boycotting, hours after the Islamist government forged ahead by starting overseas voting in diplomatic missions for expatriates. The full referendum was initially scheduled to take place on Dec 15, but in a last minute decree on Dec 11, Morsi ordered the voting stretched into another round on Dec 22.
    (AP, 12/12/12)

2012      
  Dec 14, Egyptian Islamists clashed with opponents of a draft constitution in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria after an ultraconservative cleric called on worshippers to approve the charter in a referendum.
    (AP, 12/14/12)

2012   
     Dec 15, Egyptians lined up to vote on a draft constitution after weeks of turmoil that have left them deeply divided between Islamist supporters of the charter and those who fear it will usher in religious rule. Some 1,500 Egyptian women blocked a main road in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, claiming a judge prevented them from voting on the draft constitution because they weren't veiled. A 64% majority approved the draft constitution.
    (AP, 12/15/12)(Econ, 7/13/13, SR p.15)

2012   
     Dec 16, Key Egyptian rights groups called for a repeat of the first round of the constitutional referendum, alleging the vote was marred by widespread violations.
    (AP, 12/16/12)

2012   
    Dec 18, Egypt's prosecutor general Talaat Abdullah submitted his resignation less than a month after he was swiftly sworn in by the Islamist president, who is embroiled in a power struggle with the judiciary. Hundreds of public prosecutors staged a sit-in outside Abdullah's office in Cairo. The State Council of Judges said it will not oversee the second part of the vote on the draft constitution.
    (AP, 12/18/12)

2012   
    Dec 20, Talaat Abdullah, Egypt's top prosecutor, retracted his resignation, a decision that could cause a new uproar in the country after he was accused of pressuring a judge not to release protesters opposed to the Islamist president.
    (AP, 12/20/12)

2012  
      Dec 21, In Egypt Thousands of Islamists clashed with their opponents in Alexandria, on the eve of the second leg of voting on the country's contentious constitution that has deeply polarized the nation.
    (AP, 12/21/12)

2012     
   Dec 22, Egypt’s Vice President Mahmoud Mekki resigned, saying he realized that politics did not suit his professional background as a judge. Central bank governor, Farouq el-Oqdah, also resigned.
    (AP, 12/22/12)

2012   
    Dec 22, Egyptians voted in the second and final phase of a referendum on an Islamist-backed constitution that has polarized the nation, with little indication that the result of the vote will end the political crisis in which the country is mired.
    (AP, 12/22/12)

2012   
     Dec 23, Egypt's opposition called for an investigation into allegations of vote fraud in the referendum on a deeply divisive Islamist-backed constitution after the Muslim Brotherhood, the main group backing the charter, claimed it passed with a 64 percent "yes" vote.
    (AP, 12/23/12)

2012   
    Dec 26, Egypt's Islamist Pres. Morsi proclaimed the country's newly adopted constitution as the dawning of a "new republic" in a television address, calling on the opposition to join a dialogue with him after a month of violent turmoil and focus on repairing a damaged economy.
    (AP, 12/26/12)

2012  
      Dec 27, Egypt's chief prosecutor ordered an investigation into the leaders of the country's opposition after a lawyer accused them of incitement to overthrow the regime of newly elected Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
    (AP, 12/27/12)

2012   
     Dec 29, An Egyptian security official said that thousands of tons of building materials such as cement and steel are crossing into the Palestinian Gaza Strip, which had previously been under a strict blockade.
    (AP, 12/29/12)

2012      
  Dec 31, Gunmen drove into Cairo's Tahrir Square before dawnand fired at an anti-government sit-in, seriously wounding a protester who had been jailed and tortured by former military rulers after he witnessed the killing of another activist.
    (AP, 12/31/12)

2012   
    Steven Cook authored “The Struggle for Egypt: From Nasser to Tahrir Square.”
    (Econ, 2/25/12, p.96)