Tahrir Square

CAIRO - Knots of men argue politics, barefoot boys grip stones, graffiti blooms, banners unfurl and wind whistles through the tents of protesters in the latest stage of a revolution that, at least for now, has revived passions and lighted new campfires in Tahrir Square. How long the fervor will last is uncertain. The opposition against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has called for mass rallies Tuesday in a final push to block a referendum on a new constitution - one that many fear would favor Islamist interests - set for this weekend.

CAIRO -- With tanks guarding his palace and officials defecting from his government, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi appeared besieged Thursday in a nation divided by deadly protests and an escalating political crisis he started two weeks ago when he seized near-absolute power. For the first time since they retreated to the barracks in August, soldiers from the Republican Guard strung barbed wire and parked tanks outside Morsi's office. The president's credibility has been further damaged by the resignations of six senior advisors and three other officials.

CAIRO -- Egypt awoke to fresh protests Friday against the draft of a new constitution and a president who refuses to rein in his power after more than a week of unrest, economic tumult and searing political division. President Mohamed Morsi is defending his expanded power and a much-criticized proposed constitution as necessary to hold parliamentary elections and advance Egypt's political transition. But opposition groups accuse Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood of pushing an authoritarian agenda that lacks bold visions to inspire an Arab world undergoing great change.

CAIRO - Egypt awoke to widening protests Friday from a resurgent opposition testing a president who refuses to rein in his power while he presses for an unpopular constitution drafted by an Islamist-dominated assembly. President Mohamed Morsi is defending his expanded authority and the proposed constitution as necessary to hold parliamentary elections and advance Egypt's political transition. But opposition groups accuse him and the Muslim Brotherhood of pushing an authoritarian agenda that has failed to inspire an Arab world undergoing great change.

CAIRO - Amid thimbles, pins and strands of silver thread, the tailor twitched his pencil-perfect mustache in disgust and said the country where he learned to sew and raised six children was edging into darkness. "I'm worried," said Sayed Abdelwahab, leaning on a worn counter in a shop where he has mended suits for decades. "I have employees with three and four kids. I'm responsible for them. My customers are mostly foreigners, but they're leaving the country. My business is down 50%. Did you see what happened to the stock market?"

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi received another rejection from judges Tuesday when they reiterated their condemnation of his decree placing his office beyond judicial oversight on matters dealing with state institutions. The judges also urged a nationwide strike. The actions followed a five-hour meeting between Morsi and the Supreme Judiciary Council on Monday that failed to broker a compromise. The current standoff between Morsi and the courts reveals that Egyptians no longer accept an authoritarian leader, whether an Islamist or a secular autocrat like Hosni Mubarak.

CAIRO - Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood inherited a corrupt police state with failing institutions. Crime was rising, and the economy was in free fall immediately after longtime leader Hosni Mubarak was toppled last year. But rather than reach out to secular and liberal voices, Morsi and the world's most influential Islamist organization have often resorted to the rigid structure that helped the Brotherhood survive decades as a persecuted opposition movement.

CAIRO -- Tens of thousands of Egyptians gathered in the capital and other major cities across the nation Tuesday demanding that Islamist President Mohamed Morsi rescind a self-issued constitutional decree that gives him sweeping powers. Egyptians marched with families and friends across Cairo to converge in Tahrir Square, chanting the "people demand the fall of the regime," the same slogan that crowds yelled last year in opposition to longtime President Hosni Mubarak. One young woman held a sign that read in Arabic: "Oh Morsi, after the throne, there will be the prison cell ... Just ask Mubarak.

What do you call a leader of a theocratic and cultish movement with a deep and clear disdain for democracy who suddenly assumes dictatorial powers? A "moderate," of course. Ever since the Muslim Brotherhood broke its promise to stay out of Egypt's presidential election in the aftermath of the revolution, many Western observers have been in denial about what has been going on. In less than half a year, Mohamed Morsi has deftly built the apparatus of despotism. Much as the Nazis brilliantly cast themselves as reformers sweeping away the corruption of the Weimar Republic, Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood have been using the effort to clean up the detritus of Hosni Mubarak's dictatorship as an excuse to consolidate power.

CAIRO - Security forces built a wall to contain stone-throwing protesters and Egypt's stock exchange tumbled Sunday amid growing unrest over President Mohamed Morsi's decision to expand his powers in a nation dispirited and angered by months of uncertainty. The country's main stock index fell nearly 10% in one of the most bruising days of trading since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. Morsi's power grab left traders fearful that foreign investors - desperately needed to rescue Egypt's troubled economy - would shy away from the nation in light of the latest spasm of political instability.