Friday noon prayer at the al-Tawhid mosque in Cairo used to be led by a state-appointed imam. And his sermons were downright boring, says Ibrahim Abdel Alim, a religious researcher who attends al-Tawhid. "He used to talk about government things." Few people bothered to show up. But in the post–Hosni Mubarak season of religious and political expression, things have gotten a little more interesting. "Dear God, please take revenge against the Shi'ites and the Jews," calls the voice ...

Midnight in Cairo on the last day of August. In the Revolutionary Command Council headquarters in ex-King Farouk's old pleasure house on the Nile, a phone rings. A big man with grizzled hair answers it. "The Jews are in Khan Yunis," says a tense voice. "I am ready to move now." The speaker is Major General Abdel Hakim Amer, commander in chief of the Egyptian army. It has been a shooting week on the Israeli-Egyptian border, and a U.N. ...

Last week, after the Egyptian opposition called for a march after prayers, TIME's Abigail Hauslohner, based in Cairo, and TIME's Rania Abouzeid, who had just returned from covering the Tunisian uprising, walked among the protesters and felt the blunt and brutal response of the regime's antiriot police. To escape club-bearing cops, Hauslohner ran through narrow streets and found refuge in a small courtyard, only to have a tear-gas canister land near where she stood with a small ...

When President Barack Obama flew to Cairo two years ago to deliver a speech designed to start an American conversation with the Muslim world, it seemed an almost revolutionary act — and the enthusiasm of his reception was in sharp contrast with the Arab world's widespread hostility towards President George W. Bush. But as Egypt makes revolutionary changes of its own, the prevailing sentiment remains that Obama has been a bitter disappointment. "We were all so hopeful," says Islam Bakr, 52, a security ...

Targeting Corruption, Egypt Goes After Mubarak's Wife Suzanne Mubarak suffers what may be a heart attack as Egyptian prosecutors prepare to level corruption charges against her By Vivienne Walt / Cairo Egypt's former First Lady Suzanne Mubarak — who just three months ago was feted internationally for her charity work — suffered what may have been a heart attack on Friday after being detained in an investigation into possible corruption during the 30 years when her husband Hosni ...

It was a beautiful, sun-splashed Cairo morning, and a brass band was playing in Tahrir Square. The musicians, about two dozen in all, wore driven-snow white trousers and red military jackets with gold tassels. They performed a repertoire of short, patriotic anthems with gusto, if less-than-perfect technique. A crowd of onlookers began to swell, and before long, people were snapping cell-phone pictures of the band and hoisting children on their shoulders to watch. I asked my friend Hisham ...

Violence is no stranger to Cairo , Ill., a decaying former riverboat port at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Below the Mason-Dixon Line and closer to Little Rock than Chicago in attitude as well as mileage, the capital of the state's "Little Egypt" section is a thoroughly Southern town. Its 4,000 white citizens are determined to maintain the local system of apartheid over the town's 4,000 blacks that has persisted since before the Civil War. White Cairoites ...

Between 15 and 20 people died when two trains collided outside of Cairo, Egypt, Saturday night, and officials expect the death toll to rise, the country's Health Ministry said.

To the long list of things that everyone else loves but that Muslims are supposed to hate — democracy, dogs, women with uncovered hair — we can now add yoga. A council of muftis in Malaysia issued a fatwa over the weekend banning yoga for Muslims, claiming that the sweaty 'Oms' and other Hindu elements of a standard 60-minute yoga class could "destroy the faith of a Muslim." For a moment, this news had me selfishly worried. I've been ...

Don't you just love a parade? Apparently the Obama administration does too, as evidenced by the steady stream of top U.S. officials visiting Israel this week. A bevy of heavy hitters are there, the likes of which haven't been seen since the Persian Gulf War. Just as Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrapped up his meetings there, Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell arrived for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mitchell will be followed later this week by national ...