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The Egyptian interim government has declared a state of emergency, as the death toll continues to mount as security forces attempt to put an end to weeks of protest by supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. According to the BBC, the state of emergency was set to begin at 16:00 local time. It is set to last for only a month, but some analysts are already pointing out that Morsi's predecessor...who was also ousted after a popular uprising, utilized the "emergency law" powers for 31 years as a tool to quash opposition and silence political dissent. The state of...

Gen Abdulfattah al-Sisi, the Egyptian general who deposed Mohammed Morsi, the country's democratically-elected president has accused the US of "turning your backs" on Egypt. In an interview with the Washington Post he appeared to blame the instability on the White House, saying: "You left the Egyptians. You turned your back on the Egyptians and they won't forget that."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed “deep concern” on Saturday over the “bloodshed and violence” in Egypt that has killed and injured scores, saying the country faced a “pivotal moment,” Al Arabiya reported. Kerry, in a statement following calls with Egyptian and European officials, also urged an “independent and impartial inquiry” into the events of the past 24 hours and urged all of the Egypt’s leaders to act to “help their country take a step back from the brink.” At least 65 people were killed during clashes in Cairo early Saturday, Egypt’s Health Ministry said, after violence erupted at...

President Obama's Egypt policy—if you can call it that—has been a feckless disaster. He has somehow managed to score the dubious hat trick of alienating former President Mubarak's supporters in the military, the backers of ousted President Morsi, and the millions in the street whose demonstrations led the military to depose him. So what image of President Obama does Today feature this morning in its segment on Egypt? Why, of PBO extending a forceful fist toward a tableful of aides, including Susan Rice and Eric Holder. Such a strong leader, that Obama! View the photo and video here.

Think about the question in the title... Mohammed Morsi (of the Islamic Brotherhood) keeps using the word "legitimacy" when referring to his post as president. Morsi, according to the BBC, used the word 56 times in his most recent speech. It is true that he says he was Democratically elected, and it is also true that his opponents (who range from moderate Muslims, to Secularists, to Christian), have said that various freedoms (as in freedom of speech among others) have been drastically curtailed, and various news outlets have reported this along with the economy nosediving under his leadership -- with...

Army ultimatum to resolve political crisis expires at 14:30 GMT with leaks projecting draft constitution to be scrapped. Egypt is bracing for a showdown between the military and President Mohammed Morsi, who has rejected an army ultimatum to end a political crisis with his opponents, vowing to stay in office. The ultimatum expires at 4:30pm (14:30 GMT) on Wednesday but the army said on its Facebook page that it had set no times for issuing statements or speeches. The political wing of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood refused an invitation to meet the armed forces commander on Wednesday, hours before deadline....

CAIRO – Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood staged a massive rally in Cairo on Friday to show support for President Mohammed Morsi – and to issue a warning to those who hope to push him out of office. The crowds gathered in an effort to show that Morsi supporters outnumber those who oppose him in advance of opposition demonstrations planned for June 30. Opposition “Rebel!” alliance representatives say they have gathered more than 15 million signatures – more than the 13 million votes that elected Morsi a year ago – demanding he step down and calling for new elections. They plan to...

White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest on Friday condemned a spate of sexual violence during protests in Egypt and called on the Egyptian government to intervene. "Sexual violence, including gang rape, has occurred during recent demonstrations in Egypt, and this is a cause of great concern to the United States, the international community and to many Egyptians," Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One. "These victims are the mothers, wives, daughters and sisters of Egypt. The Egyptian government has a responsibility to take legal measures to prevent sexual violence and to prosecute people who are involved in such crimes."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tells Newsmax that President Obama won’t succeed in restarting peace talks in the Middle East because the Palestinians have “zero interest” in negotiations. The 2008 Republican presidential candidate also says the administration’s dealings with Mohammed Morsi and Egypt are “foreign policy gone wild,” and warns that the United States will be viewed as a “toothless tiger” if Obama doesn’t respond as promised to the use of chemical weapons in Syria. … “You’ve got a Palestinian government that refuses Israel’s right to exist. It’s really hard to negotiate with someone when they don’t even believe you...

The U.S. Senate Thursday defeated an amendment that aimed to prevent the Obama administration from transferring F-16 fighter aircraft and Abrams tanks to an Egypt in disarray. A vote to block the measure proposed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)—an amendment to the debt limit bill—passed by a 79–19 vote. In a strong-worded floor statement Paul questioned the wisdom of providing the sophisticated weaponry at a time when “many see Egypt descending into chaos.” … “I think this is particularly unwise since Egypt is currently governed by a religious zealot, a religious zealot who said recently that Jews were ‘bloodsuckers’ and...

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi defended his rancorous anti-Semitic comments, claiming that they were taken out of context. Morsi asserted in September 2010 that peace negotiations are "a waste of time and opportunities" as Arabs and Muslims get nothing out of engagement with "the descendants of apes and pigs." An Egyptian television shown this month aired the remarks, which were translated and distributed by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). "I was talking about the practices and behavior of believers of any religion who shed blood or who attack innocent people or civilians. That's behavior that I condemn," Morsi said,...

The struggle between political forces in Egypt could “lead to the collapse of the state,” the country’s army chief said Tuesday. In a posting to the army’s Facebook page, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said political and economic issues now represented a “real threat” to security. "The continuation of the struggle of the different political forces ... over the management of state affairs could lead to the collapse of the state," General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said. He added that the army would remain "the solid and the cohesive block" on which "the foundation of the state rests." Al-Sisi, who is also...

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi declared a 30-day state of emergency, Sunday night, in the cities of Port Said, Suez and Ismailiya, in response to violent anti-government demonstrations around the country. The state of emergency includes a curfew... Morsi said, "The attacks we have been seeing for the last few days are unacceptable actions against Egypt and the revolution, and I will fight the attackers with utmost power and determination."

Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi is evidently not that good at explaining himself. Josh Rogin at Foreign Policy’s The Cable blog reports on the conversation Morsi had last week with senators McCain, Ayotte, Graham, Whitehouse, Blumenthal, Gillibrand and Coons while they were in Cairo. Rogin spoke with Senator Coons, who said that, during their meeting with Morsi, the senators emphasized their disapproval with his 2010 remarks about Israeli Jews, whom he called the “descendants of apes and pigs.” Morsi dispelled their concerns, though, explaining, in essence, that the Jews who control the American media were making much ado about nothing. Rogin...

The White House has condemned anti-Semitic remarks by Mohammed Morsi, the Egyptian president, who once described Israelis as the “descendants of apes and pigs”. Mr. Morsi’s slurs, which emerged in recordings from 2010, were termed “deeply offensive” by Jay Carney, Mr. Obama’s press secretary, who said concerns had been raised with Egyptian officials. Mr. Carney urged Mr. Morsi, who has promised to respect Egypt’s decades-old peace treaty with Israel, to promptly state publicly that he respects people of all faiths. … Jewish groups have sharply criticized the remarks and said they raised troubling questions about the future of America’s delicate...

Vice-president Mekki has resigned, citing the new constitution, which does away with the post. Egyptians are voting in the second and final phase of a referendum on the country's Islamist-authored constitution. The vote on the draft charter comes amid four weeks of clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi. Mekki said he intended to quit once the charter is adopted as the new constitution eliminates the role of vice president. However, statement by Mekki read on state TV, suggested that his motive might in-fact be a disagreement with the Islamist policies of President Mohammed Morsi.

Does Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi desire to become a dictator...or another Abraham Lincoln? Did that question make you burst out laughing? If so, please be prepared for an even bigger laugh when you watch Atlantic editor Steve Clemons expend brain cells while struggling to figure out the answer to that question in his column. So laughable are the efforts of Clemons trying to come up with what to even slightly aware people is the obvious answer that you might need an oxygen mask due to an inability to catch a breath:

An Egyptian panel rushed through a draft constitution seen as undermining basic freedoms on Friday, resulting in mass protests in Cairo. AFP reported that tens of thousands of protesters rallied as the opposition piled pressure on President Mohammed Morsi. "Down with the constitutional assembly," vast crowds armed with megaphones chanted as they filed into Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak in early 2011. Banners condemned "dictatorial Morsi" while protesters shouted "down with the rule of the Guide," a reference to the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, through whose ranks Morsi rose before becoming president....

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has agreed to pull back decrees announced last Thursday granting himself sweeping new powers. The Islamist leader originally told a panel of Egypt's top judges that he would not change his stance on the edicts, insisting that he was acting within his rights. But according to a report by a television network allied with the Muslim Brotherhood, an agreement worked out with top judicial authorities was reached late Monday. The decrees had barred the judiciary from disbanding the Constitutional Assembly or the Upper House of the Parliament, placing the presidency and the committee writing the new Constitution...

As clashes between Egyptian police forces led by Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi and Egyptian protesters angry at Morsi’s power grab escalated, the US embassy in Cairo weighed in. You may remember the embassy’s last embarrassing tweeting escapade on 9/11, when embassy staff tweeted apologies for a YouTube video even as the embassy was stormed. Today, as the embassy fell under assault, they tweeted: