Egypt, Africa | featured news

Hosni Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison Saturday for failing to stop the killing of protesters during the uprising that forced him from power last year.

Egypt’s election commission rejected fraud complaints and confirmed on Monday that a conservative Islamist from the Muslim Brotherhood and a secular former military officer will compete in next month’s presidential runoff.

Egyptians began voting freely on Wednesday for the first time to pick their president in a wide open election that pits Islamists against men who served under deposed leader Hosni Mubarak.

With robberies, kidnappings and other crimes rising, and the police appearing unwilling to go after criminals, some areas are seeing a rise in vigilante justice, with mobs sometimes killing suspects.

Egypt's election commission has released a final list of 13 candidates eligible to run in next month's presidential elections.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s disbarred presidential candidate, Khairat el Shater, said Wednesday that Egypt’s military rulers have no intention of truly handing power over to civilian rule, but instead are trying to rig the election outcome in their favor.

Egypt’s presidential commission announced Saturday that 10 of the 23 presidential hopefuls would be disqualified from the race. Those barred from running include the popular ultra-conservative Salafist preacher Hazem Abu Ismail; the Muslim Brotherhood’s top candidate and strategist, Khairat el Shater; and Omar Suleiman, spy chief under former president Hosni Mubarak.

A prosecutor in the trial of Hosni Mubarak demanded on Thursday that the ousted Egyptian leader be sentenced to hang on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters.

An Egyptian civilian court ordered the army on Tuesday to end forced virginity tests on female detainees in military prisons.

The housewives and breadwinners stepping out of a Cairo supermarket with bags of groceries agreed on one thing. “The prices are very high,” said Sabah Fehmi, 58. “The economy has been very bad after the revolution.”