Image of the Day

crowds of the president's opponents marched on his palace to
increase pressure after he rejected their demands.
Egypt delays early voting on draft constitution
in sign of president yielding to pressure
Signs of retreat by Morsi after thousands protest against vote
Both sides have been accused of using firearms during protests that
left six dead
Alastair Beach
The first signs emerged last night that President Mohamed Morsi's
resolve to change the constitution could be cracking as aides hinted that
the referendum could be cancelled.
Early voting on the draft constitution was postponed in a surprise
move by election committee head Ismail Hamdi, and presidential aides
raised the possibility of cancelling next week's poll as they urged
protesters to show "self-restraint".
The prospect was raised after another day of protest in which
protesters breached the gates of President Morsi's palace and opposition
leaders rejected his call for talks.
Guards moved to secure the door of the palace after its barricade of
barbed wire was cut by demonstrators who swarmed into the compound,
after marching up to eight miles in numbers approaching 10,000.
In a potentially calamitous game of brinkmanship developing
between the nation's rival factions, opposition groups are planning to call
for labour strikes should Mr Morsi continue to ignore their demands to
suspend a vote on the country's new constitution.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who is now
coordinator of the National Salvation Front, was among those saying they
would defy Mr Morsi's request for talks over the referendum due to be
held on 15 December.
The crisis has spurred the opposition to unite under the Front's liberal
coalition after months of nursing often petty divisions. As several
thousand protesters marched for hours in a huge procession across the
capital, descending on the president's east Cairo headquarters, Mr