Cairo

CAIRO, Egypt - An explosion in a bustling market in the tourist-packed heart of Cairo's old city killed two people yesterday and wounded at least 18. Some witnesses reported that a motorcyclist set off the blast The old bazaar near al-Azhar mosque was sealed off last night as investigators combed the narrow alleyways for clues. Witnesses said the blast shattered shop windows, leaving the dead and wounded sprawled in the streets. The late afternoon blast was the first bombing that appeared to target tourists in Cairo since September 1997.

KFAR MIT EL-EZZ, Egypt - The narrow streets in this village in the fertile Nile Delta are made of mud baked hard under an unforgiving sun. Children play barefoot. Traffic jams occur only when donkey carts, goats and roosters vie for the same bare patch of dirt. But even here, far from the choking exhaust fumes of Cairo, and far from the universities and newspaper headlines that feed anti-war fervor, the American-led invasion of Iraq has taken its toll. The farmers here are hemmed in between the Nile and other villages and thus find it impossible to expand their fields, no matter how large their families become.

CAIRO - Helmeted riot police stood shoulder-to-shoulder yesterday across a broad boulevard, bracing for the approaching demonstrators loudly denouncing America's war on Iraq. Remarkably, the protestors marching outside Al-Azhar, this city's central mosque, and shouting "Our souls, our blood for Saddam" obediently stopped. After their leaders spoke from the back of trucks, the crowd dispersed. No less remarkable, yesterday's protest was officially permitted. The crowd was able to express its anger at the United States, and the Egyptian government thus diverted criticism from itself.

Joseph A. Dabbah, a well-known former Baltimore watchmaker who kept his customers' wristwatches, pocket watches and decorative clocks on time and ticking for nearly half a century, died July 18 in his sleep at his home in Delray Beach, Fla. He was 88. Mr. Dabbah, who had lived for more than 30 years in the Milbrook neighborhood near Pikesville, was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. "He was 15 when his father died, and suddenly he was the man of the house. He was the oldest and had to help his mother with the other children," said his daughter, Claudette Jacobs, a registered nurse-educator at Howard County General Hospital who lives in Dayton.

CAIRO, Egypt -- In a dusty storefront on the Street of the Tentmakers, Muhammad al Tarabishi unsnaps the locks on a worn leather hatbox. He lifts the cover to reveal a flat-topped cone of maroon felt. The tarbush, or fez, worn by his grandfather who opened this shop a century ago, is more than an heirloom.It is a relic of a bygone age, a cultural icon with a colorful political past. Once favored by pashas and policemen, this brimless hat with the black silk tassel commanded respect for its wearer.

CAIRO, Egypt -- The names suggest kiddie parks or country clubs -- Dreamland, Royal Hills, Gardenia Park. Out in the desert wastelands surrounding Cairo, a new world is springing up -- one that, for better or worse, could determine the future of Egypt's teeming, overpopulated capital.Long fed up with the pollution, noise, traffic and general hassle of Cairo life, upper-class Egyptians have started looking outward -- to the dozens of elite, gated communities being built outside the city.Construction is nonstop -- and so is the debate about whether these new communities will save Cairo or finish it off.Egypt has always been a place of rigid class divisions, but until now rich and poor had lived side by side in relative harmony.

As Molotov cocktails, rocks and gunshots filled the streets of Cairo last week, executives at ARINC Inc. in Annapolis fixed on their employees' safety and getting them out of Egypt. The company, which outfitted Cairo's international terminal with electronics systems and maintains U.S. Air Force jets there, decided Thursday after days of anti-government protests and clashes to pull employees, contractors and their families out. It was a harrowing time — there and here. "This is what we've been living and breathing 24/7," said Alice Lao, ARINC'S director of international human resources.

Their voices have been heard. The people have spoken. The streets of Cairo echo with the clatter of democracy and freedom. However, I wonder if freedom in Egypt is truly possible. Can a regime torn by controversy and dictatorship follow with freedom and liberty? Many Americans tend to view Muslim countries with a cautious eye. However, this past weekend I stumbled upon a very peculiar image. The image depicted was thousands of men and women praying together side-by-side after the conclusion of dictatorship in Tahrir Square in Cairo (a feat typically unusual outside of the holy city of Mecca)

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton has asked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for help in finding a prominent Libyan opposition leader who disappeared in Cairo about a week ago, administration officials said yesterday.Mr. Clinton made the personal appeal in a letter delivered Tuesday by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, the officials said.In the letter, he asked Mr. Mubarak to do whatever he could to find Mansour Kikhiya, 62, a U.S. resident and human rights campaigner who was last seen Dec. 10 at his a hotel in Cairo, where he was attending a conference of the Arab Organization of Human Rights.

Blue Jays: Miguel Cairo doubled in his first major league at-bat Wednesday night. Cairo, two weeks shy of 22, was recalled on April 12 from Triple-A Syracuse after spending last season at Double-A San Antonio (Dodgers). . . . Joe Carter's 1,075 RBIs since the start of the 1986 season are the most in the majors.Indians: The bullpen has allowed 24 earned runs in 35 innings for a 6.17 ERA.Mariners: After recording 12 come-from-behind wins last September, Seattle already has four such victories this year.