Ibrahim

Saad Eddin Ibrahim, the most prominent face and voice of human rights activism in Egypt, is back in the dock of a Cairo courtroom. A cage, to be more precise, as the Egyptians never gave up on that Napoleonic-era tradition. The 63-year-old professor, who holds U. S. citizenship, steps gingerly, with the help of a cane, into the defendants' cage, and sits alongside six co-defendants from his Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies. The center, which received grants from abroad, found, among other things, that Egypt's elections were rigged and that the minority Coptic Christian population was discriminated against in Egypt.

Soon after our return from Sudan, we meet with Mahdi Ibrahim Mohamed, Sudan's ambassador to the United States.Over soft drinks in the lobby cafe of the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, he flatly denies that the government in Khartoum sponsors or condones slavery."

CAIRO - Saad Eddin Ibrahim is a professor of sociology and founder of an Egyptian think tank studying politics, democracy and human rights. Thanks in part to those interests, Egypt jailed him for 45 days, until Thursday, when he was released on bail without having been charged with a crime. Ibrahim's detention became an emblem of the struggle between the government and the country's human rights groups. It is a struggle that the government of President Hosni Mubarak appears to be winning, notwithstanding Ibrahim's release.

It is 6:45 a.m. and Severna Park High School freshman Chelsea Rogers has a decision to make: skip the most important meal of the day or skip the school bus. "There's no time for breakfast," said Rogers after reaching the corner of Hill Road and Baltimore Annapolis Boulevard in Severna Park, where the bus will take her to school in time for classes to begin at 7:17 a.m. She said she hadn't had a bite since 8 p.m. the night before and wouldn't eat...

Ibrahim Ferrer, 78, a leading voice with the hugely popular Buena Vista Social Club of traditional Cuban performers, died Saturday, his representative in Cuba said. A cause of death was not given, but his colleagues said he suffered from emphysema and was feeling ill earlier in the week. Known for his trademark cap and graying mustache, Mr. Ferrer was a wiry, animated figure who clearly enjoyed performing Cuba's traditional "son" music of the 1940s and 1950s for new generations of fans.

WHILE EGYPTIAN human-rights activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim has languished in his cell in a Cairo-area prison, the White House has been mum on his incarceration. Until last week. Suddenly, the Bush administration let it be known that the United States couldn't possibly support Egypt's request for an additional $130 million in U.S. aid. The reason? Mr. Ibrahim, who has been imprisoned since July 29. An Egyptian court sentenced the activist professor to seven years in prison after a trial that human-rights workers called a sham.

COLLEGE PARK - Sixth-ranked Maryland knocked off defending NCAA champion North Carolina, 3-1, last night at Ludwig Field, getting early goals from Nino Marcantonio and Sumed Ibrahim and a diligent defensive effort the rest of the way for the Terps' first men's soccer win over the Tar Heels since 1999. The Terps (9-2, 2-1 ACC) struck less than five minutes into the game when Marcantonio got a strong shot from inside the box past Carolina keeper Ford Williams. Domenic Mediate supplied the assist.

Laurette Hankins has been named associate dean for development and alumni relations at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. In her new role as chief fundraising officer, Hankins is responsible for planning and implementing a development program that includes capital campaigns, major gifts, planned giving and annual gifts. She also oversees an alumni relations program for the nursing school's 16,000 graduates. Hankins, who lives in Annapolis, graduated from Duke University. She has 22 years' experience in development.

A gas station clerk who shot and killed a would-be robber at a Laurel gas station in December won't be charged, the Anne Arundel state's attorney's office announced Friday. Prosecutors say that Mapher Amin Ibrahim, 48, acted in self-defense when he shot Josue Alberto Angel, 29, on Dec. 28. Police had said that Angel entered a Chevron Gas Station and Dunkin Donuts in the 3400 block of Laurel Fort Meade Road with the intent to rob the store, and had indicated he was armed. Ibrahim, who was working as a clerk at the store, then shot Angel, according to officials.

WASHINGTON -- Saudi Arabia scrambled over the weekend to defuse a new crisis in its relations with the United States after the disclosure of a money trail leading indirectly from the Saudi Embassy to a man who befriended two Sept. 11 hijackers. Saudi sources acknowledged that the embassy; the ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan; and his wife, Princess Haifa al-Faisal, together provided about $130,000 in what they called charitable donations over a four-year period to Majida Ibrahim Ahmad al-Dweikat, who needed medical treatment.