Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi pled with opposition leaders in Egypt to help him deal with a new wave of unrest around the country. Meanwhile, a state of emergency has been declared in areas along the Suez Canal. David Kirkpatrick is a reporter for our partner The New York Times.

Counterterrorism and State Department officials now say the effective response of newly-trained Libyan guards to a June bombing outside the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi may have led American officials to underestimate the security threat there.

Protesters gathered to express their anger over a film that they say ridicules and insults the Prophet Muhammad. Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed Tuesday night when he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to get his team out of the building after the protest turned violent.

Sixteen months after President Hosni Mubarak was ousted, Cairo continues to be at the epicenter of democratic turmoil. On the brink of the second round of presidential elections this weekend, Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court has dissolved the Parliament. The act makes relations between the Supreme Constitutional Court and the Muslim Brotherhood seem increasingly fraught.

Egypt's first freely elected Parliament in more than 60 years held its first session this morning. The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party which took more than 40 percent of the seats has vowed to guide Egypt through the transition from military to civilian rule. Joining The Takeaway is David Kirkpatrick, Cairo bureau chief for our partner The New York Times. Also on the program is Michael Wahid Hanna, a fellow at The Century Foundation.

"The United States will continue to stand with the Egyptian people as they build a democracy worthy of Egypt's great history," the Obama administration said in a statement supporting the demonstrators in Tahrir Square. The protesters are demanding a speedier transition to civilian-led government. David Kirkpatrick, Cairo bureau chief for The New York Times, has just come back from Tahrir Square and reports on what he saw.

Tens of thousands of Egyptians flooded into Cairo's Tahrir Square on Monday night for a third day of protests against the country's transitional military leaders. Activists hope to capitalize of the resignation of Egypt's civilian cabinet, calling for a million-strong demonstration on Tuesday. Security forces and protesters have clashed violently, recalling the events that led to the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak. Elections scheduled for next week are now uncertain.

Thousands returned to Cairo's Tahrir Square to protest the possibility of heightened military control of the Egyptian government to protest the possibility of heightened military control of the Egyptian government on Friday. While initial demonstrations were peaceful, the mood changed over the weekend, resulting in clashes between protesters and security forces that extended into the early hours of Monday morning. Said Abbas, a representative of the ruling military council, has called protesters injured by gunfire "thugs."

In the worst incident of violence in Egypt since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February, 24 people died, and more than 200 were wounded after a protest in Cairo turned violent on Sunday. Christians protesting a recent attack against a Coptic church in Aswan province were attacked by police. Thousands filled the streets chanting, "the people want to bring down the field marshal," in reference to Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi and the military council that has ruled Egypt since February.

The Obama administration is scrambling to avert a vote on Palestinian statehood at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly next week. The Palestinian Authority and its allies say the vote would get the months-stalled peace process moving again toward a two-state solution. The move comes as Israel has seen a significant deterioration in diplomatic ties with Egypt and Turkey, its closest allies in the region. The U.S. hopes to avoid casting a veto in the Security Council against Palestinian statehood, as well as a more symbolic gesture in the General Assembly. David Kirkpatrick, Cairo bureau chief for The New York Times, talks about what's at stake for the U.S., Israel, and the Palestinian Authority and its allies.

A week after Egypt's media minister declared that the government would take legal action against outlets that "endanger the stability and security" of the country, Egyptian security forces raided the offices of Al Jazeera in Cairo on Sunday. The raid has prompted allegations of a crackdown on the news media by the transitional military-led government. Al Jazeera Live Egypt is a spin off of the Qatar-based Al Jazeera network that was founded after the civilian uprising that led to the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.

Days after the mysterious death of Libya's top rebel leader, opposition fighters staged an eight-hour gunfight with a group Qaddafi loyalists who were posing as another rebel brigade. Tensions within the rebels ranks suggest that there is not unity among the factions. These developments are are latest in a chaotic, confused, and violent situation. 

Cairo bureau chief for The New York Times, David Kirkpatrick, gauges reaction from the Middle East to President Obama's speech. The American perception, according to Kirkpatrick is that the president has made some hard and explicit moves in the Middle East. However, the perception fromthe Arab world is quite different as there's a sentiment that the United States dithered on Egypt, waiting too long to call for Mubarak's ouster, and hasn't done anything effective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, Egyptians have been asking for accountability from Mubarak and his family. Suzanne Mubarak has reportedly agreed to give up $3 million in cash and a villa in a Cairo suburb. Under Egyptian law, by forfeiting the assets, she avoids an investigation into whether they were obtained illegally. There are rumors that Mubarak will apologize to his people; however, this seems unlikely, says David Kirkpatrick, Cairo bureau chief for The New York Times. What does this mean for Egypt's ousted leadership?

12 people died and hundreds were injured in sectarian clashes yesterday in Cairo. The violence was the result of longstanding tensions between Muslims and Coptic Christians in Egypt. Those tensions were softened in the immediate aftermath of the ouster of Hosni Mubarak in February. David Kirkpatrick, Foreign Correspondent for The New York Times, says the violence has slowly crept back into the lives of residents in Cairo.

The New York Times' David Kirkpatrick is in Tripoli. He reports on the latest following several high profile defections by Libya's officials. 

The New York Times correspondent, David Kirkpatrick is in Tripoli where government officials have continued to maintain that Col. Gadhafi and his family will stay in the country to the end. This comes as Libya's foreign minister, Moussa Koussa defected to the U.K. He was known as the "envoy of death," says David Kirkpatrick as he was accused of killing Libyan defectors abroad. He has also been charged with being responsible for the Lockerbie bombing. Susan Cohen is the mother of Theodora Cohen who was aboard Pan Am's flight 103. She also co-authored "Pan Am 103: The Bombing, the Betrayals, and a Bereaved Family's Search for Justice." She responds to the news that Moussa Koussa has left Libya.

When a Libyan woman burst into the Tripoli hotel where foreign journalists convened, her story of rape at the hands of Gadhafi's militia men was heard around the world. Correspondent for The New York Times David Kirkpatrick was there. Her story is that she was abducted and tortured, but government officials are saying that she’s a prostitute with a long criminal record. She was beaten and dragged away by security officials. David Kirkpatrick says that Libyan officials had said that reporters would be able to talk to her again, but that this is unlikely. 

The New York Times' David Kirkpatrick reports from Tripoli. He says that it seems that on the ground, Gadhafi's forces have had no problems moving through the country. He reports that the Gadhafi regime has been handing out Kalashnikovs to households in the nations.

Coalition aircraft launched two new strikes on Moammar Gadhafi's forces in the city of Misurata Wednesday morning. It was believed that the strikes had halted new attacks by Gadhafi's forces, but new reports say that Gadhafi's brigades have shifted their assault to the city of Zintan. The city has been under siege for weeks. There's no water, fuel or electricity and the hospital is said to be overflowing with civilian casualties. Mohammad Ali is one of 15 people on the local council in Misurata. He says he is grateful for coalition intervention. The New York Times' David Kirkpatrick reports from Bani-Walid, where, he says, everyone is armed.