Egypt: Shocked, Scared, and Still Divided

As dusk settled over the dusty minarets and rooftop satellite dishes of Cairo yesterday, the city was in mourning. Violent clashes between security forces and protesters had left over 530 dead and thousands injured; the liberal Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei had just announced his resignation, and interim President Adli Mansour had declared a month-long state of emergency.

The back streets of Mohandeseen, an upper-middle class Cairo neighborhood, were mostly empty. A few young men gathered by a small, barricaded intersection, looking impatient and a little lost. Couples and families walked briskly through the streets, anxious to be home before the new curfew began. All was quiet, except for the tinny sound of news broadcasts emanating from the hundreds of television screens around the neighborhood.