Marco Longari / AFP - Getty Images

A supporter of Mohammed Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate in Egypt's presidential election, at the party's last campaign rally for the presidential election in Cairo on May 20, 2012, the final day of campaigning.

Reuters reports — Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood showed off its ability to rally support with choreographed campaign events throughout the nation on Sunday in a final push to clinch victory for its candidate in this week's presidential election.

Egypt's first televised presidential debate thrills viewers

With official campaigning ending on Sunday, fireworks cracked in the night air and flames flared from the front of the stage as Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi arrived to address the audience of several thousand gathered in central Cairo, outside Abdeen palace. 

Analysis by NBC News correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin: Chaos is pinned on military's incompetence 

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Fredrik Persson / AP

Several hundred imams listen to Mohammed Mursi at a rally in Cairo on May 20, 2012. The May 23-24 presidential election is the first since last year's ouster of longtime authoritarian ruler Hosni Mubarak.

Mahmud Hams / AFP - Getty Images

Supporters of Mohammed Mursi attend the party's last campaign rally in Cairo on May 20, 2012.

Abdelhak Senna / AFP - Getty Images

Morocco's Solidarity, Women and Family minister Bassima Hakkaoui, the only woman in the new Islamist-led government, speaks during a debate about underage marriage in parliament in Rabat on April 16, 2012, next to Justice minister Mustafa Ramid.

Abdelhak Senna / AFP - Getty Images

Hamida, the sister of Amina Al Filali, holds a poster of her sister during a sit-in protest outside the local court in Larache that had approved the marriage on March 15, 2012.

Morocco's parliament has been debating a controversial law that allows rapists to marry their underage victims after the suicide of a teenage girl last month raised doubts about the effectiveness of reforms to women's rights brought in by King Mohammed VI. 

The North African country's Islamist-led government has been urged by human rights groups to amend article 475 of the penal code, which allows a rapist to marry his victim if she is a minor as a way of avoiding prosecution. 

Sixteen-year-old Amina El-Filali killed herself by swallowing rat poison on March 10 after being severely beaten during a six-month forced marriage to the man who raped her.

--Reuters contributed to this report

• Read more about Amina el-Filali and the demands for a change in the law in Edward Cody's report for the Washington Post

Gianluigi Guercia / AFP - Getty Images

The dead body of Pope Shenouda III, the spiritual leader of the Middle East's largest Christian minority, sits dressed in formal robes on a wooden throne at the Saint Mark's Coptic Cathedral in Cairo's al-Abbassiya district, for the people to bid farewell to him on March 19, 2012.

Tens of thousands of Egyptian Christians converged on Saint Mark's Coptic Cathedral in Cairo to bid farewell to Pope Shenouda III, who died on March 16 at the age of 88 after a long illness, Agence France-Presse reports. 

Based on his wishes, Pope Shenouda will be buried on Tuesday at St. Bishoy monastery in Wadi Natrun in the Nile Delta, where he spent his time in exile after a dispute with late president Anwar Sadat. 

His death set in motion the process to elect a new patriarch for the Middle East's largest Christian community. 

Gianluigi Guercia / AFP - Getty Images

Christian Copts push to enter Saint Mark's Coptic Cathedral in Cairo on March 19, 2012 where tens of thousands bade farewell to Pope Shenouda III.

Gianluigi Guercia / AFP - Getty Images

Coptic nuns mourn the death of Pope Shenouda III in Saint Mark's Coptic Cathedral on March 19, 2012.

Gianluigi Guercia / AFP - Getty Images

Copts wait in line to enter Saint Mark's Coptic Cathedral on March 19, 2012.

See more pictures of the mourning on PhotoBlog.

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Khaled Desouki / AFP - Getty Images

A Coptic Christian mourns the death of Pope Shenouda III, the spiritual leader of the Middle East's largest Christian minority on March 18.

Khaled Desouki / AFP - Getty Images

An Egyptian Christian Copt mourns the death of Pope Shenouda III, spiritual leader of the Middle East's largest Christian minority, in Saint Mark Cathedral in Cairo.

Christians gathered on Sunday to pay final respects to Pope Shenouda III, who sought to soothe sectarian tension in his four decades atop Egypt's Orthodox Church but saw increasing flare-ups in the majority Muslim nation in the last months of his life.

Friction has worsened since President Hosni Mubarak, who suppressed Islamists, was ousted last year. Since then Shenouda, who died on Saturday aged 88, often called for harmony and regularly met Muslim and other leaders.

Christians, who comprise about a tenth of Egypt's 80 million people, have long complained of discrimination and in the past year stepped up protests, which included calls for new rules that would make it as easy to build a church as a mosque.

Shenouda had served as the 117th Pope of Alexandria since November 1971, leading the Orthodox community who make up most of Egypt's Christians. His funeral will be held on Tuesday, Egyptian state media reported. 

-- Reuters contributed to this blog post

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Related links:

• Christians gather to bid farewell to Egypt's Pope 
• Pope Shenouda, religious peacemaker and Mubarak ally 
• Pope of Egypt's Coptic Christian Church dies

Esam Omran Al-Fetori / Reuters

Egyptian Christians gather to mourn the death of Pope Shenouda III, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church, outside the Abbasiya Cathedral in Cairo on March 18.

Ammar Awad / Reuters

A Coptic Christian priest holds candles next to a picture of Egyptian Coptic Christian Pope Shenouda III in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City on March 18.

Ed Ou / The New York Times via Redux Pictures

Photojournalists Guy Martin, left, and Dominic Nahr take cover behind a wall as anti- and pro-government protesters throw stones during a clash near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Feb. 3, 2011.

The 27-year-old was in a group of photographers caught in a mortar attack in Misrata on April 20, 2011. Martin was seriously injured and two of his friends and colleagues, Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, were killed. 

• Slideshow: Chris Hondros retrospective
• Slideshow: Tim Hetherington retrospective

Martin's life was saved by doctors who then prepared him for a perilous evacuation by boat from the besieged city.

Ten months on and still recovering from his injuries, he spoke to NBC News. Watch the video below:

Martin had spent several months covering the Arab Spring, documenting the historic events in Egypt and moving on to the brutal civil war in Libya. His pictures documenting the unrest in Cairo's Tahrir Square have just gone on display in London. 

As well as the chaotic scenes of violence, Martin prides himself on capturing the quiet, contemplative moments that give some context to the historical moments he has witnessed.

"Despite the physical violence, the risk that we put ourselves in, you have a duty, a responsibility to come out of those situations with pictures, with strong images that communicate what was happening on the ground," he says.

Guy Martin / Panos Pictures

Rebel fighters moved from house to house, back street by back street to fire on Gadhafi's forces. Here a rebel soldier takes cover in a stairwell as he prepares to fire on Gadhafi loyalists in the adjacent room, just a few meters away. Tripoli Street, Misrata, Libya, April 20, 2011.

Guy Martin / Panos Pictures

Rebel fighters run across an intersection that was frequently targeted by sniper fire. Misrata, April 18, 2011.

Guy Martin / Panos Pictures

Rebel fighters takes cover behind trees on the strategically important Tripoli Street in Misrata during a fierce battle for control of the road on the morning of April 20, 2011. Hours later Guy Martin was seriously injured.

The Last Days of Mubarak, an exhibition by Guy Martin and Ivor Prickett, runs at London's Foto8 gallery until March 10. 

• Audio: Guy Martin and Ivor Prickett discuss their work in Egypt and Libya
• Slideshow: Chris Hondros' images from Libya 
• Slideshow: Conflict in Libya

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

A woman runs away after being caught between riot police and stone-throwers during clashes near the Interior Ministry in Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 6, 2012.

Carsten Koall / Getty Images Contributor

A protester holds a stone towards security forces during protests near the Interior Ministry in Cairo, as they continue for the fifth consecutive day on Feb. 6, 2012. At least 12 people have been killed as violent protests spread across Egypt's cities amid anger over the deaths of 74 soccer fans in clashes between rival fans, following the match between al-Masry and al-Alhy last week.

Related content:

• Concession fails to quell violent Egypt clashes
• American pro-democracy workers face trial in Egypt
• More images from Egypt on PhotoBlog

Khalil Hamra / AP

Protesters help a wounded man during clashes with security forces near the Interior Ministry in downtown Cairo, Egypt, on Feb. 3, 2012.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

A youth throws a stone at security forces, not pictured, during clashes near the Interior Ministry on Feb. 3, 2012.

Muhammed Muheisen / AP

Riot police throw stones at protesters during clashes near the Interior Ministry on Feb. 3, 2012.

Khalil Hamra / AP

A protester covers his face with a scarf on Feb. 3, 2012.

Reuters reports:

Protesters laid siege to Egypt's Interior Ministry on Friday, pushing their protest against the military-led government into a second day in a show of anger triggered by the deaths of 74 people in the country's worst soccer disaster.

One person died in Cairo from a shotgun pellet wound and two were killed in the city of Suez as police used live rounds to hold back crowds trying to break into a police station, witnesses and the ambulance authority said.

The demonstrations erupted following the deaths at a soccer stadium in Port Said. Most of those killed were crushed to death in a stampede but protesters hold the military-led authorities responsible. Continue reading.

Follow NBC News correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin on Twitter for updates from Cairo.

 Related content:

• After soccer melee, Egypt learns tough lesson: sharing blame
• Chaotic scenes as injured soccer fans return to Cairo
• Dozens killed in Egypt soccer riot

Khalil Hamra / AP

A protester, right, holds gas canisters as another holds an office drawer used as an improvised shield during clashes on Feb. 3, 2012.

AP

People crowd a train station in Cairo, Egypt waiting for their friends and relatives' arrival from Port Said on Feb. 2, 2012 after the country's worst ever soccer violence. A man, right, carries a poster that reads, "Rest in peace, who is behind this? We are with those who lost their relatives."

AP

An injured man is carried after arriving from Port Said at a train station in Cairo on Feb. 2, 2012.

AFP - Getty Images

Soldiers transfer a wounded fan of Al-Ahly upon his arrival in Cairo aboard a military plane on Feb. 2, 2012.

msnbc.com news services report: 

Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters

Blood is seen on a seat in the Port Said stadium. Feb. 2, 2012.

The head of Egypt's ruling military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, vowed Thursday to track down those behind soccer violence that killed at least 74 people in Port Said, speaking in a rare phone call to an Egyptian TV channel.

"These kind of events can happen anywhere in the world but we will not let those behind this get away," Tantawi said, speaking to the sports television channel owned by Al Ahly, one of the teams playing. He said victims would receive compensation after their cases were examined.

At least 47 people were arrested in connection with the melee, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said. Read the full story.

Follow NBC News correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin on Twitter for updates from Cairo and see earlier pictures from Port Said on PhotoBlog.

Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters

A shoe is seen inside the goal net one day after soccer supporters clashed at the Port Said stadium. Feb. 2, 2012.

Mahmud Hams / AFP - Getty Images

Women mourn at a morgue in Cairo on Feb. 2, 2012.

Graffiti has turned into perhaps the most fertile artistic expression of Egypt's uprising, The Associated Press reports, as street artists duel it out to shift public opinion for or against the ruling military council:

During the regime of Hosni Mubarak, Egypt had almost no graffiti on the walls of its cities. But when the uprising against Mubarak's rule erupted a year ago, there was an explosion of the art.

Taking control of the streets was critical for the thousands of Egyptians who eventually overthrew the country's authoritarian leader. The battle continues to be fought by graffiti artists who support the country's military rulers and those who want them to relinquish power. Read the full story.

Nasser Nasser / AP, file

Two women walk by a mural depicting faces of Egyptians killed before and after the revolution, in Tahrir Square in Cairo on Dec. 20, 2011. The slogans read "No conciliation" and #NOSCAF, referring to the ruling Supreme Council of the Army Forces.

Nariman El-Mofty / AP, file

A girl, left, posts an art piece made by Sad Panda, unseen, on a wall as flower vendors prepare a bouquet outside their shop in Cairo on Jan. 19.

Nasser Nasser / AP

A man walks by a graffiti that reads "Pride and dignity, No SCAF," on a road that leads to Tahrir Square on Jan. 29.

Ahmed Ali / AP, file

Soldiers beat a protester wearing a niqab during clashes near Tahrir Square on Dec. 16, 2011. Graffiti in the background depicts members of the military ruling council and reads "Killer".

Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images

Graffiti written on the walls in Mohammed Mahmoud Street off Tahrir Square on Jan. 26.

To see more examples of Cairo street art, take a look at the suzeeinthecity blog and a map of graffiti locations.

Related content:

• Clashes erupt in Cairo during anti-army protest
• A year later, Egyptian neighborhood awaits justice
• More images of Egypt on PhotoBlog

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Pool via Reuters

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, thrid from left, U.S. Ambassador to Libya Gene Cretz, second from left, and Gen. Carter Ham, Commander of U.S. Africa Command, left, bow their heads during the wreath laying ceremony at the grave site of 13 U.S. Navy sailors at the Protestant Cemetery in Tripoli, Libya, Dec. 17.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Libyan Prime Minister Abd al-Rheem Al-Keeb greet one another during their joint news conference in Tripoli, Libya, Saturday, Dec., 17.

TRIPOLI - U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Tripoli Saturday, taking advantage of the ouster of Moammar Gadhafi in an eight-month civil war to become the first Pentagon chief to set foot on Libyan soil.

But Panetta has indicated that the U.S. will give more time to gain control of the militias that overthrew Gadhafi before determining how to help the fledgling government.

"The last thing you want to do is to try to impose something on a country that has just gone through what the Libyans have gone through," said Panetta on Friday before landing in Tripoli.

"They've earned the right to try to determine their future. They've earned the right to try to work their way through the issues that they're going to have to confront," he said.

Read the full story here and see more images of Leon Panetta's travels on PhotoBlog.

Khaled Elfiqi / EPA

A woman is taken away by the Egyptian army during clashes in central Cairo on Dec. 16, 2011.

Reuters reports from CAIRO:

Protesters clashed with military police in central Cairo on Friday after rumors spread that an anti-government activist was detained at a sit-in and badly beaten, in the worst violence since the start of Egypt's first free election in decades.

Police fired in the air after dawn to try to disperse around 300 demonstrators who said they were angered by images posted online of the man - named as Abboudi Ibrahim - being supported by a crowd, his face badly bruised and eyes swollen and shut.

The fighting continued and, by mid-morning, the area around the cabinet office and parliament was strewn with rubble as soldiers and men in plainclothes threw stones from the roofs of state buildings down on protesters, who hurled back rocks. Continue reading.

Amr Hafez / AP

Protesters throw rocks and firebombs at military police as another waves a national flag during clashes near Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square, in Egypt on Dec. 16, 2011.

Khaled Elfiqi / EPA

Protesters try to enter to the Prime Ministry building in central Cairo on Dec. 16, 2011. Dozens of protesters have been camping for three weeks outside the government headquarters near Tahrir Square to prevent new Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri from entering.

Mohammed Abed / AFP - Getty Images

Egyptian soldiers beat with their batons a protester during clashes near Cairo's Tahrir Square on Dec. 16, 2011 after demonstrators threw petrol bombs and set fire to furniture in front of the nearby parliament.

Related content:

• World Blog by NBC News' Ayman Mohyeldin: Identity, not policy, driving the new Egypt
• Slideshow: Elections in Egypt
• Slideshow:  Protests continue in Egypt