BBC News with Marion Marshall.
The head of Egypt's Election Committee has said that a planned vote on Saturday by Egyptians living abroad on a controversial draft constitution has been delayed. It comes as tens of thousands of protesters have again gathered near the presidential palace to demand that the referendum for all Egyptians due on Dec.15 be postponed. Sebastian Usher reports.
The news with the referendum vote by Egyptian expatriates won't now start on Saturday leaves some space for the dialogue that President Mursi has urged with the opposition, but it isn't enough itself. His Vice President Mahmud Mekki now appears to suggest that the president might postpone the referendum altogether if it's legally possible to do so. This is the key demand of the protesters who are out in full force again near the presidential palace. Opposition leaders earlier rejected the president's invitation for dialogue on Saturday. They would want more concrete concessions to persuade them that it is worth their while.
Syrian activists say government forces have reinforced their positions in the suburbs of the capital, Damascus, raising fears of a ground attack on rebel-held parts of the capital. As the army continued to shell rebel positions, the BBC Middle East editor was taken by Syrian government officials to interview prisoners at, what he described as a notorious military-run jail nearby. He said two admitted to be members of an al-Qaeda-type group.