A sign on undeveloped land welcomes visitors to "New Toshka City." Toshka was to be a new settlement along the Upper Nile Valley, complete with enough jobs and infrastructure to support the relocation of 20 million Egyptians from polluted and over-crowded cities. Holly Pickett/Redux hide caption

Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson
Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson is a NPR foreign correspondent based in Cairo.Egyptians gather at Tahrir Square in Cairo to call for a new revolution Saturday. A court sentenced ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his interior minister to life in prison, but acquitted six security chiefs in the deaths of protesters last year. Fredrik Persson/AP hide caption
An Egyptian woman walks under a campaign banner in Cairo on Tuesday. Egypt holds its first competitive presidential election on Wednesday and Thursday, with a dozen candidates in the race. Amr Nabil/AP hide caption