Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi sets election dates

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has called a series of parliamentary elections that will start on 27 April and end in June.

The new parliament will convene on 6 July, a presidential decree also revealed.

Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood backers hope the election will mark an end to a turbulent political transition, punctuated by violence, that has thwarted his efforts to revive an economy in deep crisis.

But the vote will take place in a country divided between Islamist parties, which have come out on top in all the elections held since Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011, and a more secular-minded opposition.