Life Just Got Suspiciously Good in Egypt

Apart from all the political unrest and mass killings, Egypt has suddenly become a much better place to live—to a degree that the New York Times thinks is frankly suspicious. No sooner had Mohamed Morsi been ousted than the country's energy crisis seemed to vanish, with long lines at gas stations suddenly disappearing and power cuts ending. Police are back on the streets as well. Muslim Brotherhood supporters think the sudden turnaround is a sign that Mubarak-era personnel were sabotaging Morsi's Egypt.

"This was preparing for the coup," a Morsi administration spokesman said. "Different circles in the state, from the storage facilities to the cars that transport petrol products to the gas stations, all participated in creating the crisis." Meanwhile:

• The Brotherhood disavowed involvement in an assassination attempt on a senior army commander, the AP reports. They vowed, however, to "continue our peaceful resistance to the bloody military coup."
• The unrest is all playing out against the backdrop of Ramadan, the LA Times points out. Tens of thousands of Morsi supporters gathered last night for a mass demonstration, a sign that the holy month will not dissipate the tensions.
• BBC correspondent Frank Gardner worries that all this could coalesce into a "holy war," as religious rhetoric flies, and guns seep in from Libya and the Sinai peninsula.

(More Egypt stories.)