CAIRO, Egypt — Stocks in Egypt tumbled when anxiety-ridden investors heard the news. President Hosni Mubarak had checked into a hospital in Germany for a minor surgery, but on the streets of Cairo, there was speculation he was seriously ill, maybe even dead. It wasn’t Mubarak’s first health scare, but with no successor named for their aging president, Egyptians begged the question: Who will take over if he dies?

CAIRO, Egypt — Through a maze of narrow stone alleyways in Cairo’s ancient Jewish quarter, the Ben Maimon synagogue is surrounded by churches — a remnant of Egypt’s diverse and religiously tolerant past. This month, a private ceremony inaugurated the renovated synagogue as part of a greater government initiative to restore all 10 of the country’s Jewish temples.