Egypt: Morsi's showdown with the military put on hold Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, flanked by the head of the military council Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi (left) and Egyptian armed forces chief of staff Sami Anan (right) as they attend a graduation ceremony of military cadets, in the capital Cairo. 10.37am: Egypt: Here's AP's brief write-up of today's brief session of parliament: Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament has convened in defiance of a ruling by the country's highest court dissolving the legislature. Speaker Saad El-Katatny told lawmakers gathered for Tuesday's session that the legislature has met to find ways to implement the ruling rather than debate it out of respect for the principle of "the supremacy of the law and separation of authorities." The lawmakers then approved by a show of hand Katatny's proposal that the house seek legal advice from a high appeals court on how to implement the supreme court's ruling. He then adjourned the session, which lasted about five minutes. He said he would advise lawmakers in due course of the date of the next session. The Dutch Cairo-based journalist, Rena Netjes, pointed out the MPs who stayed away: Photograph: Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty Images 10.14am: Egypt: The swift adjournment of parliament also came after US secretary of state Hillary Clinton called on both sides to pull back from a standoff. Reuters quoted calling for "intense dialogue" among all participants "to ensure that there is a clear path for them to be following and that the Egyptian people get what they protested for and what they voted for, which is a fully elected government." She added: We strongly urge dialogue and concerted effort on the part of all to try to deal with the problems that are understandable but have to be resolved in order to avoid any kind of difficulties that could derail the transition that is going on. 9.59am: Egypt: Before this morning's swift adjournment, Monique El-Faizy, a project leader at the World Policy Institute, prophetically said that the likelihood of a full-blown, open confrontation between Morsi and the country's military rulers was low. Both sides have too much to lose and neither can can risk pushing the other too far, she told CNN. The showdown will be of the Cold War variety, she predicted. I think it's the delicate balancing act that we're going to see for a while. This is all new. Everybody's finding their way. 9.51am: Egypt: Confrontation avoid? Parliament has been adjourned, according to al-Jazeera's Sherine Tadros. Meanwhile, reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei has called for a meeting between President Morsi, the parliament and the military council to resolve the crisis. 9.46am: Egypt: The parliament has convened earlier than expected. MPs were called to assemble by noon (11am), but proceedings were started by speaker Saad El-Katany. In his opening address Katany was quoted as saying that parliament respected the court's ruling. 9.40am: Libya: Some lively commentary on the Libyan election from Shashank Joshi in the Telegraph: There is a great deal to criticise here. But the suggestion that the revolution destroyed a "once-secular" country is untenable. Colonel Gaddafi permitted polygamy, banned alcohol and wrote sharia into his constitution ... Islam has always been a dominant force in the country, and Gaddafi was no exception. The difference is that Libya's new democrats are unlikely to slaughter their electorate by the thousand ... As George Grant, Tripoli-based assistant editor of the Libya Herald, explains in his guide to the Libyan political landscape, "the division between secularists and Islamists so beloved by outsiders looking into Libya is a false one. Jibril's [coalition] is a case in point. At the coalition's launch, prominence of place was given to a leading sheikh from Zintan, whilst proceedings were introduced by a woman in high-heels, a 'hijab-chic' and a skin-tight black catsuit. Such is Libyan politics. You don't have to have spent much time in the Pakistani tribal areas to know that this isn't al-Qaida. 9.09am: Syria: Russia has offered to host new talks on Syria, according to Reuters citing Interfax. Russia would welcome the chance to host a new meeting of world powers on Syria, deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov was quoted as saying on Tuesday. He made his comments as Syrian opposition groups visited Moscow for talks on the conflict in their country. From our side, I can only confirm that we would welcome the organisation of a regular session of an 'action group' in Moscow ... In any case we see the relevance in carrying out such an event," Interfax news agency quoted Bogdanov as saying. 8.38am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. Egypt appears to be headed for showdown: on the one side, President Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood MPs; and on the other, the generals and the judges. MPs look set to defy military by meeting at the assembly building, after Morsi ordered parliament to be reconvened. Egypt's military council has warned President Morsi to respect the constitution claiming it had dissolved parliament last month out of respect for the rule of law. The speaker of parliament, Saad El-Katatny, called for parliament to convene at noon today (11am BST) following Morsi's decree to reconvene the assembly. Mahmoud Helmy of the FJP told the Guardian: "We were contacted by the general committee of the assembly to attend the session on Tuesday, and that's what we will do. In a politicised decision, Scaf gave itself the right to dissolve parliament and created a legislative vacuum. The president revoked this decision with the very same powers that had been afforded to Scaf. The secretary general of the parliament, Sam Mahran, has written to 508 MPs asking them to return to the assembly today, but some parties have said they boycott the session, Ahram reports. He said: "The assembly can remain in session until a new constitution is written or new parliamentary elections are held; or it could continue uninterrupted throughout the year." The Judges' Club has given Morsi 36 hours to withdraw his decision to reinstate parliament, All Africa reports. "If this does not happen, we will announce measures in response," head of the Judges Club, Ahmed al-Zend, said, expressing hopes for everybody to return to their senses. Rival demonstrations have been held in Cairo over Morsi's decision to recall parliament, the Egypt Independent reports. Muslim Brotherhood supporter have begun gathering in Tahrir Square ahead of protest in support of the president today. But in Nasr City, supporters of the military said they would continue a sit-in until parliament is dissolved. Once again Egypt shows its ability to have a constitutional crisis despite the impediment of not currently having a constitution, writes Michael Collins Dunn at the Middle East Institute. There are a few pundits suggesting that the decree actually represents a compromise with Scaf; Morsi called back the dissolved parliament but not for a full four-year term; rather he called for new elections as soon as the new constitution is written, But if the decree represented a secret deal with Scaf, that is far from apparent so far, and the simplest explanation seems to be that Morsi has elected to move the presumably inevitable test of strength between the elected President and the military forward to his first days in office. Yet Morsi and Field Marshal Tantawi appeared together [on Monday - see picture above] at a military graduation ceremony without outward indications of conflict. Russia appears to have laid the the basis for distancing itself from the Assad regime, by suspending new arms to Syria and opening talks with opposition leaders, according to the New York Times. It said: President Vladimir Putin appeared to sharpen the tone of the Russian message in remarks Monday at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow. "We must do as much as possible to force the conflicting sides to reach a peaceful political solution to all contentious questions," he said. We must strive to promote such a dialogue. Of course, this work is much more complex and subtle than intervening by brute force, but only this can provide a long-term settlement and further stable development of the region and of the Syrian state. The priority in Syria should be an arms embargo, argues Jonathan Steele. Western powers' efforts to shame and blame Russia for allegedly blocking political change are hypocritical when they support the accelerating flow of arms into the country, which only makes an eventual solution more costly in lives ... Russia should urge Assad to withdraw his heavy weaponry from cities and release detainees if the opposition also halts its attacks. Moscow must make it clear that Russian military supplies will cease if he does not comply. Iran should make similar commitments. In order to press the rebels to compromise, the west should publicly rule out military intervention under any circumstance and urge Qatar and Saudi Arabia to stop funding the arms race. The first results from Saturday's election appear to confirm that the moderate former interim prime minister Mahmoud Jibril is heading for a landslide victory in the country's first democratic election. Thee country's election commission said Jibril received 6,798 votes in Janzour, a suburb in western Tripoli. Jibril has reputation as a pragmatic moderate, writes Luke Harding in Tripoli. He attracted votes from all points on the country's political compass: from liberals and the educated in Tripoli; from tribesmen in the desert south; and - in an arguably hopeful sign for reconciliation - from disgruntled former supporters of the previous regime. Jibril's biggest advantage over his defeated rivals was his high profile. During the brief election campaign he was frequently on TV. Western educated and English-speaking, Jibril had - controversially for some - worked for the previous regime as Gaddafi's economics minister from 2007. His defection to the rebel NTC was conducted with impeccable timing at the beginning of last year's revolution. Appointed its de facto prime minister, he was the prime mover in winning support from the west for Libya's then-opposition, earning plaudits at home. As Libya's new leader Jibril will face resentment from rebel commanders and Islamists, who it is premature to write off, argues Ian Black. It makes tactical sense for Jibril to call for a "grand coalition" under his National Forces Alliance (NFA). Big challenges are tackled more easily with wide support ... For any Libyan government, the biggest immediate challenge - remains taking control of the militias which operate outside the law and refuse to disarm or join the army or police. Legal reforms and financial transparency in the all-important oil sector are tough nuts to crack. Another big national issue is the unrest in Benghazi, where the uprising began, over demands for fairer representation for Cyrenaicia, still chafing under the discrimination it suffered in the 42 years of the Gaddafi era ... Libya has entered a new age, but no-one, least of all its newly-elected leaders, underestimates the scale of the problems that lie ahead. It will be a long and bumpy ride.