Egypt's Morsi cancels controversial decree

(Reuters) Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Saturday night cancelled a decree that gave him sweeping powers and sparked deadly violence, but did not delay this month’s referendum on a new constitution as his opponents had demanded.

The announcement that Morsi had scrapped his Nov. 22 decree followed hours of talks on Saturday at his presidential palace, billed as a “national dialogue” but which was boycotted by his main opponents and had little credibility among protesters.

One opposition group dismissed Morsi’s efforts at appeasement as the “continuation of deception.”