TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that a decision by election overseers to disqualify his top aide from next month's presidential race is an act of "oppression" and that he will take the case to the country's supreme leader.

By Tom Perry and Yousri Mohamed CAIRO/ISMAILIA (Reuters) - Seven members of the Egyptian security forces kidnapped by Islamist militants in Sinai last week were freed on Wednesday and President Mohamed Mursi announced a new crackdown on lawlessness in the desert peninsula. Their abduction underlined the threat posed by jihadists who became active in a security vacuum that opened up in the isolated Sinai after the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The state has struggled to restore order there since. ...